Recently my Bible class at church attempted a chronological study of the life of Christ. By that I mean they are trying to take the events listed in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and as best could be surmised placing them in the historic order they happened. (I have a feeling this is a response to the popularity of The Chosen.) I know the teachers had the best of intentions, but I didn’t like it. To me it was like taking four beautiful love songs with different harmonies, keys, and tempos, and then piecing them together bar by bar. All you end up with is noise. You lose the flow and the themes in the Gospels, and you end up diminishing rather than enhancing the story of Jesus.
To give an example, look at Luke 19:11-20:19. This is grouping of five various parables and event in the life of Jesus. All five appear to be distinct and separate, but each one flows into the next, giving a wonderful tapestry of a coherent theme. However, when other events are filled in between these events to give a chronological order you lose the thread of the theme. Allow me to explain.
Start with the parable of the Ten Minas at the beginning. Recall that this a parable of nobleman going to a distant land to be made king. He has servants come to him and he gives each a mina (or money) to invest while he is gone. At the same time others send word that they don’t want him to be king. On his return he finds most of his servants have increased his investment and he commends them, but one servant comes forward and returns the mina explaining he did nothing out of fear. This enrages the king; he punishes the servant and kills his enemies who tried to prevent his appointment as king. The point of this parable is that the time of indecision is over. Those listening had to choose weather to accept Jesus as their king or reject him. No longer can they sit on the fence, waiting to see what happens. That was the mistake of the unfaithful servant. He reasoned that if he sided with the nobleman, then the nobleman’s enemies might kill him, but if he sides with the nobleman’s enemies and he returns as king, then the king would kill him. So, by hiding the mina the king’s enemies won’t know he’s a servant of the king, and if they win, he survives. But if the king wins, he can return the mina and survive. Jesus lets those in hearing know that this will not work. They must choose him as king or reject him, there is no middle ground.
Right after this parable, Luke tells of the Triumphant Entry. This is where Jesus comes into Jerusalem as king ready to for his coronation. Just like the nobleman of the parable returning as king, so is Jesus. Then right after this he cleanses the Temple. Clearing it of the corrupt servants just as a king would do. Jesus was correcting the wrongs in his kingdom. This causes the Temple leaders to ask by what authority he is doing these things. He agrees to tell them if they tell him if John’s baptism came from man or from God. They refused, and so he refused to answer their question.
All of this leads up the parable of the tenants. In this Jesus tells of an owner renting out his vineyard. The Temple leaders knew that a vineyard was often used as a symbol for Israel and would see where Jesus was going. He told how the tenants would ignore and abused the landlord’s servants, just like they did to John. Finally, the landlord sent his son and the tenants killed even the son. At this, Jesus asks and gives the answer to the rhetorical question, “What will the owner do? He will kill the tenants and give the vineyard to others!” How this parable complements the parable of the minas should be obvious. What is interesting is that when the people heard this they said, “May this never be!” It wasn’t may the death of the Son of God never be, but may it never be that the lose their special standing with God. Jesus wraps these stories up by telling them the stone rejected will crush them. In other words, like the enemies of the king in the parable of minas and the tenants of the vineyard, the Jewish leaders would be removed.
Just like a beautiful passage of poetry or music, all of this loses its power and beauty when it’s disjointed by mashing it up with other passages that have their own poetry. You fail to enhance but diminish.
#Jesus is King #Poetry of Luke #Minas #Teneants