Wednesday, April 15, 2020

This is It: Commentary on Episodes 1 through 4

The average reader of that corpus of literature Christians call the New Testament don’t realize that John the Baptist was as powerful a figure as Jesus. John and Jesus were the charismatic leaders of parallel movements, each drawing very large followings. It is possible that John’s movement had more followers than that of Jesus. 

For the sake of my rendering of gospel narrative, I allow the conceit that the two are “cousins,” according to infancy stories in Luke.

Seen through a modern lens, John’s wild appearance and messianic preaching suggest someone on the spectrum. His ministry, from what we know of it, is centered in repentance and renewal as preparatory to the arrival of the kingdom and a final judgment: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) John’s sacrament was for the remission of sins, but more than that, it was a personal self-healing, a confession, a turning back to the holy one, a rebirth to new ways.

Jesus accepted the sacrament, and then made it integral to his own movement. 

What leaps out to me from the scriptures is that each man points to the other and asks, Are you the one? And by that, each one means Elijah, returned. 

Another interesting thing that leaps out to me is that there was never a suggestion that the parallel movements merge. John went his way and Jesus went in another direction. 

I find it possible—and this is pure speculation—that officials might have been concerned that the movements might merge, particularly because the texts suggest that the two groups maintained contact. Already, the great throngs of people who could be swayed by preaching presented a threat of uprising; a broader coalition of the disenfranchised would have raised the level of such a threat. 

The great difference between John’s ministry and that of Jesus is that only John could administer the sacrament. So, the movement would have died whenever John died. Executing him while he was in prison—and any excuse would have done—was an effective and quick way to destroy his movement and disband his crowds.

By contrast, Jesus gathered a group of willing disciples—a move that I can only think was strategic. He put the sacrament of baptism front and center in his own movement, but he empowered his disciples to offer it, as well as to perform healing. This ensured that the legacy of John would live on, and also made this movement an official target, once John’s movement was ended.

An additional similarity between the thought of John and Jesus has to do with trees bearing fruit. Trees and fruit are metaphors, I believe, for physical and spiritual self-care; how well we tend to ourselves is reflected in the mental choices we make and physical actions we take in the world. How do we tend the tree of our soul? The tree that is not well tended will bear rotten fruit or, worse, no fruit, at all. The ministries of John and Jesus make it plain that such a tree is only useful as fuel for the fire.

© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

Read them again:







Sunday, April 12, 2020

This is It - Preface

I realize it will seem strange that this preface is appearing after all the episodes have appeared in my blog, but there it is…

I embarked on this project during lent of 2020 with a specific personal goal in mind. I want to reclaim, for myself, the personof Jesus, a human exemplar. Jesus is but one among a pantheon of what Joseph Campbell called “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” heroes who were elevated to the level of divinity after their deaths.

I know some people will be offended when I suggest that many people call themselves Christian without embracing the actual moral code Jesus taught, a moral code with deep roots in the Torah,brought forth in perhaps a new context for new generations. In the time that he lived, the sect that Jesus taught was one among many, many sects, just as today we see many parallel and competing denominations of every extant religion. That being said, there is no single way to view the teachings of Jesus, any more than there is a single way to view the teachings of Buddha, Zarathustra, Mohammed or any other exemplar. 

Humanity is tearing itself apart in the competition to define and impose a definitive construct, mainly in the name of controlling the masses, at the expense of freedom of personal expression. As I have read it, in scripture and commentary, Jesus himself decried the imposition of orthodoxy, in the main because people fall into habits and practices that are rote and formulaic, if not “magical”, and that these often lack spiritual intent and purpose, and fail to bear fruit

The canonical and non-canonical writings that are available to us do not completely reveal what took place in the life story of Jesus, and when it gets right to brass tacks, we’ll never know.

I suspect, but experts will have a different opinion, that Jesus was a follower of John, who took up his own ministry, maybe providing a refuge for John’s followers after his murder, bringing forward his own observations and voice about godliness. 

I suspect, but experts will have a different opinion, that all the gospel narratives we have were constructed with the use of one or more sayings collections, in the typical style of Greco-Roman biography of the time. It has always struck me that, for example, the canonical gospel of Matthew tries and fails to be a well-constructed work of literature because the author(s) tried to cram in too many parables; the ordering of them seems sometimes inconsistent within a somewhat forced storyline, and the transitions are awkward in many places. I used Matthew as a framework for my own version and tried to construct a consistent story by means of episodes.

Since the death and martyrdom and elevation Jesus as Messiah, the focus of the church universal tends to focus on Jesus as the lamb of God, sacrificed to be an offering for all the sins of humanity; as such, much of lived Christian theology puts the work of creating a just world on the Godhead, rather than on the people. This is a failing and, I think, a grave misreading, one that turns the gospels and really all of Judeo-Christian literature on its head. What is the point of the Bible, if not to encourage and insistthat people do God’s work of tending and caring for the world and everything in it. Too often, faithseems to mean that God does all the work of caring for the world while simultaneously forgiving people for a never-ending stream of sinfulness! The newspapers and the television are full of the sort of ungodly corruption that Jesus saw—much of it perpetrated by people at the top of government and religious hierarchy, who are seldom called to account or repair—against which we are seemingly powerless now, as then. 

“Thought, word and deed” is not and can never be replaced by the “thoughts and prayers” that abdicate from the servant leadership that Jesus advocated and seem suggest that we all just sit around as willing victims—waiting for the next world to come without doing anything of substance to bring the world we have in the here and now to a better place. I struggle with the notion that faith is all we need in our toolbox—I don’t think that is what Jesus meant for us to understand. It is all work; there are no shortcuts.

For me, the teachings of Jesus are meant to place accountability on each individual for their choice of actions. If people miss the mark, they can repent and be forgiven—but forgiveness is not a given. The overarching call is for people to do the right thing for the benefit of others (and self) in any moment, even if that means going against the framework of temporal legal standards. I think that Jesus was empowering people to make the kinds of “greater good” choices everyday that we expect our governments to make. Sadly, the pandemic we are living through has shown that we all, each and everyone, must make “greater good” choices because government has been carved out and caved in to serve mammon rather than serve people. 

I will probably tweak my gospel’s construct, as well as write commentary on it. Owing to the time I had available, there are bits I did not include, such as the Widow’s Mite and the Good Samaritan, which I would like to add. 

I do not take my effort to be anything but a personal practice, meant to challenge my own perceptions of what it is to be a follower of Jesus. 

Alameda, California
12 April 2020 

© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

This is It - Episode 17: Dawn on the Third Day



As Sunday dawned, Mary Magdalen and Mary of Bethany and Salome came to the tomb with perfumes and spices, so they could take the body to be embalmed. They were waiting for someone else to come, as they needed help to move the stone from over the tomb. 

But an aftershock, from the earthquake of the day before, shook the earth and knocked over the stone.

They crept inside the tomb, slowly, afraid that the earth would shake again.

But they shrank back in horror, for standing in there was a young man dressed in a white robe, and he said to them, Why are you looking for the living amongst the dead? He is not here. See, this is where the body lay. Go, gather up the students and tell them to go to Galilee. There he will be.

The three women ran away from the tomb in the grip of terror. They were too afraid to tell anyone what they had seen.


© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings

This is It - Episode 16: Death, Demanded and Delivered



Yeshua withdrew to pray saying,You will let me down, all of you. You will deny you know me before the night is over, not once but three times.

He told the students to stay at the edge of Gethsemane while he prayed, but he took Peter, James and John with him. When they were out of earshot of the others, he lamented and grieved in heart, but he said to them, Wait here on watch, while I pray.

Going off to be alone, he knelt and prayed, Holy one, all is possible with you; please save me from this ending, if it is your will.

When he returned to the others, they were asleep. Waking them, he said, You could not wait on watch for one hour?To Peter, he said, Stay on watch and hope that you are not put to the test; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Then he went off to pray again, and returned to find them asleep again. Admonishing them, he prayed one more time, with the same result. It was as though they had all drunk a draught of valerian. 

He could only forgive them; the hour had come.

Judas came with an armed group sent by the chief priests, canon lawyers and elders. Yeshua was seized and taken away. Some of the deputized questioned the students, looking for others to arrest. Peter was questioned three times and three times denied knowing Yeshua. The cock crowed at dawn, and Peter wept because he remembered what Yeshua had said.

The temple court questioned many, looking for evidence against Yeshua. Many people told many stories; some people perjured themselves, seeking notoriety. Few of the stories were matched; none seemed chargeable.

The high priest asked Jesus, Are you the Son of the Most Blessed?

Yeshua answered, I am the son of humanityI will be seated at the right hand of power.

The high priest called him a blasphemer and the court judged against him. Yeshua was tied up and led away to Pilate.

Pilate, having heard the charges, said, You’re the king of the Jews?

Yeshua said, That is what you are calling me.

Pilate, knowing envy was at the heart of the charges, said, You know what they are charging you with. Have you nothing to say in your defense?

But Yeshua did not answer him.

Pilate’s wife said, Do not have anything to do with this innocent man. I had a nightmare where I suffered on his account.

The crowd pressed and yelled, calling Crucify him!

Pilate took water and washed his hands in full sight of the mob, saying, I am innocent of this man’s blood.See to this yourselves.

Soldiers took his clothes from him and marched him away. People along the way spit at him and hit him with rods. A man named Simon was ordered to carry a cross in this procession toward death. Someone had plaited thorns into a crown, and this was jammed onto Yeshua’s head.

Yeshua was crucified. The written charge was nailed at the top of the cross, This is Yeshua, King of the Jews. Soldiers gambled for his clothing. Two thieves were crucified with him, one to his right and one to his left.  They cursed him, as they were led to their punishment. One taunted him, saying, If you’re the son of the holy one, come down off your cross.

The officials also derided him saying, He saved others, but he can’t save himself.

From noon to about three o’clock, the sun was eclipsed. Then, Yeshua cried out, Eli, eli, lema sabachthani.

Some in the crowd jeered, Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.

But Jesus cried out, and breathed his last.

And then an earthquake hit. Everyone was frightened. 

The Roman captain called out, He really was the son of the holy one!

As evening wore on, Joseph of Arimathea, one of the students, appealed to Pilate to take the body away. Pilate granted his wish. Yeshua’s body was wrapped in clean linen and laid in a tomb. A stone was put over the tomb, and a guard posted, lest the body be stolen.



© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings

This is It - Episode 15: Passover



The time of Passover and unleavened had come, and when they were making sacrifice two students asked Yeshua, Where do you want us to prepare for the seder?

He told them, Go into town, and you will see a man carrying a water jug. Follow him, and where he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘Our teacher asks, where is a banquet hall why I can eat seder with my students?’ He will show you an upper room, with a table made ready. There you can make preparations.

Later, Yeshua arrived with the twelve. They all sat at table.

Yeshua said, The time of reckoning is at hand. We have riled too many in power. One of you is going to hand me over to the authorities, one sitting among us now.

The mood of the room darkened, and all assembled took on grief.

But he took the bread, blessed it and broke it, and he gave it to them saying, Take this, this is my body.And in that gesture, they remembered his talk about the leavening and stories about bread.

Taking a cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them saying, This is my blood, poured out for all. I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it, renewed, in the realm of the holy one. And with that gesture, they remembered his talk about the vineyard, the vine and the grapes.

At the end of the meal, they sang a hymn and departed toward Mount Olive. 


© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings

Saturday, April 11, 2020

This is It - Episode 14: Cleansing the Temple



As they drew near to Bethphage, at Mount Olive, Yeshua sent two students, saying, Go into the village. Right away, you’ll find a colt and a donkey. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks you about it, tell them ‘the Teacher needs these’ and they will let you take them.

The students returned with the colt and donkey. Cloaks were spread over them, and some spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the palm trees and strewed them in the road. The throngs of people made a parade, with Yeshua in the midst of them riding the donkey. 

The people called, Hosanna for the son of David! Blessed him that comes in the name of the holy one. Hosanna to the highest heavens!

As the procession entered Jerusalem, the people there were shaken, saying, Who is this? What’s happening?

And the people processing said, This is the prophet Yeshua, the Nazarene.

Yeshua dismounted from the donkey and went into the temple. He threw out the buyers and sellers. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers.

He said, It is written, ‘My house will be known as a house of prayer,’ but you’ve taken the sacred space and made it into a mercantile den of thieves.

Yeshua healed the blind and lame who came up to him. The throng cheered him on with shouts of Hosanna for the son of David!

The high priests and canon lawyers were outraged.  

Yeshua turned and left, his followers going with him. They camped in Bethany.

Next morning, Yeshua was walking back to Jerusalem, in search of breakfast. He saw a fig tree, but found nothing on it but leaves. 

There is no need for a fruitless tree, Yeshua said, and it withered and dried.  

The students were amazed and asked, How could that tree dry up so fast?

And he said, When you pray, you can move mountains. This tree was no longer useful; there was no need to preserve it. If a mountain is holding you back, with prayer, you can move the mountain out of your way.

Returning to the temple, the chief priests asked him, Who do you think you are? By what authority do you do these things?

Yeshua said, If you answer my question, I’ll answer yours.  Where did the mikvah of John come from, heaven or the world?

Any answer they might give, one way or the other, would make them look bad. So, they answered, We don’t know.

Yeshua said, So, you didn’t answer my question. I won’t answer yours.

But, here, I’ll give you another chance. A father had two sons. He went to the first and asked him to go to the field and work. That son at first declined, but then changed his mind and did work in the field. The father asked the second son, who said he would gladly work, but didn’t do any work at all. Which son did as his father asked?

They answered, The first sonof course.

Yeshua said, John came to you and all teaching the path of justice. You did not believe in his mission, but the whores and the toll collectors and other people reviled by you did believe. The people who believe will apprehend the realm of the holy one, regardless of class. The people reviled by you will apprehend the realm before you do.

As it is said, ‘The stone that was rejected by the builder has at last become the chief cornerstone.’ The realm of the holy one is for the people that labor in the fields, whose labors bear fruit that is shared equitably. I tell you, the rejected stone will crush the fruitless.

The Pharisees wanted Yeshua taken into custody, but doing so in a such a public way would make them look bad, for the crowds regarded Yeshua as a prophet. They called some of their students, along with a few of Herod’s men, and approached him, hoping to trap him into confessing that he was against the Roman occupation.

The students of the Pharisees asked him, So, we know you are honest and teach the word of the holy one truthfully. What do you think? Is it okay to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

Yeshua said, Show me the coins given to pay the tax

The coins were shown to him. 

Yeshua asked them, Whose picture is on these coins?

They answered, Caesar’s.

He said, Give what is Ceasar’s to him; give to the holy one what belongs to the holy one. Everything belongs to the holy one, and none of it bears a false image.

The students and Herod’s men went away.

Later that day, a group of Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection, pose a trick question to him: The tradition of Moses says that if the husband of a couple dies without leaving any children, the brother must take in his widow. In one village, a woman married into a family with seven sons. Her husband died. They’d had no children, so he left her as chattel to his brother, who later died without leaving children, and so on through all the brothers of the family. Then the widow died. When the resurrection comes, which of the seven will be her bridegroom?

But Yeshua said, In the realm of the holy one, there are no brides or grooms, only messengers, helpers, angels. In ancient times, the holy one called from the bush, ‘I am. I am of the living, not of the dead.’

Those who heard the teaching were amazed. Later, the Pharisees approached him again and asked Yeshua which of the commandments was most important.

And he said, The most important commandment is the very first one: To love the holy one with all of your heart, all of your spirit, all of your mind. And I say there is a second that works with the first: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. All that is written in the law and the prophets is supported by these two commandments.

He turned to his students and said, Where Moses sat, now the Pharisees and canon lawyers sit. Do what they say, but don’t do what they do. They are not good role models, for they do not practice what they preach, and everything they do is for show. They tax the people and offer no pubic benefit to those in need. They take the best seats and the best food and enjoy being called, ‘Master.’

Don’t try to be a Master, like them; after the holy one, your teacher is your only leader, and you are all a family. The highest person among you will be the servant of all.

Woe to all of the unaccountable fakes and frauds who act as gatekeepers and deny average people any opportunity to enter the realm of the holy one. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killer of prophets and stoners of ambassadors, now that you have laid to ruin the sacred temple, all the blood you have shed will come back upon you.

Now I will go away and be gone until that time when you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the holy one.’



© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings



This is It - Episode 13: On the Realm of the Holy One



They were now on the road going to Jerusalem. Yeshua was telling them what was going to happen, and the students were overwhelmed with concern. 

James and John asked if they could be sit at the right and left of Yeshua when he achieved his glory.

He said to them, You don’t know what you ask. Can you drink from my cup?

They said, We can.

The others were outraged.

Yeshua gathered them together and said, Perhaps you are able to drink from my cup, but as to the proximity of anyone’s seat to mine, that is not up to me to decide.

Look, you know how rulers lord it over their subjects and how strongmen abuse their power. It will not be like that among you. Whoever wants to be great is going to be a servant; everybody who wants to be number one will be everyone’s slave. I did not come to be served, but to serve.

If any of you are confident enough to feel moral superiority to others, hear this: Two men went to the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a toll collector. The Pharisee prayed: ‘I thank you, holy one, that I am not like everyone else, that I am not thieving, unjust or adulterous, like that toll collector. I fast and give tithes.’ The toll collector stood off where he could not be seen. Looking down at the ground, he beat his breast and prayed: ‘O holy one, forgive me, sinner that I am.’

I tell you the second man was forgiven, not the first.

Those who promote themselves as better than others will be demoted; those who demote themselves will be elevated.

One among those gathered asked when and where the realm of the holy one would appear.

Yeshua said, The holy one does not approach with visible signs. People might say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘Look, there it is.’ But do not believe them. There is no map to the holy realm. The truth of the matter is that the realm of the holy one is all around you and within you. This is it!



© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings


I do this writing with a goal in mind. I want to reclaim, for myself, the personof Jesus, a human exemplar. Jesus is one among a pantheon of what Joseph Campbell called “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” So many people call themselves Christian without embracing the actual moral code Jesus taught, a moral code taught in the Torah and brought forth in new context to a new generation through the parables and ministry of Jesus. Once Jesus died, a political and religious martyr, he was translated into a God-figure. Since that time, much of lived Christian theology puts the work of creating a just world on the Godhead, rather than on the people. This misreading turns the Bible on its head. What is the point of the Bible, if not to encourage and insist that people do God’s work, not make God do all the work and then also forgive people for continuing to sin! “Thought, word and deed” is not and can never be replaced by the “thoughts and prayers” that abdicate from the active service of justice—we were made to serve. 

This is It - Episode 12: On Virtue



One of the students asked him to define virtue.

He thought for a moment. After all, this is everything he had spoken of, in different ways, for weeks. Some heard and understood; he had seen that this was true. Some people were new to the group of followers. Patience, he realized, was a primary virtue that he must continue to practice. 

But this is what he told the students: 

I’ll repeat: Woe to this world filled with stumbling blocks and snares. It is enough that they exist in the natural world, but cursed is the person who creates them to harm or limit another person from doing what they perceive to be the right thing, in any given moment. 

If you fall out with a friend or relative, do whatever it takes to make up. Pay all debts you owe and cancel the debts owed to you.

One student pressed him, What good must I do to have eternal life?

And he said, Why do you ask about what is ‘good’? Why is the word ‘must’ in your question? There is only one sense of good, that done without question or obligation. If you want to fully enter life, observe the commandments.

One young man asked, Which ones?

And Yeshua said, Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not give false testimony; honor your father and mother; care for your neighbor as you care for yourself.

The young man said, I have done all these things. What am I missing?

And Yeshua answered, To be perfect, sell all you have, leave everything behind, and come with me. You cannot enter into life encumbered by obligation to things. Those obliged to love things are beholden neither to other people nor to the holy one.

The young man turned and walked away, for he was encumbered by wealth.

Yeshua was saddened, but did not stop him. As the young man walked away, Yeshua said, It is difficult for the rich to enter into life. Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to carry their wealth and reputation with them through the narrow door that leads to life.

Whatever is bound in life is bound everywhere. Whatever is freed in life is freed everywhere. 


© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

This is It - Episode 11: On Children



They were on their way to Capernaum when the toll takers said to Peter, Hey, your teacher didn’t pay the toll.

Peter replied, That’s right, he didn’t.

He rushed to catch him up, but Yeshua had arrived at the house ahead of him.

What do you think, Simon? On whom do leaders impose taxes and tolls, on their children or on the children of others?

Peter responded, The children of others.

And Yeshua said, While their own children go free. Not to make trouble here, go down to the water, throw in a hook and line. Take the first fish that comes up, and you’ll find a coin in its mouth. Take the coin to the toll collector, to pay for us.

Then the students came. They asked him, Who is the greatest in the realm of the holy one?

He called out to a child, placed the child in front of them and said, If you don’t turn your thinking around and become find the realm of the holy one in the manner of the generously playful child, you’ll never enter in. Whoever meets a child without pretence—open, humble and with compassion—meets me also. 

Whoever returns to the unguarded perceptiveness of a child, that’s who is the greatest in the realm.

In short, don’t be contemptuous of these little ones—learn from them, receive them, do not turn them away—vulnerable as they are, they always before the face of the holy one.

Whoever trips up a child would be better off sunk in the sea with a millstone. 

Woe to the stumbling blocks of this world. 

Woe to any who lays a stumbling block with intent to marginalize another.



© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings

Sunday, April 5, 2020

This is It - Episode 10: Feeding the Hungry



Word came to Yeshua of John’s murder in prison. He was shaken, and needed to get away by himself to fully experience the sorrow of this loss. 

He headed out in the boat to a deserted shore. The throngs eventually caught up to where he was. Though he wanted to be alone, he felt compassion for their need, and cured those who were ill.

When it was getting late, the students came and said, This place is in the middle of nowhere, and it’s late. Send the crowds away, so they can find food for themselves in the villages.

But Yeshua said, Don’t send them away. Feed them yourselves.

They answered, But we only have five loaves of bread and two fish.

Here, bring them to me. 

They asked everyone to sit. Yeshua took the food and blessed it. He divided it among his students and they passed it around, either breaking off bits for each person or passing some down a line of people.

Yeshua watched the crowd and saw that they understood what he had been teaching.

The more food was eaten, the more food appeared. All ate, and all were satisfied.

At the end of the meal, twelve baskets of scraps were leftover.



© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings