|
by
Doug Ward |
To explain the place of Jesus in Israel's story, the writers of the New
Testament made frequent reference to the Hebrew Scriptures, following the
example of Jesus himself. Some of these scriptural references are direct
quotations, while many others are indirect allusions. The more aware we are of
these references, the deeper our understanding of the passages in which they
appear.
As
an example, consider the parable of the tenants, recorded in Matt 21:33-44,
Mark 12:1-11, and Luke 20:9-18. This parable contains a scriptural quotation
and several clear allusions.
Jesus'
parable begins with a man who "planted a vineyard and put a fence around
it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants
and went into another country" (Mark 12:1). The description here reminds
us of Isa 5:1-7, which pictures the people of Israel as a vineyard lovingly
nurtured and developed by God (see also Ps 80:8-16; Jer
2:21). Based on the connection with Isa 5, we anticipate that the vineyard
owner in Mark 12:1 represents God, while the vineyard again is Israel.
In
Isa 5 the nation of Israel faces divine judgment for failing to bear good
fruit. In the parable Israel's leaders, represented by the tenants who manage
the vineyard for the owner, are singled out for rebuke. When the owner sends
servants to collect fruit from the vineyard, the tenants beat or kill them
(Mark 12:2-5). This part of the parable refers to the times when God sent
prophets to correct Israel, and those prophets were either abused (Jer 20:1-2; 37:15) or put to death (1 Kings 18:4,13; Jer 26:20-23; 2 Chron 24:21-22).
Finally
the owner sends "a beloved son" (Mark 12:6). The phrase "beloved
son" recalls the way that God addressed Jesus at his baptism and
transfiguration (Mark 1:11; 9:7), making clear that the son in the parable
represents Jesus. This phrase also connects Jesus with Isaac, a beloved son who
was to be sacrificed (Gen 22:2,12); with the Davidic
king in Ps 2:7; and with the beloved messianic Servant in Isa 42:1.
When
the owner's son arrives at the vineyard, the tenants say, "This is the
heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours" (Mark
12:7). The Greek words for "come, let us kill him" in Mark 12:7 are
identical to those used in the Septuagint translation of Gen 37:20, where
Joseph's brothers plot to kill him. The allusion to Gen 37 in the parable
associates Jesus with Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and
spent years as a prisoner, but he later rose to be a prominent official in
Egypt and saved many lives during a famine. Analogously, Jesus would be turned
over to Romans authorities and killed, but he then would rise from the dead for
the salvation of the world.
After
the tenants kill the son, the vineyard owner "will come and destroy the
tenants and give the vineyard to others" (Mark 12:9). This implies that it
is the leaders opposing Jesus who will be rejected by God, not Israel as a
whole. Jesus states that the parable illustrates Ps 118:22-23: "The stone
that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." The fact that Jesus would be
rejected and subsequently exalted was no surprise to God, but instead was part
of God's eternal plan, recorded in scripture centuries before.
In
Luke's Gospel the parable includes an additional biblical allusion. Speaking of
the stone of Psalm 118, Jesus adds, "Everyone who falls on that stone will
be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." This
saying, which refers to Isa 8:14-15 and Dan 2:35,44,
implies that Jesus and the Kingdom of God will conquer all opposition.
|
The
Parable in the Gospel of Thomas |
The scriptural references in the parable of the tenants help us to interpret
the parable and understand the role of Jesus in God's plan. We can especially
appreciate the value of these references if we see what the parable would be
like without them. In fact, such a version of the parable appears in the Gospel
of Thomas, an apocryphal Christian work compiled in the middle to late second
century A.D.1
The
Gospel of Thomas consists of 114 sayings, described as "hidden words that
the living Jesus spoke." Some of the sayings are familiar from the
canonical Gospels, while others are quite cryptic and sound more like the words
of a Zen Master than those of a Jewish rabbi. For instance, here is saying 112:
"Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul; woe to the soul that depends
on the flesh."
Gospel
of Thomas 65 is a short version of the parable of the tenants: "He said: A
good man had a vineyard. He gave it to tenants that they might cultivate it and
he might receive its fruit from them. He sent his servant so that the tenants
might give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant and beat him;
a little more and they would have killed him. The servant came and told it to
his master. His master said, Perhaps he did not know them. He sent another
servant; the tenants beat him as well. Then the master sent his son. He said,
Perhaps they will respect my son. Since those tenants knew that he was the heir
of the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. He who has ears, let him
hear."
If
we were not already familiar with the parable from the canonical Gospels, we
would have more difficulty interpreting saying 65. Saying 66 adds,
"Show me the stone which the builders rejected. It is the
cornerstone." Without the scriptural allusions in Mark 12:1-12, it is not
so clear how sayings 65 and 66 might be connected.
The
omission of scriptural allusions in saying 65 seems to be deliberate. The
Gospel of Thomas in general lacks interest in the Hebrew Scriptures, as
evidenced by saying 52: "His disciples said to him, Twenty-four prophets
spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke in you. He said to them, You have omitted the one living in your presence and have
spoken [only] of the dead." Twenty four was a traditional count for the
number of books in the Hebrew Scriptures (see 4 Ezra 14:45). Saying 52
dismisses these books as irrelevant, the words of the dead rather than of the
living Jesus.
The
Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas is a promulgator of enigmatic sayings who has no
real connection to the Hebrew Scriptures or the Jewish people. The canonical
Gospels, on the other hand, reveal the true Jesus as Son of the God of Israel,
master teacher and interpreter of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the one in whom
those Scriptures are fulfilled.
1Richard
B. Hays contrasts the canonical and Gospel of Thomas versions on pp. 9-12 of Reading
Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness, Baylor
University Press, 2014.
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