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Acts, Language, Teaching

Acts 2:1-21 – The Feast of Fifty Days

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When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs– in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”

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This is the fairly fixed reading that can be chosen as either the Old Testament selection or the Epistle selection for Pentecost Sunday, Year B 2018. The full reading is optional in Year A and Year C, making it a fixture reading for Pentecost Sunday.  Either way it may be selected, it would next be read aloud in church by a reader on Sunday, May 20, 2018. It is important as it tells of the disciples’ transformation into Apostles and Saints, when the Holy Spirit flowed strongly through each of them on the first day of the week that was Pentecost (the Fiftieth Day), marking the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot). It is important because it tells how the Saints of Christ do not speak of their own accord, but by the Will of God. The truth spoken by an Apostle is then fulfilled by the prophecy made by Joel, where that prophecy needs closer examination.

I was raised (from nursery cradle to fifteen) in an Assemblies of God church. That denomination is under the general umbrella of Christianity that is called “Pentecostal.” I was into my fifties when I learned that “Pentecost” is Greek, meaning “Fiftieth Day.” My assumption prior to that (as I do not recall ever having “Pentecostal” defined to me) was that “Pentecost” meant “speaking in tongues,” as that was a tenet of the Pentecostal branches of Christianity.

Now, I see my assumption (from being told “Pentecostal” means the belief in “speaking in tongues”) was somewhat of an oxymoron.  It must be, since one of the tongues not spoken appears, quite obviously, to be Greek. Otherwise, that branch of Christianity would be better named if there was no inference to being “Fiftieth Day related,” from “Pentecost-al.”  A more suitable name would be “Glossaipyros-al” (from the Greek “glōssai“and “pyros“), meaning “Tongues of fire related.”

The very first verse in this reading states, “When the day of Pentecost had come.” That demands one understand what the “day of Pentecost” is, as its mere mention states it was a significant day. It demands that one know the Israelites were commanded to forever observe three holy days with feasts (festivals). The three are: Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks [a.k.a. Pentecost]), and Sukkot (Booths). Each festival attaches a number of days of recognition to each of those specified days.

The Hebrew word “Shavuot” means “Weeks,” such that there were seven full weeks that took place after the Israelites escaped Pharaoh, until Moses came down with the sacred tablets. Forty of those days were spent encamped at the base of Mount Horeb, while Moses was on the mount with God.  The Covenant was then made on the fiftieth day (7X7=49, 49+1=50), after Moses came down with the sacred Tablets.

The festival that denoted the end of that counting of weeks was probably named Pentecost because of Greek rule over Jerusalem (following the Persians, prior to the Romans), as a translation of the statement of “fifty days” in Leviticus 23:16. If not, the Greek came after the Apostles spread into Greece and began writing Gospels and Epistles, where that became the translation for the Aramaic that spoke of the Feast of Fifty Days. Regardless of the etymology of “Pentecost,” there was nothing at all that would have predicted to Peter or the other eleven, “Pentecost is tomorrow, so get ready to start speaking in tongues guys.”

Realizing that, when we next read, “the disciples were all together in one place,” the only certainty of where that “place” was located was in Jerusalem, as stated in verse five (“eis Ierousalēm katoikountes” – “in Jerusalem dwelling”). We can assume that the specific place where they were all together was the same “upper room,” where they had shared the Passover Seder meal with Jesus.

This assumption comes from Acts 1:13, where the disciples had returned after the ascension of Jesus Christ. We read there, (“eisēlthon eis to hyperōon”) “they had entered into the upper room,” which is a statement of the same “upper room” prior.   Due to the influx of pilgrims seeking rooms in and around Jerusalem, for Jesus (after his resurrection) to remain in the Essenes Quarter with his disciples for forty days (most likely in unrecognizable form), the room could be retained and he could teach his disciples the meaning of the future that was coming.  As his Ascension was on a Sabbath, on the hill with olive trees (Mount Olivet) just outside the Essenes Gate, the disciples were within the limits on their walking distance (a Sabbath’s day walk – which is roughly a half-mile outside the city walls).  That evidence implies the disciples went back in the same “house” (from Greek “oikon” in verse two) they had remained in for forty-nine days, then preparing for the Temple ceremony for Shavuot.

When we read, “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem” (literally translated as, “in Jerusalem dwelling”), this is a statement of the importance of Shavuot. As a commanded event that was fifty days later than the Passover events (an eight day festival), those pilgrims in Jerusalem were not coming from the airport, having just flown into town. The distances stated by the naming of places the pilgrims had come from says they all came for the Passover and stayed some place near Jerusalem for about two months. After that stay, they could return home.

Fourteen places are named, but with twelve Apostles it is probable that a couple of nations shared a common language.

That distance means a traveler would have secured a place to stay (a “dwelling”) while near Jerusalem for two months. This could be “living” with relatives who still lived there, or it could mean staying in inns, or it could mean staying in “travel parks,” where groups of travelers all pitched tents and roped off donkeys and camels, within a reasonable distance from Jerusalem.

Keep in mind that Jesus fed a multitude of five thousand adult males (meaning perhaps a total of as many as eleven thousand, including men, women, and children).  Those were largely pilgrims who were preparing for the Passover Festival (John 6:4 – “The Jewish Passover Festival was near.”). Matthew wrote of Jesus feeding the same five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21), but then wrote of Jesus later feeding four thousand (Matthew 15:29-39).  The implication is the timing of the second miracle was prior to the Pentecost Festival.  That means those “living in Jerusalem” were many, all of whom had been there since prior to the Passover; and this swell of people there took place every year (maybe not with the exact same people), because it was a commanded observance.

It is worthwhile to note that the ritual observances demanded by God, through Moses, as stated in the Torah (Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers), were not maintained over the centuries. Once the Kingdom of Israel divided, the people were not led to understand the reasoning behind their Covenant, such that the fall of Israel and Judah was seen as rooted in this noncompliance. There was not always a Temple with priests to offer sacrifices, and some see the efforts begun while in captivity in Babylon was an attempt by the captive Jews to relearning what rituals had been forgotten.  Because the Law had been forgotten, the exilic Jews (the Levitical priestly descendants) saw adherence to the Law as all important; and that included observing the commanded festivals.

In the reverse view, after the destruction of the Second Temple and the scattering of the Israelite people around the world (mirroring the spread of Christianity), there has again come a disconnect by Jews and Christians, relative to understanding the reasoning behind the Covenant and the new Covenant with Jesus Christ. Jews go through the motions of rituals without realizing the Messiah has come; and Christians have no grasp of the rituals that bring them into a Covenant with God. Everyone has changed the rules to fit their personal needs, rather than feeling the purpose of God demanding ritual feasts forever be maintained by ALL His chosen priests (thus a “New Covenant” that has been added to THE Covenant).

This lost sense of knowing why God wanted His people to observe the Passover and then fifty days later a festival of farmers taking their marked (with reeds) first fruits (grains) of harvest to the Temple for blessing, amid throngs of cheering Jews was the background setting to the story of Acts 2:1-21 (and 22-41). The people from all the nations listed were milling about during the morning of Pentecost, waiting for someone to finish a prayer and a rite, announcing the close of festivities so everyone could go home … finally.

Their devotion had led them there, seeking more; but so many Jews were looking for some greater reward, more than simply being God’s chosen people.  They prayed for something to happen that would make their devotion be more than routine obligation.  The scene of Acts 2 opens with that ripeness for receiving the Spirit.  Rather than grains and fruits (and cheese blintzes) being the reward of the First Fruits, the pilgrims themselves were about to be blessed as a good harvest.

Knowing this setting, all of the streets in Jerusalem would have been packed. All the pilgrims would have flowed in through every gate, as their customary way of ceremoniously renewing their vows to serve Yahweh.  Then, suddenly, “Came a sound like the rush of a violent wind.”

Imagine how people interviewed on the news after a trailer park has been destroyed by a tornado say, “It sounded like a freight train coming.” If they had freight trains back in ancient days, then maybe we would read here, “Came the sound like a freight train.” Not only did the ancients not have freight trains, but they had no machines that made loud noises that would be similar to any man-made noise. It must have sounded like a tornado, but those weather events are rare in the Middle East, including Israel.  Such a loud noise was totally unexpected, because even rain is scarce in the area during May and June each year (the time between Passover and Pentecost).

Still, this was so loud it filled the entire house and the noise spread outside.  It was so noticeable that it made the people in the streets stop and take notice. They all looked at the house where the disciples of Jesus were staying.

“What in the name of God could that loud noise be?” the pilgrims all asked.

Then, once they had stopped in their path, they looked hard and listened intently. They heard many men speaking loudly in many foreign languages (the real meaning of “speaking in tongues”); and everyone in the street heard some strange man speaking his own native language.

Then the men inside the house came outside.  Some might have gone into the street, while some might have gone out on a rooftop-terrace.  Once the men were seen – still speaking fluently in many different languages – they looked like Galileans.  That means they looked somewhat foreign to the big city, as they probably were not in refined dress, not looking dapper.  They might have had on funny hats or had their hair wild and un-braided.  Whatever the case, they certainly were seen as not being men of the world and high culture.

Still, that source of sound coming from the least of Jews was not reason for the pilgrims to return to the din of street movement.  We read that the pilgrims were all “Amazed and astonished.”

It is most important to realize that these foreign visitors to Jerusalem were not “amazed and astonished” because they heard rubes from Galilee saying things like, “Hello. Can you tell me where the hotel is? This is beautiful weather we are having, do you not agree?” as if they were automatically filled with the ability to speak a conversational language learned from Babble, Rosetta Stone, or The Idiot’s Guide to Mastering Foreign Languages.

The new Apostles were not babbling incoherently, using distinguishable languages recognized by the pilgrim Jews. They were preaching the meaning of Scripture (Torah, Psalms, and Prophets), which were lessons heard for the first time, leading the pilgrims to be “amazed and astonished.”  The fact that each pilgrim heard those lessons in his native tongue means there was no language barrier to overcome – no struggles with Hebrew, no need for translation, no idioms, sayings, or slang terms to overcome – as the multinational visitors heard clearly what no rabbi or high priest had ever told them before.

And that was coming from Galileans!

When we read how some said, “In our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power,” that speaks of the power of God flowing from the mouths of His servants, explaining the hidden meaning that had never been exposed. That is why they “all were amazed.”  Still, they were also “perplexed.”

That state of wonder (amazement), followed by confusion and doubt (perplexity) means their hearts and minds had opened a crack, towards belief in the Apostles; but then their natural brain-driven reaction was to slam shut a protective shell of disbelief over the chance of human vulnerability.  Something wasn’t right!  They had to slam a harness around those hearts and minds.

We read how they began “saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’”

Their brains began whirring, thinking about how Galilean fishermen, small town lawyers, former tax collectors, and general riff-raff Jews could be bedazzling and filling those international globetrotters with sudden wonder, speaking the truth so clearly … in foreign languages?

Then we read, “But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’”

This has to be seen as an explanation offered from the crowd, about how simple Jews could be speaking such deep levels of interpretation of Scripture. Being “filled with new wine” meant there were known past examples of how a drunken state could remove inhibitions in the brain, allowing people to utter thoughts freely, with surprising insight. The intent of such an explanation would be akin to thinking they might be speaking good ideas now, but wait until the influence of alcohol wears off and they return to being bumpkins, not remembering what they said while drunk.

Still, to have someone shout out, “They are filled with new wine” is the Holy Spirit already circulating around the crowd, influencing them to receive the messages spoken by Apostles.

Just fifty days earlier, Jesus had offered a prayer of thanks over the third ceremonious cup of Seder wine (the Redemption Cup), saying, “Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28) When Jesus then added, “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom,” Jesus spoke prophecy that was then coming true.  It was that day. Jesus Christ had been reborn within his disciples, so they spoke as if “drunk with the new wine” of the Holy Spirit and Jesus was there with them … in the kingdom of Sainthood.

In this regard, Peter did not deny that he and his eleven brothers in Christ were drunk. Instead, he said, “Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose.” They were drunk, but in a way that was not imagined by the pilgrims.  They were drunk with the holy blood of Jesus Christ, through HOLY SPIRITS.

New wine (Greek “Gleukous”) is also called sweet wine, which is unfermented grape juice. It is a non-alcoholic beverage in that case, which might have been consumed by the disciples for breakfast. It would be a drink for the whole family to consume, and for adults to drink at any other time, when drinking spirits would be inappropriate. However, new wine can ferment unexpectedly and become alcoholic, causing one to drink it and unexpectedly get drunk. This is why Peter explained, “not … these are drunkards” (“methyousin”), where the denial was they were “not … intoxicated by wine.”

This was then spoken to the crowd by Peter, with the translation reading: “Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them.” The better translation says, “Peter with the eleven  , lifted up the voice of him ,  and spoke forth to them.”  This says more than Peter just began speaking in a loud voice, as the loud sound that attracted the crowd had come from the wind-like roar of the Apostles speaking loudly in foreign languages.

The Greek word “epēren,” which is translated as “raised” or “lifted up,” should be seen on a deeper level.  Peter and all the other Apostles were speaking loud enough to be clearly heard at some distance, but more importantly their voices were “exalted,” having been “raised” spiritually, as their words were “lifted up” divinely. This means that they all spoke from the Holy Spirit.  With “raised voice” Peter and the other eleven were having the Spirit of the LORD poured out through them. Thus Peter used the example of prophecy, coming from Joel 2:28-32.

It is so important to see how Peter was not simply explaining intellectually, using words that explained what he and the other Apostles were doing. Peter was not speaking from his brain when he implied that he and the gang were fulfilling the prophecy of Joel. That would not be “with raised voice,” but human words of reason.

Instead, Peter quoted Joel because the Father spoke those words for him to recite. It was not rote memorization being accessed within his country-bumpkin brain that Peter (et al) was speaking. Everything Peter and the eleven spoke came from the Mind of Christ, brought upon them by the Holy Spirit, which included the quote from the Prophet Joel.

When Joel was led by the Holy Spirit to write, “In the last days it will be, God declares,” it must be realized that the Greek word “eschatais” (from the root word “eschatos”) means “last, at the last, till the end, and finally.” This is the root word for the theological word “eschatology,” which places focus on “the end of the world or of humankind.” As such, some can read Joel and project what he prophesied is still to come, at that fearsome, grizzly end of the world that always seems just around the corner of present time.

However, as Peter was quoting then, well into the future of Joel’s prophecy, as Peter spoke it was the last days, and God was declaring through ordinary folk.

God then spoke the words of Joel, through Peter: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”

Peter and the other eleven Apostles were sons prophesying. They were seeing the truth of Scripture – the visions of Joseph, Solomon, and Daniel, the dreams of Ezekiel and Isaiah, and the slaves that were Ruth and Ester and Amos and Joel. The prophecies of old stories had been fulfilled in the man known as Jesus of Nazareth. The Old Testament’s prophecies were at last revealed. They were exposed as clearly as the light of the day time hours makes seeing possible.

When God then proclaimed through Peter, “And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day,” had not all that just recently been witnessed by those pilgrim who had been in and around Jerusalem, since the Passover Festival that began seven Sabbaths prior?

Had not Jesus produced “portends,” which means “miracles” and “wonders” for the Jews (and others) to witness?

Had the people not questioned if he had been sent from heaven as the Messiah?

Had Jesus not made clear that he had been sent only to the “blood” that was the remnant of the Israelites known as the Jews?

Had Jesus not set a fire under the Jews that both followed him and saw him as a threat?

Did Jesus not appear to be the human equivalent to the daytime pillar of smoke that guided the Israelites through the wilderness of the Sinai?

Was not Jesus the proclaimed Son of Man, as the representation of the sun – the light of truth; and had that light not been darkened by his crucifixion? Did the sky not go dark in the middle of the day for three hours, as Jesus of Nazareth hung on a cross dying? Did the ever waxing and waning moon – symbolic of emotions overrunning one’s personality – not stand before Pilate, screaming, “Crucify him” to bloodcurdling levels?

Peter reciting Joel’s line, “Before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day,” was God’s way of announcing, “Today is the Lord’s great and glorious day!” God was announcing the return of His Son, Jesus Christ, returned the day after his ascension in all of his followers.

For all who look for the End of the World, as far as Christian theology is concerned, it was delayed coming by the presence of Saints in the name of Jesus Christ on that day of Pentecost. It continues to be averted as long as Jesus Christ exists in the world, via Saints filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

As far as this reading selection goes, Peter ended the prophecy of Joel by God pouring out of his mouth, “Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” On a city of Jerusalem street that was filled mostly with Jews, but Roman converts (proselytes) and Arabs as well, the use of the word “everyone” (Greek “pas”) must be seen as the first sign that Saints were called to serve “all,” as messengers of Salvation.

Peter himself did not know he should welcome Gentiles until later; but in the reading that continues (but not read aloud today), we learn that three thousand souls were baptized by the Holy Spirit that Pentecost.  Three thousand souls were then added to the number of Saints in the name of Jesus Christ. Those three thousand would return to their nations and begin a worldwide spread of Christianity.  While not stated, all of the fourteen named nations of peoples had converts that day, all filled with the Holy Spirit, each calling upon the name Yahweh, as Jesus Christ reborn.

As the one reading in the Christian liturgy that is consistently read on Pentecost Sunday, it is vital to have one’s eyes opened to the realization that none of the twelve men speaking in foreign languages that day had any lessons or experiences in learning those languages prior.  Likewise, Ezekiel had no prior experience prophesying to dried bones; but he did as God commanded.  Thus, speaking in tongues, as a miracle of foreign languages, is not the lesson presented in Acts 2.  Neither is the end of the world the lesson to be taken from Joel 2, as if babbling fools can point to some future date as when Jesus will return with vengeance.  The lesson is God speaking universally so all can hear and understand.

There is absolutely no one who is going to have his or her soul baptized by the Holy Spirit and be saved, given eternal life, because they hear someone speaking nonsense, uttering noises that no one can understand. Salvation does not come by learning to fake speaking in foreign tongues or pretending to know what gibberish means.  The brain plays no role in salvation, as it can only hinder that goal.

The miracle of Pentecost was speaking from the Spirit of truth, which Jesus prophesied in the Gospel reading from John 15-16.

The lesson of Pentecost is twofold. One, it is to hear the truth of the texts of the Holy Bible and understand them. Understanding comes from the Holy Spirit, not a book read, a course taken, or someone else’s interpretation that one is incapable of personally owning and defending. Two, it is the beginning of the end times of the old you. The selfish days of ignorance are over – ended forever.

Pentecost represents the end times of the release from bondage, when the Covenant with God is agreed on. It is when time spent learning has reached the point of teaching, such that one can only sit in a pew for so long, before realizing the Lord’s great and glorious day has dawned within oneself. Then it is time to go preach – prophesy to the breath – so that other can have the same chance for a personal experience with Salvation.

The lesson of Joel’s prophecy is not limited to the fulfillment that occurred the day after Jesus ascended into heaven.  The experiences of Peter and brothers in Christ was the beginning of this prophecy’s fulfillment.  It is fulfilled every time a disciple makes this transition.  All of the trials and tribulations from one’s own denial of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit within oneself points to a new last days, as the end of a sinner’s ways and the beginning of a Saint’s service to God, as Jesus Christ reborn.

In this way Peter was speaking to the readers who would eternally be called to God’s Word.  Just as Joel wrote of all the coming sons and daughters of God, the spirit will always be poured out upon desiring flesh.  Just as Peter passed along the flow of the Spirit of truth, so do all God’s Saints.

#FestivalofWeeks #Matthew141321 #Shavuot #Lordsgreatandgloriousday #tonguesoffire #newwine #pillarofsmoke #Acts2121 #fiftiethday #speakingintongues #Acts113 #Acts22241 #Joel22832 #Matthew152939 #John64

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 – The duality of the Holy Spirit

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The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

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This is the Gospel selection from the Episcopal Lectionary for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 11. It will next be read aloud in an Episcopal church by a priest on Sunday July 22, 2018. It is important because it shows the care that Jesus had for the ones of faith in God, who acted upon their beliefs with faith. This includes the disciples who had returned from their assigned ministry and those who searched for Jesus and went to him when he was seen and recognized.

It should be realized that this reading comes from two parts of Mark’s sixth chapter. These two selected sets of verses let the reader see how the first segment came after the twelve had been sent out, and then upon their return hearing the news of John’s beheading. Verse 30 relates to the twelve returning and reporting their doings and teachings of their commission. Verse 31 relates to the news of John, as Jesus’ instruction, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” was not because their travels made them weary, but because some of the disciples had been disciples of John the baptizer. They needed time to reflect on that loss. Verse 32 then adds that the activity of travel had meant the disciples needed seclusion to rest and eat, in addition to grieving without the need to do chores for the church of Jesus.

Verses 33-34 precede the feeding of 5,000. When we read, “Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them,” one can assume that some disciples went to get some food to eat, like preparing for a picnic once they reached the deserted place. The place was probably Capernaum, as that was where Jesus lived. Since the disciples were recognized, people surely asked them, “When will Jesus be around?” They probably answered with the truth, saying something akin to, “Probably tomorrow. We’re headed for some R & R in Bethsaida.”

That answer can be assumed because Luke (Mary’s story) says, “When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,” where “the crowds learned about it and followed him.” (Luke 9:10-11)  Some disciple let that be publicly known.

Because Mark wrote, “they went away in the boat,” they had to have traveled in a large fishing vessel (used primarily for commercial purposes), which would have been required for twelve disciples, Jesus and others going to fit safely on board. A large fishing vessel then requires a marina with piers and docks in which to be moored, so it would most likely have been in a ‘slip’ in Capernaum.

We are told that Jesus moved to Capernaum from Nazareth and while walking by the sea (presumably there) he called Peter and Andrew and then James and John of Zebedee to follow him. (Matthew 4:18-22 & Mark 1:16-20) While Peter, Andrew and Philip (possibly Nathaniel too) lived in Bethsaida (John 1:44), their fishing business might have been best based in Capernaum. That may be where Zebedee maintained a spot on the dock for his fishing boat.

Based on the information in Luke (the truth told), this seems to indicate Jesus and his followers went by boat from Capernaum to Bethsaida; but because the crowd there would not let them have solitude, they then set sail again and went further south, along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The area known as the Bethsaida valley is shown in this map of Roman-era docks on Lake Tiberius, as the flood plain (in a semi-arid environment – steppe climate) at the northeastern shore of the lake.  The map shows there were two docks that were in the Bethsaida valley, one at the mouth of the Jordan River and the other further to the south.

This picture combines a basic picture of the Biblical Sea of Galilee, a map of Roman-era marinas on the Lake of Tiberius, and the roads following the Roman aqueducts around the Sea of Galilee.

Seeing this segmented trip from Capernaum to Bethsaida and then to the somewhat marshy flood plain of Bethsaida (which the roads and aqueducts avoided) shows how the boat with Jesus would have traveled relatively close to the shore, thus be visible to those walking the road along the shoreline. Had Jesus and disciples set sail directly across the sea, the route of the boat would have made it difficult to spot from land. However, if it stayed close to shore the people who “hurried there on foot from all the towns” could have anticipated the marina the boat was headed toward and thus “arrived ahead of them.”

This makes it easier to fathom, “As [Jesus] went ashore, he saw a great crowd.” The Greek word written by Mark, “synedramon,” conveys more than “[the crowd] hurried there on foot.” That word means, “They ran (rushed) together,” or “they ran with,” where the crowd of people were running down a road while looking over their right shoulders to make sure they kept up with where the boat with Jesus was. When one reads that the multitude was five thousand strong, one has to realize that was men counted only. The crowd also included women and older children. When Jesus got off the boat, on the pier in the place he was taking the disciples for solitude, he went from a being surrounded by a sea of water to being surrounded by a sea of exhausted pilgrims.

Lamb-pede.

Think about that sight, which only Simon-Peter wrote of in this manner. Mark wrote how Jesus “had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Get the picture in your mind now of sheep running when called home by their shepherd. Jesus looked out from the dock at the Bethsaida valley and figuratively saw the lost sheep of Israel lying down in the green pastures of that flood plain (albeit in the dry season) with still waters. Jesus felt compassion for this flock in search of a shepherd, because they had run, in growing numbers, from Capernaum to Bethsaida, only to have the shepherd lead them to a large open space where they could be fed – spiritually more than physically.

This is why Peter (through Mark’s Gospel) said, “[Jesus] began to teach them many things.” Jesus became the Good Shepherd.  He acted as a rabbi would to his assembly, by teaching them the meaning of the scrolls. This brings up the question, “Why would so many Jews run away from their shepherd-rabbis and follow Jesus?”

The answer comes from John’s Gospel, when he wrote, “A great crowd of people followed [Jesus] because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick” (John 6:2), while adding, “The Jewish Passover Festival was near.” (John 6:4)  The advent of large numbers of pilgrims in Galilee and Judea, filling all the inns and vacant rooms in Jewish homes means many Jews were left to their own observances of prayers and studies. They wanted more, but were nowhere close to home.  Then, the news of this man Jesus reached out to them; and seeing the miracles he worked meant there were lots of lost sheep mixing in with established flocks, but they were not being taken care of by good shepherds. To spend time with such a marvelous rabbi was worth running to meet a boat before it landed.

In between verses selected for this Sunday’s reading are the verses that tell of Jesus feeding the multitude and then Jesus sending the disciples across the sea in the boat, while he stayed to pray in the mountains of Geshur (the eastern ridges overlooking the Sea of Galilee). Mark says Jesus stayed alone, but John (the son of Jesus – the “boy” holding the basket with five loaves of bread and two salted fish) stayed with his father. Jesus was alone only in the sense that John was a child (probably about ten then) and it was customary for adult Jewish males not to address women or children by name, much less give them credit for being an asset. Therefore, Jesus was alone because there was no adult male that stayed with him.

The verses skipped over also tell of how Jesus walked on water when the boat was difficult to oar against the wind. Jesus got into the boat when the disciples were frightened. In John’s Gospel, he wrote how” “When [the disciples] had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water.” (John 6:19) The actual Greek states “twenty five to thirty furlongs,” which converts to 3.13 and 3.75 miles.  The text of John also says, “They see Jesus walking on the sea,” which is true because they were on the sea and they saw Jesus walking. The assumption is Jesus walking on the water, not the land.

Knowing John was with Jesus, this either means Jesus was walking on the water while holding young John on his shoulders, or Jesus and John were walking along the road going around the sea and saw the lanterns in the boat on the water, knowing that was the disciples. With the wind strongly against a rowed boat, the distances stated by John can mean one mile forward and a half a mile back. Still, by John saying, “[The disciples] got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum,” the straight-line distance from the Bethsaida valley dock was roughly two and a half miles.  It would have been half that to Bethsaida’s dock.

Mark wrote that Jesus told them to go to Bethsaida, which was only a three or so mile walk away, with a boat traveling about two miles in an arc. So, if the disciples changed the plan and decided to go to Capernaum instead, the contrary winds that made their rowing fruitless might have been spiritually created. The wind and rough water, naturally blowing eastward, with a downward flow into the sub-sea-level bowl that was the lake’s surface (nearly 696 feet below sea level), meant if they had a sail hoisted, then the wind would have been blowing them to the shore and the marina at Bethsaida. If Jesus had told them to sail there, then it would have been where he and John would have planned to walk and meet the disciples, after Jesus was finished praying in the mountains. [Keep in mind how John was the only Gospel writer who wrote of Jesus’ prayers late in the evening of the ‘Last Supper’].

When the disciples saw Jesus coming towards them, Mark reports it was around four o’clock in the morning (the fourth night watch is between 4:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M.), so it was as dark as the night would be then. Jesus probably would have walked after dark with a torch or lantern to light the road he and John were taking. Jesus would then have carried this light with him as he walked out on the pier at Bethsaida. That light surrounding him, as seen from a boat being blown close to shore, would have made it seem like a ghost. Due to the lack of perspective in pitch black night, Jesus walking on the pier would seem as though he were walking on the water, because the fear in the disciples would have disoriented them from all sense of reality.

When John wrote that as soon as Jesus reached out his hand to those in the boat and got in with them, “immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.” This would have happened had Jesus been on the dock and got into the boat as it was time to throw out the ropes to secure the boat to the dock.

This omitted story is important to review because when we read, “When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat,” this does not mean there is an immediacy of Jesus seen walking and getting in the boat and “when they had crossed over.” There can be time between “when they had crossed over,” so the disciples were able to sleep and rest, well before “they came to land at Gennesaret.” This means a day or two could have passed, prior to Jesus traveling to Gennesaret.

When we then read, “When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region,” we see that those who missed the opportunity to go to Jesus in the Bethsaida valley were equally running about like sheep who heard their shepherd’s call. Still, whereas the people who ran to meet Jesus first had sought him for teaching – spiritual feeding – the people on the western shore brought the sick to Jesus for healing. Here we read how the people “began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.”

This led Peter to tell Mark, “Wherever [Jesus] went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.” This means that Jesus did near the marina of Gennesaret as he would do many times, in other places in Galilee. Still, there is symbolism that this segregated reading selection points out, which can be missed due to the admiration all Christians have for Jesus.

Because everyone sees Jesus as the ‘miracle man’, whose feats can never be matched by other human beings, it is easy to hear Jesus teaching to a multitude before he miraculously fed them with five loaves and two fish. The tendency is to connect Jesus crossing over to Gennesaret as being after he had miraculously walked on water. By intuiting the miracles of Jesus, it is harder to see the common duality each disciple would show, as Jesus Christ reborn into Apostles.

To have this reading purposefully overlooking the miracles, the duality becomes visible. Jesus taught on the eastern plain of the Sea of Galilee; and then Jesus healed on the western plain, the one surrounding Gennesaret. In both places the people came to Jesus. This is the duality of preaching and healing, as two core talents of the Holy Spirit. While both are Spiritual, one is the body and bread, while the other is the wine and blood.  The duality is a complimentary set of the completed Trinity, when body and soul are united with God.  The people came to Jesus because they hungered and thirsted for those dual needs.

Jesus first fed his flock with spiritual food, which was him serving up the meaning in the Torah that no rabbi had ever before unlocked. Jesus taught as if giving the people the manna they needed for maintaining life in a barren world. Thus, Jesus raised the minds of all who heard the Word of God, to the point that physical food (five loaves of bread and two salted fish) seemed to satisfy their appetites supernaturally.

To have the disciples collect twelve baskets full of ‘leftovers’, the result of Jesus spiritually feeding the multitude meant the multitude began to speak in the tongues of understanding. Once filled with the Holy Spirit, the lost sheep gave back to Jesus and his disciples more than they had been given.  By taking five loaves and two fish worth of inspiration, the presence of the Holy Spirit in new Apostles meant they had turned that spiritual food into twelve full baskets (symbolic of the Twelve Apostles) of God’s Word. The symbolism is the Word leads the faithful to Apostlehood.

Jesus then cared for his flock by mending their wounds. The people came to Jesus with their loved ones, carrying them and bringing the mats (or beds, mattresses) upon which they lay, as those sick of illnesses. It is most important to grasp how Mark wrote that the sick, “begged [Jesus] that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak.”

Jesus did not charge admission (or pass a plate for donations by cash or check), nor did he parade the sick across a stage while he made a big production of grasping the sick firmly, as if the harder he grabbed them with his hands the more the positive, healing energy within him would flow from his holy body into their unclean ones. Jesus never shouted out, “HEAL this sick person!”  Jesus never presumed to be the one who would command God to act as he wished, because he acted as God commanded him.

The words of Peter, through Mark, are stating the same as Jesus told others who touched the fringe of his garment, “Your faith has healed you.” By having faith that Jesus is the Son of God – the Messiah – having the desire to “touch even the hem of his cloak” means to desire to become Jesus Christ reborn. The “touch” that faith seeks turns into far more than feeling the fringe of a shawl, as one’s faith transforms one into the human being wearing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The stories that had spread across the countryside then are the equivalent today of those written into the Gospels of the Holy Bible.  The fame and glory of Jesus of Nazareth is known, so all lost sheep can run to his voice.

Simply by recognizing Jesus as the Christ (professing to be Christian), one’s belief (not true faith) can lead one to limp or be carried on a sick bed to beg Jesus for wellness (prayer). True faith comes from first coming in touch with the Holy Spirit. That personal experience then becomes the stepping stone (the cornerstone of faith) that leads to the cure of all worldly ills, through the love of God and the submission of self for others.

In the first verse read in this selection, we read of the reports of the disciples, after they had served Jesus as Apostles. We read, “The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.” This is the duality that is then shown in Jesus – he taught and he healed. The disciples had achieved in the same way as did Jesus, because they too were passed the torch of the Holy Spirit. Their brains had not filled them with knowledge of the Torah, nor had their energy flow as living human beings cause them to glow like ghosts, visible in the dark. God had become temporarily married to them (an engagement) and they submitted to His Will, speaking in His tongues and doing as He commanded them. When one has God in one’s heart, then one is able to teach the Word and be healed of all sins.

This element of sin is how the Jews perceived sickness. This is why the disciples asked Jesus, relative to the blind man, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) The commonly held belief was that sins were reflected openly as illness and disease. The cure, as shown in the story of Job, was faith. The problem (then, as now) was no one could teach anything beyond belief, as faith demands a personal relationship with God. When Jesus answered his disciples by saying, “Neither this man or his parents sinned, but this happened so the works of God might be displayed in him,” the meaning says that the “works of God” are the result of faith.  To be healed of sins one must become Jesus Christ, thus know faith.

As the Gospel choice for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway, the lesson is to teach and heal in the name of Jesus Christ (being reborn as Christ). So many feel the message is to prove one’s faith by spreading the “good news” of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah, which can only be done by evangelizing all around the globe. Going to tell a poor man in India or a sick man in Africa that Jesus Christ means salvation, while one is carrying food and medicine in a backpack, will get all kinds of compliance to religious dogma. Getting more people to say they “believe in Jesus” is not the message here.

A minister of the LORD realizes that the people seeking God’s love, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the knowledge of the Christ Mind will come to meet a minister, like lost sheep seeking the care of a good shepherd. Most frequently, those are family, friends and neighbors, where one has a heartfelt relationship established. When they come to one, one feels compassion and acts to spiritually feed the faith in God those loved ones want and need.

The message of duality says that ministry calls for times of solitude and times of contact with others. When on the eastern shores of one’s life, one prays for those seeking to find God and Christ. As an Apostle that has been reborn as Jesus Christ, one is sent by God into public arenas so one’s presence (looking nothing like the pictures of Jesus of Nazareth) offers the fringe of the Savior’s cloak. This presence does not mean putting any demands on anyone or setting standards that others must meet. In both ways, a minister to the LORD lives inwardly and outwardly as a reflection of God’s love.