The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by Grant R. Osborne

Author:Grant R. Osborne [Osborne, Grant R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Intervarsity Press - A
Published: 2006-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

6. Listener-relatedness. Listener-relatedness takes us to the heart of the parable form. Primarily Jesus intended to elicit a response from the listener, either positive or negative (see “The Purpose of Parables,” pp. 294-96). Dominic Crossan points out that this provides a basic difference between Jewish parables and those of Jesus (1973:19-21). Rabbinic stories are didactic, elaborating a specific text and illustrating a dogmatic proposition. Jesus’ parables drive home a point and elicit a response. For instance, the question parables (see point 5) drew the audience into the action via dialogue and reached them in the midst of their situation. As Blomberg says, the centrality of the audience for interpreting the parables is coming more and more to the fore (1982:11-14). The parables were addressed to the actual historical situation in Jesus’ dialogues with three concrete groups: the crowds, the scribes and Pharisees, and his disciples. In each situation Jesus challenged his audience, often emphasizing the urgency of repentance (Lk 12:16-21; 13:1-9) and demanding “decisive (Lk 16:1- 8), radical (Mt 13:44-46), watchful (Mt 24:42—25:13) action because the kingdom is near” (Peisker 1978:749). I would add one clarification: the encounter related to the crowds and the disciples. For the religious leaders parables were intended only to confirm their rejection (see “The Purpose of Parables”).Eta Linnemann provides an excellent summary of the way parables accomplish this (1966:25-33). The parable is so structured as to “interlock” the hearer with the narrator’s message. It does so by “conceding” a point to the hearer, by approaching the listener from his or her own world of experience. The parable then employs double meaning to switch from the listener’s experience to the greater reality of the kingdom truths. It “claims one thing as another,” drawing a comparison between the main point of the parabolic image and the reality the narrator (Jesus) wishes to convey. Thereby it becomes a “language event” in the proper sense as Jesus through it presents a new possibility to his hearers and moves them to the point of decision.4

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