In the parables, Jesus revealed grace through scandal. The parable of the Good Samaritan is much more shocking than we see because of our familiarity and hesitation to modernize parables as it may lead us to the “dangerous” place of being out of control, disordered, and disrupted. This is how it is with all the parables — multi-layered challenges to our desire for order and understanding. They bring “disillusionment that creates space where we need God to reveal truth to us.” Are we willing to be scandalized?
Jonathan Martin is a writer, speaker and dreamer from Charlotte, NC. He holds degrees from Gardner-Webb University, The Pentecostal Theological Seminary, and Duke Divinity School. He is the author of Prototype: What Happens When You Discover You’re More Like Jesus Than You Think? He is a product of the “Christ-haunted landscape” of the American South, sweaty revivals, and hip-hop. Years before a life of ministry and church planting, his claim to fame was getting his Aquaman, Robin and Wonder Woman action figures saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost at an early age. He loves to talk about the beauty of God, what an extraordinary thing it is to be called God’s beloved, and finding new ways to be human.