Hebrews part five

We are at Hebrews 2:14. The author has been putting old testament words into Jesus's mouth, having him declare god has given him children , which one can only assume are supposed to be Jesus's followers. Next follows more of the author's peculiar logic: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is the devil-and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." So, it is the devil who holds the power of death and not god? Who gave him that power? How in the world does one man's death destroy the devil (who doesn't even exist) by dying? How is anyone freed from the fear of death? We all still die. The prospect of death is a horror which we spend our lives pretending will never happen to us. Even those who are religious would rather live than die, in spite of what they preach.

Verse 16 goes on to say that Jesus's death does not help the angels but Abraham's descendants, (the Jews). So, he had to be made like his brothers (the Jews) in every way. News flash: it does not sound like this letter was written by Paul who insisted that the Gospel was about the gentiles also having salvation, maybe even being favored as god's children above the Jews! Jesus is said to have been human so that he could become a high priest who could make atonement for the sins of the people (the Jews).

Because Jesus suffered when he was tempted (Tell us again when that was?) he is able to help those who are being tempted. How? Seriously, what exactly does Jesus do to help someone who is being tempted? And what are these temptations? Do they have anything to do with breaking the hundreds of arbitrary rules and regulations of Judaism that their god gave them through Moses?

We move into chapter three. The brothers (probably Jews) who share in the heavenly calling (what's that?) are to fix their thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest. Jesus is a guy who wears many hats. So far he is the son of god; he speaks through the Old Testament; he is the son of man- a human; he is a brother to the children of god; he is a devil/ death destroyer; he is an apostle (?); and a high priest. (The apostle one stumps me. Maybe we will hear more about it later. Perhaps it means he was an apostle to the Jews as Paul considered himself an apostle to the gentiles.)

Next, we are told Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses. I bet that was shocking to Jewish sensibilities. God is the builder of everything, Moses was his faithful servant. The christ is the faithful son over god's house. "We" (the Hebrews/Jews) are god's house....if  we hold on to courage and hope. Now I am even more thinking this must have been written to Jewish believers after the fall of Jerusalem, definitely not gentiles.

The next passage, verses 7-11 is another quote from the old testament, Psalm 95:7-11. The author of Hebrews tells us that this time it is the "holy spirit" talking. How can he tell the difference between the words of the holy spirit, god, and Jesus? If we read through the Psalm it appears to be speaking words that mention the lord/god in the third person. So, if the words are divine, who else could be saying them? The holy spirit! Duh.

The passage speaks of Jews hearing Jesus's voice and not hardening their hearts like they did in the rebellious Mosaic desert wanderings that lasted forty years. The brothers (jews) are not to have sinful unbelieving hearts. They must hold firmly onto confidence to the end. All those who Moses led out into the desert from Egypt were the ones who rebelled against what they heard. Moses was angry with them and they ended up dying in the desert because god swore they would never enter his rest as a result of their unbelief. "His rest" is a metaphor for the land of Canaan/ the promised land, which the author of Hebrews uses as a metaphor  for an afterlife in some kind of paradise. We will see that in chapter four.

Till next time.

Mark part ten

We are at Mark 6:7.  Jesus is travelling around teaching. He also sent his disciples out to teach in pairs, giving them the authority to cast out demons. They also performed faith healings. Jesus gave them specific instructions which sound like a religious commitment to poverty, similar to other mendicants throughout history. They were to take no food, no money, and no extra clothing with them. They were to rely on the hospitality of the townspeople, performing a kind of curse if they were not welcomed. ("Shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.")
Basically, they became a kind of "holy" beggar. Their message was that people should repent, but repent of what?

Jesus started to become well known and King Herod heard about him. This is not the Herod (the great) that was supposedly king when Jesus was born, but Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the great. Some people were saying Jesus was John the baptist resurrected, that's why he could do miracles. (Was John the baptist also known for miracles?) Remember, Mark has Jesus's ministry starting after the death of John. This is all significant because this Herod was responsible for John's death. John the baptist had told Herod it was not lawful to marry his brother's wife, Herodias, so Herod had locked him up. Herodias was enraged, and cooked up a sneaky plot. With her daughter's help, she tricked Herod into executing John and bringing his head to her on a platter.

Herodias had an interesting family. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was killed by  her grandfather, Herod the great, when she was a child. She was married to her father's half brother Philip, then divorced and married to her other half uncle, Antipas.

Here we have the book of Mark's secular anchor in time. The events are now taking place after Herod took up with Herodias and before Herod was in a war with his first wife's father, in 36 CE. Herod was exiled in 39 CE because of the war. Herod had divorced his first wife to marry Herodias. John the baptist was supposed to have been beheaded after that. Jesus started preaching after John's death. Herod's first wife's father declared war on Herod as soon as he had his daughter safely back home. Common christianity says Jesus died around 33 CE. I think if Jesus lived and taught at the time Mark said he did, that date may be a little off. What do you think?

We are at Mark 6:30. After the apostles have been out teaching, they reported back to Jesus. They all tried to meet in a solitary place, but were recognized and followed by a crowd. So, Jesus began to teach the crowd. Along about dinner time, the apostles advised Jesus to send the people away to get something to eat. Jesus said, "you give them something to eat." The disciples were shocked that Jesus would ask them to spend the amount of money it would take to feed all the people. When Jesus asked how much food the disciples had on them, they replied, "five loaves and two fish."

Jesus had the people sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He looked up at the sky and gave thanks. Then he broke up the food and had the disciples distributed it. Everyone got enough to eat and there were twelve baskets full of leftovers. (Magic number alert) "The number of MEN who had eaten was five thousand." Because only men count. Get it? Did you notice that one hundred times fifty is five thousand?

More to come.

The apostles part five and wrap up.

11)* Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus: Matthew 10:3

No other book mentions any Lebbaeus

*Thaddaeus: Mark 3:18

Only Matthew and Mark mention Thaddaeus

*Judas son of James (NIV): Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13
*Judas (or Jude) the Brother of James (KJV): Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13, Jude 1:1

Was it son or brother?!! Which James?!! Is this the same person as Thaddaeus? Christians assume it is, because otherwise there is something wrong with the different apostle lists. Jesus had brothers named Judas and James. (Matthew 13:55) Was this another brother of Jesus? This Judas of James is not mentioned by Mark or Matthew. John 14:22 speaks once of a Judas "not Iscariot." Paul doesn't mention this person. Jude and Judas are actually the same name. So, since the book of Jude begins with a greeting from Jude, the brother of James, it is assumed the book was written by the apostle aforementioned.

More about Thaddaeus

12)* Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus: Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:19, Matthew 26:25, Matthew 27:3, Luke 6:16, Luke 22:48, John 12:4, John 13:2, John 18:2,3, 5, Acts 1:16,25
*Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve: Matthew 26:14,16,47, Mark 14:10, 43, Luke 22:47, John 6:71,
*Judas Iscariot, son of Simon: John 6:71, John 12:4, John 13:2, 26, 29,

John is the only book that speaks of Judas as the son of Simon. The question is Simon who? Paul does not mention Judas. Kind of strange, don't you think?

More about Judas Iscariot

13)*Matthias, Judas's replacement: Acts 1:23,26

Matthias is not mentioned anywhere else. More about Matthias.

*How many of each of the twelve are specifically named in New Testament books, generously interpreted:
Matthew-12, Mark-12, Luke-12, John-7(Peter, Andrew, Philip, Nathaniel, Thomas,  Judas-not-Iscariot, Judas Iscariot) Acts-13, Galatians-2 (Cephas/Peter and John), 1st Corinthians-1 (Cephas/assumed to be Peter), 1st Peter-1 (Peter), Jude-1 (Jude/assumed to be Judas/ Thaddaeus), Revelation-1(John)

*Number of times the phrase "twelve apostles" or "Twelve disciples" or "the twelve" is specifically mentioned:
Matthew-8, Mark-10, Luke-8, John-4, Acts-1, 1 Corinthians-1, Revelation-1

I find it fascinating that the only two of the twelve that Paul mentioned by name are Peter and John. The James he mentions is considered to be Jesus's brother. Adding: I have caught a couple of mistakes and fixed them, mostly with chapter and verse numbers. So, I expect that I may not be precise with all my figuring, but I tried to be as accurate as possible.

The apostles part four

8)*Matthew: Matthew 9:9, Matthew 10:3, Mark3:18,  Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13

The book of Matthew never uses the name Levi. However, the apostle Matthew is called the tax collector. John and Paul do not mention Matthew.

*Levi: Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27, 29

Levi is called a tax collector in Mark and Luke. However, he is not associated with Matthew in those books and Matthew is not called a tax collector in those books. Matthew, John, and Paul do not talk of a disciple named Levi. The Old Testament Levi is also mentioned in a few places in the New Testament.

Read about Matthew here.

9) *James the son of Alphaeus: Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13

There is not much to say about James the son of Alphaeus. He only appears in the lists of apostles. John and Paul do not mention him. In Mark 2:14, Levi is also called the son of Alphaeus.

*James the less, brother of Joses and Salome, son of Mary: Mark 15:40

Here's where things get complicated. Was James the less the same James as the son of Alphaeus? Then who was Mary his mother? Wouldn't she have been the wife of Alphaeus? Was it the Mary mentioned as being Jesus's mother, as well as the mother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon, in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3? Which Mary was the mother of James and Joses mentioned in Matthew 27:56? What about the Mary, mother of Joses, who went to the tomb of Jesus with Mary Magdalene?  Are all these Marys, Jameses, and Joseses the same people? Some people think so. I haven't a clue. Plus, I don't think it's possible to know for sure who is who. Isn't possible that Joseph the carpenter died and Jesus's mother Mary remarried a man named Alphaeus?

Read more about James the son of Alphaeus.

10)* Simon the Zealot (NIV): Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 Acts 1:13
*Simon the Canaanite ((KJV): Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18
*Simon Zelotes (KJV): Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13

John and Paul do not mention this Simon.

Read more about Simon the Zealot.

More to come.

The apostles part three

5)*Philip: Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, John 1:43-46, 48, (from Bethsaida) John 6:5,7, John 12:21-22, John 14:8-9, Acts 1:3

Only John has the story of Philip becoming a disciple. The strange thing about that story is that it is just a lead in for the story of how a man named Nathanael became a disciple. The other gospels and Acts only list him in the roll call of apostles. John includes Philip in a few stories of direct interaction with Jesus. No Philip is mentioned by Paul.

Read more about Philip.

There is a Philip mentioned in Acts, who is commonly called Philip the evangelist. He is assumed to not be the same as Philip the apostle because he is listed as one of the first seven deacons listed who do the grunt work of the new church. These deacons are not part of the twelve.Scriptures that include that Philip are: Acts 6:5, Acts 8:5-6, 12-13,26,29-31,34-35,37-40, Acts 21:8

Read more about Philip the evangelist.

6)*Bartholomew: Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, Acts 1:13,
There is no mention of Bartholomew by John, Paul, or anywhere else in the New Testament.

Read more about Bartholomew.

*Nathanael:  John 21:2 lists Nathanael of Cana, presumably the same Nathanael that Philip introduces to Jesus In John 1:45-49,  as one of Jesus's disciples. Soon after that introduction, is the story of the wedding at Cana, which is only mentioned in John. Because Bartholomew's  name is paired with Philip's in the book of Matthew, and because Nathanael is brought to Jesus by Philip in John, and because Nathanael is listed as a disciple in John, there is a traditional assumption that Nathanael and Bartholomew must be the same person. I hope you can see that is not necessarily so. They are never explicitly connected. The name Nathanael is mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament but in the book of John. (Do you find this as fascinating as I do?)

Read more about Nathanael. 

7)*Thomas: Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, John 14:5, John 20:26-29, Acts 1:13
*Thomas called Didymus: John 11:16, John 20:24

The word Thomas and Didymus are said to both mean "twin." Thomas is only called Didymus in John. John is also the only book that includes any dialog or stories of Thomas. This is the same Thomas who is also commonly called "doubting Thomas" because of his skepticism about Jesus's  resurrection. Thomas is not mentioned by Paul.

Read more about Thomas. 



More to come.

Mark part five

If we look more closely at the list of the twelve apostles mentioned in Mark chapter three, we see that Levi the tax collector is not mentioned. However, in Matthew 10:3, we are told that Matthew was the tax collector. Are Levi and Matthew the same person as is traditionally said? Let's look at each gospel account.

Mark chapter two says Levi is the "son of Alphaeus" and a tax collector. He follows Jesus. Jesus eats with him. The name Levi is no where else in Mark. In chapter three, Matthew is named as one of the twelve, but Mark does not say Matthew was a tax collector. Matthew is nowhere else in the book of Mark. Oddly enough, The author calls another one of the twelve "James the son of Alphaeus." Were James and Levi brothers? There is no mention of Alphaeus again in the book of Mark.

Matthew chapter 10 mentions Matthew the tax collector and James the son of Alphaeus. Matthew does not mention the name Levi at all in the whole book. He tells the same story of the tax collector, in chapter 9, but uses the name Matthew instead. The author of Matthew does not call the tax collector the son of Alphaeus. Matthew is not mentioned any more in the rest of the book of Matthew, neither is Alphaeus. You would think that if the book of Matthew was actually written by Matthew, he would have injected himself into the story more.

Luke speaks of Levi the tax collector in chapter five. He is not called the son of Alphaeus. Matthew is mentioned as one of the twelve in chapter six, but is not called a tax collector. James the son of Alphaeus is listed as one of the twelve. Alphaeus is not mentioned again in Luke, neither is Levi or Matthew.

Acts chapter one also names the twelve apostles. It does not mention the name Levi. It names Matthew and James, the son of Alphaeus. There is no other mention of Matthew or Alphaeus in Acts. There are no other instances of Levi the tax collector, Matthew, or Alphaeus in the whole rest of the New Testament. Paul does not mention any of them either.

Now let's look at another of the twelve mentioned in Mark 3, Thaddaeus. In the KJV, Matthew 10 says his name was Lebbaeus with the last name of Thaddaeus. The NIV and other translations only say Thaddaeus. Neither Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus are mentioned elsewhere in the bible. Luke 6 lists a "Judas SON of James" in the NIV instead of Thaddaeus, and so does Acts chapter one. The KJV calls this person in Luke and Acts "Judas the BROTHER of James." The Greek actually looks like "Judas of James." It seems that Judas's relationship to James is actually unclear. Most commentaries tend to assume that all these names, Lebbaeus, Thaddaeus, and Judas were the same person.

A Judas is also mentioned in Matthew 13:55 as one of the brothers of Jesus. Some people think this Judas is the same person as above and the author of the book of Jude. Though that seems problematic to me, considering Judas and Thaddaeus are supposed to be the same person and Thaddaeus is mentioned in Matthew 10.

A Judas is mentioned once more in John 14:22. This Judas asks Jesus why he will reveal himself to just the apostles and not the whole world. This Judas is also assumed to be the apostle. Paul does not mention any Judas.


Are we confused yet?

Paul's early life and mission as found in Acts, part 2

*We are at Acts 9:17.Both Saul (Paul) and Ananias have had visions about each other. Now Ananias goes to the house where Saul is staying. He put his hands on Saul. He identified the lord who appeared to Saul on the road as Jesus and says Jesus sent him to help Saul gain his sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit, whatever that means. Scales fell off Saul's eyes. He got up and was baptized. It doesn't say why he was baptized. Today, it is generally assumed that it was to join the church, but notice that he ate right afterward. I looked at the Interlinear reference for the original word "baptized" in this passage. I found that the exact same word was used in Luke 11:38 (Supposedly written by the same author) to denote a tradition of ceremonial washing before eating!

*Next we are told Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus and immediately began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. This is in direct contrast to what he says in Galatians 1:15. There he says that after his revelation  he did not consult anyone but went immediately to Arabia and returned to Damascus later. Galatians also has Paul going to Jerusalem three years later. In Acts, he appears to go to Jerusalem right after Damascus. He never goes to Arabia. In Galatians, Paul sees only Peter and James, none of the other apostles. In Acts, Barnabas takes Paul to meet the apostles in Jerusalem and he preaches about Jesus in the city. Because of his preaching, Acts says an attempt is made on Paul's life in both Damascus and Jerusalem. Galatians does not mention that. Acts says other believers helped Paul escape by taking him to Caesarea and sending him off to Tarsus. (They sent him home.) Galatians says that Paul went to Syria and Cilicia, it never mentions Tarsus. In Galatians, Paul states, "I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in christ." This is a direct contradiction to the events recorded in Acts 9.

*When we get to Galatians 2, we will see Paul going to Jerusalem with Barnabas...fourteen years later! Let's take a look at the timelines so far.

Galatians:
Persecuting the church
Revelation in unknown place, told to preach Jesus to the Gentiles
Trip to Arabia
Return to Damascus no people or events mentioned
Three years later, Trip to Jerusalem to meet Peter and James and no one else, for fifteen days
Trip to Syria and Cilicia
Fourteen years later, trip to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus in response to a revelation.

Acts:
Stoning of Stephen
Persecuting the church
Road to Damascus with bright light and voice
In Damascus with Ananias and disciples of Jesus
Ananias and Paul recieve visions. Ananias is told that Saul will preach  Jesus to the Gentiles.
Caused trouble with his preaching, foiled a conspiracy to kill him, escaped
Trip to Jerusalem to join the disciples there
Barnabas takes him to meet the apostles
Caused trouble with his preaching, foiled a conspiracy to kill him, escaped
Sent to Tarsus by the disciples

Paul's early life and mission in his letters.

*Today we will look at the claims Paul makes about his early life in the letters (epistles) in the Bible that are attributed to him. Some of the letters are considered by some experts to be forgeries, but we won't get into that now.

-Almost every letter begins with Paul claiming to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, appointed by God.

-Roman 15:17-21, Paul claims he is obeying God by preaching to the Gentiles, and that his ambition is always to preach where christ was not known, so he is not building on someone else's foundation. That also is convenient, because he won't have knowledgable people contradicting him or calling him a liar. He can indoctrinate them into his own way of thinking before anyone else gets to them. The ignorant are easier to sway. Remember, in Galations chapter 1 Paul pronounced a curse on anyone who teaches a different gospel. That's one way to ensure that the superstitious remain faithful.

-1 Corinthians 9:1-2, Paul claims he has seen Jesus the lord. Plus, he may not be an apostle to others, but he is an apostle to the Corinthians. He says they are the seal of his apostleship. This leads me to wonder if others were claiming Paul was not an apostle.  When Paul says he has seen Jesus, it was not in the flesh but must have been in a vision if some kind. Are visions trustworthy?

-1 Corinthians 15:5-11, Paul names those who saw Jesus after his resurrection. He says Peter was first, then the twelve, then five hundred believers, then James (this James must not have been one of the twelve), then to all the apostles (??? That's strange. Aren't the apostles supposed to be the same as the twelve disciples?). Last of all, Jesus appeared to Paul, obviously in a vision. Paul says he is the least of the apostles and doesn't even deserve to be one because he persecuted the church, confirming what he said in Galatians 1:13. Nevertheless, Paul claims to have worked harder than all the other apostles preaching Jesus's death burial and resurrection.

-2 Corinthians 11:22-23, Paul says he is a Hebrew, an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, and a servant of the messiah, just like others who claim to be apostles. Plus, he's worked harder and been through more hardships than any other apostle.

-2 Corinthians 12,  Paul claims to know a guy, obviously himself, who was caught up to the third heaven, or paradise. He's not sure whether it was an out of body experience or not. While there, he heard inexpressible things, some things which he is not permitted to tell. Fascinating. Also, so he wouldn't be conceited about this marvelous privilege, Paul was given a "thorn in the flesh" to torment him. This thorn in the flesh is not described by Paul, though there has been plenty of extra-biblical speculation. Paul also claims to be just as much an apostle as any other by virtue of signs, wonders and miracles he has performed.

-Philippians 3:5-10, Paul says he is a circumcised Hebrew, an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, he is legalistically faultless,  and once was a persecutor of the church. But none of that means anything to him compared to the righteousness found through faith in the messiah, which he hopes will somehow help him attain resurrection from the dead.

*If some of that seems rather vague, I can't help it. That's as much as I could find in Paul's letters. He does not mention the events on the road to Damascus, found in the book of Acts, which I will discuss in the next post. Details about his conversion are conspicuously lacking. Also, there is no mention of his birthplace, supposedly Tarsus, or his Roman citizenship, or a divinely appointed name change. At no time in his letters. does he say his name was once Saul. Also, his mission appears to be to teach about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, not about Jesus's actual life, miracles, or teachings.