The parables of Jesus – (Part 5) – Forgiveness

Parables On Trade Life

As we should expect, Jesus based several of his parables on trade life — the Fisherman, the Trader, the Tailor, the Builder, the Pearl Merchant, etc. Amongst all Jewish families, not only was trade life not despised, but every young man was required to be proficient in some trade, like Saul (later Paul), although of good and wealthy family, was proficient at tent-making and did not despise it. One rabbi said, “He who does not teach his son a trade, is much the same as if he taught him to be a thief”.

Not only was Jesus referred to as “the carpenter’s son”, but he himself was referred to as a carpenter and it is evident from his teaching that his knowledge of that trade was quite a practical one. As a result of the foregoing, the Jews were good craftsmen and both knew and could turn out a good piece of work.

One of the commonest of occupations was that of fisherman. When Jesus was on earth, Galilee was as thickly populated as the West Riding of Yorkshire is today. Records show that the Sea of Galilee teemed with fish. For some of the Galileans the occupation of fisherman was the obvious one. At least four of the twelve Apostles were fishermen.

It would appear that Jonas and Zebedee were partners in a fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Jonas had two sons, Peter and Andrew; and Zebedee also had two sons, James and John; and these four sons were also in the business. At first sight it looks as if the personnel of that company would be greatly depleted when those four answered the call of Jesus, until we read that they left their parents “with the hired servants”. If they had “hired servants”, then with suitable adjustments, the loss of the four sons could be overcome.

How far did Jesus make use of the occupation of fishing in his illustrations and parables? When he called these brethren, he said, “Come ye after me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19), or as Luke gives it, “From henceforth thou shalt catch men”.

In Matt. 13 we have a group of seven parables and then an eighth one. The last of the seven is a summary of the previous six, expressed in terms of fishing. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” While this is a very short parable, it contains many vital points, such as:

• In the gospel net all classes are caught.
• In the fulness of time it is “brought to shore”.
• The judgment is implied in the sorting out.
• The good are preserved.
• The wicked are cast away.
• The time is at the end of the age, v.49.
• The angels are the agents employed for this work.
• The end of the wicked is complete annihilation.

Jesus made brief reference to the trade of the Tailor. Men tried to keep the Law in active being, and add the gospel message on to it. But Jesus points out that to do so would be like repairing something which was old and rent by adding to it a piece of new cloth — “undressed cloth” is the expression used, for the “Fuller” was another of those occupations to which brief reference is made. The old cloth was not strong enough to take the new strong cloth, which would pull away from the old material, leaving a rent which was worse than the original one.

One or two short parables deal with the trade of Building. He concludes his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5, 6 and 7) at the end of Matt. chapter 7, with the parable of the two builders. One built a house on sand and the other built his house on rock. No doubt the first builder would get on quicker initially, and equally, when completed, both houses probably looked much alike. Until the storm came, and both buildings were tested. The choice if the one who built upon rock was fully justified: no matter how violent the storm, his building withstood it. But the other? “The fall of that house was great” — utterly unable to withstand the storm — the foundations were non-existent — the house just collapsed.

And Jesus said, life is like that. Listen to what I have to say, and then put it into practice and all is well.

If, on the other hand, we are NOT prepared to follow his instructions and do them, when the storms of life come we are unable to meet them, and disaster results. It is surprising how much of the teaching of Jesus has to do with daily life. His instructions are practical if only we are prepared to follow them out.

This is further illustrated with his parable of Building a Tower (Luke 14:28-30). Initially Pilate was the builder, and he commenced a tower but had not sufficient funds to finish it, so Jesus advises us to do what Pilate failed to do — before commencing any project, sit down and count the cost, whether we can finish it.

To begin a thing is easy, but when the initial interest and enthusiasm has worn off, what then? Can we go forward and complete it, or shall we be an example of one unable to finish what they had begun? The especial reference is, of course, in the acceptance of his call “Follow me”. It is the one who endures to the end who will be saved, and this “agonising” is vitally necessary in order that when life gets to the “hum-drum” stage, we can still, with sufficient drive and enthusiasm, press onwards to the end of the course — as Paul puts it, “that I may complete my course with joy”.

The Pearl Merchant is the subject of one of the parables of Matt. 13. This trade was a very lucrative one. Luxurious living in the Roman Empire had achieved an unprecedented height, and one writer says, “The pearl became an article of commerce which they had never seen before, and probably never since… ” Matt. 13:45-46 reads, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it”. This is another of those short parables which are so full of meaning. There are two possible keys to the meaning of it.

Is Jesus the pearl merchant? If so, the pearl itself can represent his church “with his own blood he sought her, and for her life he died”. The merchant heard of one pearl of great value, and to obtain it, it was necessary to sacrifice all else and give all that he had to obtain it. This is just what Jesus did. He gave all that he had, even to life itself, in order that he might redeem the church which finally was to be his bride.

But does the pearl merchant represent the “Truth”? If so, it is certainly priceless.

Are we the pearl merchant, and have realised that this pearl is of paramount value, for there is only one like it? There is only one Truth. But the price? What are we prepared to give to get it? Are we prepared to give all that we have, for that is the price of it, and the words in this parable mean all that they say. It does mean relinquishing all else that we may possess it.

It means complete renunciation, nothing less than complete dedication can meet the case.

But if we are finally successful, the life for evermore which will be ours, will have been cheap at the price.

It means that this pearl is worth more than all the others put together. The merchant sold all that he had and bought it. It is a great decision, to be weighed up carefully, but once decided, to be followed out with all our determination, resolution and strength of will, without faltering or any regrets for what we have sacrificed in order to get it. This is one of the shortest of the parables, but none has more meaning or is more important.

In addition to the complete parables that Jesus gave, frequently he made incidental allusions to various trade customs. Those invited to the banquet in Luke 14:18-19, “with one accord began to make excuse” and these excuses consisted of references to the various trades in which they were engaged.

One said he had bought a field, and to him it was far more important to go and see this field rather than accept the invitation to a feast. The excuse is obviously very “thin”, for whoever would buy a field without inspecting it first rather than after the purchase was completed?

Another advanced the excuse of having bought five yoke of oxen, and he produced an equally “thin” excuse of having to go and try them. A third one proffered the excuse “I have married a wife; therefore I cannot come”. They all preferred the things which are temporal to the things which are eternal.

Sometimes in trade life men tried to serve two masters, probably being dismissed by both when it was discovered. This was the portion of the unjust steward in Luke 16:1-9. In this case, the two whom it is impossible to serve are God and mammon (or riches)). One alone can be served, but to try to serve both, results in serving neither.

Again the incidental reference to the Corn Merchant is full of meaning. Like almost all trades, deception could be practised in it, and the experienced buyer required that the corn in the measure should be shaken together, filled up again, then with the hands it had to be pressed down and finally a cone built on top until it could hold no more.

In Matt. 7:2 Jesus emphasises “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you”, and in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom”. Obviously, this refers to many things in life, and the Lord is not the only one who “loves a cheerful giver”. In the same way the apostle Paul uses the figure of the harvest — abundant sowing gives an abundant harvest, but scanty sowing can only give a meagre harvest. He commends the Corinthians that “First of all you gave yourselves”, and that is a giving to the Lord which far transcends the giving of gold and silver. That is just what the Lord did — he gave himself, and Peter exhorts us to follow his steps.

Trade life then, was similar to what it is today. In certain aspects it cannot change. No matter how excellent the product is which is being marketed, unless the balance sheet is kept in mind no business can be a success, and bankruptcy can easily result. Because of this aspect, we find one or two parables are based on debtors who were bankrupt. They were unable to meet their obligations, the kitty was empty and they had to go and make their lamentable confessions.

When the disciples came with the request, “Lord, teach us to pray, like John taught his disciples” (have we thought of John in that capacity?) Jesus gave them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. In that prayer, the only request with a condition attached to it, is, “Forgive us our debts even as we forgive those who are debtors unto us”, and later, in commenting on this, Jesus said, “Unless you forgive those who are debtors unto you, neither will your heavenly father forgive you your debts”. No doubt Peter thought his question “Unto seven. times?” was the height of magnanimity. Jesus said, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven”.

So Jesus gave the parable of the two debtors (Luke 7:41-43), “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave more. And be said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged”.

This parable was occasioned in the house of Simon when the woman crept in and anointed the feet of Jesus, and bedewed them with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. The unspoken thoughts of Simon were answered by Jesus with this parable, with the lesson extracted from the unwilling Simon. Who would love most? “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave most”. Then the pronouncement “I tell you her sins which are many are forgiven her, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little loves little”. Then he tells the woman (and how her heart would be lifted up at the words) “Your sins are forgiven you, your faith has saved you, go in peace”.

In the sight of Jesus we are all unprofitable servants, but we rejoice that his love is infinite, as is also his mercy — “his abundant mercy” Peter describes it. It matters not whether our shortcomings are in the 50 or in the 500 class, his love and his mercy are sufficient to cover both, providing, recognising our bankruptcy, we come to him in the right spirit. With us, as with them, “he freely forgave them both”, and we are given to understand that the sentiment behind those words is something like this: “What is a small matter like 500 pence between you and me? Forget all about it!” How comforting! The right emphasis on the parallel necessity of forgiving others is given in the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:23-35). Read this parable carefully. The one debtor owed his Lord the impossible sum of 10,000 talents. A gold talent is approximately 144 pounds avoirdupois in weight, and today’s value is (at £77 per ounce) approximately £180,000 per talent. We leave it to the imagination what 10,000 talents is worth (we have run out of noughts!).

This vast sum represents our (yours, mine!) debts to God.

When the man had received this colossal forgiveness, he went out and seeing his fellow servant who owed him 100 pence (about £10 at today’s values) he took him by the throat threatening him with the direst penalties unless he repaid it immediately! When this rank injustice was reported to their Lord, he reversed his previous decision, committing the unforgiving one to the mercies of the Law! The lesson needs no emphasis.

Such are the parables on Trade Life, of which, as we have seen, Jesus made frequent use.