Category:Parables

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Jesus Teaches the People by the Sea - James Tissot

The parable is a teaching method based on an image comparison using a story. The Hebrew word mâshâl, like its Greek translation parabolê, indicates the comparative foundation. It is found in the introductory words of Jesus: "is like ...", "to those who resemble them..."   It was indeed one of the methods of the rhetoric of the rabbis. Often the character of the "king" in these parables referred to God who could be named thus indirectly. In the Gospel, this comparison is used several times by Jesus. The Son of the king being the referent.   This oratory art is present in the Old Testament[1] or Bible before Jesus, but Jesus uses it abundantly[2], even recommending its use in evangelization[3].  

If only four or five parables are found in the Old Testament, we find ten times more in the Gospel.

Maria Valtorta restores them all, adequately illuminating their meaning as with the parable of the talents, but she also mentions some unpublished ones.

The Parable, common form of Hebrew oratory art: the Mâshâl - Daniel-Rops[4][edit | edit source]

The Hebrew art of speaking had nothing in common with what the Greeks and Romans meant by eloquence. And Saint Paul himself could see this in Athens, where his failure was total! The arrangement of ideas, logical demonstration, everything Cicero taught us to consider fundamental in oratory was radically foreign to the Israelite spirit — as it also is to the Muslim spirit. The art of speaking consisted not so much in convincing by reasoning as in establishing contact with the sensitivity of the audience. The master of words was one who perfected the technical means used by doctors of the Law, even schoolmasters: alliterations, correspondences, parallelisms, rhythms. Great eloquence naturally approached poetry. Although there were no precise rules or clearly fixed procedures, as known in Greek or Roman poetry, it often happened that speech was cadenced in verses, often with uneven rhythm, even in strophes with refrains.

As for the content itself, the master of words was recognized by several traits. He was able to pepper his discourse with many quotations from the Holy Book, or with allusions that every listener would recognize in passing: for example, when John the Baptist exclaimed: "I am the voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord!" he was quoting the prophet Isaiah word for word and his audience knew it. Every assertion had to be buttressed by the word of God. The great "orator" could multiply developments on a theme, like a musician improvises variations on a given melodic phrase (...) But above all, a master in the art of speaking had to be an expert in mâshâl.

The notion of mâshâl is fundamental for understanding what Israelite eloquence could be; we find its application in countless passages of written literature, Old or New Testament, but fundamentally it is linked to speech. The Hebrew language, concise, colorful, is awkward when it comes to translating abstractions and higher realities: it manages through images, symbols, and comparisons. This is entirely consistent with Israelite psychology, whose power of intuition is extraordinary, immediately seeing the topical, realistic, familiar trait, and excelling at drawing a lesson from it. The mâshâl was precisely that, a way of considering a case or situation from real life, so that the mind and imagination seize it to erect it as a typical case or to raise a problem. This very oriental procedure was not a game at all, because every mâshâl had to be formulated with a view to life conduct and refer, at least implicitly, to religion.

The Greek version of the Septuagint often translates the word mâshâl as parabolè, but it would be wrong to believe that all meshâlim were "parables" in the sense we give the word: the proof is that in Hebrew the biblical book of Proverbs is entitled Meshâlim. The root of this word indeed evokes the idea of "resembling" or "comparing", but its meaning was broader. (...)

The "parable" in the sense we give the word, that is, a short story with the appearance of a fable, from which a moral or spiritual lesson emerges more or less clearly, was therefore one of the forms of the mâshâl, one of the ways to draw out from the concrete fact a striking development. This genre was much used. (...)

The Talmud contains hundreds of them, many quite picturesque. (...) The genre of mâshâl-parable seems even, at the time of Christ, to have somewhat fossilized in the art of the rabbis, because the same comparisons recur very often among them, and often the writing lacks force and life.

That Jesus knew the mâshâl and practiced it is obvious. It was certainly impossible for a Jew of his time not to have heard one or another formulate, and subsequently repeat through intermediaries, these ingenious little stories. We even find in the Talmud "parables" that are about his own, for example one about the guests at a wedding feast, one about the foolish virgins. He practiced all traditional forms of mâshâl: the saying "Physician, heal yourself!" cited by Saint Luke is a mâshâl; the short sentence on "what enters the mouth of a man" reported by Saint Matthew is a mâshâl, and among the meshâlim-parables, there are many types, of various lengths, and very different tones.

What is evident, when comparing the Gospel parables to those in the Talmudic treatises, is their new character. Nothing stereotyped or conventional; one feels that the comparison spontaneously sprang from the orator’s lips; it is simple, precise, with an inimitable tone — not found in the Acts of the Apostles and even less in the apocryphal Gospels — true signature of the Master. The Gospel parable, "starting from the humblest realities, clearly reflects the highest concepts; understandable to the ignorant, it lends itself to meditation by the learned. Literarily devoid of any artifice, it surpasses in emotional power the most elaborated literary artifices. It does not amaze, but persuades, it knows not only how to conquer but how to convince. From the word parable came the word word. Would this derivation mean that Jesus' parable is the highest word that has risen from man, and, at the same time, the one which coming from God has descended the lowest?"

In "The Gospel as it was revealed to me"[edit | edit source]

File:Paraboles GRM.pdf
Parables of Jesus Christ according to the work of Maria Valtorta. Downloadable booklet - Yohann Gaudreault

During the first year of Public Life[edit | edit source]

  • The parable of the preferred horse: The Lord did not lack goodness towards his people. Although they lacked faithfulness, thousands and tens of thousands of times. This parable, despite its improbabilities, clearly demonstrates the pedagogy of the oratory art of the Mâshâl.[5]
  • The "parable" of the ants: These are ants, nothing other than ants. Yet they are strong because they are united.[6]
  • Parable of differently cultivated fields: It is the same with hearts. I am the Plowshare and my word is the Fire. To prepare for the triumph eternal.[7]

During the second year of Public Life[edit | edit source]

  • Parable of the sower ([8]-[9]-[10]) and [11]
  • Comments on the parable of the sower - Why parables ([12]-[13]) and [14]
  • Parable of the wheat and the weeds: at Chorazin. The next day after telling the parable of the Sower.[15]
  • The Kingdom of God compared to a grain sown that sprouts ([16]) and [17] 
  • Parable of the mustard seed ([18]) – Magdala. These two parables are linked with Mary of Magdala (Magdalene) still a sinner. Comments[19] and [20]
  • Parable of the rich man and Lazarus - Paradise and Hell ([21]) – Esdrelon among the peasants of Doras and Giocana in consolation of their hard life.[22]
  • Parable of the prodigal son ([23]) told at Bethany, second Passover. This parable is addressed to John of Endor, repentant murderer. "I will speak to all, but I will tell you how God loves you." [24]
  • The parable of the ten virgins commented on by Jesus at Bethany: the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who went out, carrying their lamps, to meet the bridegroom ([25]) and [26]
  • Parable of the king who makes the wedding feast for his son, told at Bethany: Then he said to his servants: "The wedding is ready, but the guests were not worthy. Go therefore to the highways and invite to the wedding all whom you find." ([27]) and [28]
  • Parable of the lost sheep ([29]-[30]) and [31]
  • Parable of the fishermen: good and bad fish, abandoned and chosen[32]
  • The parable of the found coin ([33]) Magdala, as public testimony of the conversion of Mary of Magdala (Magdalene). Comments: [34] and [35]
  • Parable of the leper: parallel between the healing of a leper and the healing of a sinner.[36]
  • Parable of the miners concerning Hermastée, persistent fisherman from the port of Ashkelon.[37]
  • Parable of the vine and the elm stake that ends up strangling it (faith).[38]
  • Parable of the hard kernel sprouting in the ground.[39]
  • Parable of the rich fool: "Fool, tonight your soul will be demanded of you. And what you have stored up, whose will it be?" ([40]) and [41]
  • Parable of the forgiven debts. ([42]): A man had no way to repay the money; so his master ordered him to be sold as a slave and also to sell his wife, his children, and all he had, in order to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before his master and said: Have patience with me and I will repay you all![43]
  • The parable of the talents, in response to a scribe who questions him about the rewards granted to different categories of "believers" – Jerusalem, in the Temple, during the Feast of Tabernacles of the second year. ([44]) and [45]
  • Parable of the good Samaritan ([46]) – At the Temple, during the same feast, to a doctor of the Law who tries to trap him.[47]

During the third year of Public Life[edit | edit source]

  • Parable of the workers of the eleventh hour: Alexandros scene of Phoenicia before a cosmopolitan audience, to urge all peoples to conversion.[48]
  • Parable of the banquet where all the guests shirk ([49]). Not to be confused with [50] which is reported in [51]-[52]
  • Parable of the barren fig tree ([53]) to illustrate perseverance in evangelization that had just suffered a setback at Chorazin[54]
  • Parable of the Good Shepherd, told to the young Benjamin.[55]
  • Parable of the unfaithful but shrewd steward. The rich can also be saved while being rich ([56]) and [57]
  • Parable of the steep path.[58]
  • Parable of the two sons: spiritual portrait of Judas.[59]
  • Parable of the two sons who go to the vineyard. ([60]) and [61]
  • Parable of the sculptor who makes perfect works with clumsy apprentices.[62]
  • Parable of the king who sends his children into the world with the same two precious coins: time and free will. Judgment of the king, symbol of the Last Judgment.[63]
  • The work of the vine applied to the work of the soul: The man entrusts his uncultivated vineyard to the one who works it: free will; and he begins to cultivate it. Esdrelon Plain, June/July of the 3rd year.[64]
  • Parable of the varnished wood: I said, at the beginning, that painting is like the embellishment of virtues on the human heart. It beautifies and protects the wood from worms, rain, sun...[65]
  • Parables of Mary, the flour and the cloth intended for Aurea.[66]
  • Simon the Zealot tells the parable of the vine in the midst of the world to illustrate the necessity of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.[67]
  • Parable of the uncompromising boatman: inspired by an attitude of Peter towards the Romans on the lake.[68]
  • Parable of the two sons who follow the ten monuments (commandments) climbing a mountain.[69]
  • Parable of the water distribution: Whoever is rich is the caretaker of the wealth that God grants him with the order to distribute it to those who suffer.[70]
  • Parable of the pomegranate: What shall I compare the world in general, and Palestine in particular? [...] I will compare it to this pomegranate.[71]  
  • Parable of the powerful king, whose kingdom was very vast, and who wanted one day to visit his subjects.[72]  
  • Parable of the widow and the unjust judge ([73]) and [74]
  • Parable of the different houses of the Father: "In my Father’s House, there are no separations or differences for those who come to believe in Him and to practice his Law which is the code of his will, provided that man lives righteously to have an eternal reward in his Kingdom."[75]
  • Parable of the rich man and the poor child: choosing love rather than wealth.[76]
  • Short parable on the spirit which rises and the one which descends.[77]
  • Parable of the sick who heal.[78]
  • Parable of the publican and the Pharisee ([79]) and [80]
  • Parable of the drop of water on the hard stone.[81]
  • Parable of the soul compared to a garment.[82]
  • Parable of the badly advised - Silo.[83]
  • Second parable of the badly advised - Lebona.[84]
  • Third and last parable on the badly advised.[85]
  • Parable of the rich young man: "Tell me, good Master: what must I do to have eternal life?" ([86]-[87]-[88]) and [89]

In other works of Maria Valtorta[edit | edit source]

Notebooks 1943[edit | edit source]

  • Catechesis of June 21: As you (P. Migliorini) see, not disturbed by unnecessary chatter, I was able to write under dictation, and except for one misspelled word on the first page, which I rewrote, there are no erasures.
    This parable of the waters pleases me a lot. It refreshes my soul and flesh, burning with fever just like the soul which always has fear of making mistakes.
    I indeed have some spiritual greed and reluctantly strip myself of the gifts that good Jesus gives me. I feel like tearing a piece of my heart and throwing it under others' feet. But I will correct this.
    As you see, from my bed, hand in hand with Jesus, I made a beautiful trip to the southern countries. I could never have imagined it when I woke this morning from a short and interrupted sleep... Jesus knows I love traveling and He transported me among palm trees and gazelles.[90]
  • Catechesis of June 28: I will now explain to you two points of the Gospel, one from Matthew ([91]) and the other from Luke ([92]). In reality, it is one single parable, but expressed with some differences. One shouldn't be surprised to find such differences among my evangelists. When they wrote these pages, they were still men, elected but not yet glorified.[93]
  • Catechesis of July 10: "Listen, Maria. You know the parable of the father who has two sons; one says: 'Yes, father,' and then does nothing; the other says: 'No, father,' and then does what his father asks?"[94]
  • Catechesis of August 12 : "My dear soul, listen to the parable of the pearl. A grain of sand carried by the waves of the sea is swallowed by the shells of a mollusk. A small rock, rough and worthless, a tiny fragment of stone, a piece of pumice, all things not even worth a glance ..." [95]    
  • Catechesis of October 4: (death of her mother) At this hour, I present to you one of my parables. It is that of the barren fig tree. Do not weep, Maria. You already know to whom I refer. Do not weep. I gave your mother the same care as the vine grower to the lazy plant. Praise me for it, Maria, because I used infinite mercy with the soul dear to you.[96]
  • Catechesis of November 10: Maria, write once more the explanation of the parable of the sower. I will dictate it to you for a special category of people whose error saddens me. Error of imprudence in some, error of pride in others, error of revolt in others, and scandal in another category.[97]

Notebooks 1944[edit | edit source]

  • Catechesis of June 4: Are you Samaritans? I know. But my parable speaks of a good Samaritan who heals wounds not tended by the sons of the Law who pass by, absorbed as they are in the hurry to serve God. They ignore that one serves God better by love than by ritual practices.
  • Catechesis of June 21: Now listen to this parable addressed to you.
    A man loves a woman. He found her beautiful, was told she was good, pure and modest, and he felt affection rise in his heart, and with it the hope of taking this woman for a wife and making her the pearl of his house.
    He presents himself to her parents and asks for the young girl. They give him their consent. He then shows a thousand attentions to try to win her affection…
  • Catechesis of June 29: As for life... Oh! Life, once passed, never comes back. You are given an hour of eternity, a moment of eternity to win Eternity. Have you never considered that this reason could be applied to the parable of the minas mentioned by Luke ([98])? You are given only one piece of coin of eternity.
  • Catechesis of July 22: (Vision of the martyrdom of Saint Cecilia) After reading the Gospel, sung by a young deacon, the Pope stands up. I call him that because I hear a mother designate him so to her somewhat turbulent child. The chosen passage was the parable of the ten virgins, wise or foolish ([99]). The Pope says: "Proper to the virgins, this parable however addresses all souls, since the merits of the Savior's blood and grace make them virgins again and make them children awaiting the Bridegroom...
  • Catechesis of October 20: You needed to arrive at forgiveness to deserve to have me as Master in the way you have me today. Judge, from there, what is the merit of forgiveness! Furthermore, reflect and understand through a parable. The present time will allow you to taste it better than in normal times, where only the flavor of bread was felt without knowing the difficulty of its production.
    A woman wants to make bread for her family. She has good flour in abundance. She also has the utensils that will allow her to knead it, she has water, the oven...
  • Catechesis of November 25: You are nothing. But I entered into your "nothing," and said "See, speak, write." This nothing became my instrument. And what is mine is always consecrated and must be treated as such.
    Listen to this parable: At a goldsmith's, there are various silver chalices, some worked with dents, with art and adorned with gold and even precious stones, others drawing their beauty only from the metal and their simple and flared shape, like lily chalices on a fine stem...

Notebooks of 1945 to 1950[edit | edit source]

  • Catechesis of January 7, 1946: It is a presumptuous root and it is precisely that which harms the plant. It chose its own way, which is not the right way. It is the strongest root but also the most harmful. Either you give in, or I cut it. And in that case, you will really suffer. Indeed, infinite Love itself must be just for your good. And yielding to your pride would mean showing injustice towards you, whom I created for my garden.
    And the plant? All in its stubbornness, it refused to yield.
    What did Jesus do then? He took the scissors and cut the proud and stubborn root, then He carried the plant, crying with pain at having been pruned and its whim dominated, to plant it in His flowerbed.
    This is a parable, my daughter and bride. Are you able to meditate on it and produce its fruit in practice? I help you, because I am the Master. Listen to me. My spouses are the flowering plants...
  • Catechesis of January 7, 1947: Same "Sunday of the Holy Family" from the Book of Azariah.
  • Catechesis of September 30, 1947: I spoke simply in parables because I addressed popular crowds. But when I spoke to cultured persons, Israelites, Romans or Greeks, I spoke in a manner more appropriate to perfect Wisdom.

Book of Azariah[edit | edit source]

  • Sunday of the Holy Family, 1st Sunday after Epiphany. I live in the joy of the first days of the year. What joy! How many intimate lessons from Jesus during my long nights of illness! How much love! Since the night from the 2nd to the 3rd His hand removed this spasm which prevented my stomach from tolerating the slightest food and then... This morning, the sweet parable of the two lights. But I do not write it because I am not ordered to. From now, He gives me many secret lessons, so sweet, but He says it is useless to write them. So, I obey.

Lessons on the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans[edit | edit source]

  • Lesson No. 25: This is your wedding garment (the will moved by the love of God), the garment that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the royal wedding feast ([100]). Woe to him who does not spin and weave his garment during the earthly day. To him who does not pull the thread and the loom of a diligent inner will to do what the Law of God proposes to him, or what God presents to him. Woe to him who renounces the continuous struggle between, on one side, the will of the inner man, his good will, and on the other, the law of sin in your members, with the evil that surrounds and tempts you: the world and the devil. Woe to him who abandons the daily effort required to prepare his wedding garment, and who neglects to enrich it with jewels already won.
  • Lesson No. 36: If one let oneself think that God predestines things for an evil purpose, it would come down to saying that predestination to grace is also evil, since it often happens that it becomes like the unproductive talent in the parable ([101]). It is because of the unjust judgment of the lazy one against his master that the master takes away his talent and gives it to others who will be able to make it fruitful.
  • Lesson No. 43: In other circumstances (see Matthew chapter 22, and Luke chapters 14 and 18), He taught that the called are not all chosen, if by pride they lack respect towards their benevolent King. That the first places in the Kingdom and at the heavenly banquet are reserved for those who on Earth are humble and charitable towards the poor. That the prayer of the humble is precious in the eyes of God, but the prayer of the proud man who judges himself perfect only because he possesses the exteriority of the Law is despised by God.
    The Master spoke for all. But whom had He in mind? Whom did He target under the veil of parables and lessons? He targeted Peter, the humble one who was exalted because of his humility, uprightness, and goodness. He targeted Judas Iscariot, who was brought low because of his arrogance, triple concupiscence, false fidelity to the Law and to the Christ, his calculations as a shrewd adult — even a sigh was done with duplicity. To Peter - a child even if grown up - was given the spiritual Kingdom: the Papacy, and the heavenly Kingdom, sanctity. Judas, the vain intelligent one, becoming malicious towards the infinitely benevolent King, ended up excluded from the Kingdom of God and thrown into the darkness and torments of Hell.

In fundamental Christian texts[edit | edit source]

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church[edit | edit source]

  • CCC § 546: Jesus invites entrance into the Kingdom through parables, a typical feature of his teaching (cf [102]). Through them, He invites to the feast of the Kingdom (cf [103]), but He also demands a radical choice: to acquire the Kingdom, one must give everything (cf [104]); words are not enough, deeds are necessary (cf [105]). Parables are like mirrors for the man: does he receive the word like hard soil or like good earth (cf [106])? What does he do with the talents received (cf [107])? Jesus and the presence of the Kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the Kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ to "know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven" ([108]). For those who remain "outside" ([109]), all remains enigmatic (cf [110]).

Notes and references[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ For example: 2 Samuel 12:1-4; 2 Samuel 14:4; 1 Kings 20:39; and Isaiah 5:1-8. It is a rebuke addressed to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 21:5).
  2. ↑ See Matthew 13:34 and Mark 4:33.
  3. ↑ Matthew 13:10-11.
  4. ↑ Daniel-Rops of the Académie française, La vie quotidienne en Palestine au temps de Jésus, Hachette 1961, p. 324 and following.
  5. ↑ GRM 61
  6. ↑ GRM 91
  7. ↑ GRM 111
  8. ↑ Matthew 13:1-9
  9. ↑ Mark 4:1-9
  10. ↑ Luke 8:4-8
  11. ↑ GRM 179
  12. ↑ Matthew 13:10-23
  13. ↑ Mark 4:10-20
  14. ↑ GRM 180
  15. ↑ GRM 181
  16. ↑ Mark 4:26-29
  17. ↑ GRM 181
  18. ↑ Mark 4:30-32
  19. ↑ Lavere, the parable is just right
  20. ↑ GRM 184
  21. ↑ Luke 16:19-31
  22. ↑ GRM 191
  23. ↑ Luke 15:11-32
  24. ↑ GRM 205
  25. ↑ Matthew 25:1-13
  26. ↑ GRM 206
  27. ↑ Matthew 22:1-14
  28. ↑ GRM 206
  29. ↑ Matthew 18:12-13
  30. ↑ Luke 15:4-7
  31. ↑ GRM 233
  32. ↑ GRM 239
  33. ↑ Luke 15:8-10
  34. ↑ The lost coin finally found
  35. ↑ GRM 241
  36. ↑ GRM 245
  37. ↑ GRM 251
  38. ↑ GRM 252
  39. ↑ GRM 268
  40. ↑ Luke 12:13-53
  41. ↑ GRM 276
  42. ↑ Matthew 18:23-35
  43. ↑ GRM 278
  44. ↑ Matthew 25:14-30
  45. ↑ GRM 281
  46. ↑ Luke 10:30-37
  47. ↑ GRM 281
  48. ↑ GRM 329
  49. ↑ Luke 14:15-24
  50. ↑ Mt 22:2-10
  51. ↑ GRM 206
  52. ↑ GRM 335
  53. ↑ Luke 13: 6-9
  54. ↑ GRM 338
  55. ↑ GRM 352
  56. ↑ Luke 16:1-18
  57. ↑ GRM 381
  58. ↑ GRM 385
  59. ↑ GRM 394
  60. ↑ Matthew 21:28-32
  61. ↑ GRM 407
  62. ↑ GRM 419
  63. ↑ GRM 425
  64. ↑ GRM 428
  65. ↑ GRM 434
  66. ↑ GRM 434
  67. ↑ GRM 445
  68. ↑ GRM 448
  69. ↑ GRM 452
  70. ↑ GRM 467
  71. ↑ GRM 484
  72. ↑ GRM 489
  73. ↑ Luke 18:01-08
  74. ↑ GRM 505
  75. ↑ GRM 501
  76. ↑ GRM 513
  77. ↑ GRM 515
  78. ↑ GRM 523
  79. ↑ Luke 18: 9-14
  80. ↑ GRM 523
  81. ↑ GRM 558
  82. ↑ GRM 567
  83. ↑ GRM 569
  84. ↑ GRM 570
  85. ↑ GRM 572
  86. ↑ Matthew 19:16-30
  87. ↑ Mark 10:17-31
  88. ↑ Luke 18:15-30
  89. ↑ GRM 576
  90. ↑ Catechesis of June 21, 1943
  91. ↑ Matthew 22:1-14
  92. ↑ Luke 14:16-24
  93. ↑ Catechesis of June 28, 1943
  94. ↑ Catechesis of July 10, 1943
  95. ↑ Catechesis of August 12, 1943
  96. ↑ Catechesis of October 4, 1943
  97. ↑ Catechesis of November 10, 1943
  98. ↑ Luke 19: 11-27
  99. ↑ Matthew 25: 1-13
  100. ↑ Matthew 22:1-14
  101. ↑ Matthew 25:14-30
  102. ↑ Mark 4:33-34
  103. ↑ Matthew 22:1-14
  104. ↑ Matthew 13:44-45
  105. ↑ Matthew 21:28-32
  106. ↑ Matthew 13:3-9
  107. ↑ Matthew 25:14-30
  108. ↑ Matthew 13:11
  109. ↑ Mark 4:11
  110. ↑ Matthew 13:10-15

First part of the Bible from the book of Genesis until before the coming of Jesus Christ. Parallel

Second part of the Bible, from the coming of Jesus Christ until the Apocalypse.

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