What is a Koan
Koans and parables go after a spiritual truth in a way that is meant to confuse your mind. They're certainly not simple, as children are sometimes told in the context of a Sunday school. Jesus explains that he spoke in this riddling way way purposefully, and in fact he wasn't intending to be directly understood by everyone1. Deep truths take time, and reveal themselves slowly, as flowers open slowly to the sun, and if you spend time with some of Jesus' stories, you'll find their many meanings growing on you, running around in your mind like a meme and changing it, forever and for the better. Don't take our word for it, experiment for yourself!
Jesus' Koans (Parables)
During the three years of Jesus' public ministry, he is recorded to have told at least thirty and perhaps up to seventy such stories, if you add in the non-canonical gospel parables or koans. Below are a few, for your meditation.
"a sower went forth to plant some seeds, and some fell by the side of the road and birds came to eat them. Some feel on stony ground and they withered away because they didn't have any deep earth to take root. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But some fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Let whoever has ears to hear, hear. [Matt 13]"
Seventeen of Jesus' most cutting parables that touch on social justice, power, mercy, and social station can be found only in Luke: the two debtors, the good samaritan, the rich fool, the unjust steward, and more. If you're looking for Jesus to blow your mind and open your heart, there's no better place to start than with Luke. Here are a few favorites:
| Help at Midnight [Lk 11:5-10] |
Barren Fig-Tree [Lk 13:6-8] |
Dishonest Manager [Lk 16:1-13] |
The Door Closes [Lk 13:24-30] |
| Faithful Servants [Lk 12:35-48] |
Good Samaritan [Lk 10:25-37] |
How to Be a Guest [Lk 14:7-14] |
King & Tower-Builder [Lk 14:28-32] |
| Lazarus/Rich Man [Lk 16:19-31] |
Lost Coin [Lk 15:8-10] |
Pharisee & Tax Collector [Lk 18:9-14] |
The Prodigal Son [Lk 15:11-32] |
| The Rich Fool [Lk 12:16-21] |
Servant's Reward [Lk 17:7-10] |
Two Debtors [Lk 7:41-43] |
Unjust Judge Lk 18:1-8] |
Jesus spoke in the language of his time, using vivid imagery of his time. While they all still work, and some (e.g., about the burglar2 or wicked tenants3) may work better than before, many require more of our imagination because they are so distant from our daily experience. The world's population is increasingly urban, and may not be familiar with raw salt, sheep in a flock, fig trees4 in the wild. It would be interesting to try to find new imagery for his parable about old wineskins bursting if you put new wine in it 5, or urban imagery that gets at the same truths of his rural ones about planting seeds 6.
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1Mark 4:10-12 Matt 13:10-17 Luke 8:9-10
2Regarding Burglars: Matt 24:43-44 ~ Luke 12:39-40
3Wicked tenants: Matt 21:33-44 ~ Mark 12:1-11 ~ Luke 20:9-18
4Shepherd, Sheep: Matt 18:10-14 ~ Luke 15:3-7
5Wine and wineskins: Matt 9:16-17 ~ Mark 2:21-22 ~ Luke 5:36-39
6Seeds, the planting of seeds: Matt 13:3-9, 13:18-23 ~ Mark 4.3-9, 4:13-20 ~ Luke 8:5-8,
8:11-15
