Once There Was A Man (Part One)

(5-minute read) – Once there was a man whose parables subverted Jewish society, religion and culture. He taught dangerous new perspectives and radical freedom through them.   This revolutionary man with the peasant appeal threatened Jews (and Romans) in authority.

The Good Samaritan

The parable of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 10, verses 30 to 36, swept away social and religious boundaries of the time. A common practice of ancient Mediterranean cultures was to divide people into classes and to set up hierarchies of privilege.

The question is, are we much different today? Modern liberal societies have tried to remove these boundaries and have tried to establish the solidarity of liberal democracy. But it seems this agenda is failing. America and Europe are reverting to ancient times.

The Jewish people of Jesus’ time wanted rules and regulations to which they could attach ultimate guidance and meaning for their lives.  They were content to be in a static state, believing the status quo was divinely ordained and that change was negative for them as members of Israel, supposedly the chosen people.

 This mentality is rising again today in response to the ‘invasion’ of centuries-old western societies by outsiders and free thinking liberals. We are seeing a rise in populist nationalism, racism and religious bigotry. The Christian pseudo-liberal west wants their privileged status quo back. After all the enlightenment, nothing seems to have changed. We are still shackled by our false selves.

 False Self

It is the nature of the false self to divide and seek, or maintain, superiority for the group to which that self subscribes.  This gives the false self a sense of worth to which it must cling. Without some form of claimed superiority or power the false self becomes fearful.  It is the nature of the ego to make attachments in order to prop up a false sense of worth.

The parable of the Good Samaritan invites us to let go of the false self and open to new consciousness of true self – a consciousness of unconditional, selfless love.  Here worth can be found independently of the titles and class distinctions that previously defined worth.  We cease to boost ourselves, or knock ourselves.  We cease to adore ourselves or hate ourselves.  When we experience our true human dignity, we can simply be.  Anxiety, alienation, boredom, fear, addiction and other psychological ailments heal.

The Publican and the Pharisee

The parable of the Publican and the Pharisee in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18, verses 10 to 14 struck at the heart of the Jewish people’s paradigm on religious elite.  The Pharisee’s behaviour and prayers were typical for a devout Pharisee of the time.  Similarly, Jews expected the behaviour of the Publican (or tax collector) as an outsider.

Thomas Keating, in his book The Kingdom of God is Like… says the conclusion to this parable would have stunned the hearer like a ‘peal of thunder.’  The conclusion was: “I tell you, when [the Publican] went down to his house, he was reconciled with God, but not the other.”  The social map of the time was being abandoned by Jesus and his followers.

What emptiness and darkness a Jew would have to have faced to let go of the social map.  It represented everything the deluded self clung to for a fragile sense of meaning.

One only has to consider the prevalence of religious fundamentalism, or scientific materialism, to see clearly that letting go of deeply held attachments does not happen overnight.  Instead genuine letting go is a spiritual evolution both individually and socially.

The Prodigal Son

The parable of the prodigal son calls the Jews to let go of traditional cultural dictates.  The parable implies an evolution from the times of the Old Testament to the New Testament.

The hearers of the parable would have been expecting the Old Testament story of Jacob and Esau to be repeated.  Jacob, the younger son was chosen by God while Esau, the elder son, to whom the inheritance legally belonged, was rejected. The Old Testament story was one of regulations and norms elevated above love and conscience.

The hearers would have expected the elder son also to be rejected in the parable and they would have experienced a sense of rejoicing along with the younger son as part of God’s specially chosen people.  But instead, in Jesus’ revolutionary story, the father accepts the elder son too.  He expresses no interest in how he should behave in terms of societal expectations and acceptable norms.  Instead he demonstrates unconditional and inclusive love.

In telling this story, Jesus gives the hearers an illustration of his Father’s unconditional love. He entices them to let go of their paradigm of love and acceptance based on compliance to codes or conventional morality.

Unconditional means all conditions have been removed or let go of.  This is the way the father loved his son – he had no conditions for his return.  His relief at seeing him was a total letting go of all else other than love.

Lazarus and the Rich Man

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is particularly relevant in the world today where the economic gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is ever-widening. In Jesus’ time people viewed Lazarus’ poverty as his own fault or as a punishment for sin.  Contemporaries tend to be indifferent to the poor, thinking ‘I work hard for what I’ve got – why should I feel sorry for the poor?’

It has become popular to believe we create our own realities, in a kind of indifferent humanism that leaves no room for compassion for, and service of, those who need it.  It’s a good thing to trust in a benevolent world and believe in positive outcomes for our own lives – but not at the expense of compassion and solidarity.

Selfishness has become prudent in providing for bad times, retirement and even the next generation of the particular family.  The mentality is ‘survival of the fittest.’  But Jesus’ parable highlights solidarity with the community and its needs.

Like most of his parables, it would have made many of its hearers feel uncomfortable. His parables should still make us feel uncomfortable today. They should entice us to let go, to leave the old behind and follow a new way. How we do that in each of our particular lives should be a continual challenge. A continual quest for meaning.