Bailey on the Rocks

Part 6 (iv)- The Parable of the Two Builders












Bailey decides to use the Luke passage (6:46-49) preached from the Plain for this one. The Matthew parallel that Jesus preached from the Mount (7:24-27) doesn't fit his paradigm (the wind thing doesn't wash too well). For that matter the Luke passage doesn't fit well either.

Bailey insists, that when Jesus mentioned "rock" in the Greek (Luke the Greek wrote exquisite Greek)- that his audience would have understood that to mean "foundation" in the Hebrew. Yup, petros sounds a lot like sheteyah. Try telling that to Rome and to St. Shete. Seems we got his name wrong. Will have to address that small typo for the next cathedral :)

Bailey sees a parallel of this foundation with a raised rock located in the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple. And somehow a parallel with a cornerstone in Isaiah 28. You know, a rock is a foundation is a cornerstone is a ...

Bailey claims that some Jews seemed to think that the world was created from this rock in the Second Holy of Holies. And Bailey's point is that Jesus was the spiritual evolution of that rock. Talk about squeezing blood out of a stone.

That this spiritual evolution occurred when Jesus was baptized (329 and Part 4 of this blog). And believers become part of that temple when they are baptized (328). If you are not hugely offended here you should be.

Yes, John the Baptist became part of that temple in the womb- but Jesus had to wait 30 years.

Bailey would do well to heed his Joachim Jeremias quote here(328)- 'about the purpose of parables being to shock especially leaders, theologians and priests to repentance'. And I'm not Joachim here! But I too need to repent... every moment of every day.