The Political Aims of Jesus

Appendix 1

139 Appendix 1 The Parables Database There are thirty-three parables in the database drawn up by John Dominic Crossan and the Jesus Seminar, but not all of these offer good historical Jesus information. The thirty-three parables are listed in the following table under Crossan’s enumeration and titles (columns 1 and 2).1 In approaching the political meaning of Jesus’ parables in this book, I have considered the Jesus Seminar ratings (columns 3 and 4), but have also factored in my own criteria to garner social information as seen in columns 5 and 6. That is, in addition to the criterion of Jesus’ ipsissima verba (Jesus Seminar’s red), I have also factored in the criterion of social coherence (parables that may have been modified by the first level of interpretation but can still have good information consistent with the political aims of Jesus). The abbreviations in the Social Domain column are as follows: d-e, domestic-economy; p-e, political-economy; d-r, domestic-religion; p-r, political-religion. The Social Domain column provides the basis for my Evaluative Comments. 1. For the parables: Robert W. Funk, Bernard B. Scott, and James R. Butts, The Parables of Jesus: Red Letter Edition (Sonoma, CA: Polebridge, 1988); John Dominic Crossan, Sayings Parallels : A Workbook for the Jesus Tradition (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986). The color coding under “Jesus Seminar” was primarily interpreted by Seminar fellows as: Red, ipssissima verba of Jesus, or something close; Pink, Jesus probably said; Gray, Jesus did not say, but either echoes of Jesus or significantly overlaid by interpretation; Black, not from Jesus at all. See Robert W. Funk and Roy W. Hoover, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993), 36. For Q: James M. Robinson, Paul Hoffmann, and John S. Kloppenborg , eds., The Sayings Gospel Q in Greek and English with Parallels from the Gospels of Mark and Thomas (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002). For Gos. Thom.: John S. Kloppenborg et al., Q-Thomas Reader (Sonoma, CA: Polebridge, 1990). 140 The Political Aims of Jesus No. Parable Name Text Jesus Seminar Social Domain Evaluative Comments 1 The Sower Gos. Thom. 9; Mark 4:3b-8 Pink p-e The point may have to do less with the harvest than with the untaxed, useless seed available for gleaning 2 The Planted Weeds Matt 13:24b30 Gray p-e The wildness of the Power 3 The Mustard Seed Gos. Thom. 20:2; Mark 4:30-32 Red; Pink p-r The wildness of the Power 4 The Leaven Q 13:20b21 Red p-e; p-r Passover? power of the Power to liberate 5 The Treasure Matt. 13:44 Pink p-e See also Entrusted Money 6 The Pearl Matt. 13:4546 Pink p-e Commerce? luxury? where do pearls come from? is this a critique of the anti-subsistence mentality? 7 The fishnet Matt. 13:47-48 Black p-e Sorting of fish a metaphor for tax collection? the likely success of the resistance of “small fries”? 8 The Lost Sheep Q 15:4-6 Pink d-e The healing of the Power, the reach of the Power 9 The Unmerciful Servant Matt. 18:2334 Pink p-e; d-e Debt forgiveness 10 The Vineyard Laborers Matt. 20:1-15 Red p-e Conflict is the necessary result of agrarian civilization under conditions of wage labor; does the story expose the nasty nature of agrarian exploitation and the arbitrariness of patronage? Appendix 1: The Parables Database 141 No. Parable Name Text Jesus Seminar Social Domain Evaluative Comments 11 The Tenants Gos. Thom. 65; Mark 12:1b-11 Pink; Gray p-e On one level, the story invites contemplation about the deadly conflict built into the Herodian agrarian order. on another level, perhaps there is here some political allegory to offer critique of the situation. The man is Herod the Great; the son is Herod Antipas; the tenants are the disgruntled vineyard workers of Galilee. furthermore, if “foxes” in 9:58 indicates Herod Antipas, the “birds” the elites of Sepphoris, and “holes” the urban storehouses, more allegory is in view. Luke 13:31 permits identifying Herod Antipas as “that fox.” foxes are known in Palestine as being grape thieves. The attitude of the village, given limited good assumptions, is that current tenancy arrangements are thievery. Of course, Jesus is advocating a reverse thievery. 12 The feast Luke 14...