Monday, November 26, 2007
'Essential Q&A'
“…And it is true that the citizens of this world are more clever [in dishonesty!] than the godly are. But shall I tell you to act that way, to buy friendship through cheating? Will this ensure your entry to heaven? No! For unless you are honest in small matters, you won’t be in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities…you can not serve both God and money.” In the parable money seems to be both the master and the stewards motivations and Jesus is teaching that you can’t serve God and money because you’ll show favoritism to one more than the other.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Parable Draft #1
The parable of the unjust steward is said to be the most complicated parable to understand because in the parable it appears that Jesus tolerates dishonesty. This can sort of throw the reader off and even the first time I read it I had to go back and read it a couple more times because I didn’t understand it. The rich master in the parable is said to be a local Jewish aristocrat and ruler of the land and the people on it. He was somewhat understanding, the exact opposite of how most rulers were in the advanced agrarian society. When he was gone he left the steward to handle his business.1 The steward represents the master and has some responsibility over his choices. He is an estate manager. Estate managers represent their masters when they are absent and handle finances. Stewards could not be prosecuted for wrong doings, but unlike slaves they could be dismissed.2 The master then hears about how the Steward has been making poor choices and decides to fire him. The steward then realizes that in order to save himself and find support in people he goes out and decides to help everyone who owes his master a debt so that when he is fired it will seem like he was trying to help them. The steward decided to cut the debt of the people who owed money and this is the kind of behavior Jesus wanted. It may seem like Jesus was supporting the steward being dishonest but it was only the outcome that was good. Showing generosity by lowering the debt is the kind of behavior Jesus was supporting and it was the kind of behavior that kept the Steward’s job. The lessons was that if you are dishonest with something small you will be dishonest with greater responsibilities. ” In the parable money seems to be both the master and the stewards motivations and Jesus is teaching that you can’t serve God and money because you’ll show favoritism to one more than the other.”
1 Walter Herzog, Parables as Subversive Speech: The Scene Presented in the Parable (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994) 240-242
(Louisville: Westminster Theological Journal 51 [1989]) 293-318
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Parable Documentation
1. Understand the main characters and try to understand what they stand for or what they are fighting for. Think about all the characters and find out what they mean.
2. Find problems in society and address the economic problem. Find out what the social ladder is and what's wrong with it.
3. Try to address the Conflict and figure out how it relates to an outside problem.
4. Read earlier sections to get a background story and find out who Jesus is talking about.
5. Understand symbols and try to find out hidden messages in the story. For example in the parable of the tenant farmers there is a bush outside of the houses and it represents that the owner is Jewish. Look deeper in the parable, What's REALLY going on??
6. Find out how parable can affect me? How does it relate to my life?
7. Put all the pieces together to find the meaning behind the parable.
1. The steward was a retainer who represented his master and acted on his behalf. Stewards could not be prosecuted for wrongdoings but he could be dismissed. The rich master is a local Jewish aristocrat who owned many acres of land. He serves as the example that later proves that two things cannot be trusted in such as God and money. The two together, rich master and steward, show an example of good and bad because the steward is being generous in cutting people's debt and the master shows that he can be greedy by not thinking about the debtors in a kind generous way but only as a means to get his money.
2. The problems in society in the parable is that people are greedy and how people can be dishonest to save themselves and not get into trouble. The steward can be an example of another problem because he is being selfish because he does not think about his master's viewpoint on his decision to cut down the debt. He is thinking only to save himself and see if he can keep his job. The social ladder has wealthy people on top and lower people looking up to the wealthy people for help. They are looked at as kings because of the money and power they have. This is a problem because it's a system, the powerful stay in power "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer".
3. The conflict is that the steward cannot be trusted handling the master's money and this creates trust issues between them and is the reason why the steward almost loses his job.
4. Society is made up of the elite class, middle class, and the lower class during this story and the poor people look up to the rich. They are ruled by more powerful people and it is a chain that ultimately is ruled by a king.
5. Society is a symbol in the story and is represented by each character. richmaster/upper class. Steward/middle class. Debtors/lower class.
6. The parable can relate to my life because I've done dishonest things to save myself before and other people have dishonest things to me to save themselves as well. It's something I've experienced except the result was not the same. I felt betrayed instead of forgiving and it didn't turn into a win/win/win situation like in the story.
7. After all the pieces are put together the story is about how we should be trustworthy with God's teachings and even though the dishonest behavior is not good, achieving the end result is what we should try and do in our own lives.
Herzog
-The master in the parables is described as wealthy and prestigious.
-The landlord is shown to have large portions of land including orchards which he puts all down on his contracts. The total amount equals the yield of one hundred acres of land.
-The master is afraid that his reputation will be ruined in the community if his steward continues to not protect his money so he fires him.
-The scene presented in the parable is Jewish and not Roman. A steward on Roman estate would most likely be a slave, whose mismanagement would have been punished by "death".
-The steward is a slave but in a Jewish household where slaves were treated like a part of the family. For a Jewish slave to leave his master's house would be like leaving home.
-The fact that the steward is dismissed indicates that he is a retainer, not a salve, although a retainer in the household of an elite was nearly as dependent as a slave but without security associated with slavery.
-Retainers are lower than slaves and that is why they are dismissed so easily.
-If the steward loses his position he loses his stewardship and access to the household bureaucracy.
-The steward could not be prosecuted for wrongdoings but could be dismissed or shamed.
-The master wouldn't care about stewards profits as long as he kept the master's goods and resources in steady flow.
-The steward does not want to become a digger or a beggar because losing his stewardship and joining the work force would mean dropping out of the class of retainers into the class of expendables.
-The steward is not trying to save his master but he is just trying to save himself.
-It was the steward's idea to reduce the costs of the debt but not to better his master, just to save himself.
-The steward was an estate manager and represented his master and acted on his behalf and entered contracts.
-The master was a local aristocrat who belonged to the community.
-The steward is afraid of all things that come with being an expendable; scarce food, and back-breaking labor.
-The landlord is shown to have large portions of land including orchards which he puts all down on his contracts. The total amount equals the yield of one hundred acres of land.
-The master is afraid that his reputation will be ruined in the community if his steward continues to not protect his money so he fires him.
-The scene presented in the parable is Jewish and not Roman. A steward on Roman estate would most likely be a slave, whose mismanagement would have been punished by "death".
-The steward is a slave but in a Jewish household where slaves were treated like a part of the family. For a Jewish slave to leave his master's house would be like leaving home.
-The fact that the steward is dismissed indicates that he is a retainer, not a salve, although a retainer in the household of an elite was nearly as dependent as a slave but without security associated with slavery.
-Retainers are lower than slaves and that is why they are dismissed so easily.
-If the steward loses his position he loses his stewardship and access to the household bureaucracy.
-The steward could not be prosecuted for wrongdoings but could be dismissed or shamed.
-The master wouldn't care about stewards profits as long as he kept the master's goods and resources in steady flow.
-The steward does not want to become a digger or a beggar because losing his stewardship and joining the work force would mean dropping out of the class of retainers into the class of expendables.
-The steward is not trying to save his master but he is just trying to save himself.
-It was the steward's idea to reduce the costs of the debt but not to better his master, just to save himself.
-The steward was an estate manager and represented his master and acted on his behalf and entered contracts.
-The master was a local aristocrat who belonged to the community.
-The steward is afraid of all things that come with being an expendable; scarce food, and back-breaking labor.
Research Article
Citation:
John G. Lygre
Biblical Theology Bulletin, Spring, 2002
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0LAL/is_1_32/ai_94331935/pg_7
John G. Lygre
Biblical Theology Bulletin, Spring, 2002
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0LAL/is_1_32/ai_94331935/pg_7
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Final Reading Strategy
1. Understand the main characters and try to understand what they stand for or what they are fighting for. Think about all the characters and find out what they mean.
2. Find problems in society and address the economic problem. Find out what the social ladder is and what's wrong with it.
3. Try to address the Conflict and figure out how it relates to an outside problem.
4. Read earlier sections to get a background story and find out who Jesus is talking about.
5. Understand symbols and try to find out hidden messages in the story. For example in the parable of the tenant farmers there is a bush outside of the houses and it represents that the owner is Jewish. Look deeper in the parable, What's REALLY going on??
6. Find out how parable can affect me? How does it relate to my life?
7. Put all the pieces together to find the meaning behind the parable.
2. Find problems in society and address the economic problem. Find out what the social ladder is and what's wrong with it.
3. Try to address the Conflict and figure out how it relates to an outside problem.
4. Read earlier sections to get a background story and find out who Jesus is talking about.
5. Understand symbols and try to find out hidden messages in the story. For example in the parable of the tenant farmers there is a bush outside of the houses and it represents that the owner is Jewish. Look deeper in the parable, What's REALLY going on??
6. Find out how parable can affect me? How does it relate to my life?
7. Put all the pieces together to find the meaning behind the parable.
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