“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.”
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This is the Old Testament reading for Proper 18, the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. It will be read aloud on Sunday, September 10, 2017. It is a story all adult Christians have heard many times, as it is the most important element of the book Exodus.
While few Christians observe the “perpetual ordinance” of the Passover (reason for this reading being spotlighted deep into the Ordinary Time calendar) and devout Jews recreate the meal ordered by God, symbolically, the sacrifice of young livestock (enough to feed millions) dwindled after the fall of the second Temple of Jerusalem. The smearing of goat or sheep blood on doorways appears to be a once-in-a-lifetime practice, because (after all) the freed Israelites did not have fixed housing in the wilderness of the Sinai. However, the element of blood has been replaced by the ceremonial cups of wine that are ritually consumed during the Seder meal.
Remember how Jesus referred to the Seder matzo as his body and the cup of wine as his blood? The cup of wine he referred to was the third ceremonial cup of wine, called the Kos Shlishi, which follows the Bareich (Grace after Meals). This third cup (poured before the blessing (Birkat Hamazon) is commonly called the Cup of Blessing.
In the Tarot, the 3 of Cups symbolizes reason to celebrate.
Therefore, the symbolism Jesus was pointing out was: A.) He was the unblemished sacrificial lamb, symbolized by unleavened bread; and B.) His blood must be smeared on the doorway of one’s soul, symbolized as alcoholic wine (not unfermented grape juice) being consumed that then circulates through the blood system, so when it reaches the heart one enters an altered state of being.
When Moses wrote what the LORD commanded of the Israelites – “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” – the focus placed on a “day” of “remembrance,” which is then seen as the calendar date the Israelites escaped death, the deeper purpose of this command is missed. Missing that deeper meaning means one misses the deeper meaning of the new covenant Jesus presented.
Christians may or may not feel an obligation to follow an order given by God to the Israelites. Christians may hate Jews because they think they denied Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. Jews may feel they are blessed by God because they ritualistically follow an order by God, through Moses; and Jews may believe that blessing remains intact, regardless of how most of them today are still waiting for that promised savior to come.
The reality is that nobody gets to heaven because they eat unleavened bread (matzo or wafers) or they drink commemorative wine (Mogen David, not Welch’s). The deeper meaning of all Scripture is found by looking beyond the physical meaning and realizing a personal relationship with God. God is speaking directly to YOU in all stories in the Holy Bible (Torah, Psalms, Prophets, Gospels, and letters from the Apostles). Therefore, YOU have to hear God telling the same instruction He told to Moses: “This day shall be a day of remembrance for YOU. YOU shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout YOUR generations YOU shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.”
Because YOU (Christian or Jew) are not an Israelite in Egypt thousands of years ago, and YOU probably do not own any sheep or goats, much less know how to properly inspect one for blemishes or butcher one, YOU can only read God speaking those words to YOU symbolically. Jesus Christ is YOUR sacrificial lamb and YOUR human body is the home for YOUR soul. YOU will only escape the cycle of death that life on the mortal plane is when you stop making you (little tiny letters) the god (little tiny letters) of God’s soul.
Eternal death is the repeating of life in one physical body after another physical body, all temporal in their presence, while always seeing the Earth as your personal play world, with heaven little more than an idyllic dream world. Death is then reincarnation, where each human life is a repeated incarnation that leads to another physical end. It is like a record player reaching the end of a record and then beginning to play the same tunes again, only ceasing when one stops the record player from playing and takes the record off the turntable.
That breaking of the record, so to speak, can only occur when YOUR soul becomes protected by the Blood of Christ.
You are not filled with the Blood of Christ by professing faith and only eating wafers and drinking a sip of priest-blessed wine. When you have been reborn as Jesus Christ, then “YOU shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord.” The “day of remembrance” is when YOU stopped serving you (little tiny letters) and began serving God … as did Jesus of Nazareth from birth. This means YOUR Passover, from the reincarnation of death to eternal life, is a festival celebrated every day!
That day is like YOUR wedding day, when YOU married God, giving birth to the Christ Mind within YOU.
In the Tarot, the 4 of Wands symbolizes a wedding and the celebration that stability brings.
After that day, you are not just married one day each year, or for an hour each (or some) Sundays (or Saturdays), YOU are filled with the Holy Spirit forevermore.
At which point you act like God has set YOU free from you (little tiny letters).
I just thought it was important to point this out.
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
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This is the Epistle reading for Proper 18, the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. It will be read aloud in Episcopal churches (and others) on Sunday, September 10, 2017. While a short reading selection, it is a powerful disclaimer message, one worth taking note of.
When Paul said – again, realizing that Paul spoke as did Jesus, “for the Father,” through the Holy Spirit – “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” means a true Christian (only Saints and Apostles) repays everyone to whom he or she ever associates with love. LOVE (which is grossly misunderstood, but what else is new?) has been given as God’s blessing, making LOVE the only currency that matters. Thus, LOVE is all a true Christian owes in return for receipt of the Holy Spirit.
When Paul wrote, “The one who loves another has fulfilled the law,” the message between that line is: “Jesus Christ is LOVE.” Think back to the encounter Jesus had with the young rich man, who asked Jesus, “How can I be assured of going to Heaven?” When Jesus said, “Of course, there is the Law,” he meant step number one was to LOVE.
The rich man mistook obedience to the Law of Moses as step one, when LOVE is the only way anyone can be so compliant to the demands that include “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet,” … on and on. We know he mistook what Jesus meant, when Jesus then followed up the young man’s happy acknowledgement of the religious legal maintenance requirements by saying (in essence), “Don’t forget how much you owe!” That means that Jesus telling the young rich man to sell what he owned and give to the poor, was him saying, “The love of the poor made you rich; now go and show your return LOVE, which is you debt that holds you in the material realm.”
That is what Paul was saying as he wrote, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” Paul wrote that after stating the second greatest commandment that Jesus told an “expert of the law” (like a lawyer, only religious), when asked which was the greatest commandment. The first was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” This means Paul was repeating that line of thought, speaking from the same Mind of Christ.
When Paul told the Christians of Rome, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you have to realize the context. Romans ruled vast regions of the world as the Roman Empire; and they ruled as pagans, in the sense that they believed in many gods. Those Romans certainly did not believe in Jesus of Nazareth as the promised savior of Jews. Just as Jesus had his ministry for the Jews of Judea and Galilee (and the neighboring places where Jews lived), Paul was a Jew of Roman citizenship. Therefore, he wrote to the Jews of Rome, who were Romans. However, they were the lowest class of citizens of Rome, most of whom lived in the slums that Nero would burn, so he could build a more beautiful Rome.
Simply by understanding these logistics, where Roman domination saw Jews as little more than slaves to the State – which was certainly in the minds of most Jews – Rome was the enemy Gentiles that enslaved poor Jews. Jews were then neighbors only to other Jews, because they believed in the same YHWH – the living God, while giving honor to the Law set forth by Moses.
This means a “neighbor” is someone of like kind. Of course, it is normal for human beings to question my views, pondering just who is a “neighbor” in the eyes of Paul and Jesus. Much confusion has come in modern times, since the Christian world (primarily Europe and the Americas) has become so culturally blended. World wars pitted nations against neighboring nations, so perhaps the blending is a grand plan to confuse who neighbors are, with immigration, migration and refugee displacement testing the limits of Christian acceptance of foreign “neighbors.”
According to the various definitions of the word “neighbor,” it commonly is a word used to denote someone who lives next door or in the same general area; but the word also bears a most generalized meaning, as that of “a fellow human.” Non-Christians like to focus on that definition, such that everyone on the planets can be called a “neighbor.”
That, of course, makes it hard to differentiate a family member who lives in the house on the lower 40 acres of the family ranch, and the enemy who hates your guts, who lives near the same town where you buy groceries. That makes subsets of the “neighbor” set, so a “neighbor” is a separate subset that is exclusive of “family” and “enemies.” This means a “neighbor” has to be someone who lives nearby. When geographic areas are widened, so that “near” becomes the same country,” a “neighbor” easily becomes any fellow countrymen.
Because Jesus spoke of love that identified enemies, neighbors, and friends (and by association family), and because Jesus was a Jew, who as a group segregated themselves from those of other religious-cultural values, a “neighbor” was (and still is) clearly a reference to someone who believes in the same God and follows the same moral codes. These are personal and cultural values passed on over great lengths of time, and not government declarations.
As a Christian in the eclectic neighborhoods of the United States of America, a “neighbor” would be other Christians; but they would represent those that one was not in a close personal relationship with. Further, in America, where so many religious backgrounds have relocated that do not worship the same God, but a brotherhood exists as “Americans,” one would want to show the same love that you would expect in return as another American.
Because Paul was a true Christian, Apostle, and Saint, we Christians who truly want to be just like Paul (and just like Jesus) should read “Love your neighbor as yourself” and only think in terms of having the same Christian mindset. There is a commandment to love the rest of the world, so it is okay to differentiate “neighbors” as just being other Christians.
The Jews could truly call someone in their subdivision a “neighbor,” because the Jews lived among those of the same faith and did not mix with Gentiles. We do not have that same arrangement today, especially in the United States of America. We can identify people by race, creed, or national origin, such as “My India Indian neighbor” or “My Facebook Muslim friend” or “My son’s Catholic teacher at the parochial school,” but this is simply a sign that Americans have largely lost their Christian identity. Political correctness requires that everyone must be a friend, regardless of how little one knows about someone’s personal and cultural values. That is quite relative to the newfound inability to properly identify who we are supposed to love like we love ourselves.
Meet the neighbors through children and block parties.
Relative to that dawning, when Paul then wrote, “You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep,” he was not referring to “time” as if wrist watches were common in 50 AD. He was referring to the “opportunity” that came with the presence of the Holy Spirit. He meant and other Apostles understood (thus “you know”) that the Holy Spirit made it the “right moment” to “rise up” and help their neighbors, as enlightened disciples. It was a presence that made putting on the armor of light possible: the protection of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of the Mind of Christ. It was a light that easily identified friends, neighbors, and enemies … with LOVE.
The slumber they had awakened from was their prior state of confusion about the purpose of being a Jew. The Law had been difficult to incorporate into their daily lives and they struggled with the responsibility of be chosen by God, but not knowing what that meant.
Or dreams can become nightmares in the darkness.
The “works of darkness” kept neighbors divided against one another, while their fear of contact with their enemies led to disdain and animosity towards them by Gentiles. However, the presence of the Holy Spirit brought them to that state of understanding love automatically, especially in seeing all who welcomed Christ as their “neighbors.”
The Apostles found their love of God allowed them to “live honorably as in the day,” as shining examples of what God truly chose them to be – ministers of the truth and fishers of men’s souls. The light of day removed all fear of inadequacies and guilt that always surrounded them in a lustful world. As Saints, they could release that worry and realize the Christ Mind made them much closer to “salvation” than they ever thought they would be, when they first believed Jesus was their Christ.
The presence of the Holy Spirit being understood by the Romans to who the letter was addressed is the only explanation for how Paul could write, “Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” The works of darkness are the imaginary dreams and fantasies of those asleep. Thus, being asleep is akin to being a mortal in a world that cannot sustain life eternally. To survive eternally is to awaken from the illusions of the world. That wake state is only possible when one “puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” To “put on the clothing of Christ” means to be reborn as him.
“Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”’
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This is the Gospel reading that a priest will read aloud in church on Sunday, September 10, 2017. That Sunday will be Proper 18, the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, as listed in the episcopal Lectionary schedule. It is the Word of the Lord spoken by Jesus, defining what a church truly is and is therefore very important to understand deeply.
If one looks up these verses from Matthew’s Gospel, one can find a summary title in some versions of the Holy Bible. For example, one title says these verses are about “A Brother who Sins.” Other titles say they are “Dealing With Sin in the Church” or “Reproving Another Who Sins.” These titles influence the reader to think of that summary before reading the verses, when a title was never offered by Matthew. Therefore, the title is an outside opinion that usually is not the only correct summary.
To get the context of this element of Matthew’s Gospel, one needs to go back to chapter 17. At the beginning of that chapter, Jesus had transfigured before Peter, James, and John on the high mountain, Mount Hermon, in the northern reaches of Gaulanitis, beyond Caesarea Philippi, and actually into Phoenicia. By the end of the chapter, Matthew wrote: “When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?” That says the group following Jesus had traveled south, reaching the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This was where Jesus gave lessons to the disciple, prior to them leaving Galilee and going to “the region of Judea beyond the Jordan” (as stated in the next chapter, Matthew 19:1b).
In this big picture view, one can fully grasp how chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel is a remembrance of Jesus giving personal guidance to the disciples in Capernaum. It may be that Jesus sat them all down and then rattled off everything in chapter 18; but it might rather be that these lessons and parables were told to them over a period of time, while the group was basically back home by the sea.
It then becomes easier to see a group of devout Jews together, all of whom saw Jesus as their rabbi (or as John wrote in John 20:16b: “in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).” The lessons of Matthew 18 then might have been given on a Shabbat (or multiple Sabbaths), in a house that acted as a synagogue. The lessons might have been brought on due to readings from the scrolls, which then led to questions and discussion, which were memorable.
The element of “church,” at that time, was absolutely nothing like a modern mind tends to think. The disciples, at that time, were not Christians. In fact, the Greek words that begin this selected Gospel reading can most clearly be translated as saying, “If a brother of you sins against you, go reprove him, between you and him alone.” (Bible Hub Interlinear Bible). The translation that will be read aloud, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone,” can then be seen like a title that influences you to make conclusion about this reading that may be incomplete or incorrect.
In actuality, Jesus was restating Deuteronomy 19:15-21, which gives strength to the notion that Matthew 18:15-20 was a clarification that Jesus made, relative to that text from the Torah, about “witnesses to a crime” (another one of those titles). That would mean Matthew wrote about how Jesus related ancient Scripture to his modern times. As such, the scroll reading (if translated into English) would have been this:
Deuteronomy 19:15 – “One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (NIV)
Seeing this parallel means the focus placed on “fellow Israelite,” who were all that were in the wilderness with Moses (no Gentiles involved in this instruction), is relative to the identifying word “adelphos,” meaning “a brother, member of the same religious community, especially a fellow-Christian.” (Strong’s) The New International Version (NIV) makes the leap from Israelite in a wilderness tent, and Jew in a Capernaum synagogue, to “member of the church.” There was no “church” then, at least not one as most Christians think of when they read the word “church.”
When the translation read aloud gets down to the point where the priest says, “If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church,” the Greek word actually written is “ekklēsia,” which means, “an assembly, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers.” (Strong’s) Certainly, since the New Testament and the four Gospels lay the foundation of what has since become identified as “the Church” of Christianity, and this Scripture naturally is applicable to that translation, one cannot overlook how Jesus was discussing Jewish LAW with Jewish disciples that were not yet Apostles. Thus, it is more appropriate to grasp “the assembly” as the intent, more than something that can be as misleading as “the church.”
Keep in mind that God was dictating the LAW to Moses, so Moses could make a list of “must and mustn’t do’s” that an exclusive group of people – “the assembly” of Israelites – had to follow. Hopefully, when the Deuteronomy verses above were read, one noticed how Moses (speaking for God, just as Jesus spoke for the Father) wrote, “You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deuteronomy 19:19b-21)
This means this particular LAW was not about some nitpicking arguing Israelites taking revenge on others who enjoyed back-biting or spreading gossip or generally bad-mouthing someone. It was about purging “the assembly” of all evil-doers. End of story.
What seems to be lost in the freeing of the Israelites is they were actually enslaved to God, as His priests. The Israelites agreed to a promise of a land to call their own forever; but more than the incubator that was Canaan (like the first delegated seminary, with Dead David and Dean Solomon), the greater promise was to be freed from earthly servitude so their souls would be released to Heaven (the true Promised Land). Their role in that bargain was to serve the LORD with all their hearts and all their minds. Therefore, God chose totally committed Israelites as His representatives on Earth, with all the unfaithful Israelites ending up freed of the obligations to God, able to come back as reincarnated non-Israelites (i.e.: they died).
Here is the biggest surprise to Christians: The Laws of Moses were never intended to be applied to common human beings. All the sins of the world – the listed crimes and allowed sins of civilizations and governments – are fully expected to be a part of the world. Murder is what human beings do. Stealing is what human beings do. Coveting is what human beings do. Lying, cheating, and tricking others so one never goes punished for sins and crimes committed is what human beings do. Lawyers love to get the guilty freed and make the victims seek revenge illegally. It is what ordinary lawyers do. However, the ways of the evil world are NOT what priestly servants of YHWH do.
Thus, the wicked are culled from the righteous. It is a necessary process that can only be that. Evil is the way of the world (as Satan’s realm). Righteous is the way of the LORD.
The saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” means God does not allow common human beings to gain leadership over His flock. It is like another saying: One bad apple spoils the whole barrel. Jesus told parables about the weeds and plants that did not bear fruit. An Apostle has to be a responsible gardener.
This is the message Jesus was presenting to the disciples at that time, and it is what Jesus should be understood as saying to all human beings to heed, at all times, in particular those who are truly Christian. The element of “brothers” being two of “the assembly” means “the assembly” can only be strong when both are full-fledged Apostles, or at least truly devoted disciples who are earning their righteousness badges (100% on board). The message is that a true Christian is required to confront those caught committing crimes (sins) against the Laws and demand a return to righteousness (repentance). If the guilty party refuses to admit guilt, then denial of a crime committed means to lie before God, or to claim to possess the Holy Spirit falsely.
Matthew 11:30-32 addresses this, when Jesus said, ““Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
In essence, verse 30 says, “If you are not in Christ then you are not truly Christian.” Verse 31 says, “Repentance can mean forgiveness, but it is blasphemy to claim to be a reborn Jesus, through the Holy Spirit (say you are a true Christian), and be lying.” Verse 32 says, “You can speak against Jesus Christ and be forgiven, but you cannot claim the Holy Spirit tells you your crime is not a crime, without eternal condemnation.”
Thus, a true Christian addresses the blasphemy of professing righteousness, when one is not so. To confront one who has openly committed a sin in one’s presence is not only a required responsibility of the Apostle, confrontation is proof of Apostleship, because the Holy Spirit knows the truth, can spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and does not shrink in fear of confrontation. The progression of confrontation against one sinner, from one-on-one, to a small group of Apostles on one, and finally to the whole “assembly” or “congregation” confronting a sinner is totally for the purpose of gaining sincere repentance or forcing total expulsion from the flock. No half-ass professed Christians can be allowed to remain in “an assembly” of true Apostles and devoted disciples.
This has not changed one iota from when God told Moses to lay down that Law. Jesus did nothing to amend that Law.
Again, living a sin free life is not what common human beings do. The Law is not established to be like a school system, where getting a minimum percentage of things done right gains a passing grade. There can be no C- graduates sent out into ministry (with one or two D grades transferable). Again, using the Israel as a seminary analogy, that whole school eventually collapsed in utter ruin.
The Law of Apostlehood requires total subjection to the LORD, from a deep love of God. It is one’s total commitment to God’s will, which means every Law must be followed completely. To ensure that happens, God sends His Holy Spirit to lead an Apostle with the Christ Mind. While God would love the whole world to make this complete commitment to His service, the world is the place where the lure of sin is too great for everyone to make that sacrifice.
Therefore, God understands there will be MANY human beings who will choose life in a sinful world (born of death), than sacrifice everything here for eternal life (reborn in Christ).
Maybe it will help if you think of Jesus telling his disciples about the requirements demanded for a recruit to become a Navy SEAL. Half-ass does not make the grade, because the life of your fellow SEAL depends on one’s complete physical and mental competence, through total sacrifice of self, for the good of “the assembly.” You might get the point then. Like those washout standards, the world is where weak links abound and that is okay. However, weak links are not accepted by God (nor SEALs); and to pretend otherwise is not fooling God … it is the actor fooling him or herself.
Also remember, Jesus had twelve disciples, but one failed to graduate to Apostlehood (Judas Iscariot). This mean it is better to only have “two or three are gathered in my name” – two or three true Christians-Saints-Reborn Jesuses – than to have that number amid a sea of ordinary human beings prone to crimes against God. Wherever “two or three are gathered as reproductions of Jesus Christ,” there will be the true “assembly” … “the church” of God … where only His chosen priests gather together.
You, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?
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This is an important reading that might not be one many people are familiar with. It comes up in the Episcopal Lectionary schedule every third year (Year A), on the fourteenth or fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (always Proper 18), but it falls under the “Track 2” designation, so it might always be overlooked. I want to focus primarily on what this reading says on a deeper level, while then tying it together with the other readings commonly accompanying it. Pull up a chair and grab a refreshing drink and learn what God has spoken through the prophets for your benefit.
“You, mortal” is written “wə·’at·tāh – ben-’ā·ḏām,” which pulls from the words “attah, ben, and adam.” This means “You, mortal” actually is an address that begins by saying “and you are” (or “and you’re”). The Hebrew root, “אַתָּה,” can be either masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Because of that flexibility coming from Yahweh, He was speaking to the male named Ezekiel, while also talking in eternity to all of “you,” who “are” the “son of man.”
You might recall how often Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of man,” with the Greek written being “Huios tou anthrōpou.” (Matthew 12:8 used as an example.) Wikipedia reports on this as such: “The expression “the Son of man” occurs 81 times in the Greek text of the four Canonical gospels, and is used only in the sayings of Jesus. The Hebrew expression “son of man” (בן–אדם i.e. ben-‘adam) also appears in the Torah over a hundred times.” They then add that another thirty-two times it is written in the plural, with “sons of man,” with that seen as a reference to “human beings.” Another way of stating that would be “mortals.” However, that is summed up in the plural form of “anthrōpou” (“anthrōpos,” as found used in Hebrews 13:6).
Hebrew does not used capital letters, as does Greek, so one needs to realize that the presentations of “Huios tou anthrōpou,” as a reference made by Jesus about himself, were capitalized by Apostles who wrote with a higher understanding of what they heard, when they were mere disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. The vocalization of the word “son” has no means possible to convey capitalization to the one hearing the word. That is, unless the mind recalling a word spoken is inspired through divine memory, where the spoken word is realized to be a statement about one’s relationship to God (Yahweh). This means the Gospel writers were well aware, through the Christ Mind that possessed their brains, that Jesus was indeed the “Son” of Yahweh, while having been sent into this world as “a mortal” or “man” – “human being.” Capitalization in Greek denotes a word that must be discerned as having a higher level of meaning, relative to the divine.
In Ezekiel’s case, where Hebrew has no indication of capitalization, the mere fact that Yahweh was speaking to him, addressing his as “ben-adam,” says that Ezekiel, like Jesus, was a “Son of man.” Ezekiel wrote his book as the equivalent of an Apostle, which means all the Apostles were like Ezekiel when they wrote their Gospels and Epistles. It means they were all like Jesus (including Ezekiel), because all were the “Sons” of God (Yahweh) and elevated above mere human being status (mortals).
That is why the disciples of Jesus told him the people (and most likely themselves too) thought he was one of the prophets (after naming John the Baptizer, Elijah, and Jeremiah). Normal people cannot hear the voice of God speaking to them. Prophets do. Thus, Ezekiel, as a recognized prophet, was like Jesus, who was also one who heard the voice of God speaking to him. Yahweh then placed His Holy Spirit into Simon Peter, causing him to speak the word of God (beyond the capabilities of his own brain), saying, “Sy ei ho Christos , ho Huios tou Theou tou zōntos .” – “You are the Christ [Messiah] , the Son of God of the living .“
When Simon Peter blurted those words out of his mouth, he was known by Yahweh to become an Apostle later. His heart was known to be devoted to both Him and to His Son. Simon Peter was thus receptive to the Holy Spirit and therefore easily moved to speak the Word of God. This is then how one should read this lesson from Ezekiel, because Yahweh told him AND ALL LIKE SERVANTS FOREVERMORE: “whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.”
The translation that states “warning” is accurate, but reading that is misleading, in particular to those who feel they know God, thus they do not think they need His warnings. The Hebrew written is “wə·hiz·har·tā,” which pulls from the root verb “zahar.” The literal translation says “and illuminate” or “and enlighten,” as the root word means “to be light or shining.” This then converts to a “warning” that one is walking in darkness, and darkness is metaphor for sin, which lurks everywhere in the realm of death. Human beings, as mortals – a word that means death, as those born to die – walk in darkness as “sons of man” [not a statement about human gender]. Therefore, God (Yahweh) sends His Prophets to shine light to the world, which comes as a “warning” to stop sinning or suffer the known outcome of being mortal.
We know this is what the light of truth, spoken through God’s prophets, is meant to cease, because Ezekiel wrote multiple times in this reading the word (eight in the above translation) “rasha” and “resha” (as “lā·rā·šā,” “hā·rā·šā” and “rā·šā,” as well as “mê·riš·‘ōw“), meaning “wicked” and “wickedness.” The Hebrew word “rasha” means “wicked, criminal,” where “criminal” must be understood as meaning one who breaks the Laws of Moses. Still, Strong’s lists NASB Translations of this word as being: “evil (1), evil man (1), evil men (1), guilty (3), man (1), offender (1), ungodly (1), wicked (228), wicked man (21), wicked men (2), wicked one (1), wicked ones (3).” This makes the purpose of God’s prophets (including Jesus) be to warn mere mortals not to sin against God.
The crux of this reading says: If you hear the voice of God telling you to shine light onto sinners, so they will see their sinful acts and change, then you will save your own soul from the condemnations of the sinful – whether or not the sinful change, from heeding the message brought by God’s messenger (a Greek word identifies such as “aggelos” or “angeloi“). If you hear the voice of God telling you what to tell sinners, but you do not give them God’s message, then the sins of the sinful become the responsibility of the failed prophet. Therefore, the warning that must be shared is to the prophet, warning him or her not to hide the light of God’s truth (divine illumination) under the cover of secrecy or personal privacy.
This is then a reading paired with Jesus giving the instruction to his disciples: “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” That lesson is compounded by a failed prophet refusing to listen to another prophet of the Lord, such that an escalation of talks follow – a small group of prophets, followed by the whole congregation (all of whom are prophets). All of this direct consultation must then be seen as God verifying what was heard by a failed prophet within his head (or her head) restated by external voices of God, all telling the failed prophet the same thing. The process eliminates any confusion one might claim as justification for sinning. Everyone involved must then be Apostles that hear the voice of God, meaning a church of Jesus Christ does not involve novice students or adoring fans. [They are the ones Apostles preach to.]
This brings up the need to clarify “If another member of the church sins against you.” This translation comes from Matthew 18:15, but the word “ekklésia,” meaning “church,” does not appear in this reading until verse seventeen, when the congregation is called up to speak. What is written is this: “Ean de hamartēsē <eis se> ho adelphos sou,” which literally states, “If indeed now does wrong *among you* this brother yours.”
An observant reader will have noticed the use of two “angle brackets” that surround “eis se.” According to the Wikipedia article entitled “angle bracket,” when used in “terminology,” the definition is this: “〈 〉, used to enclose the name of the domain in which a concept and a term is used.”
This sets apart the “domain” as being this statement by Jesus [recalled by Matthew], where the “concept” of “church” is presented in the “term” “among you.” Because the concept is relative to the translation of “eis se,” the first thing to do is fully understand “eis.” The translation (NRSV) is “against,” setting the term as “against you,” making this “term” important to grasp. I have translated this as “among you.”
The Greek word “eis” is said by Strong’s to aptly translate as “to or into (indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, purpose, result)” [its definition], with it also meaning “into, in, unto, to, upon, towards, for, among” [its usage]. HELPS Word-studies adds this about “eis“: “properly, into (unto) – literally, “motion into which” implying penetration (“unto,” “union”) to a particular purpose or result.”
Seeing how the translation of “against you” implies one’s sins “penetrate you” this is hard to discern. Translated differently (according to legitimate options), the use of “among you” gives a strong impression of a wolf (sinner) having penetrated the sheepfold (a church). This says “you” reflects the one first coming to that awareness. [Certainly, led by the Holy Spirit to uncover the sins and the sinner.]
Still, there is another element of this untranslatable set of symbols that must be considered. In Scripture, where all words written are those spoken by God to His devoted servants (Ezekiel, Jesus, and now Matthew), it becomes a bold move to see groups of words and read them as if they only have one meaning. A perfect example is “Son of man.” Christians see those three words and immediately think “Jesus,” without realizing the importance of “Son,” the value of “this” (the article between Son and man), and how all readers are named generally in the one word “man.” This means that the angle brackets surrounding two words draw one’s attention away from two separate marks, one of which is a “less than” symbol, with the other being a “greater than” symbol. This needs to be taken into account.
Seeing this, the word “eis” becomes “<eis,” where the symbol is pointing out a “lesser than” state that is relative to all the aforementioned translation possibilities for “eis.” Here, it becomes important to realize verse fifteen began with a capitalized “If” (a “big If”), which places a scenario of possibility to the statement. The “domain” is then one of choice, which is relative to the “concept” of true Christianity, which had not yet begun when Jesus was giving this instruction. At the time Jesus spoke these words, Judas sat and listened. Judas was a specific “you” in the group of disciples, such that he was “among” the others, but no one (other than Jesus) knew he was “against” what Jesus offered. Judas then becomes an example of one of the group who proves to be “less than” the rest. This needs to be read into the whole of the term “among you.”
In this translation I have placed two asterisks, rather than angle brackets, because each word needs to be individually understood, before the whole can leave an impression. The next Greek word, translated as “you,” needs to be understood similarly as was “<eis.” The Greek transliteration written here is “se,” which is the second person singular accusative form of “sú.” In this word written is another of the marks that are untranslatable. This mark is “>,” which is a “greater than” symbol. The actual word written is then “σέ›” and that has to be seen as meaning Jesus speaking as God to a collective of disciples, each of whom were second person singular “you,” with the greater than symbol indicating each of their souls will have then become married to the Holy Spirit (a greater than indication). Relative to the concept of a “church,” each disciple (including Judas) was then warned by Jesus speaking the word of God, as they would become true prophets of Yahweh, not run-of-the-mill disciples. Any “failures among you saints” (“<eis se>”) must be addressed.
By realizing that small nuisance (one that requires close inspection of the written text, not just a translation), one can then see how the use of “brother” becomes a statement of that “greater than” state of being. The word “adelphos” becomes more than just a group of guys (male versions of “anthrōpou“), but they all (males and females who would become part of the true “ekklésia“) are elevated as “brothers” in the name of Jesus Christ, as “Sons of God” [Huioi tou Theou], with “Huioi” translatable as “Children.” The lower-case assumes this elevation to a capitalized meaning, simply because of that little-bitty “greater than” symbol.
Simply by realizing what Jesus said, based on the divinely inspired writing of Saint Matthew, one can see how this Gospel reading becomes a mirror of that written by Ezekiel. Jesus spoke instructions that say what God told Ezekiel. If one has been filled with God’s Holy Spirit, then one hears the voice of God within one’s soul. If one claims to be filled with the Holy Spirit and is indeed able to hear the voice of God within one’s mind, but then does not speak the warning to those in darkness: “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” then that failure needs to be addressed accordingly.
This become the truth of the phrase, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” The chain is formed by all who are prophets of the Lord, each who is a link between Him and human beings. Christianity is the chain, where the only links that comprise it are those who are linked together in the name of Jesus Christ. That is not a chain link forged by one saying, “I believe in the concept that Jesus is the Christ.” A true link that joins into God’s chain is one who is reborn as Jesus, so all links share the strength of God as Sons of man (regardless of human gender). Anyone claiming to be a true Christian, who either cannot hear the voice of God (a liar) or will not share the voice of God (a failure) are then the weak links that break the chain; and this is why that weakness must be eliminated, not allowed to continue.
The reading from Ezekiel is often in competition with a reading from Exodus (Exodus 12:1-14), which tells of the commanded ritual of the Passover, including how the blood of lambs had to be spread over the doorposts of the homes of the Israelites. That compliance would prevent their deaths, when the Lord told Moses: “I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.”
God spoke a warning that was heard by Moses. Moses was then a prophet of Yahweh, who spoke the warning to the Israelites as instructed, saving his life as well as all the Israelites who listened and obeyed. Moses was then like Ezekiel and Jesus, as a Son of man.
Also paired with the Ezekiel reading is the psalm of David (Psalm 119) that begins by singing, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end.” It ends with the verse: “Behold, I long for your commandments; in your righteousness preserve my life.” David wrote his song lyrics by listening to the voice of the Lord within his heart, pouring it out through his harp as he sang. He taught the Israelites to sing the psalms and love them just as he did. As such, the words of God were learned by all of Israel and loved. Thus, we see David was another Son of God, in the form of mortal flesh.
Finally, Paul’s letter to the Romans is read, where we read, “It is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” Paul wrote to saints in the name of Jesus Christ, telling that “church” not to let any weak links remain. He listed how a weak link looks back to the past ways of the world, not to the future ways God had blessed them with – shown the light of truth, which must be shared.
Paul was led by the voice of Yahweh to tell those who could also hear the voice of God speaking to them, to shine the light of truth that says, “Do not stop. Do not let your attention be distracted by the lures of the world. Do not become a weak link in the chain of Christianity.” Thus, Paul was also a Son of God, as Jesus Christ reborn into the flesh of a man, united with his soul.
There is beauty in these words that come from God through various servants. Those who need to listen to prophets speaking the truth, in order to believe and become transformed, rely on the words of human beings whose holiness is invisible, keeping saints from looking any different than anyone else. The people living in darkness are all who hear the voice of Satan in a world that pretends to offer delights – as Paul wrote, “provisions for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
They are the ones who need to be shown the light of warning (“hiz·har·tā” stated by Ezekiel), so they can put on the armor of light (“hopla tou phōtos” stated by Paul) and find eternal life be felt in the strength given by God, His Holy Spirit, and the Christ Mind of Jesus. As a seeker of truth, finding it spoken means it is possible for them to transform into new chain links of Christianity. The failure of them not hearing the truth spoken then falls upon the heads of those who claim to offer the truth of God, but do not have that ability (liars).
God told Ezekiel that the seekers of redemption will say to the prophet, “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” Yahweh then told Ezekiel to tell Israel, “Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways.”
Jesus told his disciples to address failed prophets in the same way, because “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” There, to bind means to set the rules straight and to loose means to break or destroy. An Apostle’s work, as a servant of Yahweh, is to make sure the links in the chain of Christianity are strong, otherwise removed.
Knowing this means it is hard to find one claiming to be Christian that sets any rules as hard and fixed. There are few these days that will try to destroy those who sin, while they are putting gifts of offering into felt-lined trays. Instead of telling a gathering assembled, “God will pass through this land and anyone whose body of flesh has not been painted with the blood of Jesus Christ will lose his or her life.” Rather than tell an audience that does not want to hear the truth, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” or “If you do not long to keep God’s commandments, then your life will not be preserved through the righteousness of the Lord,” the people will stand and cheer that failed leader, that liar.
Without one filled with the Holy Spirit saying to those believing they are Christians, “Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, so we can no longer be reveling in drunkenness, in debauchery and licentiousness, and no longer be quarreling over petty jealousy,” the people will never change their ways.
It then becomes the responsibility of the serious disciple of Jesus to realize this shortcoming in their leaders. They need to address their priests and pastors as Jesus said to do. The reason is as God told Ezekiel: “If you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand.”
Save a minister by telling him or her to stop preaching politics and racism, because the world is going to Hell because of liars and failed prophets, too selfish to risk losing a paying customer.
Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
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The key instruction in this reading is: “if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Americans are members of the ‘church of income taxes’ and they are gathered in your name, payabel to the Internal Revenue Service
That says Gentiles and tax collectors are sinners and sinners cannot possibly be “gathered in my name.” That is because it means sinners are those whose souls have not been merged with the Holy Spirit and therefore not reborn as Jesus Christ.
The Greek word “ekklēsia” (also “ekklēsias“) translates as “church.” When Jesus was speaking these words to his disciples, they were all happy Jews, all of whom went to synagogues regularly. None of them had yet become “Christians,” so there was no such thing as a “church,” per se. This means the true translation of the Greek is as “an assembly, a (religious) congregation.” (Strong’s)
When Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them,” think about what that means. Jesus was there among his disciples, when he said that. Judas was there as well. Jesus was still three Matthew chapters (19, 20, 21) away from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem for his final Passover. That means (minimally) Jesus was with an assembly of twelve. However, at that time none were gathered in his name. They were all gathered in their names, as disciples that followed Jesus around.
In verse 20, when Matthew wrote the word “onoma,” which is translated as “name,” that word also translates as “a name, authority, cause” [Strong’s definition], but also as “character, fame, reputation.” [Strong’s usage] HELPS Word-studies adds the following:
“3686 ónoma –name; (figuratively) the manifestation or revelation of someone’s character, i.e. as distinguishing them from all others.
Thus “praying in the name of Christ” means to pray as directed (authorized) by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of being in His presence. “Praying in Jesus’ name” therefore is not a “religious formula” just to end prayers (or get what we want)!”
This then follows (in brackets): [“According to Hebrew notions, a name is inseparable from the person to whom it belongs, i.e. it is something of his essence. Therefore, in the case of the God, it is specially sacred” (Souter).]
Simply from realizing all that, to say “gathered in the name of Jesus” does not mean, “Here meets the club that calls itself a gathering of those who like Christ.” In the name of Jesus means one is related to Jesus, as the Son of man reborn Spiritually, so all true Christians are Jesus Christ reborn. Anything less than that does not qualify as being in the name of Jesus. It qualifies as being in the name of Gentiles and tax collectors.
There is no such church on planet earth today that has pews with sinners sitting in them that would ever dare to confront someone claiming to be a true Christian, when there is nothing about his or her character, fame, reputation, authority or cause that says, “I walk the path of righteousness, as did Jesus, healing the sick, casting out demons, and explaining the Word of God for all who seek to know to become my brothers, in my name.” Therefore, the only way to confront this absence of another who needs to be called out is to stop hanging out with Gentiles and tax collectors and pray for God to send His Holy Spirit upon oneself.
The only ‘spirit’ in an arena like this is the ‘spirit’ to give to the rich, as if an installment plan on the stariway to heaven.
That makes a “church” of one, but when that “church” is where Jesus Christ truly resides, then it is just a matter of time before one can touch two or more others, so the Holy Spirit has brought about a true gathering of those in the name of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus will be there, two thousand years after his death-resurrection-and-ascension, the truth of that statement is Jesus will be there physically as those who are in his name, as him resurrected.
The only ones who profit from a church that is led by and filled only with a bunch of heathens pretending to be something they are most assuredly not are those who charge customers money [call it tithes, dues, club membership fees, pledges, or any amounts under 100% of a member’s ownings]. They pass off charging customers as though customers need to pay for the right to sit in a building that is supposed to be one God ordered built. They want the customers to pay the salaries of those who are hired hands (working for false shepherds), who do little towards keeping the building nice and clean. So, the warning Jesus gave to his disciples (including Judas) says, “Do not fall for those who claim to be the Christ, but are not, do not believe them.” (paraphrased from Matthew 24:23)
Explaining the Readings 