Intersections: Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Another well-recognized phrase that we think was first heard in the Sermon on the Mount? Think again.

Here is one of the greatest medieval Jewish sage’s comment on Exodus 4:14: Rashi explains that the import of the word eh-heh-yeh – I Shall Be – is as follows, "I shall be with them in this sorrow as I shall be with them in other sorrows." According to the Midrash, Moshe responds with "An evil in its own time is enough."

Please note that I am not saying that Jesus was laying a false claim to originality in any of these instances. Rather it is that he was reminding his students of precepts they should be recognizing. This, I think, puts it in a perspective that is even more instructive than the traditional Christian one.

Intersections: Parables and their purpose

Matthew 22:1-14  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding …So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few [are] chosen.

Johanan b. Zakkai illustrates the necessity of daily conversion and of constant readiness to appear before God in heaven by the following parable: "A king invited his servants to a banquet without stating the exact time at which it would be given. Those who were wise remembered that all things are ever ready in the palace of a king, and they arrayed themselves and sat by the palace gate awaiting the call to enter, while those who were foolish continued their customary occupations, saying, ‘A banquet requires great preparation.’ When the king suddenly called his servants to the banquet, those who were wise appeared in clean raiment and well adorned, while those who were foolish came in soiled and ordinary garments. The king took pleasure in seeing those who were wise, but was full of anger at those who were foolish, saying that those who had come prepared for the banquet should sit down and eat and drink, but that those who had not properly arrayed themselves should stand and look on" (Shab. 153a).

Matthew 13:10-11  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Ezekiel 20:49  Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

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One of the first things I noticed in reading Everyman’s Talmud was that it has long been a common rabbinical practice to teach in parables; it wasn’t just something that Jesus invented during the time of his earthly ministry. That misconception is quite understandable, consistent with the traditional Christian interpretation of Matthew 13, but it’s obviously not quite correct. Never mind that the Hebrew prophets who came before either the rabbis or Jesus also taught in parables, as the example from the book of Ezekiel shows.

My personal outlook is that Jesus, being the living Word & wisdom personified, did it a little differently, and more effectively, but even saying that much to my more tradition-bound fellow believers got me some funny looks. We’re just not used to this stuff yet.

And, just to balance things out, I should note that The Jewish Encyclopedia takes a competing viewpoint, conceding that parables were used both by their rabbis and by Jesus, but theirs were better. We all have our preferences.