Parables an Analysis of Two

Parables

An Analysis of Two Parables

If, as St. Paul tells us, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was not for all men, then he died in vain. Yet not all men consider themselves to be in need of redemption. What is the correct view we should have of ourselves? St. Augustine supplies us with the answer in his treatise On Nature and Grace: "If, however, Christ did not die in vain, the human nature cannot by any means be justified and redeemed from God's most righteous wrath -- in a word, from punishment -- except by faith and the sacrament of the blood of Christ." This paper will look at two of Jesus' parables, Luke 15 and Luke 18, and show how they are related to the idea of redemption.

The Lost and Found parable of Luke 15 is actually three-fold: first it deals with the lost sheep, then the lost coin, and then the lost son. Each is found in the end and is a cause of rejoicing. The most telling of these stories, however, is the last one -- in which the good son displays jealousy and calls into question the goodness and justness of his father, who kills the fattened calf for the prodigal son who has returned. The father's explanation is a reflection of the goodness and justness of God: "My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." The sin is not celebrated -- rather, the turn away from the sin -- the humility with which the turn is affected -- the knowledge that all depends upon the mercy of the Father. If we keep in mind what St. Augustine says, we can argue that the prodigal son has realized that nature (inheritance) is not enough to secure happiness -- thus, we are dependent upon some higher power to bring us back into the light -- into happiness -- into the family -- into the fold.

Likewise, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector let's us know which attitude is the better to take when confronting the Lord. The Pharisee has a superior attitude: he thanks God for not making him like the tax collector, who is despised by men, who is a sinner, who is inferior. The Pharisee is filled with pride and thinks himself very much a good man -- someone who is on his way to the kingdom of paradise. The tax collector, however, has a much clearer idea of who he is: unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector does not take the first seat in the temple (where everyone can see him), but sits way in the back because he knows he is not even worthy to be in the temple in the first place. He counts himself a sinner -- just as the Pharisee counts him. He prays to God for forgiveness and mercy, and genuinely asks for it; he is not just showing off and making a public act of penitence. Jesus lauds the virtue of the tax collector rather than of the Pharisee, because it is the tax collector who sees clearly. The Pharisee is blinded by pride and does not even know that he is lost and in need of finding; the tax collector on the other hand is fully aware of where he stands: he is lost without God and depends on God's mercy. It is the Pharisee who will see vanity in Christ; it is the tax collector who will see in Christ the hope for Redemption. If Jesus came to save those who were lost (which is everyone), how can the Pharisee be found if he thinks he is already saved?