#Did Jews crucify Jesus

[thinkingonscripture]

Who Crucified Jesus?

The question is sometimes raised as to who crucified Jesus? According to Chafer, “Closely related to the contrast between the divine and human sides of Christ’s death, is the question: Who put Christ to death? As already indicated, the Scriptures assign both a human and a divine responsibility for Christ’s death.”[1] According to the testimony of Scripture, Jesus’ death on the cross was the…

[papirouge]

@alwida10 wild to say that when someone called Herod actually tried to kill Jesus while he was barely born and it didn't happen because Joseph and Mary were able to flee to Egypt which they wouldn't be able to do so today because of Israel occupation 🙃

[useless-catalanfacts]

Idioms in Catalan with a religious origin

There's quite a lot of idioms that we say in everyday life, outside of the context of religion, but that come from religious stories or events.

Most of them come from Christianity, and many of them are shared with other Romance languages or other languages from historically Christian countries. To keep this list accessible to everyone regardless of cultural background, I will include the literal translation to English and also an explanation all of them.

Let's see how many of these you can understand before seeing the explanation. Let us know in the tags!

1. Fer Pasqua abans de Rams = "to do Easter before Palm Sunday", meaning to get pregnant, have a baby, or to have sex before getting married. Nowadays it's used in a more general sense to mean to do something before it's time (like English "put the cart before the horse"). Palm Sunday is a holiday celebrated the week before Easter.

2. Per a més inri = "for more INRI", used to add a bad thing on top of something else, making a situation even worse or more humiliating. It's a reference to the sign that said "INRI" (stands for the initials of "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" in Latin) that Roman soldiers hanged on Christ's crucifix to make fun of him.

3. A la babalà = "in the babalà way", meaning to do something without having thought much about it. But what does "babalà" mean? This word doesn't exist in the Catalan language outside of this expression. It comes from the Arabic Alà bâb Allâh which means "in God's hands".

4. On Crist va perdre l'espardenya = "where Christ lost his sandal", or on Crist va perdre el barret = "where Christ lost his hat", meaning somewhere very far away and usually in the middle of nothing. I don't know of any story that has Christ lose his sandal or hat.

5. Perdut de la mà de Déu = "lost by God's hand", meaning a place in the middle of nowhere.

6. Ser un calvari ="to be a calvary", meaning that something is a cause of suffering. You can also hear quin calvari! = "what a calvary!". This is a reference to Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified.

7. Endavant les atxes = "ahead with the candles!", meaning "keep going!", used to encourage to keep going in a negative situation with difficulties or a situation that you would have preferred to avoid. An atxa is a kind of big candle that the first people in a religious procession carry. This was the shout that would start a procession.

(Note: in recent years, Spanish media has used this idiom as supposed proof that Catalan independentists who said it are calling for violence, using a fake translation that assumed that "atxa" must mean the same as Spanish "hacha", meaning "axe" 🪓, because the pronunciation is almost identical. This is false, when people were saying "endavant les atxes" they did not intend any meaning related to "bring the axes". This was used to justify violence against Catalan activists, but has no ground in reality. "Axe"🪓 in Catalan would be "destral".)

8. Net com una patena = "as clean as a paten", meaning very clean. A paten is a kind of small dish used in Catholic mass, where the blessed sacramental bread in placed on.

9. Acabar com el rosari de l'aurora = "to end up like the dawn rosary", meaning to end very, very badly, usually in violence. The dawn rosary used to be a procession that was done in the early morning of certain holidays while praying the rosary. The idiom (which also exists in Spanish) comes from the year 1868. Around those years, there were many anticlerical riots, while the Catholic church kept doing the dawn rosary on the streets and often assigning it political meaning. In Barcelona and other cities, anticlerical protestors tried to stop the dawn rosary from happening, and it ended in violence and blood.

10. Plorar com una Magdalena = "to cry like a Magdalene", meaning to cry a lot and very desperately. This is a reference to Mary Magdalene, a character from the Bible's New Testament who cried when she met Christ.

11. Déu-n'hi-do! = "God gives!". This expression is difficult to translate because I don't think English has an equivalent (the closest I can think of are "wow!" or even "holy shit!"), but Catalan people use it a lot. It's an exclamation used to show surprise, awe or to mean a big quantity.

12. Ser més vell que Matusalem = "to be older than Methuselah", meaning that someone is very very old. Methuselah is a character from the Bible's Old Testament who is said to have lived for 969 years. This comparison is used for comedic value.

13. Rentar-se'n les mans = "to wash one's hands", meaning to say you're not responsible for what happens. This is a quote from the Bible's New Testament: when Christ is being judged by Pontius Pilate, the crowd is asking him to sentence him to crucifixion. He asks Christ to defend himself, but he doesn't. Pilate doesn't want to sentence him to death, but he sees he has no other option. Then, he sees his hands are stained with Christ's blood, and washes his hands as he decides that this situation will not be his responsibility.

14. Arribar a misses dites = "to arrive to mass [already] said", meaning to arrive late when something has already happened.

15. Ser com les palmes d’Elx, que vingueren el matí de Pasqua = "to be like the Elx palms, that arrived on Easter morning", this is used in the Valencian Country to mean to be late. Elx is a city with the biggest palm groove in Europe ever since the Middle Ages, and many of these palm tree leafs are used for making the palms used for Palm Sunday, the celebration that happens a week before Easter.

16. Va a missa = "goes to mass", meaning whatever is said is exactly what will happen, without complaining or second thoughts.

17. Endiumenjar-se = "to Sunday yourself" or "to Sunday up", meaning to dress up in your best clothes (same as "to wear your Sunday best" in English). Traditionally, people used to wear their best clothes for Sunday mass.

18. Alt com un sant Pau = "as tall as a saint Paul", someone who is very tall. Saint Paul was not tall, in his texts he describes himself as a "little man". The origin of this sentence is in Catalonia centuries ago. People used to celebrate the holiday of Saint Paul's Conversion (January 25th). In the Sant Pau del Camp church area in Barcelona, the tradition for this day had a man yield a huge sword. For this reason, the man had to be tall and strong.

19. Alegre/content com unes pasqües = "as cheerful/happy as Easters", meaning to be very happy and cheerful.

20. Discutir sobre el sexe dels àngels or parlar del sexe dels àngels = "to argue about angels' sex", meaning to endlessly argue heatedly about something insignificant where neither side will ever convince the other to change their minds. Also called una discussió bizantina="a Byzantine argument". This comes from the historical fact that Biblical scholars spent centuries arguing on whether angels can be male or female or not. Legends say that, when the Ottomans were laying siege on Constantinople in 1453 and getting ready to invade it, the Byzantine theologists were arguing about whether angels have sexes instead of doing anything useful.

21. Pagant, sant Pere canta = "if you pay, saint Peter sings". The person who hears it, might answer i sant Joan fa esclops = "and Saint John makes clogs". This means that money will get you anything, even the things that seemed impossible. It might be a reference to the Bible story where saint Peter was asked if he knew Christ after he was taken to crucify, and Peter lied three times and said he didn't know him. "To sing" in Catalan can also mean "to confess". Maybe, if they had paid him he would have confessed.

22. Perdre l'oremus = "to lose the oremus", meaning to lose control of yourself, or to get disoriented or lose memory. "Oremus" (which means "let's pray" in Latin) is the sentence that Catholic priests say during mass to lead a prayer. It's believed that this idiom comes from some incidents where a priest would start the sentence "oremus..." but then couldn't find the prayer he wanted to lead, which he might have misplaced somewhere else in his book. So he would say "oremus... uh... oremus..." while flipping the pages looking for the right one.

23. A bon sant t'encomanes! = "You entrust yourself to a good saint!", said with irony. It's said when you ask for help or rely on someone who is not competent.

24. Ser més papista que el Papa = "To be more Popeist than the Pope", meaning someone who is too dogmatic, too strict or extremist in following the rules, or who believes in or defends something in a more extreme way than the people most affected by it.

25. Qui no coneix Déu, a qualsevol sant li resa = "He who doesn't know God, prays to any saint", used to compare something very good to something worse that someone else likes, usually something worse but that is very popular.

And there's probably others that I forgot.

How many of these are shared with your language?

[fdelopera]

ok that's it. tomorrow i'm gonna publish my longer piece on why the modern day Arab Palestinians are NOT the same as the Ancient Greek Philistines (who all died out around 604 BCE when the Babylonians sieged Jerusalem).

Edit: Click here to read the longer version, with links!

but the tl;dr version is this:

we know that the Philistines are Ancient Greeks based on DNA-testing that's been done on their skeletons, and based on their pottery and artifacts, which are Ancient Mycenaean Greek. (the Torah is consistent with this -- it records them as being from Crete, which at that time was under Mycenaean Greek control)

also, being Greeks, the Philistines were not indigenous to the Levant. they were interlopers. the native Israelites fought with the Philistines over and over. the story of David and Goliath is likely a cultural memory of this conflict.

in Hebrew, the Philistines are called Peleshet, and they are likely the same as the Peleset tribe -- one of the tribes of "Sea Peoples" who tried (and failed) to conquer Egypt at the end of the Bronze Age.

and like, duh. obviously the Arab Palestinians and the Greek Philistines are not the same people.

but there are some really bad actors (both in the conspiracy sense, and in the literal "drama" sense) on Tiktok who are trying to erase Jewish history by spreading conspiracy theories that somehow Philistines and Palestinians are "the same". (omg the people who believe this shit are so dumb!!)

they're doing it so they can claim that "Jesus was a Palestinian".

ugh, it gives me a headache even to write something as stupid as that.

no, ya dumb-dumbs. Jesus was a Judaean Jew. he was from Bethlehem. in Judaea.

you know, Judaea. the place where the Jews are from.

deep sigh.

and like, clearly these people have not read a Bible ... ever ... because being associated with the Philistines was NOT a good thing!! they were literally the worst!

the Philistines were Ancient Mycenaean Greeks from Crete.

and the Palestinians are modern day Arabs.

and there is zero connection between them.

the only "connection" is that after the Romans tried to murder all the Jews in the Levant, following the Jewish Bar Kochba revolt in 135 AD, the Romans renamed Judaea, and gave it the name "Syria-Palaestina". they did this to try to wipe the cultural memory of Jews "off the map". they literally went through the Torah, found the name of one of the Judaeans' historical enemies (the Philistines), and renamed the region using that name.

so by claiming that "Jesus was a Palestinian", not only are you calling him a Philistine (ew), you're also giving him the name that the ROMANS WHO CRUCIFIED HIM renamed Judaea after trying to murder LOTS OF OTHER JEWS.

G-d these people are so dumb!!!

[dammit-tazmuir]

John Chapter Verses

Didn't realize until I saw this post that the titles for John's chapters in Nona the Ninth carried extra meaning with the associated Bible verses. (I did wonder why those numbers but hadn't looked into it yet.)

So mostly for my own reference (1599 Geneva translation because it's shortened "GNV" and my brain is saying "Gideon Nav" so it's as good a reason as any to pick one), and with mini notes for what's in each chapter.

John 20:8 (Initial setup, the cryo project gets shut down.)

Then went in also the other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw it, and believed.

John 5:20 (John is "having six breakthroughs a day" and discovers the bodies he'd touched won't decay.)

For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things, whatsoever he himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these, that ye should marvel.

John 15:23 (P— helps buy time. John first makes the bodies move.)

Whoever hates me hates my Father also.

John 5:18 ("We all thought of you right away, what it could mean for you." They're afraid of getting hushed up, of getting disappeared. So they turn to the internet.)

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him: not only because he had broken the Sabbath: but said also that God was his Father, and made himself equal with God.

John 8:1 (John's being called the Antichrist, among other things. M—'s nun joins the group and tells him, hey jackass, regulate this more or they're gonna do to you what they did to Jesus. Also cows.)

And Jesus went unto the mount of Olives,

John 19:18 (In the dream, the water keeps rising and they head to the top of a hill. FTL is announced and John is pissed.)

Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

John 5:1 (P— insists they need to be scarier to be taken seriously. John, now with Ulysses and Titania as constant bodyguards, goes to the meeting where he's asked to puppet a world leader. A— and M— and John play Bad Cop, Worse Cop, and Sorry Cop until they walk away with a couple billion and a nuke.)

After that, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went to Jerusalem.

John 3:20 (John is told to pick a priority, exposing FTL or saving earth. They learn just how bullshit the FTL plans were. John commits to being a cult leader and a necromancer.)

For every man that evil doeth, hateth the light, neither cometh to light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

John 9:22 (The nun keeps insisting the soul is the missing piece. "Guys as careful as me don't make mistakes.")

These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had ordained already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be excommunicated out of the Synagogue.

John 1:20 (All the shit hits all the fans. Alecto is formed.)

And he confessed and denied not, and said plainly, "I am not that Christ."

John 5:4 (Harrow addresses John. She sets off at the end to the tower in the distance, walking through the water.)

For an Angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first, after the stirring of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

[jessicalprice]

all hail her excellent braids

Christians: omg first century Judaism was soooo misogynistic but Jesus was like the first feminist because he treated women like people

Jews: what

Christians: like, Jewish men would cross to the other side of the street to avoid having to be too close to women

Jews: hang on do you think there were, like, sidewalks in first-century Jerusalem?

Christians: and Jewish women weren't supposed to be seen in public

Jews: that's not how--

Christians: and men weren't even supposed to talk to women, but Jesus had female followers <3

Jews: first-century Jewish women owned their own businesses and represented themselves in court and, like, how are you imagining business got done if they weren't allowed to talk?

President Jimmy fucking Carter: first century Jews were basically the Taliban

A bazillion seminary textbooks: yup, the Pharisees were obsessed with ritual purity and viewed women as inherently unclean and Jesus upended all that Pharisaic hatred of women and that's why they wanted him dead

Shlomtzion, aka Salome Alexandra, has entered the chat.

Ahem, let me tell you about the Pharisee Queen.

So back in the day, the Pharisees were a tiny, persecuted movement because the King of Judah, Alexander Jannaeus hated them. He straight-up massacred 6,000 of them when they pelted him with fruit after he mocked them by performing a Sukkot ritual incorrectly, which kicked off a whole civil war. He won the war, and slaughtered the wives and children of 800 of the surviving Pharisees as entertainment at his victory feast before crucifying the men. The remaining Pharisees went into hiding.

Just a charming dude.

Alexander Jannaeus was married to Salome Alexandra (Shlomtzion, in Hebrew).

Her brother was Shimon ben Shetach, the leader of the Pharisees. (If you're getting Esther vibes here, that's probably not accidental.

She doesn't seem to have had much power while Alexander Jannaeus was alive, but she managed to help hide and protect the surviving Pharisees.

This doesn't seem to have negatively impacted her relationship with her husband, because he named her--rather than any of his sons--his heir while he was on his deathbed.

He was in the middle of conducting a siege of Ragaba when he died, so like the incredible badass she was, became queen--and would be both only the second queen regnant of Judah and the last sovereign Jewish monarch--on the battlefield, in the midst of hostilities.

She had to conceal her husband's death until she'd won the day.

As soon as she made his death public, she reached out to the Pharisees to make peace between them and the throne, avoiding a popular uprising at his funeral. The funeral went off smoothly, and she immediately began settling other political disputes and enmities.

She also hung out and studied with the Pharisees. We know this because Josephus, an ardent misogynist, absolutely hated that she did this, just like he absolutely hated that she had ruled Judah, and wrote about it.

Josephus had been a Sadducee (main opposing party to the Pharisees), but switched to the Pharisees later in life for political expediency. He never seemed to actually like them, though.

He tells on himself so much.

"Oh, people love the Pharisees because they are humane and flexible interpreters of the law and practice what they preach and this is a BAD THING!"

Literally, on Shlomtzion: "Woman though she was, she established her authority by her reputation for piety."

Like, everyone respected her and did what she said because she actually gave a shit about ethics and somehow this is a BAD thing.

She averted war with Egypt by buddying up to Cleopatra (I am so headcanoning them as pen pals, writing each other to vent about all the men they have to deal with) and somehow this is a BAD thing.

So she takes the throne and manages to keep things running pretty smoothly in a precarious time because she's good at organizing AND military strategy AND diplomacy and here's Josephus on her relationship with the Pharisees:

"She paid too great heed to them, and they, availing themselves more and more of the simplicity of the woman, ended by becoming the effective rulers of the state... "

Ah yes, FlavJo, she sounds very "simple," what with the incredible military and diplomatic skills.

While she wasn't averse to fighting when she needed to, she mostly averted possible battles by fortifying and provisioning cities so well that neighboring monarchs opted not to attack them, so she was also just slaying at project management. She ended a bunch of the foreign wars her asshole husband started, and scrupulously kept to the terms of any treaties Judah was party to.

Her reign was possibly the most prosperous and peaceful period in Judah's history.

She gave the Sadducees (her husband's party) their own fortified cities so they'd stop feuding with the Pharisees, and took the Pharisees from a small, persecuted populist movement in hiding to one of the major political parties.

She set up a system of universal public education, putting the responsibility for educating the kids on the government, not families, to make sure it wasn't just rich kids getting a solid education. She re-established the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court, basically) and made sure every town under her rule had access to judges.

And then one of her asshole sons, who apparently took after his asshole dad, decided HE would be a better ruler than she was, and DECLARED WAR ON HIS OWN MOM. She died, apparently of an illness, in her 70s.

She died as the last free Jewish ruler.

So then that asshole son went after the other asshole son, and they turned to the Romans for help.

(You want to get occupied? This is how you get occupied.)

Yes, that's right, they committed one of the classic blunders: inviting the Romans in.

THE ROMANS ARE LIKE VAMPIRES. DO NOT INVITE THEM IN.

Anyway, we all know how THAT turned out.

In rabbinic literature, she's almost a fertility goddess figure, or a personification the land itself, or a monarch beloved by G-d possibly moreso than any other, since the rest of them all screwed up and the Jews got punished with war or exile or famine or disease: legend claims that during her reign, rain only fell on Shabbat, so people didn't have to work in the rain. Grains of wheat grew to the size of kidneys, and lentils were the size of gold denarii. The people knew joy like we've never known since and were healthy and prosperous and at peace.

She was praised by contemporaries such as Josephus as having greater intelligence, political skill, and military acumen than the men around her (although Josephus, an ardent misogynist, later decided that it was inappropriate for her to rule), and the stories of Esther, Judith, and Susanna may have been written (or in the case of Esther, edited and codified) in her honor. 

​Anyway, the Pharisees' teachings remained especially popular among women, and the person who saved them (and thus, by extension, Judaism, when they were the ones to preserve it in exile) and brought them to power and was their beloved patron was a woman, and maaaaaaybe Christians don't know the first thing about women in first-century Judaea or the Pharisees and women and should shut up, idk.

All hail Shlomtzion and her most excellent braids.

[talonabraxas]

St. George with the Swastika Gustav Adolf Closs (1937)

The Swastika – A Pure Spiritual Symbol

As rightly said by H. P. Blavatsky, the swastika or svastika is “the most sacred and mystic symbol in India.” It is a pure spiritual symbol which can be found on the historical remains and records of almost every nation, originating initially in India, the ancient Mother of our modern civilisation. It was also an important and much cherished symbol of the early Christians, who called it the “crux dissimulata” and often accompanied it with the inscription “Vitalis Vitalia” – “Life of Life.” They used the swastika for centuries, long before the crucifix form of the Cross was ever invented.

The symbol of the cross with the crucified Jesus on it did not exist until 700 A.D. or later, just as the doctrine of vicarious atonement and salvation through the blood of Jesus did not exist in its present form until the beginning of the Middle Ages.

It must be repeatedly emphasised that the swastika was never thought of in any way by anyone as being an evil or “dark” symbol until Hitler misappropriated it as the symbol of Nazism. Tragically the image of the swastika continues to strike fear and horror into the hearts of many, due to their not knowing its true spiritual origins and meaning. Despite its modern negative connotations, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists all over the world retain their right to the use of the swastika as a spiritual symbol.

It’s true and unspeakably tragic that millions of Jews were “slaughtered under the sign of the swastika,” as a visitor to the site unnecessarily reminded us, but why should millions of Indians and followers of Indian religions be denied the right to use the symbol which is theirs by right? Should Hitler still be allowed to triumph over the minds of men, even in death?

He also misappropriated and misrepresented the word “Aryan” – using it to mean a so-called “perfect race” of blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned people – whereas in its actual and historical sense, which is the sense in which the term is used in Theosophy, the word “Aryan” means “Indian.” Ancient India was called Aryavarta and the Aryans were the inhabitants of this land. The swastika symbolises and represents:

(1) Auspiciousness, since the true and literal meaning of the Sanskrit word “Swastika” is “All is well.”

(2) The continual motion and revolution of the invisible forces of the universe and the cycles of time, represented by the four arms of the cross being bent at right angles to signify motion and rotation.

(3) The Seal of the Heart or Heart’s Seal of Buddhism. It can be seen engraved on the chest of Buddha in many statues of him around the world.

(4) Fohat, cosmic electricity.

“Applied to the Microcosm, Man, it shows him to be a link between heaven and Earth: the right hand being raised at the end of a horizontal arm, the left pointing to the Earth. . . . It is at one and the same time an Alchemical, Cosmogonical, Anthropological, and Magical sign, with seven keys to its inner meaning. It is not too much to say that the compound symbolism of this universal and most suggestive of signs contains the key to the seven great mysteries of Kosmos. . . . It is the Alpha and the Omega of universal creative Force, evolving from pure Spirit and ending in gross Matter. It is also the key to the cycle of Science, divine and human; and he who comprehends its full meaning is for ever liberated from the toils of Mahamaya, the great Illusion and Deceiver. . . . So ancient is the symbol and so sacred, that there is hardly an excavation made on the sites of old cities without its being found.” – H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2

There is a need for articles such as this, in order to let people know the true origins and nature of things. The swastika is undoubtedly still very taboo in the Western world but spiritually educated people can help to bring about something of a reclaiming of what is originally, initially, and inherently a pure spiritual symbol and what is still such for followers of Eastern religion.

[girlactionfigure]

tis the season

DECEMBER 3, 2024

You can’t have it both ways.

If Jesus was “Palestinian,” how come these people never want to claim the Jews that supposedly killed him?

Posted in 2022 by former Al Jazeera director general, Yasser Abu Hilala.  

So Jesus was Palestinian but Judas was a Jew? Explain to me how that works, please.

For 2000 years, Jews were persecuted in the worst ways -- including multiple incidences of genocide and ethnic cleansing -- on the charge that we killed Jesus.

 But now, Palestinian propaganda wants to claim Jesus as one of their own. Taking all of the credit but none of the persecution that comes along with actually being Jewish...isn’t that textbook cultural appropriation?

Jesus of Nazareth was born in either 6 or 4 BCE And was crucified in either 30 or 33 CE.

During his lifetime, the territory now encompassing Israel and the Palestinian Territories first belonged to the Herodian Kingdom, a client state of the Roman Empire. It was later annexed to the Roman empire as the Roman province of Judea. At the time, its Indigenous Jewish and Samaritan inhabitants interchangeably referred to it as either “Judea” or “Israel.”

Jesus and Mary never heard the term “Palestinian” in their lives, given the identity did not exist yet.

FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME: JESUS WAS NOT PALESTINIAN OR A PALESTINIAN JEW

Jesus was born in the Herodian Kingdom of Judea, a Roman Empire client state. When he was around 10 to 12 years old, Judea became a province of the Roman Empire.  

The Roman Emperor Hadrian dissolved the province of “Judea” and merged the territory into a new province, which he named “Syria-Palestina” in 135 CE, over 100 years after Jesus died. The reason for the name change? To erase all Jewish ties to the land. The first Arab to identify as “Palestinian” was Khalil Beidas in 1898, over 1,800 years after Jesus died.

JESUS WAS NOT A PALESTINIAN JEW, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO SUCH THING

The vast majority of historians date the emergence of a cohesive Palestinian national identity to the interwar period between the two world wars, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the rapidly souring relations between Palestinian Arabs and Jews. However, some historians date the emergence of a cohesive Palestinian national identity to the 1834 Syrian Peasant’s Revolt. If you’re keeping count, a Palestinian identity did not exist until at least 1834, some 1800 years after the death of Jesus.  

The first Arab to identify as Palestinian was Khalil Beidas in 1898 — nearly two millennia after Jesus was crucified.  

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Jews were brutally massacred during the Peasant’s Revolt; that is, from the very beginnings of Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian Arabs did not consider Jews to be a part of the Palestinian nation, despite the fact that these Jews had lived there for hundreds, if not thousands of years, long before the Arab conquest of the region.

Even to this day, Palestinians make it abundantly clear that Palestinians are Arab. Regardless of any given individual’s DNA makeup, Palestinians speak Arabic and predominantly practice Islam, a religion which originated in the Arabian Peninsula. Their flag is a variation of the pan-Arab flag. Most prominent Palestinian families trace their lineage directly to the Arabian Peninsula. The current charter of the Palestinian Authority — the internationally-recognized Palestinian government — states that Palestine is “an indivisible part of the Arab homeland.” But the Arabs did not conquer Palestine until 637 — some 600 years after Jesus died.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE "PALESTINIAN JEWS"?

In 1948, they became Israeli citizens, either because they lived in Israel proper (within the Green Line), or because the entire Jewish population of Judea and Samaria (later renamed the West Bank), East Jerusalem, and Gaza were expelled...to Israel.

The entire ancient Jewish community of East Jerusalem is given an hour’s notice to pack their belongings and leave their homes in May of 1948.

IN ANY CASE, THE "PALESTINIAN JEWS" ULTIMATELY BECAME ZIONISTS

While there were strong tensions between the pre-existing Jewish community in Palestine (known now as the Old Yishuv) and the newer Zionist immigrants (known as the New Yishuv), the leaders of the Old Yishuv were supportive of a sovereign, Jewish national home. For instance, Yaakov Meir spoke fluent Hebrew and encouraged the construction of new Jewish Quarters in Jerusalem. He also eagerly supported the re-establishment of an independent Jewish Israeli nation.

At the 1921 Cairo Conference, the Jewish National Council of Palestine, which represented the interests of the “Palestinian” Jews, thanked the British for supporting "the rebuilding of the Jewish National Home" (for more on how the British betrayed Zionism, see my post, “The British”) and asked that in doing so, Jews did not deprive Arabs “of their legitimate rights.” They also applauded the new Zionist immigrants for their accomplishments in the last 40 years, such as the cultivation of the land, which had undergone desertification after centuries of colonial mismanagement.  

Even the most isolated and ancient Jewish community in Palestine, the Musta’arabi Jews of Peki’in, who had lived in the Galilee continuously since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, formed relationships with the Zionist movement, when, in 1922, a young Zionist activist and historian named Yitzhak Ben Zvi connected with the tiny community. Ben Zvi later became the second president of Israel.

After the 1929 antisemitic massacres, which targeted not the new Zionist immigrants but the oldest Jewish communities in Palestine, virtually all Jews in Mandatory Palestine united under the Zionist cause, with many of them joining the Jewish paramilitaries Haganah and Irgun. In 1947, a representative of the Old Yishuv, Eliahu Eliachar, testified before the United Nations, passionately arguing in favor of the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state in Palestine.

JESUS (AND MARY) WAS NOT A CANAANITE

Palestinians are an Arab ethnonational group; in other words, Palestinian is a nationality. Arab culture and religion, though part of the Semitic family, is not Canaanite in origin. The predominant religion in the Palestinian Territories, Islam, has no Canaanite origins either (unless you count what was taken from the Hebrew Tanakh), but rather, originated in the Arabian Peninsula. Unlike the Jewish language (Hebrew), culture (e.g. Passover), and religion (e.g. the name “Israel” itself coming from the Canaanite pantheon), Palestinian language, culture, and religion does not come from the Canaanites.

A Palestinian identity independent from a greater Arab identity did not begin to emerge until the interwar period before the two world wars. In other words, it’s a post-colonial identity, formed some 1200 years after the Arab Empire colonized the Land of Israel, and nearly 3000 years after the Canaanites existed.

To be clear: neither Palestinians nor Jews are Canaanites.Canaanites no longer exist, and they had ceased to exist long before Mary and Jesus. However, culturally and linguistically, as well as genetically, Jews clearly descend from the ancient Canaanite cultures. Palestinians do not, even though some Palestinians do have Jewish or Samaritan genetic ancestry.

DID THE JEWS KILL JESUS?

According to the extra-Biblical historical record, it’s impossible for the Jews to have executed -- or sentenced Jesus to death -- because the Romans stripped away the ability for the Jews to carry out sentences in 28 CE. Jesus was crucified, two to five years later, in either 30 or 33 CE. Had the Jews been involved, even marginally, Jesus would have been stoned, rather than crucified, as crucifixion was a Roman punishment -- on Jews who threatened their rule often. On the other hand, according to the Gospels, it was the Jewish Sanhedrin that sentenced Jesus to death. Some things to consider:

The first Gospel to be written was the Gospel of Mark, written around 60-70 CE, right during the period of the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans. In this Gospel, the death of Jesus is portrayed as a collusion between the Jews and Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Regardless, here, it is clear that Pilate is the one who orders Jesus’ crucifixion.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke were written next, some 10-20 years after the destruction of the second Jewish Temple in 70 CE. This period marked significant conflict between the Jews and the Nazoreans (i.e. New Christians). This is reflected in these Gospels, as the role of the Romans is diminished; for instance, Pilate’s wife intercedes for Jesus and Pilate washes his hands as a sign of innocence.

 The Gospel of Luke came next, though historians argue over the exact date during which it was written. Some believe it was in 80-90 CE, 10-20 years after the destruction of the Temple, while others believe it was written later, between 90-110 CE. Many believe the Gospel was still being revised well into the second century. What we do know is that the Gospel of Luke was written for a different audience: a Roman audience. To win the new audience’s favor, the role of the Romans was almost completely whitewashed.

The Gospel of John, written between 90-110 CE, implicitly blames not the Romans, not the Jewish authorities, but the Jews as a collective for the crucifixion of Jesus, finally completely severing Christianity from its Jewish origins. The Romans adopted Christianity in 313 CE. The bishop of Constantinople between 398-407 CE, John Chrysosom, was the first to declare Jews “Christ-killers.”

NOW, WAIT A MINUTE...

Yasser Arafat (late head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian national movement) with Nayef Hawatmeh (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and Palestinian writer Kamal Nasser in Amman, Jordan, 1970.

Could it be that rabid Israel hatred and anti-Zionism is driven by the same antisemitism that has taken millions of Jewish lives for over 2000 years?

For a full bibliography of my sources, please head over to my Instagram and  Patreon. 

rootsmetals

happy Jesus (and Mary apparently) was a Palestinian season 🙏🏼 Jesus was not a Palestinian, Canaanite, or Israeli. He was a Jew from Judea, descended, like all Jews, from the ancient Israelites. “Judea” is a Romanization of “Yehuda” (Judah, as in the southern Israelite kingdom of Judah). In Hebrew, Jew is “Yehudi” (Judahite, as in someone from Judah). Jew = Judean. “Jew” is more than a religious identity. It’s a national identity (not to be confused with a modern nationality).

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Jesus Rises!

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.

12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

14 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.

15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. — Matthew 28 | King James Version (KJV) The King James Version Bible is in the public domain Cross References: Proverbs 8:15; Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 26:2; Daniel 7:9; Daniel 10:6; Matthew 9:31; Matthew 12:14; Matthew 12:40; Matthew 14:27; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 23:7; Matthew 26:32; Matthew 27:2; Matthew 27:8; Matthew 27:56 Matthew 27:60-61; Matthew 27:65-66; Mark 1:45; Mark 14:28; Mark 15:41; Mark 16:4; Mark 16:7; Mark 16:11; Luke 24:47; John 20:14; John 20:17; Acts 1:2-3; Acts 1:8; Acts 18:10; Revelation 1:17

Matthew 28 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise)

Key Passages in Matthew 28

1. Christ's resurrection is declared by an angel to the women. 9. He himself appears unto them. 11. The chief priests pay the soldiers to say that he was stolen out of his tomb. 16. Christ appears to his disciples, 18. and sends them to baptize and teach all nations.

[spot-the-antisemitism]

I'd like to start with a disclaimer that examples I will give no longer reflect my views, and i have outgrown the stupid reasoning and mindset they are from.

But I remember them. I have too. I have to gnaw on them to bits and refute them so i never make the mistake of believing those views again.

Something I'd like to say is I don't think some people, in this case pagans, modern polytheists, and again, not as a whole but I suspect there is self searching they dont do. This might extend to ex christians etc cultural christians etc

I'm more or less refering to myself or my former

I found there was a slippery slope I used to go down.

"Oh! So much bad stuff is happening and happened, its the fault of Christians."

Which rapidly slid into

"Oh, but obviously not all are bad people, So what caused Christianity

Oh Christ was Jewish! If only those stupid Jews had kept him under control or Only if those stupid Jews weren't around or made to pay for their stupid Monotheistic culture rawr rawr rawr

I don't hate them the same way nazis did because that was wrong but my reason is obviously morally right"

Obviously these were terrible shit takes from the brain of a college student catholic turned neo pagan

(Ironically my breaking or lapsing from Catholicism was based on the whole 'crucify him crucify him' holy week liturgy, not to mention growing up in Germany and Spain and being keenly aware of the historical violence against Jews)

Thankfully I have learned and grown. I suspect others out there have had similar moments or line of thoughts and have never reflected on it or thought, hey thats fucked up why am I thinking that.

So that's sort of why I'm sharing this. Its never too late for people to admit they have wrong edgy anti semetic takes and learn from mistakes, never repeat and move on to being a better person. As well as a better ally.

Dear Lavender,

thank you for admitting this,

during my edgy atheist phase I also thought that the Old Testament was the reason for all the bad stuff in the biblr and the New Testament was actually better

but man I can see why you disaavow “I wish the Jews killed Jesus then we wouldn’t have Christianity”

It is a bit like all those people who think that by changing one historical event they’d prevent World War Two, however.

thank you for not only moving on but coming forward with such a story

Yours,

Cecil

[myremnantarmy]

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Jn 19:31-37

Since it was preparation day,

in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,

for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,

the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken

and they be taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first

and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs,

but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,

and immediately blood and water flowed out.

An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;

he knows that he is speaking the truth,

so that you also may come to believe.

For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:

Not a bone of it will be broken.

And again another passage says:

They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

[hiswordsarekisses]

“No one in his right mind would fabricate this religion; many would (and do) look at us as fools. But when the Spirit fills this strange framework with inward life and fullness, it becomes rich and beautiful — a magnificent story of divine love for humanity, a glorious rescue mission with a stunningly personal touch.

To the one whose eyes have been opened by the Spirit, this story — and the Person at the center of it — becomes life itself and the only way to make sense of it.

What once appeared shallow is now deep. What once looked senseless now seems to be the only plausible truth. The faith that struck you as foolish now fills your heart with meaning. What was once overwhelming is now empowering. What’s the difference?

The Spirit and the vision he gives us.

Without the living, breathing presence of the Spirit, Christianity appears to be an impotent, absurd belief system, a poor framework for understanding the world and beyond.

That’s why, to Spiritless eyes, we’re subject to so much mockery. (Granted, some mockery is deserved. Much of it is not.) But it’s also why we have to insist on seeing everything — life, other people, ourselves — through the lens of the Spirit.”

~ Chris Tiegreen

“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.””

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭31‬

[useless-catalanfacts]

If you visit the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona (Catalonia), you might be intrigued by these squares with numbers. Like every detail in the building, it has a symbolic meaning.

These are a very particular kind of magic squares. A "magic square" is a series of numbers on a square grid, placed so that any row, column, or diagonal line always adds up to the same number. Well, to be fair, there is one more rule for the normal magic squares which this one doesn't follow: the squares cannot repeat numbers and must use all numbers from 1 to the number of squares possible (for example, a square of 3x3 would have numbers from 1 to 9, a square of 4x4 would have them from 1 to 16, etc). When this rule is followed, the number that results from the addition will always be the same (in a square of 3x3, the sum of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9 = 45, and each row, column and diagonal line sums 45/3 = 15; in a 4 x 4 magic square, where the sum of all the numbers from 1 to 16 is 136, the magic constant is 136/4 = 34). For mathematical reasons, the resulting number cannot be chosen, it will always be the same one if we follow those rules.

And here is why this one doesn't follow that rule, and it's on purpose. It doesn’t have all the numbers from 1 to 16 (it is missing the 12 and 16) and some numbers are repeated. And why did they do that? Here's the important bit: the result of the sum isn’t 34 (as would always be in a 4x4 magic square), but 33.

The sculptor who created the Sagrada Família's Passion façade (the artist Josep Maria Subirachs, following architect Antoni Gaudí's vision) took a different spin for these squares. Magic squares have been used as talismans in many cultures for millennia, since ancient cultures including 3rd millennium BC China, Ancient India, Ancient Egypt, Arab, and Greek cultures, among others. For the Sagrada Família (a Christian temple), Subirachs used to hide a number of great significance in Christian symbolism.

Painting Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer (1514) and a detail from it.

Subirachs adapted a magic square from this engraving by Dürer and changed it so that it would add up to 33: the age that Jesus Christ is traditionally believed to have been when he was executed. A number based on the repetition of another of the most important numbers in Christianity: 3, symbolizing the holy trinity.

The square in the Sagrada Família manages to add 33 by repeating some numbers and skipping others. But it also goes further than adding up 33 in every row, column, and diagonal line. The same number can also be obtained with many other combinations. Here are some of them:

Plus, in the magic square at the Sagrada Família, there is also a sort of hidden subliminal signature: adding up the numbers that repeat and looking at their correspondence in the Roman alphabet, we get the initials INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum = "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" in Latin), which was written on the sign at the top of the cross where Jesus was crucified.

This way, mathematics, art history and religious symbolism all come together in this little symbol.

Photos from Alamy, Martin Leicht, Sagrada Família blog. Text adapted from Sagrada Família blog. All the graphs with the numbers are from that same article.

[orthodoxadventure]

HOLY PASCHA: The Resurrection of Our Lord

Commemorated on May 5

Pascha (Easter)

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. (Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. Saint Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain (I Cor. 15:14). Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut (John 20: 19). Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4): “. . . for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . the holy city, new Jerusalem. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. . . He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:1-4).

In His death and resurrection, Christ defeats the last enemy, death, and thereby fulfills the mandate of His Father to subject all things under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-26).

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Rev. 5: 12)

THE FEAST OF FEASTS

The Christian faith is celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. True celebration is always a living participation. It is not a mere attendance at services. It is communion in the power of the event being celebrated. It is God’s free gift of joy given to spiritual men as a reward for their self-denial. It is the fulfillment of spiritual and physical effort and preparation. The resurrection of Christ, being the center of the Christian faith, is the basis of the Church’s liturgical life and the true model for all celebration. This is the chosen and holy day, first of sabbaths, king and lord of days, the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days. On this day we bless Christ forevermore (Irmos 8, Paschal Canon).

PREPARATION

Twelve weeks of preparation precede the “feast of feasts.” A long journey which includes five prelenten Sundays, six weeks of Great Lent and finally Holy Week is made. The journey moves from the self-willed exile of the prodigal son to the grace-filled entrance into the new Jerusalem, coming down as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2) Repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and study are the means by which this long journey is made.

Focusing on the veneration of the Cross at its midpoint, the lenten voyage itself reveals that the joy of the resurrection is achieved only through the Cross. “Through the cross joy has come into all the world,” we sing in one paschal hymn. And in the paschal troparion, we repeat again and again that Christ has trampled down death—by death! Saint Paul writes that the name of Jesus is exalted above every name because He first emptied Himself, taking on the lowly form of a servant and being obedient even to death on the Cross (Phil. 2:5-11). The road to the celebration of the resurrection is the self-emptying crucifixion of Lent. Pascha is the passover from death to life.

Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ. Today I arise with Thee in Thy resurrection. Yesterday I was crucified with Thee: Glorify me with Thee, O Savior, in Thy kingdom (Ode 3, Paschal Canon).

THE PROCESSION

The divine services of the night of Pascha commence near midnight of Holy Saturday. At the Ninth Ode of the Canon of Nocturn, the priest, already vested in his brightest robes, removes the Holy Shroud from the tomb and carries it to the altar table, where it remains until the leave-taking of Pascha. The faithful stand in darkness. Then, one by one, they light their candles from the candle held by the priest and form a great procession out of the church. Choir, servers, priest and people, led by the bearers of the cross, banners, icons and Gospel book, circle the church. The bells are rung incessantly and the angelic hymn of the resurrection is chanted.

The procession comes to a stop before the principal doors of the church. Before the closed doors the priest and the people sing the troparion of Pascha, “Christ is risen from the dead...”, many times. Even before entenng the church the priest and people exchange the paschal greeting: “Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!” This segment of the paschal services is extremely important. It preserves in the expenence of the Church the primitive accounts of the resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Gospels. The angel rolled away the stone from the tomb not to let a biologically revived but physically entrapped Christ walk out, but to reveal that “He is not here; for He has risen, as He said” (Matt. 28:6).

In the paschal canon we sing:

Thou didst arise, O Christ, and yet the tomb remained sealed, as at Thy birth the Virgin’s womb remained unharmed; and Thou has opened for us the gates of paradise (Ode 6).

Finally, the procession of light and song in the darkness of night, and the thunderous proclamation that, indeed, Christ is risen, fulfill the words of the Evangelist John: “The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

The doors are opened and the faithful re-enter. The church is bathed in light and adorned with flowers. It is the heavenly bride and the symbol of the empty tomb:

Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise Brighter than any royal chamber, Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain or our resurrection (Paschal Hours).

MATINS

Matins commences immediately. The risen Christ is glorified in the singing of the beautiful canon of Saint John of Damascus. The paschal greeting is repeatedly exchanged. Near the end of Matins the paschal verses are sung. They relate the entire narrative of the Lord’s resurrection. They conclude with the words calling us to actualize among each other the forgiveness freely given to all by God:

This is the day of resurrection. Let us be illumined by the feast. Let us embrace each other. Let us call “brothers” even those who hate us, And forgive all by the resurrection. . .

The sermon of Saint John Chrysostom is then read by the celebrant. The sermon was originally composed as a baptismal instruction. It is retained by the Church in the paschal services because everything about the night of Pascha recalls the Sacrament of Baptism: the language and general terminology of the liturgical texts, the specific hymns, the vestment color, the use of candles and the great procession itself. Now the sermon invites us to a great reaffirmation of our baptism: to union with Christ in the receiving of Holy Communion.

If any man is devout and loves God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. . . the table is fully laden; feast you all sumptuously. . . the calf is fatted, let no one go hungry away. . .

THE DIVINE LITURGY

The sermon announces the imminent beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The altar table is fully laden with the divine food: the Body and Blood of the risen and glorified Christ. No one is to go away hungry. The service books are very specific in saying that only he who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ eats the true Pascha. The Divine Liturgy, therefore, normally follows immediately after paschal Matins. Foods from which the faithful have been asked to abstain during the lenten journey are blessed and eaten only after the Divine Liturgy.

THE DAY WITHOUT EVENING

Pascha is the inauguration of a new age. It reveals the mystery of the eighth day. It is our taste, in this age, of the new and unending day of the Kingdom of God. Something of this new and unending day is conveyed to us in the length of the paschal services, in the repetition of the paschal order for all the services of Bright Week, and in the special paschal features retained in the services for the forty days until Ascension. Forty days are, as it were, treated as one day. Together they comprise the symbol of the new time in which the Church lives and toward which she ever draws the faithful, from one degree of glory to another.

O Christ, great and most holy Pascha. O Wisdom, Word and Power of God, grant that we may more perfectly partake of Thee in the never-ending day of Thy kingdom (Ninth Ode, Paschal Canon).

The V. Rev. Paul Lazor New York, 1977

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Daily Devotionals for October 15, 2024 

Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living

Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 26:12 (KJV): 12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 26:12 (AMP): 12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes and conceit? There is more hope for a (self-confident) fool than for him.

Thought for the Day

We all are prone to trust our own understanding rather than the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." A fool rejects good counsel and stubbornly trusts his own inclinations. He is wise in his own estimation. Intelligent people consider themselves to be wise, and usually are - but with mere worldly wisdom. Godless, intellectual people are knowledgeable about many things, but knowledge "puffs up." 1 Corinthians 8:1 says, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Pride makes it difficult for people to turn to God and learn true wisdom. Many intellectuals see no need to believe in God or for a nation to follow His laws. They measure everything by their own understanding, reflecting Lucifer's pride. The arrogant person who trusts his intellect and rejects the Bible as untrue is a greater fool. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1a). This is because he simply relies on his own opinions and instincts and neglects God's Word. Man's wisdom alone, without God, will eventually fail him.

Pride is a deadly sin. David cried out to be delivered from the sins in his life which were hidden from his personal knowledge. "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression" (Psalm 19:12-13). He especially asked to be held back from sins of presumption that would lead to the sin of the "great transgression." I believe that great transgression is pride. Exalting oneself in one's own thinking is the opposite of God's character. It is especially wicked if it leads one to exalt oneself above God. As we saw, Satan, originally named Lucifer, committed this great transgression. Though he was the anointed cherub, his heart was lifted up because of his beauty. He corrupted his wisdom for the sake of his splendor. In his pride, he desired God's throne and set his will against God's (Ezekiel 28:12-19). Because he chose to rebel, he lost his position in heaven and will be banished to hell (Isaiah 14:12-15).

"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:20-25).

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear Heavenly Father, we want to pray as David did, for deliverance from the great transgression of pride. Lord, show us any sin in our lives that we are blinded to seeing, so that we may repent. Set us free from those things that would keep us from becoming like You. Lord, I desire to have a humble heart before You and before others. Help me not to be condescending to others, but to prefer others and esteem them. May we all give honor to whom honor is due, and especially may we not only honor You but also bring honor to You. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Good Morning USA From: Steven P. Miller, @ParkermillerQ,gatekeeperwatchman.org  TM ‎Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups.

[hieromonkcharbel]

Do we celebrate the status quo or the birth of the crucified and risen Lord?

"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Matthew 21:23

Forever Christ will be the crucified and risen King, and all his subjects, in order fully to share his life, will likewise have to undergo their Master’s destiny. Clearly, this manner of salvation will put a radical end to our previous way of life and its manifold compromises, accommodations, and plain chronic mediocrity. Such a Savior will not leave us unchanged in heart, mind, or body, and radical transformation has always been the ancestral enemy of any existence governed by blind instinct and having static survival as the supreme value. The Christ-principle is by definition the enemy of the religious and psychological status quo. To those who view faith and religion mainly as a comforting source of security, Jesus could repeat the words spoken by God to the Jews through Jeremiah: “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jer 23:29).

CAN WE IMAGINE THE FOLLY of someone shaking his fist at the sun on a bright day and shouting angrily, ‘By what right are you shining your rays on me? By what right do you dare to make flowers grow?’ Yet these objections are precisely what the priests and elders are hurling at Jesus even in the face of the obvious wisdom and goodness of his deeds.

As witnesses of the Jewish leaders knee-jerk habit of opposing and maligning Jesus throughout the Gospel narrative, we cannot help but recall this lightning-like intuition of Pascal: Les hommes ont mépris pour la religion; ils en ont haine, de peur qu’elle soit vraie: “Human beings despise religion. They hate it out of fear that it might be true.” We fear that the truth of religion will wreak havoc with all the pseudo-truths on which we have constructed our life and world view. And the most efficient way of neutralizing true religion’s subversive character and lethal radioactivity is to encase it in a leaden shrine of well-behaved, conventional, observant religion that will create the mirage of dutiful piety and devotion. The greatest enemy of faith is not atheism but conventional religion, practiced by rote or out of a host of social, psychological, ethnic, and other factors wholly foreign to divine revelation.

The religious leaders can engage in “dialogue” only with those who already share their own prejudices, a fact that of course negates the possibility of any true dialogue with the Other, and that condemns them, in their obstinacy, to the perpetual aridity of the communal monologue. Expediency, and not truth, motivates such leaders. The supreme commandment they seem implicitly to be obeying is always to take the fullest advantage from the situation at hand so as to preserve the status quo they control. To them the extraordinary prophetic figure of John the Baptist, with the piercing eyes and a voice like an archangel’s, represents the merest abstract cipher in a social game of power. What do they, in fact, care whether or not the Baptist came to Israel and the world from God with the

most vital message of salvation? They only care to win the argument, to master the threatening situation. They weigh their options solely on the basis of social effect and usefulness. They know the game so well that they even anticipate being stabbed by a terrible further question by Jesus: “Then why did you not believe him?” The possibility of faith leading to conversion of heart instantly degenerates in their calculations into just one more negotiable concept, another pawn on their elaborate socio-theological chessboard. Their manner of playing with the holiest elements of true interior religion scandalizes us, of course. And yet, if we are honest, we will recognize in their ploys for self-assertion the genuine reflection of our own inevitable manner of swerving at a

heart’s flutter from the most intense desire to follow Jesus faithfully, wherever the path may take us, to the crassest impulses and maneuvers. These are precisely those attitudes which, if translated historically, would at once align us with the crucifiers rather than the Crucified. Jesus’ question then echoes piercingly in our own consciences, too: ‘You confessed that I came from God. Then why did you not believe me with your life?’ True sanctity must consist in no longer having to turn our lives, whether spiritual or social, into a chessboard we madly try to control.

Merikakis