Word came to him that John had been arrested. It was time to act.
He walked to the sea of Galilee and attracted the notice of some fishermen. He invited them to join him. Something made them leave their nets behind and follow him. They traveled together all around Galilee, while Yeshua taught in the synagogues, proclaiming the good word. He healed people who needed to be restored. The number of followers increased as he moved through Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and across the Jordan.
At one place, mindful of the crowds, he went part way up the mountain. He sat where he could be seen. The gathered people wanted to be his students, so he taught them, saying:
Fortunate are the poor: the holy realm is theirs.
Fortunate are mourners: they will be consoled.
Fortunate of the gentle: they will inherit the earth.
Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: they will achieve justice.
Fortunate are the merciful: to them will be given mercy.
Fortunate are those who are pure of heart: they will see the holy one.
Fortunate are the peacemakers: they will be known as the sons and daughters of the holy one.
Fortunate are all persecuted because they are just: the holy realm is theirs.
Fortunate are you when you are attacked because of me; rejoice and know you will be rewarded for your honor.
You are the very salt of the earth. Do not loose your flavor, lest you be thrown away.
The lamp of the body is the eye. If the eyes are in good order, the whole body is lit. If the eyes are not in good order, the whole body is in darkness.
You are the light of the world, so do not hide.
You must shine for all the world to see, so that your goodness teaches the world of the holy one’s benevolence.
I did not come to overthrow the law or the prophets; I came to fulfill them. The letter of the law will be required until everything has come to pass. Those who tear down the law will be given no regard. Those who keep the law and teach the law will be considered great. Those who use the law to mete out less than what is just will never see the holy realm.
To illustrate, your ancestors were told: do not murder. Murderers are subject to justice. But I say further, any who gets angry with a brother or sister will be subject to justice at a holy tribunal.
When you bring an offering for the temple altar, then remember an unresolved disagreement with a brother or sister, leave the gift without placing it on the altar. Return to and make up with your kinfolk. Unresolved disagreements may lead you to the holy tribunal, and even to the fire of Gehenna.
Your ancestors were told: do not commit adultery. I say further, all who lust after another person’s mate have already sinned in their heart.
If one eye blinds you to what is right, pull it out and throw it away. If your right hand goes astray, cut it off. Better to lose a part than the whole body be thrown into the Gehenna fire.
Your ancestors were told: do not break oaths, give them to the holy one. I say further, do not swear at all. Anything more than yes or no is evil.
It has been said, ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ Contrarily, I say do not challenge a bully. If you are slapped on one side, give the other. If they take your shirt, give up your coat. If you are diverted a mile out of your way, go two.
It has been said, ‘Love those close to you and hate your enemies.’ Contrarily, I say love your enemies. The sun shines on the good and the bad; rain falls on the good and the bad. What virtue or toil is it to love those you already love?
Do not show off your acts of virtue to others; the holy one will take no notice of you. Do all your good works in secret; only then will the holy one notice. Do not make a show of praying. When you fast, don’t put on a show. People who make shows of piousness have earned their reward: the attention of onlookers.
When you pray and when you fast, it is not about many or fancy words or how you look; the holy one knows what you need before you ask.
Instead, pray in this way:
Oh, holy one,
Sanctified is your name.
Let your realm come,
Let your will be fulfilled
on earth as in the beyond.
Give us day by day our bread.
Forgive our debts
as we forgive those others owe us.
Do not put us to the Adversary,
but rescue us from all evil.
Make it so.
Whenever you forgive people for missing the mark, the holy one will forgive you when you miss the mark, also.
One cannot serve two masters; you cannot worship both money and the holy one. Do not hoard or hide the kind of treasure that can be stolen or damaged. Where your treasure is, that is where your heart is. Your heart is your treasure.
Don’t worry yourself about what to eat or drink or with what to clothe your body; the soul is a more important consideration. Examine the birds; they don’t plant, don’t harvest, and certainly don’t hoard, and yet they are fed. All of your concerns about these things don’t make a difference—for example, your desire to be tall will not add to your height. Study how the lilies of the field grow. They do not work, they don’t spin cloth, yet not even Solomon in his glory was ever dressed so beautifully. If that is how the holy one dresses the wild grasses, which are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t the same be true for you?
So, again, worry not about what you will eat and drink; the holy one knows what you need. Ask first for the realm of the holy one and for justice, and your needs will be answered. Ask for what you need today, don’t concern yourself with tomorrow; tomorrow is it’s own story. Each day’s difficulties are enough for that day alone. Live fully in the moment; live fully each and everyday.
Don’t judge, so as not to be judged or you be given the same sentence you utter; by whatever standard you define for others will you yourself be measured. Why waste time fixating on the splinter in another’s eye, while being unaware of the log in your own? Work on removing the log from your own eye before offering to help remove a splinter from someone else’s.
Don’t throw what is holy to the dogs and don’t throw pearls before swine; they will trample all into the ground and knock you over, as well.
Ask and you will receive; look and you will find; knock and you will be granted entry. The asker always receives, the seeker always finds, and whomsoever knocks will be granted entry. Who, if asked by a loved one for a loaf of bread would give instead a stone? If you know enough to give what is asked, how much more true is that of the holy one.
Likewise everything you want people to do for you, you must do also for them, for that is in keeping with the law and the prophets.
Choose the narrow path and go in through the narrow door. The way is wide that leads to destruction and many will head that way. How narrow the path, how narrow the opening that leads to Life, and how few are the people who find it!
Beware of the fake prophets who come dressed as lambs but are rapacious wolves inside. You’ll know them by the fruit they bear. You don’t harvest grapes from a thicket of thorns or figs from a thistle bush. Every good tree bears good fruit, while rotten trees bear bad fruit. Any tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Not everyone saying, ‘Teacher, teacher’ to me will be accepted into the realm of the holy one, only those who do the holy one’s will. Some will say to me, on that day, ‘Teacher, teacher, didn’t we prophesy in your name, didn’t we exorcise in your name and work many wonders in your name?’
And I will say to them, ‘I don’t know you. Go away, lawless ones.’
Those who hear my advice and follow it will become as sensible as the man who built his house on bedrock; when the storm hit, the house did not fall because it was grounded. Those who hear my advice and ignore it will be like the man who built his house on sand; when the storm hit, it fell and was washed away.
When Yeshua finished speaking, the crowd was in awe of his teaching, because he taught them seemingly on his own authority, rather than the authority of the canon-lawyers.
© 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
