CLOTHED AND IN MY RIGHT MIND

PART 6 – KEEPING IT TOGETHER

Chapter 33 – STORIES WITHIN STORIES

 

Our first assignment overseas with Wycliffe was to learn and analyse the language of San Jeronimo Mazatec, situated high in the mountains at the northern edge of Oaxaca State, Mexico.

​

After I had learned enough of the language to start putting sentences together and engaging in simple conversations, I decided to try and analyse a simple story which one of my Mazatec friends had recorded for me. I thought it should be relatively easy, as Mazatec sentences, so I thought, consisted at most of just three elements, for example:

​

Our landlord (subject)     rented us (verb phrase)         a house (object)

Our house (subject)         is situated (verb phrase)       at the top of a hill (place)

​

However the story which I was looking at didn’t seem to follow the rules – in fact the whole story all seemed to run together in one single sentence. My hypothesis must have been seriously wrong. I initially gave up trying to analyse the story as I couldn’t make out what was going on, but when I returned to look at it a year or so later, when my language ability had improved somewhat, I realized that the sentence structure did in fact keep to the rule. But there was one important fact that I had missed. Although no sentence in the story had more than three elements, several sentences could be stacked, or nested, inside each other, and this is what was causing the complexity.

​

And we do the same in English, all the time. For example, we could make the two sentences above into one sentence: “Our landlord rented us a house which is at the top of a hill”.

​

Actually this sentence consists of two sentences stacked inside each other The main sentence has just three elements:

​

Our landlord  (subject}       rented us (verb phrase)        a house which is at the top of a hill (object)

​

But the object contains a second nested sentence (technically a relative clause):

​

which (i.e. the house) (subject)      is (situated)] (verb)    at the top of a hill (place)

​

One quite amazing feature of human language is the way that we are able to use a limited set of grammatical patterns to build sentences of (at least in theory) infinite length, the only practical limit being our capacity to memorize and process the amount of information they contain.

​

As children, we often play linguistic games that test and develop our ability to process and memorize information using simple but repetitive grammatical patterns. I well remember birthday parties at which we played the game, “I went to town and bought …” where each person takes turns to add an item to the list.

​

“I went to town and bought a hat.”

“I went to town and bought a hat and a pair of shoes.”

“I went to town and bought a hat and a pair of shoes and a handbag.”

​

… and so on. Anyone who misses an item gets eliminated from the game. This strategy for stacking information together can be described as a “coordinate” construction. Each new piece of information adds to and complements what has gone before, and each piece of new information has equal value. We can easily rearrange the information in the sentence (“I went to town and bought a handbag and a hat and a pair of shoes.”) and the overall meaning would remain unchanged.

​

The nursery rhyme “This is the house that Jack built” demonstrates another way to stack information together in a single sentence.

​

[ This is the cat

[ that killed the rat

[ that ate the malt

[ that lay in the house

[ that Jack built. ] ] ] ] ]

​

Of course there is more to add to the rhyme, and in theory there is no limit to the number of times we can carry on the same strategy of nesting one sentence inside another.

​

                “This is the dog that chased the cat…”

                “This is the cow that kicked the dog that chased the cat…”

​

The only limit is the amount that our brain is able to remember. And that’s part of the fun – seeing if we can get to the end of the rhyme without losing track of the story.

​

We could easily rearrange the information into a number of separate, coordinated sentences: “This is the cat… the cat killed the rat… the rat ate the malt… the malt lay in the house… Jack built the house.” But the nested construction reflects a much stronger and essential relationship between each layer in the structure. We could see each sentence in this nursery rhyme as a little story in itself, with each story ending up as part of a bigger story, which itself is part of a bigger story… and so on. And unlike the example with coordinate structure, we can’t change the order of information without changing the sense of the story. Consider for example the following re-ordering:

​

“This is the cat that ate the malt that killed the rat that lay in the house that Jack built.”

​

The rearranged information makes much less sense – unless of course the malt is poisoned, in which case, if the cat also ate the malt that killed the rat, does the cat go the same way as the rat? If not why not?!! There may well be a story here – but it’s not the same story, and probably not the subject for a children’s nursery rhyme! Maybe if Beatrix Potter had ever tried her hand at writing a murder mystery…

​

 

The nested structure of Biblical narrative

​

When I started learning the stories of the Bible at Sunday School, I naturally added story to story without any understanding of the relationship between one and the other. The structure was coordinate, just like “I went to town and bought…” except this was “I went to Sunday School and learned… the story of Noah and the flood… and the story of David and Goliath… and the parable of the lost sheep… and Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

​

Much later I learned that the ordering of the stories was significant, and that the position that they held within the Biblical “Grand Narrative” made a tremendous difference to their meaning and interpretation.

​

The figure below shows the position of the parable of the Good Samaritan within the overall nested structure of the Biblical narrative. The different layers of subordinate structure shown are not intended to be exclusive or definitive – there may well be other potential layers that I have not identified here. But the point is, that at each level in the structure, the meaning and interpretation of the particular segment depends essentially on where it fits in the layer above. As we have already seen, the parable of the Good Samaritan must be understood as an answer to question posed by the Teacher of the Law. That conversation between Jesus and the Teacher has added significance when placed within the context of Jesus final journey to Jerusalem (along the Jericho Road) and approaching the final climax of his ministry on earth. And the nature and purpose of Jesus ministry, and his approaching passion in Jerusalem, must be seen against the complete tapestry of God’s purposes for mankind and the resolution of the rift in that relationship that was prepared in Christ from the very beginning of the Biblical story…

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Gen 3:15 NIV)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

LEVEL 1

The “Grand Narrative” of Scripture begins with the story of Creation and ends with the creation of the new heavens and earth in the book of Revelation.

 

LEVEL 2

The climax of this Grand Narrative comes with the story of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection as told in the Gospels.

                              

LEVEL 3

The Gospel story can be broken down into a number of separate episodes. One significant episode (in Luke’s account) is Jesus’ final journey from Galilee, through Samaria and Jericho, towards Jerusalem, where he knows he faces arrest, trial and crucifixion.

 

LEVEL 4

Along this journey, Jesus is confronted by the Teacher of the Law, who asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

​

LEVEL 5

And Jesus conversation with the Teacher of the Law includes the parable of the Good Samaritan.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

You have probably heard the advice; when you are looking at the meaning of a particular verse or passage, always read what comes immediately before, and what comes after. But that only addresses the coordinate relationships. What comes immediately before the meeting with the Teacher of the Law (in Luke’s account) is the return of the 72 disciples whom Jesus sent ahead to prepare the way for his journey. What comes after is Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha. There is no obvious connection between these three individual stories unless we set each of them in the context of Jesus approaching death in Jerusalem.

​

But when we consider the subordinate structure – that these three scenes (and in fact all the material from Luke 9:51 to 10:42) takes place during Jesus’ final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, we can identify a common thread that pulls these scenes together and gives a context that can inform our understanding of the individual scenes that make up this particular series.

​

Note that this series is marked out by “book-ends” that identify the opening and closing of the episode:

• The opening to the sequence is clearly signaled by the indication that Jesus “sets out” on his journey to Jerusalem.

• And the journey concludes with Jesus arriving in Bethany, which is just outside Jerusalem by the Mount of Olives. It is from Bethany that Jesus arranges his “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem

 

​

Prelude  9:51

​As the time approaches for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely sets out for Jerusalem.

 

Scene 1  9:52-56

As he needs to travel through Samaria, Jesus sends messengers on ahead to one of the Samaritan villages in order to get things ready for him. When the Samaritans in this village learn that he is going to Jerusalem they refuse to welcome him. James and John ask Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" But Jesus rebukes them, and they stay in another village instead.

 

Scene 2  9:57-62

Jesus warns potential followers of the challenges of discipleship.

"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

 

Scene 3  10:1-11

Jesus appoints seventy-two of his followers and sends them ahead of him, two by two, to every town and place where he was about to go.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves… “

 

Scene 4  10:12-16

Jesus delivers a severe warning to those Jewish communities who reject him as Messiah. He tells the disciples that they will in future act as his representatives, and that those who reject them and their ministry will be guilty of rejecting him, and the father who sent him.

"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

 

Scene 5  10:17-20

The seventy-two disciples return from their mission and report back to Jesus. Jesus tells them,

 “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

 

Scene 6  10:21-24

Jesus clearly reveals his divine nature and his one-ness with the Father

 “ No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

 

Scene 7  10:25-37

Jesus’ confrontation with the Teacher of the Law – the parable of the Good Samaritan

 

Scene 8  10:38-42

Jesus and his disciples arrive at Bethany (just outside Jerusalem). Jesus spends time with Mary and Martha (whose brother Lazarus was raised from the dead).

​

Note that Luke’s account (i.e. the Gospel as a whole) does not always follow chronological sequencing. After this sequence of events, Luke moves into a series of teaching episodes that are neither time nor place dependent. Luke 11:1 “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place” (i.e. when and where are not relevant). These episodes are arranged topically rather than chronologically and may be drawn from different periods in Jesus’ ministry.

In Luke 18:31 Luke switches back from teaching to narrative, and revisits Jesus’ final journey, giving a parallel account of the same journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, but including a different set of events. We will briefly compare the two accounts below.

​

First, let’s look at the final journey episode in 9:51 – 10:42,  and note that we can identify two significant issues that tie the scenes together:

​

1. RELATIONSHIPS:

We see Jesus encountering different people and communities and addressing their relationship with him as the chosen Messiah – the consequences of rejecting him and the privileges and responsibilities of following him as disciples.

​

Scene 1                  His relationship with the Samaritans

Scene 2, 3, 5         His relationship with his disciples

Scene 4                  His relationship with the Jewish nation

Scene 6                  His relationship with the Father, and his position as mediator

between the Father and those who believe through him

Scene 7                  His relationship with the Teacher of the Law

Scene 8                  His relationship with Mary and Martha

​

2. PREPARATION FOR HIS COMING DEPARTURE FROM THE EARTH:

with regard to each of these relationships, Jesus is aware that his time on earth is short, and that he needs to be preparing each of these (groups of) people to face the situations and decisions that they will encounter after his death.

​

So let’s briefly look at each of these relationships and see how these two themes flow through each of the scenes in this account of Jesus final journey. I will rearrange the scenes somewhat to be able to compare and contrast the different encounters more easily.

​

1. Jesus and the Samaritans.

Jesus is well aware of the antagonism between the Samaritans and the Jews. The antagonism was so severe that most Jews would cross from Galilee to the east bank of the Jordan and bypass Samaria before crossing back into Judea. So Jesus would not have been at all surprised when the first village he intended to visit refused to welcome him. The fact that he was heading for Jerusalem (enemy headquarters!) would just have made things worse. Jesus rebuked the disciples for their extreme reaction and chose simply to carry on to another village who were prepared to accept him.

​

Jesus has a very different attitude towards the Samaritans that did his fellow Jews – or even his disciples. Jesus is prepared to show longsuffering and to hold off his anger against those who rejected him (on this occasion) as he knows it is the Father’s plan to include the Samaritans in his kingdom. Jesus specifically includes Samaria in his instructions to the disciples before his ascension:

​

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Act 1:8 NIV)

​

And we find that he sends his Holy Spirit on the Samaritan believers in Acts 8:17, as a confirmation that it was indeed his purpose to include the Samaritan people in the Kingdom of God.

​

2. Jesus and the Jews

Jesus is far harsher on the Jewish nation than he is on the Samaritans. The Jews were God’s chosen people, and they should have recognized Jesus as their chosen Messiah, but even though God has prepared his people through the Scriptures, and the words of the prophets, Jesus “came to those who were his own people, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11). Jesus warns the Jewish people that if they reject him, they reject the Father who sent him, and their punishment will be much greater than that of those Gentile nations who did not have the same opportunities and privileges that the Jewish people had.

​

Again Jesus is anticipating the future history of the church following his death and resurrection. As Paul found, time and time again, although he always went first to the synagogue and preached to the Jewish community, the majority rejected Jesus as their Messiah, while the Gentile church grew and spread throughout the New Testament world (and still grows today).

​

3. Jesus and the Father

Jesus’ declaration of his relation with the Father carries a number of very critical implications, all of which have to do with relationships:

• It implies his divine nature, and his equality with the Father, “…”

• But at the same it indicates that Jesus’ ministry involves obedience and submission to the Father’s plan, .”

• His oneness with the Father, and his obedience to the Fathers plan and purpose for his ministry on earth, form the basis for establishing a relationship between the Father, and those

• In amazing contrast to the pain and suffering that Jesus is facing very soon, Jesus expresses an immense sense of joy- “” – because God has chosen to reveal the “hidden things” (the plan that the Father has for the salvation of the world) to the “weak” – the simple, non-intellectual, common people, and to hide it from the wise and learned. The knowledge of God’s salvation comes through divine revelation, not by human wisdom.

• There is one further implication that hinges on the fact that Jesus is coming to the crisis stage of his ministry. Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, among other things, reveals the extent of the physical and spiritual agony of Jesus’ passion experience. But he is upheld and sustained through that experience by the knowledge – the joy!! – that his ministry is being accomplished, and that his death will result in the salvation of many, and that those who come to the Father through faith in him will join him around the Father’s throne. Jesus would never have endured the cross without that relationship.

 

4. Jesus and the disciples

In the three scenes identified above, Jesus is preparing the disciples (real and potential) for the cost and the responsibilities of discipleship.

​

In scene 2 he is warning potential disciples of the cost of discipleship – brought into sharper focus by the fact the Jesus himself is about to pay the ultimate price. The disciple must be prepared to follow Jesus whatever the cost. There is no turning back for Jesus, despite the extent of the sacrifice required, and the disciple must also be prepared to suffer as his master suffered, without looking back, or seeking a way out. Jesus knows that his disciples will face hardship and persecution, and must be ready to obey his commission whatever the sacrifice involved.

​

In scene 3 and 5 Jesus sends out the seventy two to put their discipleship to the test, to learn by sharp experience that they can work miracles and accomplish the impossible in the name of Jesus. "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

​

But coming back to our theme, Jesus reminds them that relationship is more important than results. “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

​

5. Jesus and the Teacher of the Law

As we saw in chapter 31, Jesus doesn’t just challenge the Teacher of the law to change his attitude towards his neighbours – even the Samaritans – to change his relationship with Jesus himself. By identifying Jesus as the central figure in the parable, we can understand Jesus saying to the Teacher, in coded language, “I know you see me as your enemy, I know that you are on the side of those who are seeking to have me arrested, condemned to a cruel death, but I challenge you – don’t turn your back on me and reject me like the Priests and the Pharisees – see me as the suffering servant, share my suffering, come and follow me.”

​

Jesus is giving the Teacher a chance to change sides, to change his relationship, before it’s too late.

​

6. Jesus, Mary and Martha

Jesus didn’t go to the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany just for the sake of convenience. Jesus had a very special friendship and intimate emotional attachment to Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus, as we saw from the story of Lazarus’s resurrection in chapter 28. This is Jesus’ final opportunity to visit with Mary and Martha and savour their friendship and fellowship before his inevitable confrontation with the religious authorities, his arrest, trial and crucifixion. We might have expected Jesus to spend the nights at Mary and Martha’s home, returning to the city to preach and teach during the day, but Luke tells us that, “Jesus spent those final days in Jerusalem, teaching at the temple. Each evening he went out from the city to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives.” (Luke 21:37). So this really was Jesus’ final “Goodbye” – at least in his mortal body.

​

So what Jesus really desires from this last visit together is the time to sit, relax, enjoy one another’s company and fellowship, and prepare Mary and Martha, as best he can, for the coming time of trial. Perhaps Mary captures Jesus’ pensive mood better than Martha. Martha is concerned about practical things – making sure her home is clean and tidy for visitors, preparing the evening meal. But Mary senses this is the calm before the storm, and she needs to make the most of this last opportunity to spend time with their friend and beloved Saviour.

​

Note how we need to consider both the coordinate and the subordinate relationships between these elements of the narrative in order to capture these various insights. But the subordinate structure – the fact that each individual encounter fits into the larger “last journey to Jerusalem” episode – is by far the most enlightening, and it enables us to identify the themes (cementing relations, preparing for departure) which tie the individual scenes together.

​

As already mentioned. in Luke 18:31 we switch back from teaching to narrative, and Luke returns to the final journey, giving a parallel account of the same journey, but including a different set of events:

 

Prelude  18:31-34

Jesus tells the disciples,

"We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled...”

 

Scene 1  18:35-43

As they approach Jericho, Jesus heals a blind man.

 

Scene 2  19:1-27

In Jericho, Jesus meets Zacchaeus… tells the parable of the 10 talents.

 

Scene 3  19:28-31

Jesus continues his journey as far as Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, and arranges for his entry into Jerusalem.

 

​It’s not difficult to understand why Luke backs up and repeats his account of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, as there has been such an extended teaching interlude, and he needs to back up and reset the narrative context before continuing into Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and events of the final passion week – but at the same time Luke avoids unnecessary repletion by including events that were omitted in his first account of the journey.

Note that both of Luke’s parallel accounts are “bookended” by the same material.

Both accounts begin with Jesus’ decision to make the journey to Jerusalem, knowing what waits for him on his arrival:

9:51       As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

18:31    Jesus told the disciples, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the

prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled...”

 

And both accounts lead up to Jesus’ arrival in Bethany (though in the second telling, Jesus visit to the home of Mary and Martha is not mentioned).

 

But in between, Luke recalls a different set of events, and it’s evident that Luke has a different set of issues in mind, compared with his first account of the journey in 9:51-10:52. In this second account, he focuses more on practical action and demonstration of Jesus’ saving power. Even the parable (of the talents) is a call to practical action, to recognize our responsibility to put to good use the gifts and abilities that God has entrusted to us.

​

These two accounts could well be understood as two different historic episodes, if it were not for the “bookends” that confirm he is in both cases referring to the same journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. This warns us that we must distinguish between the “history” – the historical sequence of events that underlies the account – and the “story” which the narrator intends to tell us. The narrator will inevitably select and arrange episodes from the underlying historical, chronological narrative to emphasize the themes and truths that they especially wish to convey to the audience.

​

And as this is true at the micro level (what does Luke want us to understand about Jesus and his ministry from each of these two “stories” extracted from the same historical journey?), it applies at the macro-level (what does Luke want to convey about the life of Christ, as oppose to Mark, Matthew and John?) and it applies to the “Grand Narrative” of the Bible as a whole.

​

John tells us that “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25 NIV). So we have to recognize that every event and every word of teaching and instruction included in the Gospel accounts has been chosen (by the Gospel writers, and ultimately by the Spirit who inspired them) for a special reason. And this only refers to the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry in the Gospels! To take account of every historical event that ever happened from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation would require the entire universe!!

​

But seriously, understanding the larger context of any narrative episode in Scripture will always help us to recognize the reasons underlying the choice of individual episodes that make up that larger narrative.

 

Questions for further study and discussion

​

1. Look back at the story of Judah and Tamar which we discussed in chapter 12.

• Sketch out a plan of the different narrative levels into which the passage fits, as we did above for the parable of the Good Samaritan.

• Why is this story inserted at this point in the larger Joseph narrative?

• What does the story have to tell us regarding God’s purposes for the OT people of Israel?

• How does it add to our understanding of God’s purpose of salvation in the Grand Narrative of Scripture?

 

2. Now go back to the story of Ruth and Naomi in chapter 8.

• Sketch out a plan of the different narrative levels into which the passage fits.

• How does the story of Ruth and Naomi throw light on the period of the Judges in which it took place?

• Ruth, like Tamar, is mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:3,5). Why are these stories so important that Ruth and Tamar get the honour of inclusion in the genealogical record?

• What does the story tell us about the larger purpose of God’s plan of salvation for mankind?

 

3. When our daughter first started reading through the Bible, she added a general comment against the title of

each book. When she got to Ecclesiastes, she just wrote one word, “Depressing”!! Think of any passage in the Bible that has made you wonder, “Why is this story (passage, Book of the Bible) included in the Grand Narrative of Scripture?”

• Sketch out a plan of the different narrative levels into which the passage fits.

• How does this help you to understand where the passage fits into the larger narrative context?

• Using the principles we have discussed in this final chapter, take the time to revisit the passage, and to figure out why it is included, what are the essential lessons that the author (human or divine) wanted us to learn from it, how it adds to our overall understand of God’s character, of the relationship that he intends us to have with him.