As far as the John 7 reading goes, verse 37 begins by stating, “On the last day of the festival.” The “festival” is identified in verse 2 [not read] as “hē skēnopēgia,” or that “of booths, tents, huts, or tabernacles.” This is known by the Jews as Sukkot; and it takes place in the fall, much like a state fair. In the year 2020 Sukkot will take place between Friday October 2 and Friday October 9. It begins every year on the Jewish date of 15 Tishrei. Tishrei is the first month of the ‘civil year’ but the seventh month of the ‘ecclesiastical year’ in the Hebrew calendar.
In case you have never read the Holy Bible and have never been in a church that preached about John 7, this was the third festival God commanded be forever recognized, following the Passover and Shavuot. At this point in Jesus’ ministry two big followings: those who loved his freebie miracles; and, those who wanted to kill him. With that background, John recalled that it once again came time to head to Jerusalem, but this time Jesus told his brothers, “You guys go on. I’m gonna stay here in Galilee, not going to Jerusalem for this one.”
The “brothers” were the sons of Mary and Joseph, who came naturally after Jesus was ten years old. Any brothers that were of Joseph, prior to his marrying Mary, might also have been in that number. Neither sets got to spend quality time with Jesus, so John wrote, “For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” (John 7:5 – not read aloud on Pentecost]. Still, John said the brothers chided Jesus about (I paraphrase), “You need to go to impress them [the disciples].”
With that kind of familial support, it is easy to understand why there was a group of Jews who wanted to kill Jesus. But, as John repeats in this chapter, Jesus’ “time has not yet fully come.”
I mentioned this chapter from John in an article I posted (Jesus, the Escape Master), because John 7 reads like Jesus appeared in Jerusalem and preached as a hologram. Certainly, that technology was not known to be available back then, but when we are talking about the powers of God, anything is possible. After all, we just finished discussing Jesu suddenly appearing inside a locked upper room, alongside his disciples, none of who saw him come in. Whatever the case, Jesus went to the Sukkot festival after his brothers left. That should be realized as the background for this “last day of the festival.”
Jesus, according to John, had expressed concern about staying away from the temple elite (the Jews) because they were “seeking to kill” Jesus. For all the talk of ‘laying low’, Jesus somehow went to Jerusalem and made a big show during the week-long festival. At one point, John wrote “they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him.” For the whole week the “officers of the temple” were unable to arrest Jesus and take him before the rulers of Jerusalem. Thus, verse 37 speaks of the final day of the festival.
When John’s words are translated to state, “On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there,” the word translated as “great day” is “megalē.” The word simply indicates something that is “great,” but because it is the “last day” (“eschatē hēmera”), the word “day” is added to “great.” That one word, relative to the “feast” represents Hoshana Rabbah, or “Great Supplication.”
According to the Wikipedia article entitled “Sukkot,” the following is written about this day.
The seventh day of Sukkot is known as Hoshana Rabbah (Great Supplication). This day is marked by a special synagogue service in which seven circuits are made by worshippers holding their Four Species, reciting additional prayers. In addition, a bundle of five willow branches is beaten on the ground.”
The symbolism of the Jews making seven circuits around the Temple is a recreation of making the walls of Jericho fall, where this number of seven circuits occurs on the seventh day. This is designed to make the wall that separates the Father from the Temple fall, so God will be close to His people. Each day of the festival prayers are read, with the last day’s prayer calling for prosperity in the next year, with a call also made for the Messiah to be sent.
To read that Jesus “stood” during this pageantry (John wrote “heistēkei ho Iēsous” – “stood this Jesus”), the Greek word “heistēkei” also means “made a stand,” implying that Jesus “cried out” (from “ekraxen”) to get the attention of those beating willow branches (or palm branches) against the altar as they circled by him.
As to the quote from Scripture, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water,” there is nothing that directly states this. There is no footnote next to it in translated Scripture that says where this quote can be found. For that reason, I recommend reading this article: Living Waters from the Messiah. That article sites Zechariah 14:8 as the source: “On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.” It also cites Ezekiel 47:1, which states: “Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.”
That is reason enough to understand why Jesus “cried out” as he did, in the midst of a commanded festival’s ritual. One can see Jesus suddenly standing out in their midst, just as he would do inside the upper room (in the other John optional reading).
In John’s fourth chapter he told the story of Jesus at the well with a Samaritan woman. There, he told her he could have given her “living water.” This inclines me to see the comparison Jesus made is to Exodus 17:1-7, when God told Moses to strike the rock with his staff and make waters flow to save the people. Jesus was like the rock, from which eternal waters could flow. Thus, Jesus “stood and cried out” that circling a building would do no good, as he was the Messiah of the Israelites. Their prayer had been answered.
The last verse in the reading from John 7 states, “Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
This makes this short reading a perfect fit for Pentecost and the onset of the Holy Spirit in the Apostles. The “Pneumatos” of John is relative to both the Numbers use of “ruach” [Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.] and 1 Corinthians use of “Pneumati” [“Now about the gifts of the Spirit” and “no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God”]. It matches verse 30 from David’s Psalm 104 [“When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.“].
John interprets what Jesus said in Jerusalem as “living waters” equate to the Holy Spirit. It makes the verses about “the great and wide sea, from which living things too many to number” come with a new insight.
The statement, “which believers in him were to receive” make this a fit to accompany the reading from John 20.
The two options for Gospel readings both come from John. One is John 20:19-23 and the other is John 7:37-39. The John 20 reading is also read every year in the three-year cycle on the Second Sunday of Easter, but those readings extend to verse 31 (an additional eight verses). The point of reading these five verses again is to see them in a new light, following forty days of preparation with the risen Jesus. The John 7 reading (only three verses) is important, if for no other reason that these three verses are the only verses scheduled to be read from this chapter, and it is only scheduled for reading on Pentecost Sunday.
Beginning with the first Gospel reading listed (John 20), it is important to realize fear is again an issue. The first verse (19) begins by stating it is “evening,” which means after 3:00 PM, but before 6:00 PM when night’s “evening” begins. For fear to have set in during the sun’s time overhead speaks of how little faith in God the disciples had. Rather than only fear God, we are told they locked the doors “for fear of the Jews.”
For all you self-righteous pseudo-Christians out there in the world, none of whom spent one second with the pre-death Jesus of Nazareth, much less the risen Lord Christ, see yourselves in the fear of being behind a locked door. That upper room reflects your safe room, your sphere of influence. More than a protection against others coming into your world – ones you hate and despise with all your heart – you lock the door to keep from having to extend beyond the self-comfort zone. You are afraid of letting anyone like God make you submit to His Will.
Me thinks thou doth pout too much.
This element of fear was present in the Numbers reading. In the Acts 2 reading about Pentecost Sunday, when Peter told of Joel’s prophecy being fulfilled at that time, verse 31 sings, “The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.”
As it was evening of day, here in John’s Gospel reading, “the sun had turned towards nightfall.” As the “moon” is a symbolic statement of “emotions,” “fear” was running through the veins of the followers of Jesus. So, this verse certainly can be joined to that Pentecost reading.
In the Greek of Peter, when he quotes from Joel, “the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day,” that is divided into two segments of words. Peter spoke (as was recorded by Luke): “formerly that coming day of Lord,” before adding, “this great and (“kai”) glorious.”
This means the Prophecy of Joel foresaw the coming of the Messiah – the Christ – who would be called “the Lord.” The Lord would come with the light (“day”) of illumination, and that was what Peter and the eleven were sharing with the Jewish pilgrims on Pentecost morning.
The Hebrew of Joel uses “Yahweh” as the one who comes, which is the truth of “the Lord.” It was God who descended in a mist at the tabernacle. It was God’s Holy Spirit that illuminated seventy elders. It was God who flowed through the Apostles and spoke a new light that shone in the hearts of three thousand pilgrims. Still, in Paul’s epistle, he made it clear that “Jesus is Lord,” only via God’s Holy Spirit, with God being the Holy Spirit that returns JESUS into human flesh. Thus, the “Lord” of one’s flesh is named Jesus Christ, but JESUS comes from Yahweh, just like the cloud of mist that descended on the tabernacle and made seventy elder be illuminated by the light of the “Lord.”
When John wrote that “Jesus came and stood among them,” this is literally two statements: “came this Jesus” “and” (“kai”) “placed himself among the middle.” This indicates Jesus suddenly appeared in between his disciples and others who were in hiding. It does not explain that Jesus, as a ghost, came through a wall or a closed door and stood just inside the room. He suddenly materialized in “the midst” of men and women who knew him as “this Jesus.”
Imagine this event.
Place yourself in any event of gathering you can remember best. The room is crowded with people (perhaps twenty).
Maybe you are holding a conversation with one other person, or a group of three or four. You might even be sitting in a chair, perhaps next to your wife or husband. The mood is somber, like that of a wake, because of a recent death, but the earlier news about women seeing Jesus alive (although he did not look like Jesus) is the focus, simply trying to ward off the fear of being in a locked room. Then, someone is standing beside you, but in a crowded room that is not something to cause you to be alerted. Jesus became one of those milling about, unrecognized once again, but unrecognized because everyone’s fear kept them from focusing on anyone other than themselves, for the most part.
This is when Jesus said, “Peace to you” (“Eirēnē hymin”).
This was an attention getter, but it was more than a greeting. It certainly was not an Episcopalian catch phrase, to be used so often it becomes as meaningless as an old Hippie flashing two fingers and saying, “Peace!”
Meaningless words do nothing of value. They are just words. When Jesus said “Peace, Quietness, Rest” (all translations of “Eirēnē”) the capitalization written by Luke says Jesus’ word immediately gave all in the room “Peace of mind.” With that “Quietness,” fear was dispatched elsewhere.
With that fear gone, the disciples were then able to ponder a body of flesh they had seen (from afar), dead on a cross just two days before (Friday). They had heard it was prepared for burial, which meant men who could tell a live body from a corpse knew Jesus was dead. Now, rather than fear they would be next, they examined Jesus’ body of flesh, which still had the wounds of having been nailed and pierced, along with a crown of thorns scratching his forehead and whip marks on his back. With all that evidence able to be seen by the followers of Jesus, they “Rejoiced” greatly (from the word “Echarēsan” being capitalized in Luke’s writing).
John separated that statement of Happiness and Gladness with another segment of words, which state, “having seen the Lord.” The words “idontes ton Kryion” also say the disciples and others “perceived” or “experienced” their “Master,” who was God incarnate.
This says the disciples were not just real happy that Jesus was not dead, but alive. They were filled with great emotions that sensed God was in their presence. This is like how the sixty-eight elders must have felt when they saw a cloud descending from the sky, surrounding the tabernacle … before they began to prophesy.
Realizing this awareness of God in their midst, in the form of a body that had been dead, known as Jesus, this was their true epiphany.
While words had been spoken previously, when Jesus asked them, “Who do you believe I am?” The response that came divinely from Peter’s mouth, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God” was just that – God speaking through men without big brains of intelligence.
Now, for the first time, having perceived God as the only way a dead body could be standing before them, the disciples and others “Rejoiced,” Then, Jesus told them once more, “Peace to you.”
Again, this is nothing like an Episcopalian greeting, where one says, “Peace of the Lord” during the break time, when (pre-coronavirus fears) everyone got up and milled about the aisles of a church, shaking hands, smiling, and hugging, before sitting back down (called “the peace”). The repetition here in John’s Gospel means a new form of “Peace” was unfolding.
First, “Peace” calmed the nerves of everyone in the room, but that “Peace to you” was external. When Jesus had let everyone examine his body as that of a dead man, with no earthly reason it could stand and talk, Jesus then said “Peace within you.” That equates true “Peace” as being the presence of God eternally with one’s soul, which is much better than feeling pretty sure God is real and somewhere else.
We realize this is the meaning intended, when John then quoted Jesus’ next statements: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” This too needs to be examined more closely.
The Greek text states, “kathōs apestalken me ho Patēr , kagō pempō hymas .” This literally translates to fully say, “according to the manner in which having been a messenger myself of the Father , I also am permitted to go as you .”
The key root word is relative to “apestalken,” which is “apostelló.” That says Jesus was an Apostle of God the Father, such that the “messenger” (the meaning of “apostle”) of Yahweh is the Son Jesus. The word “kagō” is a combine form word that joins “kai” (“and”) and “egō” (“I”). That usage means Jesus foretold (importantly) that his disciples would be joined with his “ego,” when they were to become Apostles (“messengers of God,” who would then truly be their Father).
You and me are one pardner, but I’ll do the thinning around here Baba Looey.
That says what Paul was stating in his epistle to the true Christians of Corinth, when he said you condemn your soul if you go around saying you are JESUS, when you are not. A true Christian is one who has surrendered self-ego, to take on the ego of the Christ Mind, thus becoming Jesus Christ reborn … in the name of Jesus Christ. This then becomes the antithesis of the Numbers reading, where the presence of God made seventy His Sons, so they could become His messengers; it was only for that one time. When one is reborn as Jesus Christ, it is the eternal living water that Paul said many members would drink.
When John then wrote the one-word statement – “enephysēsen” – it shows the importance of this one act: “he breathed upon.”
After having just spoke about the disciples going out to do the Father’s Will, just as Jesus of Nazareth had done, all of the disciples and followers had God’s life breath (i.e.: a soul) and it was that which kept their bodies of flesh from being dead. Jesus stood in their midst as dead body of flesh that had been resurrected, meaning his life breath (his soul) had returned to be one with God. However, the dead body of flesh that had been Jesus of Nazareth (born in Bethlehem) stood not because of the breath of life given by God, but by the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus had a ‘mind-meld’ with the followers, which is the meaning of “he breathed upon [them]”.
With the disciples knowing the Mind of Christ, just for that moment, they understood that by Jesus saying “Receive the Spirit Holy” it was God speaking to them through His Son. God was offering, through His Son’s body, for them to have the same powers over mortal death. The capitalization of “Labete” (“Receive”) states the importance of letting go of their self-egos, so their hearts and minds and souls would sacrifice control over mortal flesh and welcome God in with love.
That would be a proposal of marriage; but as a proposal, the disciples had the free will to accept or reject God’s offer of a new Covenant.
This then leads to the final verse in this reading, which is read aloud as: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
This is an enigmatic verse that is easily misunderstood. Therefore, it needs to be dissected, according to punctuation and analyzed carefully.
The segments of words written by John are as follows:
“an tinōn , aphēte tas hamartias , apheōntai autois ; an tinōn kratēte , kekratēntai .”
Without knowing any Greek, careful inspection should allow one to find that the words “an tinōn” are repeated. Repetition in Scripture is a statement of importance. This means understanding “an tinōn” is an important first step, which is not insignificant.
The Greek word “an” is said by Strong’s to be “usually untranslatable, but generally denoting supposition, wish, possibility or uncertainty.” It is because of that “supposition or uncertainty” that “an” is translated as “if.” The Greek word “ean” does translate as “if,” but the missing “e” means an unstated proposition made demands a decision.
This means a word of “possibility” should be read in the context of Jesus having repeated his command for “Peace to you,” with the addition of “Receive the Spirit” that makes one of the material world be “Holy” is a marriage proposal. The possibilities are for one to say “yes” or one to say “no.” This must be seen as the purpose behind the conditional word “if” being the translation.
The Greek word “tinōn” is the genitive plural form of “tis,” meaning “of or about some people.” To translate this as “any” misleads as “if” Jesus stood speaking as God speaking to everyone in the whole wide world. He was not. He was speaking to a select group of people who had followed Jesus for at least three years. Therefore, the statement is directed only to those people, and should be read as: “if any of you here now.”
This translates to our modern times (and all times after John’s gospel was canonized) to “any” of those people who have the Spirit of Jesus Christ in their midst, making the same marriage proposal from God. The possibility is just as valid now as it was then. However, the proposition has absolutely nothing to do with “any” being “all in the world,” as it only is a proposal to those who “might become” the brides of God. All are welcome, but for a proposal to come, there has to be some dating and flirting and atheists have no room in their hearts for any god but self.
With that grasped, the next segment of words states, “aphēte tas hamartias,” which has been translated as saying “forgive the sins of any,” when “of any” has already been stated separately, prior.
The literal translation states, “you might forgive [a conditional word] the sins.”
The Greek word “aphēte” is the second person subjunctive form of the verb “aphiémi,” which means “to send away, leave alone, permit.” Therefore, the second person subjunctive asks if “you might send away.” It implies one choosing the condition where one is “to let go, release, or to depart,” where “forgive” bears the same meaning of oneself “letting go, releasing, or quitting.” The word “tas” is the plural feminine of “to,” meaning “the” of “this,” such that “hamartias” is the object one is asked – “sins” – as the question, “will you let go – the sins?”
The Greek word “hamartias” also means “failures, faults, and guilts,” that are part of one’s being, as the excuses one uses as the reasons [big brain talk] one does not walk a righteous path and serve God. One’s failures are then from not going beyond the ‘dating’ stage, always keeping Him as an external ‘lover’ not a Husband.
This condition states that God knows all His ‘brides-to-be’ come with pasts that are sinful. No one can ‘forgive’ sins other than God, as true “sins” are only known by the faithful, who know the written laws that establish right from wrong. One who does not believe in Yahweh will do the same acts that a Jew calls a “sin,” but they will do it without any sense of guilt or failure.
No human being has ever been able to “forgive the sins of any,” but the Pharisees and Sadducees made a good living wage casting out proclamations of “sinner!” Even if one is filled with God’s Holy Spirit and is Jesus Christ resurrected in the flesh, Jesus Christ is not able to forgive any sins. Only God has that power.
With that rhetorical question stated (a hypothetical “if”), John recalled Jesus saying, “apheōntai autois,” which states, “they will be sent away” or “they will be let go and forgiven.”
Again, this is relative to God’s marriage proposal, sent through His Holy messenger, Jesus resurrected. “If” one of the disciples chose to say, “Yes. I will Receive God as my Husband. Please take my sins away from me,” then the answer is, “Okay. Your sins will be forgiven by God.”
Following a semi-colon, the alternative is stated by Jesus as, “If some [here now among us] wish (the conditional of “an”) to say, No.” then your wish will be granted. The key word here is “kratēte,” the second person subjective form of the verb “krateó,” which means, “to be strong, rule.” (Strong’s definition)
The implication of the usage says “If you should think “I am strong, mighty, hence: I rule, am master, prevail; I obtain, take hold of; I hold, hold fast,” then, by all means, do not marry God and give up a life that enjoys sins. If you choose option two, then “kekratēntai” – “knock yourself out.” The last word, a one-word statement of importance, says, “You will be retained as you, with no changes made by God.”
Certainly, in the Numbers reading, when Joshua complained about elders (who he probably knew were not as holy as they pretended to be, but they acted the part so they could have all the adulation of their camps) being given the gift of God to speak prophecy, so the common Israelites might be swayed to think they were gods (elohim), Joshua saw that as crazy. Joshua saw people as always sinners, who needed a strong hand to lead them to be righteous (if only pretending to be so). Moses laughed it off.
Basically, Moses said, “People will be people. If only they could always speak the truth of God, as wives of the Most Holy Husband. Wouldn’t that be nice Joshua?”
Moses knew the world is the only place where sin can thrive. Satan thrives on stolen souls of human beings. God will marry everyone who meets his criteria of marriage (The Covenant). The reality is then knowing sin will always be the common denominator for ALL WHO REFUSE TO MARRY GOD.
Yahweh does not play games with marriage. He will never appear on an episode of The Bachelor.
In that locked upper room, I doubt there were any takers of option two. I am confident that all of them said yes to the proposal and accepted the conditions of the New Testament offered by Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, two thousand years later, when there are people thinking they can go around saying, “I am a mighty big Christian because I forgive someone’s sins,” the reality is many have said “No” to God. They do so because it is just so damn gratifying to pretend to be the ruler of Self, the Master of one’s domain, and the Holder of the Biggest Brain humans can claim.
The moral of this story is, “If you want to be a big shot for eighty years [or so] and then suffer for the rest of eternity, then choose you. However, if you are prepared to sacrifice self-ego to do the Will of God the rest of your mortal life, choosing to marry God, then the reward is Heaven forevermore.”
Remember, human beings are ALL feminine, as dust and clay, so God will be the Husband and everyone with a soul of life breath becomes the ‘little woman’, but not the ‘better half’.
The Acts 2 reading (a mandatory) and the two optional readings from Numbers and 1 Corinthians, wrap around a single Psalm – Psalm 104, verses 24-35 (although the lectionary lists the first verse as 25, with a verse 37, there are only 35, beginning at 24). After the Seventh Sunday of Easter, when “elohim” was sung many times (all translated as “God”), Psalm 104 states Yahweh four times (ending with “Yah”) and including one “elohay” – “my god.” We also find forms or “ruach” (or “breath-spirit”) twice.
Those verses sing:
24 O Yahweh, how manifold are your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number, creatures both small and great. 26 There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it. 27 All of them look to you to give them their food in due season. 28 You give it to them; they gather it; you open your hand, and they are filled with good things. 29 You hide your face, and they are terrified; you take away their ruach, and they die and return to their dust. 30 You send forth your ruach, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the Yahweh endure for ever; may the Yahweh rejoice in all his works. 32 He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the Yahweh as long as I live; I will praise elohay while I have my being. 34 May these words of mine please him; I will rejoice in the Yahweh. 35 Bless the Yahweh, O my soul. Yah!
The first verse sung in this selection gives a prelude of the following verses, singing “How manifold are the works of Yahweh?”
The word translated as “manifold” is “rabbu,” meaning “many are, numerous are, or great are.” Thus, the works of Yahweh include, but are not limited to: descending like a mist around the tabernacle and making seventy elder prophesy for the only time in their lives; coming on like a rush of violent wind, filling an entire house, and dividing tongues as of fire on Apostles; and, presenting those who God loves and those who love God in return with various talents that enable them to do many spiritual things, including prophesying.
When David sang, “in wisdom you make them all,” the word “chokmah” says everything created by God is from His Mind of perfection and skill. That means Eldad and Medad did not mistakenly receive the Holy Spirit. It means three thousand did not suddenly see some benefit in saying they would believe in a dead Jew as God’s Son. It means Paul did not write about how to be clear about what the Trinity is all about, as if there were to be some imperfection in God’s creation of apostles and Saints. David knew God’s divine insight surrounds us all, at all times.
Verses 25 and 26 sing of the flow of creation, as a “great and wide sea” where ships ride on the surface and powerful creatures are known to be submerged beneath. This is metaphor for the power of God and the Holy Spirit (as the “Leviathan”) being the “sport” of God’s baptismal powers.
How many of God’s creations do we tremble and shake at the thought of? More than you want to admit.
The “Leviathan” (from the Hebrew “Livyathan”) is thought to be a “serpent, dragon, or sea monster,” which makes it be projected by David as the “sport” of God that would have him descend to earth and strike fear in the hearts of the Israelites, simply by making Eldad and Medad prophesy suddenly, without any inkling they would be cast into the mouth of that great Spirit. The reaction of Moses to Joshua’s concerns were how David used “sachaq” as God “play,” as the word also equates to “laughter.” The fear of two speaking in tongues certainly brought out a laugh from Moses.
In verse 29, where David sang, “you take away their ruach, and they die and return to their dust,” this speaks of the soul, which is the “breath” of life that fills all mortal creatures. The “ruach” is God’s breath of life that controls every aspect of a body’s growth and development, maintaining and regulating every internal system. When that soul spirit leaves a body of flesh it dies and returns to the earth, from which it came. However, in verse 30 David knew there was another form of God’s breath.
When David sang, “You send forth your ruach, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth,” this speaks of the creation of Apostles and Saints. Peter and the eleven-plus were only filled with the ruach of mortal life until Pentecost Sunday. Then, the Holy Spirit gave them a new creation, so they were renewed on the face of the earth.
The Hebrew word “chadash” is translated as “renew,” but the word implies “repair” as well. From the previous verse singing about the loss of “breath” and death, “the “repair” is the gift of God’s grace as a “rebirth” of eternal life, from which the soul never knows death in a physical body again. This is the presence of JESUS in a living body of flesh that Paul explained … when that Lord is placed alongside the life breath soul, as its King.
David then sang of this presence meaning “may the glory of the Yahweh endure forever; may the Yahweh rejoice in all his works.” Verse 31 then sings the praises of an apostle and Saint. It is less from David’s history and intellectual prowess that he knew of this state, but instead David was in a state of prophetic ecstasy and prophesied in his Psalms.
That means God spoke through his words just like God explained the Torah to the Israelites in ecstatic elders. The glory of Yahweh that endures forever is the living waters of Jesus Christ, which flowed through the Apostles and onto the streets of the Essene Quarter, filling three thousand souls with the same endurance of the Holy Spirit.
Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
And:
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body– Jews or Greeks, slaves or free– and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
In reality, the Hebrew word for “words” and “told” is of the same root (“dabar”). This means the verse states that “Moses came out and the words of the Lord were spoken to the people.” This is the exact same circumstances as Peter and the others “coming out of the upper room and speaking the words of Yahweh to the pilgrims.” This assumes that the connection Moses had with God is the same as the connection Jesus had, in the sense that both men readily could “speak” for God.
When one reads, “Then the Lord came down in the cloud,” the root Hebrew word translated as “came down” is “yarad.” That word means “to descend,” but because the reference is to Yahweh (“the Lord”), the meaning is altered to a “divine manifestation” form of descent.
In this regard, the word also has a meaning that is relative to water, being “to sink,” which makes this easier to see how God baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Brown-Driver-Briggs) The Greek word for “baptize” is “baptizó,” which means “to dip, sink.” (Strong’s) Thus, the Hebrew word for “a cloud” (“anan”) can also mean “a heavy mist,” where God cannot be limited to some physical “cloud,” as God is much greater that anything as limiting as a physical anything. This means the verse can be read as saying, “The Lord manifested a baptism of His Holy Spirit, which is cloaked in invisibility.” This is then similar in the onset of the Holy Spirit in the upper room of Acts 2.
When God had Moses choose seventy elder and have them surround the tabernacle, the multiplicity of that number is relative to the multiplicity of twelve-plus in the Acts 2 story of Pentecost. The two (Eldad and Medad, whose names both are related to “love”) are similar to the three thousand who received the Holy Spirit from those in the upper room. The Holy Spirit was not in some small, tabernacle-sized cloud, but everywhere. God knew where those chosen to receive the Spirit were located.
The fear of Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camps was akin to the fear the Temple elite would have had about Jewish pilgrims prophesying on their own, separate from their influence. It is like the fear of a COVID19 pandemic, broadcast 24/7 on the news.
We are told that the seventy elders prophesied, but they “did not do so again.” This reflects the same limitation that had been set upon Jesus’ disciples (the twelve and the seventy-two), who were sent out in ministry with similar limited talents. They got a taste for what God offered to his devoted priests; but devotion requires absolute self-sacrifice in order to serve God completely.
When Joshua pleaded with Moses, “My lord Moses, stop them!” only for Moses to say, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” This says that all true priests are given the Holy Spirit permanently when Jesus is resurrected as the Christ within a body of flesh and its soul.
When the Holy Spirit is present within, there is no need for Moses to have to act like a parent of countless children that always bellyache and cry. This story in Numbers is vital for today’s Christians to see they are living like the Israelites, the majority of who did not get this taste of the Holy Spirit and knowing the truth momentarily. The flocks (tribes or camps) depended on their elders to come back and prophesy to them. This means understanding the writings of the Holy Bible as being prophecies that need the Holy Spirit of God to discover the hidden truth they hold.
This reading has modern applications that need to be openly discussed. As Christians following a leader into the wilderness, where trust is less the option of survival (Salvation) than the option of being ‘left behind’ in the place we were before (lives of sin that we want gone), Christians today are camped well away from the tabernacle. Christians are divided into “camps” called “denominations,” rather than “tribes.” The elders chosen to get a taste of God are our would-be spiritual leaders: priests, ministers, pastors, preachers, bishops, and even cardinals and popes. Christians hear how those “elders” were called to go get special training from Moses (i.e.: Jesus), but the only time in their lives when they truly prophesied was around the tabernacle, in the presence of God, which means they could never duplicate that experience of knowing the truth when back in their home camps. This says back then, just as today, and just as when the Pharisees, Sadducees and temple scribes ran the business of religion, the people never have a leader (“elder”) surround them with the invisible mist of a spiritual baptism, like what happened on Pentecost Sunday.
The name “Eldad” means “God Has Loved” and “Medad” simply means “Beloved.” They are named because they represent God’s LOVE that comes from those who speak for God, just as Jesus spoke what the Father told him to say. Eldad and Medad were Apostles or Saints, like Peter and the twelve, like those Saints who have been known to walk among the people speaking the truth of Holy Scripture. The fear that existed then is just as real today, and anyone who speaks the truth of God WITHOUT A DIPLOMA ON THE WALL AND A PAYSTUB FROM SOME OFFICIAL ORGANIZATION THAT IS A DENOMINATION IN THE BUSINESS OF CHRISTIANITY makes the people cry out like babies, “Make him or her stop!”
When Moses told Joshua son of Nun (whose name means “Yah is Salvation – son of Fish”), “If only ALL would be like Eldad and Medad,” the same failure existed when Jesus walked the planet. The same failure exists today. God’s wish is that believers stop professing belief and start prophesying the truth. When Christians gather in mindless herds, more to be fed than to listen to a shepherd speak, none are filled with God’s Holy Spirit and none are ACTING like Jesus or ACTING like Jesus reborn in Saints. Because no one is hearing the truth being told, no one is marveling at the presence of God in the written Word. Everyone is happy doing nothing, which is a deadly sin in itself.
In Hebrew, the root word that states “to prophesy” is “naba.” According to Brown-Driver-Briggs, the word primarily means: “prophesy under influence of divine spirit: a. in the ecstatic state, with song.”
This means David wrote his songs while in a state of prophecy. It means all of the Torah was written with the same “influence of divine spirit,” where the truth is the presence of God within, allowing one to see through the Christ Mind.
Every one of those seventy elders were God incarnate, for as long as God allowed them the taste of the truth. It is not good enough to listen to lame sermons about political agendas or sales pitches for a church, when the need for the truth is the ONLY REASON FOR RELIGION.
When Jesus said, “A prophet is not a prophet in his home town,” that was God speaking the truth about how much easier it is to kill the messenger, than it is to listen and believe, where believing leads one to likewise become a messenger of God’s truth.
That is what Paul wrote. If you want to be pagan, be pagan; but, know that it is a curse set upon oneself to claim JESUS is with one, when that is not the truth.
When that is understood, then one can complete the verse with knowledge, realizing importantly [from “kai”] that “no one can say, “Lord JESUS,” if not made HOLY by God’s Spirit of Jesus Christ.
That, my friends, is Paul writing about the sad state that Christianity is in today. The VAST MAJORITY of ‘Christians’ are blasphemers, simply because they do not love God with ALL THEIR HEARTS, SOULS, and MINDS, thereby being only in their names (selfishness), not that of Jesus Christ.
In the Acts reading, Peter ended that reading by stating (from Joel 2:32), “Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Peter spoke (one could imagine) Hebrew or Aramaic Yiddish, which was then translated (divinely) by Luke, so all the multi-national Jewish pilgrims would understand what Joel said and what Peter meant.
In the Hebrew text is written (transliterated), “kōl ’ă·šer- yiq·rā bə·šêm Yah·weh yim·mā·lêṭ,” where “bə·šêm Yah·weh” translates as “on the name Yahweh.” The root word of “bə·šêm” is “shem,” which means “a name.” Still, the Word of God goes beyond simple meaning, where simple minds cannot go.
One is an “Anathema JESUS” claimer when one thinks “calling upon the name Yahweh” is read like saying, “calling upon the name of a pet.” To think “I can call God and/or Jesus Christ, like they are my pets and I am their master” is insanity! One has cursed oneself by thinking he, she, or it can call upon God or His Son, simply by speaking words.
The Hebrew word “shem” does mean “name,” but there is more to that, which means usage needs to be understood. According to Brown-Driver-Briggs, the word “shem” refers to a “reputation.” They state it also means, “especially as giving a man kind of posthumous life, especially in his sons.” They then add that the word means “name, as designation of God,” which means not a designation of someone lesser than God. They then state, “hence, of place of worship.” All of this usage says ANYTIME SOMEONE SAYS “the name of” (in the context of Holy Scripture), it means one has been reborn as a Son of God, bearing His Holy name JESUS, as designated by God the Father, such that the presence of His Son within a human body of flesh makes that body of flesh a temple unto the Lord.”
It must be realized that Paul wrote a letter because of a COMMON MISCONCEPTION about what “in the name of Jesus Christ” means. Paul was clearing this matter up; but, as can be seen today, two thousand years later, that point has not been preached.
The reason is the preachers are hired hands and do not take the time to talk to God, while pondering Scripture. They are too busy watching CNN and preparing their next politically satisfying Sunday oration, cursing themselves for pretending to be gods on earth.
In the rest of the reading from Paul’s letter addresses his statements in verses four through six: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”
This says that all of the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit come from God. In the Hebrew of Joel, where the translation is “Lord,” the word written is “Yahweh,” which is God (not “elohim”). The Greek word for “Lord” is “Kyrios,” which means, “Lord” and/or “Master.” The word can be seen and read as an indication of a “King.”
Knowing God (Yahweh) was the King of Israel and knowing Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, God is the “Lord” and “JESUS” (Paul wrote all-caps) is the “name of Yahweh” in the flesh, as His Son. The Holy Spirit is the realm of the “spiritual” (Paul’s 12:1a), where the Spirit has brought a body of flesh from the realm of the material (the unholy) and made it Holy. This is different from the breath of life (a soul spirit), which makes human being walk and talk and think they are almighty … BUT NOT HOLY.
This means the “gifts” of the Spirit, the Lord, and God are all from the same source – the spiritual – as the Trinity manifested on the earth. The body of flesh is where all spiritual gifts emanate, as the Son is the ONLY part that contains physical matter. Still, for that matter to house God, the Holy Spirit, and be the Son, it must be made HOLY.
Holy is (from the Greek word “Hagiō”) that which makes one be “set apart by God,” meaning it is part of the world made “sacred,” being different in the world. The test of human bodies of flesh sitting in pews or preaching from podiums is if they ANY of the “gifts” of which Paul wrote.
Since most score a zero in this regard, they are simply of the world, not set apart by God as sacred. Since God neither owns, operates, or endorses any seminaries “in the world,” none of them have been “set apart as holy by God.” So, God is not a commodity given as gifts to paying students.
The Greek words “charismatōn” and “charismata” are both translated as “gifts.” They come from the root “charisma,” which means, “a gift of grace, a free gift” (Strong’s definition) and “an undeserved favor” (Strong’s usage).
This means “gifts” are not “presents, bonuses, or boons” (the meaning of the Greek word “dóra”), but special talents given by God as a “gift of God’s goodwill,” which is spiritual.
The list created by Paul (divinely inspired) is this:
When each of these “talents” are analyzed, ask yourself, “How did any or all of these talents (“gifts of grace”) get displayed by Peter and the eleven on Pentecost Sunday?”
I say all of them were displayed.
You just have to know how to read between the lines, as if you were a Jew in Jerusalem on that day.
You have to be a witness to what flowed like God coming down in a mist and surrounding the tabernacle that was the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem.
You have to know the feel of God’s hand touching you – a feeling that is largely absent in today’s watered down version of Christianity.
You have to realize that about three thousand souls were baptized by the presence of God and His Son that day, with that maybe not being only a portion of all who witnessed the event.
I was raised in a religion that is “Pentecostal.” I stopped going to the church of my mother at the age of fifteen, not having a clue what “Pentecostal” meant. I did know that my religion believed in “speaking in tongues,” and I had been trained (minimally) to become tongue-tied to the point of making unintelligible noises, which was viewed by “elders” as “speaking in tongues.” I still had no idea that “Pentecostal” and “speaking in tongues” were related.
Given that background, I became an Episcopalian after the age of fifty, due to that being the church of my wife. For the majority of my time being Episcopalian, and especially after I began writing “sermons” based on my interpretations of the lectionary, I assumed Pentecost Sunday was the beginning of the season that has every Sunday between it and Advent listed as “after Pentecost.” It was only recently (when publishing the book Easter Sermons) that I realized Pentecost Sunday is the last Sunday of the Easter season. That shows how little I know, I guess.
It does make sense, now that I have learned that nuisance, because Pentecost is really neither Easter nor Ordinary (the name of the long season “after Pentecost”). It can be seen as a gate in a wall, as the dividing line between student and professional, apprentice and master, or disciple and rabbi. The seven Sundays of the Easter season are also separate from the wall with a gate that is Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is neither Lent nor Easter, as Easter Sunday represents a passed entrance exam or accepted application for the seven-week School of Jesus. In order to get into that program of study, one has to first die of self-ego and be told by Jesus to “Come out!” Without the ego getting in the way, one is able to learn what Jesus teaches his disciples.
In the past Fourth Sunday of Easter (only in Year A) was read from John’s tenth chapter, of Jesus saying, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9) Pentecost Sunday is the gate Jesus was talking about. To go beyond Pentecost (into the “after Pentecost” season of “Ordinary Time”) one has to have graduated from the forty-day basic training course for egoless plebes, becoming Jesus resurrected via the Holy Spirit – the story of Acts 2:1-21.
The point I want to make about Pentecost Sunday being a gateway to being ordained as a priest of Yahweh [even if “Ordinary” also speaks of a “numbered order” of weeks], is the field changes on Pentecost Sunday.
Ordinary time means time for green to come out. It is like time to lead the sheep to green pastures.
Unlike the field of readings chosen for each of the Sundays of Easter (and before), Pentecost Sunday comes with options, called “Tracks.” Not only does Acts replace the Old Testament selection for the seven weeks prior, as a mandatory reading during the Easter season, but it remains mandatory on Pentecost, with a caveat. It can dislodge an Old Testament reading (option 1) or it can dislodge an Epistle reading (Option 2). This means Pentecost has the possibility of four readings (plus a Psalm), rather than three. [Plus the Gospel reading.]
Once the gateway is passed and one enters the Ordinary season (numbered Sundays “after Pentecost” when priests are ordained into ministry), then the choices become paired: Track 1, being an Old Testament reading with an accompanying Psalm; or, Track 2, another Old Testament reading with its accompanying Psalm. Of this choice option, the Episcopal Lectionary states the following:
“During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson. The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands. The first track of Old Testament readings (“Track 1”) follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. In Year A we begin with Genesis, in Year B we hear some of the great monarchy narratives, and in Year C we read from the later prophets. A second track of readings (“Track 2”) follows the Roman Catholic tradition of thematically pairing the Old Testament reading with the Gospel reading, often typologically—a sort of foretelling of Jesus Christ’s life and ministry, if you will. This second track is almost identical to our previous Book of Common Prayer lectionary. Within each track there may be additional readings, complementary to the standard reading; these may be used with the standard reading, or in place of it.
(Credit to The Rev Dr. J. Barrington Bates and his bold font)”
This is another thing I have only recently learned. I still have so much to learn. However, in my past days of writing notes and sermons for a three-year lectionary cycle, I chose “all of the above” and made notes on everything, as well as including everything in the sermons I would write.
As far as I am concerned, if the shoe fits wear it. If Scripture fits a theme, why not read something that adheres to the theme. When Track 1 and 2 are only chosen to appear as optional selections on only one Sunday out of a three-year cycle, tell me when one reading will ever be read and/or discussed, if it is always the one not chosen? I say read them all. Preach about them all.
But then, there is the mindset I heard of from one parishioner in my wife’s church who confided in me, “I used to be a different religion, but Sunday was an all-day thing to them. Three hour services of singing and sermons AND then they wanted to do lunch on the grounds until three in the afternoon.” Then he told me why he was Episcopalian: “When I heard a twelve-minute sermon and gone by noon, I said this is the religion for me!”
Now that man was being honest and there can be no blaming him for being the only one with this reason to prefer the Episcopal Church as his Sunday affiliation. I know many who will go to the early church service on Sunday, simply because there is no music or songs sung, so the service (including sermon) is usually no more than forty minutes long. Since I do not sing well or read music, making it worse for me to try and sing along to songs I have never heard before, I will occasionally go to the early service also. However, as far as twelve-minute sermons go, some sermons I have heard are so bad (political or fluff) that twelve minutes is too long.
One of the Facebook memes I saw today said, “God is in our hearts, not a building. We are the church, so there is no need to rush back to a building before it is safe.”
The problem with that is this: No. You are not a church. A “church” is whenever two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ.
If God was in your hearts, then you would be reborn in the name of His Son. Because you do not say, “and Christ is reborn within us,” then you are barren as a lover of God, like a mistress, not a wife. The churches of 2020 are barren because the thought processes of the leaders say, “Our egos are gods to us and we will not submit our self-importance to anyone unseen.”
Today, I watched a bishop of a “Church” speak on a Facebook live video, where he explained “The Holy Eucharist cannot be done by anyone other than a priest, because a priest has the power to consecrate the bread and wine.” That speaks of self-importance, as if a diploma and a job in a “Church” makes one able to make anything “sacred.”
As leaders, you are nothing more than hired hand watching [lording] over flocks. The flocks are do-nothing Episcopalians that cheer “likes” and “hearts” as a bishop talks about why priests [supposed to be Saints] are afraid of catching the COVID19 virus, when Jesus Christ only fears God. That means there is no church other than that which is the collection of buildings called “churches” that are owned by businesses, which pays people called priests to run those businesses.
Each true Christian is a temple unto the Lord and a nation under His Son the King. Thus, there is no need to rush back to a building, to hear crappy twelve-minute orations be given by hired hands wearing masks.
As for the readings for Pentecost Sunday, in addition to the choice between an Old Testament reading (Numbers 11:24-30) or an Epistle reading (1 Corinthians 12:3b-13), there are two Gospel readings to choose from. Both come from John’s Gospel, where one can be either John 20:19-23 (I assume Track 1?) or John 7:37-39 (Track 2?). In my mind, all should be preached, but therein lies the problem.
Episcopalians do not have time for readings or sermons. They come to sing songs and then eat a wafer and wash it down with a sip of wine. They then feel elevated in physical emotion to run out and sin for six days (almost seven full), before they are ready to repeat that special feeling once again. The answer is simple.
The answer comes from Acts 2. Peter and the other eleven (and other followers of Jesus) were in the upper room in the Essene quarter of Jerusalem. They were not in an ‘official synagogue’ (as far as we know), so they certainly were not in any recognized Episcopal church. Because the twelve all stood and spoke while filled with the Holy Spirit, they were all in the name of Jesus Christ, so they were a church [twelve plus satisfies the two or more minimum requirement]. The people who the twelve preached to were pilgrims of many different languages, who heard Galilean rubes [not graduates of some seminary] preach fluently in their languages, so they heard the messages loud and clear … without singing songs and without the promise of wafers and wine passed out later. That means the reading says: Do away with the Churches.
Churches only keep paying customers paying hired hands, since none of the attendees of a Church ever stand up and go out with “raised voice” and preach the truth so others can likewise be “raised” or “lifted up.” The ones in the pews do not want to be the wives of God. They don’t want to be the mothers of Jesus reborn. And they don’t want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and take on the responsibility of serving God with all their hearts, all their souls, and all their minds – led by the Jesus Christ Mind. Churches don’t have the time to discuss the Word, which is the foundation of their beliefs. The cornerstone of the Word has been rejected by the builders of those churches, because taking the time to discuss the Word fully will make the paying sheep jump the fence and run away.
Baah, baah, baah.
Overlooked in the Acts 2 reading, which tells of the most important Pentecost in history (the only Pentecost known to Christian churches), is the sermon given. The sermon is this:
“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.’ “
The sermon was not simply a reading from the Prophet Joel, Joel 2:28-32, but an explanation.
In verse 28, Joel’s words begin by stating, “And it will come to pass afterwards” or literally, “It will come to pass following thus.” Peter said, “And [from a capitalized “Kai”] it will be in the last days.”
For Jews who had memorized Joel and discussed his prophecy, the concept of the unknown made it impossible to know when “come to pass afterwards” would be. Peter said it means now! “In the last days of the Counting of the Omer, God says it will be.” Pentecost was the Fiftieth and last day of those “days” counted.
How did Peter then prove that was the meaning? He and the other eleven, along with the women and children followers of Jesus who were also ablaze with tongues afire by the Holy Spirit, they were the proof. Peter must have made a sweeping gesture with his arms, saying symbolically “Look here at these!” He would have done that as his mouth said, “I will pour out the Spirit of me upon all flesh; and will prophesy your sons; and your daughters; and your young men will have visions; and your elders will dream dreams.”
That was not simply Peter reciting from memory a quote from Joel, but a statement that all ears who heard his spiritually raised voice took to heart. God’s Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the flesh of Galileans who should know nothing of value; but the twelve had all become Sons of God. That was not only the menfolk but the women as well – the daughters were also Sons of God. They all stood prophesying to the truth of Joel.
Those who listened that were young Jewish males; their eyes began to see the meaning of Joel’s prophecy being fulfilled right before their very eyes. All the elders suddenly had their dreams of living to see this day “come to pass” were able to see their role as God’s servants become their dream of their future.
As Peter continued, he said, “ and even upon my [male] servants; and upon my handmaidens; in the [light of] days those I will pour out my Spirit; and they will prophesy.”
That was an allusion to the “slaves” forced to bend to the whims of the Temple elite, who kept everyone in the dark with fear of their legal judgments and banishments. They became useless once the truth was known by those to whom God’s Holy Spirit rested upon. The greatest need in a lost religion was truth; and the truth had long been missing from the former inhabitants of Israel. The truth was then made possible by the most common of Jewish pilgrims. The truth set the slaves free.
Peter then continued to quote Joel, saying, “ and I will grant marvels by the spiritual heavens once beyond one’s reach [heavens above]; and signs upon the inhabitants of regions less [God’s touch]; blood and fire and vapors of smoke.”
The pilgrims had all come to Jerusalem for ritual bloodletting – the slaughter of sacrificial animals – who would then be set upon altars of fire, producing the aroma of smoke. However, those signs would be marking the least among them, as God would be giving the gifts of the Holy Spirit to His new priests.
Of those priests Peter continued what Joel had written, saying, “This sunlight will be turned to darkness; and that moon phase into bloodshed; formerly or coming day of the Lord, the great and manifest.”
That spoke loudly this message to the crowd of pilgrims: “The temple elite’s day in the sun has ended. They no longer worship Yahweh but the goddess of the earth and all its riches. They will only cling to heritage, as a bloodline of God. All of their worship of former prophets of God coming to save them with a Messiah, that day has come. That day is today and it is great. The Messiah has been produced in us via the Holy spirit.
As the crowd was praising Yahweh as Peter spoke and they understood, Peter quoted one last line from Joel’s prophecy: “ and it shall be, everyone who chooses to call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The promise is made to ALL who will marry God and be reborn as His Son, taking on the name of holiness – Jesus Christ.
Tell me, “When did you last time you heard a sermon like that in an Episcopal church?” While not read today (it was mentioned in the Acts reading of the Third Sunday of Easter), we know that “about three thousand were added to their number [Saints or Apostles] that day” of Shavuot [a.k.a. Pentecost]. (Acts 2:41) Just from reciting a variation of a prophetic reading (Scripture), three thousand (there about) were moved to spend the rest of their lives being led by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ!
Why does that not happen today?
Of course, it would be easy to say that these days a sermon like that wouldn’t work out so well, given how high and mighty Christians are these days. Some might even insinuate that Christians already have the Holy Spirit in them and the world has already been saved, so Joel’s prophecy is history, come and gone, finito, or cōnsummātum if you like Latin (from John 19:30 – “It is finished”). Well, that makes now “the last days” of Christianity. Perhaps ….
We think again. I am sure that Episcopal priests will see the “last days” as an eerie warning about the COVID19 scare, making us tremble as we listen to their twelve-minute (or less) Facebook presentations. Certainly, they will use every misdirection ploy in their “Homiletics” playbook to avoid anyone getting the expectation that he, she, or it is a son, daughter, young man, elder, male slave or handmaiden who is supposed to be saved by calling upon the name of the Lord. After all, a priest has been given special powers by some educational institution to “call for Jesus” and have him enter the “host,” so all the flock will get their bellies tickled for another week (or less, depending on how often the “sacraments” are served).
I call upon you Jesus Christ … I command you to GET in that box of wafers and bottle of wine … NOW!!!
How often have you heard a sermon that even talked about Peter being in the name of the Lord, along with all the other Epistle writers. I heard a church “elder” ask during Bible Studies one Sunday morning, “Nobody here believes they are Jesus, do they?”
That old timer had been to plenty of Sunday sermons and he is living proof that he had not been told the true meaning of Pentecost Sunday.
Tell me, “When was the last time any priest, minister, pastor or preacher inspired you with words that made you receive the Holy Spirit and accept a lifetime’s commitment to serve God as His wife, giving birth to His Son, so you knew the Lord was in you and you in the Lord, inspired to immediately go into ministry?”
It was probably the last time you heard a priest say, “Damn the Tracks! Today we are going to forego the music and pageantry and discuss the meaning of six readings (including the Psalm)!”
You and I both know when that was.
As I have reached a limit, as far as what simple minds and people with short attention spans can accommodate from a “blog,” I will post this as is. I will then add the “Part II” part of the sermon, where I address all of the readings chosen for Pentecost Sunday, Year A, 2020.
Thus, there will be Parts II, III, IV, and V for your enjoyment.
After I published a nearly 4200-word homily about Pentecost 2020, I realized I forgot to make comments about the optional reading from Paul’s first letter to the Christians of Corinth. I didn’t want to leave that out because it certainly fits the theme of Pentecost. It needs to be openly taught, not set aside as if ‘not the pick of the liter.’
For that reason and remembering my youth, when my mother took me to church every Sunday morning AND Sunday evening, we’ll pretend this is the evening service sermon. Lord knows Episcopalians (and members of denominations like them) are near the bottom of the list of God’s favorite religions, because of the misguided belief that a wafer and sip of wine takes the place of Pentecostal preaching that hits the hearts and changes the Minds of followers. After all, God sees a religion as a school for ministry and not a day care for elderly people. Therefore, three-hour a week ‘believers’ are not expected to read this; and, not feel any less loved by God by not going beyond the minimal requirements set forth by their hired hands.
In my other sermon, I told the story of a man who said he saw Jesus, who told him his terminal illness was cured. The man said Jesus looked exactly like his pictures. It was relative to that mystical appearance that I had planned to write about what Paul said to the Corinthian Christians.
The fact that Jesus appeared as Jesus to his disciples in the upper room, but then disappeared from their view on the forty-ninth day in the Counting of the Omer [a Shabbat], after spending forty days preparing them to “Receive Spirit Holy,” says the appearance of Jesus as Jesus is significant, most especially after his death. That is because, from the next day (Pentecost Sunday) onward, Jesus has appeared in many, many, many bodies of flesh, none of which “looked like his picture.”
Keep in mind that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and Cleopas with his wife Mary, neither time looking recognizable; so, for some man to say Jesus looked like Jesus and stood by his bed, saying “You are cured,” demands some explanation to make that story even resemble the truth. I mean, wouldn’t the man be more believable if he had said, “He looked like my doctor”? Then we could assume that was Jesus in disguise.
Paul wrote, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Spirit Holy.” You will notice I reversed the order of words at the end, as the common reading is “Holy Spirit.” All I will say about that now is, “You should have come for the ‘morning homily’ because I explained that then.” However, by realizing that Paul said, “No one can say ‘Jesus rules over my body of mortal flesh’ [‘Jesus is Lord of me’] except [unless] by the Spirit [God’s touch of eternal life that makes one be] Holy.” That is what Paul meant and that is what the Apostles in Corinth understood.
With the “Spirit” within, art likes to project “Holy” as the halo without.
Certainly, the letter written by Paul was sent as a ‘heads up’ to those who Paul had met and personally knew were: a.) filled with God’s Spirit; b.) made truly Holy by that eternal change within their souls; and, c.) had sacrificed their self-ego so God’s Spirit would make them do the deeds of Jesus, possessing the Christ Mind. Paul wrote to his “brothers in Christ” to let them know what he had been led to discover: There are those out there who are ‘wannabes’ and they will say “I love Jesus so he is my Lord,” just so they can tag along with true Saints, never once attempting to go into ministry like Paul and Silas had. Paul wrote so the Apostles in Corinth would not likewise becomes ‘churches’ filled with a bunch of ‘do-nothings’ who were always asking, “Hey, are we going to do that wafer and wine ritual again soon?”
Now, knowing that intent and meaning, Paul was writing a letter that would last for perpetuity. Because Paul was filled with the Spirit and consecrated as a Saint [Holy], who truly said Jesus is my Lord, God dictated to Paul as he wrote. Thus, Paul let God guide his pen, even while Paul’s ego might have been looking over Paul’s shoulder and thinking, “Everyone knows that!” [about who can say “Jesus is Lord”] when nearly two thousand years later the response from God to Paul was, “Maybe now Son, but wait until the second millennium rolls around. Then Saints will be like unicorns [which even back then were considered mythical].”
Because Paul listed the talents [“gifts” also known as “charismata“] made possible by the “Spirit” [“Pneuma“], the “Lord” [“Kyrios”], and God [“Theos”], without any mention of “Holy” [“Hagiō“], the natural assumption would be, “Well yeah, nobody could have any of those talents without having been made “Holy.” Paul wrote of one talent that expressly stated, “charismata iamatōn en tō heni Pneumati” or “gifts of healing (curing, remedy) within the one Spirit.” That statement of a power of a Saint says anyone meeting that criteria, set by Paul [thus God], would be able to cure a man of terminal illness without looking like Jesus.
Hey! That guy doesn’t look anything like Jesus!
That is, unless there were so few Saints like Paul and the Apostles in Corinth that the “Spirit” would have to make ‘house calls’ looking like Jesus raised again from the dead. That says, if the man being interviewed by NPR [National Public Radio] was telling the truth, then it was a warning greater than Paul’s [“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Spirit (being) Holy”]. The warning is a world without Saints is a world headed to a terrible end.
When Paul wrote, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ,” the same applies to the man who was bedridden and terminally ill. One member of his body was so rotten to the core [not “Holy”] that it, being one member failing to live up to the promise of keeping the whole body healthy, was causing the man’s whole body to face death. Without any priests or pastors being able to truly say “Jesus is Lord,” there was nobody to call who could work a miracle.
The man, probably, was so full of sin and without any knowledge of Christianity or religion that his soul was destined to be recycled back into more dust in the future, so what would be the big deal is God resurrected His Son and said, “Go and make that one member shine with holiness, so the rest of his body will suddenly be whole again.” I mean, healing an atheist is a bigger miracle than healing someone the world adores.
Perhaps, after he lived to tell the story, that man wrote a new book and sold millions of copies, telling the world about his seeing Jesus and being cured. Maybe someone read his words and was like one of those nearly three thousand who heard the words of Peter talking about the prophecy of Joel being fulfilled that Pentecost Sunday. Hopefully, that man is driven to tell his story over and over again to this day, just like Eldad, Medad, and the other sixty-eight elders who were given one touch of God’s Spirit.
I heard his message. I thought nothing of it at the time; but, I remember it still. If Jesus is having to do what Apostles should be doing, that man’s story is parallel to the story of Peter fleeing Rome, to avoid crucifixion. As he was walking away from Rome he saw Jesus walking to Rome. Peter called out, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus said, “I am going to go die in your place, since you are to afraid to do it yourself.” We have to feel that story like a cold, hard slap across the face, if we really think we have the right to say “Jesus is Lord,” while doing all the wrong things.
Pentecost is a yearly recognition commanded by God. The omer of first fruits have been sitting in the temple for fifty days, and Pentecost is when they are then ready to be put to the test: Are they signs of a good crop this year? Or, are we in for a harvest of bad fruit?
Christians are those who say they follow Jesus Christ. They are those who say they are the fruit of that most Holy vine. The body of Jesus Christ is the fruit that grows from that most righteous vine. It is not a small, circular wafer. The blood of Christ is the living waters that flow through the veins of that righteous vine, filling the fruit, making them good. It is not a sip of red wine from an ornate chalice.
Passover is when the fruit is cut from the vine. The Easter season is when the fruit is prepared for testing. Pentecost is when the fruit is determined to be good – as new priests of God commissioned into the world with God-given talents; or bad – useless figures that take up pew space, year after year, decade after decade. Bad fruit, as Paul warned, goes around falsely claiming, “Jesus is Lord.”
This makes Pentecost the test of a church. An institution is like a fruit tree, whose sole purpose is to produce good fruit for people to consume and find life sustained. When Jesus found a fig tree that was barren and without fruit, he cursed it.
What denomination does that one look like?
Earlier today I quoted from John’s Revelation, where Jesus told the ‘church of Laodicea’, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” The church of Laodicea reflects ALL churches that are barren and produce no good fruit.
Pentecost is the graduation day for ordination into God’s priesthood. It is not a time for pretense, when unprepared boys and girls are sent out to ‘play church’ with the souls of humanity. Pentecost Sunday is when the test of preparedness comes full cycle.
Pentecost Sunday is when the Spirit must flow forth as living waters from Apostles in the name of Jesus Christ so lost souls can be found and saved. Pentecost Sunday is when the truth of Scripture is told so hearts burn to know more … not a time to promote public service announcement, in support of the fact that fears will always exist in the world, when the world does not know God or Christ.
It is time to live up to the claims “Jesus is Lord” or forever be damned.
I’m sure, if NPR was broadcast to wherever the soul of Mother Teresa was in 2006-2007, she rolled over a few times, hearing that Jesus would go heal one author in the United States, while she never once saw even one true Apostle come heal the sores of the poor in India. She died in 1997, knowing only prayer, as she was no true Saint. She certainly had the talent of persistence, but … she confessed there were times she blamed God for not doing more to help the poor.
The lesson should be known by all: YOU are expected to become the Son of God and save the world, or die trying. Stop protecting Self and expecting a miracle to happen when nobody does anything “Holy”!
So, if you are laying on the deathbed that all mortal flesh is, waiting for Jesus to appear and say, “You are cured, go out and live a good life,” then you have failed God and Christ.
Explaining the Readings 