The Rich Man and Lazarus

Scholars tell us of two ancient stories that resonate with this parable of Jesus. One is Egyptian. The other rabbinical. The former is about the reversal of fortunes in the afterlife. The latter was about Abraham's servant Eleazar (Lazarus in Greek) who walked the earth in disguise to check on Abraham's children's observance of God's command to care for orphans, widows, strangers, and the poor.

In Jesus's parable Lazarus wasn't in disguise. He was so poor, sick, and starving that his plight was described by Abraham as evil. He was in such misery and dehumanizing state that his company was wild street dogs. He died and was not buried. Being buried is the last act of human decency that societies have practiced for millenia. Lazarus died and no one was around to bury him.

The rich man feasted every day. He died. He was buried. I'm sure in grand fashion. With scores of professional crying ladies.

Today, many people find dogs better company than their fellow human beings. Unfortunately, thousands still starve to death every single day. And one nation, which prides itself Christian, has enough resources to feed 40 billion people. That's 6 times the population of the world.

The Two Debtors

Most of us know what debts and mounting debts do to people. Whether we are  talking about those who need to borrow their most basic needs, like rice and dried fish, from the village sari-sari store or the millions in our country whose livelihood depends on the 5-6 lending system, debts impoverish and dehumanize people.

And empire thrives on debt. Then and now. Thus it should not surprise us when the Jubilee (Leviticus 25) and Jesus's Prayer (Matthew 6 and Luke 11) both demand debt cancellation.

The Parable of the Two Debtors paints another picture of the situation of the majority in first century Palestine. The denarius represented subsistence wage. The amount enough for one person to survive for one day. One owed 500 denarii. That's bread barely enough to last a year and a half. Longer if one bought barley. The other owed 50, bread barely enough to last two months.

Both debts were cancelled. This is good news to the poor!

For people who live from one day to the next, then and now, the prayer has not changed: "give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts."

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Pharisees loved God and country, were very religious, highly trained, upright, (remember that Paul was a Pharisee), and totally against Roman Occupation.

In the parable, he was telling the truth. Everything he said in his prayer was true.

Tax collectors were probably the most hated people during Jesus’s time. They worked for Rome and were considered collaborators and traitors.

In the parable, everything he said in his prayer was also true.

Both men were truthful. What's the difference?

The tax collector judged himself and found himself needing God's mercy. The pharisee judged the tax collector and found the tax collector needing God's mercy.

Then and now, we all need God's mercy.

The Parable of the Net

Farmers and fisher-folk made up the majority of the poor during Jesus’s time. Nothing has changed.

When Jesus called his first disciples, who were all fisher-folk, they were mending their nets.

Why? Because life was tough for regular fisher-folk under Roman Occupation. There were taxes on nets, taxes on boats, taxes on almost everything. Common folk had to shell out up to 55 percent of their income on taxes and tithes. And there were the huge trawlers. Nothing has really changed.

Fisher-folk know what drag nets do. You bring in everything the net catches to the shore. And you separate the catch. What can be eaten, what can be sold, what needs to be thrown back into the sea.

With practically no fish to catch, Jesus challenged them to be fishers of people. Fisher-folk know how to separate the catch. We have much to learn from them.

The Laborers in the Vineyard

Why do we always identify the rich landowner with God? Why do we call his actions acts of benevolence and grace? Why do we always take the side of the rich and the powerful?

And worse, why do we demonize the grumbling day laborers?

A denarius was subsistence wage. It could buy a measure of wheat. One day's worth for one person. Or three measures of barley, enough for three people for one day. Just bread. Nothing else.

During Jesus’s time, half of the population was slowly starving to death. During Jesus’s time 15% of the population were day laborers. They survived from one day to the next.

The Parable is not about God or God's grace. It's about the rich's greed. It's about divide and conquer. It's about taking advantage of those whose only hope is God. It's about the Consunjis, Cojuangcos, Sys, Tans, Gokongweis, and Ayalas of Jesus's time.

It's about the Gospel of the Rich.

The Yeast

When we were very young, my siblings, cousins, and I enjoyed going to the bakery. (Actually I still do.) We would go very early in the mornings to watch the bakers do their thing. The smell of freshly baked bread is wonderful. We would be fascinated by how the dough rose as if by magic. I can imagine young Jesus and his friends doing the same thing. Fascinated by the rising dough as the bread was baked fresh in the village's shared oven.

Eventually we all learned it was not magic. It was yeast.

Archeologist have discovered bread with yeast that's over 4000 years old. Moreover, yeast is a living organism, breathing in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide.

Just the tiniest amount is needed to bake bread. Like the tiniest amount of salt is needed to add flavor to food or to preserve it. Like the tiniest mustard seed grows big to offer shade and a home for birds.

Like what tiny tax collector Zacchaeus did. Giving half of his possessions to the poor and paying back four times everyone he cheated.

The Pearl and the Hidden Treasure

Most of you know these parables. Scholars call it twin parables. Wealthy men find things of immense value that "they sell everything they have" to possess the pearl for one, a hidden treasure for the other.

Pearls were most valued in Antiquity. Actually until the 19th century when diamonds replaced them.

The key to understanding the parables are the words inside the quotation marks. If you read your Bible, then you know those are the words Jesus says to the rich man who wanted to follow him. Sell everything you have, give the proceeds to the poor....

The rich man goes away sad. The rich men in the twin parables, after selling everything they had, go away joyful!

Jesus's challenge to the rich has not changed.