5Wb: Parables for Dummies? What a waste!

03/10/22 • 62 min

Having characterized Jesus' use of parables in Mark as his attempt to accommodate the public's need for pedagogical assistance in season two's opening episode, Dr. Proctor examines Mark's characterization of the twelve disciples in episode two. Whereas the public appears to have no problem discerning the meaning of his stories, those closest to Jesus in Mark are by way of contrast least likely to understand his instruction. As a consequence of their collective dimwittedness, the disciples routinely require clarification in order to make sense of what Jesus says.

Previous Episode

A Kudzu Haven for Crop Stealing Scavengers: The Mustard Seed (Matt 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19; Gos. Thom. 20)

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.

Next Episode

5Wc: Matt 13:10-15

In the third and final episode on the topic of "why" Jesus spoke in parables, Dr. Mark and Lee investigate the changes Matthew made to Mark 4:10-13 in an effort to see how his "parables theory" differs from that of his source material. In the process they discover that the parables cannot in Matthew serve the same charitable pedagogical function for Jesus that they do in Mark. Matt 13:10-17 instead excludes the possibility of public comprehension of Jesus’ message on the grounds that such insight “has not been given to them” (v. 11). This editorial change permits Matthew to counteract Mark’s negative assessment of the disciples, but only at the public’s expense. In Matthew, the disciples basically trade places with the public when it comes to who’s in Jesus’ good graces and who’s not.