TRADITIONS, TRADITIONS!

It’s been said that God is no respecter of persons (75) but acts are more eloquent than words.

Jesus was visiting the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, a traditional Canaan region, when a woman ran unto him crying because her daughter was grievously ill, but he acted as if he had not noticed her (76). He certainly was showing how heavy Jewish traditions were inside his thoughts. He did not even want to talk to a Canaanite and continued walking. His disciples were embarrassed for what was happening and asked him to send her away.

He turned back and clearly said: “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. I am sorry you are not a Jew (77). On a previous occasion another one who was not a Jew came to him. This was a roman centurion looking for help in behalf of his servant who was sick (78). A parallel was drawn: a mother begging for her daughter and a roman centurion asking for his servant. Neither the mother nor the centurion were Jewish but he expressly denies any help to the woman just because she was from Canaan.

Traditions are heavy burden in minds of people.

She insisted, called him Lord, worshipped him and cried for help. She reminded him of her own condition, she was a servant of servants unto her brethren, (58) and he took the opportunity to express verbally what was just in his thoughts: it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to dogs (79). For the second time, this time not only faking he didn’t hear but also verbally he denies her any help because she belonged to a different type of race. Canaan was cursed while still in the crib. His descendants, the sons of Ishmael were not counted among the chosen ones. Abraham had to send him away in very grievous circumstances (80). Esau lost his birthright because he married women from Canaan (69). The race of these people contaminated God’s people in many occasions, and they had to be cast out.

The Lord was in front of a woman from Canaan and had already said no to her requests twice.

She humbles herself even more and asks for nothing but the crumbs that fall from her masters’ table (81). He then concedes her to be done according to her will and her daughter was healed from that instant.

His personal advise to the Twelve were to avoid the way of the Gentiles and any city of the Samaritans (81a) probably to avoid any predicament like the one he was in.

When I travel preaching He whom I was not lucky enough to meet personally, (but I clearly heard his voice on my way to Damascus), I find people with different and opposite ideas about his character and personality. I hope I can draw a better picture of him, so that we all can be better followers (82).

75. Acts 10: 34
76. Matthew 15: 22-23
77. Matthew 15: 24
78. Matthew 8: 5-11
79. Matthew 15:26
80. Genesis 21: 11
81. Matthew 15: 27-28
81a. Matthew 10:5
82. 1 Corinthians 11: 1

A MATTER OF RACIAL DIFFERENCE

Everything goes back to Abram, or so it seems.

Not specifically on this case. I need to go back to Noah and his three sons. Human race blooms again from them since the flood made all living creature disappear. Population of the world began again after Shem, Ham and Japheth produced their own sons (55). Canaan, one of Noah’s grandsons, son of Ham (56,57), plays an important role on this story.

Canaan is the only one cursed by Noah after the flood and he did nothing to receive that curse! (58). Noah was not drunk when he cursed his grandson to be “a servant of servants” unto his brethren. He was wide-awake and rational. Other causes were present that made him curse the little one and it is needed to review them in order to understand his actions.

The sons of Canaan founded cities from where the Canaanites bloomed: Sidon, Heth, Jebusite, Amorite, Girgasite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, Hamathite (59), and the land that they occupied and lived in was big, from Sidon to Gaza, including Sodom, Gomorrah and Lasha (60). After many generations, Abram appears in history and the Lord offers him the land where the Canaanites dwelled (61), a big land from the Nile River to the river Euphrates. Abram is already a rich, powerful man with a land promised by God Himself for him and his descendants, but he had no son…

His wife tries to solve the problem and offers Hagar, her servant, as a mistress to Abram (62). Abram accepted the offering (63). He was presently living in the land of Canaan and the maid was Egyptian, a native Canaanite as well. The son, Ishmael, who was born from a Canaanite woman never inherited the wealth of his father; on the contrary, he was cast out with his mother (64) and married another Canaanite from the land of Egypt (65). Being of Canaan descent was enough to disqualify Ishmael.

The rest of the story and the miracle God performs to let Sarah, a sterile woman, become pregnant is very popular among the Jews.

Isaac is born to Sarah, a non-Canaanite woman, and he is the one who inherits the wealth and power of his father Abram (66). If he wanted to continue enjoying all of this wealth he had to do a simple thing: not to marry a Canaanite (67). He is obedient to the rule set. He marries his niece, Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor; his father’s brother (68) but continues living in the land of Canaan since God promised it to them.

Rebekah had twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau, being the first born, was the legal heir of Isaac but he didn’t inherit the wealth and power since he married Judith and Basemath, both Canaanites. This caused great grief to both Esau’s parents (69). Rebekah talked to her husband Isaac and threatens to commit suicide if he doesn’t do something to prevent Jacob, her favorite, from marrying a Canaanite woman (70). Isaac expressly forbids Jacob to marry a Canaanite girl (71) and advises him to choose a wife among his cousins (72). Knowing that his father was not pleased with his wives (73) Esau marries again with Mahalat, daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham but she was also a Canaanite. Did he do this to increase his parents’ displeasure?

Later on, when all four wives of Jacob have already given birth and raised their sons, being all of them grown-ups, Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, falls in love with Sachem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a Prince among the Canaanites. She goes to live with him and her brothers feel ashamed for her action. They made an impossible offer in order to allow interracial marriage among their people and the Canaanites. They would accept Dinah to marry Sachem only if the Canaanites men are circumcised. The Canaanites accepted the offer with joy. They dreamed of a common future without restrictions with Jacob’s descent. After circumcision, when all the males of the city are sore and aching, the army of Jacob kills them all (74). They tricked them and exterminated them all. They wouldn’t allow anyone to marry a Canaanite, if they would, that person would immediately be cast out and not considered part of the family or tribe.

This was the heavy tradition regarding Canaan that Jesus inherited when he was born.

55. Genesis 10:1
56. Genesis 10:6
57. Genesis 9:18
58. Genesis 9:25-27
59. Genesis 10: 15-19
60. Genesis 10:19
61. Genesis 15: 18-21
62. Genesis 16:1
63. Genesis 16: 2
64. Genesis 21:10, 14
65. Genesis 21:21
66. Genesis 21: 1-3
67. Genesis 24: 3-4 ; 24:37
68. Genesis 22: 20-23; 24:24
69. Genesis 26: 34-35
70. Genesis 27: 46
71. Genesis 28: 1
72. Genesis 28: 2
73. Genesis 28: 8
74. Genesis Chapter 34

THE LIE THAT ALLOWED SETTLEMENT

“Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice”(45) Peter was commanded by Jesus. This was clearly a command and not a prophecy as many people try to interpret. Had he not obeyed, the whole organization would have fallen to nothingness.

Even though I don’t personally like Peter that much (and the few times we’ve been together we had lots of things to disagree on) I have to say he’s the most loyal friend anyone would like to have. He was also a very strong man able to withhold whatever weight you impose over him. To draw a clear picture I have to say he was spontaneous, and his life filled with impromptus. He was the one who drew the sword and smote the high priest’s servant (46). He was the first one to declare, “Thou art the Christ” (47) when nobody was brave enough. He didn’t care about being naked with his friends while fishing (48). He witnessed Jesus’ glory while on top of a mountain (49) the same way he witnessed many miracles Jesus performed, among them healing his own mother in law (50). He walked over the sea to meet Jesus (51). He escorted and watched over Jesus at Gethsemane (52). He was such a character! It’s not possible to believe he would’ve denied his association with Jesus so easily. He was commanded to deny The Messiah by the Messiah himself.

He was commanded to lie.

Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee (53) and how he wanted to say, yes, he’s my master! But he had to withhold and politely responded I know not what thou sayest. He then moved to the porch trying to avoid people, but another maid saw him, and said to all that were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. He denied this time with an oath, the most sacred way to settle a pronouncement, but still people gather around him and said, “surely thou also art one of them”; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Even though it was late at night everyone that was around was widely awake and full of excitement. When people are full of excitement they do not watch their words, but Peter’s language was clean, not an obscene word came out of his lips in the midst of an agitated and excited mob…He realized he had been behaving too correctly. Then he began to curse and to swear like everyone else denying his association with Jesus (54). The bitter tears that came out when he heard the cock crow burned his cheeks because he had to withhold all the energy he had inside. He wanted to fight and offer his life for his testimony!

But because of his testimony he had been commanded to keep his life so that the small organization could grow. Without him there were no possibilities beyond Golgotha.

45. Matthew 26:75
46. John 18:10
47. Matthew 16:16
48. John 21:7
49. Matthew 17:1-6
50. Matthew 8:14-15
51. Matthew 14:29
52. Matthew 26:37
53. Matthew 26:69-70
54. Matthew 26:71-75

LIES THAT ALLOWED SURVIVAL

Terah felt in danger living in Baghdad. Political changes hadn't been foreseen just a few years ago. Fights, quarrellings and battles were everyday occurrences all around the city. Living so close to death doesn't give much hope to whomever wants to have a family life. Abram, his son was already married but didn't have children yet, was it healthy to start a family under these circumstances? Terah was also responsible for his teenage grandson, Lot, the son of his deceased Haran (35). Taking care of them in the midst of religious intolerance was too heavy for him. Too much blood shed lately and the foreign army running the country was overwhelming...a decision had to be taken.

At the risk of losing his life and his family, living in a besieged city (that had been the same place where the Garden of Eden was placed by God and where Adam and Eve lived so peacefully by the side of the Euphrates) (36) he departed from dusty Baghdad looking for some peace elsewhere. North seemed the best for opportunity. They hid themselves from the military troops while traveling north as close as possible to the river. They hid behind rocks, in deserted caves with their only goal in mind: cross the frontier.

After a tiring travel, they got to a city very close to where Troy was located. They had to make room to new traditions, new city, new people, new language…not for long.

Famine and starvation settled almost right after they arrived. They were obligated to leave their village once again and headed towards Egypt, filled with farmlands and barns full of grains that would feed the whole nation for years and years. Decision was easy.

Abram whispered in Sarai's ear: "Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon" (37) just when they were about to get to Egypt, the biggest country in the area. He continued: "Thou art a fair woman to look upon; therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, this is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee" (38). They agreed, and they did it as agreed; he pimped his "sister". A couple that took advantage of her natural beauty and started to climb up the ladder of social prestige and financial wealth in the big and great empire of the Pharaoh. Common Egyptians coveted Sarah and soon, before she realized how popular she became, she was commended to the princes of the Empire. Abraham was a successful businessman as a result of his friendship with Egyptian noble men and his wealth was visible in the amount of sheep, oxen, camels, asses and menservants and maidservants (39). Abraham just closed his eyes to what was happening between his wife and the noble men of Egypt, who praised her "services", and took her to Pharaoh's palace. And because of Sarai, Abram's wife, Pharaoh and his house were plagued with great plagues (40). She carried illness in her womb, she wasn't aware of it, but all men that had intercourse with her would suffer of the plagues: pain in the joints, discharge, and malaise. The only thing she was aware of is that she could not get pregnant, and she tried very hard to have a son that would be counted among the heirs of the Empire.

What is this that thou hast done unto me? Questioned Pharaoh to Abram. Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? (41) Why saidst thou, she is my sister...Now therefore behold thy wife, take her and go thy way. He took his wife, all that he had...and left Egypt.

And Abram went south and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur (42), and again he said of his wife: “she’s my sister” (43) in front of Abimelech king of Gerar. The King took her home. When the king discovered he had been tricked and that his house was somehow cursed because of his action he took sheep, oxen, women servants, and a thousand pieces of silver and gave them to Abraham and restored him Sarah his wife (44). This episode was the last pimp action in Abraham’s life but whatever he did before was enough to help him settle as a rich man without worrying for the future.

Lies, lies and more lies

35 Genesis 11:31
36. Genesis 2:8,10-14
37. Genesis 12:11
38. Genesis 12:12-13
39. Genesis 12:15-16
40. Genesis 12:17
41. Genesis 12:18
42. Genesis 20:1
43. Genesis 20:2
44. Genesis 20:3-16

THE KING AND HIS FRIENDS

Choosing friends has been a task frequently criticized throughout all times and his friends were not exception. Certainly, his closest friends were the ones called “disciples” and they were chosen from a variety of occupations. There were fishermen, carpenters, tax collectors whom built their own financial status by hard work. They were certainly not counted among the peasants but on the contrary were considered “publicans and sinners” (24) with whom he frequently lied at tables to eat and drink in excess (25). Because of this habit people labeled him as a gluttonous man, and a winebibber (26). This caused a visible disgust among all those who considered themselves puritans and seekers of perfection, the Pharisees. The publicans (because of their preferences and excesses) were on the lowest step on the moral ladder as a result.

He used to attend big parties at his publicans friends' homes, often accompanied by other publicans as his entourage. This, of course, would bother Pharisees a lot (27). It was in one of these feasts that it was required from him to provide wine, his favorite drink, and he offered six water pots of stone, containing from two hundred and twelve to three hundred and eighteen liters each one (28, 29) of "good wine" (30) and they got really drunk from it. He also liked to put on some "shows" while with his friends like the time when Maria, one of his favorites, sister of Martha and Lazaro, from Bethany (31) came to a dinner party and washed his feet, anointed them with a very expensive ointment and wiped them out with her own hair of her head (32). He didn't care that people called her a sinner, she was his friend and that was the only thing that mattered. He was a king, of royal lineage and he said once: "Henceforth I call you not servants...but I have called you friends" (33).

He also added: "Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends" (34)

24. Matthew 9:10
25. Matthew 11:19
26. Luke 7:34
27. Luke 5: 29-30
28. John 2:6
29. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Firkin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firkin)
30. John 2:9
31. John 11:1-2
32. Luke 7:37-39
33. John 15:15
34. John 15:13

A KING IS BORN

The spread of fallacy among the Christians regarding the poverty of Jesus’ family has framed a history that is completely untrue and leads people in paths of thought that should not be traveled in.

Jesus was an heir to the throne of David. His was a royal genealogy, (1) he was a direct descent of David and Solomon (2). His legal father, a carpenter, was well known among the villagers because his was a respectable and profitable career (3). The furniture that filled roman palaces, temple rooms and private homes were made at his workshop; it was also the place where roman soldiers bought the crosses for their executions. People get surprised when they learn he was born in a cave and was laid in a manger (4). They immediately infer that as a sign of lack of money but they forget about what really happened at the moment. Joseph and his family went to Bethlehem because they needed to be censed and taxed. Joseph’s first intention was to take a room at the inn but because the village was crowded with tourists he found no room. Going to a different place was accidental and for just a short period of time.

Jesus was educated, as I was myself, in a highly respectable House and had friendships with his peers, the publicans (5). These publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects (He himself as well as his step father, Joseph, were in charge of several building projects being themselves carpenters)(5a). He enjoyed company with his group of friends, the publicans, and constantly gathered for banquets and dinner with them. He chose some of his disciples from among them (6). They were men that enjoyed life, who made and spent money. Like Joseph, a rich man, from Arimathea (7), a very prominent and honorable counselor (8) that was also among his disciples. Some members of the Jewish Sanhedrin were among his disciples as well (9).

He and his peers were used to traveling around the villages, and against all present belief, they had enough money to do it. I was told that there was an occasion when he was among five thousand hungry peasants, he was deeply moved by them and asked his friends to “feed them” (10). He knew they had money in the purse to do it. It was completely illogical to think he would have commanded something that was not feasible within their financial limits. This was reaffirmed when they declared they didn’t have enough food at the moment, “except we should go and buy meat for all these people” (11). That was the original intention, to go and buy food for five thousand. They even said: “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?” (12). (Just a quick clarification, one pennyworth was a full day work payment at the time. Two hundred pennyworth was a seven-month income that would be used to feed five thousand people and they had that amount of money available immediately!) (12a).

You can see what he and his group were used to. Just to illustrate this point a little farther I was also told that once he was at the house of a friend in Bethany (13), a Pharisee (14), and they were ready to participate in a large banquet. It is then that a woman appeared holding a nicely carved alabaster box containing a very precious ointment (15). The woman was his friend, Mary, Lazaro’s sister (16). Because she didn’t fit the life standard of the villagers she was considered a “sinner” (17), isn’t that the normal reaction of low-class people? She anointed his feet with a precious and expensive 300-pennyworth ointment (18). Overwhelmed by the waste, Judas Iscariot decided to leave the group and contacted people to execute his plan (19) (buying that ointment would have meant a 10-month savings to the least).

He was royalty. He walked as a king. He moved as a king and he always dressed as a king. After his betrayal and before he was nailed on the cross the Roman soldiers undressed him and were amazed by the luxury of his robes. They had never seen this type of fabric being worn by simple villagers. Usually they would burn the robes of anyone who was to be crucified. This was not the case; they parted his garments, casting lots (20) because the robe had a binding of woven work round about the neck, as it were the hole of an habergeon, so that it could not be rent (20a). His royal garments were designed to be exclusively worn. So majestic were his garments that people would think they would be healed if they could at least touch the hem of his garments; (21) all decorated with pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about (21a)

His funeral was prepared to be a royal funeral as well. A sepulcher hewn out of a rock had already been prepared for him (22); his body would be anointed with a hundred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes (23) and then wrapped up in white linen. A quick comparison, Abraham in a similar circumstance, when he wanted to bury the body of his wife Sarah, paid 10 pounds of silver for a similar sepulcher carved in rock (23a).

He was born great. He was buried great. Great was his life in between.

(Should you want to verify sources):
a. Acts 7: 58
1. Matthew 1:1-16
2. Luke 3: 23-38
3. Mathew 13:55
4. Luke 2: 7
5. Mathew 9:10
5a. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Publican (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publican)
6. Mathew 10:3
7. Mathew 27:57
8. Mark 15:43
9. John 3:1-2
10. Matthew 14:16
11. Luke 9: 13-14
12. Mark 6:37
12a. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Denarii (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denarius)
13. Matthew 26:6
14. Luke 7:36
15. Matthew 26:7
16. John 11:2
17. Luke 7: 38
18. Mark 14: 5
19. Mark 14:10; Matthew 26: 14-15
20. Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; John 19: 23-24
20a. Exodus 28: 32
21. Matthew 9:20-21
21a. Exodus 28: 33-34
22. Matthew 27: 58-60
23. John 19:39
23a. Genesis 23:15-16

PREFACE

Years have already passed by and memory is failing earlier than I thought. It might be that my brain is not big enough to record everything I have lived, experienced and seen. Better to write it down before I lose recollection of them.

I never saw Jesus of Nazareth but I am one of his witnesses. My name is Saulus from Tarsus, the same Mediterranean city where Mark Anthony and Cleopatra fell in love. Even though my family is Jewish, from the tribe of Benjamin (and I am circumcised) I am a Roman citizen. My parents used to live in Gischala on the northeastern slopes of Mount Hebron and I recall the white color of that fertile soil tied to my childhood memories. My parents always considered education in high respect and sent me to study Halakha and Jewish Philosophy at The House of Hillel in Jerusalem. I boarded there. I was educated as a Pharisee under Gamaliel, the Elder, a leader authority in the Sanhedrin at the time and grandson of Hillel, the Elder. While at the House of Hillel I also learned the art of tentmaker that helped me gain my living wherever I went.

Well, that’s a very short paragraph about myself. I am not the main character of this recollection but Jesus of Nazareth, the so-called Messiah.

I never had the chance to meet him personally. On the contrary, I was glad I never met him. I felt outrageously furious for what his disciples were doing around the small villages in Israel. Preaching his teachings and what they called “the good news” somehow clashed with my education and beliefs. I had to put an end to all this nonsense! I began to persecute, send to jail, and even put to death to his followers (a)

But then, something happened at noon, on a bright sunny morning, on my way to Damascus, following a lead regarding some of these new preachers, having letters from the Temple Authorities in order to get them arrested and punished. I saw a light, brighter than the sun, above my head. I was blinded by the light and heard a voice... I know our minds might play tricks on ourselves at times… I know for sure I didn’t have a visual delusion, I just heard “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”… I fell to the ground and it was difficult to rise myself up, because all of a sudden I felt extremely tired. There was no strength left in me.

I didn’t know what to think after this experience, it really shook my mind and turned my world upside down. After many days of pondering and reflecting on what happened I decided that I had to know better who this man called Jesus was. The following 14 years I devoted myself to researching his life. I met with almost everyone who knew, lived, and traveled with him. I heard of his deeds and words, and I’m writing about them before my mind distorts them and make the account bigger than what it really was, or it may also be possible that I shrink it and it lose its value.

Here it is. You will be the judge