He ventured to return to his own town. The followers came along.
The next thing, they brought him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher.
He saw their faith in him.
To the paralytic, he said, Take heart: your errors are forgiven.
Some of the canon-lawyers said to each other, That’s blasphemy!
But he said, Which is easier to say:‘Your errors are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk away’? So you’ll know that this son of humanity, child of the earth, has earthly authority—he said to the paralytic—Get up, take your stretcher and go home.
The man, paralyzed no longer, got up, took up the stretcher and went into his home.
Onlookers were either terrified or praising the holy one that a mortal had been granted such ability.
Yeshua saw one of the onlookers at a toll station, Matthew by name, and said, Join me.
And they went to the house of Matthew, who was a tax collector; they and the students were joined at table with other tax collectors and other marginal people.
Pharisees addressed the question to Yeshua’s students: Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ungodly people?
Yeshua heard and said, The healthy don’t need a doctor. Go, find what it means ‘I seek mercy and not sacrifice.’ I’m here to call the godless, not saints.
John’s students asked, We fast, as the Pharisees do. Why don’t your students fast?
And he said, The wedding party does not mourn while the newlyweds rejoice. When the groom is taken way, they will have reason to fast.
An official of the town came to summon him. My daughter has just died, but if you put your hand on her, she’ll live.
They got up to go, and a woman came from behind and touched the hem of his cloak.
Yeshua paused, Courage, your trust has saved you, and she was healed of her excessive bleeding.
They passed on the official’s house. Yeshua said to the crowd gathered there, Be on your way. The girl is just sleeping. They laughed at him. He pushed through the crowd and took the child’s hand.
She woke up.
They left, and were followed by two blind men. Have mercy on us, son of David, they called out.
Yeshua touched their eyes and said, Let it be for you according to your trust.
Their eyes were opened.
Then a mute person was brought; it was presumed a demon had silenced him.
Yeshua whispered in his ear.
The man spoke.
Even though he told them not to divulge what had been done, word got out.
Yeshua and the students went out to the towns and villages, where he taught, proclaimed the good word, and healed.
The crowds needing healing grew and grew, and he felt sorry for them.
He said to his students: Ample the harvest, too few the workers. The harvest master must send workers into the fields.And he deputized them to heal.
Go out, with only the clothes on your back. I send you like sheep into packs of wolves. But, it’s enough for the student to be like his teacher. Don’t fear those who kill the body; they cannot kill the soul.
I did not come to case peace over the land. I came to wield a sword to separate people from wrong thinking.
Whoever receives a prophet by the name of prophet will receive a prophet’s pay. Whoever receives a just person by the name of a just person will receive a just person’s pay. Whoever gives a lowly person even but a drink of water by their name, as my student, you will not forfeit your pay.
John, in jail, had heard of the work. He sent the question through his students: Are you the one who’s coming, or should we expect another?
Yeshua said to them: Go back. Tell John what you hear and see. Blind people see; lame people walk. The dead rise, and the poor are given good news.
And as they went away, Yeshua spoke to the crowd about John.
You went to the desert to see what? A prophet? A prophet, yes, and much more. About him was it written, ‘Look, I send my messenger to prepare your road ahead of you.’ He is the Elijah to come. Those with ears to hear, hear!
© 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
