Page Thirteen Thought-Sherds 61-65
Thought-Sherds (It's a play on words, you know, "potsherds'' the little Earthenware fragments that Archaeologists find, with scriptures, notes, and things written on them,.... well if you have to explain it...... it's not so funny anymore)
Thoughtsherds: [thot '- surdz ] too small to be an article, but maybe big enough to make a difference.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thought-Sherd 61
John and Cº.....
Within the epic chaos of events occurring during the night/ morning that Jesus is arrested, there is a quiet, odd, inexplicable, oblique component that is never commented on/ resolved ever, by anyone (that i've ever heard of).
In the midst of all of this over-the-top Drama, ol' John is walking in and out of Annas's house like he owns the place, knows everybody by name, he is known comfortably by all, even the doorkeepers, to such an extent that they comfortably follow his instructions !! i'm laughing even as I write this, because it's so absolutely true and just so very very odd :)
So What's the hidden backstory ??
With the use of a thinking-cap with a small but well-oiled propeller on top, the answer is actually very simple and clear and obvious and easy.
When Zechariah had his encounter with Gabriel and was made both Mute and Deaf (yes, he was deaf too, why would they “ask his father by signs” if he could hear ? And why would he not know what his wife said if he could hear ? And why would the people be amazed that he knew what his wife said if he could hear ? This counts as an extra half-riddle at no additional charge.)
The High Priest, Annus, would have been fascinated by this event and would have interviewed Zechariah at that time by writing on paper, and learned that a son was to be born ! The High Priest would have then insisted that every time that Zechariah came to Jerusalem with Elizabeth and John, that he bring them to his house so that Annas could carefully observe the child. Which he did for many many years.
Please consider: Just because Annus had character flaws, it didn't mean that he wasn't deeply interested in Spiritual things. And He would have had every reason to believe that this was going to be the birth/ return of Elijah or the birth of The Prophet. He might suspect that it would not be the Messiah because Zechariah and Elizabeth were not from Bethlehem. But he KNEW that the birth of this little boy was very very very important. And that this child was well worth watching very very closely.
And Please consider, When Mary, John O'Zebedee's Aunt, was told that she was going to give birth to Jesus, where was the first place she went “in Haste” ? and to see Who ? Her cousin Elizabeth, Zechariah' wife. There was an extremely close bond/ relationship between Mary and Elizabeth and thus between Jesus and both Johns. (at John 1:40 who was the other disciple there ? Hint: the son of Mary's sister, the wife of Zebedee, Jesus's first cousin. Yep, John. )
And As Jesus got older he would go with his cousin John[the baptist] to see Annus and he always brought his favorite 1st cousin with him !!!! Would Jesus miss a chance to talk to the High Priest who oversaw his Father's House !?! remember when he was 12 ? These were wonderful fun visits ! John and Jesus and John were the best house-guests !! The bible seems to indicate that John-the-Baptist would have a wonderful personality (john 1:14). Ironically, as Annus was carefully observing John-the-Baptist in his own house, there, sitting right next to John-the-Baptist, unbeknownst to Annus, was the future Messiah !!! And sitting next to Jesus was John O'Zebedee !! This is why John O'Zebedee was so accepted and comfortable there, and also explains his very very exceptional personal courage. Yes ?
He learned that courage from his cousin Jesus in situ, in that very same House !!
That's worth a thunk or three methinks.
A simple application/ awareness of human nature makes this all “Quite Elementary my Dear Reader”. To paraphrase our good old friend Sherlock Holmes.
The more You think about this, the more surely true and obvious it becomes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thought-Sherd 62
A Tale of Two Donkeys
or.... Donkey-O'Key Rides Again.......
(no windmills were harmed in the solving of this riddle....)
donkey-o'key = don quixote, get it ? …..... if I have to explain it it won't be phunnie ennymore ...
Just a Fun Riddle....... (but quite long.....sorry....)
All 4 Gospel accounts include Jesus coming into Jerusalem at the end of his Ministry on a Donkey/ Colt.
But no two accounts agree !!
Matthew has Jesus riding TWO Donkeys and Cleaning the Temple that same Day.
Mark has Jesus riding a Donkey-Colt, but, cleaning the Temple the NEXT Day.
Luke has Jesus riding a Donkey-Colt and cleaning the Temple the same Day.
John has Jesus riding NOT a colt, but a “Young Donkey” the NEXT Day, after he arrives in Bethany, not Jerusalem, And NO mention of Cleaning the Temple AT ALL. And John's temple cleaning at the beginning of his book has no Donkey at all. And his Donkey account has NO Temple-cleaning at all. grrrrr......
And there are many other discrepancies as well.
But wasn't Jesus there actively overseeing the new Christian Congregation ? And overseeing the writing of the Gospel accounts. And directing the Selection of which ones were put into the Cannon ?
Didn't the Gospel Writers appeal to Jehovah and Jesus and the Holy Spirit as they wrote their Gospel accounts to make sure that they were accurate ? Didn't they know each other ? Didn't they have at least some access to and read each other's accounts ?
“Why oh why ?” would all of the accounts be so different and contradictory ?
and They all clearly contradict each other on many points !!
…....or do they ?
A slow careful look at these 4 Gospel accounts will show that All 4 accounts Harmonize Perfectly. More than anyone could ever imagine.
Our First Clue comes from about 600 years before the Gospels were even written.
Right here: Zechariah 9:9, 'Rejoice Daughter of Zion, your King comes to you humble... … riding on an Ass (Strong's H2543) AND ON a Colt, the foal of an Ass'. (Strong's H5921)
And Matthew's account (21:2-6) is extremely clear on this point of Two animals, he even says “...brought the donkey AND its colt, and they put their outer garments ON THEM, and he sat ON THEM”. Yes, 2 Donkeys, not one, hmmm....
This will turn out to be a very very important Clue.
Matthew and Luke have Jesus arriving from Jericho and Cleaning the Temple that-same-day. (Mark also has Jesus arriving from Jericho and going to the Temple that-same-day. But no Cleaning that day is mentioned with Mark. He clearly says it was Cleaned the Next day)
But, we do have Two witnesses to the fact that the Temple was Cleansed on-the-first-Day. Therefore by the Bible Law of “Two witnesses” this MUST BE TRUE !!
Well, after Matthew and Luke's “Donkey Day” cleaning of the Temple, are we to imagine that these Temple Merchants looked at each other and said “you know, well golly, that nice young Jesus made some really really good spiritual points. And even though this is Passover Shopping Season where we make most of our money for the year.[their christmas season] We should really just close-up shop. Yes, that's just the Right thing to do !”
Here's a very very interesting Thought:
The sales of sacrificial animals and money changing fees at the temple were one of the main sources of income for the powerful/ wealthy, High/ Chief priests i.e. Annas and C° They did not want “Shop” closed-up !!
And if You will step into my Time-Machine for just a moment we can go back-in-time to see what happened next: notice it's very late-in-the-day, the Temple has tables, chairs, and money strewn all about, some doves are flitting about here and there. Jesus has left for Bethany for the night. But standing in front of a cluster of High/ Chief Priests is a very agitated loud crowd of Merchants: “This is our Biggest Selling Season of the Year !!! You can't let him do this to us !!” High/ Chief Priests: “Set up your tables again tomorrow, we'll take care of this Jesus fellow”. So when Jesus arrived the next Morning, this time NOT on a colt but on a “Young Donkey”[John 12:14], the Colt's mother, the Merchants were back-in-business....
So
he cleaned the Temple again !!
.
Once a person realizes that it was 2 Days and 2 Donkeys and 2 Temple-cleanings, everything, and all 4 Gospel Accounts and Zec 9:9, fit together PERFECTLY !!!
For example: Matthew's timing of the Fig-tree-cursing (Mt21:19) after the Temple-cleaning and Mark's timing of the Fig-tree-cursing before the Temple-cleaning (Mr11:14) now make perfect sense. They were Both Correct !!!
Actually, Jesus Cleaned the Temple Three Times ! Once at the beginning of his Ministry, (John) and TWICE at the end !! like all Riddles, once You see it, it's Embarrassingly Simple and quite Obvious. And makes this part of the Gospels harmonize very very smoothly.
Tradition would say that this understanding presented here cannot possibly be true.
hmmmm...... I forget, How did Jesus feel about the Traditions of men ? (Mk 15:3)
Jesus was there as the Gospels were written. He oversaw their writing and oversaw their selection in the Cannon. People are always quick to assume the writers made an error. But Jesus was there...... yes, the Master of Riddles, who loves Riddles..... ….and wants to make us think.........
If You would be willing to take the time, when You have the time, to Read all 4 Gospel accounts of this event, with this different understanding in mind. I think You will see how clear and uncluttered it makes them. And as I think You will also see, embarrassingly simple
(Mt 21:1-13, Mk 11:1-17, Lk19:29-45, Jn12:12-15. If You leave out the first part, about Jericho, they're not so long)
See,
I told You it was a Fun one !!
Just a few extra details
that will make it all a bit more clear
A Comparison of the Four Accounts:
#1
Matthew
Jesus heals two blind men, leaves Jericho, Matthew makes it look like Jesus left from Jericho that-same-day, [as You will see, Luke shows that Jesus left Jericho the NEXT day, at the earliest] arrives at the Mount of Olives and rides 2 Donkeys into Jerusalem. Matthew cites Zec 9:9: “riding on an ass AND ON Hebrew ועל “and on”H5921 a colt”. (“put...garments on them...and he sat on them” leaving out the tiny little detail that he rode the two different donkeys on TWO separate days)
please note: foliage put on ground after he is on Donkeys
Jesus Cleans Temple that Day. But Matthew says that He Curses the Fig tree in the morning the next day. (vs19)
Again, Matthew forgets to mention that Jesus did not ride both Donkeys at the same time on the same day.
Matthew may have lost his Bookkeeping job for a reason.
#2
Mark
Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus as Jesus is going into Jericho #2, Mark makes it seem as though Jesus left Jericho for Jerusalem that same day [Luke shows that Jesus and Cº left Jericho #2 the NEXT day, at the earliest] arrives at Mount of Olives late-in-the-day.
rides a Colt of a Donkey into Jerusalem late-in-the-day (11:11) barely has time to make it home to Bethany for the night. No mention of Temple-cleaning on-that-day.
again, foliage is put on the ground after he is on the Donkey Colt
But Mark definitely says Jesus Cleaned the Temple “THE NEXT DAY”(vs 12) in the AM after leaving from Bethany, yes, in-the-morning, NOT when he arrived from Jericho, in the afternoon the Day before !!! (11:12) And he Cursed the Fig-tree IN THAT MORNING BEFORE HE CLEANED THE TEMPLE !! (vs14)
All of this is The Exact Opposite of Matthew !!
.
#3
Luke
Jesus heals a blind man, [actually 2]enters Jericho #2 meets Zacchaeus
And spends the night at Zacchaeus's house Matthew and Mark make it appear as though Jesus healed the Blind beggars on the same day as he left from Jericho for Jerusalem. But Luke shows that after Jesus healed them he met Zacchaeus that same day and then spent the night at his home [Lk 19:5, as an overnight guest, the greek supports this (G2647 σημερόν) and context really requires it. Please compare w/ Lk 9:12 where it was evening and people needed lodging for the night, same root word G2647] (A close and very careful reading very probably would suggest that Jesus spent the whole next day too with Zacchaeus, which was very very likely the Sabbath. Which also makes “Palm Sunday” correct. Jesus could not legally walk from Jericho to Jerusalem on the Sabbath.)
So Jesus leaves for Jerusalem in the AM. Long long long walk. 14 miles as-the-crow-flies, even longer as-the-crow-walks.
rides a Colt of a Donkey into Jerusalem
foliage put on ground after he is on Donkey Colt
Cleans Temple that day
.
#4
John
Jesus arrives in Bethany, NOT Jerusalem,
THEN on “the next day” the day after he arrived in Bethany
(therefore John 12:2-11 must be parenthetical, just like i'm doing here :) as he came to Jerusalem, the people come to greet him with foliage already in hand !! (12:12,13) BEFORE he even finds and gets on, not a colt, but a “Young Donkey” [G3678]. This is a real clue here.
'Cuz it was Donkey day number TWO !!! The excitement was building as the people welcomed Jesus again, with foliage already in hand, for a second Day !!
THEN Jesus finds, not a Colt, but a Young Donkey. (the colt's mother. It kinda seems to me that the donkeys were together both days and he rode the “Colt” the first day with mom there, and rode the Mother the second day also with her colt by-her-side..... it seems to me ..... )
Then John cites the “B” part of Zec 9:9 “colt” deliberately throwing everyone off the 'scent' just to make it hard. Why did he skip part “A” ? grrrr.....
Because Jesus loves riddles and making us THINK !!
ALL conflicts and ALL apparent contradictions are completely resolved when you have 2 temple-cleanings on 2 days and on 2 donkeys.....
…...so this riddle is Unlocked with a Donk-Key (o-kay ?)
Please remember that Zechariah 9:9 clearly prophesied TWO Donkeys. Matthew also absolutely confirmed that Jesus actually Rode 2 Donkeys, and John confirmed that Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled at that time.
And it should be added: an Honest, clear-eyed reading of these accounts makes it very very obvious that somebody deliberately went-way-out-of-their-way to make this Riddle very very difficult to solve. (grrrr......) And please, please, see Matt 13:10-17, 34-35, 51. & Mark 4:34......
Jesus did this for a Reason.
And what might that Reason be ???? …... mmmmm …...
Is the information that this solved Riddle reveals of great importance or significance ? Does it really in any meaningful way change the Christian message ? Have any Christians lives or relationships with God been affected by this apparently not being known for the last 2000 yrs. ??
No, not at all.
So why did Jesus go to all of this trouble to make this non-essential* information into such a very concealed difficult Riddle ?!?
Whenever i'm faced with a very perplexing problem that seems to make no sense, I always ask myself two questions: “Self, what problem is this solving, and to who's benefit ?”
So, “What Problem is this Solving, and to Who's Benefit ?”
The Problem that this is Solving is: He's trying to 'kick us out' of lazy, inattentive thinking habits !! Jesus is trying to get us to do an almost Scientific, Dispassionate, Objective, very Observing, Original, kind of thinking about things that are normally always approached with Lazy Traditional Religious non-thinking.
Who Benefits ?:We do. This kind of non-Religious Thinking puts us into a perceptive/ receptive state-of-mind that becomes a Cypher-Key that cracks open the Bible.....and satisfies a very very deep need and sense of what-is-right..... and keeps us on 'the narrow path' matt 7:14
Whenever something doesn't feel or seem 'quite right'.
That is a very very very important clue to STOP and do some serious 'non-standard' thinking !!!!
Please please please, You MUST read this Scripture :1Kings 19:9-12.
Teach and train Yourself to listen to and for this “Calm Low Voice” !
It is very simple, and yet very very hard to do.
*please consider: if it were life-essential information and he highly encrypted it, that would be kinda mean and cruel, yes ? Jesus's point wasn't to keep people from life, but to give them the thinking tools and skills to find life.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a simple request: if you share or use the information from this website, please, would you be so kind as to cite the source.... ? www.MusingsAboutGod.com
tanx eh ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13