Stories for the Waiting Room

As one of only three quadruply attested parables in the Gospel Tradition, the Mustard Seed describes the transformational growth of what Jesus calls the smallest of all the seeds. Season one’s final episode begins with a lighthearted quiz before moving on to examine the various differences between the story’s four extant versions. In the process of doing so Mark and Lee discover it is possible to understand the Mustard Seed both as a similitude and a parable proper with distinct meanings. Though reading the story as a parable proper presents readers with difficult existential challenges, Dr. Proctor prefers this approach on the grounds it enhances the story’s aesthetic and yields a more timely meaning for our contemporary situation.

In "Parabolic Polyvalency Part 2," Mark and Lee offer a second reading of Luke's story about the supposedly "barren" fig tree. The episode begins with an examination of the Third Gospel's largely negative presentation of money and the wealthy, and uses it to suggest a novel approach to the parable's content. Of critical importance is the following question: "What if the fig tree really isn't barren?"

The ninth episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room" introduces a new way of categorizing Jesus' parables. While interpretive comments accompany many of these stories, others Jesus presents in a less direct fashion as illustrations of the Kingdom of God. In the parable of the Barren Fig Tree, however, one encounters what Dr. Proctor describes as an uninterpreted parable. Such stories (all of which are in Luke) appear in the text without commentary, without clear ties to their surrounding context, and without comparison to the kingdom. As a consequence, Luke leaves his readers free to assess the stories' meanings in any way that might align with his broader purposes as a writer. The uninterpreted parables are thus capable of carrying multiple meanings; i.e., they are "potentially polyvalent." Having made this critical distinction, Mark and Lee use the opening scene of Luke 13 along with ancient horticultural texts to offer an initial interpretation the Barren Fig Tree that sees it as an illustration of loyalty's irrational demands. In the same way Jesus demonstrates loyalty to the Galileans in Luke 13:1-5 by countering their biased Judean critics, so the vintner shows fidelity to an out-of-place and barren fig tree in the parable that follows.

In the eighth episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room" Mark and Lee investigate Luke's parable of the Lost Coin. This unique story follows closely on the heels of the Lost Sheep (see episode seven), and so forms one of Luke's many gendered pairs. It concerns a woman's delight in finding a coin she misplaced in her home, and aims to illustrate the "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Whereas the Jesus Seminar regarded the story's claim to authenticity as substantial, good reasons also exist for thinking the Lost Coin just might be the literary product of what Oscar Wilde once referred to as flattery's sincerest form.

In the seventh episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room," Mark and Lee take a look at the three versions of Jesus' parable of the Lost Sheep in the Gospel of Thomas 107, Matthew 18:10-14, and Luke 15:1-7. In each instance, the gospel writers use Jesus' story to address their respective theological concerns. In Thomas the parable affirms the good shepherd's love for wise disciples. Matthew instead presents the sheep not as the biggest of the bunch but as a vulnerable and immature member of the flock in need of the shepherd’s care and rescue. Finally, Luke uses the Lost Sheep story to cast Jesus' association with tax collectors and sinners as his attempt to encourage their repentance and bring joy to God in the process.