A New Parable of The Good Daughter

As Jesus was sharing the love and generosity of the Divine with those gathered around him, a group of Pastors and Elders from local churches came by and demanded he show his credentials. “What Seminary did you attend? Give us the names of your Professors. What Denomination are you ordained with? Which Denomination holds your papers? Show us your paper work, proving you are qualified to preach.” Jesus smiled, “Really? You want proof? I tell you want, I’ll ask you one simple little question and if you answer it for me I will gladly tell you what you desire to know; deal?” The Pastor and Elders looked at each other and agreed, “Deal.” So, Jesus sat down on the steps of the ground and asked, “Do you remember John, that guy who went around baptizing people in the river?” They looked at him and said, “Sure, we remember John.”

“Good.” Jesus replied, “So, since you remember him, let me ask you, ‘Where did John get his authority?’ Did he get it from some Denomination, or the Divine?” They looked at each other and darted off to the side to chat over the possibilities, “If we say that John permission from a particular Denomination we are going to be in hot water with those who are not part of that particular Denomination. Everyone sees John as a great voice of the Divine. If we say that John received permission from the Divine, Jesus will say something like, ‘Than why are you questioning me?’ No matter how we answer this question, we are screwed.” So, they said what any good Pastors or Elder would say, “We’re not sure.”

Jesus smiled and said, “There you go; now I don’t have to answer your question.” The Pastors and Elders looked confused.

Senescing their confusion Jesus added, “Let me see if I can help you figure this out.”

“There was this Mother who had two kids, a Son and a Daughter. One day, the Mother was running late for a Doctor’s appointment but she needed to open her store. She looked at her Daughter and said, ‘Look, I need to run to the Doctor, can you run over and open the store?’ The Daughter looked at her and said, ‘No.’ So, the Mother turned to her Son and said, ‘I have to run to the Doctor, please open the store.’ The Son said, “Sure Mom, I got this.” But the Son didn’t go and open the store, he just went back to sleep. The Daughter, rethinking what she told her Mother, decided to grab the keys, head over to the store and open it for her Mom. So, the question becomes, which of her children can we say did what the Mother asked?”

The Pastors and Elders thought about it for a few seconds and answered, “The Daughter.”

Jesus looked at them and said, “You are 100% on the money. The Daughter did as the Mother asked, so let me say that the Divine is more concerned with those society has pushed to the margins, the hurting, the homeless, the broken, the misguided, those you wouldn’t touch to save your life. In fact, I will tell you right now; those people will be in the presences of the Divine long before you. You see, John came to make a path for me, kind of set my journey out on an open path. You didn’t believe in him, you still can‘t figure out who he was, or who sent him. But the hurting, the homeless, the broke, the misguided, people you would not even give the time of day to, knew John and who sent him; they are the Daughter, doing what the Divine asks of them. You simply ignored him. You are the Son, who was told to care for those around you. You said you would, but you’re not.”

— Matthew 21:23–32

– See more at: http://johncokeefe.com/2014/08/23/a-new-parable-of-the-good-daughter/#sthash.poTDUm7R.dpuf