Now we come to the Gospel According to Luke.
I guess we should first establish who this Luke really was. And, what connection did he actually have to the events told in the book that bears his name.
With the help of Wikipedia:
Luke was one of the Four Evangelists, who is accredited with writing the Gospels. The early church fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel according to Luke and the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which would mean Luke, or people writing in his name, contributed over a quarter of the text of the New Testament, more than any other author. When one considers the amount of work contributed by Paul, it turns out that Luke and Paul wrote a lot of the New Testament. These are two People that never knew Jesus, nor witnessed any of the events they described.
The New Testament mentions Luke briefly a few times, and the Pauline epistle to the Colossians
refers to him as a physician (from Greek for 'one who heals'); thus he
is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul.
Some commentators believe Luke was a gentile. To scholars who study this stuff, they contend that the Gospel of Luke is actually being directed at the Gentiles. Perhaps Paul and Luke came to the conclusion that spreading Christianity among the Jews was a losing proposition and decided that the Gentiles were a more fertile ground. It seems that John came to the same conclusion. It turns out they were right.
The Gospel of Luke does not name its author.
The Gospel was not written and does not claim to be written by direct
witnesses to the reported events.
The earliest manuscript of the Gospel, dated circa AD 200, ascribes the work to Luke; as did Irenaeus, writing circa AD 180, and the Muratorian fragment from AD 170.
Luke at best, was a disciple to Paul, who himself never knew Jesus. Go figure how he became an authority on the birth, life and death of Jesus. Frankly, I think that Luke, or whoever, had a great imagination and a creative mind.
The authors of Luke's tale begins with the birth of John the Baptist. It seems that in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a priest named Zacharias, had a wife, Elisabeth, who had no children. It says they were stricken in years. I.e. they were old.
While he was burning incense at the temple, there appeared an angel standing on the right side of the incense alter. This shook Zacharias up a bit and he was afraid. Zacharias had been praying for a son and the angel said that his prayers had been heard and that his wife will bear him a son and you will call him John.
Zacharias informed the angel that he and his wife were old. The angel informed Zacharias that he was Gabriel and to believe him, but to be silent until things come to pass.
Of course, Elisabeth conceived and hid herself for five months.
Now, here it gets interesting: On the sixth month the angel, Gabriel, went in the city of Nazareth and came to a young virgin named Mary. She happened to be betrothed to Joseph, of the house of David.
The angel informed her that she had been chosen to bear a son and he should be called Jesus. Of course Mary had a problem with that as she "Knew not a man". Gabriel informed her that this would be no problem for the son will be begotten by God. So she became pregnant as Gabriel had said.
So where did Mary go next? She went into the hill country to the city of Judah and went to see Zacharias and Elisabeth. She entered the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth.
(Luke 1:41-42) "And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy spirit; and she lifted up voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit if thy womb". Luke established a link between Jesus and John the Baptist even before they were born.
Now here is where Luke differed significantly from Matthew. A decree came from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. Enrolled for what isn't clear but, the popular notions is that Caesar wanted a census. According to Luke, that compelled Joseph to travel to Bethlehem from Nazareth because he was of the house and family of David. Mary was really pregnant at this time but, Joseph was still betrothed to her. So off to Bethlehem they went. No marriage as of yet. Jesus was due to be born out of wedlock according to Luke. Not sure why he deviated from Matthew so much, but it could be that he wanted to insure the idea that Mary was a virgin, even up to the birth of Jesus. In fact, it isn't clear that Joseph ever married Mary. It could be that the idea of Mary remaining a virgin for her entire life appealed to Luke.
Next follows the most popular version of the tale, where Mary gave birth to Jesus, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was not room for them in the inn.
At this time there were shepherds in the field and angel came to them "the glory of the Lord shone round about them". They were scared out out of their minds. I don't blame them. So, the angel told them not to be afraid, that he brings them great tidings of joy. That this day in the city of David a Saviour (their spelling) is born, who is Christ the lord. He told them where they could find the baby (Luke 2;13-14) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to god in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased".
Luke's version of the birth of Jesus is usually the one portrayed in the plays and pageants put on by religious groups. But, that doesn't make it the more accurate one. It is just a better story. It certainly fits the image of a divine birth better than Matthew.
Sometimes there is an attempt to merge the two stories together, but that is really a farce, as they don't mesh well without sacrificing a lot of authenticity. The other clinker in the pot is, there is no record of the Romans demanding a census at this time. And, that is not the way they conducted a census anyway. The ones they did take were done in place. The Romans were very good record keepers. Luke's tale is highly suspect as it is told.
When Jesus was twelve years old his parents took him, as they did every year, to Jerusalem at the feast for the passover. When they were returning they noticed that Jesus was staying behind and they didn't know where he was. When they found him after three days of searching, he was sitting in the midst of teachers,both hearing them and asking them questions. Can you imagine missing your twelve year old son for three days?
(Luke 2:47-49) "and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him, they were astonished: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house?"
The next time Jesus appears on the scene is at his baptism by John. When he was baptized the heaven was opened.
(Luke 3:22) "and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son: in thee I am well pleased".
Then Jesus begin to teach. Luke says he was about thirty years old at the time. Then he goes through of litany of ancestry to establish Joseph's linage all the way back to Adam.
Now Luke relates the tale of trial where Jesus was led into the wilderness where he didn't eat for forty days and was tempted by the devil with all kinds of worldly stuff if he would just switch sides. Of course he didn't fall for it.
Jesus then traveled around doing Jesus things, but mainly preaching.
He starting collecting his twelve disciples. The first was Simon and then James and John.
(Luke 6:12-16) "And it came to pass in these days, that he went out into the mountain to pray; and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples; and chose from them twelve, whom also he named his apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter and Andrew his brother and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, And Matthew and Thomas and James the som Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor". One should question; what happened to Thaddaeus and where did the other Judas, son of James come from. Luke has a little different set of disciples.
It is noteworthy that a special note is made in Luke 8:22 that women are following Jesus around and that three are mentioned specifically. Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuzas, Herod's steward and Susanna.
Jesus continued roaming the land healing the sick, casting out demons and performing other miracles.
(Luke 10:1) "Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself was about to come." Here us where Luke introduced the additional apostles not mentioned in Matthew or Mark. He bestowed upon the them the power to heal the sick, cast out demons, tread upon serpents and scorpions.
Jesus was always in trouble for performing healing on the sabbath. (Luke 13:10-14) "And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath day. And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up. And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands upon her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved with indignation because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, answered and said to the multitude, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore, come and be healed, and not on the day of the sabbath." Sounds like a parable in Mark.
In chapter 15 Luke relates the well known parable about the lost sheep and the one concerning the woman who has 10 pieces of silver and having lost one, is rejoiced when she finds it. He couples this parable with the story of the prodigal son.
Jesus talked to a man that was very rich (Luke 18:24-25) "And Jesus seeing him said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to enter in through a needles eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Sound familiar?
Jesus came close to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount of Olivet, he sent two of disciples to get him a colt. He said that they will find the colt and for the disciples to just take it. If anyone asks, just say that the Lord needed it. The owners came out and challenged the disciples about stealing his colt. The disciples then informed the owner that the Lord needed it. So, they took it, brought it back to the mount and it says that they threw their garments on it and Jesus set thereon. (Luke 19:29-35).
The famous scene where Jesus cast out the sellers and money lenders upon his entrance to Jerusalem during passover, isn't the only time Jesus got irate about desecrating the temple. (Luke 19:45-46) "And he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold, saying unto them, It is written, And my house shall be a house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of robbers.
Another of the famous sayings by Jesus appears in Luke. He was asked, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? His answer was: (Luke 20:24-25) "Show me a denarius, Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said Caesar's. And he said unto them, Then render unto Caesar the things are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's".
The Last Supper varies little among the Gospels. However, how Jesus decided on the place for the feast of Passover is interesting. He told Peter and John to go into the city and they will meet a man bearing a pitcher of water. They are to follow him to his house. (Luke 22:11) "And ye shall say unto the master of the house, The Teacher saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?" The owner showed them a large upper room and they made it ready.
Leading up to the execution of Jesus is pretty constant among the tellers. The betrayed of Jesus with a kiss by Judas, the denial by Peter and so forth.
First they took Jesus to the high priests house, (Luke 22:63) "And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and beat him.) Then they took him to their council, consisting of chief priests, scribes and elders of the people. They then asked if he was the son of God and he said that he was. That pretty much condemned him. (Luke 22:71) "And they said, What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth."
Then they brought him before Pilate. They then appealed to Pilate saying that this man is perverting our nation, forbidding tribute to Caesar and saying the he himself is Christ the king. After questioning him, Pilate said he found no fault in this man.
They then pleaded urgently saying that he was stirring up the people and teaching throughout Judaea and Galilee. Pilate then said that this was in Herod's jurisdiction and sent him there. Jesus didn't fair much better with Herod and Herod sent him back to Pilate. Jesus was being to feel like a ping-pong ball about this time.
Pilate called together the council again and said again that he found no fault in this man and therefore, I will chastise him and release him.
Not familiar with law at that time I'm not sure what happened next, but (Luke 23:17) "Now he must needs release unto them at the feast one prisoner." (The book of John clears that up a little). They were holding a murderer named Barabbas in prison. The crowd shouted that they release him instead of Jesus. Pilate again wanted to release Jesus, but the crowd wanted him crucified. Pilate then said for the third time he say no cause of death in this man and therefore he will chastise him and release him.
But the crowd wasn't happy and shouted for him to be crucified, so Pilate gave in and passed the sentence they wanted. So he released Barabbas and sentenced Jesus to be crucified.
So they led him away and laid a cross upon Simon of Cyrene to bear it for him. A great multitude of people and of women followed him and "bewailed and lamented " him.
Jesus turned to them and told not to weep for him but rather for themselves and their children. And then they came to the place called The skull, where they crucified him.
On the cross before he died, there were two malefactors that were being executed. One of them spoke, saying (Luke 23:42) "And he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. (Luke 23:43) "And he said unto him,verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise". This is a twist to the story not told by Matthew or Mark. It does however, emphasize the power of atonement, which is probably the reason Luke included it.
Luke(23:46) 'And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost."
A man named Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, took it down and wrapped in linen, laid him in a tomb hewn in stone. Little different from the tale told by Matthew.
The women who had come with him from Galilee, followed after and say where they entombed the body. As was the custom, the prepared spices and ointments to use on Jesus's body.
They came to the tomb and found the stone rolled away. They then entered and noticed that the body was missing. (Luke 24:4) "And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel: (Luke 24:5-6) and as they were affrighted and bowed down their faces to the earth, then said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee". Luke added an angel to the story.
Luke now identified the women as Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary, mother of Jesus and other women. They ran from the tomb and told the eleven, and to all the rest. They disbelieved them. Note, suddenly Luke has Mary the mother of Jesus in the story, something that Matthew and Mark didn't do. I guess it was to enhance the divinity of Mary. Or, he thought it must have been that way.
But, Peter ran to the tomb and saw for himself that the body was missing. This left Peter perplexed.
There were two of the disciples walking and Jesus appeared before them. They didn't recognize him. One of them named Cleopas (one of the seventy?) asked Jesus if he was traveling to Jerusalem alone and did he not know of the things that had been going on these days?
After some discussion they came to where they were going, but Jesus seemed to be going further. They invited him to stay with them for the evening, so he did. He sat down to eat with them, took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it gave it to them. Suddenly they knew who he was. He promptly vanished out of their sight.
They returned to Jerusalem and told the eleven what had happened. While they were relating their tale, Jesus appeared among them and said "Peace be unto you".
At that they were scared and supposed that they were looking at a spirit. He asked them, why are you troubled? Don't you see me?
Then he asked if they had anything to eat. They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he ate it with them.
Then he reminded them of the things he had said and the prophecies. He opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.
He then blessed them, departed and was carried to heaven.
They worshiped him, and returning to Jerusalem went continually in the temple, blessing God.
So ends the tale of Luke.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Saturday, August 4, 2018
My brief history of Jesus as Told in the Gospels Part 2 Mark
Now we come to the Gospel according to Mark, usually attributed to Mark the Evangelist, the second book of the Gospels.
Probably the first question one should ask is, who exactly was Mark? He certainly was not one of the 12 disciples who followed Jesus during his ministry.
He was born in the first century, probably not long after the birth of Jesus and there are a number of conjectures concerning his origins and connection with the early Christian Church.
With the help of Wikipedia:
According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas. His connection to the story in this version, is based on being the cousin of Barnabas.
Oh you say--Who is Barnabas and what is he doing in this story?
Barnabas, born Joseph, was an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Named an apostle in Acts 14:14, he and Paul the Apostle undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the Judaizers. They traveled together making more converts (c. AD45–47), and participated in the Council of Jerusalem (c. 50) Barnabas and Paul successfully evangelized among the "God-fearing" Gentiles who attended synagogues in various Hellenized cities of Anatolia.
On the other hand, Hippolytus of Rome in On the Seventy Apostles distinguishes Mark the Evangelist, John Mark, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas . According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus to disseminate the gospel in Judea. (Seventy Disciples, where did that come from?)
In another version of the story of who Mark is, and his connection to the story; Herod Agrippa I, killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after Passover. Peter was saved by the angels and escaped out of the realm of Herod. Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches at various locations) and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (AD 42). Somewhere on the way, Peter encountered Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. This established that Mark was educated and likely spoke Greek. Mark the Evangelist could have taken notes on the sermons of Peter, this being the basis for composing the Gospel according to Mark, (So in a way, under this interpretation of Mark's ties to Christianity, the Gospel of Mark is really the sermons of Peter). Then he left for Alexandria (c AD 49) in the third year of Claudius.
Upon arriving at Alexandria, he founded the Church of Alexandria.
So Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, who was a disciple to Paul, or he was a disciple to Peter. Perhaps both. Take your choice.
Most modern scholars argue the Gospel of Mark was actually written by an anonymous author, not by Saint Mark. Certainly not by anyone who actually witnessed the actual events that were wrote about in the Book of Mark.
It is easy to conclude that the author of the Gospel of Mark is guilty of bit of plagiarism, that he read Matthew first and just copied a large part of it, in fact almost all of it. However, some scholars believe the Mark was actually the first Gospel written and it was Matthew and Luke that followed.
Mark begins his tale after Jesus has left his home to begin his ministry with his visit to John the Baptist to be baptized. Mark did not tackle the story of the birth of Jesus. Jesus then started to gather his first disciples.
The story of Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother joining Jesus was exactly as in Matthew.
One episode high lighted the friction that was growing between Jesus and the Pharisees. (Mark 2:15-17) "And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and publicans, said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners".
Another significant entry in the book was the issue of performing healing on the Sabbath. (Mark 3:1-4) "And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had his hand withered.
And they watched, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or do harm? to save a life or to kill? But they held their peace." This was an on going problem for Jesus, performing healing on the sabbath. Jesus then restored the mans hand. (Mark 3:6) "And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the Herodians took counsel against him, how they might destroy him."
So right away, the book showed that Jesus was at odds with the Pharisees. But, who were these Pharisees that hate Jesus so much that they are looking for ways to destroy him? The Gospels often portray the Pharisees as an enemy of John the Baptist and Jesus. But, there are also several references in the New Testament to the Apostle Paul being a Pharisee. The relationship between Early Christianity and Pharisees was not always hostile however: e.g. Gamaliel is often cited as a Pharisaic leader who was sympathetic to Christians. Mainly the Pharisees were a political, which in those days meant a religious party, generally having the backing and good will of the common people. Just how the Pharisees fit into the society of the Jews is a history lesson within itself. The Pharisees might not have liked Jesus's teachings but, they were not the only voice in Israel at the time. But, Jesus's great appeal was to the people that supported the Pharisees. It is easy to see why the leadership of the Pharisees would not care for Jesus and his attractiveness to the very people that were their base. The Jews were not a single unified voice in how to interpret the Torah. The Sadducees, who were mainly the upper class and wealthy Jews, were another major political (religious) party.
According to Mark, Jesus chose a little different way to anoint his twelve chosen ones.
(Mark 3:13-19) "And he goeth into the mountain, and calleth unto him whom he himself would; and they went unto him. And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to cast out demons: and Simon he surnamed Peter; and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James; and them he surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him".
At one time Jesus's mother and his brethren came to him and wanted to talk. (Mark 3:31) "And there came his mother and his brethren; and, standing without, they sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." It seems that Jesus was not that good a son in the common meaning of the word. It could be that he really was on the outs with his family, especially his parents, in spite of the fact that he taught that to disrespect one mother and father was a sin. His mother came to see him and he was too busy to bother. Not sure what was going on here, but it looks odd. He taught that doing the will of God trumped all and that you should leave your family to do so. It also reinforces the notion that Jesus had siblings.
Jesus continues his roaming and doing Jesus things. Most all the parables, healing, casting out of demons and sayings found in the book of Matthew are repeated here. One small exception is that Mark has a bread and fishes story with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes with which he fed the multitude. The seven loaf story emerges in chapter 8.In fact he enjoyed this tale so much it was repeated 2 more times each.
He continued to roam the land drawing huge throngs of people to hear him, making the Pharisees uncomfortable. He was breaking all kinds of Jewish traditions along the way. Healing on the sabbath, eating with "defiled" hands and others.
At last he came near to Jerusalem.
(Mark 11:1-2) "And when they draw nigh unto Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way into the village that is over against you: and straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat; loose him, and bring him" Most accounts having Jesus sending the disciple for an ass, but Mark preferred a colt which is the foal of an ass.
The disciples got the colt and Jesus rode it into Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem he was challenged many times on his teachings which he answered with parables and other teachings.
(Mark 11:11) "And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and when he had looked round about upon all things, it being eventide, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. And on the morrow, when they were come out from Bethany, he hungered. And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. And he answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it." Later when they returned the fig tree was withered and dead. Jesus didn't put up with anything, not even a stubborn tree.
Then they returned to Jerusalem and entered the temple, saw what was going on, and all hell broke loose, just as the story told by Matthew.
(Mark 11:18) "And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how might destroy him: for they feared him, for all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
After they returned to the mount of Olives, Peter, John, James and Andrew asked him about what signs would there be before the end of time. This is where Jesus went through a litany of things that will happen. Wars and rumors of wars, nations will rise against nations, earthquakes, famine and the gospel must first be preached unto all nations. Brother shall slay brother and father shall slay his child; and the child shall rise up and slay it's parents. False Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light and the stars shall fall from the heavens. Then you will see the Son of man coming in great power and glory. In other words, all kinds of bad things are in our future. How Mark found out about this meeting and what was said, is anybodies guess. Perhaps from Peter. Matthew certainly never revealed it in his telling.
All this is mothers milk to the typical fire and brimstone preacher.
Marks telling of the last supper is very close to the story told in Matthew.
The story of Jesus's betrayal by Judas and the subsequent events are well documented in Matthew, with very few differences. For one, the famous scene of Pilate washing hands is missing from Mark's story. Another, the amount of money isn't mentioned. The scene on the cross follows closely to Matthew. (Mark 15:25-28) "And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two robbers,one on this right hand, and one on his left. And the scripture was fulled, which saith, And he was reckoned with transgressors". It should be noted that there is no atonement for one of the robbers during the crucifixion. That is reserved for Luke to write about, or invent.
Joseph of Arimathaea asked Pilate if he could have the body for burial. (Mark 15:44-45) "And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he learned it of the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph." Jesus died in only three days which was unusual. Crucifixion was designed to be a long and painful death.
Here the story various a little from that related in the Book of Matthew.
The two Mary's, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome, brought spices that they might anoint him. They wondered how they were going to roll back the stone so they could do what they came for.
When they arrived the stone was already rolled away. (Mark 16:5) "And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed" Notice that Mark doesn't name the young man as an angel, although he seems to infer it.
The young man then pointed out that Jesus was no longer where they had laid him. He said to the Mary's to tell his disciples and Peter that he would go before them to Galilee and meet with them.
(Mark 16:8) "And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them: and they said nothing to any one; for they were afraid".
Now the story gets even more interesting. The first person he appeared to was, Mary Magdalene, described as a women from whom he had cast out seven demons. She then went to the disciples, as they mourned and wept, and told them that she had been with a risen Jesus. They didn't believe her. Of course not, she was a woman. Why would Jesus come to her first? This does show that there was a special connection between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, which leads to all kinds of speculation.
Then he appeared in another form to two of them (It doesn't say which two). The two then told the others, but they weren't believed either. Jesus is having a hard time with his disciples.
Jesus then appeared to the eleven as they sat eating. (Mark 16:14-16) "And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into the world, and preach the gospel to whole creation. He that believeth and baptized shall be saved; but he the disbelieveth shall be condemned." So Jesus sent the eleven men, who had real doubts about him, out in the world to carry his word.
Then Jesus anointed the eleven with special gifts. (Mark 16:17) "And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover".
Now one can see where so called faith healers get their authenticity. This passage has generated all kinds of weirdos, including snake worshipers, speaking in tongues and other practices. Notice, Mark, like Matthew, doesn't give the power of actually forgiving sin to the eleven. Each person is responsible for themselves. An individual is saved by believing in him and being baptized. No intermediary required.
After that, it says, he went to heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
The final passage in Mark; 16:20 " And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
Thus ends the story of Jesus as told by Mark. Luke follows:
Probably the first question one should ask is, who exactly was Mark? He certainly was not one of the 12 disciples who followed Jesus during his ministry.
He was born in the first century, probably not long after the birth of Jesus and there are a number of conjectures concerning his origins and connection with the early Christian Church.
With the help of Wikipedia:
According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas. His connection to the story in this version, is based on being the cousin of Barnabas.
Oh you say--Who is Barnabas and what is he doing in this story?
Barnabas, born Joseph, was an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Named an apostle in Acts 14:14, he and Paul the Apostle undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the Judaizers. They traveled together making more converts (c. AD45–47), and participated in the Council of Jerusalem (c. 50) Barnabas and Paul successfully evangelized among the "God-fearing" Gentiles who attended synagogues in various Hellenized cities of Anatolia.
On the other hand, Hippolytus of Rome in On the Seventy Apostles distinguishes Mark the Evangelist, John Mark, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas . According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus to disseminate the gospel in Judea. (Seventy Disciples, where did that come from?)
In another version of the story of who Mark is, and his connection to the story; Herod Agrippa I, killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after Passover. Peter was saved by the angels and escaped out of the realm of Herod. Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches at various locations) and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (AD 42). Somewhere on the way, Peter encountered Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. This established that Mark was educated and likely spoke Greek. Mark the Evangelist could have taken notes on the sermons of Peter, this being the basis for composing the Gospel according to Mark, (So in a way, under this interpretation of Mark's ties to Christianity, the Gospel of Mark is really the sermons of Peter). Then he left for Alexandria (c AD 49) in the third year of Claudius.
Upon arriving at Alexandria, he founded the Church of Alexandria.
So Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, who was a disciple to Paul, or he was a disciple to Peter. Perhaps both. Take your choice.
Most modern scholars argue the Gospel of Mark was actually written by an anonymous author, not by Saint Mark. Certainly not by anyone who actually witnessed the actual events that were wrote about in the Book of Mark.
It is easy to conclude that the author of the Gospel of Mark is guilty of bit of plagiarism, that he read Matthew first and just copied a large part of it, in fact almost all of it. However, some scholars believe the Mark was actually the first Gospel written and it was Matthew and Luke that followed.
Mark begins his tale after Jesus has left his home to begin his ministry with his visit to John the Baptist to be baptized. Mark did not tackle the story of the birth of Jesus. Jesus then started to gather his first disciples.
The story of Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother joining Jesus was exactly as in Matthew.
One episode high lighted the friction that was growing between Jesus and the Pharisees. (Mark 2:15-17) "And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and publicans, said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners".
Another significant entry in the book was the issue of performing healing on the Sabbath. (Mark 3:1-4) "And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had his hand withered.
And they watched, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or do harm? to save a life or to kill? But they held their peace." This was an on going problem for Jesus, performing healing on the sabbath. Jesus then restored the mans hand. (Mark 3:6) "And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the Herodians took counsel against him, how they might destroy him."
So right away, the book showed that Jesus was at odds with the Pharisees. But, who were these Pharisees that hate Jesus so much that they are looking for ways to destroy him? The Gospels often portray the Pharisees as an enemy of John the Baptist and Jesus. But, there are also several references in the New Testament to the Apostle Paul being a Pharisee. The relationship between Early Christianity and Pharisees was not always hostile however: e.g. Gamaliel is often cited as a Pharisaic leader who was sympathetic to Christians. Mainly the Pharisees were a political, which in those days meant a religious party, generally having the backing and good will of the common people. Just how the Pharisees fit into the society of the Jews is a history lesson within itself. The Pharisees might not have liked Jesus's teachings but, they were not the only voice in Israel at the time. But, Jesus's great appeal was to the people that supported the Pharisees. It is easy to see why the leadership of the Pharisees would not care for Jesus and his attractiveness to the very people that were their base. The Jews were not a single unified voice in how to interpret the Torah. The Sadducees, who were mainly the upper class and wealthy Jews, were another major political (religious) party.
According to Mark, Jesus chose a little different way to anoint his twelve chosen ones.
(Mark 3:13-19) "And he goeth into the mountain, and calleth unto him whom he himself would; and they went unto him. And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to cast out demons: and Simon he surnamed Peter; and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James; and them he surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him".
At one time Jesus's mother and his brethren came to him and wanted to talk. (Mark 3:31) "And there came his mother and his brethren; and, standing without, they sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." It seems that Jesus was not that good a son in the common meaning of the word. It could be that he really was on the outs with his family, especially his parents, in spite of the fact that he taught that to disrespect one mother and father was a sin. His mother came to see him and he was too busy to bother. Not sure what was going on here, but it looks odd. He taught that doing the will of God trumped all and that you should leave your family to do so. It also reinforces the notion that Jesus had siblings.
Jesus continues his roaming and doing Jesus things. Most all the parables, healing, casting out of demons and sayings found in the book of Matthew are repeated here. One small exception is that Mark has a bread and fishes story with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes with which he fed the multitude. The seven loaf story emerges in chapter 8.In fact he enjoyed this tale so much it was repeated 2 more times each.
He continued to roam the land drawing huge throngs of people to hear him, making the Pharisees uncomfortable. He was breaking all kinds of Jewish traditions along the way. Healing on the sabbath, eating with "defiled" hands and others.
At last he came near to Jerusalem.
(Mark 11:1-2) "And when they draw nigh unto Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way into the village that is over against you: and straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat; loose him, and bring him" Most accounts having Jesus sending the disciple for an ass, but Mark preferred a colt which is the foal of an ass.
The disciples got the colt and Jesus rode it into Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem he was challenged many times on his teachings which he answered with parables and other teachings.
(Mark 11:11) "And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and when he had looked round about upon all things, it being eventide, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. And on the morrow, when they were come out from Bethany, he hungered. And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. And he answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it." Later when they returned the fig tree was withered and dead. Jesus didn't put up with anything, not even a stubborn tree.
Then they returned to Jerusalem and entered the temple, saw what was going on, and all hell broke loose, just as the story told by Matthew.
(Mark 11:18) "And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how might destroy him: for they feared him, for all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
After they returned to the mount of Olives, Peter, John, James and Andrew asked him about what signs would there be before the end of time. This is where Jesus went through a litany of things that will happen. Wars and rumors of wars, nations will rise against nations, earthquakes, famine and the gospel must first be preached unto all nations. Brother shall slay brother and father shall slay his child; and the child shall rise up and slay it's parents. False Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light and the stars shall fall from the heavens. Then you will see the Son of man coming in great power and glory. In other words, all kinds of bad things are in our future. How Mark found out about this meeting and what was said, is anybodies guess. Perhaps from Peter. Matthew certainly never revealed it in his telling.
All this is mothers milk to the typical fire and brimstone preacher.
Marks telling of the last supper is very close to the story told in Matthew.
The story of Jesus's betrayal by Judas and the subsequent events are well documented in Matthew, with very few differences. For one, the famous scene of Pilate washing hands is missing from Mark's story. Another, the amount of money isn't mentioned. The scene on the cross follows closely to Matthew. (Mark 15:25-28) "And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two robbers,one on this right hand, and one on his left. And the scripture was fulled, which saith, And he was reckoned with transgressors". It should be noted that there is no atonement for one of the robbers during the crucifixion. That is reserved for Luke to write about, or invent.
Joseph of Arimathaea asked Pilate if he could have the body for burial. (Mark 15:44-45) "And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he learned it of the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph." Jesus died in only three days which was unusual. Crucifixion was designed to be a long and painful death.
Here the story various a little from that related in the Book of Matthew.
The two Mary's, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome, brought spices that they might anoint him. They wondered how they were going to roll back the stone so they could do what they came for.
When they arrived the stone was already rolled away. (Mark 16:5) "And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed" Notice that Mark doesn't name the young man as an angel, although he seems to infer it.
The young man then pointed out that Jesus was no longer where they had laid him. He said to the Mary's to tell his disciples and Peter that he would go before them to Galilee and meet with them.
(Mark 16:8) "And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them: and they said nothing to any one; for they were afraid".
Now the story gets even more interesting. The first person he appeared to was, Mary Magdalene, described as a women from whom he had cast out seven demons. She then went to the disciples, as they mourned and wept, and told them that she had been with a risen Jesus. They didn't believe her. Of course not, she was a woman. Why would Jesus come to her first? This does show that there was a special connection between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, which leads to all kinds of speculation.
Then he appeared in another form to two of them (It doesn't say which two). The two then told the others, but they weren't believed either. Jesus is having a hard time with his disciples.
Jesus then appeared to the eleven as they sat eating. (Mark 16:14-16) "And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into the world, and preach the gospel to whole creation. He that believeth and baptized shall be saved; but he the disbelieveth shall be condemned." So Jesus sent the eleven men, who had real doubts about him, out in the world to carry his word.
Then Jesus anointed the eleven with special gifts. (Mark 16:17) "And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover".
Now one can see where so called faith healers get their authenticity. This passage has generated all kinds of weirdos, including snake worshipers, speaking in tongues and other practices. Notice, Mark, like Matthew, doesn't give the power of actually forgiving sin to the eleven. Each person is responsible for themselves. An individual is saved by believing in him and being baptized. No intermediary required.
After that, it says, he went to heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
The final passage in Mark; 16:20 " And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
Thus ends the story of Jesus as told by Mark. Luke follows:
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
My Brief History of Jesus as Told in the Gospels Part 1 Matthew
I'm sure that almost everybody who had any affiliation with a Christian church has had the stories from the first 4 books of the New Testament, which are called the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, told to them in Sunday School or in some other way. The story of the birth of Jesus, his deeds and sayings in his preaching to the people of Israel and the crucifixion at the end of his life has been related many ways. Even though they know the stories, or at least something close to the stories told in the first four books of the New Testament, I don't know if the story of Jesus's life as told by the people who wrote those books isn't really all that well known. They know the story of the birth, sort of. It is told every Christmas, sometimes in large Pageants, but mostly in small plays put on by a church. A lot of people who go to church every Sunday have never read the bible, or it's been a long time. I thought it would be fun to give a short recap of Jesus's life as told in the Gospels. But, not his teachings, that would be a little much and it's already been done in a book called the Bible.
It should be pointed out that no one is sure who actually wrote the Gospels. We know who's name is attached to the first four books, but considering that the Gospels were written one or probably two or three generations after the death of Jesus, the actual authors remain a mystery to most scholars, although there are some that are sure the authors of the books are the ones who's names they carry. Even if that is true, how could any of them have known the details related in the Gospels. Even if they were there at the time of the sermons contained in the four books, they didn't have any way to record them, so what they write about is at least twenty or thirty years after the event and all from memory. Of course Mark and Luke were not there, in fact they never even met Jesus. Even further, Luke never even met a person who actually knew Jesus.
Anyone who has actually read the Bible is aware of the discrepancies among the authors about certain details of the life of Jesus. I will leave that to the reader to reconcile.
It seems, by people who really study these things, that Matthew was the earliest of the Gospels. They base that on factors such as the style of writing, the language used and other factors of which I have no expertize. But, if you read the Gospels, you probably conclude that the scholars are right, Matthew is the first of the Gospels. However, some scholars believe that Mark was the first.
After you read Matthew, you really don't need to read any of the others. The message that Jesus brought is completely covered in that book and is only repeated, sometimes verbatim, in the other three books. However, each book has a different slant on some of the events, sometimes a significant difference. If you believe in any of the books as being authentic, then Matthew is the most credible.
I will not attempt to relate the message that Jesus was preaching, just the basic history of his life as related in the Gospels. For anyone who feels they need to know that information should go to the source and actually read one of the more modern translations. The early translations has been found to have translation errors, and the new ones will be much easier to read. (That will be disputed by the fundamentalists). That is, if you can plow your way through one of the most boring books ever written.
However you might not like what you read if you consider yourself a modern Christian. Jesus's admonitions to his followers about all kinds of subjects such as what is expected of you to get to heaven, marriage, divorce, charity, gentiles and the pursuit of worldly goods among other things, show just how UN-Christian the vast majority of us are. We, in fact, are the Pharisees of the story. The modern man or woman, cleric or priest would probably be right in the crowd cheering the executioner on.
It is easy to see, however, how the poor and downtrodden of the world would embrace the message in the book. For most of history the poor had no hope of ever escaping their lot in life. But, Jesus came along and promised them, that if they followed him, they would be rewarded in heaven. Not sure why the rich would like the message Jesus was teaching, and they certainly don't, in reality, no matter how much they go to church. One of the most famous quotes from the Bible is "It is be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven". But, the "in" crowd certainly used that message to convince the poor and disenfranchised to be happy with their position in life, because they would be rewarded after death. A message embraced by the church with vigor as they crowned Kings and let them exploit the masses.
First let's look at the story as told in the Book of Matthew. My first intention was to include all 4 books in a single blog, but after getting started I realized that that might be a little much. So, I decided to break into parts. I hope it entertains. perhaps informs and doesn't get too many peoples drawers in a knot.
But, who was Matthew:
Matthew was a publican, or tax collector, before he was called as one of the Lord’s Apostles. Because of that profession, we can guess that he was well educated and knew how to read and write, probably in several languages, including Greek. He also knew arithmetic. He saw and heard many things while with Jesus, and it is likely he wrote down some of the sayings as notes or in a journal. Later, these notes would have helped him or one of his own followers to write the book carrying his name.
The Gospel According to Matthew starts with a lot of begats. The purpose is to establish that Joseph is of the house of David. That is necessary because the prophecy states that the messiah will be born of the house of David. Of course Joseph, not being the actual father, throws some doubt into that line leading from David to Jesus.
Now, at that time there was a young girl named Mary who was betrothed to Joseph. Remember that betrothal in those days was through arraignment between the parents, and nothing to do with love as we know it today. He may or may not, have known her before the betrothal. Nothing else is really said about Joseph. We don't know where he lives or what he does at this point in the book. It would be assumed that these events would have taken place in Bethlehem, as there is no indication of any movement. (Luke introduced that notion). Joseph and Mary were married and then Mary had to reveal something to Joseph.
Matthew now says:
( Matthew 1:18) "before they came together (i.e. slept together in our language) she was found with child of the Holy Spirit" Now it says (Matthew 1:19) "And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily" (that likely means hiding her away, but it's a strange word, but does seem to indicate something about privacy). You can imagine, Joseph must have been livid, he had just married a woman already pregnant. However:
( Matthew 1:20) "But when he thought on those things, behold, and Angel of the lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit". You notice that every one in Israel spoke 16th century English at that time. Very advanced of them.
Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem. Apparently unnoticed, except for three Wise-men in the east. The Wise-men or Magi, are likely Astrologers, sometimes they are portrayed as Kings.
The three Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem asking for the new born King of the Jews, for they saw his star in the east and had come to worship him. (It is likely that what they really saw was a reading of the stars, as astrologers do. There is no way that a star could be seen to hang over a particular place on earth. But, the people of time didn't understand that the earth rotates, how enormous the universe is, the true nature of stars and how far away from the earth they are).
Herod, the King heard of this and was troubled. He gathered his Priests and Scribes and asked where this new King of the Jews would be born. They answered that it had to be in the City of David, (Bethlehem) because that was the prophecy.
Herod than summoned the Wise-men and asked them the time of the birth and when they found the child, to come back and tell him so that he could worship him.
The Wise-men found the young child, he was likely very close to 2 at the time, and fell down and worshiped him. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Wise-men were warned of Herod's motives and didn't return to tell him of the location. This really pissed Herod off, so he ordered every child of 2 or less in the city of Bethlehem and it's surrounding area killed.
Joseph and Mary were warned of the danger by an Angel and fled to Egypt where they stayed until Herod's death. Then they returned to Israel and settled in the city of Nazareth. Thus Jesus became known as a Nazarene.
This is last we hear of Joseph and Mary in the book of Matthew except for a brief mention in chapter 13 (Matthew 13:54 and 13:55) "And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?". And (Matthew 13:56) "And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?". This could lead one to believe that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but it is not conclusive. It is likely he did. It also should be pointed out that naming Joseph as a carpenter is disputed by many scholars. The actual translation probably should have been builder. But, because the first English translation was done where a builder would have been a carpenter, Joseph was tagged with that occupation. Considering that a builder in Israel would have actually been a mason, that might be the more likely occupation.
Nothing else was heard of Jesus in this book until he reached adulthood when he shows up to John the Baptist to be Baptized.
Jesus then started traveling around Israel preaching, healing the sick, driving out demons, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes (4 to 5 thousand) with 7 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and performing other miracles. Most of the parables that you have heard, came from the book of Matthew. As does the Lords Prayer. For details of his preaching see the source.
During his travels he started to collect followers including a lot of women, he apparently was a rock star. Most notable were the followers that will become his twelve disciples or Apostles.
Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee and he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. He told them to come with him and they did. They were the first of the Apostles. Later he came upon two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother and they followed him also. Later he added Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaian and Judas Iscariot. What is strange to a lot of people, is that Mark and Luke are not part of this group. These are the twelve disciples that follow Jesus, off and on, through his life and are given special powers. So, contrary to the common belief that the books of the Gospels were written by, or at least inspired by, members of the elite twelve close to Jesus, Mark and Luke weren't part of that group. More on those two later.
At one point Jesus brought his group together, (Matthew 10:1) "And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness." Then he sent them out to spread the word and to heal the sick, cast out demons with a lot of admonitions. An interesting byplay of his order to go out and do his good works is, that the disciples aren't around for a lot of what is reported in the story. It is all hearsay. Who was around? The women, of course.
They, let's call them the main stream Jews, led by the priests, elders and Pharisees, were really mad at Jesus. One of their big gripes was that he healed people on the Sabbath. Which apparently was a no-no at the time. It, along with his statement that he was the Son of God was considered blasphemy. He was a rabble rouser, a radical, a revolutionary, a dangerous man. He was encroaching on their territory and he was threatening the very foundations of their beliefs. He was, in a sense, the Martin Luther of his day. He was challenging their beliefs, and just as the Catholic Church reacted to Martin Luther, so the high priests and Pharisees reacted to Jesus. In addition he was gathering a following that measured in the thousands. This man could not be allowed to live. He was under constant threat from the established order most of his time as a Rabbi (teacher). I think that the general picture of Jesus being the serene man walking around doing good things is not quite accurate. I think he was more like a Pentecostal preacher at his best, spouting fire and brimstone. He showed on a number of occasions that he could get really mad, peeved or petulant and take physical actions.
At Passover he came to Jerusalem knowing he was entering the mouth of the lion. He told his followers that his time was short and what they were to do.
Then he had another of his rather famous episodes. Mathew 21:12-13) "And Jesus entered into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves; and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers".
Jesus could really be a bad ass when he wanted. Of course that didn't sit well with the high priests; he was into their money.
He had a supper at the last Passover of his life, usually called the Last Supper, where he gathered his Apostles about him and started the custom of the eating of bread and drinking of wine after blessing them and pronouncing that they were his body and his blood.
At this get together he said the one of them will betray him, which they all denied. He also said to Peter that he would denounce him three times before the cock crowed. Both, of course came true.
His enemies knew where he was and had arranged for Judas to betray him for 30 pieces of silver. Judas said he would identify Jesus by kissing him. And that is what he did. (An interesting side light is the alternate version told in the Gospel according to Judas, interesting).
After Jesus was arrested, his disciples fled and hid, afraid for their lives. Remember Peter and the three denials. The events of the trial and execution of Jesus could not have been known to any of them. No telling how Matthew, or subsequently his own followers, got knowledge of any of these events is a mystery. I suppose rumors and gossip floating around was the source. Or more likely, it was the women, who apparently stayed by Jesus's side through out.
The Jews were not allowed to execute anyone, so they took Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pilate. He found no wrong in him and famously washed his hands of the whole thing. However after a lot of wailing and teeth gnashing by the chief priests and the elders that were screaming for his blood, with Pilate saying he didn't want Jesus's blood on his hands, (Matthew 27:25) "And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children". I have a hard time believing that was actually said in anger. I think it was an invention of a later generation; for one of several possible reasons. It could be to deflect blame from the Romans, who ruled Israel with an iron fist, a view expressed one expert I read, or it could have been just vindictiveness from some Christians who wished to damn the Jews for killing Jesus or it actually could have been just a lament of some in the crowd, recognizing what the execution of a leading figure like Jesus would bring down on their people. It depends on how you read it. In any event, according to the story, Pilate finally gave in and Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. Of course this passage helped set the Jews on a course of persecution from the Christians for centuries for they took it as a cry for the execution of their savior.
Judas, in the mean time, recognizing what he had done and feeling guilty tried to return the money. The priests didn't want it because it was blood money, so they buried it in the graveyard of the poor and nameless. Judas subsequently hanged himself.
The soldiers took Jesus stripped him, put him in a scarlet robe . Then they put a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him by saying "Hail, King of the Jews".(Matthew 27:29) "They spat on him and took the reed and smote him on the head."
He was forced to carry his cross on the way to the place of crucifixion. But, in spite of the common idea of that event, he probably had only to carry the cross beam of the cross. That was the common procedure for the condemned man. Carrying the whole massive cross would have been nearly impossible for one man. In general, the post used for crucifixion would be left standing to be used over and over again. Sometimes the Romans just used a tree for the post of the cross and just nailed the cross beam to it.The Romans had this down to a fine art.
However, he had been beaten and crowned with thorns, so one of the Roman soldiers compelled a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, to carry the cross for him. Jesus was just too weak.
When they crucified him they parted his garments among them, casting lots. They set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
He was crucified with two robbers, one on the left and one on the right.
As he hung on the cross he was constantly jeered and made fun of. He had saved others, why not save himself if he really is the son of God.
This is also where the now famous quote of Jesus saying "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthami? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
(Matthew 27:48-50) "And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it in a reed, and gave him a drink. And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him. And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yeilded up his spirit."
(Matthew 27:51)"And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two and the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent; (Matthew27:52) and the tombs were opened; and the many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised".
Many women were there, principal among them were two Mary's, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Not sure how that works, but that is what the book says. I supposed the other Mary married twice and had step children. It is clear, from later passages that we are only talking about two Mary's. What may be noteworthy is that Mary, the mother of Jesus wasn't there.
He died on the third day. (That is kind of strange, because a crucifixion usually took longer to cause death. It was designed to be a slow tortuous death).
Now the story gets even more interesting. A rich man from Arimathaea named Joseph, who was a disciple of Jesus, asked Pilate for the body. Pilate said Okay. So he took the body down, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and placed in his own tomb, which was hewn out of a rock. and he rolled a great stone to the door, and departed.
The two Mary's were there sitting over against the sepulchre (the tomb).
Being a suspicious bunch, the chief priests and the elders came to Pilate the next morning and reminded him that Jesus said he would arise on the third day, so Pilate should put a guard on the tomb until the third day because his disciples may steal him away and proclaim to the people that he has arisen. So Pilate did that very thing. They made sure the sepulchre was secure, sealing the stone and placing a guard.
Here is were the great miracle happens. (Mathew 28:1-6) "Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay". See, even the angels speak 16th century English.
The angel told the women to go quickly and tell his disciples. That he has risen from the dead and he will go before you into Galilee and there you will see him.
So the Mary's took off to bring the disciples word. At that point Jesus met them saying (Matthew 28:9) "All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him". He further said to fear not and told the women that he would meet his disciples in Galilee. Mary then carried the message back to the doubting disciples.
At that point the guards went back into the city and told the chief priests what had happened. After a bit of conferences with elders, they decided to bribe the guards to say that the disciples had come by night and stole him while they were asleep.
They, being smart soldiers that they were, and underpaid, took the bribe and repeated the story to the governor and anybody else who would listen. This bit of the story is only related in Matthew.
The eleven disciples went on to Galilee and to the mountain that Jesus had named
Even though they saw Jesus and worshiped him, some doubted.
Never the less, he sent them off to spread the word to all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
What Jesus does after that is not covered by Matthew.
And, thus ends the tale of the life of Jesus as written in the book of Matthew.
Tune in to Part 2 for Mark.
It should be pointed out that no one is sure who actually wrote the Gospels. We know who's name is attached to the first four books, but considering that the Gospels were written one or probably two or three generations after the death of Jesus, the actual authors remain a mystery to most scholars, although there are some that are sure the authors of the books are the ones who's names they carry. Even if that is true, how could any of them have known the details related in the Gospels. Even if they were there at the time of the sermons contained in the four books, they didn't have any way to record them, so what they write about is at least twenty or thirty years after the event and all from memory. Of course Mark and Luke were not there, in fact they never even met Jesus. Even further, Luke never even met a person who actually knew Jesus.
Anyone who has actually read the Bible is aware of the discrepancies among the authors about certain details of the life of Jesus. I will leave that to the reader to reconcile.
It seems, by people who really study these things, that Matthew was the earliest of the Gospels. They base that on factors such as the style of writing, the language used and other factors of which I have no expertize. But, if you read the Gospels, you probably conclude that the scholars are right, Matthew is the first of the Gospels. However, some scholars believe that Mark was the first.
After you read Matthew, you really don't need to read any of the others. The message that Jesus brought is completely covered in that book and is only repeated, sometimes verbatim, in the other three books. However, each book has a different slant on some of the events, sometimes a significant difference. If you believe in any of the books as being authentic, then Matthew is the most credible.
I will not attempt to relate the message that Jesus was preaching, just the basic history of his life as related in the Gospels. For anyone who feels they need to know that information should go to the source and actually read one of the more modern translations. The early translations has been found to have translation errors, and the new ones will be much easier to read. (That will be disputed by the fundamentalists). That is, if you can plow your way through one of the most boring books ever written.
However you might not like what you read if you consider yourself a modern Christian. Jesus's admonitions to his followers about all kinds of subjects such as what is expected of you to get to heaven, marriage, divorce, charity, gentiles and the pursuit of worldly goods among other things, show just how UN-Christian the vast majority of us are. We, in fact, are the Pharisees of the story. The modern man or woman, cleric or priest would probably be right in the crowd cheering the executioner on.
It is easy to see, however, how the poor and downtrodden of the world would embrace the message in the book. For most of history the poor had no hope of ever escaping their lot in life. But, Jesus came along and promised them, that if they followed him, they would be rewarded in heaven. Not sure why the rich would like the message Jesus was teaching, and they certainly don't, in reality, no matter how much they go to church. One of the most famous quotes from the Bible is "It is be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven". But, the "in" crowd certainly used that message to convince the poor and disenfranchised to be happy with their position in life, because they would be rewarded after death. A message embraced by the church with vigor as they crowned Kings and let them exploit the masses.
First let's look at the story as told in the Book of Matthew. My first intention was to include all 4 books in a single blog, but after getting started I realized that that might be a little much. So, I decided to break into parts. I hope it entertains. perhaps informs and doesn't get too many peoples drawers in a knot.
But, who was Matthew:
Matthew was a publican, or tax collector, before he was called as one of the Lord’s Apostles. Because of that profession, we can guess that he was well educated and knew how to read and write, probably in several languages, including Greek. He also knew arithmetic. He saw and heard many things while with Jesus, and it is likely he wrote down some of the sayings as notes or in a journal. Later, these notes would have helped him or one of his own followers to write the book carrying his name.
In his book, Matthew often stresses
that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and came to fulfill the Old Testament
prophecies. Matthew wrote specifically to the Jews, who were familiar
with those prophecies.
Matthew was a man who could have
moved comfortably in political circles, and his book mentions things
that someone in his position would know.
Now, at that time there was a young girl named Mary who was betrothed to Joseph. Remember that betrothal in those days was through arraignment between the parents, and nothing to do with love as we know it today. He may or may not, have known her before the betrothal. Nothing else is really said about Joseph. We don't know where he lives or what he does at this point in the book. It would be assumed that these events would have taken place in Bethlehem, as there is no indication of any movement. (Luke introduced that notion). Joseph and Mary were married and then Mary had to reveal something to Joseph.
Matthew now says:
( Matthew 1:18) "before they came together (i.e. slept together in our language) she was found with child of the Holy Spirit" Now it says (Matthew 1:19) "And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily" (that likely means hiding her away, but it's a strange word, but does seem to indicate something about privacy). You can imagine, Joseph must have been livid, he had just married a woman already pregnant. However:
( Matthew 1:20) "But when he thought on those things, behold, and Angel of the lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit". You notice that every one in Israel spoke 16th century English at that time. Very advanced of them.
Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem. Apparently unnoticed, except for three Wise-men in the east. The Wise-men or Magi, are likely Astrologers, sometimes they are portrayed as Kings.
The three Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem asking for the new born King of the Jews, for they saw his star in the east and had come to worship him. (It is likely that what they really saw was a reading of the stars, as astrologers do. There is no way that a star could be seen to hang over a particular place on earth. But, the people of time didn't understand that the earth rotates, how enormous the universe is, the true nature of stars and how far away from the earth they are).
Herod, the King heard of this and was troubled. He gathered his Priests and Scribes and asked where this new King of the Jews would be born. They answered that it had to be in the City of David, (Bethlehem) because that was the prophecy.
Herod than summoned the Wise-men and asked them the time of the birth and when they found the child, to come back and tell him so that he could worship him.
The Wise-men found the young child, he was likely very close to 2 at the time, and fell down and worshiped him. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Wise-men were warned of Herod's motives and didn't return to tell him of the location. This really pissed Herod off, so he ordered every child of 2 or less in the city of Bethlehem and it's surrounding area killed.
Joseph and Mary were warned of the danger by an Angel and fled to Egypt where they stayed until Herod's death. Then they returned to Israel and settled in the city of Nazareth. Thus Jesus became known as a Nazarene.
This is last we hear of Joseph and Mary in the book of Matthew except for a brief mention in chapter 13 (Matthew 13:54 and 13:55) "And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?". And (Matthew 13:56) "And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?". This could lead one to believe that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but it is not conclusive. It is likely he did. It also should be pointed out that naming Joseph as a carpenter is disputed by many scholars. The actual translation probably should have been builder. But, because the first English translation was done where a builder would have been a carpenter, Joseph was tagged with that occupation. Considering that a builder in Israel would have actually been a mason, that might be the more likely occupation.
Nothing else was heard of Jesus in this book until he reached adulthood when he shows up to John the Baptist to be Baptized.
Jesus then started traveling around Israel preaching, healing the sick, driving out demons, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes (4 to 5 thousand) with 7 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and performing other miracles. Most of the parables that you have heard, came from the book of Matthew. As does the Lords Prayer. For details of his preaching see the source.
During his travels he started to collect followers including a lot of women, he apparently was a rock star. Most notable were the followers that will become his twelve disciples or Apostles.
Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee and he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. He told them to come with him and they did. They were the first of the Apostles. Later he came upon two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother and they followed him also. Later he added Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaian and Judas Iscariot. What is strange to a lot of people, is that Mark and Luke are not part of this group. These are the twelve disciples that follow Jesus, off and on, through his life and are given special powers. So, contrary to the common belief that the books of the Gospels were written by, or at least inspired by, members of the elite twelve close to Jesus, Mark and Luke weren't part of that group. More on those two later.
At one point Jesus brought his group together, (Matthew 10:1) "And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness." Then he sent them out to spread the word and to heal the sick, cast out demons with a lot of admonitions. An interesting byplay of his order to go out and do his good works is, that the disciples aren't around for a lot of what is reported in the story. It is all hearsay. Who was around? The women, of course.
They, let's call them the main stream Jews, led by the priests, elders and Pharisees, were really mad at Jesus. One of their big gripes was that he healed people on the Sabbath. Which apparently was a no-no at the time. It, along with his statement that he was the Son of God was considered blasphemy. He was a rabble rouser, a radical, a revolutionary, a dangerous man. He was encroaching on their territory and he was threatening the very foundations of their beliefs. He was, in a sense, the Martin Luther of his day. He was challenging their beliefs, and just as the Catholic Church reacted to Martin Luther, so the high priests and Pharisees reacted to Jesus. In addition he was gathering a following that measured in the thousands. This man could not be allowed to live. He was under constant threat from the established order most of his time as a Rabbi (teacher). I think that the general picture of Jesus being the serene man walking around doing good things is not quite accurate. I think he was more like a Pentecostal preacher at his best, spouting fire and brimstone. He showed on a number of occasions that he could get really mad, peeved or petulant and take physical actions.
At Passover he came to Jerusalem knowing he was entering the mouth of the lion. He told his followers that his time was short and what they were to do.
Then he had another of his rather famous episodes. Mathew 21:12-13) "And Jesus entered into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves; and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers".
Jesus could really be a bad ass when he wanted. Of course that didn't sit well with the high priests; he was into their money.
He had a supper at the last Passover of his life, usually called the Last Supper, where he gathered his Apostles about him and started the custom of the eating of bread and drinking of wine after blessing them and pronouncing that they were his body and his blood.
At this get together he said the one of them will betray him, which they all denied. He also said to Peter that he would denounce him three times before the cock crowed. Both, of course came true.
His enemies knew where he was and had arranged for Judas to betray him for 30 pieces of silver. Judas said he would identify Jesus by kissing him. And that is what he did. (An interesting side light is the alternate version told in the Gospel according to Judas, interesting).
After Jesus was arrested, his disciples fled and hid, afraid for their lives. Remember Peter and the three denials. The events of the trial and execution of Jesus could not have been known to any of them. No telling how Matthew, or subsequently his own followers, got knowledge of any of these events is a mystery. I suppose rumors and gossip floating around was the source. Or more likely, it was the women, who apparently stayed by Jesus's side through out.
The Jews were not allowed to execute anyone, so they took Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pilate. He found no wrong in him and famously washed his hands of the whole thing. However after a lot of wailing and teeth gnashing by the chief priests and the elders that were screaming for his blood, with Pilate saying he didn't want Jesus's blood on his hands, (Matthew 27:25) "And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children". I have a hard time believing that was actually said in anger. I think it was an invention of a later generation; for one of several possible reasons. It could be to deflect blame from the Romans, who ruled Israel with an iron fist, a view expressed one expert I read, or it could have been just vindictiveness from some Christians who wished to damn the Jews for killing Jesus or it actually could have been just a lament of some in the crowd, recognizing what the execution of a leading figure like Jesus would bring down on their people. It depends on how you read it. In any event, according to the story, Pilate finally gave in and Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. Of course this passage helped set the Jews on a course of persecution from the Christians for centuries for they took it as a cry for the execution of their savior.
Judas, in the mean time, recognizing what he had done and feeling guilty tried to return the money. The priests didn't want it because it was blood money, so they buried it in the graveyard of the poor and nameless. Judas subsequently hanged himself.
The soldiers took Jesus stripped him, put him in a scarlet robe . Then they put a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him by saying "Hail, King of the Jews".(Matthew 27:29) "They spat on him and took the reed and smote him on the head."
He was forced to carry his cross on the way to the place of crucifixion. But, in spite of the common idea of that event, he probably had only to carry the cross beam of the cross. That was the common procedure for the condemned man. Carrying the whole massive cross would have been nearly impossible for one man. In general, the post used for crucifixion would be left standing to be used over and over again. Sometimes the Romans just used a tree for the post of the cross and just nailed the cross beam to it.The Romans had this down to a fine art.
However, he had been beaten and crowned with thorns, so one of the Roman soldiers compelled a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, to carry the cross for him. Jesus was just too weak.
When they crucified him they parted his garments among them, casting lots. They set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
He was crucified with two robbers, one on the left and one on the right.
As he hung on the cross he was constantly jeered and made fun of. He had saved others, why not save himself if he really is the son of God.
This is also where the now famous quote of Jesus saying "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthami? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
(Matthew 27:48-50) "And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it in a reed, and gave him a drink. And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him. And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yeilded up his spirit."
(Matthew 27:51)"And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two and the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent; (Matthew27:52) and the tombs were opened; and the many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised".
Many women were there, principal among them were two Mary's, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Not sure how that works, but that is what the book says. I supposed the other Mary married twice and had step children. It is clear, from later passages that we are only talking about two Mary's. What may be noteworthy is that Mary, the mother of Jesus wasn't there.
He died on the third day. (That is kind of strange, because a crucifixion usually took longer to cause death. It was designed to be a slow tortuous death).
Now the story gets even more interesting. A rich man from Arimathaea named Joseph, who was a disciple of Jesus, asked Pilate for the body. Pilate said Okay. So he took the body down, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and placed in his own tomb, which was hewn out of a rock. and he rolled a great stone to the door, and departed.
The two Mary's were there sitting over against the sepulchre (the tomb).
Being a suspicious bunch, the chief priests and the elders came to Pilate the next morning and reminded him that Jesus said he would arise on the third day, so Pilate should put a guard on the tomb until the third day because his disciples may steal him away and proclaim to the people that he has arisen. So Pilate did that very thing. They made sure the sepulchre was secure, sealing the stone and placing a guard.
Here is were the great miracle happens. (Mathew 28:1-6) "Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay". See, even the angels speak 16th century English.
The angel told the women to go quickly and tell his disciples. That he has risen from the dead and he will go before you into Galilee and there you will see him.
So the Mary's took off to bring the disciples word. At that point Jesus met them saying (Matthew 28:9) "All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him". He further said to fear not and told the women that he would meet his disciples in Galilee. Mary then carried the message back to the doubting disciples.
At that point the guards went back into the city and told the chief priests what had happened. After a bit of conferences with elders, they decided to bribe the guards to say that the disciples had come by night and stole him while they were asleep.
They, being smart soldiers that they were, and underpaid, took the bribe and repeated the story to the governor and anybody else who would listen. This bit of the story is only related in Matthew.
The eleven disciples went on to Galilee and to the mountain that Jesus had named
Even though they saw Jesus and worshiped him, some doubted.
Never the less, he sent them off to spread the word to all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
What Jesus does after that is not covered by Matthew.
And, thus ends the tale of the life of Jesus as written in the book of Matthew.
Tune in to Part 2 for Mark.
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