We are at Mark 14:22. The twelve disciples are eating the Passover meal. Jesus has said one of them will betray him. He also takes some bread, breaks it, and tells them, "Take it; this is my body." He equates his body with the bread they are eating, not the lamb. He also does not say his body will be broken.
Next he takes the cup, gives thanks and they pass it around. He says this is his "blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." "Blood of the covenant" is a reference back to Exodus 24 where Moses sprinkles the blood of sacrificed bulls on the people and calls it the blood of the covenant. Frankly, it seems to me that such a statement would appear blasphemous or rude to other Jews, almost as though Jesus is mocking Moses. The text implies they are drinking wine (fruit of the vine), because Jesus says he won't ever drink it again until he drinks it in the kingdom of god. (There is wine in the kingdom of god?) Jesus does not tell the disciples to repeat this ceremony in remembrance of him.
A note about the churches of christ: some extremely fundamentalist churches use this as one of their justifications for using only one cup to drink out of during communion service, which is also often called "the lord's supper," but is not actually a supper at all. They also insist that fruit of the vine refers to grape juice and not wine. Though where they would have gotten grape juice in early spring is a mystery. Strangely enough, their "supper" consists of a tiny piece of cracker and a swallow of grape juice. No lamb or other food to dip their unleavened bread into.
Next they sing a hymn and go out to the Mount of Olives, which is between Jerusalem and Bethany. It is still Passover night. There should be a full moon. Jesus predicts his disciples will abandon him, but "after he has risen" (from death or sleep?) he will go to Galilee ahead of them. Peter proclaims he will not fall away from Jesus. Jesus claims he will, that very night. Before the rooster crows twice, Peter will disown Jesus three times. Peter and the others insist they would die with Jesus before they would disown him.
Jesus and his disciples are in Gethsemane, which is located at the base of the Mount of Olives. As the name suggests, there was an olive grove. Jesus was there to pray. Was Gethsemane considered a sacred grove? If it wasn't then, it appears to be now. As far as we know from the text of Mark, all twelve disciples are present. Mark has not told us Judas left. Jesus tells most of them to sit in one place, then takes Peter, James, and John to another part of Gethsemane. He expresses That he is overwhelmed with sorrow and asks the three to remain in one spot while he moves on even further.
Then Jesus prays prostrate on the ground. He calls god his father, tells him that everything is possible for him, then asks god to "take this cup from me." Which seems to mean he knows what is about to happen and is not enthusiastic about going through with it. This and the preceding pronouncements by Jesus would actually make a lot of sense if he had engineered his own martyrdom. Having second thoughts is very human of him. Very few healthy people want to die. He seems to sincerely believe that god could stop it if he wanted to and declares his submission to the will of the father. Jesus is obviously not the same being as the father.
Next Jesus goes back to where he left Peter, James, and John, and rebukes them for falling asleep and not keeping watch. Keeping watch for what? Was Jesus expecting something to happen? If he planned it that way, of course! He left them again with an admonition to keep watch and pray. He repeated his previous prayer, then went back to the three. They were asleep again. Can you blame them? It's night time, they've had a full day, just eaten a meal, drunk wine, and walked to Gethsemane. They are sitting in an olive grove. It's probably very quiet, except for the rhythmic sounds of spring frogs and insects. Jesus is off by himself doing who knows what while they snooze. According to the way the story is written, the narrator is omniscient, but there are no actual witnesses
to Jesus's words and actions.
Showing posts with label the twelve disciples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the twelve disciples. Show all posts
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Mark part twenty four
We are at Mark 13:33. Jesus has just given the disciples a description of what signs to look for when the destruction of the temple is imminent. He tells them to be on their guard and watch out, because the coming events might take them by surprise.
We are now in chapter 14. It is two days before the passover and the feast of unleavened bread. The chief priests and teachers of the law want to arrest Jesus and kill him, but they don't want to cause a riot during passover. Jesus is again in Bethany, his home base for the time he has been visiting Jerusalem. He was eating at the home of a man named Simon the leper when a woman pours an alabaster jar of expensive perfume (made of pure nard) on his head.
The woman was rebuked for wasting what could have been sold for money to give to the poor. The text does not say who rebuked her. Jesus told them to leave the woman alone because they would always have the poor, they wouldn't always have him. She was preparing his body for burial. Then he predicts that wherever the gospel is preached, what this woman did will be remembered. That is very interesting. Paul preached the gospel fervently and never spoke about her, as far as we know. In fact this writing may be the first time she was ever mentioned in relation to the gospel. The fact that it is included in this book may be the very reason anyone "remembered" it at all.
Next we see Judas betray Jesus to the chief priests for a promise of money. He was just waiting for an opportunity to hand him over. Notice it does not say how much money. Also, the last supper hasn't even happened yet.
We move on to the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb. We are not told what day of the week this was. It could have been any day that fell on the 14th day of the month of Nisan. Also, remember that a Jewish day began at dusk one day and ended at dusk the next. So, since the day in the text would be the 14th day of the month of Nisan. At dusk, which was the 15th day, the passover would begin. The Jewish calendar was based on the moon, so Passover would have fallen on the night of the full moon, no matter what day of the week. That night of the full moon is when the spirit sent out by god killed all the first born of the Egyptians, in the book of Exodus.
Jesus sends two disciples into Jerusalem to make preparations for the passover in a large upper room of a house that has already been prearranged for the purpose. They did that. (Part of the preparation for passover was supposed to be killing and roasting a lamb.) In the evening Jesus and the twelve arrive at the house. It is now passover. Notice that Jesus has not been killed on the day that the passover lamb is killed. Mark does not equate him with the passover sacrifice. Not only that, Jesus is eating the passover meal with his disciples, which traditionally included roast lamb which must be completely eaten before the next morning. This is not mentioned in the text because it would have been obvious to anyone who knew the ritual. In christian communion rituals, that are said to have been established at this moment in time, it is never mentioned that it is almost certain the meal contained more than bread and wine.
In verse 17, Jesus and the twelve are eating and Jesus announces that one of them will betray him. They are all concerned and each asks if he will be the one. Jesus tells them it will be one of those who dips bread into the bowl with him. What bowl? Jesus is probably referring to the main dish on the table. Each person would have been using their bread as a spoon or scoop to eat with, out of a communal bowl. Jesus pronounces a curse on his betrayer but does not name him.
We are now in chapter 14. It is two days before the passover and the feast of unleavened bread. The chief priests and teachers of the law want to arrest Jesus and kill him, but they don't want to cause a riot during passover. Jesus is again in Bethany, his home base for the time he has been visiting Jerusalem. He was eating at the home of a man named Simon the leper when a woman pours an alabaster jar of expensive perfume (made of pure nard) on his head.
The woman was rebuked for wasting what could have been sold for money to give to the poor. The text does not say who rebuked her. Jesus told them to leave the woman alone because they would always have the poor, they wouldn't always have him. She was preparing his body for burial. Then he predicts that wherever the gospel is preached, what this woman did will be remembered. That is very interesting. Paul preached the gospel fervently and never spoke about her, as far as we know. In fact this writing may be the first time she was ever mentioned in relation to the gospel. The fact that it is included in this book may be the very reason anyone "remembered" it at all.
Next we see Judas betray Jesus to the chief priests for a promise of money. He was just waiting for an opportunity to hand him over. Notice it does not say how much money. Also, the last supper hasn't even happened yet.
We move on to the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb. We are not told what day of the week this was. It could have been any day that fell on the 14th day of the month of Nisan. Also, remember that a Jewish day began at dusk one day and ended at dusk the next. So, since the day in the text would be the 14th day of the month of Nisan. At dusk, which was the 15th day, the passover would begin. The Jewish calendar was based on the moon, so Passover would have fallen on the night of the full moon, no matter what day of the week. That night of the full moon is when the spirit sent out by god killed all the first born of the Egyptians, in the book of Exodus.
Jesus sends two disciples into Jerusalem to make preparations for the passover in a large upper room of a house that has already been prearranged for the purpose. They did that. (Part of the preparation for passover was supposed to be killing and roasting a lamb.) In the evening Jesus and the twelve arrive at the house. It is now passover. Notice that Jesus has not been killed on the day that the passover lamb is killed. Mark does not equate him with the passover sacrifice. Not only that, Jesus is eating the passover meal with his disciples, which traditionally included roast lamb which must be completely eaten before the next morning. This is not mentioned in the text because it would have been obvious to anyone who knew the ritual. In christian communion rituals, that are said to have been established at this moment in time, it is never mentioned that it is almost certain the meal contained more than bread and wine.
In verse 17, Jesus and the twelve are eating and Jesus announces that one of them will betray him. They are all concerned and each asks if he will be the one. Jesus tells them it will be one of those who dips bread into the bowl with him. What bowl? Jesus is probably referring to the main dish on the table. Each person would have been using their bread as a spoon or scoop to eat with, out of a communal bowl. Jesus pronounces a curse on his betrayer but does not name him.
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Mark part four
We are in the second half of Mark chapter two. Jesus now has five disciples, Simon, Andrew, James, John, and Levi. Levi is a tax collector. In verse 15, we find Jesus at Levi's house eating with many tax collectors and "sinners." Three times sinners are mentioned in this passage and all three times the word is put in quotation marks with no explanation for that. My study bible also says that these sinners were "notoriously evil people" like adulterers and robbers. It is also unclear how that conclusion was arrived at.
The pharisees apparently saw Jesus eating with these social outcasts and criticized it. How did they see that? Was everyone eating outside? Were the Pharisees looking in the windows? Jesus's defense against the pharisees charges was that he was not there to call the righteous, but the sinners.
Next, we are told that John's disciples and the pharisees were fasting, which probably made them cranky. The story doesn't say the occasion of the fast, but it was presumably religious. People wanted to know why Jesus and his disciples were not fasting. Jesus uses a metaphor to say they don't need to fast because he is with them, when he is gone then they will fast. He's special. Then Jesus makes another metaphor about old wine skins and new wine skins, which, to me, makes no sense at all in this context.
The next story takes place on a sabbath. Jesus and his disciples are walking through grain fields and the disciples begin picking heads of grain, presumably to eat. The pharisees, who must have been walking with them, tattle to Jesus, saying what the disciples are doing is unlawful on the sabbath. Jesus then gives an example of David breaking the mosaic law when he was hungry. He says "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." Yeah, right. That is why god gave a death penalty for breaking the Sabbath. The story of David breaking the law and getting away with it only proves that no one was willing to kill him for that transgression, if it actually happened. In fact, throughout history, Jews have been reluctant to carry out all the various death penalties mentioned in the law of Moses.
Chapter three tell us that "another time he went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there." Jesus was watched carefully to see if he would heal the man on the sabbath. Of course, Jesus bucked convention and healed the man's hand with a great deal of show. Apparently these healings did not impress the pharisees, because they began to plot Jesus's death. I wonder how the pharisees would have told this story. Did they think Jesus was a charlatan? Or were they actually so mean hearted as to prefer Jesus's death over his miraculous healings?
In chapter 3, verses 7-12, Jesus is being followed by crowds of people from all over the region, because of the healings. Demon possessed people are falling down before him and calling him the son of god, but he is adamant that they should not tell anyone. It does not say he exorcised all those demons. If he did, why would he have to tell them to shut up? Because of all the crowds, Jesus had a boat ready to take him away, at the sea of Galilee.
In verse 13, Jesus decides to take a few select people with him up on a mountainside. There he selects his twelve apostles. We've only read of five up to now. The twelve are Simon, who we are told Jesus names Peter, which means "pebble." Does this say something about Peter's personality? There are also James and John, who Jesus calls "the sons of thunder." Then we have, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thaddeus, another Simon, and Judas Iscariot, who is said to have betrayed Jesus. There is a little foreshadowing there.
More to come.
The pharisees apparently saw Jesus eating with these social outcasts and criticized it. How did they see that? Was everyone eating outside? Were the Pharisees looking in the windows? Jesus's defense against the pharisees charges was that he was not there to call the righteous, but the sinners.
Next, we are told that John's disciples and the pharisees were fasting, which probably made them cranky. The story doesn't say the occasion of the fast, but it was presumably religious. People wanted to know why Jesus and his disciples were not fasting. Jesus uses a metaphor to say they don't need to fast because he is with them, when he is gone then they will fast. He's special. Then Jesus makes another metaphor about old wine skins and new wine skins, which, to me, makes no sense at all in this context.
The next story takes place on a sabbath. Jesus and his disciples are walking through grain fields and the disciples begin picking heads of grain, presumably to eat. The pharisees, who must have been walking with them, tattle to Jesus, saying what the disciples are doing is unlawful on the sabbath. Jesus then gives an example of David breaking the mosaic law when he was hungry. He says "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." Yeah, right. That is why god gave a death penalty for breaking the Sabbath. The story of David breaking the law and getting away with it only proves that no one was willing to kill him for that transgression, if it actually happened. In fact, throughout history, Jews have been reluctant to carry out all the various death penalties mentioned in the law of Moses.
Chapter three tell us that "another time he went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there." Jesus was watched carefully to see if he would heal the man on the sabbath. Of course, Jesus bucked convention and healed the man's hand with a great deal of show. Apparently these healings did not impress the pharisees, because they began to plot Jesus's death. I wonder how the pharisees would have told this story. Did they think Jesus was a charlatan? Or were they actually so mean hearted as to prefer Jesus's death over his miraculous healings?
In chapter 3, verses 7-12, Jesus is being followed by crowds of people from all over the region, because of the healings. Demon possessed people are falling down before him and calling him the son of god, but he is adamant that they should not tell anyone. It does not say he exorcised all those demons. If he did, why would he have to tell them to shut up? Because of all the crowds, Jesus had a boat ready to take him away, at the sea of Galilee.
In verse 13, Jesus decides to take a few select people with him up on a mountainside. There he selects his twelve apostles. We've only read of five up to now. The twelve are Simon, who we are told Jesus names Peter, which means "pebble." Does this say something about Peter's personality? There are also James and John, who Jesus calls "the sons of thunder." Then we have, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thaddeus, another Simon, and Judas Iscariot, who is said to have betrayed Jesus. There is a little foreshadowing there.
More to come.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
What happened on Sunday morning part 3
What final messages did Jesus give to the disciples after his resurrection?
*Mark: (not in earliest manuscripts) when he appeared to the eleven as they were eating (in Jerusalem)-" Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." In Jesus's name they would drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes, drink poison, and heal sick people.
*Matthew: (on the mountain in galilee?) Jesus said "go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Surely I am with you to the very end of the age."
*Luke: (in Jerusalem) Jesus said "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations...I am going to send you what my father has promised but stay in the city intil you have been clothed with power from on high." (No baptism mentioned.)
*John:(by the sea of Tiberias after eating a breakfast of fish) Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep then prophesizes about Peter's future. Then he says "follow me!" Nothing about preaching to all nations, miracles, or baptism. He also implies that he will return from an unspecified location.
What was the last sight of Jesus?
*Mark: After the final message, Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of god. How does the author know this? Does god have hands?
*Matthew: No mention of anything at all happening to Jesus after his final message.
*Luke: Jesus led the disciples from Jerusalem to the vicinity of Bethany and was taken up into heaven.
*John: No mention of anything happening to Jesus after his final message.
Acts, supposedly a continuation of Luke, has Jesus sticking around for forty days before he is taken up and hidden by a cloud. Then two men in white, presumably angels, tell the disciples Jesus is in heaven, but he will come back. Matthew, Mark and Luke do not speak of a return. Other New Testament books speak of Jesus being raised from the dead but give no details. Many passages in the gospels show that the authors believed in resurrection of the dead and have Jesus talking about the resurrection of the righteous, but they also show there were factions of Jews who did not believe this.
What does an empty tomb mean? Only one thing: there is no body there. It doesn't tell you how, when, where, or why. The story in John actually gives the most likely explanation, if a man Jesus actually died and was laid in a tomb. "They took his body and didn't tell us." Christians like to say nobody else's tomb is empty, but that's not true at all. Plenty of tombs are empty for various reasons, usually becuse the body was moved. As simple as that.
Things to remember about these stories: They do not claim to be written by eyewitnesses or to be inspired by god. We don't know who wrote them. There is no knowledge or indication of the year this happened, so it can't be pinned down in history. The stories are written in the third person, told as if these things happened to other people. They have a limited omnicient perspective, being able to show the actions words and feelings of separate people in separate places, but they don't know exactly when or how Jesus was "raised from the dead." That part is left mysterious and magical..
Where is Jesus's tomb supposed to have been?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_Tomb
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talpiot_Tomb
More: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus
Edited
*Mark: (not in earliest manuscripts) when he appeared to the eleven as they were eating (in Jerusalem)-" Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." In Jesus's name they would drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes, drink poison, and heal sick people.
*Matthew: (on the mountain in galilee?) Jesus said "go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Surely I am with you to the very end of the age."
*Luke: (in Jerusalem) Jesus said "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations...I am going to send you what my father has promised but stay in the city intil you have been clothed with power from on high." (No baptism mentioned.)
*John:(by the sea of Tiberias after eating a breakfast of fish) Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep then prophesizes about Peter's future. Then he says "follow me!" Nothing about preaching to all nations, miracles, or baptism. He also implies that he will return from an unspecified location.
What was the last sight of Jesus?
*Mark: After the final message, Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of god. How does the author know this? Does god have hands?
*Matthew: No mention of anything at all happening to Jesus after his final message.
*Luke: Jesus led the disciples from Jerusalem to the vicinity of Bethany and was taken up into heaven.
*John: No mention of anything happening to Jesus after his final message.
Acts, supposedly a continuation of Luke, has Jesus sticking around for forty days before he is taken up and hidden by a cloud. Then two men in white, presumably angels, tell the disciples Jesus is in heaven, but he will come back. Matthew, Mark and Luke do not speak of a return. Other New Testament books speak of Jesus being raised from the dead but give no details. Many passages in the gospels show that the authors believed in resurrection of the dead and have Jesus talking about the resurrection of the righteous, but they also show there were factions of Jews who did not believe this.
What does an empty tomb mean? Only one thing: there is no body there. It doesn't tell you how, when, where, or why. The story in John actually gives the most likely explanation, if a man Jesus actually died and was laid in a tomb. "They took his body and didn't tell us." Christians like to say nobody else's tomb is empty, but that's not true at all. Plenty of tombs are empty for various reasons, usually becuse the body was moved. As simple as that.
Things to remember about these stories: They do not claim to be written by eyewitnesses or to be inspired by god. We don't know who wrote them. There is no knowledge or indication of the year this happened, so it can't be pinned down in history. The stories are written in the third person, told as if these things happened to other people. They have a limited omnicient perspective, being able to show the actions words and feelings of separate people in separate places, but they don't know exactly when or how Jesus was "raised from the dead." That part is left mysterious and magical..
Where is Jesus's tomb supposed to have been?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_Tomb
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talpiot_Tomb
More: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus
Edited
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)