Question for Jewish members about Jesus' parables

[VWcrazy]

I was wondering if our Jewish members could give us some of their thoughts of some of Jesus’ parables. I wondered if any Jewish Sages have had any writings or studies concerning the parables. I do realize that Judaism and your culture has changed in the past 2000 years, but I am still interested in your thoughts. And if you are not familiar with any of the parables, I could cut-and-paste one or two which I am extremely interested in your thoughts.

For those who would respond, I would like to go ahead and thank you for your answers.

The intention of this thread is not one of conversion - to leave Judasim and to convert to Christianity.

 

[CarolsDaughter]

I was wondering if our Jewish members could give us some of their thoughts of some of Jesus’ parables. I wondered if any Jewish Sages have had any writings or studies concerning the parables. I do realize that Judaism and your culture has changed in the past 2000 years, but I am still interested in your thoughts. And if you are not familiar with any of the parables, I could cut-and-paste one or two which I am extremely interested in your thoughts.

For those who would respond, I would like to go ahead and thank you for your answers.

The intention of this thread is not one of conversion - to leave Judasim and to convert to Christianity.

Teaching moral lessons in parables is actually a very Jewish (rabbinic) way of teaching. The rabbis in the Talmud did it all the time.

As for the parables in the NT, the Jewish rabbis in the Talmud, etc really do not get into discussions about Jesus. His appearance on the scene was totally irrelevant to Jewish life.

However, I’m very well-versed in the Christian new testament, is there any particular parable you’d like to discuss or find out more about?

There is also a Jewish professor of New Testament Studies whose work you can reference to find out more: Dr Amy-Jill Levine, Ph.D

 

[VWcrazy]

CarolsDaughter,

Thanks for responding.

I have always found that the Jewish Sages had always given the world a great deal of depth and understanding of the Old Testament. Let me give you a parable and tell me of what this would mean to a Jewish person.

Matthew 6:25-34

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

Goodness, re-reading this - I guess its really not a parable - but a simple teaching. Personally, this has always been one of my favourite quotes from Jesus. Whenever I am depressed or feel low about something, I reflect on this and it helps me realize how wonderful God truly is.

Many blessings!!

 

[CarolsDaughter]

That sermon from Matthew 6 was always a favorite of mine too (I have read the Christian testament through, many times.) Jesus got many of his teachings from Jewish and rabbinic works, and that is also one of them.

I feel what Jesus’ goal was, was not to form a new religion but to reform the Judaism of his day (used in a good way, not to mean “reform judaism” which is a heresy to religious Jews). He amplified teachings that were altready current in Judaism, but which people had forgotten about, and Mt 6 is one of them.

It amazes me how much of Jewish teaching I see in the pages of the Christian testament…I’ve often joked that it seems sometimes that only Jews can truly understand it fully (Jews that are knowledgeable of Judaism, anyway.)

Much of what Jesus said to his (then still mostly Jewish) followers was, IMO, an attempt to purify Jewish teachings which had become stultified in his day. He attempted to breathe new life into laws that people had started to follow by rote rather than from the heart. In that regard he was a very holy Jew.

The problem Judaism really has with him are his claims to deity, as well as the religion that arose around him, and of course, the abuses many of his later followers committed against Jews.

But as for Jesus the MAN, for the most part, educated Jews have no problem with him.

Much of what he taught was an attempt to clean up the Judaism of his day, and his parables and teachings show this, IMO.

 

[Valke2]

That sermon from Matthew 6 was always a favorite of mine too (I have read the Christian testament through, many times.) Jesus got many of his teachings from Jewish and rabbinic works, and that is also one of them.

I feel what Jesus’ goal was, was not to form a new religion but to reform the Judaism of his day (used in a good way, not to mean “reform judaism” which is a heresy to religious Jews). He amplified teachings that were altready current in Judaism, but which people had forgotten about, and Mt 6 is one of them.

It amazes me how much of Jewish teaching I see in the pages of the Christian testament…I’ve often joked that it seems sometimes that only Jews can truly understand it fully (Jews that are knowledgeable of Judaism, anyway.)

Much of what Jesus said to his (then still mostly Jewish) followers was, IMO, an attempt to purify Jewish teachings which had become stultified in his day. He attempted to breathe new life into laws that people had started to follow by rote rather than from the heart. In that regard he was a very holy Jew.

The problem Judaism really has with him are his claims to deity, as well as the religion that arose around him, and of course, the abuses many of his later followers committed against Jews.

But as for Jesus the MAN, for the most part, educated Jews have no problem with him.

Much of what he taught was an attempt to clean up the Judaism of his day, and his parables and teachings show this, IMO.

If we were talking only about Jesus as described in Matthew your points would be stronger.

 

[CarolsDaughter]

If we were talking only about Jesus as described in Matthew your points would be stronger.

This is true. There are some things Jesus is reported to have said in the NT that sounded really horrible. I’m thinking of his comments to the Syro-Phoenician woman (referring to Gentiles as “dogs”), and also the parable about the king who asked that those who would not accept him, be brought before him and be slain in his presence, which I think is in Luke 19).

But we don’t know how much of those words attributed to him were actually said BY him. I realize for Christians the entire NT is inspired, but as for the rest of us…who knows what he actually said, and what was edited in there by others long after he died?

 

[Kaninchen]

But we don’t know how much of those words attributed to him were actually said BY him. I realize for Christians the entire NT is inspired, but as for the rest of us…who knows what he actually said, and what was edited in there by others long after he died?

and, from a previous post:

The problem Judaism really has with him are his claims to deity, as well as the religion that arose around him, and of course, the abuses many of his later followers committed against Jews.

It could be the mood I’m in at the moment, CarolsDaughter, but I kind of worry about these sorts of arguments.

I they contribute to the illusion that Judaism is, in some way, Christianity minus Jesus and Christianity is Judaism plus Jesus. That, as we know, is not the case - the two religions are paradigmatically different - the focus is different, the dynamics are different, the eschatology is entirely different. A lot of questions that Christians ask about Judaism make one pause because they verge on the meaningless from a Jewish perspective (Messiah and ‘getting to heaven’ being a good example).

Christians focus on Jesus but, I’ve come to believe, if our conversations with them follow that focus, they get to no greater understanding of Judaism as a religion, just more about ‘why Jews don’t accept Jesus’.

 

[VWcrazy]

Let me ask our Jewish members another question - along the lines of this thread. Do you think many Jews have read any of Jesus teachings? Do you think they are at least rudimentarily aware of what is contained in the New Testament?

I would like to again thank you for your answers. I really do appreciate it.

 

[Valke2]

Yes. I think most Jews are aware of some of what Jesus taught. ALthough they may not be as aware that much of what was taught was already being taught by the rabbis/pharisees.

 

[CarolsDaughter]

Let me ask our Jewish members another question - along the lines of this thread. Do you think many Jews have read any of Jesus teachings? Do you think they are at least rudimentarily aware of what is contained in the New Testament?

I would like to again thank you for your answers. I really do appreciate it.

Most Jews have probably not read the NT/teachings of Jesus. But if they were to, they would recognize many of them as coming from Jewish teachings.

Some teachings of Jesus and Paul are directly copied from Jewish teachings, for example, Galatians 3:28 where Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, bond nor free, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.

This is from the Talmud (Sanhedrin), where the rabbis say, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free, for the same Holy Spirit rests upon all who call upon God in truth”.

Paul had been a Pharisee, and so its natural he knew many rabbinical teachings from the Talmud, Kabbalah, etc and simply Christianized them!

I;m pretty unusual for a Jew in that I am very familiar with the NT and the writings of the church fathers as well, along with the teachings and history of most Christian denominations (and non-Christian religions too). This is because I’ve always been interested in other religions in my effort to understand them. I find that a genuine desire to understand other religions leads to tolerance…people tend to fear and hate what they do not understand, and this applies to Jews as well as Christians.

Many Christians I’ve met in my life often wrongly assume my interest in and knowledge of Christianity denotes a desire to convert to the religion. This is why I often remind them that interest in something, or knowledge of it, does not equate with agreement. You can seek to educate yourself, and understand something, without necessarily agreeing with it.

 

[Kaninchen]

Let me ask our Jewish members another question - along the lines of this thread. Do you think many Jews have read any of Jesus teachings? Do you think they are at least rudimentarily aware of what is contained in the New Testament?

Oh, I’m sure most Jews know (and need to know), at least, as much about the New Testament as most Christians know about the Qur’an and the Bhagavad Gita!

I’ve spent most of my life in Western Europe in an increasingly ‘post-Christian/secular’ age and one of the things that used to surprise me when I was younger was that I’d seemed to have picked up as much knowledge about Christianity by just living in a world that was still ‘culturally Christian’ as not a few people who thought of themselves as ‘Christians’.

This says nothing about me but does raise the question about the ‘rudimentary’ awareness amongst some ‘Christians’ about what is contained in the New Testament.

 

[CarolsDaughter]

I’ve been active for about 30 years in efforts to get Jewish kids out of religious cults, and yes, even mainstream Christianity.

I’ve been a volunteer countermissionary for groups such as Jews for Judaism and the National Jewish Hospitality Committee. Because of the work I have done, naturally it was necessary for me to study the NT and the history/teachings of cults and Christian denominations. This is why I know as much as I do, just so everyone knows.

I’m especially familiar with groups seeking to target Jews for conversion and deprive us of our birthright—groups such as Remnant of Israel (Catholic); Jews for Jesus (Protestant); “messianic” groups (also Protestant), and many others.