Tag Archives: Passion of the Christ Sunday

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 11:1-11 – Understanding Bethphage, a donkey colt, and palm branches

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When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

——————–

This is the outdoor [usually] reading selection [considered Track 1] for Palm Sunday [also called Passion Sunday], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This is the only time in the lectionary cycle that this selection will be read aloud. As a reading where the congregation gathers outside the nave, this is considered to be the Liturgy of the Palms.

It marks the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, riding a donkey colt, arriving for his final Passover. Because this outside reading is partnered with the usual indoor readings [Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle and Gospel], with the Gospel reading being a quite lengthy reading from Mark’s Gospel [either his chapters 14 & 15, or just chapter 15], so much will be presented of Scripture to the congregation, nothing of merit will be preached. With the Episcopal Church the organization that appreciates short sermons, most priests will simply say little more than, “I’ll let the emotion speak for itself.”

This attitude [biting off much more than one is willing to chew on … in 15 minutes] makes the theatrics of Palm Sunday become a major attraction for church members who rarely attend other services during the church year [Easter and Christmas being other times when people flood into the churches]. Perhaps, the lack of a sermon makes it easier for some to sit through this service. Therefore, for those who seriously seek education and guidance from a church, I feel it becomes important to understand what is divinely stated in this reading; otherwise, people will blindly believe that God wants dried palm branches to symbolize His Son in the flesh.

Because this reading is never deeply discussed, I myself have just now [as I prepared to write this] realized that the place named “Bethphage” is only listed three times in all the Holy Bible (according to Strong’s). The three are all relative to the same story told here in Mark 11, found in Matthew 21, and in Luke 19. In addition to that, when looking up a map to depict the locations of this reading and the others (done previously), I had seen notations that the place known as Bethphage was not clearly known. The map noted Bethphage as “possible site.” Now, as I look things up, I am led to have a better understanding of what is written.

I added some insight to the map I found.

The word “Bethphage” is actually two words in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, which mean “House of Unripe figs” [“Bēth Paggē”]. (Wikipedia) This says to me now that “Bethphage” was not a town by that name, but a “house” that was located in Bethany. It was there that fruitful fig trees were numerous, possible even a fig farm, so to speak.

One of the things I have been led to realize about divine Scripture is it is perfection and cannot be changed by human brains. This means the order of the words is essential to read as ways to find deeper insight. In the order found here in Mark 11: Jerusalem is listed first, as the place the group would go to, for the Passover; Then, Jesus drew near to Bethphage; and third, The place Bethany is named. This order is telling a story that leaps over time and is not simply one instance.

With three Gospels telling of Bethphage, John’s Gospel is the only one not making this mention. In two of the three Gospels (Matthew and Mark), this story begins the chapter that follows that which tells of Jesus having stayed the night in Jericho, healing blind beggars. In Luke’s Gospel the same order exists, with chapter 19 beginning with Jesus meeting Zacchaeus in Jericho and then, while staying at his house overnight, Jesus told the parable of the ten minas. After that, Luke wrote of the triumphal entrance.

John, on the other hand tells of Jesus having been told of Lazarus’ illness, while he was on the other side of the Jordan, where he waited two days before going to Jericho, then spending the night there. John is the only Gospel writer who tells of Jesus going to Bethany and healing Lazarus, after he had been dead four days. John tells of the triumphal entrance [the Track 2 choice, instead of this reading from Mark 11], but begins his twelfth chapter telling: “six days before the Passover, came Jesus to Bethany,” where his feet were anointed by Mary Magdalene. John then wrote of a plot to kill Lazarus, before he wrote of the entrance into Jerusalem. All of this order adds depth to the whole of four Gospels, when they are dovetailed together as one history.

The Greek text of Mark 11 begins with this order of wording:

“Kai hote engizousin eis Hierosolyma , eis Bēthphagē kai Bēthanian ,”

In this, there are two segments of words, denoted by the presence of one comma mark. Beginning the first segment is the capitalized word “Kai,” which denotes major importance is made in the following words. That shines importance on the statement that says, “when they drew near to Jerusalem.” In that, the third person plural [“they”] refers to the whole group of disciples and followers of Jesus, all having come from the other side of the Jordan.

Following that important statement is then a comma mark that pauses that approach to Jerusalem, such that they had neared as far as “Bethphage.” This says Bethphage is a place of rest, before actually going into Jerusalem. It is here that another “kai” is found [lower-case], which then makes the important announcement that clarifies “Bethphage” as being in “Bethany,” as a “House” [“Beth”] there, known for its figs.

The importance of Bethany (from “kai“) can then be seen as where Jesus stayed without his disciples. The segment of words that say, “into Bethphage and Bethany” says “they” [the third person plural of the group from the other side of the Jordan] divided up, “into” two separate places, with both (importantly from “kai“) being in Bethany. The use of “kai” then speaks as a divine indication that Jesus stayed in Bethany at the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, while the other disciples and followers stayed on the fig orchard on another side of town.

This not only explains how no one but John wrote about the most remarkable miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from death, but it also adds a clue that is relative to the Passover timing. While the news of Lazarus having died and been raised by Jesus certainly would have reached the group staying at the fig farm, God did not have anyone but John recall this miracle, because he was the only eyewitness to that event. As the only eyewitness to that astounding miracle says two things: 1.) Jesus’ disciples did not go with him to Bethany, where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a home; and, 2.) John was not a disciple of Jesus and had not been with Jesus on the other side of the Jordan, instead living with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

As far as Bethphage being a word that states importantly (through capitalization) “House of Unripe Figs,” that name for a place would become perfect symbolism for all the followers of Jesus, who at that point in time were the fruit of his vine, who were still in need of maturing to turn into good fruit. This name then says the group separated from Jesus and stayed at a place known for unripe fruit, which was metaphor for their spiritual state of being at that time.

This then also becomes an important statement (due to capitalization) that Bethphage was known for delivering to the Temple the first fruits of figs for the Passover, an omer amount [dry weight] picked in an unripe state. This gathering of unripe fruit would then sit in the Temple, along with other first fruits [including grains], which would be blessed on Shavuot, after a counting of fifty days [the meaning of Pentecost]. The first day of that counting takes place on the second day of the Passover festival [16 Nisan]. This symbolism says the disciples and other followers were the first fruits of Jesus, who would be delivered to the temple as unripe figs with his arrest, who would ripen as Apostles on Pentecost Sunday.

In the map that I have modified, one can see the Jericho road as tracking from Bethany due west, until it reaches the Mount of Olives and then tracks north. The place thought to be a possible location of Bethphage is then not the House of Unripe Figs, but the “village” Jesus sent two disciples to, so they could get a donkey colt that would be found tied up. By sending two disciples there, this says Jesus and the rest of his group went a different route. The only possible place for a village to be [with only two roads out of town] is then the one mistakenly thought to be Bethphage. That acts to confirm this theory, in my mind.

When Jesus told two of his disciples to go and untie a donkey colt that has never before been ridden, one can assume [just as when he told them to go prepare an upper room] that Jesus had a larger network of associates than just his disciples, followers and family. I believe Jesus was an Essene and other Essenes in and around Jerusalem, Judea and Galilee knew Jesus and discretely communicated with him, through messenger or by Jesus meeting with them, with nothing ever recorded and placed in a divine text of those meetings. As such [just like with an available upstairs room], Jesus and others were aware of what was soon to happen and prepared for that event, just as Jesus told them to be prepared.

In the written word of Mark, Jesus prepared his disciples to say, if asked why they were taking a donkey colt, the words “Hoti Ho Kyrios autou chreian echei,” or “Because This Lord has need of it.” While the voice of the spoken word does not denote capitalization by sound, “Because This Lord” is written as important via capitalization. The capitalization in text then explains how those words were designated signal words of preparation. It means Jesus told them precisely what to say if asked why they were taking a colt they did not own; so, “Because This Lord” becomes secret code that allows acceptance of what was taking place.

It says, with the capitalization of “Ho” (typically the article “the”), Jesus instructed them to say slowly, “Because … This … Lord,” where emphasis is placed on themselves (“This”) being “the Lord” in body, and in need of the colt, which would be returned. This becomes comparable to Jesus sending his disciples out into ministry [internship] with specific words to say [“Peace to this house” or “Has come near the kingdom of God”]. This means the two disciples spoke as “This Lord,” not just some stranger walking up.

By seeing how the map shows two routes merging at Gethsemane that would be the prearranged meet up point. That would be where the two disciples with a donkey colt joined to become one whole group again. This becomes symbolism that the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as a prophesied savior would begin at the same place that Jesus would be returned to Jerusalem as the sacrificial lamb that would become the truth of the savior prophesied. Jesus had prepared to enter Jerusalem just as the prophet Zechariah had foretold:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

By riding on a donkey colt that had never been ridden before, Jesus was demonstrating how weak the rulers of Jerusalem were. They had no power over the Romans, just as the Judah of Zechariah had no way to defeat the Babylonians, who could not defeat the Persians. It means Jesus riding upon a donkey colt, parading before the leaders who overlooked from the Temple of Jerusalem, Jesus mimicked the weakness of the leaders of the Jews [those in the flesh]. As a dismal display of weakness, Jesus (in the flesh) was riding a donkey colt with no battle experience, with him wearing no armor. Still, the gall of doing that meant Jesus was more powerful than anything the Temple rulers could ever be.

This then fulfils the insult of Zechariah, who was divinely inspired to write:

“As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.” (Zechariah 9:10-11)

That says the rulers of Jerusalem were justified to rule only by being blood relations to Yahweh’s ex-wife Israel. Following divorce from Yahweh [and subsequent losses of their lands], Jerusalem had become a cistern without any waters of emotion for Yahweh, as seen in the returning Jews fighting over control of a city and people related by blood. The Jews had become “prisoners of hope,” which was the prophecy of a coming Messiah. The hope was a warrior prince with magical abilities. However, that hope was dashed when the prophesied Messiah was said to be fulfilled by a single man riding a young donkey colt, without armor, nothing like the images their hopes relied upon.

The promise to “restore to you double” becomes metaphor for a double share of spirit [Elisha asking Elijah], where the king would be Yahweh, married to the souls of the hopeful. That tells the truth about the Messiah. He was prophesied to come in the frailty that is human flesh, while also being a prophecy that the Messiah can only return in the frailty of your human flesh [individually], after God marries one’s soul. The return will not be a one-to-one exchange [a lost David for a new David-like king] but a one-for-many exchange [one temple of stone for many temples of flesh].

To get the full scope of this picture of Jesus sitting atop a small donkey colt, never before forced to hold up the weight of an adult human male, Jesus is probably riding side-saddle too (so to speak), because he is wearing the robes of a rabbi (kinda like wearing a dress). That effeminate appearance is clearly designed to display the insult intended by Yahweh speaking through his prophet Zechariah, fully known by Jesus. Additionally, Jerusalem was filled with early-arriving Jews, so there were many outside the walls of Jerusalem, along the road overlooking the Kidron Valley. They would have all be educated to memorize Zechariah’s song, so they all burst out laughing at this miserable sight coming before their eyes. None of them [for the most part] had a clue who Jesus was; but one look at him meant sarcastic humor was readily being mimicked in real life, as if Don Quixote would suddenly appear to those having read Man of La Mancha.

While every Jew in Jerusalem that saw that scene knew the meaning of that prophecy, all had mostly given up hope of a Messiah ever truly coming to free them from their prison of emotionless Judaism, much less the domination of one world power after another who had taken over the land once known as Israel. The zealots of Judaism’s frustration created attempts that always ended up being paper warriors pretending to fight for Israel’s land back. All those “Messiahs” only found themselves charging figments of their imagination. All were as disgraced as was this image of Jesus on a small animal that was placed before them. Therefore, as a joke they began singing praises for their new king having finally arrived, after such a long wait.

This is where the symbolism of branches placed upon the road must be understood properly. They were laid before the donkey colt’s path, with Jesus also being fanned by them, like he was indeed a king. He was shaded by them, so he would not get too hot in the sun. All this mockery is missed by modern Christians, those never taught one iota about Judaism.

Where Mark wrote, “Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields,” Matthew wrote, “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” Luke wrote, “As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road,” with John writing, “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him.” All are saying the same thing, with three telling of the symbolic act of spreading a cloak before a rider on a horse, and three telling about branches cut from [most likely] date palm trees. Christians ignore the element of cloaks [a statement of laziness] and place great value on dead palms [this reading is called “The Liturgy of the Palms”].

The element of cloaks, spread both on a donkey colt and then the ground before the donkey colt, has to be seen as symbolic of one saying, “I do not want you to get dirty.” In the case of Sir Walter Raleigh spreading his cloak over a mud puddle for Queen Elizabeth I [a myth], it was to keep her royal clothing from becoming soiled [as well as her tootsies in royal shoes]. The same prevention would be to keep Jesus from getting animal hairs or parasites on the beast from getting on him. As for cloaks and branches on the road, those would be to keep the animal from creating a cloud of dust that would dirty Jesus’ feet and robe. Thus, cloaks (and palm leaves to some extent) would keep a king from becoming dirtied, like were the common people. Certainly, none of them saw Jesus as a true king, so the cloaks placed in the dirt were already dirty from a pilgrim having travelled in dust for a day or more.

The symbolism that must be seen from both cloaks and palm branches being used is this: It kept Jesus from coming in contact with the earth. That says the Jewish pilgrims believed their Messiah, promised to them by Yahweh [supposedly their God], would be so holy that he should never be seen as human. Just as Caesar had told everyone he was a god and should be worshipped as such, the Jews were expecting the same kind of deity in a physical body. Simply from that point of view, a palm branch had the same effect as being a way to shield the common people from the glory of God on earth, becoming like the Israelites demanding Moses wear a veil to cover his glowing face, after having met with Yahweh.

A palm branch becomes akin to some form of a fan used by fan dancers, where the nudity of a deity must never be seen, only glimpsed from time to time. That symbolism becomes an admission that says, “Great! Our Messiah has come! Now, I can go back to doing what I was doing before, without worrying any more because our Messiah will do everything for us.” Many a Christian today has this attitude, and many a Christian leader has promoted that lackadaisical view that says, “All I have to do is say I believe. So what if I have never seen anything but palm branches. As long as I think Jesus is behind them, everything is going to be okay.”

As easy as it might be to see that symbolism, the deeper symbolism of Mark writing, “others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields” speaks of dead branches. Here, the Greek text actually states, “stibadas kopsantes ek tōn agrōn,” or “branches having been cut down from the fields.” This does not state that the Jewish pilgrims carried knives with them for the purpose of pruning trees. It says the farmers who owned the trees had done the cutting, with dead branches piled along the side of the road as trash, to be burned. The reason the branches would be cut from the field is as Jesus had said: “Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” By realizing this, the use of palm branches to set on the path of Jesus says, “Wherever you are going, I am like a dead branch for your mighty donkey colt to walk over, because I certainly will be of no other use to you.”

Finally, skipping past the adulations of the Jewish expectations for a Saint of God [“Blessed in the name of the Lord”], a Saint in the line of David [“Blessed king like David”], the last verse begins by saying, “Kai he entered into Jerusalem , into the temple”.

Jesus entered Jerusalem through the gate of the lower city, the City of David, which had a long series of steps that led up Mount Zion, to the Temple atop Mount Moriah. Jesus entering the City of David would be symbolic that he indeed was of the lineage of David, also born in Bethlehem (although few realized that truth). That is the importance of the capitalized “Kai.” His going into the temple was not just to see if anyone wanted to pick a fight with him [like a pretend warrior prince would do]. It was to drop off the omer of unripe figs that had been gathered. In the temple Jesus placed first fruits of the field in Bethany with all the other first fruits dropped off at the temple. [There might have actually been a precession of Jesus’ disciples, each carrying an omer of unripe figs. This would satisfy the capitalization as an important House of Unripe figs – because so many were offered from that fig farm in Bethany.]

When verse 11 then states, “kai periblepsamenos panta , opse ēdē ousēs tēs horas” or (importantly) “having looked around at everything , late already being the hour,” this says Jesus looked at all the other first fruits offered, as well as looking to see if the vendors were still allowed inside the temple. He would have also inspected the processing of donations made to the treasury and looked at the cleanliness of that holy building. When the comma mark then leaps forward in time, “late” is a statement of it being after the three o’clock hour, therefore in the evening of day. The Jewish evening prayer would be at six, so Jesus probably preferred to pray then on the mount of Olives. Therefore the time would have indicated to Jesus (and the disciples, with other followers) that it was time to return to where they were staying in Bethany. That included those staying at Bethphage.

Because no sermon will ever be preached outside an Episcopal church on Palm Sunday, there is no need to associate this reading with a day that somehow falls in the season of Lent, with Sundays not counting, so it is of no consequence worth discussing. The travesty of Palm Sunday is it promotes worship of a system that refuses to become reborn as Jesus, with the Christ Mind being the result of marriage of one’s soul to Yahweh. Instead of being a church lead by individuals who have experienced that rebirth and know the joy in their souls to be servants of God, seeking the lost and showing them how to be found [the original reality of “Christianity”], all churches of Christianity now pander to raking in the cash and handing out trinkets that act as if they have the right to promise any soul other than their own is saved. Christianity has become the Temple and its Sanhedrin, all seeking to kill Jesus, because he is bad for business.

The act of handing out palm branches on Palm Sunday says, as presented here in Mark: refuse to commit to God, because you think He is too aloof to ever be close to. The act of saving those palm “used” branches, to be burned [as a normal act done to trash, not a holy act of sacrifice – see Cain for that lesson], so the ashes that burning creates can then be smudged on someone’s forehead [along with some oil added] means the church promotes its members walking around marked as dead to God. Handing out dead branches and marking members by the ashes of burnt rubbish, all symbols of someone who bears no fruit, is a bad sign

If it were children pretending to be priests, simply because they went to church and liked the activities of children’s church, without having a clue why the adults go to church, all the ignorance of children could be smiled upon. “Look at them playing church. Isn’t that sweet and cute!” However, to see adults taking the same ignorance of children and promoting it as the meaning of a religion is absurd and an insult to Yahweh.

It is in that vein of ignorance that this reading from Mark [et al] has to be read: as an insult back to organized religion [Judaic then, all Judeo-Christian today]. An insult was prophesied because God did not send a little-g god in the flesh to be some external king that all can spread cloaks and palm branches out to keep him away. God sent His Son to show all humanity how important it is to become another Son of Yahweh [regardless of one’s human gender].

Note:

I wrote this in another article about this Palm Sunday liturgy and it is necessary to grasp that no tree (no plant that produces fruit) only produces green (unripe) fruit. All fruit is initially unripe; but, given time, it will not only ripen and be the tastiest it can be, it will rot if not eaten, falling off the tree to the ground where seeds will take root. Thus, Bethphage – the House of Unripe Figs – is a statement about gathering green, unripe figs. It is impossible for a fig farm to only produce green figs that never ripen.

Isaiah, Language, Teaching

Isaiah 50:4-9a – The liturgy of adonai Yahweh – God is my lord

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The Lord God has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens–

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord God has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord God who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

——————–

This is the Old Testament selection for the indoor service on Palm Sunday, Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. With an outdoor service held first, when palm leaves are passed out to all in attendance (called the Liturgy of the Palm), the congregation is then solemnly led inside, where the regular service is called Liturgy of the Word. This particular selection from Isaiah will be read in all three years of the lectionary cycle (A,B, and C). Due to the length of the Palm Sunday service [aka Passion Sunday] (outdoor and indoor) means nothing will be said about these words from Isaiah at those times. However, these verses will also be read on two other occasions in the church calendar, with it being possible they will be then be explained in a sermon. the best chance for that happening will be during the Ordinary time after Pentecost, Proper 19-B service.

The name of the book this reading comes from is “Isaiah,” but as is the case with religious scholars (it appears), teaching doubt at every turn is best to keep educators employed, always needing someone to teach “church history” and other tricks of dogma. Doubt weakens the faith of seekers. Here, the ones with the larger brains have figured out that this chapter [number 50] falls under the heading “Deutero-Isaiah” The scuttlebutt says Isaiah chapters 40–55 are “the work of an anonymous 6th-century BCE author writing during the Exile.” (Wikipedia) That says, it is the educated guess that should be taken as “gospel” is some prophet [of unknown nomenclature] put his name on a document that preexisted, under the name “Isaiah.” Presumably, he just added more to a book that the real Isaiah had begun.

To move beyond the doubt, where the same source says, “Isaiah was one of the most popular works among Jews in the Second Temple period (c. 515 BCE – 70 CE). In Christian circles, it was held in such high regard as to be called “the Fifth Gospel” (also Wikipedia), I feel the author of all divine Scripture is the same – Yahweh. Because bodies of flesh and bone are temporal and are bound to die, Yahweh uses multiple bodies of His faithful – His prophets – to write His Word.

I also firmly believe that anyone who professes to be a “Christian” must either begin with that belief – God is the author of all within the Holy Bible, thus all are words of truth – or one needs to admit one is not a Christian. If one sees a church as a place to be educated so one can enter ministry, that boat is not longer sailing. Being a prophet like Isaiah [who was trained in the school of prophets, but not well enough to write a book] is no longer a “tag, you’re it” process – the one that made Christianity great. If you think the only way to be a priest for Yahweh is to attend a school offering diplomas, then you put your faith is in scholars, not the One God.

Verse 4 in this reading selection makes a clear statement of one being divinely possessed by Yahweh. The first words that have been translated as “The Lord God” are written in Hebrew as “adonay Yahweh” [no capital letters in Hebrew]. This means “The Lord God” actually states “lord [of me] Yahweh.” [I allow that capitalization.]

The use of “lord” [“adonay”] has to be understood as being a statement about self, where the spiritual self of a body of flesh is the soul. Regardless of external motivations and enticements, the soul is the lord of the body, operating through the human brain. The body does as the soul commands, although the body can become like a crying child, so the soul ends up pampering the body, just to shut it up. This means the word “adonay” alone means a soul as lord over a body.

When the word “adonay“ leads to “Yahweh,” that then becomes a statement of marriage between Yahweh and a soul in a body of flesh. It is that union that causes the body of flesh’s lord to be Yahweh – His Holy Spirit. Thus, verse 4 is a proclamation that whoever it was going by the name Isaiah [maybe there were several Isaiahs who were prophets?] was filled with the Holy Spirit of Yahweh and led to speak the truth, in Yahweh’s name.

When we read, “given me the tongue of a teacher,” the element of possessing a “gift” of speech is important to realize. Without the presence of Yahweh controlling a body of flesh, then that ability to speak God’s Word would not be possible. That talent is given by one becoming a wife of Yahweh.

The Hebrew word translated as “teacher” is “limmud,” which means “taught.” Of course, we all know that the title “rabbi” means “teacher” [Aramaic “rabbonni”]; but in order to become a “teacher,” one must first be “taught.” Because of possessing the ability to speak [“tongue”] as a “teacher,” that means one has been “given” wisdom, which one received. That is what has been freely given by Yahweh; still, the prophet [Isaiah] was thereby being “taught” while he spoke words that teach others. This verse should then be seen as one foretelling of the “speaking in tongues” that occurred on Pentecost, when disciples became Apostles.

The word “limmund” also implies one is a disciple or student, such that one is “accustomed” to being led to understanding. (Brown-Driver-Briggs) When one enrolls in a school, one expects to go there and willingly accept instructions. The same expectations apply when Yahweh becomes like a school, with only one student in His class.

This then reflects on how an Apostle is not suddenly someone who has learned everything necessary to be learned, in order to go into the business of ministry by oneself. As a priest who presumes to know a lot after graduation from some education institution, the reality of a student of Yahweh is there is a continuation of the learning process. One always remains a disciple, one who has willingly been transformed into a mouthpiece for Yahweh. This means the “tongue” (“lashon”) is not a power coming from an educated brain, but the Word of God coming from the “speech” of a body of flesh, whose “lord” is “Yahweh.” This is why the student Ezekiel answered God’s question, “Can these dry bones live?” by saying, “Lord, you know.”

When verse 4 then continues by stating, “that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word,” this is Yahweh lording over someone named Isaiah – willingly and longingly, through marriage. That says the only reason God speaks through a prophet is so those seeking God’s help can be comforted. Someone who needs assistance, who is weary spiritually, is one who is simply a soul lording over its body of flesh, and going nowhere positive. The weary then cry out in laments to God, so God answers their prayers through His prophets. The prophets are then the messengers who say, “I heard your cry for help.”

Here, it is important to grasp that the educated are not the ones who routinely give comfort to the spiritually weary. If anything, they are the ones who add to the misery, placing blame on their souls for inabilities not to sin anymore. This condition existed after Israel and Judah had been lost, which is when the scholars now are saying this chapter was written after that. They conclude Isaiah 50 (with other chapters) was written after the return from exile in Babylon, back to Jerusalem, inside the new second temple. Thus, the spiritually weary were those misled [already back then] by teachers who did not have Yahweh as their lord.

Then, verse 4 says, “Morning by morning he wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” This mistranslation can give the impression that a prophet of Yahweh wakes up and goes to school to listen to his teachers. The actual Hebrew says, “he awakens my ear to hear as the learned.” This means Yahweh constantly speaks His truth to the disciple wife, so the prophet is always filled with deep faith, trust, and love of that guidance. He [or she] delights in ‘school time’ never ending. Most Episcopalians can barely stand an hour a week being orated to by a priest [which says something about what little is being said too].

At this point, it is worthwhile to realize that verses 5, 7, and 9 all repeat the presence of God, as “adonay Yahweh.” Repetition in divine Scripture is always a signal of a theme that needs to be understood. Thus, it was Isaiah who had once been weary, like so many other Jews [Judeans], but his ear was opened when Yahweh answered his prayers.

Isaiah wrote, “I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.” This is a statement of wanting to hear the proposal of Yahweh. It says Isaiah heard the call to sacrifice self-control, of his soul over his flesh, and he did not resist that sacrifice. The spiritually weary are often those who rebel and turn their backs on Yahweh, especially if they have made the world their surrogate for Yahweh. Spiritual weariness can be assuaged by material illusions, of power, wealth, and influence over others. People with a lot to sacrifice will quickly rebel.

Because this reading is chosen to accompany the sacrifices Jesus made, at the hand of the Romans, prompted by the Jews of the temple, the words of Isaiah say this abuse is to be expected. The leaders of the second temple likewise did not appreciate prophets telling the educated just how wrong they were. Some things always remain the same. The leaders of the churches today do not like being told they are wrong.

Those words coming from the mouths of the prophets are the voice of God in many bodies of human flesh; but because the educated have never been educated by sacrificing their brains to serve Yahweh, they lash out at the prophet. As Isaiah wrote and as will be read from Mark [Year B], the pretend holy act violently against those speaking as Yahweh: whipping backs, pulling beards, insulting and spitting on them [add purple robes and crowns of thorns]. This mistreatment is to be expected by all wives of Yahweh – those who marry His Holy Spirit and lovingly allow Him to become one’s lord.

Jesus was not the only one. Isaiah was another. There have been many and there [hopefully] will be many more to come. With Yahweh speaking through a prophet’s words, they all become prophetic of Jesus. However, it is the scholars who only see Jesus as the point of Isaiah’s words that are wrong. They mislead from that narrow view of Yahweh. They punish Isaiah further by not giving someone who was married to God the credit of being “the real Isaiah” [a name that means “Yah[weh] Is Salvation]. They spit on that name still to this day, trying to defame him as being “Deutero-Isaiah,” which is akin to calling him a false prophet, someone unknown acting like a prophet.

When Isaiah wrote, “The Lord God helps me,” that says his allowing Yahweh to be the lord of his soul-body was how Isaiah could withstand all the punishment. The same condition within Jesus gave him the same ability to withstand undue punishment. All who make the sacrifice of self in marriage to Yahweh have the same help afforded them, just as did Isaiah and Jesus.

When we then read Isaiah state: “I have not been disgraced; I have set my face like flint, and I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near,” that says, “no matter how hard one tries to destroy me, my Yahweh is always with me.”

A wife of Yahweh will never be humiliated, because [like the children’s taunt says – “I am rubber, you are glue”] whatever assaults are made on a prophet of Yahweh only damages the soul of the one making the assaults. When a face is set like flint, whoever strikes that face will draw sparks that will set the abuser on fire – the kind eternal hell is made of. No one can shame a wife of Yahweh, because to cast insults and damnations on the saintly brings that shame back upon oneself.

In the questions posed by Isaiah, one must hear the voice of Yahweh speaking:

“Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.”

“Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.”

Yahweh is speaking those words, not the prophet himself. It is God Almighty who wants to know who it is that thinks he or she can defeat Yahweh. Those are welcomed to “stand up together” and become wives of Yahweh [Saul did that and changed his name to Paul] or challenge Yahweh himself.

The problem with abusers is they willingly cast stones to kill those who are projections of themselves; but few are willing to use the stone to kill self-ego and submit to the Will of God. A confrontation with Yahweh becomes a desire to know what makes Isaiah tick. In that process of conversation [rather than acts of killing], God will win every heart who hears the truth. The problem there is the educated fear being exposed as idiots, so they avoid direct confrontation [see how the Jews used the Romans to do their dirty work].

This reading ends with Isaiah saying, “It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?” That repeats the theme of “adonay Yahweh” being Yahweh asking all who will be like Isaiah and Jesus and become souls married to Yahweh, a union of soul with Holy Spirit. All who are the wives of Yahweh will receive His blessings. That divine assistance means one’s soul is granted eternal life. Thus, a question of judgment of guilt can only be truthful if one is charged with being holy, sacred, saintly and divinely inspired. Anything short of that simply becomes the judgment of a soul alone projecting one’s own failures onto others, where all true guilt becomes their own burden to bear.

On a day when churches put on pageantry to show the distresses Jesus suffered, at the hands of the unjust, to say nothing about this reading from Isaiah is to act as Jews taking silent delight watching Jesus suffer. A priest who says nothing about the Passion of Jesus [“passion” meaning “suffering”] says one is a soul alone, having no words from Yahweh to share. Imagine how well Pentecost Sunday would have gone, had Peter and the eleven received tongues of fire and then just sat down in some papal chair, letting the events of the previous Passover “speak for themselves.”

Yahweh is a Big Boy. He is much bigger than any educated human brain that has ever been known to mankind. Yahweh knows all and wants to share that knowledge with seekers … those spiritually weary and seeking divine help. The churches of today have become modern models of the Temple of Jerusalem, all fighting against anyone who claims to be the Messiah, always killing the messenger rather than listen. Yet, they demand attention, when one who has never been taught by Yahweh can never teach anything of value about spiritual matters [ask Nicodemus].

The beauty of this message is it does not matter how bad things get, if one has surrendered oneself to Yahweh. Yahweh is big enough to marry every soul in the world and provide loving care for them all. The problem is that open proposal is assaulted and confronted by those who think they have too much to lose if God ever ran the world. They reject the concept of “adonay Yahweh” black-heartedly.

Language, Philippians, Teaching

Philippians 2:5-11 – Paul’s song of self-sacrifice

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Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death–

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

——————–

This is the Epistle selection for reading aloud on Palm Sunday, Year B, according to the lectionary of the Episcopal Church. With an outdoor service held first, when palm leaves are passed out to all in attendance and readings spoken, called the Liturgy of the Palm, the congregation is then solemnly led inside, where the regular service is called Liturgy of the Word. This particular selection from Philippians will be read in all three years of the lectionary cycle (A,B, and C), but due to the length of the Palm Sunday service [aka Passion Sunday] nothing will be said about these words at those times. However, these verses will also be read on two other occasions in the church calendar [neither during a set Sunday service], with it being possible little will ever be said about these verses and less heard.

It becomes important to point out that the letter to the Christians of Philippi is only four chapters in length. In that whole, it is only here in these verses found in chapter 2 that the text changes from prose to song. Just as David wrote psalms and many of the prophets would write lyrics of psalms, all inspired by Yahweh, it is worthwhile to see God’s voice singing from the pen of Paul. This makes this selection a good match for the song presented in Isaiah 50, as well as Psalm 31.

These seven verses begin by singing, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” The NRSV and the NIV list a heading for these verses [plus the prior four] that says, “Imitating Christ’s Humility.” The NASB has a heading that says, “Be like Christ.” The BibleHub Interlinear heads these specific verses as “The Attitude of Christ,” which they list similar verbiage can be found in Isaiah 52:13-15. All of this “imitating,” being “like” and an “attitude of” says one person – one soul – one spirit – known as “Jesus Christ” – is worthy of mimicry. That is a false message to receive.

All of these ‘titles’ are missing the truth of what Paul was, himself, as a writer of divine Scripture. He was reborn “in the name of Christ Jesus,” such that Paul was a soul married to Yahweh who had become the resurrection of Jesus, because Paul had received the Christ Mind. Paul was not imitation. Paul was not being like Christ; and, Paul had not developed an “attitude” of mimicry. Paul sang as Saul, who had been transformed from a selfish Christian hater into a Son of man, doing exactly as Yahweh guided him to do. Paul then exemplified a continuation of what Jesus had done, as another Jesus reborn.

In this regard, I find it worthwhile to know what the first four verses of this chapter in Paul’s letter to the Christians of Philippi say, keeping in mind that Paul wrote letters of support to others he had come in contact with, those who had been transformed just as he had been. Paul was not promoting Christians pretend being like Jesus, while secretly sinning as they always had done before. Paul wrote his letters so those who had been reborn as Christ, in the name of Jesus, encouraging them to stay in that state of being, never to fall prey to the world’s attacks. Thus, here are the first four verses that lead to this song:

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

In that, Paul began by listing the conditions for being “in Christ” [“en Christō”], where the preposition “en” means one’s soul has entered into Yahweh’s Holy Spirit, so one is “with” the presence of God Almighty. That state of being is called “Christ,” which means being an “Anointed one.” When Paul wrote the word “Christ” alone, that was not him naming the human flesh known as “Jesus.” Paul was writing to true Christians, telling them the conditions (the “if”) for that most divine presence “within,” was realized by becoming God’s “Christ.”

That is then repeated in verse 5, by Paul writing, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” [“en Christō Iēsou”]. By adding “Jesus” [“Iēsou”], after “Christ,” that separate word then identifies all who have been reborn as a “Son of man” [regardless of human gender]. Just as Saul changed his name to Paul [a name that means “Small”], all who become “Anointed ones” bring on the name “Jesus.”

The conditions for being “in Christ” are: love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and compassion … intent on one purpose. The “fellowship of the Spirit,” where “Spirit” [“Pneumatos”] is capitalized, thus bearing the importance of the “Holy Spirit,” says the “if” is all souls in Philippi have married Yahweh, thereby made “in Christ.” As a collection of true Christians, they would all share a fellowship is translated from “koinōnia,” meaning “sharing in that commonly held.” That held in common was the Holy “Spirit.” The “affection and compassion” is then towards one another, so all stay together “intent on one purpose.” That purpose is to bring other seekers to also be “in Christ.”

The state of being that is “in Christ” is then said to be “selfless,” meaning a soul surrendered in submission to God’s Will [marriage to Yahweh]. By not making this sacrifice, one remains a flawed human being, one which is filled with “empty conceit [“kenodoxian” – “vanity or empty pride”], not filled with God’s Holy Spirit. The unity of Christians [“fellowship”] means never attempting to rise above the others, which was the flaw of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Temple elite, all of whom had no humility and saw other Jews as beings of lesser material value. They cared nothing for others, meaning the sole intent of Christianity was as a unified presence of God, as His Sons of man [all reproductions of Jesus, not pretenders] for the purpose of saving souls and bringing those souls to join with them, as all “in Christ.”

If one does not know this is why Paul wrote so many letters, then one will not be able to understand much of what Paul wrote. Being “in Christ” becomes like his verse 5 says, “Let the same mind be in you.” That “mind” [“phroneite”] means one must not try to think like Jesus thought, from imaginations of what Jesus must have thought, because thinking is a function of a human brain, which all humans have.

The word translated as “the same mind” means, “to have understanding” and to “judge” (Strong’s), from an “inner perspective (insight) that shows itself in corresponding, outward behavior.” (HELPS Word-studies) This is the Christ Mind and being in possession of that [only possible as a gift of Yahweh to a wife – a soul merged with His Holy Spirit] means one will become “in the name of Jesus,” just as Jesus lived for Yahweh through the Christ [“Anointed”] “mind.”

It is also worthwhile to note the footnote that appears in the NRSV translation online [BibleGateway]. Next to the translation “was” [“that was in Christ”] is a footnote that states, “that you have in Christ.” This, in reality, is focusing on the translation of the Greek word “kai.”

The Greek of verse 5 states, “Touto phroneite en hymin ho kai en ChristōIēsou.” The use of “kai,” as I have pointed out many times before [in other writings] is as a marker word that shows importance to follow. Rather than be translated as a simple conjunction, kai acts to separate a segment of words for emphasis. As such, the literal translation here says, “This [that stated in verses 1-4, the conditions “if”] let mind be in you this kai in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, Paul said let the same mind that makes one Christ Jesus be in you, making you [importantly marked] be “in Christ Jesus” also.

When Paul then sang the words of verse 6, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God,” this then becomes a statement that oneself, also “in Christ” as “Jesus” reborn,” not think being Anointed makes one a god on earth. Paul [who never knew Jesus personally] said Jesus not once claimed to be God incarnate. That is a powerful verse to understand.

It is a common misconception for Christian churches today, all denominations, to believe that Jesus was God incarnate. Seeing Jesus as a deity makes Jesus unobtainable by mere human beings. Thinking Jesus of Nazareth bore the name “Jesus Christ,” such that the name “Christ” can only refer to the god Jesus, makes Jesus as lofty as was Julius Caesar, a so-called divine ruler in the flesh. However, Jesus never claimed to be God, as he always said he was a “Son of man.” That recognition is what Paul is pointing out here; so, one reborn as Jesus does not equate to being God incarnate, but only another Son of man, led by the Father.

To expand on that, Paul then sang in verse 7: “but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” The exception [“alla” = “but, however”] is then “himself emptied” [as written “heauton ekenōsen”]. When “self” is understood to mean one’s “soul” [lower-p pneuma], then an “emptied soul” means the sacrifice of the soul unto Yahweh. A “self” is then the breath of life that animates human flesh. The aspect of “emptied” means Jesus “deprived himself” or “rendered void himself,” which does not mean Jesus killed his life in the flesh. It means his soul submitted, willingly and lovingly, to Yahweh, as His wife, making his flesh no longer serve the will of the soul [which can become inverted to the flesh controlling the soul – Big Brain Syndrome].

The flesh of Jesus, void of self-ego and self-will, was alive still, but under the control of Yahweh. It was through this self-sacrifice that Yahweh was able to be “born into a human,” making that human become the likeness of God [not God in flesh]. This condition of Jesus is then the condition Yahweh sets for all who will “follow Jesus,” in his name. None will ever be gods on earth; all will serve God totally: with all their hearts, all their souls, and all their minds.

It was this self-sacrifice and servitude that then led Paul to sing in verse 8, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.”

This begins with the word “kai,” so it is important that one understands how Yahweh was “found in human form.” It was then that presence within the flesh of Jesus [his soul merged with the Holy Spirit] that forced Jesus to humble himself, meaning Jesus the man was nothing, because Yahweh was everything about his being. That sacrifice of self-will says that Jesus’ submission to the Will of Yahweh led him to be so obedient that he completely died of self – “death” [“thanatou”]. Still, that spiritual death of self-ego would lead to his physical death upon a Roman cross.

In that last statement, about the “cross,” the Greek needs further examination to grasp the full meaning that is intended to come from those words. Paul wrote, “thanatou de staurou,” which can literally translate as “death now a raised stake.” The repeating of the word “death,” with a comma mark in between [“thanatou , thanatou”] means the spiritual death of self [self-will, self-ego, self-importance] was then being explained as not being physical “death,” because the meaning of “death” then took on the meaning of [from “de” meaning, “moreover, indeed now . . . , on top of this . . . , next . .] becoming spiritually “a raised stake” [the common meaning of “staurou”].

A raised stake is what vineyard owners place in the ground for their grapevines, as a strong upright pole that will support vine grown and heavy clusters of grapes hanging from them. The growers make the stakes they post be strong, so the vine will not fall to the ground and produce bad fruit. Jesus’ sacrifice [spiritual death as a Son of man] made him become spiritually a raised stake in the ground [a Son of man]. As such, the good fruit of the vine can come from his ‘blood’ and kept in a state of worthiness, until ripe to be picked.

In verse 9, Paul then sang these words: “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name”. This begins with the capitalized word “Dio,” meaning “wherefore, on which account, therefore” (Strong’s Usage), so the importance is as a connection of this “death now a raised stake.” That state of being is then pointed towards this verse, with “Dio” followed by a comma mark of separation and the word “kai,” denoting that death now a raised stake is importantly “this God him highly exalted.”

The importance that must be gained is “death now a raised stake” means “Yahweh” having been raised, where the spiritual elevation of a soul is due to the presence of God (“Theos”). It is that elevated state of being, brought about by the death of self, that a body of flesh becomes “highly exalted” (“hyperypsōsen”). This means Jesus was a Son of man, because of self-sacrifice unto God.

The second half of this verse is begun with the word “kai,” which says it is important to realize that “Jesus” was “given” to this model of self-sacrifice. Because God had Gabriel tell Mary his Son’s name was to be Jesus, that says it is a God-given name. The meaning of the name “Jesus” says, “Yah[weh] Will Save” or “Yah[weh] Saves.” That becomes “the name that is above every name,” such that whether one’s parents gave one a name like “Tom,” “Dick,” or “Harriett,” those names apply to a soul alone in the flesh, one that has yet to be Saved By Yahweh. As such, once one has become just like was Jesus, so one’s soul has married Yahweh and one has become His Anointed, then one will also assume the name that is above all other names – “Yahweh Saves.”

With this truth stated, Paul then sang in verse 10: “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth”. Here, another common mistake is made by churches, who then teach their congregations to worship Jesus Christ, as if “Christ” was the last name of “Jesus.” Preachers teach members of their churches to expect Jesus to come and save them in the “Rapture.” They worship Jesus as a god, which is not what his name states.

The name “Jesus” states that “Yahweh Will Save,” which means the man named Jesus was Saved By Yahweh, not some demigod. Jesus certainly did not save himself, as he was not an equal to God. Therefore, every knee shall bend in worship to Yahweh [not Jesus].

When Paul wrote, “in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” this is the realm of the Universe, which is the Creation of Yahweh. Jesus was not the one who created the Universe. Jesus was the model for all whose knees shall bend to Yahweh – the Creator. Jesus was, from day one, totally committed to serving Yahweh, as his soul was married to God’s Holy Spirit at birth in the flesh.

Finally, in this song of Paul to the Christians in Philippi, his verse 11 sings, “and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This too begins with the word “kai,” indicating importance in realizing that “every tongue should confess that,” where “that” refers to the previous statement: “every knee should bend” to God the Creator.

In the use of the Greek word “ glossa,” which translates a “tongue,” this becomes a multi-leveled intention, which goes beyond the physical, meaning more than advice to believers that they should profess faith in God. The word expands to mean “language,” such that everyone on earth “should confess” to Yahweh – those of all tongues. That speaks of the spread of Christianity around the globe. Still, on a most divine level, “tongue” means everyone should sacrifice his or her self-will, so each holy wife’s “tongue” will then speak the Word of God.

At this point, it is important to notice the multiple uses of the conditional, which has been translated as what one “should” do. Verses 10 and 11 each tell what one “should” do: “should bow” [“kampsē”] and “should confess” [“exomologēsētai”]. This condition relates back to the beginning, when Paul set up the “ifs” of being “in Christ.” All of this means it is based on the condition of self-surrender to the Will of God.

Yahweh is not going to come demanding someone become His wife. Jesus is not going to fly down from heaven on a white horse, lopping the heads off of people who do not bow down and take his name. Everything becomes the responsibility of the seeker. When one is not seeking salvation from Yahweh, one will not bend a knee to God, nor will one confess surrender of one’s soul to Yahweh.

When verse 11 ends with the presentation as shown above: “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” the reality of what appears in the written text is absolutely missed. The Greek, according to the BibleHub Interlinear presentation, shows all-capital letters spelling out “LORD JESUS CHRIST” [“KYRIOS IĒSOUS CHRISTOS”], followed by a comma mark and the words “eis doxan Theou Patros.” Clearly, for all who have ever been in some Internet chat room, all-caps should be read as yelling or speaking loudly. Capitalization in Scripture means importance. Therefore, all-caps must be understood as most definitely read this as having divine meaning.

Those last words say, “to glory God Father.” In that word “doxan” [“glory”] is intended to read as “the unspoken manifestation of God.” (HELPS Word-studies) By reading that into that word, the repetition of “god” (via implication of meaning) makes “God” (written) be then stated to be the “Father.” By the capitalization of “Patros,” this conclusion to verse 11 says [MOST IMPORTANTLY], all confession of truth can only come when one’s soul has allowed Yahweh to be one’s “LORD.” Upon that transformation does one become reborn as “JESUS.” This is then the model offspring that is allowed one, having become the “ANOINTED ONE.”

It is then from that conditional transformation that one has become “the unspoken manifestation of God,” the Son of man, and the child of Yahweh. From that lineage, one assumes a name that is above whatever one the flesh is known by [for Paul it was Saul]. In that transition to being “in the name of Jesus Christ,” one becomes related by spiritual “blood” to Jesus, another “Son” of the “Father” [regardless of human gender].

This reading from Paul will never be interpreted in a church for seekers to realize. No priest or pastor will stand before a flock of paying customers and tell them about a condition that makes it up to them to choose: sit in a pew and be judged for doing nothing about becoming Jesus reborn [wasting spirit]; or, get up and go some place where Scripture can unfold as deeply meaningful. The former means reject Yahweh, with the later meaning says one is willing to do the necessary work … alone … in order to find a deep spiritual uplifting that will convince one’s soul that one self-sacrifice is the only way to salvation.

I am writing this interpretation as one who has left the pew. I write as one led by the Holy Spirit to assist any readers seeking the truth. I put it out as the tongue of Yahweh having been placed in the world for your benefit.

This reading will be read aloud in Episcopal Churches along with so much else that the vast majority of Episcopalians – priests and lay people alike – will not have any time to ponder the meaning of any of the words heard read aloud. They only have a pittance of time set aside for such things as going to church and pretending to be Christians. Bible study has become something only the elderly attend, if at all. That becomes a reflection of truth, being a statement of selfishness, which Paul warned about in a verse not read aloud today.

Paul wrote in his third verse, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” The “selfish ambition” of today’s false Christians have is the pretense of being saved by Jesus. This “conceit” is thinking the quickie way to religion is the best way, making them ridicule other religions that put more time into explaining the meaning of the Word [even if they do so wrongly], because they believe the less said the better [fewer mistakes].

It is this lack of teaching that leads a spiritual movement, begun by Jesus and expanded by Saints reborn in the name of Jesus Christ, to become degraded to the point of being a perfect reflection of what not to be – the system of the Temples of Jerusalem. What Paul wrote is so poorly misunderstood that it appears the only message that got through is “Do nothing.”

Language, Psalms, Teaching

Psalm 31:9-16 – Submission of one’s soul to Yahweh

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9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; *

my eye is consumed with sorrow,

and also my throat and my belly.

10 For my life is wasted with grief,

and my years with sighing; *

my strength fails me because of affliction,

and my bones are consumed.

11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors,

a dismay to those of my acquaintance; *

when they see me in the street they avoid me.

12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; *

I am as useless as a broken pot.

13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;

fear is all around; *

they put their heads together against me;

they plot to take my life.

14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. *

I have said, “You are my God.

15 My times are in your hand; *

rescue me from the hand of my enemies,

and from those who persecute me.

16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *

and in your loving-kindness save me.”

——————–

This is the Psalm selection that will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on Passion Sunday, Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. With an outdoor service held first, when palm leaves are passed out to all in attendance, other readings are presented, called the Liturgy of the Palm [thereby “Palm Sunday”]. Afterwards, the congregation is then solemnly led inside, where the regular service is called Liturgy of the Word. This particular selection from David’s songs will be read in indoors, in all three years of the lectionary cycle (A,B, and C); but due to the length of the Palm Sunday service [aka Passion Sunday] nothing will be said about these words at those times. However, these verses will also be presented (partially – two verses) on two other occasions in the church calendar [one a set Sunday service], with it being possible something will be said about verses 15 and 16, but even that is doubtful to leave lasting value.

The NRSV title for this song of David is “Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies.” The NASB calls it “A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise,” while the BibleHub Interlinear heads it as “Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit.” When these verses of this psalm are read on Passion Sunday (from the Greek word “paschó,” meaning “to suffer, to be acted upon, to experience ill will”), they become heard as prophetic of Jesus’s arrest, trials, punishment, ridicule, and execution. It is from the fifth verse in the Psalm 31 that Jesus was heard to recite, before he breathed his last breath of life on the cross. (Luke 23:46) Still, this is a song from the heart of David.

To hear this song sung and only think it is prophetic of the punishment that Jesus would go through, thus no longer applicable to anyone else, is wrong. David felt this need to pray for deliverance from enemies, because Israel was land given to the followers of Moses – a promise by God for the marriage between their souls and Yahweh – and the people who had lived on the land of Canaan before (and after) knew nothing of Yahweh; and, they always saw the Israelites as thieves. Thus, David led Israel as a warrior king, one who led his troops out and back in, always doing battle with the enemies that held only hatred for Israelites. Thus, this psalm is written for everyone who has ever lived and who will ever live, because everyone has and will always have enemies; and, successfully dealing with enemies is why souls need to find God and marry Yahweh.

Again, where the translation says “O Lord,” “Yahweh” is written. The name “Yahweh” is written ten times in the Psalm 31, with two of those times found in these parsed verses read aloud. In verse 14, where the second usage of Yahweh is found, David is shown to state, “You are my God.” In reality, what David wrote (thus intended to be understood) is “’ĕ·lō·hay ’āt·tāh,” which literally translates to say, “gods of you.” The word “elohim” (which is plural for “gods,” not “God”) has to be read as a claim that David’s soul (an eternal spirit, like a “god”) was married to Yahweh, thus becoming one of His “elohay.”

To translate it as if David was making some statement of possession, as “You are my God,” this is the opposite meaning intended. Its intent becomes why David prays to Yahweh for help. Rather than be seen as possessing God, so God acts to save the flesh of David (at his beck and call), David knows his flesh is meaningless; it is his soul that begs Yahweh for salvation. Therefore, David would put up with any punishments his enemies could bring upon his body, because his soul was entrusted to Yahweh.

By realizing that error of translation, which is even present in the King James Version (KJV), thereby a longstanding problem for English-speaking Christians, it becomes worthwhile to review all that is translated in this selection. Verse 9 is another that has embellishments that miss the point of what God spoke through the words of David.

The Hebrew written by David in verse 9 states: “ḥān·nê·nî Yah·weh , kî ṣar-lî ‘ā·šə·šāh ḇə·ḵa·‘as ‘ê·nî , nap̄·šî ū·ḇiṭ·nî .” That is divided into three segments that are rooted in “chanan Yahweh , ki sarar ashesh ka’ac ayin , nephesh beten .” Literally those segments state: “show favor on me Yahweh , for bound am I to waste away with anger in my eye , my soul my body .”

This becomes a prayer to God for the strength of Yahweh to withstand the constant barrage of anger and wrath that is always before one to see. It admits one’s own mortality, as a confession that a body of flesh will always be in need. The prayer is then for the soul of David to be strengthened, so then can be the body able to withstand punishments, undue or naturally caused. When David is seen as a wife to Yahweh [a “soul,” a “nephesh”], who has trust in Yahweh – and will forever – this statement to “show favor” becomes a known blessing given to all His wives. In that, David becomes a reflection of Jesus, as well as a reflection of all who are born again as a wife of God.

Verse 10 is then translated so the points of focus are the same. It continues this prayer for divine strength, more closely related to the needs for a “body” of flesh [not a womb or belly]. Rather than David’s “life” being “spent with grief or sorrow,” the word “life” is found in the second segment of words. By removing it from the first segment, the statement recognizes the world is a place where grief and sorrow can find need for Yahweh as its husband.

The focus placed on “my life” [the life of David] is then all “the years” of marriage between his soul and God. The concept of “life” can only come from that union, where marriage to Yahweh allows one to escape the death a soul faces from a body limited by mortality. This means the “sighing” present is that sorrow and grief a soul-body is always confronted with in the state of death that is mortality. All “failures” found in human beings are the “iniquities” that come from being unmarried to Yahweh. Thus, human strength, that found in bones and muscles, always wastes away over the years, with age, when the soul is not strengthened by marriage to Yahweh.

In verse 11, David points out how being married to Yahweh makes one an outcast in a world where so many souls stand alone in their bodies of flesh, unable to find the strength of Yahweh to assist them. The use of “enemies” means those who bind one in the world (from the meaning of “tsarar”), which relates to verse 9 saying, “for bound am I.” This makes “enemies” those who entwine a soul-flesh with expectations of worldliness, not righteousness.

By following that with the word “neighbors” [“shaken”], David said he lived among those who were not married to Yahweh. That was not only Gentiles who submitted to the will of Israel, but also included Israelites who followed rules set by Moses, without marriage to Yahweh. The translation of “acquaintances” [“lim·yud·dā·‘āy,” rooted in “yada”] means others will be known not to be true wives of Yahweh (by their deeds), causing them to run away (an act of a cowardly enemy). They flee a responsibility of commitment to Yahweh, so their actions are not those of a friend and neighbor, not as another of Yahweh’s wives.

In verse 12, David should be heard as Yahweh speaking through his body, as the first person singular “I” having been “forgotten.” For the Israelites to have forgotten the God of their forefathers, that was a present time recall of David. It was his fathers [the elders of Israel] who went to Samuel and demanded a king, to be like other nations. They had forgotten that Yahweh was their King, their Lord.

This forgetfulness then means their “minds” [“mil·lêḇ,” meaning their “inner man, mind, will, heart”] had lost divine insight and guidance, having become solely dependent on the size of their brains. David certainly was not useless and neither was Yahweh; but to those Israelites who were working against being wives of Yahweh, Yahweh was a useless to them as a broken clay pot. Likewise, Yahweh was discarded by many, just as a broken clay pot was tossed into a heap of waste.

In verse 13, David again is speaking the words of Yahweh as the first person singular “I.” The “whispering heard [from “dibbah,” which means “whispering, defamation, evil report”], God hears all minds and all talk, being omniscient. David could then become knowing of those secret plans as a king with aides who reported the scuttlebutt to him.

When “fear” is about, that becomes a signal that many have not accepted the proposal of Yahweh to be married with their souls. Without His presence, the world becomes a place that readily generates fears. Here, again, the element of “life” means a soul granted eternal life, due to a divine merger with His Holy Spirit. Therefore, the plots and schemes are to weaken the aspect of religious education, fearing its call for commitment. That plot would be so others would soon forget all about the delivery of land and protection coming with the promise [marriage vows] of complete servitude, as a holy wife.

With this train of thought realized, it is then that verse 14 proclaims David to be such a wife, one that is thoroughly devoted to serving Yahweh. The “trust” [“batach”] put in Yahweh goes well beyond belief, as “trust” comes from personal experience. It is meant as a statement of true faith. That trust comes from marriage and the experience of the Holy Spirit leading one’s body of flesh, so it only serves God. Therefore, David says he (like all like him) is one of Yahweh’s “elohim,” or souls granted eternal life from servitude in a body of flesh.

Verse 15 then follows this statement of commitment to Yahweh by David singing, “My times are in your hand.” Here, the Hebrew begins with one word – “bə·yā·ḏə·ḵā” – where the root importance is laser focused on “in your hand” [rooted in “yad,” or “hand”]. David sings out that everything about his being – soul-flesh – is in the hands of Yahweh. It is then that power of God that gives David the ability to withstand the “times” when his enemies come down on him. It is that “hand” of God that delivers David’s soul and body the strength to overcome any and all persecutions his enemies can ever bring to him.

Finally, in verse 16, David sings praisingly about having lowered his face in submission to Yahweh, by “Let[ing] your face shine upon your servant.” This is a confirmation of the First Commandment, where one must not wear one’s own face before Yahweh, as that acts as if oneself is a “god,” equal to God. Those who love Yahweh and seek to marry Him will never try to act as equals to Him, by showing one’s face [or any number of other faces of gods] before His. David was married to Yahweh, thereby he wore the face of Yahweh to the world. That means the soul of David had achieved the comfort of knowing salvation was his [“hō·wō·šî·‘ê·nî” as “I am saved” or I have been delivered”].

As a psalm sung aloud on Passion Sunday [the Liturgy of the Word, not the Palm] and easily attributed to Jesus and the enemies that had brought him pain and suffering, the lack of focus on educating the seekers about the deeper meaning become an example of what David’s song sang. If this message from God being in David’s heart goes without explanation, it cannot be applied to all who seek to become wives of Yahweh. As some misguided extension of the forty days of Lent, where somehow Sundays do not count, making Lent extend all the way to “Holy Saturday” [six days from Passion Sunday], the message of marriage to Yahweh is foregone through ignorance.

Jesus was able to withstand the sufferings, read aloud about his suffering, because he was one with Yahweh’s Holy Spirit. David was equally filled with that divine husband, as were all the Apostles. To listen to these selected verses of David and then simply be left go, sent home to let them sink into some subconscious state, simmering under a plethora of other words, all telling of injustice and human enemies of the flesh, means our ‘teachers’ [rabbis, priests, pastors, ministers, etc.] never allow their flocks to be fed the truth. Yahweh expects all seekers to submit their selves to Him and become His servants. Without that alliance of marriage, then one’s soul is only filled with fears brought on by a world of sin.