Short Stories by Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine

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Amy-Jill helps us to see (or hear) the Parables with fresh eyes (or ears) and shows that much of the traditional interpretations of the Parables sit on shaky footings.

Central to this is highlighting that the “Christian” interpretations rely on making a contrast between a caricature of resistive Jewish practice and a liberation proclaimed by Jesus. The Jewish practices seen in these interpretations would not be recognised by any first century Jew – some relate to later developments, but most are simply figments of zealous Christian imaginations.

We also find that many interpretations somehow simultaneously complicate the meanings whilst also flattening them – the sheep might just be sheep, the mustard seed just a seed – not everything is an allegory.

Amy-Jill also suggests that the Gospel writers were the first to gloss the Parables and began the process of misinterpretation – and a lot of her arguments in this respect make sense but this touches a nerve about how we understand scripture. The Gospel writers put a particular spin on the Parables – is that the authentic meaning or is there some discoverable prior meaning? Amy-Jill is confident that we can step behind the text and hear the voice of Jesus, I am not so sure. I don’t dispute that there is a gap between the words and meanings Jesus spoke and the text of the Gospels we have received – but I doubt we can say anything much about what came before the inherited texts.