Philip

In the posting for Jan 21, I suggested that Nathanael was described by the writer of John's gospel in a likeness to the apostle Paul in his mission to the Greek-speaking world in The Acts of the Apostles. My proposal was that John's Story 3 was a post-resurection Story about primarily Peter and Paul. I also pointed out that another Philip, one of the seven, sets the stage for the conversion of Saul in Luke's Acts. I also identified Nathanael as one of the seven in the boat in the second ending of John's gospel where the fishing expedition was aimed at the Greek- speaking gentiles.

John tells us that Andrew was one of the two of John's disciples who follow Jesus in the beginning of John's Story 3. We aren't told who was the second of these two followers of the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, of course, would have been the risen Christ if this indeed was a post-resurrections Story.

Along this same line, what do you think might be the purpose of the writer of John's gospel as he presents us the following from John's Story 3 (1:35-51):
Now Philip was from Bethsaida (This happens to be the first verse in the "un-shaded" story when diagramed in its literary form), and

from John's Story 21 (12:21-50) we find the following verses:
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. (This happens to be in the "shaded" story.)

The following verse tells us that Philip doesn't immediately take the Greeks to Jesus. Instead, Philip goes to Andrew and then the two of them go to Jesus. Jesus replies to them, and we aren't sure if them includes the Greeks or not. Jesus' reply is that the hour has come for him to be glorified.

It is obvious to me that John wants John's Story 3 to be a foundation for what is happening in John's Story 21.

The writer of John wants to bring our attention to this second event where the Greek-speaking people were seeking Jesus. Yes, Jesus was also the hope of the Greeks.

I propose that the fact about Philip being from Bethsaida was done intentionally so that both the shaded and unshaded stories would both include this statement. (If you don't know what this means...look at the 150 parables website.)

Was Philip the second of the two of John's disciples that followed Jesus at the beginning of John's gospel? If so, why is this important? Why does Philip seek Andrew to go with him to tell Jesus that the Greeks want to talk to him?

The writer of John's gospel wants us to be aware of something. If someone comes to this blog with a suggestion, it will be welcomed.

Presenting the Stories

Mike spoke on the literary form of the parable to the congregation of Unity Church Richardson on January 15th. The congregation was filled with peace and wonder as they listened to my dad talk about several Stories written in the literary form of the parable. They were taken aback with the wisdom poured forth, and the minister invited my dad back to teach some classes at their new Living Ranch and Wellness Center. Thanks Jeanie for your trust and openess in seeing the Scriptures in this way!

The music minister at Unity, Bill Webb, was such a blessing. During each service, he feels the message being spoken and creates a song in the moment. So after my dad spoke, he sang a song while playing his keyboard. It touched us deeply. Thanks Bill for living your passion.

If your church or institution would like to learn about the literary form of the parable, please contact us.

Mark Story 3

I will continue to repeat that the whole of the Christian Scriptures are written in a narrative literary form used in many of the books in the Hebrew Scriptures. Each of the gospel writers have given us proof that it was their intention to write their gospel in this well-defined, invariable literary form. If you read what I call Mark’s Story 3 (1:32-2:5), it is evident that Mark intends for us to recognize here that the cleansing that Moses commands points to Jesus as the Lamb of God who reconciles us to God and neighbor. (In all four gospels, Moses’ words point to Jesus, who fulfills them.) So, how then does the wisdom statement of the Wisdom section, wW, ‘and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them,” give specific meaning to the story statement of the Story section, sS, where Jesus is going to the neighboring towns to proclaim the message of salvation?

Mark intends for us to realize that it is the Lamb of God who reconciles us to God and neighbor that gives specific meaning to the message that Jesus will proclaim to the neighboring towns in the sS.

Since the wAW is how or why the wW is put into practice, and since the wAW is, ‘your sins are forgiven,’ the following is the intention of Mark: the forgiveness of sins is why the Lamb of God was sacrificed put into practice for humankind.

The man paralyzed in sin, who is buried with Christ in baptism, verse 2:4, has received his sins forgiven—thus ‘your sins are forgiven’ became the wAW. In doing so, this means that the healing of the paralyzed man is meant to be spiritual healing of his sins. We can believe that there was a physical healing if we want, but that’s not the purpose of this Story!

Put another way, ‘Your sins are forgiven is why we believe Jesus as the Lamb of God has come to redeem humankind. Again, this is because the wAW is how or why we believe, or put into practice, wW.

Again, Mark uses the example of the leper because Moses commanded that when a leper is cured of his leprosy he would bring an unblemished lamb to be sacrificed by the priest as a rite of atonement. Here of course, Jesus is not only the Lamb of God, but also the High Priest.

What about the leper? Since the healing of the leper is the Reflection section, that reflects on the mission of Jesus to preach the good news of salvation for our redemption. The healing of the leper in this Story is a healing from that which keeps him from being in relationship with the community—and that is his sins. Again, we can believe that there was a physical healing, too, but that is not the purpose of this Story.

Every word in this Story can be given meaning by the literary form in which it was written.

The revision of The 150 Parables is moving right along...we'll let you know when it's available.

John 1:35-51, John's Story 2

In the first chapter of John's gospel we are introduced to Nathanael...and we are given a very glowing description of him! And yet, we do not hear of him agan until he's one of the seven in the boat in the second ending of John's gospel.

The question is this: What was John's intention in his first chapter when he presents us Nathanael?

Here's something to think about and you may want to reread John 1:35-51 first.

I am reminded of Paul in this description of Nathanael. In John 7:52, it is the Pharisees who say, "prophets do not come out of Galilee." It is Paul who sees in the risen Jesus the fulfillment of the Scriptures. It is Paul who was trained under the "fig tree." It is Paul that the risen Jesus himself has chosen as the instrument to make known the "Son of God" to the gentiles. It is Paul who speaks what is true, there is no deceit in him! It is "Philip" in the Acts that introduces the conversion of Saul.

When we see Nathanael as one of the seven "loaves" in the "boat" in John's Story 31, does John want us to see Paul, who begins this mission to the gentiles with Peter, instead?

And there is more in those first verses about Peter in John 1:35-51 than first glance might indicate...I propose that this second Story in John is a post-resurrection Story.

Reconciliation Ritual continued

In the last two postings I suggested that in the Acts of the Apostles we have evidence of a reconciliation rite that was patterned after the baptismal liturgy. By that I mean a ‘death and burial’ ritual as suggested by what happens to Sapphira and Ananias by the faith community in Acts 5. I also suggested that instead of a burial in water, that there was a washing rite that we see in Acts 9 in the healing of Tabitha. I also suggested that Tabitha was faint from fasting, and that I’d give you some evidence that the fast was probably seven days in length.

Toward the end of the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul is on his way to Rome, Paul heals the father of Publius who 'lay sick of fever and dysentery'. Paul prays over him, and then,laying hands on him, the man is healed. Well and good.

What is particularly interesting is that this healing by Paul happens to be the wW, the wisdom statement of the Wisdom section of a Story written in the literary form of the parable.

After three months pass, Paul sails in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered on the island where Paul had washed ashore with the rest of the crew after their ship had wrecked. After some days of travel they came to Puteoli, where Paul finds brothers. These brothers make an earnest request to Paul to stay with them for seven days. This earnest request by these brothers that Paul stay with them for seven days happens to be the wAW of the particular Story that we are interested in. Since there is nothing in the reading to suggest that Paul didn’t stay, I assume that he did—for there must have been a good reason for their request. I suspect that someone among the brothers were seeking reconciliation, and that the faith community was supporting him…and that they needed some help from one of the recognized ‘apostles.’ Why do I think that? Again, we find the reason by observing the literary form in which that Story was written. Since the wAW is why or how the wW is put into practice, then:

‘This earnest request that Paul stay with them for seven days,’ is why and/or how Paul’s healing of Publius was put into practice. Of course, I’m suggesting that the healing of Publius was a spiritual healing. In the two past postings, Peter was the apostle who bestowed forgiveness to the person who repented. I think that the brothers saw in Paul the same apostleship. After seven days of fasting and prayer by the community, I think Paul was going to bestow Christ’s forgiveness to this person who had repented.

Reconciliation Ritual in Acts

The last post ended with the explanation that Sapphira and Ananias had to have begun some type of reconciliation ritual that was patterned in some way after the baptismal liturgy of dying to sin and rising, again, to new life of the Spirit.

I propose to you that in the Acts of the Apostles we not only have this example of reconciliation but others too. Each suggest that a religious leader among the people, like Peter or Paul, was the one who presided to bring forth God's forgiveness from Jesus' life-giving words. Sounds reasonable enough since this authority, that comes from the Spirit, was entrusted to the disciples in the gospels, especially to Peter.

I'm going to suggest that this was why a local church sent for Peter to come to a certain disciple, Tabitha, in Acts 9. Here we are told that she didn't reenter the waters (of baptism) but they washed her instead. I suggest that Tabitha participated in seven days of fasting and that's why she was laid out faint when Peter arrived.

Where did I come up with this seven day fast? I'll address it in the next posting.

Ananias and Sapphira, continued

In the last posting I proposed that the Story about Ananias and Sapphira was a reconciliation narrative in Acts 5. I ended with the critical relationship between the wW and the wAW.

Following the literary form, the wAW is how or why the wW is put into practice.

So, "speak to the people all the words of this new life" must be how "and they were all healed" is put into practice. In other words: Jesus' life giving words proclaimed by the apostles, were how they were all healed was accomplished.

In the sS, Sapphira falls down and dies at Peter's feet. Then she's carried off by some young men who found her dead. Before we are filled with the wrong kind of fear, let's look at the relationship between the sS and the wW:

Following the literary form, the sS gives specific meaning to the wW. "They were all healed" gives specific meaning to Sapphira who falls down and dies at Peter's feet, just as her husband, Ananias had done.

The only possible explanation is that there must have been a reconciliation ritual that was patterned in some way after the baptismial liturgy of dying to sin so that we can rise again to new life of the Spirit. Because of the relationship we observed in the last posting, this must have included Jesus' life giving words--for Jesus' life-giving words proclaimed by the apostles were how they were healed had been accomplished.

This ritual must have involved the whole community, and it must have been spiritually moving, for the following verse contains these words, "Great fear came on the whole assembly, and this fear was one of extreme reverence for God's compassion!

Before we continue this Story in the next posting, what do we think about the gospel narratives where the blind men seek to "see" again?

Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira

We do have examples in the early Church of liturgical rituals of reconciliation for the baptized. I’m going to suggest to you that the Story about Ananias and Sapphira is one of these in Acts 5. Over the years I’ve stayed away from this story because all the commentaries that I’ve ever read either supported a frightening image of a God waiting to strike these lost sheep, or ignored the first twenty verses of this chapter completely. Since Luke’s parable of the prodigal son is intimately involved with the parable of the lost sheep something has gone astray in our previous understanding of this story about Ananias and Sapphria. When the Story about Ananias and Sapphria is read in its literary form it is far from frightening, instead it is very comforting!

The first thing to think about is that the wAW, the wisdom statement of the Appropriating the Wisdom section of this Story is: ‘speak to the people all the words of this new life.’

The second is that the wW, the wisdom statement of the Wisdom section is: ‘and they were all healed.’

This means that this Story is off to a very good start, for the wAW is how or why the wW is put into practice. So, ‘speak to the people all the words of this new life’ is how ‘and they were all healed’ is put into practice.

In other words: Jesus’ life-giving words proclaimed by the apostles, were how they were all healed was accomplished.

Tomorrow we’ll find out about they, because the wW gives specific meaning to the sS, the story statement of the Story section.

baptism...and the angels rejoiced

Some years ago I was reading a story in a quarterly magazine, the name of which I cannot remember. This is how I remember it: Two businessmen were dressed in white linen tennis shorts with matching logo shirts. They had been fitted with the best tennis shoes, rackets, wristlets and balls available. They had their suits and shirts carefully hanging in their cars. They would be stopping in their downtown athletic club for a shower, bagel and juice before arriving at their offices. Now they were opening the fenced door to some university tennis courts close to the downtown of a large metropolitan city. It was 6:30 am and their court was reserved until 7:45. Several of the courts were empty including one next to them. In the back corner behind that court there was a white porcelain bowl water fountain that would gently push a stream of bubbling cool water from its center when the foot lever was activated. The men, who had obviously played at some competitive level in earlier years, began to play their first set. Sometime during the second set an elderly man came quietly through the fenced door onto the courts. He was holding by one hand what looked like a plastic shopping bag. In it were all of his worldly belongings. He obviously lived on the street somewhere. He stood by the door and waited for the appropriate time to cross behind one of these two players. He followed the fence back and around to the drinking fountain in the far corner of the courts. One of the players couldn't help but follow him with his eyes. He didn't particularly feel safe among the people who lived on the street. In fact, he had no idea where they could find shelter among the downtown buildings during the night. He had seen many of them panhandling on the street corners, and he made it a point not to make eye contact with any of them. His game slowed down as he continued to glace toward the back corner of the courts. The elderly man had carefully folded his worn shirt and placed it on the ground and had begun to wash his chest and underarms with the water. Both men were now glancing over at him occassionally. His tennis partner seemed to be filled with disgust at the way the elderly man had contaminated the white porcelain bowl and somehow the water that flowed from the fountain. The elderly man was now taking another shirt out of the plastic bag that he was carrying. As he slipped it over his head the color of the shirt seemed to strike the tennis player as familiar. He'd often seen parking attendants on that campus wear shirts like that. They had always been extrememly friendly and had given him directions many times. His tennis partner seemed a bit annoyed and his interest in the game had waned and suggested that they head for the athletic club. He purposely let his partner go ahead as he continued to watch out of the side of his face the elderly man who had just finished brushing his teeth and running moist hands through his hair that probably hadn't been cut in...years. Soon he was left alone as the elderly man quietly left in the same way that he had come. He heard the man's welcome directed to some players who had just arrived. After placing balls and racket and towel into his duffle bag, he left it on the beach and slowly walked over to the drinking fountain in the far corner of the courts. Some 'soiled' water had been left in the bottom of the porcelain bowl. He carefully bent over the bowl and scooped some up in both hands. Pouring it over his head he said a silent prayer for his companion with whom he had never spoken, but in whom he saw goodness. Today there would be real eye contact...who knows what tomorrow would bring. He hoped to meet the elderly man so that they could talk. He'd treat for lunch at the club.

There was no laced baptismal gown, no candle, no annointing with oil, no pool to be raised up from, no choir...and no certificate...just a simple ritual...and the angels rejoiced...

Our next posting will be about Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword."

A few days ago the post was about the origin of the verse from Hebrews 4 which included the two edged sword. I proposed that the source of that expression was probably the parable which we call The Judgement of Soloman. Spend a moment and look carefully at the wS: "give her the living boy." (The words were indeed quick, and powerful, and sharper than that of any sword.)

These words of love came forth in a time of suffering. They were directed to Soloman, but they also struck at the heart of the unjust second woman. Those words, "give her the livng boy," were a loving action led by the Spirit. Some listeners of the Story would rather have heard the following words directed to Soloman by the mother of the living child, "No, inflict your wrath at this unjust woman, not my innocent child!" These words identify the enemy and come from the heat of resentment.

Instead, the mother of the "living boy" follows the example of Jesus. She endures and speaks only the truth, and in this way she gives life.

Look closer at her words, "give her the living boy." The mother of the living child is very much like the Father. The gift to Israel of his "living boy" was rejected in the same way that was done by the unjust woman. The woman, when confronted with these words which were quick, and powerful, and sharper than that of any sword, like Jesus' words, chooses not the "living boy," but she wants to see him dead!

baptism, John 9:6

This is in response to a question regarding yesterday's post....

In this Story, the spit which comes forth from the mouth of Jesus must be a sign of living water springing up from the heart of Jesus--the Spirit. The soil represents the human heart in the parable of the sower. They are mixed together.

I propose that when the Spirit is mixed with the human heart, it's a very good sign! If the Spirit is mixed with the heart it means to me that the man welcomes the words of Jesus and puts them into practice. He certainly witnesses to his new faith, with new "sight," to the Pharisees in this Story.

The ritual continues with this very good sign placed over the man's eyes by Jesus with the words: go wash in the waters of the one who has been sent. Why on the eyes? To have "sight," in the gospels is to believe in the words of Jesus. "Blindness" is to choose not to believe in Jesus' words. Believing in the words of Jesus is a sign of a baptized person.

The waters are named after Jesus. He is the one who has been sent. Baptism is a washing in the living waters. The pool of Siloam is stream fed. They are living waters. The man follows Jesus' commands to wash, he does, and his "eyes were opened."

The man acknowledges that he had been blind before and is no longer blind. When one "sees," the person is in relationship with the Lord. He believes in his words. When one is blind, one is not in relationship with the Lord...and therefore he is not in relationship with others. This is my definition of sin. To be no longer blind is to have one's sins forgiven.

The man now calls himself a disciple, for he says to the Pharisees, "Do you want to become his disciples too?"

All this happened on the Sabbath day...I can't think of a better day on which to be baptized.

John 9:6

Why would Jesus spit on the ground to make mud so that he could cover the eyes of the man born blind? What comes forth from the mouth of Jesus are streams of living water--the Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives life to the "soil" in the parable of the sower! The man can now "see," (believe)-- and the waters of Siloam represent his baptism.

The origin of Hebrews 4:12

Hebrews 4:12

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword."

Take a look at 1 Kings 3:16-27 diagramed in its literary form. (You'll need to click on the "Old Testament Narrative tab.") The origin of Hebrews 4:12 may very well come from what is called the Judgement of Solomon!

The wisdom statement of the Wisdom section, wW, doesn't come from Solomon's lips, it comes from the mouth of the prostitute. And what comes forth from her mouth is from the Spirit: "give her the living boy." These are words that come forth from a mother who in that moment endures a great suffering for the well-being of her son. It was the sword's presence that awakened those words.

On the other hand, the presence of the sword also brought forth from the second woman what was in her heart, and it was not of the Spirit!

The word spoken by the first woman was quick, and powerful, and sharper than that of any sword. Her words opened Solomon's heart to immediately say, "She is the mother."

the Risen Jesus in Luke Story 5 (2:1-20)

Here's another reason why the "child" in the birth of Jesus Story 5 is the risen Jesus.

As a review:

The first description of the child represented the Hebrew Scriptures giving birth to the risen Jesus. (2:7)

The second description represented the sign, the words and actions of Jesus, giving birth to the risen Jesus. (2:12)

The third description of the child, which wasn't mentioned the other day, no longer has the child wrapped in bands of cloth. The reason: He has risen. He's left the wrappings behind. He's presented only as the bread of life...the word of the Father made flesh...presented in a feeding trough. (2:16)

Esther

The Literary Form of the Parable has been found in Esther as well. My dad will include one of the Stories in Esther in The 150 Parables as one of the examples of the literary form found in the Old Testament. (The main focus of The 150 Parables is the four gospels, which are diagramed into its Stories, but the book will show that the literary form was known well before the New Testament scriptures were written.)

Happy New Year!

New Year's Greetings and Best Wishes!