Bad Theology
Text for today: Luke 19 xi-xxvii
Jesus relates a parable about a nobleman who departs to take over a kingdom in a far country. Before he leaves, the nobleman gives ten of his servants a mina each (about three months' wages for a labourer) and orders them to engage in business until his return. The people of the nobleman's new kingdom send a delegation expressing their wish that he not rule over them, but the nobleman takes over the kingdom anyway. When he returns, he calls his servants and orders them to hand over the money they have made. Those who have turned a profit are given authority over cities, while one who simply returns the original sum is chastised. Then the nobleman orders that those who did not want him to rule over them should be brought and slaughtered in front of him.
The character of the nobleman is one of Jesus' more honest self-portraits: a ruthless, arbitrary, punitive potentate refreshingly free of the Saviour's usual sanctimonious self-pity. Having instructed his servants, the nobleman goes away to take over a kingdom whose people hate him. Unlike the unruly tenants in the parable of the vineyard, these people send a peaceful delegation with a message, but no more mercy is shown them than is granted to the murderous tenants. As the nobleman represents Jesus and his new kingdom represents the world, so the slaughter, as always, represents the one part that can safely be taken literally. To reject the teaching of Jesus is to invite death at the hands of His servants, while the Saviour sits back and watches the carnage.
Jesus delivers this parable on the way to Jerusalem, because His disciples believe that the kingdom of God is at hand. Although the Gospel does not specify their reasons, they may possibly have thought so because Jesus had spent His entire ministry telling them that the kingdom of God was at hand. But it is not for human beings to anticipate the divine will, even when that will has been explicitly stated: the parable counsels that God's servants should continue accumulating their spiritual wealth until their owner explicitly demands that they render up an account. A satisfactory ledger of obedience and zeal is rewarded with power and authority; the parable leaves more or less open the question of how much time the promoted servants will be expected to spend washing their new subjects' feet.
Jesus relates a parable about a nobleman who departs to take over a kingdom in a far country. Before he leaves, the nobleman gives ten of his servants a mina each (about three months' wages for a labourer) and orders them to engage in business until his return. The people of the nobleman's new kingdom send a delegation expressing their wish that he not rule over them, but the nobleman takes over the kingdom anyway. When he returns, he calls his servants and orders them to hand over the money they have made. Those who have turned a profit are given authority over cities, while one who simply returns the original sum is chastised. Then the nobleman orders that those who did not want him to rule over them should be brought and slaughtered in front of him.
The character of the nobleman is one of Jesus' more honest self-portraits: a ruthless, arbitrary, punitive potentate refreshingly free of the Saviour's usual sanctimonious self-pity. Having instructed his servants, the nobleman goes away to take over a kingdom whose people hate him. Unlike the unruly tenants in the parable of the vineyard, these people send a peaceful delegation with a message, but no more mercy is shown them than is granted to the murderous tenants. As the nobleman represents Jesus and his new kingdom represents the world, so the slaughter, as always, represents the one part that can safely be taken literally. To reject the teaching of Jesus is to invite death at the hands of His servants, while the Saviour sits back and watches the carnage.
Jesus delivers this parable on the way to Jerusalem, because His disciples believe that the kingdom of God is at hand. Although the Gospel does not specify their reasons, they may possibly have thought so because Jesus had spent His entire ministry telling them that the kingdom of God was at hand. But it is not for human beings to anticipate the divine will, even when that will has been explicitly stated: the parable counsels that God's servants should continue accumulating their spiritual wealth until their owner explicitly demands that they render up an account. A satisfactory ledger of obedience and zeal is rewarded with power and authority; the parable leaves more or less open the question of how much time the promoted servants will be expected to spend washing their new subjects' feet.
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