I think I am about done with this segment.
It doesn't mean that there isn't anything else to learn, or even already learned, but it may be time to move on, probably including two posts where I am learning more from the apostles.
I still need to cover something that happened on Palm Sunday. It's a minor thing, and it might even only be one thing that was remembered a little bit differently by the writers (more on that in another post).
Matthew 21:
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
Luke 19:
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
It's no surprise that priests and Pharisees would be displeased with the praise; their refusal to accept Jesus as their king and the Son of David was the crux of their entire conflict.
At the same time, there also seems to be a disapproval with the enthusiasm of the belief. I think they found the overflowing of joy and praise in itself to be offensive.
The response of Jesus is not a doctrinal argument, and why would it be? He knows that their hearts are hard, and if there is an opening it is not going to be won by argument. Instead, especially in Luke, I find an empathy for the joy.
You wouldn't think it is necessary -- usually when we need to feel for someone it's because of their hard time, not their time of elation. Still, some people will look down on anything.
The strongest lesson of this series has been how Jesus was able to focus on the needs of each individual, reminding me both that it works better and also that a single person is worth it. Right next to it is his repeated rejection of contempt for humanity and mortal life.
We might overflow with emotions, and be slow learners, and long for comfort, and take pleasure in small things, and Jesus was kind and patient with that.
"Condescension" is generally a word with negative connotations, except when we are talking about Jesus, who truly brought himself down to our level. It is negative when another mortal is doing it, believing that they are higher.
The one who actually had every reason to look down on us didn't.
Humans are messy. We get impatient and loud and emotional, and it is as we were created. That can be frustrating and inconvenient, but it is also understandable.
The first way to be like Jesus is to love: fully, sincerely, and generously.
One natural result of that should be that you quit being an ass.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Trying to be like Jesus - the Greeks
In John 12 we learn of certain Greeks who desired to see Jesus.
They get what they wanted, but I wonder how much sense it made to them.
Here he is speaking very openly of death. There is still some metaphor used, so it might have been possible to think it was all figurative.
He then begins talking more to his Father than to the people, and the Father answers, but many people think it was thunder.
We are getting to a point where I am going to have to write more about the actions of the apostles, because there are things to learn there too. One thing I will not criticize them for is not understanding that the Messiah would allow himself to be arrested and crucified, die and be buried, and then rise again on the third day.
He was hinting all along; in hindsight it all makes sense. Foresight can be pretty powerful too, but it is still usually building on experience for the way that things normally happen, and this was something completely new. This was a change, and they were not really prepared for it.
However, he did work to prepare them for it. He told them. Here with the Greeks -- who are not going to get a chance to see the ministry that the others have been observing for three years -- he cuts right to the chase. It probably did confuse them, and then made sense later.
That was always consistent and remains so. You have to be willing and open to the help, but He will help you along.
They get what they wanted, but I wonder how much sense it made to them.
Here he is speaking very openly of death. There is still some metaphor used, so it might have been possible to think it was all figurative.
He then begins talking more to his Father than to the people, and the Father answers, but many people think it was thunder.
We are getting to a point where I am going to have to write more about the actions of the apostles, because there are things to learn there too. One thing I will not criticize them for is not understanding that the Messiah would allow himself to be arrested and crucified, die and be buried, and then rise again on the third day.
He was hinting all along; in hindsight it all makes sense. Foresight can be pretty powerful too, but it is still usually building on experience for the way that things normally happen, and this was something completely new. This was a change, and they were not really prepared for it.
However, he did work to prepare them for it. He told them. Here with the Greeks -- who are not going to get a chance to see the ministry that the others have been observing for three years -- he cuts right to the chase. It probably did confuse them, and then made sense later.
That was always consistent and remains so. You have to be willing and open to the help, but He will help you along.
Sunday, August 13, 2017
Trying to be like Jesus - hypocrites
My blogs are mostly for the purpose of organizing my thoughts, and since I have started blogging daily it is also for building my consistency and skill as a writer. On that level, it does not matter if or how other people view my blog.
At the same time, I know that some people do read it and benefit from it, which means that if extra effort is needed to make something more clear or accessible, that is worthwhile, and relevant to the goal of building skill as a writer.
I know that with this blog, non-religious readers (or even religious readers who are not Mormon) may find some of the content stupid or weird. Religious readers (especially Mormons) with a conservative bent may find some of the content offensive and evil. I may hit all of those points today.
I have not quite been praying for Christ to return yet. It has come closer. I have expressed through prayer that it seems like the only solution to the world's problems - the only hope of anything improving at all. Still, it does not feel like the time is quite right yet. There are still people laboring and growing and improving, and the work is not done. I try to reconcile my will with God's through prayer, rather than making a lot of demands, so right now my position is that it is too soon and I will trust in God's wisdom and love for us and be patient.
It is nonetheless physically sickening to see how we have fallen. Yes, I am feeling that more because of Charlottesville. There are other factors, and have been. Knowing that people with the characters and personalities of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have control over nuclear weapons is not comforting, rising economic inequality and environmental degradation have been frightening, racism has been a problem here since before the eighteenth century -- I know all of that. The sight of young white men with torches chanting Nazi slogans because enough people are trying to move forward that they feel threatened has still made it much worse. That we have a president who pretends it is many sides because he knows that the actual side is his bread and butter, and that he has been reluctant to admit that anything can be terrorism if it's done by a white person -- that just makes it worse.
"Blood and soil" - that's an old Nazi expression. "White lives matter" and "We will not be replaced" are new, but they are significant in what they express - that actually proclaiming the value of any lives other than white is a threat to their existence. Their existence might change - it should actually improve - but no one is planning their deaths. I guess there is stupidity there, but I don't think there's that much sincerity, so the real problem is evil.
I have a problem with the marchers, but I also have a problem with all of the people who can be appalled at that, but still feel a need to interject "All lives matter" when BLM is trying to draw attention to the disparities. I have a problem with the people who care more about their feelings being hurt, so that when you are trying to talk about justice and equality all they feel is offense. There are people who are much worse, but the people who can't de-center - who won't see the bigger picture because it is uncomfortable - are a large part of the problem.
I keep thinking of the condemnation of hypocrites. You can believe that you are very righteous while missing the most important things.
You can believe that Hillary Clinton is corrupt for endless investigations into her e-mail, despite it not turning up any evidence of deliberate wrong-doing, or violation of rules that were current at that time, and feel justified, but if you then ignore Trump administration private server use, deletion of e-mail, defrauding of clients, refusal to divest of conflicts of interest, and sexual harassment and assault, that is hypocrisy.
And you can justify that with a personal dislike of Clinton, and that shouldn't even matter because she's probably not going to run again, except that without examining that it is already starting to happen to potential future candidates - before they even declare - so it does matter. We need to be willing to face past mistakes so as not to repeat them. And if one of those past mistakes is proclaiming that there is no difference between the two parties you need to quit lying to yourself right now. There may not be enough difference, but the difference is real.
And that is certainly an issue with racism, because the people that say the most ignorant things about racism show an ignorance of relevant history. There were deliberate actions that got us to this state, and some people moved the pieces and some people just ignored that there was anything going on, but that means that they comfortably perpetuated evil, and no devoted follower of Christ does that.
And I am not going to spend a lot of time on this, because some of it has already been said and some of it will come up on the other blog down the road, and this is already a long post, but I am going to make a couple of strong statements now, and if they offend you, but you have felt the truth in other things that I have said before, then I hope you will grapple with that offense and the reasons why.
Because I am saying right now that you cannot follow Christ and support Trump. If you think you can, you do not know Him. I am saying that if you want to be on the right side when He separates the sheep and the goats, you cannot support Trump. If you want to have a store of oil so that you can get through the time where we wait for the return of the Bridegroom, you cannot support Trump.
Supporting Trump involves too much self-deception. It involves too much shutting your eyes to evil - not just the appearance of evil, but actual evil. It involves too much hate when you need to be building up love.
If you don't see the connection between Charlottesville and Trump, you are not trying. If you are congratulating yourself because you voted for Stein or abstained instead of voting for Trump, you better re-examine that. People are hurting, people are dying, and his is not the sole responsibility but it is all centered around him, so start there.
The United States of America went to war with Nazis and with Confederates. While there may be complications in the way we did that or the motivations, we were nonetheless fighting against great wrongs. Those defeats should not be technicalities - we should be completely rejecting slavery, racism, fascism, totalitarianism, antisemitism, and all other bigotry.
It's gross that we haven't yet.
At the same time, I know that some people do read it and benefit from it, which means that if extra effort is needed to make something more clear or accessible, that is worthwhile, and relevant to the goal of building skill as a writer.
I know that with this blog, non-religious readers (or even religious readers who are not Mormon) may find some of the content stupid or weird. Religious readers (especially Mormons) with a conservative bent may find some of the content offensive and evil. I may hit all of those points today.
I have not quite been praying for Christ to return yet. It has come closer. I have expressed through prayer that it seems like the only solution to the world's problems - the only hope of anything improving at all. Still, it does not feel like the time is quite right yet. There are still people laboring and growing and improving, and the work is not done. I try to reconcile my will with God's through prayer, rather than making a lot of demands, so right now my position is that it is too soon and I will trust in God's wisdom and love for us and be patient.
It is nonetheless physically sickening to see how we have fallen. Yes, I am feeling that more because of Charlottesville. There are other factors, and have been. Knowing that people with the characters and personalities of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have control over nuclear weapons is not comforting, rising economic inequality and environmental degradation have been frightening, racism has been a problem here since before the eighteenth century -- I know all of that. The sight of young white men with torches chanting Nazi slogans because enough people are trying to move forward that they feel threatened has still made it much worse. That we have a president who pretends it is many sides because he knows that the actual side is his bread and butter, and that he has been reluctant to admit that anything can be terrorism if it's done by a white person -- that just makes it worse.
"Blood and soil" - that's an old Nazi expression. "White lives matter" and "We will not be replaced" are new, but they are significant in what they express - that actually proclaiming the value of any lives other than white is a threat to their existence. Their existence might change - it should actually improve - but no one is planning their deaths. I guess there is stupidity there, but I don't think there's that much sincerity, so the real problem is evil.
I have a problem with the marchers, but I also have a problem with all of the people who can be appalled at that, but still feel a need to interject "All lives matter" when BLM is trying to draw attention to the disparities. I have a problem with the people who care more about their feelings being hurt, so that when you are trying to talk about justice and equality all they feel is offense. There are people who are much worse, but the people who can't de-center - who won't see the bigger picture because it is uncomfortable - are a large part of the problem.
I keep thinking of the condemnation of hypocrites. You can believe that you are very righteous while missing the most important things.
You can believe that Hillary Clinton is corrupt for endless investigations into her e-mail, despite it not turning up any evidence of deliberate wrong-doing, or violation of rules that were current at that time, and feel justified, but if you then ignore Trump administration private server use, deletion of e-mail, defrauding of clients, refusal to divest of conflicts of interest, and sexual harassment and assault, that is hypocrisy.
And you can justify that with a personal dislike of Clinton, and that shouldn't even matter because she's probably not going to run again, except that without examining that it is already starting to happen to potential future candidates - before they even declare - so it does matter. We need to be willing to face past mistakes so as not to repeat them. And if one of those past mistakes is proclaiming that there is no difference between the two parties you need to quit lying to yourself right now. There may not be enough difference, but the difference is real.
And that is certainly an issue with racism, because the people that say the most ignorant things about racism show an ignorance of relevant history. There were deliberate actions that got us to this state, and some people moved the pieces and some people just ignored that there was anything going on, but that means that they comfortably perpetuated evil, and no devoted follower of Christ does that.
And I am not going to spend a lot of time on this, because some of it has already been said and some of it will come up on the other blog down the road, and this is already a long post, but I am going to make a couple of strong statements now, and if they offend you, but you have felt the truth in other things that I have said before, then I hope you will grapple with that offense and the reasons why.
Because I am saying right now that you cannot follow Christ and support Trump. If you think you can, you do not know Him. I am saying that if you want to be on the right side when He separates the sheep and the goats, you cannot support Trump. If you want to have a store of oil so that you can get through the time where we wait for the return of the Bridegroom, you cannot support Trump.
Supporting Trump involves too much self-deception. It involves too much shutting your eyes to evil - not just the appearance of evil, but actual evil. It involves too much hate when you need to be building up love.
If you don't see the connection between Charlottesville and Trump, you are not trying. If you are congratulating yourself because you voted for Stein or abstained instead of voting for Trump, you better re-examine that. People are hurting, people are dying, and his is not the sole responsibility but it is all centered around him, so start there.
The United States of America went to war with Nazis and with Confederates. While there may be complications in the way we did that or the motivations, we were nonetheless fighting against great wrongs. Those defeats should not be technicalities - we should be completely rejecting slavery, racism, fascism, totalitarianism, antisemitism, and all other bigotry.
It's gross that we haven't yet.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Trying to be like Jesus - publicans and sinners
I have been thinking recently about the word "publican".
The first time I really thought about it was when I saw a bar owner referred to as a publican. Pub. Publican. Okay.
More recently I was thinking about how two of the places we ate in Italy were both called "antica osteria" (old tavern). Since I have also been focusing on the New Testament, it just sent me down this road.
Taverns in England were associated with the construction of Roman roads. It's not that no one was drinking ale before, but with more travelers there was more need for lodging, and for places that provided that.
Perhaps that doesn't sound like a public service, but those travelers could often be on government business, or traveling to government posts. I don't know that alcohol production had a lot of regulation in Roman times, but nonetheless it does not seem to be a coincidence that the proprietor of a public house ended up having the same title as a tax collector or public contractor.
Yes, the publicans in the Roman empire were more than tax collectors. They might also be military suppliers and oversee building projects. "Public" remains the key word, even if our understanding of the word has changed.
The tavern was open to those passing through, but by virtue of being open (and possibly due to the presence of alcohol) the locals would gather there as well. It could be a place of fellowship and cooperation.
None of those things sound so terrible. There were reasons that the Jews at the time of Jesus had scorn for publicans. For one thing, when a publican collected more taxes than expected, that was profit for him. It was easy to exploit the position.
Greed, dishonesty, and extortion can all be reasonably condemned, but it had gone beyond that, where just the job was enough.
I am not even saying that Jesus only appealed to honest publicans; we know Zacchaeus had cheated people because he said he was restoring what he had gotten that way. Jesus would call anyone to repentance who would listen.
Beyond that, it is interesting to me how much scorn there still is for both bar life and tax collection, if not always by the same people..
There can be reasonable debate about the role of public works, but just as in Roman times there are benefits to a road system and means of transporting potable water. There are things we do better together, and that requires taxes and civil engineers.
It is also valuable to have places where people can gather together - formally or casually - and the presence of alcohol can make that worse but does not necessarily have to.
We should not be so quick to look down on things. We should especially not be so quick to look down on people.
Related posts:
http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2017/02/trying-to-be-like-jesus-inside.html
The first time I really thought about it was when I saw a bar owner referred to as a publican. Pub. Publican. Okay.
More recently I was thinking about how two of the places we ate in Italy were both called "antica osteria" (old tavern). Since I have also been focusing on the New Testament, it just sent me down this road.
Taverns in England were associated with the construction of Roman roads. It's not that no one was drinking ale before, but with more travelers there was more need for lodging, and for places that provided that.
Perhaps that doesn't sound like a public service, but those travelers could often be on government business, or traveling to government posts. I don't know that alcohol production had a lot of regulation in Roman times, but nonetheless it does not seem to be a coincidence that the proprietor of a public house ended up having the same title as a tax collector or public contractor.
Yes, the publicans in the Roman empire were more than tax collectors. They might also be military suppliers and oversee building projects. "Public" remains the key word, even if our understanding of the word has changed.
The tavern was open to those passing through, but by virtue of being open (and possibly due to the presence of alcohol) the locals would gather there as well. It could be a place of fellowship and cooperation.
None of those things sound so terrible. There were reasons that the Jews at the time of Jesus had scorn for publicans. For one thing, when a publican collected more taxes than expected, that was profit for him. It was easy to exploit the position.
Greed, dishonesty, and extortion can all be reasonably condemned, but it had gone beyond that, where just the job was enough.
I am not even saying that Jesus only appealed to honest publicans; we know Zacchaeus had cheated people because he said he was restoring what he had gotten that way. Jesus would call anyone to repentance who would listen.
Beyond that, it is interesting to me how much scorn there still is for both bar life and tax collection, if not always by the same people..
There can be reasonable debate about the role of public works, but just as in Roman times there are benefits to a road system and means of transporting potable water. There are things we do better together, and that requires taxes and civil engineers.
It is also valuable to have places where people can gather together - formally or casually - and the presence of alcohol can make that worse but does not necessarily have to.
We should not be so quick to look down on things. We should especially not be so quick to look down on people.
Related posts:
http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2017/02/trying-to-be-like-jesus-inside.html
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