Reflections on The Parables - Part 1: The Friend in Need

Posted By reynor | Filed Under Raison d’être

One of the many things that I find interesting in the Bible is the Parables, stories of which Christ had chosen to relay his message to his people. I find them unique because it is in their utmost simplicity that we find the universality of his message embedded in these stories. They speak of everyday occurrence in our life but with a well-chosen theme and interesting plot that resonates with all kinds of people and situations regardless of time. They are a source of an inexhaustible wisdom for the lessons we can learn from them are as many as the number of reflections we can do. If we really think about it, they are, after all, stories made by no other than Christ, the Divine author, who is the Word upon which the salvation of mankind rests. There is no other stories like so.

However the unfortunate fate of every common thing in the hands of human weakness is its decline to an almost non-significance by which all that is universal seemingly suffers from due to the tendency of our minds to be constantly craving for something new, to be shocked, to be taken by surprise. Unless the story is that which we haven’t heard before we will continue to go by the impression that there is nothing more to learn from it. But the parables, they are always worth the time to go back to as we go about our life’s journey as if they are always new because only then we can perceive the freshness of his message- that, by the way, has always been there hidden by our own complacency. I say, how blessed are we to have these stories to guide us as we go through our life.

Luke 11:5-13 tells us of the Parable of a friend in need.

He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs. “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

For many people, including myself, the message is obvious, “Ask and you shall receive.” It is self-explanatory but I just have to say that although we ought to believe that we shall receive, we are to expect receiving nothing less that what is best for us and that means that what we will get is not always what we asked for. Because the point of asking and receiving is not so much on the things that will be given but more on the realization of our dependence to God. We are called not to be successful (successful, in the context of having all the worldly things in life that we often wish to have) in life but to be faithful to God and it is in the practice of asking and receiving that our faith is strengthened… for even Faith is a gift that we can only ask to receive.

Now what I really want to explore is the message of the parable when we put ourselves in the place of him whose door the friend in need was knocking on. From this perspective I wonder, what lessons does the parable has for us. Is his reason for giving out of fear of rousing his family justified? Is it generosity at all? Does this mean that Christ regards this behavior as acceptable? By no means. Within the message of hope for the seeker is a call for those who are fortunate and able to give to be generous like a father is. It is a reminder that as a father who will not give his son stone for bread, or snake instead of fish, or scorpion for egg, we are called to be the same for all.

More than the message of asking with the confidence of receiving and being persistent with the things that we want the parable speaks more of the generous heart that we ought to have for all of our “friends” in need. And not only a generous heart but one that discerns rightfully what appropriate gift is to be given because not all that they say they wanted is what they really need. What we thought we may be giving may be a fish but truly is a snake, or a bread is really a stone, or an egg is but a scorpion.

To that I say, what better gift can one give than sharing to others what we have received from the Father, the Holy Spirit, who guides us all into understanding and gives us the courage to look beyond the material things that we thought we need and recognize what is more important in our lives. Lk 12:29-31 says, “Do not keep asking, ‘What shall we eat?’ and, ‘What shall we drink?’ Do not be troubled about that….Your Father in heaven knows that you need them. But work for God’s kingdom. Then you will have all these things also.” If this we can give to our friend then we have given him everything that he needs and that we give not out of fear for rousing our family but of love…of which he need not knock for even once.