Parables as Allegories

If you were at Mass last Sunday, you were treated to a beautiful homily by Fr. Andrew about the Good Samaritan. Our pastor has a style all his own; many of his insights coming out of his Eastern background.

Most of the homilies and sermons explaining the parables of Jesus that we have listened to over the years have had their basis in Western European biblical exegesis or explanations. Biblical commentaries were concerned with historical settings and later, with literary forms.

The focus of the interpretations generally answered the questions of who the Gospel or Epistle writer was; which Christian community was the writer addressing; what did the parable mean to the Christians of the Apostolic or post-Apostolic times; and finally, what meaning can we derive from these parables in today's world. These types of homilies have a richness of their own and after hearing the Word about the Good Samaritan and listening to the priest's homily about it, we would return home secure in the knowledge of who our neighbor was and what we were to do in caring for even the least of our brothers and sisters.

In contrast, the homily we heard last Sunday turned the story of the Good Samaritan into an allegory, where all its elements were seen as having a symbolic meaning. An allegorical interpretation is perhaps the earliest method for interpreting the parables. For example, the robbers who attacked the traveler could be considered sin and evil. The half-dead traveler is humankind, beaten down by sin. The priest who passed him by represented the Law; the Levite, the prophets. The Good Samaritan was Christ who bound up the traveler's wounds and took him to the inn, which symbolized the Church. The two denarii that he left for the innkeeper represented the two Great Commandments that Jesus left us. The Samaritan's promise to return indicated the Second Coming.

My purpose in this article was not to enumerate all the symbols contained in this parable but to show how allegories can give us a different view of Scripture. I am truly grateful for this homily because Fr. Andrew is broadening our understanding of Scripture from a direction that we usually don't hear much about.