a five act light-hearted rendition of the

8/14/2019 A Five Act Light-Hearted Rendition of The

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Jesus God

A Five Act Light-hearted Rendition of the GospelsExplaining Why the Jewish Rulers Hated Jesus to Death

(This is best downloaded to print or read, as it has over 200 screens.It has been extracted in full from Smith&Smith athttp://sites.google.com/site/freecommentaryThe 6 commentaries can be downloaded without charge)

Build-Up

The Cast

The first person who ever swore“Jesus Christ!”

was, in rough order:

God the Creator Who lives forever

Who said “Jesus Christ. Drop dead.Go to Hell my belovèd son.”

And “Don’t come back until you’ve paidFor every sin under the sun.”

Second in order,All the Old Testament prophets, visionaries and see-erswho saw Jesus before he was born,and swore to it.Especially those calledJoshua, Hosea, Hoshea and Isaiah

which all translate or transliterate into:Jesus, ‘God saves’ i.e. Messiah.

Third in contention,The archangel Gabriel(the one who announced to Mary, the famous linethat God wanted her as His personal concubine*)

*A concubine was a slave-girlpromoted to mistress or bought to be a wife.

Yes, as he gave his advice, Gabe swore to MaryThat her babe should be called

Jesus, the Christ.

Followed by,The righteous old prophetess, Elizabeth,Of high-priestly descentWho couldn’t have children until,To her old husband, Zachariah

That same archangel Gabriel had been sent,With news for Zac’s old ladyThat she also would have a miracle baby.

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She likewise swore “Mother of God!”When she saw Mary, pregnant.

And of course,The most blessèd of women, Mary(also a prophetess),a virginWho gave birth, in Bethlehem, to Jesus,None-the-less.

Next by rights,Blameless old Zac the priest,Also a prophet of the Christ, and husband to Elizabeth.

They were both, as we said, really getting onBut still he became the father of the first Baptist, John.But he couldn’t boast of it,Until he became a prophet of it,As soon as it had happenedExactly as Gabriel had said of it.

Soon after, these also swore, turn by turn…Righteous Joseph, of King David’s line,Mary’s husband swornWho guarded Mary’s virginity,Until Jesus was born,And who not only rescuedfrom King Herod’s sword, his wifeBut also saved our Lord and Saviour’s life.

ThenAll the hosts of the angels of heaven,In A.D. one point zero, zero,Who sang

‘Happy Birthday’To J.G.*, our hero. [ * “Jesus God” ]

ThenAll the shepherds whom the angels sent off To worship a newborn fetusin a backyard feeding trough.

Later, at the templeThe devout Simeon, prophet to Our Lady,Who died when he caught sight of JesusAs a baby.

AndOld Anna, the widowed prophetess

Who went on a 60 year hunger strike, no lessUntil she could see Jesus.Also

The wise Magi from the EastWho told Herod where to goWhen he wanted to kill Christ.

About 30 years later, these others also swore about Jesus…

..The Devil,



lord of all the demons dread,Who was always trying to see Jesus dead.

..The prophet, John the Baptist,Greatest among men

Who was dying to see JesusAnd was waiting to see himSpiritually sat upon by God.

..Jesus himself,who lived as some bodyFrom Nazareth in GalileeAnd who died as immortal MessiahFrom Heaven, on a treeAfter swearing quite solemnlyTo his own transcendency.

Dutifully followed byAndrew,

Brother of Peter and disciple to JohnOf whom it is recorded…“John instructed AndrewThat Jesus had to be slaughtered”.

Philip.Then Nathanael.

Jesus said of the latter “You are a true JacobiteAnd you will see Jacob’s ladder”.

And Jesus’ other disciples, especially Saint Peter —Who was their chief spokesman,and their star feature.He went to Christ for psychotherapyAfter he had left Jesus to be hung on a treeAnd had sworn against him three times three.Jesus gently took him back three times

To confront all these sad eventsSo that Pete could reinterpret life with joy,Despite such raw facts and bad precedents,Even to the extent of Jesus recommendingCrucifixion to him personally.

Nicodemus:who embalmed Jesus’ corpseAnd helped Joseph entomb it,And of courseWho swore “Jesus Christ!”But only in private— at least at first of course.

Mary,

(sister to Martha) who sat at Jesus’ feet,Expecting to be fed.Mary was the devotee who broke a jar over J.G.’s head.And their brother Laz— the one who was sick in bed.He died some time after he saw himself dead.

Next in order came…Moses and Elijah,

After they died,



In their special guest re-appearanceon the mountain,Where they saw Jesus glow,Full of spark and quite live.

Being hotly pursued by…Legions of screaming demons (and other fallen spirits)Who swore at the tops of their voices

“Jesus Christ! Don’t kill us!”And offered him other choices,For example:

“Turn us into pigs!”Also,

Half of Galilee, Samaria, Judea and Jerusalemwho saw Jesus alive and well and working, and then,Saw him make history of them.

Later, just before the execution, four more swore— that Jesus was the Christ:

The wife of the Roman governor thereWho saw who Jesus was, in a night-mareAnd fairly swore to it, in fear.

Don’t forget…The Roman soldiers who crowned him,And bowed down to him, in the Roman palace.

AndGovernor Pontius Pilate himself Who swore it in three different languages,And who, by the way,

Washed his hands of the crucifixion blood,Despite what we say,And then made sure Jesus was dead before nightfallThat same day.

Plus…

The Roman centurion and soldiersWho saw Jesus crucifiedWho swore to him being

‘Son of God’When they oversaw how Jesus died.

There was…..Judas the betrayer,

Who later swore to Jesus’ innocence,In full gutsy repentance.He died

When he saw that his Messiah was dead...The spirits of the dead, in Hades,

Who were seen by the living, in Jerusalem,

To enter the Holy City un-dead,Because they came to LifeAfter they saw Jesus alive,In the Dread World of the Dead.

..Mary Magdalene,By whom Jesus was first seenAlive, after he died.

Other followers of Jesus then followed Mary.Among these was Doubting Thomasfor whom seeing meant believing.



And 500-plus eye-witnesses at one timefor whom, believing meant seeing.

And all the eye-witnesseswho saw him rise into heaven, alive.

This bulk testimony should, without a wrong,give any judge sufficient evidence to rule upon.

But let me now continue onwith Matthew, Mark, Luke and John;with Saint Jude, Saint James, and so on

who each swore in publicand likewise on record later on.

Then we see Saint Paul.He couldn’t see anything — at all— after he saw Jesus —

(He lost his sight when he saw the Light)

yet he tried to tell the whole world widethat they will all see Jesus after they’ve died.

Then half the world for ever and ever after Jesus was gone.

Then me.

The Plot

All this long list of publicly convicted swearers,Most of whom were eye-witnesses,Is what is called

“The Messianic Secret”— by those learnèd theologiansWho meditate upon itWho can’t see for looking,Even when they’re biddenBecause they try to teach us that:

Jesus triedTo keep his divine identity

Hidden!This blinkered denialOnly fuels a self-repeating drama,Eternal, never-endingGiving courage to the other “half of the world”

— the half which didn’t believe then,Never bending— which is also the half which doesn’t believe now,Never comprehendingThat this always was the true debate— that this peasant Messiah, Jesus, openly,

Claimed to be God —For which —

They spat in his face,And hung him.



This untold drama has its roots in fireIn the turbid gospel story— of Man calling Man

“liar”,And of man denying his own glory— of how they sneered, in the public auditory

“What on Earth would inspireOur Old Testament God,To translate Himself into this:A grown up baby Messiah!”

This open public conflictIs what the real story, of this “New Testimony”Is all about;And this as yet under-translated confrontationIs there in Scripture, surely,Waiting to be brought out,But the over-literal interpretations so far,Don’t have the necessary cloutSo now it’s time for me to…

..Let The Secret Out!

You will seeThe apparent blind effronteryOf one half of the chosen countryWhen they seeTheir chosen Messiah arrive, alive,On footBut can’t believewhat they themselves see and hear In clarityAnd then try to prove their caseTo the other half,

Of their conscience.They knew that prophetically

— undeniably —They stood waitingAt the hub of History.They actually heard Jesus claim,And prove,

Divinity,— undeniably —And saw himPerform cures and miracles and deliverancesAd infinity— undeniably —but not recognising then,Someone

They were supposed already to believe inThey are still waiting,now.

But what for?Judgment?Or another miracle of forgiveness??Deliverance from their unbelief?Or a different cure for their blindness?



This story may have startedwith the Jewish religious sorts at the timeNot believing their own eyes and ears

But it continues stillIn the Christian hierarchies todayHalf of whom stillDon’t believe inOr welcome

Their own God,Jesus.

—The Unbelief of the Religious Hierarchy—

Jesus still speaks…

Woe to youWho stand in the gates of Truth.You have shut off The entry to Heaven from men.

You have hiddenThe keys of knowledge and of revelation.You have not been willing yourselves,To enter in.Neither do you allow those who are willing,To enter But hinder them,

————————from getting in.————————————————

The Principal Characters Three

JesusWas the most famous of the famous three

Because he, the hero,Was murdered

— and quite officially— as you know — in JerusalemBy the guilty parties which were two,

NamelyThe Pharisee and the Sadducee.

Let me introduce them, the villains.

The Pharisee was always right.The Sadducee was never wrong.

The essence of the first — the Pharisee —

Is that he must be “ortho-dox”— a Greek word in the dictionaryMeaning (if you had to put it in a box)“right doctrinally”.

So he who is “orthodox” by persuasionCannot by definition,Be “un-”.You can see that his positionIs very very strong.



The alternative doctrines — those of the Sadducee —Pose something of a paradox.For, being of the anti-supernatural schoolHe admits of no high infallible ruleFor ‘good’ or ‘true’ or ‘right’So how can he ever be truly ruledAs ‘bad’ or ‘false’ or ‘wrong’?!

These two parties— the Pharisee and Sadducee —Were the religious leaders and teachers of the Jewry,Therefore also,They were lawyers and judges and arbiters of morality.

But, their doctrines being contradictoryThey had no mutual love, you seeExcept in their chasing victoryOver Jesus, their common enemy.

And so we have a sort of Lovers’ Triangle.

I say “Lovers’ Triangle”Because Jesus used a powerful potionAgainst all their hate and wrangle…He simply loved them both.

Here is his messageFor self-appointed religious leaders (and followers)…

——————Entitle No Man “Master”————

Jesus directed…“Do not exalt yourself Under the title of Master (or Leader or Teacher or Shepherd or Pastor)For you have only one who is your Master

— Christ.

If you wish to be called greatIn the church, after the grave,Then humble yourself here,

And serve the believers now,— as — a — slave.”

———————————————————————————————

The Character Of Jesus

Now, we know, that Jesus wasMeek and mild, gentle as a dove,And nicely to his enemies,In sweet and kindly love,he spoke…From some gleaned examples let me quote…



“Blood and Thunder!By God, I’ll split this town asunder!You murderers! Thieves! Liars!

You sons of Hell!You’ll rot, and weep & wail,

And gnash your teeth as well,You’ll ache in pain

And have only sulphur smoke to smell.Unless you confess and turn,

I tell you on the level,You’ll share in the Eternal Burn

The one kept for the Devil.”

And did you know thatIn the name of heavenly friendshipJesus even took to sinners with a whip!

Now if this seems a little too gentle, meek and mildPerhaps even a little strong and boldYou must remember, my child of God,

Delicate child, sensitive child…It’s not the first time that they’ve been told.

And Jesus is just carrying onA long traditionIn accusing the Chosen JewsOf sedition.And “Treachery!” is no light thing,To any king.

But when it is God Himself Who is betrayed,The rightful sentence to be paid,

I’m afraid,Is, well…Unashamed traitors set on heavenly seditionSimply deserve,Unashamedly…What is called

“eternal perdition”.

So who exactly were those in such rebellion?

..As always seems to be the wayIt was the religious types who went astray.They smugly called themselves

“sons of the Father”(even as many Christians do today).They proudly placed themselves above their fellowsAnd deafened their ears to all God’s bellows.

That “long tradition”(of prophets with divine gripes)had recently had added to its number John the Baptist — who was heard to thunder To these religious types,



“You poisoned fruit! You fodder for Hell!You brood of vipers! You workers of Evil!God holds you so-called “Sons of Abraham”On a level with the gravel.Or perhaps a little under.”

And you must believe, gentle reader,That from aloftCome warningsfar from soft.

Such hard warnings comeFrom the Righteous God above,For such hot anger,Is the product of hot love,Of high stakesAnd deaf ears…

since angry fathers love their children, do they not,

and tell them off,and jealous husbands want their wives,and so get wroth,and wrathful Creatorstell their sinful creatures off!

and so did Jesus.

———For “the Sons of the Father”———

Jesus spoke…“Entitle no man on Earth

‘Father’ ‘Papa’ or ‘Pope’For only in Heaven will you find

The genuine Abba — your true Father”——————————-Your Infallible Hope———————————

—But is God my Father Angry? with Me?—

Peter said…“It is a fearful thing to call Him

“Father”Who will punish us all

Without favoritism.”———————————————————————————————

Yes, God’s love for his enemies

Is to be angry at them— in order to try to save them —While also being grief-stricken for them.

This is clearly shown, when the Holy Spirit— God’s own heart and soul —comes upon the prophets of old,When they cried out bitterly, in anger,And howled,In grief.



And so(didn’t you know?)Did Jesus.

Q? But my ‘little baby Jesus’— Isn’t he soft and as cuddly as a lamb?

Answer: Little baby JesusWas born to beA sacrificial lamb.Such lambs in Jewish cultureWere born to beslain, skinned, butchered, devouredand burnt completely!And were symbolic of receivingGod’s wrath from above,Not seen as objects of childish, maternal,

Or sentimental love.

And Jesus did grow up.

To become a strong champion— a spiritual warrior.Until his enemies murdered him.

The Jews often murdered-cum-sacrificedany prophet-cum-Saviour.

And so they did — to Jesus.

So let me now describe to youthose selfish menthose murderers of Jerusalemtheir legalism; their unbelief and idolatry;their hate and greed and hypocrisy.

And what was their cornucopia— that is, their “horn of plenty”—their supply and endless source, of sin?

..Selfishness.Because, as you see‘Self’ dwells always within “I” “myself” and “me”(and isn’t absent in “thou” “thyself” and “thee”).

So bear in mind, that in the faces you will seeOf the Pharisee and the SadduceeIt is your “self” you see

which is yourself, you see,I think you would agree,Whenever you act like them: The holy villains!

—Religious Sorts and Missionaries—

Jesus taught…

“Woe, woe, woeTo you Scribes*, Lawyers and Pharisees.



You send missionaries across lands and seasTo make a single convertAnd when he converts,You make him twice as much a Son of HellAs yourselves!”

———————————————————————————————* teachers of Scripture — soon-to-be introduced

2. The Character Pharisaical

On divine matters of divine doctrineThere was divine and theological agreementBetween the Pharisees’ orthodox theoretical treatment

Of God, and Jesus.

Being pro-supernatural,Pharisees had no disputationWith the hypothetical idealOf a “promised visitation”— of a Jewish, miracle-working prophet

Of the God of their salvation —A Messiah who preached the resurrection...As long as he wasn’t this unknown young upstart

— Jesus.

And to whomever the title might one day belong(of long expected “Messiah”)The Pharisees couldn’t disagree with Jesus for longOn one point:

This young esquireSaid…

The Sadducees were “wrong”.

But in practical matters— of works and deeds —And of how to teach godliness with good effect— and things like these —There was a noticeable gap…

By “practice” the Pharisees meant... “courts of law”But Jesus offered: “to do deeds of love”.

By “power” the Pharisees held:“political holds over the people”

But Jesus replied with: “miraculous works of God”— for deliverance.

“Example” the Pharisees would say, “consisted of self-display”But Jesus, speaking as the living Christ,Proffered to them: “self-sacrifice”.

[In other words,Jesus did unselfish works of GoodSo the common people loved himAnd noticed that the Pharisees, did not;And did not.]



By “wisdom in teaching”The Pharisees’ imputationsWere: “Rabbinical interpretations,

In seventy-seven variations”.But Jesus meant:

“Telling the Truth from HeavenBy way of Revelations”.

The Pharisees were learnèd menAnd made quite a “show and tell”But Jesus was a common man,And called them “Two-faced sons of Hell”.

For Jesus pin-pointed that: what they did preachThis they did not do

But that they did not doWhat God did want them to

And that: what they did teachGod did not want them to.

And God was fed up with that, you see.

But why?

BecauseThe Pharisees made cookery their speciality.Cookery in this sense at least…..to the solid meal of God’s commands,They promptly added yeast.To puff up His demands.

For example; where God had said“Rest upon the Sabbath Day”They argued thus:

That He had meant to say…“A tailor shall not carry his needle”— that’s ‘carrying a commercial burden’.“A hungry traveller shall not pluck at wheat”— that’s ‘harvesting work’ for certain.

And if a doctor was called to ply his tradeOn the day when work was meant to cease,They thought it was best for him to persuadeThe patient to “lie down in bed and so…

REST IN PEACE

They made it such a burden, to rest upon the Day of RestThat from God and from His Law(now in the Expanded Version)Many people simply stayed away, or headed West.

Furthermore; Where God had judged“Wash, for holiness’ sake, before you enter My presence”They executed upon themselvesA fetish of cleanliness, almost as a sentence.



They added on, how many times to bathe,each day,before you pray,And how many times to rinse your hands,And in what way,Before you eatAnd many things like these.

So, to one command, they’d add,At least ten more to “tradition”Which they would then teach as law,And still call it “God’s religion”By which religious ritualA most religious Jew could expect,To enter Heaven direct.

And since they sat in Moses’ seatAnd stood in Heaven’s door And since they added so much moreThan God had done, to the law

They’d demand so much more respect.

In fact,So fastidiously and self-righteously,Themselves they did acquit,The people gave them respect as due,Any religious hypocrite.So…Some of the fools,Who believed them all of the timeAnd all of the fools,Who had believed them some of the time,That Jesus wasn’t the Christ,

Soon became confused.

————If the Mitre Fits, Wear It———

Jesus warned…

“Beware of those hypocrites!They do all their deeds with such an air

So as to be noticed by men.It is for appearances’ sakeThat they broaden their bands(the Jewish head- and arm-bands of prayer)And lengthen their Jewish tassels

(on the hem of the robes they wear).

It is in order to be seenAnd to be noticedAnd to be regarded well, by men.At a banquet, they love the place of honour;In the synagogue, they want the chief chair;In the market-place, they love the greetings fair — being called by men “Rabbi” (my teacher).



But as for you,Don’t take the title “Teacher” from othersFor God alone is your teacher.Rather you yourselves are all only brothers.”

———————————————————————————————

3. The Character of the Sadducee

The caricature of the SadduceeIs that never wrong is hePlus; He has no heavenly hope,And so he is very ‘sad, you see’.

He has No resurrection DayNor judgment unto HellNo spirit, angel, miracle;No prophet, prophecy or oracle.

In fact, I don’t think he believed in God.

To him it was just a job.

But Sadducees did have wealth and power,Since they were user-friendlyTo the Roman conquerors(In this they beat the Pharisee),

And because the Romans appointed the high priests— the top-most of the hierarchy —The Sadducees therefore counted in their number,The entire mob high-priestly.

It was costly yet rewarding,

To pay to be a member Of this most exclusive guild(which should now be re-spelt “hire-archy”).

Yes, top jobs were up for gold— and what a sad reminder That this gilt-edged job of temple-minder,The one with all the glory,

Fell to the guilt-edged Sadducee.

Thus they held the ears of kings.Also they held — and held most dearlyAll of the sacred temple things.

Especially the ones covered in GOLD.

Now, for this job as priests — for this temple serviceThey needed only the Mosaic Law.

“That’s quite enough of God” they thought.“Beyond these scriptures, we will hear no more”.

They had no time for extra prophecy,Nor messianic oracle, nor For added-on traditions, nor,



For Pharisaic lore.

And so they didn’t like the Pharisees;Nor Jesus doing miracles,Nor resurrection fantasies,Nor Jesus quoting Moses’ oraclesTo prove that they were

— “wrong”.

———————What Price a Swap?——————

While we are talking about gold & power & glory in this world— and whether or not to swap it allfor the glory of the world to come…

Once, the Devil tempted Jesuswith the singular panoramic sight

Of all the glory,Of all the kingdoms,Of all the world…… “This is mine!”

Then said he… (was he on bended knee?)“I will give it all over to you to keepIf you will fall down and worship me.”

Jesus replied… No deal, Satan!“Begone, Enemy!For it is written…‘You shall bow down to worship only the“I AM” — your God’.”

———————————————————————————————[Author to Reader:]Well: the cast is mostly met;

The plot briefly told;The hero, bold;The villains, a nasty lot.

Indeed, our appetite is whet.But the centre-stage — the temple —Is, as yet, unset.

And we must, before the main story-line unfolds,Not let the extraordinary backdrop of the times remain untold.So firstly, let us put on a pilgrim’s robe, for a bit,

and attend a dress-rehearsal in Jerusalem— to get the feel of it —

So that you, a 21st century reader, can get in on the act,And understudy the leads.

You can also eavesdropOn a 1st century session of worship,At the holy temple of God…

The Temple Worship

Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees were expert players(and for this reason I should include them both)In worship in the temple theatreAnd in all its ‘acts’ of service and soliloquies of prayers:



For instance, in the taking of a sacred oath;For example, in the holding of feasts and festivals,

And in the detailed priestly ritualsIn holding sacrifices of beastsIn making offerings of peaceIn holding courts of religious lawAnd collecting money for from the poor In expensive decorations,

By way of “vows and offerings”In magnificent laminations,

Upon huge and costly buildingsWith panels of cedar and platters of silver,With treasures of old and vessels of GOLD.

And in all this, they really did find their God,Before whom they could bow— a God who could conquer fears, remove tears,

excuse deeds, answer needs;And this is how…They would face their shrineAnd remind themselves with chants

“But this is GOD’s temple;This IS God’s temple;THIS is God’s temple”

And the more they chanted their expiation(which means ‘the satisfactory payment for wrongs’by translation)The more it gradually changed in pronunciationFrom “This is GOD’s temple

(wonderful house, worthy of gold)To “This is God’s TEMPLE

(wonderful stones, plated with gold)To “This is god: “STEMPLE”

(idol of stone covered with GOLD).

So this linguistic process of putting an ell into GodWhile leaving the gee, oh, dee out of his templeIs sometimes called “Stemple worship”But they preferred to call it more simply:

“Temple worship”.

————Concerning Temple Donations————

Jesus noted…“This poor widow in her povertyWho put in two half-cents altogether Contributed more treasure to the templeThan all these rich people put together!

For they, in their richness, gave large sumsBut only what they considered spareBut she put in all she owned

— all she had to live on.Woe to you religious hypocritesWho devour the livings of widowsAll the while covering yourselves with long prayersAnd pretending to be religious.

You shall receive worse damnation.” ____________________________________



Spotlight on the Temple

Everything in this most exalted Templewas assigned degrees and shades of holiness.And temple offerings had of courseTo be of high degree of sacredness.

This required special ‘temple money’(at special rates of exchange, as you may guess).and special doves and beasts for sacrifice,for God to bless.All this was sold within the temple, at a price,Which was a shame,For anybody to confess.

Now,To break sacred temple law was sacrilege,Akin to blasphemy —All such irreligious impiety, for simplicityGoing under the collective term of “temple robbery”(and “temple robber” was, among other labels,

The accusation later pinned on Jesus).So when Jesus angrily turned the tablesAnd spilled the coins and upset the seatsOf those official money cheatsAnd made a whipTo show the beasts to the stablesAnd to drive out these “horse-traders”At quite a clipHe stated to the Jews, who were filling up the space

“You’ve turned your Father’s houseInto a common market place”.

And to the Pharisees,He gave this bitter but undeniable quip

— the vilest insult anyone could use to clobber The temple guardians and their cobbers —

“You fill the courts of your GodWith regulation ‘temple robbers’!

_________________________________

Since it was this Religious Culture which murderedreligious JesusI want to give you some more examplesof their sacrilegious reasons— via two snippets of Jesus’ teachingsabout their “shades of holiness” —Which ought to give you a feel for their times,

and for ours…And after that, a profile of the Roman Empire out East— their languages and histories, at least —Before we join Jesus.

——Concerning Degrees of Holy Vows———

Jesus taught…“Woe, woe, woe to youPharisees, Lawyers and Scribes!



Blind you areAnd yet you presume to become guidesTeaching that in your estimation

and determinationand stipulation

“When anyone invokes ‘the holy temple’ in an oath,He is under no obligationBut whoever swears instead‘by the sacred GOLD’ of the templeHe must carry his promise throughAs a “most holy resolution”.”

Foolishness and Blindness!Which has more importantness?The gold?Or the temple which lends the gold its holiness!

Similarly you huff…“When anyone invokes ‘the holy altar’,That is not holy enough

But whoever swears by the expensive giftLaid upon that altar hearthHe is obligated to God

— his vow becomes a “solemn binding oath”.”What blindness!Which has more weightiness?The gift?Or the altar which gives to the gift its sacredness!I declare to youThat anyone who swears ‘by the altar’Swears both by the altar And by everything on that altar.

And anyone who vows ‘by the temple’

Vows both by the templeand by God who dwells in His temple!And whoever invokes ‘Heaven’,Invokes the throne of God in HeavenAnd so is calling upon God himself,For He sits upon that throne in Heaven.”

———————————————————————————————

So Jesus preachedAgainst what the lawyers teached,As if he himself had automatic higher authority.He didn’t even, like a mere prophet, say

“Thus says the I AM your God…”

But said unadorned“I AM [ God ] telling you the truth…”For example, here He takes it upon Himself to reviseOne of His top ten commandments:“Thou shalt not take the Name of

the I AM, your God,In vain”…

————-? Swear to Tell the Truth,—————the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth?



“Make sure you treat God as holyBy doing what you promised(so sanctimoniously) in His name.

Do not invoke His Name emptilyOr despise His authority,By calling Him to witness — lightly.

So I teach to you all, to invoke no higher authority.Neither swear ‘by Heaven’ the throne of God most holy

Nor ‘by Earth’ the footstool of God most heavenlyNor ‘by Jerusalem’ His royal holy cityNor ‘by your head’

for you cannot turn one hair black or whiteDon’t you agree?

[Nor with your right hand upon the Bible,so seriouslyTaking the oath of truth “So help me God”]

But let your promise be

“Yes, I will” or “No, I won’t”And anything else you invokeSo impressively,Will count, let me tell you,As evil on your account,———When you welch upon your empty promises.”———

And now for…A Concise Profile of

The Roman Empire (Out East):————————————————

Iτ’ς αλλ Gρεεκ το με————————————————

The Language Mix (-up)

There were six main lingoes you could hope, To meet in the street.

LATIN is what the Romans spoke— ancient Italian so to speak

But most everyone else still used and wrote,Common (or garden) GREEK.(This was the pigeon modeOf the beautiful classical Greek

In which Homer wrote.)

Now, this state of affairs followed the defeatof the previous empire of note— That of Alexander the Greek —Well known for its scope.

So Jesus must have spoken common Greek,When appealing to the motley massesof public servants and pilgrims and proselytes.



In fact he used Greek as a lever with which to teach,About who he wasAnd to expound things mysteriousBecause often did his parables speak,Of a common legend in classical Greek— of Homer’s royal Odysseus.

(This was compulsory reading and ‘common speak’Certainly not just for classicists.)

Jesus used to compare himself With this well-known hero of old— a bold and popular god-descended king,Master of a big household,

Who being delayed on a trip,Was a very long time returningBut re-appearing suddenly,Made an awful day of reckoning.

He killed all his wicked servantsAnd slew all his enemies with fire— all those who hated him,Who didn’t want him for their Sire,

And then he lives on happily,For ever after, prosperouslyWith his faithful and long-suffering,Ever-waiting, wife.

..which explained his own case transparently,Against his Jewish enemies.

Anyway,Common Greek was the language of choiceOf the New Testament writersLike the ‘more modern’ Hebrew was(together with the Aramaic voice)Of the Old Testament reciters.

Yes, as you by now might have guessedHEBREW had two written alphabets:

One was the ancient alphabetOf the old Old Testament scrollsWhich also left out all the vowels!

And then there was… (some with vowels, some with not)..The more ‘modern’ lotWhich many “Hebrews” (the local-born Jews)none-the-less forgot.Because, you must realise,Hebrew was only the learnèd language— that of the Jewish RabbisUsed in all the commentariesAnd literature of all the wise.



Now, since twelve ‘disciples’ or ‘followers’Form a minimum crewJesus was counted as among the Rabbis— not as an ordinary Jew.So, in speaking as a Jewish Rabbi,To the Jewish RabbisHe probably was conversing in,The proper religious Hebrew.

ARAMAIC (the Babylonian tongue) however,Was spoken in the gateEver since the Babylonian Empire,Had squashed the Jewish state.

The Babylonians had put Jerusalem to fire,And had deported all the Jews,Forcing them to relocate.This had meant that they would surely lose,Their own language — that of the famous Hebrews.Thus, during this ‘Babylonian Exile’

As they say itSome of Jewish History and ProphecyWas, of course,Written in Aramaic.

Now such a multi-lingual upbringing for JesusCould become very funny

With “Run hither, Yeshua”Or “Come here, Josh dear”Or “Here-to, Yey-soo”

..It was all very punny.

Which leads us into an important point of critique…

Both Hebrew and Aramaic scriptures,Had long been translated into GreekGiving rise to many, subtle linguistic distinctionsTo say nothing of, manuscriptural variations.And since Jesus often fulfilled prophecyAnd since he himself often spokeBy the Spirit of GodAnd since he quoted scripturesQuite a lot(or rather lived and talkedAnd taught them on the hop)He found it rather easy,

To do so in polyglot.

The Gospel writers therefore had to seekTo render Jesus’ conversationsOr write down his quotationsInto Greek — an impossible feat,Requiring simplificationsAnd even then, they didn’t useAny lower case variations,or even any spaces



Or punctuations!

WHATWITHNOWORDBREAKSVOWELSORPUNCTUATIONSWITHMULTIPLIEDCOPIESANDINTERPRETATIONSACROss two to six millenniums!And East/West cultural mutationAnd only via an English translation!With many transliterations…

..we often miss the point.

As an example…Take the name of God, the great “I AM”It’s what you get back when you ask “Who’s there?”

God called to Moses “Moses!”And Moses said “Here I am”Then Moses asked God His nameand God said likewise

“Only Me here”— “There’s nobody else besides ME”

“It’s me. I AM who I AM.Me alone, only I, I AM”

When Jesus walked up to the boat they screamed“Who’s that!”

And Jesus answered“It’s ‘ONLY ME HERE’ ”

By saying “I AM”..which helps to explain why they then worshipped him.

But what is the upshot;Of all this “mixed-up” explanation?Well, with such ambiguity,And troubles in interpretation too

I “often miss the point”,But I will do the best I can for youAnd offer my best rendition,Of Jesus’ original intention;

For even a child knows better Than many Bible scholars todayThat The intended meaning of words

Must be more important than the words.

But we need to study up a tad more of history— like true Biblical experts(who can at last explain “what God had meant to say”).

So let us now continue to meet the peopleOf a long-lost century, so far away — Guess who —The Bible scholars of the day!

Who Were the Scribes and Lawyers and Levites?

You may well think that in this language mix-upEven the original playersCould get a bit… err…Let us say “tongue-” tied.



But they had their literary experts then,Called ‘Scribes’Whose job it was,Throughout their livesTo copy the copies of God’s law(no matter how imperfect now)Without a flaw.Other experts, called ‘law-yers’, played their partWhich was that of knowing it all by heart!

Such ultra-important bit-parts were supposed, by rights,To be filled by the ‘Levites’That is, by members of the tribe of Levi(pronounced variously Levvy, Leyvee, LeevighOr thereabouts).

And these para-priestly players felt sureThat they could sort all the variations out, in the Law.For instance…

These experts knew, as everyone,All the scriptural variations on the “Messianic” theme

— That God’s “Anointed One”Who is God’s own promised “Son”— his “chosen King and Priest” —

Came out in Greek as “Christ”But in Hebrew as “Messiah”And in scripture as “Son of David”;And also in Daniel, the prophesier, this “Promised Prince”Came out as “One like a “SON OF MAN”,

Appearing as a most glorious oneComing with all the powers of Heaven”

This last prophecy Jesus quoted in full at his trialWhen asked to swear on oath

“Tell us who you are!”

So when Jesus told them“I AMThe ‘SON OF MAN’As often I have said”,

They didn’t miss the point.He might just as well have sworn instead…

“I AM— JESUS —CHRIST of GOD”

——————————————————————————————————-

Now it was these various religious law experts— Levites, lawyers and scribes —

Who lent their hands in drafting religious stipulationsOf incredible detail for religious observations,So, about these…

———So-called “Experts” of Religion———

Jesus said to his crew…

“The Pharisees, Lawyers and Scribeshave taken the view…”



(all the multitude were listening too)“..that they should sit themselves in Moses’ pew.

But by abusing that place of authority,they have forced youTo observe and do, all that they say to.

But do not act like they do!For they preach but do not do. So Beware!— of ‘them with the faces two’.”

“Woe, woe, woe to youPharisees, Lawyers and Scribes.You tie up heavy loads on a man’s shoulder,And weigh men down with legal burdens hard to bear But you yourselves are unwilling to lift one finger

To help.”———————————————————————————————

Resetting your Watch

What else would it mean to live in A.D.30?Well,To a Jew, the then present Roman authority

Recalls their Babylonian captivity.That is, it recalls their defeat of old, and their shame

But also their heroes bold, and men of fame…..such as Daniel who wouldn’t stop,Bowing to his GodAnd who, for this defiance,Was thrown unto the lions.

And there were those three friends of Dan’s

Who wouldn’t bow on knees and handsTo these foreign gods— these dumb idols of Babylonia’s lands —

So they — were burnt alive.

And Mordecai, who wouldn’t make his bowsBefore Persia’s great Prime Minister.So the P.M. erected enormous gallows,For him,And planned total Jewish genocide,Quite sinister.

All this was for the want of a bow!

But the Jewish God proved to be no goose.He turned that king into a cow.He hung that P.M. in his own noose.He saved the Jewish nationAND gave them the political power,and by the way, saved our five heroes

— alive —To boot!

Which just goes to show



that the Jewish people didn’t think it Kosher**Religiously clean i.e. acceptable to God

To bow before the Roman godsTo bow before a Roman Caesar,

either Or to join in calling this Caesar

a godOr to bow before the Roman yokeOr even to pay his taxes!

Another open sore was this:That the Romans swore by all their gods,That the Jewish law, and the Jewish God

Were conquered.And though the Romans let them keep,The unimportant regulationsthey wouldn’t let them kill a soul,For instance for any religious transgressions.Consequently,Jewish prosecutors had to go through Roman, civil law.

But since most of the important Jewish, sacred lawsCarried only the death penalty…

— for sacrilege and adultery— for Sabbath breaking and blasphemy— for back-sliding and idolatry

..it became no longer possibleFor Jews to obey All of God’s demandsBy enforcing His commands.

This dilemma was quite impossible.Now, it was the Galileans,The men of Jesus’ own countyWho, rejecting Rome’s

Religious authorityRebelled, you might say,as ancient Protestants,Under the catch-cry

“No Taxes to Caesar!No Unlawful Bounty!”

All this, not long beforeThe gospel incidents.The efficient Romans put down the insurrectionThe punishment for which, was crucifixion.And so two thousand naked dying menLined the main road to Jerusalem.Next, Jesus the Galilean arises, with a popular following

Of thousands of,You guessed it,Galileans

And though he didn’t call himself “King”He looked mighty suspicious.

___________________________

This is the history, then, of Jesus the Man…



ACT 1

9 Scenes Sacrilegious

——————Act 1 Scene 1——————The Setting of the Scene and the Rising of the Son

We go back to where this story of The Man starts.

First, when Jesus was about thirty(which was the age for priestly service)John didn’t want to, but was forced toDunk him in the River Jordan.

Then, no sooner was Jesus escaping from the water, thanHe looked upAnd saw the heavens spread wide open overhead,WhereuponThe Holy Spirit turned himself into a pigeonAnd sat upon him from a great height,Upon whichA voice from Heaven said

“You’re ‘He’ my boy,In which I find joy”

And Jesus received this message:

Dear Son,

Get lost— off with you into the wildsAnd let the Devil take you in trial.Go and live with the beasts.Go hungry — don’t eat.Do as I say, son, and don’t give in to temptation

Or… risk a mighty awful damnation.Yours faithfully,

Dad.

(And if you want to know how the Devil tests righteous people,Read about the boils, of Job.)

So Jesus, drunk with the Holy Spirit, obeyed,And at the end of forty days of hunger,He was..

..he was hungry.

Then the Devil said:“Since you are the Son of God,Command these stones to become bread”

But Jesus answered instead:



It is written:“Man shall not gain Life by bread alone,But by obeying every command of God.”

The Tempter then led him into the Holy City JerusalemAnd up to the very pinnacle of the temple,

And suggested moreover “Since you are the Son of God;Prove it — throw yourself over.

For “it is written”:“He will command His angels to carry you in their handsSo that you don’t even stub your toe”.”

Jesus replied:Rather, “it is written”,in clear contra-dictation..

“You shall not put the I AM, your God,To the test or proof or demonstration.”

And when the Devil had finishedEvery trial, test and temptation,He said

“Just you wait ‘til later. You’ll keep.”

and he deserted Jesus, hungry.

And, marvellous to behold,The angels did come to rescue him.

———————Meanwhile, back at the Jordan River..——————

Scene 2 — The Mad Prophet

The whole country was in a state of revival....because of the message from God against evil

Which had come to John to preachAnd which he had, all this while, continued to teach(for no-one had seen Jesus for six weeks)

“Repent.And be baptisedFor the forgiveness of sin,For the Kingdom of God is here —If you want to get in.”

So the people began to think and desirethat John himself might be the Messiah

Especially when he detailed the inventoryOf the current King Herod’s evil and adultery.So Herod began to fear another popular insurrectionAnd indeed there was a general air of anticipation.Plus, after John had so rudely despisedThe Pharisees and SadduceesWho, without repenting of their hypocrisiesHad come to be baptised,They wasted no time in biting backSending an official delegation, dressed in black.



Imagine the scene — many a Levite and priestSweating in the desert sunMarching out to John the Baptiste

Who was dressed like “the madman”— Elijah —In camel hair shirt and leather beltAnd with a honeyed grasshopper legwhich dweltIn his beard,And them, demanding,

“Who do you think you are!Do you imagine yourself to be the Messiah?”

“I am not the Christ” John confessed.“What then? Are you saying you really are Elijah?”

(as prophesied by Malachi (“my messenger”)..‘Behold I send my messenger to prepare my way;I will send Elijah before the coming of my Day’)

“I am not” said John the prophet.“Do you suppose yourself to be THE prophet?”(The one of whom Moses did foresay..

‘One like me; One of your own race;The One whom you surely must obey’)

“No!”“So tell us who you think you are, we insist.You must give us your own witness

For the Jews in Jerusalem who sent us.What do you claim for your own greatness?”

“I am Isaiah’s “voice in the wilderness”‘the voice of one shouting in a desert place:

Make way for the Lord. Clear him a space.Give him a straight runway.Back-fill every washaway.Cut out the sharp corners.

Level out each hump.Re-route the dog’s legs.Remove each and every bump.Grade the rough patches smoothand spare no labour,

To speed Him on His way,So that all of us, united, maySee and welcome God’s Saviour.’

So I am not the Christ, but have been sent before him— like the best manpreparing for the more important bridegroom.”

Now, these priests had been wised up by the Pharisees

To meet any denial with a challenge to John’s authority..“Why then — since you are not the Christ,Nor Elijah, nor the Prophet

Why then, do you baptise?”“Me?Oh I’m only baptising, with water,For repentance.But he who is coming after me,Is before me in importance.I’m not even fit to bend down low, before him,



But unexpectedly he turns back to you to say..“What are you two after?”

Andrew pipes up with “My Master!Where are you going to stay?May I be your follower today?”

And Jesus says to you both..“Come and see for yourselves”

As Andrew spurts onward, he urges you so..“Come on Steve! Let’s goLeave John behind — He won’t mind”

[Exit Andrew, following Jesus.Author to Reader: Go for it, Steph!

Here’s your big chance for glory....then you can help me dictateThe next part of the story —To Luke.

Exit Steven, following Jesus, destined for stardom.Exit John, to Herod’s prison, destined for the chopping block.]

Scene 3 — Label #1 — The Blasphemer!

(Scene: Cousin Luke has just come backFrom medical graduation

And corners you again, with pen and paper in hand,In expectation— because you’ve been telling himOf healed diseasesAnd other miracles you’ve seen,Since following Jesus.

Luke: “Tell me what happened today!Forget medical school, I sayIt’s all happening outside;This is medical history, man!

I want to keep a journalAnd all the case notes I can.”

So you start telling Luke by easy degrees…Well, today there was a state-wide conferenceWith lawyers and teachers, scribes and PhariseesAnd crowds as well. Indeed quite a confluence.

But Jesus held the floor, teaching all the teachersShowing them their stuff Healing the sick as well, before their very eyes— no-one could get close enough.

And sometimes he said,As if he knew the causes too,“Go and sin no more.

That nothing worse may fall to you.”It’s as if he agreed, but perhaps only sometimes,With the general consentThat it was sin that caused their sicknesses,Which God Himself had sent.But it was one case in particular,Which caused the biggest stir,And this is howI saw it occur…Someone tried to push past us,



Carrying some poor sick soulBut through crowded door and aisle,A stretcher and four men don’t quite fit.So they took to the roof! and made a hole!And lowered down the paralytic;

Down,Down;Right to Jesus’ feet!

At first he didn’t simply heal,But perhaps to make a pointHailed their faith and said

“Be of good cheer.My son, your sins you are forgiven here”

And this it wasThat made the teachers feel Cross.I could overhear the Pharisees in front of me mumbling

“Since only God can forgive our sinningSurely this evil fellow is blaspheming!”

But this they were grumbling to themselves,and didn’t make it public

But Jesus knew itwithin himself Better than any psychic.He read our minds to us and said(for I was half-persuaded, I confess)

“I know your unbelieving thoughtsAnd double-mindednessWhy hide your doubts?Why murmur of blasphemy?Why reason against me in your head!

I ask you then to judge between:forgiving sins by word— which you have just now heard

Or healing them by deed— which very soon you will have see-d

Which is harder!? Answer if you can!Now look. See here:I want to prove that the Son of ManHas the authority of GodTo forgive on Earth the sins of menBy the healing of the bod.”

And on a word from JesusThe man got up,With praises,And all the crowdextolled their God,

And the “Son of Man”With very flattering phrases;Afraid,Dumbfounded.. ..We were all agog.Andrew sworeAt what he saw.He nudged me and simply said

“Jesus Christ!”..and the happy man himself — as he left, carrying his paralytic’s bed



To put the stretcher on the shelf —He said..

“My sins have been forgiven meBy… by… by God — Himself!”

[Since you like the part of StephenYou may as well keep it, and evenLet me play the part of Thomas’s twin,So you and I can go together.You can call me ‘Arthur’But sometimes I would rather Pronounce it ‘author’And so together we can tellThe stories to our readersAbout the oppositionOf the unbelievers..]

Festival Mood

Author: With “Messiah maybe?” in town,with “Revival, at last!” in the air,with “Healing for bods” up for grabs,

it’s not hard to sense the joyin the hearts among the plebsand among the recipients.

With miracles in abundance— like turning a wedding feastinto an all night sessionby turning abundant water into abundant winefor consummation —it’s not easy to fully describein words, the extent of joy, throughout the provinces.

Let’s simply say, that, recognising the Jewish Jubilee, or not,the common people were in Jubilation modeeagerly drinking it all in.

But somehow, the Jewish aristocracy and Phariseeskept their own spirits down, in doubtand managed always,to find something to grumble about…

Scene 4— Libel #2 — Drunken Carouser

Arthur: (So let’s pretend we are explaining,

Some time after the next event,To some enquirers on hand,How Jesus continued to offend the Pharisees,

Up and down the land…)

“Soon there was a fresh kerfuffleAs Jesus ‘ate at a sinner’s table’(for to go to a tax-collector’s for dinner Was to eat at the table of a ‘sinner’…



..A Jewish tax-collector has bowed to what the Romans askedPlus extorted money from the poor Which makes him religiously an out-castAnd treated like a downright out-law).

You could easily imagine religious Jewscalling them “Pigs!” (unclean)and refusing to enter into their “dirty!” digs(to “feed with the pigs”).

So when one day Matthew LeyveeAnswered Jesus’ call of “Follow me!”And left his tax-collecting toll-boothAnd spread a feast for Jesus,And for all his troopThere were not a few dirty “sinners” invited,Forsooth.

In fact sinners came to Jesus

To hear him more and moreAnd no matter where he was,He welcomed them indoors— which was strictly againstThe Jewish religious laws.

The general celebrations were indeed quite heartysince it is the “irreligious sinners”who seem best to recognise any proper excusefor a proper party.

Later Jesus even invited himself To Zaccheus’s wealthy villa

(Zac was a big-boss tax-collector Called “Shorty”)And Zac renounced half his wealth,To the poor, in a fit of generosity(this was over dinner)And all he had defraudedHe restored quadruple,For being naughty!(Yet the Pharisees still called him a “sinner”!).

Steven (to readers):Now what say you? Is a repentant thief, a thief?

Is a changed sinner, still a sinner?

Is a follower of Christ, a follower of Evil?So can it be well said of Jesus Christ— in his socialising with so-called “sinners” —That he was “dining with the Devil”?

Arthur:But none-the-less the Pharisees,left standing outside,(by refusing to go in to eatwith “gluttonous, drunken, dirty, pigs”),grumbled at the snub



Luke (to reader):By the way, do you notice the pairsOf illustrations— pairs set in parallelOr trios set in triplets? —(like my last sentence.)Because this is the divine law

Of proper attestationsOf any matter whatsoever — by means of several “concordant witnesses” —

(to Arthur):So, did he give you, as I expect,yet one more reaffirmationthat to seek out sinners was no sinful association…?

Arthur: Yes indeed he did, and it went like this…“Or what about the ‘Prodigal Son’— that no-good wasteful bum—Who deserted his loving father And squandered his share

Of the family income?Partying hard, with harlots.Finally, of course, he reached a very low, lonely,

HungryLost ebb,In a faraway land,

where he was slowly reduced, to feeding only with,a herd of pigs!But there at least, he found his head…

“In this place, and at this rate” he said“I’ll soon be dead

— as far as any rich man here cares for me!But I will raise myself up and go backto my rich father’s prosperous paradise”

So when he turned, at last, back toward God the Father,And returned, poor and humble, contritely, to his father,

The father loved him.And killed the fatted calf, and did other joyous things.He treated him like the King,complete with scarlet robe and signet ring!

‘For this Son of Mine was dead’The Father said‘but has come back’— to life.

But here now is the point— about his older, very Jewish, brother —Who up to now had appearedTo be a good and faithful sonBut who turned to sour-grapes,and hummed,In his father’s ears and nose,When he saw this sinner

Saved and won:



he refused, unlike his father,to go in to eat with: “that pig, the sinner”and complained, about how poorlyHis own father had treated him,“by comparison”!”

[“Which one then”It should be asked“was found to God?”“And which sonWas ‘lost in sin’?”]

“So how can I help self-righteous souls,Who don’t think they needthe cure I give?But the soul of him who comes to me in need,He will live.

So.Answer now:

Which of the two sons obeyed his father’s will…..The one who mouths to him “Yes I will work for you”

But then doesn’t apply his hands or heart thereto...or the one who at first refuses him

But later has a change of heartregretting his refusal

And applying his strength to the task?”The Pharisees replied

“the one who worked, for sure”Jesus said

“Likewise, Heaven’s Gates will open to a whoreWho listens to the Father.God will welcome home a tax-collector Or any other sorry sinner Before you!”

——————Sorry Sinners——————

To self-righteous souls who complacentlyviewed sinners as contemptibleJesus directed this parable…

“Two men both went up to pray in the templeOne a Pharisee One a tax-collectable

The Pharisee stood close, looked upwards,said with a hushèd air

“Thankyou my God that I am not like other people

— swindling, unjust, adulterous, or even…Like that there tax-collectair!Instead I dutifully fast, twice every week

And duly donate a tenth, of all income I meet.”

The tax-collector by contrast… stood far back from the restDared not lift his eyes to God

But cried. He prayed in distress, beating his breast“God forgive me; a sinner!”



I tell you, the Pharisee who lifted himself highLeft, viewed by God, as a low sinner;

The sinner who held himself lowwent away, in God’s sight, high,

Forgiven.So shall it be.”———————————————————————————————

“Unfair!” They Shouted

“The king of Heaven is like an employer”Said Jesus, looking at the incorrigibleBlameable grumblers“who went at sunup to hire some labour…”And he began another of his incomparable, wonderful parables“to hire some laborers for the harvesting of his vintage(like the spiritual work which, evidently,You Jews choose to refuse)

And they agreed on a fair day’s wage.

Coming back to the market place— the local labour exchange —Three hours later, he finds some unemployed peopleAnd offers them some work, and,With some fair pay arranged, they accept.

And again at midday and at 3 p.m. that daythis generous owner goes and findsMore workers in need of payAnd even to an hour before knock-off-timeThis vineyard owner, by now apparently foolish

But certainly kindWho seemingly will hire just about anybody he can findFound still more idlers just hanging around in townWhom no-one else wanted to hire for feedOr place in employment or save from needSo he also gives them a chance that dayUntil sunset.And they too accept.

At sunset, the owner, who was rather wise actually,Tells the foreman, and quite shrewdly,(since he wishes to know, very sensibly,The hearts of his first-engaged workers) tells the foreman

To pay the last group firstAnd the first group last.”

Jesus continues, with the Pharisees looking on…“The normal workers looking onSee the cum-latelies being given,By this outrageously generous owner,A full day’s wage!

And thought that they tooOught to receive more than their due



and more due than was given to the…“others”,“by comparison”.But no more they got.

So they grumbled at Go…,I mean, at the owner

“Oh how hard it has been working for you!All day!Oh how hot the sun has been too!All day!And oh how little you are paying us

per dayCompared to these one-hour-wonders& no-good lazy bludgers!

And the owner listens,Very calmly,Until they had tied their own hangman’s noose,And quite nicely,Then he asks those grumblers,Rather seriously…

[Here Jesus aims the “owner’s” wordsAt each self-righteous Pharisee]

“Haven’t I just now proven your bad heartand ingenerositySimply by demonstrating to youmy own generosity?What is it to you, if I welcome grateful rejects so?— on equal terms with you,Just as I wish to— and quite legally,With my own money,Not yours

— something which you yourselves also ought to do.So take your agreed one day’s wage and go..elsewhere.

Jesus now continues, without missing a beat…“and so I tell you that indeedMany of the first invited into the kingdomWill not at all last in the kingdom.But many of the last invitedWill receive their lasting joyFirst,And ahead of you grumblers!”

Scene 5 — Scandal#3The Ungodly Glutton

Steven, next day(you are halfway through a discussion with Luke):

“Call yourselves religious?” they asked“You followers of Jesusdon’t even bother with the Fast!”

Other Readers:Is there anybody in the cast, maybe,



Who can tell us what we need to grasp?What is this “Fast”?

Luke:Well, all good religious Jewish creaturesMark their calendar with many such features.Besides their thrice-yearly feasts

With plenty of meat from the slaughter of beastsThey hold all-night vigils and regular fastsAnd practise many a prescribed abstentionOstensibly, while they waitAnd watch and prayAnd fastFor God to come to restore the Jewish nation

To its promised kingdomIn long-awaited prosperous freedom.

This problem— of waiting for God to come —Is called

“The Jewish Consolation”.And these hungry disconsolate religious fasting Jews

Were letting their stomachs grumble…Steven:

Jesus overheard this squabble,About buns,And responded with a parable,Like John’s

“You know how a hungry wedding guestWaiting to begin the wedding feastLongs for the groom to arrive…?And you know how also the groom is

Single-mindedly expected by the best man…?Well, when he, at last, arrives, and announces:

‘Here I AM’

Do the happy wedding guests then put on long faces?And does the best-man of the bridegroom,go about in gloom?How can they mourn,As if the groom were gorn?For, He, their consolation,Is right there,On location!

And the wedding guests can’t go hungry,Once the wedding feast is served!But the time will come when I am kidnappedFrom these now happy wedding guests.So when this feast is past

Then, there will be time enough to fast.But now that I AM here, for your consolation,It’s complete upside-down-ness

To suggest we should fast!By way of comparison, let me surmise…Would you tear a strip off a brand-new cloak?(no-one would, I advise)

In order to patch up a hole in an old thread-bare coat!(no-one should, I would advise)That would neither leave the good cloak intact,



Nor fix the hole, I sayBecause the new strong clothWill pull the old weak cloth awayAnd leave a bigger hole!So let’s keep these brand new clothes intactAnd celebrate this as it is— a brand New wedding contract —And as for the Old, well, let me reflect…Would you expect anything madder

Than to fill an Old, dry, dead, parchedwine-skin of a bladder With a freshly frothing ferment alcoholicOf a strong New living effervescent tonic?Clamp and cramp it as you mayIt must burst out without delay.It will split and spoil the Old weak skinAnd spill all the Living Wine within. No, No!That will never do!Tame old wine stays only in tame Old skins.And no-one of the tame Old school

Used to dried up dead Old waysLikes the taste or the aroma

Of these latter, Newer days.They prefer fasting, and praying ‘for revival’. ”

——About Rejecting God’s Purposes——

(Talking about John and Weddings, Fastings and Feastings…)

When all the ordinary people and tax-collectorsHeard John the Baptist’s preachingThey soberly accepted God’s just demands

For them to stop their sinning.And then welcomed the water baptism;Forgiven, rejoicing;Eager for their coming Saviour; expectant,Hoping, waiting.

But the Pharisees and Lawyers,By rejecting John’s baptism

Rejected God’s wish to save them…

Jesus therefore taught the crowds…

To what shall I compare then,

this especial kind of men?What are they like?

Like a group of stand-off-ish, clean-thinking,snobbish children!— who churlishly don’t want to playwith all the other children in the street.

The street kids invite them to playbut end up having to say…



“We said‘Let’s play funeral’

and piped a dirge,for you to weep

— but you wouldn’t join in.So we changed our tune,And tried perchance

‘Let’s play festival’And played the flute,For you to dance

— but still you wouldn’t join in!”

For when John the Baptist appeared to youAnd ate no bread and drank no wineyou said

“Just another madman, we find,Sitting in the desert”

“Playacting the part of a religious prophet” —Well, so you thunk,But now the Son of Man comes to you

Eating and drinking in festive moodYou say

“A friend of tax-collectorsAnd of a sinful brood.Look, he’s just a gluttonAnd a drunk!”

Yet God’s Wisdom and purposesWill ultimately prove,

And show up

————————Which lot are His true children————————

Scene 6 — Slander!

“Dirty Lawbreakers”

[To earn this grubby labelRecall that being a disciple,

At Jesus’ heel,Sometimes meant

That you weren’t as cleanAs you might have been,

Being on the road.]

Andrew (to Luke, mockingly imitating the Pharisees…)

“Our traditions” they frowned at Jesus“You don’t seem to understand.See how your disciples don’t even wash their handsThe way our fathers taught us before eating from the basketThe way our mothers tell us after returning from the marketThe way we wash our pots and all our pans and dishes.In very many ways like these you dismiss our legal wishes!”

Jesus responded to them, but.“Are we, indeed, breaking your fathers’ traditions?



Tut, tut.And why do you break your Father’s admonitions…

“Thou shalt honour thy parents”?(And for your non-adherence, He also saith…)

“You should be put to death”Because your own paternal tradition

Amounts to very great transgressionWhen you say, of dedicated money…

“You shall not honour Your father or your mother By giving them some breadWhenever you decide, to honour,A sacrifice instead”!

How piously then you thumb your noseAt God!By “dedicating your money, by vows,To God”And how nicely you turn His words aside

Like that,

And dismiss His legal wishes.

This is not just an oversight,An isolated exampleBut merely a single sampleOf the twisted rules you preach.Long ago, God said the sameto Isaiah, in a premonitionAbout your hand-me-down,cooked-up religious tradition…

“Only with their lips do these people honour meTheir hearts are far away;Their “worship” of me is quite empty

They chant my Law like doggerel,But then they observe it not at all!But instead, follow only their tradition.And what they accept as doctrine,And what they prefer to preach,Is only, after all, WHAT MERE MEN TEACH”

Luke interrupts:In that scripture which he quoted there’s more…..Isaiah goes on to describe these very times!

For exampleHow ‘the blind shall see’And ‘the deaf shall hear’

And then if you read the following linesHe pointedly abhors the religious systemOf quibbling lawyers condemning innocent men!

Andrew continues:

(Jesus) “And to wash my hands of your traditions,I shout:

Let everyone come near and hear God does not command you



“Keep the outside dirt from getting in”What He does demand of you, is:

“Drop the inside smut which cometh out”Stephen:

Stupid us!We then began to tell our leader off,Thus: “Don’t you realise

That by speaking irreligiously about themYou have offended our religious leaders.Is that wise?”

So Jesus addedDon’t side with them.

Watch out!You mind!

They are weeds in my Father’s garden.

And noxious weeds are consignedTo burn.If you want to be one of their kindYou will be rooted out for the fire-pit as well.

They don’t see. They are blind guides: blindThat they are headed for the Fire-Pit of HellAnd so anyone who is so blind

As to follow in their steps, will findThat,

He must tumble in behind,In turn,To burn.”

Then Peter spoke up“Please enlighten us very clearlyas to what your dirty saying meant”

Jesus:“Are you still so dull and in the dark?…

The food goes in. The food goes out.It goes in fish. It comes out foul.

But through all its winding journey — from end to endThrough your heart or mind or soul — it does not wend.

God is not annoyed at the foulness coming out down South.What He wants cleaned up is the filthiness from your mouth.

It is the impure mind which spews out lies and slanders.It harbours unclean thoughts — of thefts and of murders.A dirty heart holds lust and wickedness.A soiled soul has envy, pride and foolishness.

It is the smut within, which cometh outWhich makes a man unclean.God does not count as sin, the dirt which getteth in.

So as far as God’s concernedIt is not unwashed hands He’s looking to.And there is no “unclean food”.But that which He forbids you to do —

To do it; that is impurity in you.”



—————Cleanliness and appearance————

Jesus warned…

“Woe, woe, woe to youPharisees, Lawyers, and Scribeswho nicely clean up your cups’And plates’ and dishes’ outsidesBut are full of robbery,Wickedness and self-indulgence inside.

You fools!Your purity is purelyon the outside.But your Creator surely

Knows you inside out.

If you want to be seen by HimTo be clean from the outside inFirst share the contents of your cups

With the poor and needy— cups of luxury and platters of self-indulgence— don’t be greedyAnd then all things to youWill be inherently pure

—————— the outsides as well.”—————————

A Change of Mood

[turn on the red foot-lights]

At this stage —

With talk like thatStirring up enmity, all around the country,You can feel howThings must be hotting up — politically.

Remember thatThere is a fundamentalist revival,Which John the popular heroHeadedAnd John had made himself doubly obnoxiousTo the obnoxious half-Jewish king— Herod —Firstly: because the whole revival situation

Begged a popular revolt from the provinces,And, secondly: because John had listed Herod’s sinsAnd adultery, pointedly.

So HerodArrests John (and later has himBeheaded).

Therefore, Herod becomes even more obnoxiousTo the popular whiff.But Jesus takes the hero’s place



(putting up his head where John had been headed off)By similarly conducting himself obnoxiouslyIn the eyes of the political-religious hierarchyby exposing their sins most publicly,As you see,And calling them obnoxious in God’s nostrils.

And alsoBy proving his commission from Godwith many healing miracles,

Which undermines every argument of his enemies-in-lawAnd needles all their angry jealousyAnd makes their souls feel soreAnd looking for REVENGE…

..untilBeing disciples of Jesus

[How would you feel about joining his cause?]Feels more like being outer rings in a darts target…

(thoughtful pause)And for Jesus & Co. to go from the provincesTo Jerusalem, for a feast, is like…

(dramatic pause)Mice hiding under the cat’s blanket…

(cat’s paws!)

Yet Jerusalem is exactly where Jesus takes us all next…

Blasphemy Plus

— Scene 7 —

A change of pace

Author:

Not even God can get much done, in JerusalemOn a Jewish day of restAnd Jesus found that things slow down, on SabbathWhen he went there, to keep a Jewish holy-Fest.

So for something to do, Jesus picks out some body, to cureAnd picks a hard case too

— thirty-eight years a cripple!Enough to raise a test-case, or two.

“Pick up your mat and go home”He says

And what he saysIs done.Ho-hum?

Well, as you know, it was Day sevenAnd you can’t even lift your eyes to HeavenWithout the Jews calling it

“work”To which everyone is quite alert.So when this cheerful man was caughtCarrying his own cripple’s mat,or bedThey sourly booked him on the spot,



And said“It’s Sabbath Day.That makes you a sinner, we sayWhy do you carry your mat today?”

And he compliantly replies thereto“The man who healed me,He told me to”

“And who was that!”“I can’t rightly say”…

To be sure, the Pharisees could guess,Which healer broke this day of rest.But a single solitary witness,who could hardly tell who’s whoIs not a great scoopTo a scrupulous legal Jew,Whose law requires at least two,Witnesses.

There the matter stood.Thomas:

This is where I can fill you in…

Jesus next undertook,To turn himself in!

So he fronts up at the templeAnd finds the happy ex-crippleAnd reveals himself to himwarning him solemnly of sin—he needs a cover line, of course —

“From now on…No more sin,Or suffer worse”

The man goes off to the Pharisees and promptly squealed(So finally the full story gets about)That it was

Jesus who had healedAnd so the truth got out

Whodunnit.They hunt him down to make him payfor this dire deed of ungodlinessBut as yet they have only one witnessTo his working on the Sabbath day.

But Jesus replied obligingly,with what they imagined was blasphemy…

“My Father also is still working right throughWill you please go and book Him too.We have not ceased right up to now

To toil for you in works of pow-er,And in love”

They replied with glee“ B-b-both for Sabbath-breakingAnd now for b-b-blasphemyYou deserve

The d-d-death penaltyBecause you are now claiming

Equality



with G-G-God !”[Perhaps, cooperative reader,You could now explainHow he counter-tackled,To their public shameAnd raised the stakes,By pressing home his claim…]Steven:

I saw a crowd around him,Getting angry.I got there just in time to seeJesus start his plea.

I heard him quite calmly thrice claim divinity“What I am doing is only, what He Himself shows me.What I speak to you is merely, what I hear spoken clearly

By Him above.”And “You cannot claim to honour the Loving Father

If you reject the belovèd Son.”And “He has honoured me by appointing me Judge over

The Resurrection Day to come

Which makes it a matter, rather,Of life or death for you,Now!”

“You are face to face with your Judge,Right now.Receive me now, and receive life eternalReject me now, and deserve death infernal.”[..picture him looking at you long,And catching your eyes square on]

“I will raise the dead from the dustAs I see my loving Father do.

I must judge the dead, for that is just— and justWhat He wants me toDo.

Life and Death is up to me.I call the dead to liveAnd to all who listen to me,

I will giveThem

life.And because it is the Father’s worksWhich you see in me— works which only He could do,

I will now call you to bookWith my witnesses,More than two, or three…

First… there is John the BaptistWhose testimony about meYou took to be the flight of fancy,Of a fundamentalist.

Plus… my works of courseNot one of which, is not a Godly deed.

Also then… the Father’s voice



Which you heard but did not heed,The thundrous baptismal noise,Testifying

“This is my belovèd seed”And if you care to look,

You’ll find, in that very book,Moses too

Who talked of The-Prophet-yet-to-be,

And many moreWho swore their seal to me.

Yes, I accuse you.Of unbelief In Moses and the prophetsOf rejectingJohn and God and Truth

and Me.You hypocrites.

You seek the praises of men,In the name of Man

And welcome any other whom you deem to be a brother

But you despise praise from Heaven,From The Father,And reject whoever comes,in the name of God.

You cannot find the Truth,Which you are seeking in your BookBecause you stay in deafness,Darkness and in deathRather than

Take a good look,At whom Moses describes.

So…It is MosesWho will bring you lot to bookBecause it’s HIS Book!You quote him as the Source of Life,But he will tell you that he points to

Me!But how can you find belief?If you believe neither him,

Nor what you see,Nor

Me.”

Scene 8Sacrilegious Robbing-Hood

Author:Sabbaths happen quite regularlyAnd there’s not a lot to doUnless you go Pharisee-baitingTo teach them a thing or two.



So, one jolly day of rest(and just when they were hungriest)

Jesus leads his merrie men(imagine that you and I are there again)Through a grainfield.

Arthur:And sure enough,Craning their necks after this bait,The Pharisees followClosely,Every grain of wheatwhich we disciples swallowwhether we try to hide it or not.

Finally,They inevitably make the challenge

“Look!You have law-breakers for followers!”

Well, Jesus laid this double-barrelled counter-challenge…“Haven’t you ever read the story

(Did the Pharisees not know the scriptures backwards!)About King David eating unlawfullyWhen he also was awfullyHungry?”

This was the time that had just begunWhen David was not yet royalBut was ruler of an outcast rabble— an outlaw, on the run —(all much like us and Jesus, for the while)Chief among a motley mobOf lawbreakers and odd discontents(Robin Hood style).

“And not just a head of wheat,

Did he eat,but

The holy temple bread!— The dedicated loaves of God,Upon which only priests were fed.

And not just he himself alone,But also, he gave it to his men.And all of this wilful breaching of commandment,Occurred,With that blessèd priest’s consent!

Or (for the second testament in my favour)Don’t you know how to run a Sabbath in the temple?”

(Could there be anything new about that to tell!)“The priest:Doesn’t he work and toil and labour?But who dares call him

An infidel!And so I tell you:

The Sabbath day was made for Man— to worship.But you would have it said, that

‘The Sabbath day was —



— made for man to worship’!Man was not made for Sabbath,But Sabbath was made for man.

And furthermore I tell youThat greater than ManAnd greater than priestAnd greater than kingAnd greater than temple

And greater than lawAnd greater than your precious blessèd SabbathIs the LORD OF ALL Sabbaths,The Son of Man: the One you see.”

Jesus: aside to listener:The Hebrew: LORD “OF SABBATOT”Sounds mighty like: The LORD “OF SABA-OT” which boasts:“I AM the ALMIGHTY, the LORD: GOD of All HEAVENLY HOSTS”

Jesus: You accuse us of Sabbath-breaking,But it is you yourselves who are forsaking,

The Law of God.Because you are wrong.You condemn the innocent.

..Such is not the will of God.

Fulfil His will and go teach yourselves what He meantWhen He spoke His law in this fashion…

“I desire not sacrifices,But I desire compassion”.

——————Concerning Compassion—————

Jesus taught…

“Woe, woe, woe to youPharisees, Lawyers and Scribes!You donate the tenth part— even of the smallest of your harvest —Of all your garden herbs(according to the law of tithes)— of mint and dill,Of cumin, rue and chives —

But of other provisions mentioned in God’s Laws— indeed the greatest and the weightiest —You have held back in giving from your stores

— in giving of the Love of Godand of Faithfulnessof Justiceand Mercyand Loyaltyand of Compassion towards one another.

You should rightly pay the one— the harvest laws —

But do not neglect and overlook the rest— the Other —



The other ninety percentAlso due to the Father!

In fact,This is just whereYou purists are at…

..Of all “unclean” creatures in your diet,You insist on straining out the smallest

— the gnat —But then you go,And happily ignoring the largest,You gulp down intact

— a whole camel —For all that!”———————————————————————————————

Sabbath Breaker

Steven (You are talking to Luke who is writing it down):

The Pharisees now tried Jesus-baiting!It was Saturday again,The day of religious law-abiding.So, as usual,Off to the synagogue Rabbi Jesus proceeded.

They made sure,A man with a crippled hand was waiting.This way…

They would have all the witnesses they neededTo accuse him of Sabbath-breaking.

Scene 9 — Capital Offence!

Quietly they dropped their bait, to wait, with bated breath:“Teacher; Is it lawful to heal upon the Sabbath?”…

..To which Jesus saith:“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?or would you rather command:

to do harm?

(They held their peace without a qualm.)And, is it lawful to save a life on the Sabbath?or would you rather say:

To slay?

(They bit their lips rather than say.)And, is it lawful to pull a sheepfrom a deadly pit, on the Sabbath?or would you rather leave him in it?

(They held their breath for the minute.)

Surely then, since



any honest, decent, kind-hearted,God-fearing, law-abiding,sincere fellow among you

would do goodby saving a poor fallen lamb,even on a Sabbaththen,even on a Sabbath, it is lawful for meto restore and heal,a crippled human being,to full health,

(How could anyone not see?)Since surely you tooWould votePeople and humanity,To be of far more note

Than rams and goats?”(To this, and to this reference to their sacrifices, you see,They did not visibly agree.)

Their hard-heartedness by now obviously had,Made Jesus grievously sadAnd glaring around at them in anger He bade

— to the cripple still in the pitWhose hand had become somewhatOf a bargaining chip…

—————————————————“Stretch out your hand”

—————————————————

And it was no longer bad.

Author:Jesus had once again put the Jews to public shame,And they hated him for it,Bitterly.So they now bit back in secret anger And in guilty pain

— and…Determined on his execution.

The rest is history.The awful history of the crucifixion.

Carefully carried out on the day before the SabbathBecause…“It was not lawful to crucify the Son of God

On the Sabbath”!

Act 2



His mother’s name is MaryAnd if you want to be contraryWe can also name his brothers“James, Joseph, Simon and Judas”

And if you want some othersWe can point out all his sisters.”

(He came to his own relatives,and his own relatives knew him not)

“We have heard indeed of himDoing miracles in Capernaumand we hear many storiesOf his supposèd wisdomBut we haven’t seen it here,Where we all know him wellAnd well,We can’t see where those things could come from.”

(He came to his own town, and his home-town knew him not)In fact, the comparison between,Capernaum, where he had been,and here,

Could not be more clear.There, when the Sabbath and its meetingWere ceasingThe whole city had gathered at his door,Begging for more.There,

He healed all kinds of demoniacsAnd diseases

Since so many mobbed him.Here,

He could lay hands onOnly a few sick people,

Since so few approached him.

And soHis miracles here,But not there,Were rare.

———Doom for Spectators of Miracles———

..But even where Jesus had done most of his miracles— in the lakeside cities of Galilee —Those ‘lucky’ spectators of his ministryStill missed the point of those spectacles.

So Jesus had to be rejected by,

And therefore had to reject,Those places too…

“Woe to you Chorazin!Woe to you Bethsaïda!

For if the miracles which occurred in youHad occurred in Tyre and Sidon

(in Phoenician Syria)Those foreigners would have repented long ago.



They’d’ve begged God to put off His promise of wrath,Would have sat in ashesAnd dressed in sackcloth

And humbled themselves in sorrow.Furthermore,

You would be better off Therefore,If you had been faraway pagans

And never seen the miracles I do for you.For the Day of Judgment will sit easier onTyre and SidonThan on you.

And to Hell with youCapernaüm,

too!(who imagine yourselves Heaven-boundFor having had me liveAnd work among you)

Because even the Sodomites would have found repentance— yes, even those sinful Gentiles —And their city would still exist here among us —If they had seen my miracles in their town.So you’ll be judged worse than those Sods!

He who rejects my miracles,————————Rejects God’s.”————————————————

(Author: The sermon in Nazareth continues…)

Outlaw!

Such great disbelief from his own home-townVexed him greatlySo he prophesied this prophecy

“You skeptics will surely quoteThis proverb to me‘Physician, heal thyself’ ”

(which was indeed spat at him later As he hung upon the tree…

..“Saviour of others,Save yourself.Come down from the cross,So that we may seeAnd believe in thee.”)

Next Jesus lectured them about the unbelief and distrust

Of the many widows in Israel, so long before,Who had rejected the prophet ElijahAnd who wouldn’t harbour this wanted outlaw(much like what was happening here,To be sure).

Elijah had caused a famine,And was hiding from King Ahab



To the brow of the cliff Upon which the city was builtIntending to throw him off For he had claimed:

You who reject me,Reject God.

The “suspense” was cliff-hanging.But the irony of Jesus was thateven though the Jews would now acceptThat he had to die in disgracementHe had to even now (especially now!) rejectTheir timing and their placement

And so,Borrowing another favourite — a disappearing trick

— from Elijah“passing through the midst of them,he went his way”

Reflecting“Surely no prophet should perish outside JerusalemThe city which rejects and kills the prophets sent them”

And soHe left GalileeFor Tyre and SidonWhere he healed a foreign woman’s child,Elijah and Elisha stylePhilosophising

“Surely,In his own home country,A prophet is not welcomed”

(He came to his own country,And his own country received him not)

Traitor!

When Jesus re-entered Capernaüm,A certain foreigner welcomed the newsAnd so Jesus was met by a delegationWho came — on behalf of that local centurionWho had heard about Jesus, and,In clear recognition of this prophet’s fame,

Had sent to him some Jews.Now, centurions are not Jewish, but Roman.They may be “God Fearing” but,Being uncircumcised, are held to be ‘unclean’.Indeed they are normally heathen,And legally pagan, like Na’aman.

And circumcised Jews like JesusWeren’t meant to enter their houses.So the elders were to act as go-betweensBringing Jesus this message of woe:

“Master, my belovèd slave is sick at homeLying paralysed in bed

And in great pain,And trouble, and strife.He’ll soon be dead!Please come



And save the boy’s life.”And so the Jewish elders earnestly begged…

“This Roman loves our nationAnd is a Fearer of God.It is he who built us our synagogue.He is worthy of your consideration…Please grant him this favour.”

Jesus says:“I will go and be his saviour.”

And so he agreed and was going alongWhich was immediately reported to the centurion.

Again the centurion sent another deputation,Of friendly appeasersBefore Jesus came close to the house,To say to Jesus

“Lord do not further trouble yourself For I am not a worthy person myself For you to come into my residence— which is why I deem it unworthyEven to speak to you personally

Or for me to come into your presence.Rather;

Just give the command,Using the authority you wieldAnd my boy shall be healed.For as I understand authority,I just have to sayTo the Roman soldiers under me

“Go!”And things get going.

When I say“Come!”

They all come running.

And if I tell my slave“Do!”

He jumps to get it done.So that’s how it must be for you.You do not need to come personally.I need not see you face to face.”

Jesus listened to this discourse,Then hailed his faith as “marvellous”And turning to the multitudeOf mainly Jewish followersIn eloquent prophetic style waxed he…

“How does such an astonishing sign come to be?Truly I declare to you that

Not even one Jewish leader in IsraelHas shown such great faith in meAs this Roman certainly has!

I prophesy truly that many foreignersshall enter the kingdomTo eat with Abraham,Isaac and Jacob in HeavenBut that the apparent heirs of that kingdom— expecting bright joyfulness —Will be tossed out into the outer utter darkness



Whereinwhich will be wailing,And such woeful weeping!And of teeth, much genashing!”

So Jesus sent the delegated deputation home to say thus:“Be at peace! As your faith is; So let it come to pass!”

And with that, Jesus turns and departs!(having merely pronounced a word on it, Elisha-style).

To the worried skeptics in this Jewish delegationThe slave’s sad fate now seemed sealedBut they arrive back later to find the boyAlready well and truly healed!Indeed the servant had received his curePrecisely at the spoken hour!Everyone marvelled that it so clearly revealed

Divinely delegated power.

(The Author’s explanation continues…)

But it was the tragedy of Jesus— that he was born to be rejected

And to be rejected by his ownAnd so he had to die,And had to die alone…

You see, his death was sacrificial,To take away all Man’s sins— to deal with the universal sin of Man:that of rejecting God.Let me explain.When put on the spot,Face to face with the Son of ManSome fell on their knees in fear, like Peter,admitting they were sinners— that God is right and they had been wrong,

All along.Others treated Jesus’ claims with a sneer,Proving they were sinners— saying

“If this is God, then I know better than God”Yet this was simply part of God’s plan

— to disguise Himself thinly andPresent Himself as a man —

“The world was made by him,But the world knew him not”

So yes,He came as God the Creator,Giver of Light and Life.

He came to his very own creatures,As husband to a wifeBut had to die as “God:

Rejected by Mankind”And to show how all His creatures rejected Him…

..He had to die alone.

Consequences of Rejecting the Chosen Prince

The invitation into God’s kingdom



Jesus pictured with this comparison…[..redolent of the bitter, jealous days

when David’s son Solomon— a fore-type of the Christ — was finally chosenOver and above his elder brothers — Adonijah and Absalom.

..redolent also of Caesar’s specially adopted ‘son’And heir — the last Caesar — one Octavian.So this was no fairy story,But quite a serious one,..redolent of the intense political rivalries,Vote-buying and rent-a-crowd, Roman style,Which always come, with the question:

Who really will, by Imperial decree,be fully recognised as “The Chosen Son”?]

Jesus: The king announces, to his subjects,The big event— a huge banquetFor everybody of first standingAnd of high callingIn the royal establishment…

“There will be a wedding feastFor my belovèd son— the heir to my realm— the one whom I, have, chosen”.

[in other words:Come and pay your respectsAnd tributes to “my son”And acclaim himAs your rightful king

(or else become “Traitor!”, andbe known as my enemy— if you, reject, him).]

“The right time has come”He announces in jubilant expectationThrough his heralds, in eager anticipation,To all those invited to the festal celebration,

“Everything is readyand the king desires your presence.”

But in conspiracyThey secretly decide not to comply,Instead sending mere excuses for their absence,

Not truly telling why.One sends this message

“I am requiredTo go and take formal possession

Of a farm recently acquired.May Your Majesty live forever And long live your sonBut please excuse me,Since

I cannot come.”Another:

“I would much prefer to comeTo such auspicious festivityThan to perform the miserable duty



That has fallen to me…For my expensive equipmentIs just now at its critical stage — the trial run.So do please excuse me,

I am unable to come.”A third:

“As you know, our law requires me to abstainFrom state obligations

During this, the first year of my own recent marriage— a Mosaic instigation.Thus, though your generous invitationIs most kind,

I must decline.”When the envoys report this initial rejectionTo their master, the king,He orders other servants to reinforce the invitation,Saying:

Please inform the chosen ones…“Look. The most Royal wedding feast is afoot.The best of meats are now prepared for eating.

All is at the perfect point of readiness, waiting.Don’t allow the happiest day of my life to spoil.The king requires your presence.Come!”

But these chosen peopleAre now openly snubbing the king’s commandments

— indeed they grab the messengersand abuseAnd murder them!

And each simplyCarries on with his own commitments

— farmingOr business

Or personal affairs again.

The furiously angry king now declares,In his ire

“Let them die hungry, then!”And orders his armies to go and raze their rebel citywith fireAnd to destroy those assassins.[Note: within 100 years of John the Baptist

— Jesus’ ‘best man’ and ‘Messenger’ —Being beheaded in just this sort of Orthodox style,By the godless Jewish elite,

And of this dire statement being given in the parable,By JesusJerusalem, the city of the chosen peopleWas razed,

BurnedAnd ploughed level]

Meanwhile, the king decrees…“My son’s wedding reception shall go ahead as planned.I am determined to make this a most happy occasion.



But since, as we all now clearly understand,The first-invited guests were not worthyof the distinction,Quickly go into the city streets to invite all you can findto join us in our blissful wedding celebration— even the poor or lame, the crippled and the blind!”

“No sooner said than it was done,Your Highness,Yet still they report empty seatsNone-the-less.”

“Go further abroad then” said the king “out of the town— into the highways and country lanes —

And make them offers they can’t turn down.So that it may never be said of my banquet, that

“few attended”Or of my son, that

“he is not well-received.”.”So they gathered abroad all they couldFrom near and far, both bad and good— all they came across, serendipitously —

until the banquetting hall was filled with guests.And now the king comes and inspects

— to make sure that all is as it should be.One evil fellow among the guests,Not dressed for the occasion, he addressed…

“Friend, how did you dare to come in hereWithout suitable wedding gear??”

But that guestCouldn’t offer a convincing word in his own defence.

So the kingOrders himTo be bounced

“Grab this fellow, one to each hand and foot

And swing and swing and swing, and fling him good,And make him sorely sorry, among the outsidersThat he ever presumed upon my favours!”

Jesus concluded:Though there are many who may call themselves

“the chosen and favoured few”How few of them will actually be chosen to stay!

— to eat at the king’s table.(..‘He had to die alone, rejected’… continued)

Criminal!

But Jesus had to be very, very fussy

About how and where and when,To die alone.To make this sacrifice at all properly,

prophetically,And legally,

It had to take place in Jerusalem.

It had to be the day before, the highest Sabbath in the land— the day of slaughter for, the sacrificial Passover Lamb.



The meaning of this “Passover” festival is prophetic.It is to ask God’s angel DeathTo “pass over” Jewish households— to deliver their lives as in the days of EgyptWhere One live lamb was slain per householdIn the place of One dead, oldest son per family.

So Jesus next left the backblocks and headed for JerusalemTo be sacrificed by the Jews.

That is, he left life in Judea of the JewsFor death by criminal crucifixionKnowing that…

“A prophet is not honoured,even by his own countrymen”

(He came to his own, and his own countrymen knew him not)

It had to be a crucifixion,which was Roman death, for treacheryFor the God of all nations,

who chose the Jews, to bless all nations(by Imperial decree, to produce the Messiah— the Anointed one — his “Chosen Son”)Is God, not to the Jews alone, but for all nations universally.

And to show how the rulers of the worldWould betray their God to damnation

He was handed over, by the Jews,To a Gentile (that is: ‘non-Jewish’) nationAnd so… to their many execrations.

Thus for this Jew,The World’s ‘Final Solution’

Would be his execution.(Indeed, in sad irony, quite ‘criminal’ crucifixion.)

So He finally left Earth for Heaven, proving, tragically“A Creator is not honoured, by any of His own creation”(He came to his own, and his own creatures knew Him not.)

Bloodthirsty Tyrant or Server of Justice?

But this is notThe end of our storyFor he promisedTo come back in glory

Which is our next story’sPoint.

You see he would finally receive his due honour in Heaven,As King of Kings

(after humbly serving his own creaturesso honourably on Earth,

As loyal servant of runaway slaves)

But firstly here, he had to pay, by himself,



The penalty due to us (traitorous Earthlings)Which was rejection and dishonourable death,

For treason.Thus, by paying for Man’s treachery,He would open the way for forgiveness of all men

— that is to say,Make Heavenly amnesty for them.So later He must return in power and glory,as their King

And in vengeanceFor the unrepentance of his hardened enemies

— finally executingTheir rightful sentence.

But first he had toDie as a self-sacrificing High Priest

Not reign as a self-appointed Earthly king.

So the frustration for JesusAnd his followingIs that even when they now accepted

Him as their king,As we shall now read — this is before his dying in abasement

He still had to rejectTheir timing and their placement…

ACT 3

“I’m with you J.G.!”

— the peasant Messiah gathers a following

“Sedition!”

Author:John the Baptist had lost his head.The Jews by now wanted Jesus dead.His own home town had sent him awayBut still the crowd wanted him every day.

He healed the sick and restored the lame.He raised some corpses and cured the insane(and to spread the good news, which was his aimHe empowered the twelve to do the same,

Sending them everywhere, in his own name).

He taught the truth with parables of charmAnd promised salvation from the coming harm.He won their souls and set them freeSince they were blind, but now could see.

They saw their hope in John chopped off But saw instead “the Lamb” whom John said oft,

To seek.



So when Jesus called“Come unto me,You meek”

he and his disciples couldn’t snatch a biteTo eat.

So, it was off to the hills for some respiteBut they followed him through day and night.In open fields and in mountain camps

He had an army of 5000 hungry tramps.

He offered them two dried fish,Along with five flat rolls(Quite an e-fish-ent dish,Among so many souls)The rolls were ones without any yeast,

Or hamSince this was his versionof the Jewish religious Passover feast,

Of lamb.

But soon their bellies filled with foodAnd their hearts with aweBecause there was enough left over For very many more.

Then he walked on water, as a sort of encoreAnd saved Peter too.He calmed two stormsand did sundry other pleasing things.The people fell at his feetand wanted to make him king.

They would raise a revolt under this prophet of GodAgainst the Roman sting

— these Galilean discontents being quite usedTo this sort of thing.Indeed they were the championsIn seeking political freedomAnd all they were intent upon,Was wresting back their Davidic kingdom.But this fish-multiplying Messiah had higher purposesWhich didn’t yet include multiplying human corpseses.

So the shortest way to escape,In order to disown the mob,

Was to foot it across the lake!By which he beats themBack to the synagogue.

[Scene 2]

This only impresses them even more“King of the Jews, we do implore…

How, tell us,Not for Caesar’s sake,



did you ever get around the lake?”[Steven, would you like to write for us the text,

Of what it was Jesus said next?…]Steven:

“Right” said Jesus“This has gone far enoughListen here to my rebuff:

Leave your cupboard-love of loaves— your earthbound running after bread —In the dust, as it behovesAnd lift your eyes to Heaven instead.

And if you come to me on bended kneeSeek not mere present gain, but eternity.

Interpret the miracles and the timesAnd understand the meaning of the signs:I have the signet seal of Father GodThe sovereign authority to give you the nod

For entering eternal life!”From the synagogue, came this orthodox response(from the knee-jerk theologians)

Which was a question well-rehearsed(in all its many Rabbinic variations)

“To inherit eternal life,We must do what?Do what good work?Obey what command of God?”

(It’s as if They hadn’t just now heard the answer.)

So he replied patiently“You must believe

In me,That I AM

He

That God has come from HeavenTo visit ye

My love implores you:Knit your souls

To Me.”Author, aside to reader:Now,before we listen to their rejection of “his Heavenly fantasy”,we need to look a bit more at the history of the Pharisee,because I need to explain a bit of a mystery— How could they reject so many miracleswhen Jesus was giving them such a feast? —Well,

being pro-God, in theory at least,the Pharisees did believe in miracles, in theory at leastthat is in “true miracles” (which seemed to have ceased)not in this “healing miracle rot” — But why not?

Because true miracles had to clearly comefrom the hand of Godnot from man, who could not, by definition(their own surmised definition) be God.

They had to arise clearly not from earth, but fall from Heavenlike stones —



like stone tablets coming down the mountain,handwritten by Godor angels falling, down electrified ladders,between earth and heavenor fire falling out of the blue— to consume men, or their sacrifices, as in scripture, trueor angel cakes raining from the sky— to feed the hungry people at Sinaior Heaven opening downyou get the picture — do you?Thus they “believed in miracles”, but not in every miracle.

Indeed, by definition,their very own, very narrowed definitions,they hadn’t seen “a true miracle from Heaven”for quite a while!And had made it quite hard for “a miracle from God”,not from earth below, to come from a man, like Jesus.

Unless, perhaps, that man claimed to have

“come down from Heaven,as Son of God, like Jesus.So anyone who claimed to be from God— like another ‘Messiah’ or ‘Son’ or ‘Saviour’, like Jesus,needed to be tested,with a demand for “a true miracle, come from Heaven”,(like... Jesus),

just like their fathers tested the God of miracles for 40 years— in the wilderness, when God was testing them —and they failed the test.They were about to be allowed to have another go,at Jesus...

Egomaniac

From the synagogue, now alarmed,To this probably false MessiahComes this orthodox demand,To this self-appointed Saviour Which was a challenge well-rehearsedBy the tick-list theologians(in all its many Rabbinical variations)Because this situation was already stained with the bloodOf many popular revolutions…

“Give us then, a sign from God,For our credulity

Perform a miracle of the sort,To prove your credibility —At least as great as Moses gaveTo our fathers in the desertWhen for 40 years to millions,He fed them a dessertOf sweet angelic manna flakes,The lovely “bread of heaven”.”

(Jesus:)“In answer to your hesitation,



Let me draw you this comparison…There, you have God’s servant, called Moses.

Here, you have God’s son, called Jesus.What they got was earthly food and drink.

Here I bring Heaven’s Spirit, don’t you think?After 40 years of daily hunger, still they died.

But come to me for eternal lifeand ever be fully satisfied.

Moses brought manna out of the heavens— the skies so near above.

I bring you eternal good out of the truer Heaven— the very throne of love.”

“Oh yes, that’s the stuff we seek.Eternal life, that’s for sure!So give us now this breadSo that we may live for evermore.”

“I AM the bread come from Heaven,The very Staff of Life.I myself am the Eau-de-Vie,The Tonic of Eternity

I AM the Eternal Life-saver.Don’t you recognise your own Saviour?

Just you wait for that Last DayHe who comes to Me won’t then be cast awayAnd I will raise him up thereafter According to the will of the Father.

Let me, for you, this Psalm fulfil…“He has prepared a body for meAnd behold I comeHere I AM to do His will”

All this means, at the very least

ThatI AM

Your Passover FeastAnd my body is your meat.

I AMThe very sign you seek.”

“Son of Heaven, so he claims to beSon of Joseph, as is plainer to see.”

“Is not a ‘good son’The perfect image of his father, in heart??— one who acts in like spirit.Can you not see it?— one who holds nothing dearer.

I cannot be any clearer.

See that I AM— of the very lineage of the Spirit —Of the Father.

So look and understand:Believe in me you mustAnd if you do, I’ll raise you up,Even from the dust.



Though earth and heaven pass away,You’ll be sure to last.”

Still they grumbled very much, and again he says toStop.

He repeats it all again, plus…“If you come to me, you come to God” And,“Can anyone see the invisible God, the Father and Creator?

No, they can only see me,His image, His Son, His perfect imitator.”

Stop they did not.[Before Jesus replies,Let me adviseThat religious law deems it strictly unwiseFor any good Jew, to eat any human flesh,Or to drink any blood, of any kind.So…]

Cannibalist??

“Well, try this on for size:

I’ll put off my bodyAnd leave it behind,

For you to dine uponI’ll give up all my blood,And pour it in a cup

For you to drink as wine

And drink you mustOr else be lostAnd eat my flesh,Lest you rot.”

At which… they took offence

And turned; and took their leave(these myriads of loyal subjects)And left him; to his own defence.

[Exit crowd, muttering “Infidel!”]

Arthur:“Well, Steve, this is all going bad, man.I’m off too.You’re on your own,To work out your own lot —

I’m not going to listen to a madman!I can’t stomach all this invisible, symbolic rot.”

Steven:“Hold on. I’m revolting too:I think I’ll abandon this ‘heavenly roll’,I can’t swallow it.I think I’ll resign my religious partAnd get lost.

[Exit Arthur, Steven also.

Jesus is left alone with his 12 disciples.]



The other readers:But

Where does this leave us?How can we fit in from here on?Who will tell us what happened next?

Andrew, you’re there,What’s going on?

Act 3 Scene 3

Andrew:Gently to his own chosen twelveHe turns and sighs

and asks them

“If you please…Leave

For not all of you believe.

The Spirit is the ‘good leaven’Which I have, to giveAnd you shall see me rise,And go to God in Heaven,Again to live.

What will you say then!”

But Peter said to Jesus, much to everyone’s relief “We have come, and seen, and heard,and we believeThese, your words, are the teachingsOf Eternal Life.

They come from Holy God Himself.We’d rather not go anywhere else.”

Act 3 and a half

J.G. Regathers His FollowingVarious open air crowd scenes will now followIn an extended journey by foot, through the provinces.

Devious Demagogue?

Author:Now, the popular throng, couldn’t stay away for long…

[Enter Steven, far off, coughing badly, andEnter Arthur, also looking lost, limping along.]..because Jesus could cure any

Body that was wrong.

And when he did, it often came about thenThat Jesus said, to some cured grateful cripple

“Go home.”and “Don’t tell anyone about your leg!”



And his orders were strict…And it never seemed to work.

Now, I don’t know about you, but…I don’t think Jesus was dull.

Did he imagine the whole matter finished?..The whole family would be astonished!Soon, a whole circle of friends has heard

But, bursting, he can’t say a wordAbout what has occurred.

There’s nothing like a secret, in focus,In the absence of verbosityTo arouse guesswork and gossipAnd positive curiosity.

The more the news,Of the mystery,Is refused

The more indignantlyThe demandsAre renewedTo find out everyDetail of the history.Yes?

Well, the upshot of this ruse, is on the gospel recordThat so effectively did the news get noised abroadThat

“Trampling over each other,The crowds cameBringing the crippled, the blind, the dumb,

And the lameAnd many others for Jesus to heal,Because of his fameAnd they laid them down at Jesus’ feet

(He didn’t even have time to eat)And he healed them all.”

It made him so well known thatHe couldn’t even enter populated placesBut stayed out in open, isolated spaces.

So, imagine yourself, out there for a while[nursing your hurts —On the outer — straining to see and hear,

from the outskirts] amongThe myriads of followers comeInto the lonely places of GalileeUpon a mountain peak, over the Sea…

Here, a demon-possessed manwho is blind and dumbIs brought, and,to the amazement of the throng,He heals him.

Steven:



But how!? From back here I can’t see clearly.Can’t someone unblock this mystery?

Author:Well, here’s yet another case we meet…Which(if only we could hear, this time, the inside story)

Should open our eyesTo make us wiseAnd free to tell clearly,To anyone and everybody, all over the countryside,The secret of these cures, so complete…..A man who speaks only with difficultyAnd whose ears are deaf,Is laid at his feet.

[The Other Readers are taken inFor a closer peek]

“Please lay your hands,We pray,Upon this man”They say.

“He cannot hear at all.Plus, he cannot speak,UnlessWith much uneasinessAnd indistinctiveness.”

Jesus takes the man alone and apartAnd puts his fingers in his ears, for a start!To follow this he spitsand touches the bung tongueWith the saliva!Next he looks up to Heaven,

And with a deep sighSays

“Ephphatha!”

His deaf ears must have heard,For immediately they“Be Opened!”(which is the meaning of that word)His tongue also — it lost its impediment,And he began to speak plainlyWithout any hinderment!

Lastly Jesus issues orders not to tell

But they were utterly astonishedAnd the more he ordered it, well…..The more they spread the news.

A sample of their unhidden views…“What a marvel!

To see the lame walking”“Miraculous!

To see the cripples healed”“How wonderful!



To see the blind seeing”“Glory to God!

The mighty God of Israel”“Nothing like this was ever seen here before!”

“This Jesus performs every good work!And more!

He even makes the deaf to hear!He even made the dumb to speak!”..until, at last…

“Isn’t he the Son of David,Whom we seek!”

“Is he not…The Christ!”

Shirker!

Picture then the situation:After 3 days in isolationYou are hungry as anything,But at least you have found

the king…

Then, as soon as his popularity rebouncesJesus, Son of David, the King, announces

“I hope you don’t mind,But I must leave you all behind.It is time for me to move along…”

(the crowd by now is 4000 strongPlus women and children besides)

“..I intend to sail to the other side.But since it is food that you lack

— I don’t want you to faint on your way back —So, sit down for a meal, in rows.”

And he says grace over seven loaves(with a few small fish to come)and shares them out to everyone!And they ate up,And filled upAnd moreover Had seven large baskets-full left over!

When the people ran back around the shoreIt only spread the news much more.It wasn’t long before the throngHad regathered, with this song…

“He shared miraculous bread and fish about.He puts all our wrongs to rights.He even casts the demons out.Is he not the Christ!”

Unholy Devil or Holy Spirit?

Not everyone in the crowd is fully converted however.

So what did it feel like to be on the other side



Of the divide?Can you imagine?

[Author to Steven:Since you are now searchingFor a more central role,Aren’t you,Are you game to switch, and take on the spotlight role,

Of a Pharisee,For this next part?

Yes? Well here is the scene:You know the crowdIs acclaiming Jesus as the Christ, butAmong yourselvesIt is being said…]

Pharisees:“He’s not the Christ,But the Devil instead!For who has authority over the demons?Who else should the unclean spirits obey?

Who, but their own leader, Beelzebul!So there! That’s how it is, we say.”

Knowing your slant, Jesus challenges you Pharisees“Any kingdom is easily conquered,once it begins destroying itself!Even a walled city will fall, will it not,

through a civil war?and infighting is what splitshomes, families and householdsDon’t you think,As the inevitable result unfolds?Dividing against oneself

Is only a recipe for annihilating yourself!So Satan would soon be finished,If he started fighting his own minions!He’d simply lose his own kingdom.

But in your so well-reasoned opinionsyou have me

“casting out demons by Beelzebul,Lord of the demons”

Obviously, that can’t be how it is, I say.

[That’s witness number one. Now…]

What about your own sons,The exorcists?Would you say theyWere Satanists!

They prove you to be wrong.But nay,It is by

The finger of God



and the power of the HeavensThat I cast out the demons.So it is

The Spirit of GodWhich you see working— the Kingdom of Heaven,In action —

In other words:You are seeing the Heavenly King.”

[That was the required second witness.But Jesus hasn’t exhausted his defence yet.Three is better…]

“What Delusions of Grandeur!”Look.

Would you tackle the Devil your “Opponent”(as Satan is translated)?Is he not a very strong EnemyAlways on the alert

And armed to the teeth, and with hatred,Guarding his own things, jealously?So no-one weaker can touch him

And get away with anything, can they?But look,

Here AM I,Come as one who is stronger Attacking him with stronger weaponsAnd I have overpowered him;I have neutralised his weapons.He has no armour any longer,Anything left, which he once relied on.I have tied him up,

With pleasureI will plunder his house,

At leisureI will distribute his treasure,

By measure, at willTo whomever I choose.

Now you choose![Your turn: Feel what it would be likeTo be a religious leader and face this…]

Are you on my side in this,Or will you be against me?If you do not join my army,You will become my enemy!

And if you do not recruit with me,You will be treated like a deserter.But as for this nonsense

of me being possessed by the Devil…Stop blaspheming the Holy Spirit!— calling the power of God in me

“unclean” and“Satanic” —

It is an unforgiveable sin.You can be forgiven for sinning



Against one another.You can be forgiven for blaspheming a man,Even me.But you can’t expect and won’t get,ForgivenessFor blaspheming againstGod’s Holy Spirit!

— Not now, in this world, nor ever in the world to comeThis will forever be the eternal sin of sins!

And as for this business of keeping it to yourself…Stop disguising your thoughts!Every tree must show,And be judged by,Its true fruit in the End.The good and bad sorts will be easily dividedOn that coming Day:

The Great Dividend.Your inner thoughts won’t remain in the dark forever So stop saying one thing while thinking another.

You yourselves are the brood of devilsHarbouring evils inside,But speaking so niceAs if your hearts had no vice.But the Day of Judgment will bring it to light— every word of hypocrisy.You’ll be called to account for every word of duplicity.You’ll be convicted by your own preaching,for not practising your own teaching.You’ll be condemned because of These self-same words of yours

(not matching your deeds)While the deeds of the truthful

(matching the words of the truthful)Will declare the truthful to be right.”

[Now I will leave it up to you,Whether or not you think it niceto stay on side with the Pharisees,In which case…]

..listening carefully to all this adviceYou keep on putting it around,Out loudThat Jesus is

Satan casting out Satan[..Or you can try again the part of One of Jesus’ family of followers,

In which case Jesus warns you of something awful…How will you handle being judged ‘unlawful’,And wearing this label?…]

————————————————| HERETIC! || WORKMAN FOR THE DEVIL |————————————————

“You Blackguards!”



“They are now calling me— the head of the household of God —

“Beelzebul”(by calling demon-deliverance

“Satanic”)So what will they call you— the members of the family of God —(since you are the onesWho,Like true sons,Do obey the Father’s commandment)?You should only ever expectFrom the religious establishmentTo be thoroughly tarred and denigrated —

With the sameBlack name.”

[Or, if you prefer something nicer And cleaner, and purer,Would you like, to play the part of

One of Jesus’ real family…..Jesus mother?

The ‘most blessèd of women’.But bear in mind,

That it had been prophesied to you,By Simeon

That your very own heartWould be cut to the quickAnd this by the verdictOf your very own son…]

Mother-Hater

Some members of Jesus’ family set out,To take custody of their madman.This situation obviously came aboutBecause they had preferred to listenTo the teaching the Pharisees had given,That

Jesus was a man badly possessed.So, Jesus’ mother and brothers arriveBut have to, however, stand waiting outsideBecause of all the crowdPressing aroundWho obviously preferred listening to the soundReasoning, of this man who had lost his senses.

So they send word through the crowd“Teacher,Your mother says she wants you;Now!”

On hearing this mention of Jesus’ mother A Jewish mother in the crowdCries aloud

“Ah!Your mother!



Blessèd be the womb that bore you!Blessèd be the breasts that fed you!”

But Jesus says to the woman“No.On the contrary.Nay.The blessing belongs, I say,To those who prefer to listen to, and obeyThe teachings of God.”

Then turning to the messenger, he spoke in publicAnd cuts you to the quick…..he asks… “Who is my mother?

Who are my brothers?”Then he points to the disciples and othersWho were sitting and listening to JesusAnd looking at them he says…

“Look, here are my mother Here are my brothers

Because, obviously,Whoever prefers to heed

The teaching of God, andwhoever prefers to obeyThe will of Father God,

He is my brother And sister And mother.”

Thus he leaves you, his own mother,Standing,Out in the cold;But the end of this story has not yet been told.

Eventually, we can read,That among the family of those who believed,

“Jesus’ brothers and mother”

Were voluntarily enrolled.

[For this one page, where we exploreWhat was demanded of a follower of Jesus,as we slowly ramble towards Jerusalem,You should simply follow your natural drift.But I warn you:(especially if you have a familial personality rift)

You may write yourself out of the script!]

Paranoid Schitzophrenic or Simply Right?

Meanwhile,

Jesus kept on teaching more of this unwelcome slantThe closer to death in Jerusalem he got…“Do you suppose that I came to grantPeace on Earth and harmony to men?Do not.I tell you no,Not peace,but rather a swordOf division.Henceforth I bring an end to peace



And put families into schism.Three against two and two against threeFather against son and son against father Mother against daughter and daughter against mother Mother-in-law agin daughter-in-law;Daughter-in-law agin mother-in-law

And it will beThat a man’s enemyWill be one of His own family!

A brother will betray to death, even his own brother And a father will betray to death, even his own childAnd children will deliver to death,even their own father and mother.

He who loves a father Or mother

More than meAnd he who loves a son

Or a daughter More than me

Is not worthy of me.

If anyone comes to me,He cannot my disciple beUnlessHe hates his father and mother;Hates his children and wife;Hates his sisters and brothers;

And yes,Even his own life.”

_________________________________

[Well, there’s your call to glory!

Can you survive that(and those out to get you!)to fight on for another page?Or perhaps you are “in two minds” aboutWhat the will of God should mean for you?

— Well, no, err…Yes, ummm, err… —

O.K. let’s read on…]

Father-Hater!

When God called “exalted father” Abra-hamTo leave his father’s household in Mesopotamia, for Canaan,

Abraham took his father and settled half-way in HaranAnd there he waited and buried his father TerahBefore going on to the promised land of Canaan.

So to a Jew, what they called “burying your father”(which was the family obligationto wait till dad was dead)

Became more important than the call of GOD!Accordingly…When Jesus said to a disciple “Follow me”,



He replied“Yes Lord, but first let me, wait until dad has died.”

But Jesus to him said“Follow me instead

And let the living dead bury their own dead deadBecause you need to go and proclaim the kingdom of

GOD!”

“I will follow you Lord” another disciple also said“But first let me say goodbye to those at home, I beg”

But Jesus said:“A plowman once started should point dead aheadAnd not swerve from the dead straight lineby turning round his head.Any workman who at all looks back insteadIs not worthy of the Kingdom of GOD!”

Scene 5

Pretender to His Own Throne

To appreciate this theme— of how Jesus might be seen —You need to either/or

: just fit into the scene— of onlookers, disciples and followers — or

: belong to the Pharisees’ team,And be a central speaking actor As they once again confront Jesus’ authority.

It depends on how you see him, actually.For example, you could be

: Mary Magdalene,

Someone grateful for healing and deliverance— having been made clean— who therefore follows Jesus with reverencebut has no action in this scene,

Or her neighbor : Simon, a Pharisee,Who holds Jesus‘not so much in favour’— call him ‘unaligned’,For at least, he has an open mind.

Or maybe try a listening role…: any maniac needing deliverance;Or a lawyer;

Or someone else who is practically blind…Or since you are now a well-practised actor,Why not…

..try on each role as the story unbends,To see if it fits, because it rather depends…..on how you have so far “interpreted”The whole atmosphere…

[Let’s very briefly run through here,At this stage in the narrative,

The point of view, now becoming clear,



Which the common people give…]You: The blasted Satanic theory can’t have long to live,

Leaving us, the well-fed, healthy grateful crowd[i.e. Mary’s mob]Only one alternative…

..Jesus is still the Son of DavidIn our popular thinkingBy which we mean, of course,We want him as our king.

[Role-over: Here you need to swap masks,Swap sides And turn around…]

You Pharisees and Sadducees are now face to faceWith another potential Messiah

[..now you take over…]And if there is another one of them

The Romans will take away our state(and our jobs)

And so it is very much our desireTo trot out our orthodox response

once again…Simon and his colleagues:

“Since you claimTo be from God,We demandA sign from Heaven!”

[to readers:In these languages

“sign, from heaven”might signify a “clue” or “mnemonic”, “from the skies”And so he duly prophesies…]

“Red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning.Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight.”

From Simon’s lot:“No, No.We had in mind something else,To wit,We meant to say‘from the Spirit’.

[Here you gaze solemnly into capital H Heaven] ”[to readers:

In this polyglot“from the spirit”

Might signify “about the wind”To which he gave this reply,Also gazing reverently into the sky…]

“I foresee… Wait,Wisdom is coming nearer…..Yes, I forecast…..I feel it coming clearer…

———————————————| ..Desert winds are hot. || Sea breezes are not.” |———————————————

(Rather cheeky wot!)



[Let’s play “Simon says: stand up on your high horse”So here you must be indignant, of course…]

Simon:This even a child can well enough see.Why did you deliberately misinterpret me!We wanted the stronger stuff from thee!

We didn’t mean the ‘winds’ which blow.We intended to refer, as you well know,Not to winds but to higher ‘spirits’!And, Heavens above!Don’t play dumb with us!

Now Jesus pounces“Yes indeed.Your own words condemn you,You hypocrites!For easily can you analyse your climatology

— your ‘clues’ ‘from the winds’ and ‘skies’And what it means on the Earth, for meteorology…”

[Notice that in these languages,

“on the Earth” or “in the world”May also be interpreted as “about the eras, times or epochs”]

“..But you refuse to interpret your eschatology— the ‘signs’ ‘from Heaven’ and ‘from the Spirit’

And what it means ‘about these times’!

So it is really you who are playing dumb,About your End-time-atology.”

Simon’s mob:Prove yourself. We insist;Not with quibble,But with miracle!

And sighing deeply in his spirit, Jesus deplores…

“Why does this God-forsaking mob demand a sign!I tell you:You are a wicked lot,

Adulterers and sons of whores!Wickedly do you seek a sign.But none will be given you,Except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a wonder,To the people of foreign NinevehBy spending three daysIn the gullet of the great fish!so too will the Son of ManBecome a stumbler

To this people here, whom I myself Will greatly astonishBy spending three daysIn the bowels of the Earth!

And so I tell you that on Judgment Day, a Gentile,the Queen of Sheba will rise to condemnyou, the ‘chosen race’, for this day.

“I crossed half the Earth” she will say“to chase the wisdomof Israel’s anointed of the day



— the great King Solomon.”And let me also pronounce hereupon

that I AMyour anointed King

greater by far than was King Solomon!Likewise too,

traditional enemy Nineveh, will rise to condemn you— as a wicked, adulterous, evil raceand generationwho would not repent at my preachingin dust and ashes, in sackcloth, in weeping,in lamentation— as did the Ninevites, upon heeding Jonah.

Plus let me add to this, one more thing:that I AM far greater

than was the prophet Jonah![Simon, I think you had better depart.Now reader, did you want that partially blind man’s part?Here it is…

(For a while now, squint hard

through thin slits of eyesas you read these next seven lines…) ]

1 So, since all of you have eyes to see how things stand2 I say to you, take care of how

you interpret the state of things3 Don’t blindfold yourselves

to these signs of the times, head in sand4 Look at Me[no, no, keep your eyelids closed — even darker now —three more lines yet]5 If you choose to view me dimly, with darkened eyes6 your whole body and soul will likewise

ever dwell in darkness.

7 But if you choose to see the Light with opened eyes[open up now]YOUR ETERNAL LOT WILL BE CAST IN BRIGHT GLORY

to endure in blessèdness.”

The King’s Counsel

[Here’s the part for a lawyer,Perhaps religious, certainly well-clued…]

Jesus: [to you — a clever dude]There is no law against being shrewdSo why not interpret your own situation

— you would soon revise your mood!

Here you are, threatened with the thoughtof being dragged into the eternal court,Of facing The Heavenly Judge, the Sheriff and the Jailer.

So while there is time:Negotiate with your Accuser!

Take your chance! Settle out of court!Because…



..If you are cast into the darkest cellUntil you pay, you, yes you,may never againsee the pleasant light of day!

[Exit lawyer, resisting, forcefully escorted off the stage!

Now here comes another turn of the page— a listening part— for the demoniac

— imagine having just received a deliverance,You lucky chap,But what might it mean for you

— a recently cleaned up Jew?Listen carefully now — that’s your role

— but I advise you furthermoreThat you had better clasp your hands over your ears

..just… in… case… ]Jesus:

Surely for this wicked race,

It is in storeTo end up worse thanEver it was before!

For having had its evil spirit evicted,What then?

The evil spirit wanders aboutAs in a wildernessBut it doesn’t much likeThe thirst and the homelessnessAnd would very much prefer,To return to home again.

[in your case — you!]Now should it find its old house still EMPTY!— all nicely purged and cleaned,But not yet put to any good useWell, it not only moves back in promptlyBut invites seven more!

— other evil beasts, in recluse —To come and share and most fully possessThat unfortunate houseWhich,To a destruction much the worse,It is now,Most certainly doomed.

[A dark curtain closes on you— that’s the end of your scene — for the while]

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Beast?

— Scene 6

“I tell you to beware of and discard…”Said Jesus on the boatTo his disciples, as they left the crowd



Once more behind“..the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”

“A-ah” sank they down“He tells us that we have left the bread behind”

(for they had forgotten to pack provisions in the boat).“He must be grumpyAt feeling hungry.”

“How little is your faith! O foolish men!Did I not feed the five thousand menAlong with their women and children?And besides, with twelve baskets-full left over!

And did I not repeat this on another Four thousand, with seven large baskets over?

How can you quail for lack of bread?Have you no eyes to see, in your head?Are your ears as well, also so blocked!”

“Ah-ha!” rose they up“He cannot be speakingOf not eatingOf their bread!”They said,

And all at once the penny dropped“He must be talking,about their teaching!”

“Yes indeed. I would have you purge yourself Of their hypocrisy, which is an evil yeast.*

[* Purging your home & hearth of all old yeastIs what Jews must do before their Passover feast.]

Such Jews will condemn you to death as “evil beasts”Believing that in this, they will be serving GodAs they drag you before the synagogue.But don’t be afraid of speaking up for me,Let the Holy Spirit Himself supply your plea.

Then don’t be afraid of death itself,But only fear God instead,Who can raise the deadUnharmed!

Yes, rather fear God, who can consign to Hell,Not only the body, but the soul, as well.”

Lame-duck Weaklings! — Scene 7

The Pharisees and Scribes often gunned craftilyFor Jesus’ disciples, as easier targets, separately,By cowardly arguing Mosaic theologyWith these back-country fishermen

— arguing about Elijah’s reincarnation,



Or about fastingOr modes of baptism!

(It’s as if several professors took you asideAnd began criticising your acting,Or took to attacking me — for bad rithim.

None-the-less, could you please nowGather your witsAnd muster your talentsAnd play…

Jesus…)Author:Once, while Jesus was up the holy heavenly mountTalking with Moses, with ElijahAnd with a voice from the cloud,And with his three closest disciples at heel,The Jews took advantage of those left behindBy bringing them the hardest case they could findFor them to try and heal…

..a deaf and dumbDemon-possessedSuicidal lunatic,

Continually from childhood, a convulsing epileptic…

..so the Scribes’ argumentative sportWas happily fuelled hotWhen the disciples could not,Cure him on the spot,Because, as you (Jesus) later taught,

A case of this sortRequires prayer, and fasting a lot.

The scene is chaotic, with angry ScribesAnd desperate disciples — arguing;With Jesus unexpectedly returning;With astonished mobs converging,

On the run;With the boy’s father pleading;With Jesus ordering

The spirit to flit;With the boy convulsing —

In a terrible foaming, rolling,Screaming fit,

Until finally the boy, with all spirit gone,Drops down

Dead.[If I was there then,I wonder what I would have said — about you!]

But you (Jesus) lift the boy up!Restore him to life!Completely healed in mind!

The comment you make being…[now deliver your line with vehemence]

“Oh you disbelieving and wicked



And perverted faithless kind!How long shall you test my patience!”

_______________________

[Small break, while the author considers his options…][Result: Well, if you are going to talk to me like that,I’ll demote you to the all-expenses-paid star role— Simon Peter, the fisherman promoted by Jesus.]

Scene 8 — “Tax Cheat!”

Another time they cornered Peter, behind Jesus’ back,With

“Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax!”[Well, how would you act?]

And Peter blurted out, defensively“Of course he will;Yes;He won’t be lax”

But Jesus knew in his spirit about this latest attack,

And spoke to Peter first, when Peter came back…“What do you think Simon, you rock:

From whom do emperors of Earthly stockTheir revenue or excise or poll-tax collect?From their own sons,Or from foreign subjects?”

And when Peter answered“From the aliens obviously”

Jesus said“So then, the sons are exempt;Tax-free.Do you see?And this tax is in the name of God’s temple,

No lessAnd for the King of Heavenly sway.I do not wish anyone to stumble,None-the-less,So the taxI AM to pay— anyway.

Now go to the lake and throw in a lineAnd hook the first fish that comes byAnd when you open its mouth you will findA gold coinEnough for you and I— to pay both our temple tributes.

This way they cannot fabricate another excuseNot to believe inThe Son of God.”

[Author to reader:Well done; thank you;You deserve a break sometimesSo enjoy yourself, sit backAnd watch the next action from the sidelines.



As you see,Not even out in the ProvincesCan you escape the powers that be,Or the central place that the Temple hasIn the whole Jewish psyche.So it is time for J.G. to revisitThe centre of the Jewish universe— temple territory —Sadducees & priests,Lawyers and all that;

And for Jesus, the Nazarene, that must be…..tiger-country!…]

ACT 4

The Theme: is keen.Support behind Jesus is buildingdespite the Pharisees deliberatelycounter-acting Jesus’ teachings.The crowd now accept Jesusnot as a political Saviour,

as if the enemy were Roman,but as the Jewish spiritual Leader who is denouncing their real enemy

— the Jewish religious leaders.

Set 1

Phoney!

Our hero now takes ona no-holds-barred, open public debate

With the best rhetoriciansAnd political, legal and religious minds of the state.These were experts in swaying the crowd,

in thinking on their feetAnd in slanging their opponents…

Scene: The crowded temple, in JerusalemFor the Feast of Tabernacles, in Autumn.

Remember that Jesus had cometo Jerusalem’s previous festival

And, on the Sabbath, healed an old cripple— which had first caused the Jews to make up their minds

To condemn Jesus to death,When he next could be found

— if he dared show up in town.

(Right stage…)Tom:

You still harbouring the outlaw, Jaz?He’s here isn’t he?

Jesus’ brother, James:Nah. He ain’t comin’, the phoney.



Dick:Don’t call him phoney.He’s a good man,

And holy.Harry:

Sshhh! If anybody hears you putting that about…..you’re out!Haven’t you heard the latest proclamationAnd their threat about excommunication?

James:We tried to bait him to come out— to make a show of himself As “The Great Miracle Worker”But he said:He didn’t want to die yet!The shirker!

Tom:Well, I reckon he deserves to die,If you want my word on it,As Moses said:

“Stone the false prophets”And be done with it!

He’s whipping the whole countryInto another rebellionHe’s leading us head-on into trouble with the Romans— and then…

We’re all dead ducks.It’s like the high priest said:

“Sacrifice this one Jew to the cause— for the survival of our whole nation.”

Harry:Stop preaching, and listen to the new preacher.

James:

Never trust freshly-shaven preachers, Harry!But haven’t we seen this fellow somewhere lately??

[Is everyone ready for the sport?Enter Jesus, centre-temple-court.Jesus now preaches an eloquent message,Which gives Game 1 to Jesus.

Pharisees now to serve.](Left stage…)

Lawyer (to Scribe):We don’t recognise this creatureBut he obviously knows his Scriptures

He’s quite a teacher!But he’s not from our school.Yours maybe?

Scribe:Not ours. That’s not what we teach.

(calls out:)Hey preach!Who taught you all this rot about “the kingdom”

Where did you get these unorthodox ideas from?Or did you make them up yourself out of thin air



To make yourself a name?Jesus:

No. It’s not my own teachingI am serving for HimWhose preaching is True.If you were willing to practise what I preachYou’d soon see and recognise that what I teach

Is from God— that I’m not coming from any human authority

Of my own.Anyone bringing his own teachingWants to bask in his own gloryBut since I want only to glorifyThe One whom I serve,

I cannot be a ‘phoney’So I’m not unorthodox,

Nor unrighteous,Nor self-serving,

Can’t you agree.[Game two to Jesus.

Jesus to serve]But you practising lawyers —You’re quite another story!Aren’t you the ones with a full graspOf the Law of Moses?Yet not a single one of you actually practises,The law itself.

On what grounds, for instance,Are you trying to kill me!

Lawyers:Who on Earth is trying to kill you?You must be mad— out of your mind!

Jesus:You can’t even fathom a single good deed of mine!You yourselves circumcise boys’ tipsOn the eighth day after birthAs a token cleansing ceremonyEven when this conflictsWith the seventh day or SabbathAnd so you’ve given circumcision prioritySince

“Circumcision, from our father comes”(via the highly esteemed patriarchs —

Abe, Zac, Jake and sons).But both commands come via Moses.

Thus you yourselves break the Sabbath.So now if IClean up an entire man on the Sabbath

— why get upset and condemn me?Should one not heal a whole man on the Sabbath?

[Loud murmurs of recognition flow through the crowd.]Stop judging superficially,With legal verdicts based on human sight.Instead you should decide properlyAnd discern what is really right.



[Several of the crowd call out…]

Harry (to the lawyers):Look! There is the man you were wanting to sacrifice.

Tom:Why are you letting him speak so openly?

Dick:Maybe you know too —

That he really is the Christ![Game three to Jesus of Nazareth;Pharisees to serve…]Lawyer to crowd:

This unknown from the provincesCan’t be the MessiahWho will bring us our salvation.

Voice from the crowd:If he’s not, he’s a jolly good imitation!

[Crowd laughs loudly]

Lawyer to crowd:

But we would know the Christ when we saw him— from the signs of his coming.

Voice from the crowd:You can’t see for looking!How much more

Are you searching for?Lawyer:

The Scripture says he’s got to be a local,From Bethlehem

We’ve got to know where the bloke’llcome from.

[Crowd rumbles with vehement private discussion— drowning out the Pharisees —

Until Jesus ‘of Nazareth’, from Bethlehem,Motions for silence and attention.So Game four flows with the crowd to Jesus — Four love.

Jesus serves]Jesus:

But, you do know me.And, should recognise clearlyWhere I’m coming from.Have you no eyes to seeThat on my own human authorityI have not comeBut I am here on behalf of the OneUnknown to you,

Who is True,Whom I know.I AM from Him,And come on His service.

[The crowd again erupts in discussion]

Harry to Dick, aside:Look. He’s saying it again —

That he’s come from Heaven!Pharisee (left stage) to a chief priest:



The crowd is looking ugly.Don’t you detectWhat they are saying to us?

“What more miracles could you expect!If he’s not the Messiah, who is?”

Chief Priest:Send officers to arrest him.That ought to silence them.

Pharisee:They’ll stone us!

Chief Priest:We must put a stop to him.This is our most holy onus.

[Melodramatically…]Send them in!

[Enter Roman soldiers — the Temple Guard.At this the crowd starts to hiss,And they pick up stones from the temple court.So the soldiers smartly withdraw— and consequently score

— a miss.Game five to Jesus.Jesus again motions for a hearing.]

Jesus (serving for the set):Not yet I say!I must stayA little longer among you hereBefore I go to Him whom I serveWhom you do not know.

Then you will want to find meBut I simply won’t be found hereAnd you won’t be able to go there, where I go.

Pharisee 1:Where!How can he escape from our network!

Pharisee 2:Maybe he’ll take refuge in the DiasporaAnd teach the dispersed JewsIn the Greek nations?

Pharisee 3:Then what did he mean by these clues:

“We will want him but won’t be able to find himAnd won’t be able to go where he goes”?

[Exit Jesus unharmed through the crowd,Which protectively closes around him.

First set,Six-love,

To Jesus]

Act 4 Set 2

Now, at this stage, if, with Jesus,You had a personal interviewWhat, if anything,



Could you expect him to say to youWhen you, as a teacher of teachers,Humbly ask him to teach you

(here, try to act sincere!)“What else do I need to know?”

[The Pharisees have to open the second set, soYes, why don’t youSit in Professor Nicodemus’ seatFor a minute or two??

In this way you can live throughA bit of world-famous history, quite true.

Nicodemus was a highly respected Jew— a leader in Israel

In this, the first century.Just for youI’ll make sure the pace is quite slowAnd spell the meaning outSo that you can feel at home, you know.And all that you really need to knowFor this part,

(just keep this in mindAll the way through

— it’s not hard)Is that hope For avoiding Hell And finding Godis Buried deeply Somewhere, Within your heart…I don’t want you to feel at all uncomfortableAbout this roleSo just relaxWith an easy evening strollAnd ignore meWhile I advise the other readers…(..to picture you

In the hottest seat of history

Ever,Under intense professional pressureTo manage this tricky religious predicamentOf an imminent national riotFuelled by religious fervour,

Since you— as a leader of leaders, remember —Might be called upon to deliver Your considered theological pronouncementUpon this supposedly divine Messiah…

..Jesus.Secondly…

..Your political responsibility is demanding to

— and the internal party pressure is screaming to— deny him,And to deliver him to condemnationAnd to not inflame

The already throbbing air Of anticipation.

You see,About 500 years prior,

Gabriel had told DanielTo expect the Messiah,



After 500 years!— right about now,Give or take a few— very nearly overdue!*

*(Since, in saying “10 lots of 49 years”,Gabriel had actually meant “10 Jubilees”(each 49 years, plus 1),which is, as one sees, actually 500 years…)

And into this time-bomb of a time-slotSeveral false Messiahs had already poppedCausing deep disturbance,

By way of false anticipationAnd cruel disappointment,

To the expectant chosen nation.Then up popped John.Then out popped Jesus.

Is he the long expected Messiah, well-nigh overdue?Gabriel and Daniel and HistoryHave all been rising to their feetTo call forth the Christ of God.

This is a focal point in capital ‘T’ Time.This is the time for a mighty prophecy

to be fulfilled…)And here waits Jesus, and, he’s waiting for you.Now is the time, Professor, for your interview…]Setting:

By the flickering firelightOf a slowly boiling billy,Quite lateUnder the canopy of a coolibah tree,

That night— well an olive tree,That’s right —

On the Jericho Road,Somewhere outside the city gate…

But HOW!

“Rabbi Jesus, we know,That you come, as a teacher, for us,

From God in Heaven, with Truth, and Light”(Says Teacher Nicodemus,

Who comes, as a Pharisee, to Jesus,From the Rulers, in the dark, of night)

“..For no-one could perform such miracles as yoursWithout God.

And I would like to hear for myself What you have got,To say.”

(Now, this, was the form of deceitConceived by the Jewish leadersTo catch Jesus in some slip he might concedeWhen, by pretending to be “sincere believers”They tested him with such brain-teasers, as…)“..But Rabbi, HOW does one enter the kingdom of God?



What good must I do?What command needs to be obeyed?What is really necessary?What more do I lack?”

Now, Jesus delighted in answeringThis standard narrow enquiryEach time it was put to him,With a quite different(but still all-embracing!)Formula or recipe…Jesus:

OK. Right. Pin your ears back…“Unless one is born from aboveHe cannot enter the Kingdom of God”

Now, he actually said ‘conceived’As in ‘begot’But to preserve the multiple ambiguity,As Nicodemus would hear it all intuitively,We must loosely translate it ‘born’And not ‘begot’,

Or perhaps ‘borne’, as in ‘carried’;Although, as Nicodemus will soon show,Jesus also carried,An emphasis upon being “entered into”The Kingdom of God.

Furthermore, in this polyglot “from above”Can mean also “once more

— from the top— once again please— ‘al capo’ ”

Like when a musical conductor Re- rehearses his orchestra.

Idiomatically, ‘from above’ holds the meaning,To be ‘among the living’,Hinting that NicodemusWas still among the dead.Because where we say “the living and the dead”They said: “those ‘from above’ and those ‘from below’ ”As if Nicodemus and Co.Belonged in the Pit.

[Nick’s face thus contorts,Deep in lofty thoughts,Trying to decide upon the meaning,probing into spiritual considerations

Of the various lowly interpretationsWhich were above his head,And below the belt.You see, what Nicodemus said,— to ‘come from’ God, with power —Is polite for: to be ‘begotten by’ Love,By the potency of the Spirit — from above.And the big Question had been, up to this hour:Was he a true ‘son of’ the Father?Or was he ‘sprung from’ the Seducer?



Was he ‘sent forth from’ Him above,Or was he ‘born of’ sin — from below?His mouth drops open,

And he muses— out loud —To probe, as it were,Jesus’ leaning

(but let me also supply some bracketed explanationsFor the other readersTo work out his meditations) ]

Nicodemus:But HOW, when he is as old as NickCan a man be “borne again”?

That would be an impossible trick— he cannot enter “a second time”Into his mother’s womb, to be re-implanted,To be re-borne, to be born again, can he?

..So… you must mean… maybe…“conceived”, “from above”?

Jesus:Yes. Too right! But listen…I’ll say it both ways for you

“A man is firstly born, into life,from water

[for readers:] (this is a euphemistic term — for sperm— i.e. conceived out of the flesh— born to this world below,— born through “the waters beneath”)

But unless he also, or secondly, is born of spirit(that is: from the life-giving spiritual waters of God— from Heaven — from “the waters above”)

He cannot enter the Kingdom, of God,

In Heaven, above”[In other words,What Nicodemus heard,Was the less polite word: “You lot: Go and Get Begot!”]

(In order to receive the life of the Living,To enter the Kingdom of God,Nic. ought-ter have the Water, of God,Entered into him.)

[Nick’s jaw drops two notches more.It is not an answer he has heard before.](Jesus:)

The flesh (of men’s bodies here beneath)Can only seed more bodies (of flesh here on the Earth)Only the Spirit (of God in Heaven ‘above’

the Earth beneath)Can ever implant a spiritual birth.

[Nick looks astonished, but is quickly admonished…](Jesus:)

Do not marvel simply because I give itThat

“You lot need to be born of the Spirit”



[Nick raises up his hands imploringly,In exasperationAnd takes in a deep breath, quite audiblyIn mystification.

Now, remember that, in translation,Without any brackets for explanation,Besides meaning life-giving implantation,‘Spirit’ can also be ‘wind’ or ‘air’ or ‘breath’…So it could now all sound like

“You must be reborn, of respiration”!](Jesus:)

Take for example your breath — listen to it —(your ‘breath of life’ — your ‘spirit’)

You only hear it as it draws in and out,To and fro.

You feel the force of it,But cannot know

Where it comes from,Or tell, where it will blow, or go.

Anyone borne of the Breath (of Life) is like that.

[A gust of wind sweeps the smoke aback,And then, reverting to a physical track,Nick is seen emphatically closingHis ten tensed fingers.He grasps at the air, and over these words,He lingers…]Nicodemus:

..But HOW,On Earth,Can anyone,Be borne,Out of thin air!

[Now that Jesus has Nicodemus himself

Vehemently, and quite properly, excluding physical meanings,He stings…]Jesus:

..but how is it, that you,The spiritual leader of the holy nation of IsraelWill not understand,The things of the spirit! of God!If any one of you could, should it not be you?

[Nic. flinches as these worrying truths hit home…Remember, Professor, your part — that hope,

For avoiding Hell and finding God,is buried deeplySomewhere within your heart]

(Jesus:)Now get ready for this answer…[Jesus then adopts the prophetic divine pluralWhich has the effect on the Jewish listener That he is listening to God’s loud-speaker]

“We report what we know(to wit, of Spirit)

We bear witness of what we have seen(We mean, of Heaven)

You lot do not receive our witness



Just as Moses down in the desert…[eyes down]

..raised up, and crucified,The bronze serpent on a pole up high.

[all eyes once again rise]..So likewise must I be crucified.

In this wayWhoever believes in the Son of Man,May have,Eternal life.

[Nicodemus, still with uplifted gaze, closes his eyes,As if to say to God,

“Yes, please!”Have you kept in mind your part?

— that hope,For finding God,

Is buried deeplySomewhere

Within your heart.]..he will have eternal life.

Just as whoever obediently lookedUpTo the brass serpent then,With faithSaved his own lifeFrom the otherwiseFatal snakebiteDown in the desert.

[Nicodemus’ head droops back down,And he shiversAs he recalls the Old Testament writings

Of the dreadful plagueOf deadly vipers

And how Moses’ crucified bronze imageDelivered

The repentant, obedient and faithful menThen,

From God’s fiery judgment…][After this pause,Jesus continues imploringly…]

..for so much did God love His world,Rather than judge it all with fire(at the coming of Messiah)He was first willing to sacrifice for it

His ownFirstborn Son

And heir…[Nick’s eyes and mouth open, breath suspended in the air Think of it! ..God’s own sacrifice!]So that whoever trusts in this sacrificeShould notDie in judgment…

[Jesus slightly shakes his head in intense sincerity.Nicodemus shakes his own head,Shuddering at the thoughtOf his own spirit hung, in the balance



— the balances of eternity.]..he will not die,But rather,SaveHis eternal life.

[Nicodemus gasps— here you breathe in —Trying to draw the meaning in,And gazes intently at him,

Searching]..For I,the very image of God

— I, His Son —Do not…

[Nicodemus holds his breath]..do not yet come into the worldTo judge the world,But…

[Jesus’ eyes moisten]..I have appeared first to the world

So that the world should insteadBe saved,

Through my death.[Nicodemus’ eyes moisten,As he listens to how sinners of the world, and Jews alike,Can be put right.A tear glistensIn the firelight.

Recall now your hope— for findingGod buried deeplySomewhere in your heart —and

“for avoiding Hell”(the point of this next part)…]

..He who believesThat I AM,The Son of God

Will not be judged…[Nicodemus breathes

— out —]But he who does not believe

— he has already been judgedBecause he has rejectedThe first-born Son and heir

Of God.

[Nic. begins to nod— up, down, up, down —In understanding]

If there is a judgment now,It is this…

..that the Light has appeared in this worldAnd

Men shun it!— for it shows up their evil deeds —

They hate it!



— and love the Darkness instead— to avoid being seen

[Nicodemus looks ashamed— head down —

Had he not come by night?]— to avoid being seen to be evildoers.But anybody who does what is right,

In God’s sightDoes come

— come to the Light.[Nic. looks more hopeful,But only his eyes rise.Perhaps he was coming around to the Light]

— he comes to be seen— he wants it to be seenThat how he acts before God,And what he has done,

Is right.[From deep within his soul, Nicodemus’ hope rises.Could it really be as it seems?

— that his spirit needs to hear no more from Jesus?The tear still gleams, as Nic. himself arises.]

[At this, the end of the interview, Nicodemus leaves,Groping back into the darkness, and recedes,Shaking his head, which is in a spin of high unease,But nodding his heart,Which is in the growing,

GlowingGrip,

Of peace][Second set to Jesus]

Act 4 Set 3

IMMANUEL

The man we call “Jesus”Often claimed, in effect,

“I AM Isaiah”As both names imply, in translation,

“I AM God’s Salvation”Which is another way to claim, in other words,

“I AM Messiah”

Indeed, what Isaiah foretold propheticallyJesus fulfilled practically.

For instance, Jesus’ life, so to speak,brought Isaiah to life, sinceIsaiah spoke, among many other matters

Of John, the Saviour’s forerunner — “the voice announcing the Saviour [Here He Comes!]”

Also of the“belovèd vineyard” [soon to come]



And of that‘Final Solution’ [“It is done!”]

plus, of “the Spirit of God upon meto announce the good news of Salvation…..and to heal the blind…”Which Jesus lived in real-time

Also of The temple cleansing (of temple robbers)

And of Quibbling lawyers

AndHypocritical worshippers

Plus, of The “Light of the World” appearing in Galilee

Which Jesus has just now quotedTo Nicodemus the PhariseeAnd, as you soon will see, is about to use again.

In particular, Jesus’ life, so to speak,

brought Isaiah’s son to life,since Isaiah had a sonDesignated by God, in the meaning of his nameAs a foretype of the MessiahWhose name — Immanuel — meant to a Jew

God has visited us— God is among usGod is with us— God has come to us

Or better (to more properly render The original Hebrew):

God is against us

— God is contending with usHe — has come to judge us

— has set Himself to prove us— to acquit us or to condemn us

That is, Jesus claimed“I AM Immanuel,Here to contend with you,Right now.”

Nicodemus had said to JesusIn phrases more true to his words

“We know that youHave come to us from God

Because:God is with youHe might say, just as well

“You areImmanuel”

And we were in a debate, you recall (of which, more anon)about where the Christ was “coming from”, and returning to—that the flesh of man, from earth,will return to the dust, of the earthbut that the Man of Spirit,



must return to the God of spirits, in Heaven(and so, that the man of flesh, not of spirit,must needs “become” a child of the Spirit).

But about this Feast of “Tabernacles”(or “shelters in the desert journey”)Isaiah also had many double-meaninged oraclesTo tell of water-cum-spirit poured out freelyUpon any repentant and returning Israeli.So…[Jesus to open the serve for the third setPerhaps after a reading of Isaiah’s fifty-fifth chapter Which says…

“Repent,Because God has drawn near!Come close and drink,For the Living Water is here!”]

At the climax of the Tabernacles FeastJesus stood and loudly press-released…

“Anyone who is thirsty,Come to me to drink.Believe in me so that within your soul,Isaiah’s promised torrent shall spring up— the rivers of Living waters of Life.”

And by this it was the ‘spirit’Which he meant— the power of the Spirit,Which had not yet been sent,But promised— to be given to the believers in Christ

After Jesus had gone back up into HeavenTo be glorified.

These words persuaded some of the crowdTo say

“This is truly The Prophet” quite out loudTo which others, quite against the law, spliced

“This isThe Christ”.

[One nil]Others, intending to provoke a schismAmongst the mob, introduced this skepticism…

“How can the Christ ever come out of Galilee?Isn’t the scripture quite clear that the Christ will be‘David’s Son’, and so ‘must comeFrom David’s village’ of Bethlehem!”

And every time the chief priests and Pharisees,Fearing mayhemSent soldiers to JesusTo arrest himThe officers didn’t carry out their orders



To seize him…

[Two nil]On the third such occasion,The empty-handed soldiers had no obvious excuse…

Pharisees to soldiers:Why didn’t you bring him in?

Officers:I know we are here to enforce the lawBut this man speaks like no other ever before!

[Three nil, courtesy of the reluctant guard]Pharisees:

You haven’t been taken in too,Have you?Along with this accursèd crowdWho don’t know the lawLike weThe blessèd, lucky, chosen ones do.Not one of the rulers

has believed in himnor will one of the PhariseesStand up for him;

Will they?Nicodemus stands up,

Coughs,Swallows

And clears his throat.Choosing his words carefully,He comes out with this quote…

“Without a proper hearing and investigationOur law doesn’t allow us to jump to any conclusionOf fact, about him

— One for instance,Like that.”

[Four nil, courtesy of Nicodemus]

They to him:You’re not a stupid half-caste rebelliousGalilean too,Are you!Go and search the scriptures.It is quite plain to seeThat no prophet ever arises

From Galilee!

But Jesus will stand upFor those who stand up for Jesus.So Jesus now pointedly makes mention(to the entire assembled theological profession)Of the disproving exception,i.e. Isaiah’s prophecyOf a prophet arising

“out of Galilee”…“A Saviour of the Jewish people, and as wellA glorious light to the whole Gentile world”



By saying…

Jesus:

I AM LightTo the world.I AM the LightOf Life.Anyone who follows me,Will certainlyNot lack life,Nor lack lightTo see.

[Nicodemus breathes easy, and coughing,Covers a smile with his fist.Five nil to the Allies.The Pharisees therefore resortTo this cheap political hit…](to Jesus)

To quote your own declamation

You are“bringing your own recommendation”

By this, you clearly prove yourself to beJust a self-serving, glory-seeking,Wind-bagging phoney.

Jesus:But this is not a case of my witness aloneFor He who is True is with me

Because I know where I come fromAnd where I am going to

[=“I AM Immanuel”=I WILL BE your Judge]

So my witness is indeed trueEven thoughI have to say so

Myself (because you won’t).Know Him, you don’tAnd you won’t,Acknowledge that I come from Him;And you can’tGo where I will go.

You are judging and condemning meFrom a human point of view — falsely —

On mere physical appearances…

[He means three things:‘self-righteously judging others’;

And ‘thinking in terms of Earthly fathers’And ‘speaking of which home-town he came from’

All of which Nicodemus could by now have told them]

..But the Son of ManHas not come among you



As Judge of others

However: Even if I were to judge youMy judgment would not beUnspiritual and untrustworthy,But true,Because: He is with me,

He who is True— which confronts you with the twoTrustworthy and proven legal witnessesAs required…

I; who have come among youPlus; the Father who is with me,

He who is True.[Third set six-love to Jesus. But the Pharisees aren’t done yet:

Pharisees to serve in the fourth][Now in these languages, to mean “my father”as we would say,You may either say “the father of me”Or, if you rather, simply say, rather ambiguously

“the father” as Jesus just now saidWhich could also mean “The Father” that is, the Creator.Similarly, you could mean, by saying

“the father, the true one”Either “the True Father” or “my true father” i.e. the real one.

Set 4

So, turning to the crowd,With raised eyebrowsAnd with sportive tone, they say…]

I suppose you,Know

Who your real father is,Then?and where he is?

(nudge, nudge; wink, wink; say no more;when talking of fathers,Joseph is not his.)

Tom: laughs longUntil Dick: hits him in the ribsWhile James: looks ashamed

And so now, the game-plan has changed toFathers and sons…

So; Because they would not acknowledgeThat he had been speaking to themabout the Heavenly Father,Jesus spoke to them again…

If you do not acknowledge me,you do not acknowledge the Father.To know meIs to know the Father.



So they tried to arrest this ‘blasphemer’ againWho put himself level with God;

(what a nut!)But, the crowd hisses the soldiermenAs, nervously of course,In they strut

And though he taught so openlyRight there in the temple treasuryNo-one arrested him, but.

[One nil]

For Jesus was very particular aboutExactly when he should dieAnd he repeated to them the line…

I will leave to where I go,Later.You will envy where I am,Then.

But you will die still looking;Die in this sin of yours.For where I am going,You cannot come at all.

[The crowd grins broadly at this damning of the hierarchy]

You are from below.I AM from above.

[Nicodemus’ head goes down, then goes up]

You are from this world.I AM not of this world.

As I have spoken,So shall you die in this your sin:Unless you believe that

I AM[crowd rumbles loudly at his now also calling himself,unequivocally, GOD][Two-nil]Pharisees:

Who ARE you!Jesus:

The one whom I told you I was from the start.I could indeed say a thing or three about who you are,And could condemn you many times over.

[Wait for it; he will!]But I only tell the world what I have heardFrom Him who is True — the one for whom I serve.

When you crucify the Son of ManThen you will acknowledge that

I AMAnd that what I do is not human,But what I teach is from the Father.For all that I do is exactly the same



As what He wants done.[This speech converted many,

— three-nil; Jesus serving —

So Jesus explained to those Jews who had believed him…]

To be my true disciples,You should practise what I preachand then you will acknowledge the truth

— thatI AM

Who I AMAnd this truth…

[ME!]..will set you truly free.

[Everyone hushes for a while and offers little resistance— 4-nil —Until…]Jews: What do you mean

“free”How shall we

Become “free”— We, who have never been the slaves of anyone

But are all free-born sons of Abrahum?Jesus:

Listen to me!You, who are indeed sinners,

Are truly slaves,To Sin.

But at least a slave, doesn’t needTo forever remain enslaved

In that household, as indeedDoes a son of Sin.

So that, if the Son of Him who is TrueShall pay for and obtain your freedom for you,You can, you see,yet indeed become

“truly free”.[5-nil, Jesus to serve for the set]Author:

Jesus now turns the tablesOn those who are proud of labels

Jesus:

You so-called“children of Abraham”Don’t know who your own father is,Don’t you see,Because you are intent uponKilling meMerely because you don’t findMy teaching welcome.Just as I speak and doOnly what I have heard and seen



The Father speak and do;So you also are only doingWhat you have learntFrom the father of you

— since by your deedsYou prove who it isWhom you obey and serve.

[“Who then is your father?” — that is his riddleTo test their wits — which are not so little…]

Pharisees:Our Abba Father is indeedOur father Abba-raham

Jesus:If you were “in deed”His childrenYou would do the deedsHe didBut as it is, you are intent

On killing me instead.

And why?Because I have told you the truth!Which I have heard from God!

To your intent,Abraham never would give his consent!You are doing the deeds of Your father.

[They had better guess a little farther.

[Fourth set to love to Jesus.Pharisees to serve.] ]

Bastard! (5th Set)Pharisees:

Well,What we can say about our descentIs that

WeWeren’t born out of consent

— like someone else we know.

[Crowd hisses them loudly]Pharisees (shouting):

And,That we are all just as much “from God”As you claim for yourself Since God is the same Father For all of us.

[Crowd quietens]Jesus:

No.If God were your father



You would love me as a brother For I have been born of God the Father.I do not come as a human teacher But am servingHim who is True.And I’ll tell you whyYouWon’t acknowledge me:

Because you cannot bear To hear the Truth,From me!

[1-nil][Jesus (turning half to the crowd)

will now have to expound aloud,The riddle…]

Your father, whom you serve,Is not God,

But the Devil(by which is meant

The “Mis-leader”,The “Slanderer”,The “False Accuser”)

Because you are fully Hell-bentOn following the Devil’s own intent.His way has always been to murder.He is in constant opposition to the truth

— a liar Because there is no truth in him,

By nature.He lies becauseIt is in his very essenceHe is the quintessential liar,

And…[turning face-to-face with the rulers present]

..He it is,Who is the father of all you liars.

Accordingly you disbelieve in meBecause it is the truth you perceive in me.Not one of you convicts me of sin, does he?

Yet, because I speak the truth,By purely opposite natureYou must oppose me.

He who is by nature of God,

Would welcome the words of God.But because you are not of God,You automatically reject

The electTeacher of God.

[2-nil to Jesus.Pharisees serving,Apparently for the Slanderer.]

Pharisees:



We have a nice saying about you too“A split-race, half-caste,Bastard SamaritanWith a hard-case, two-faced,Schizoid demon.”

[Crowd angrily roars at the rulers]Jesus:

I have no unholy demon in me,Because I am honouring my Holy Father Am I not?But that is exactly why you nowTreat me with such dishonour.

[Crowd claps solidly — 3-nil.

Jesus to serve…]But I don’t have to defend

My honour and nameFor He who knows the truthWill uphold my fameBy judging you with almighty correction— you who reject my divine instruction.

Yes indeed. Hear me!“They who are my disciplesThey shall never see death.”

[4-nil by loud acclamation.But the Pharisees serve a sizzler…]

Pharisees:Now we knowThat you are mad

Because we all dieand then go bad.Abraham and the prophets are all deadAnd yet you have just now said

“He who keeps my teachingWill not taste death” !?

What delusions of grandeur!Surely you don’t imagine yourself Greater than all these?

Words from your own mouthCome with ease.Who do you think you are!

Jesus:The Father God Himself.

He is the One who is in meGlorifying Himself.The God,Whom you claim to be children of.



Yet obviously hereYou are disowning

Your True Father.

But I AM one with Him.To say otherwise would be a lie.And I will not join with you liarsI disown you.

[5-nil.Jesus serves for the match]

I AMHe.

As you can see,I practise His will and do His deeds.Abraham actually rejoiced to see my day,Unlike you.Yes. He saw itAnd it gladdened the cocklesOf his old heartBecause he saw and recognised me

From the start.Pharisees:

How can youHave seen Abraham!You are not even now,Half his age then!

Jesus:Well. Well.

Listen to me again…“Before Abraham existed,

I AM”

This made them pick up stones to throw at him.But the crowd roars and boosAnd picks up stones to throw at them.

But Lo!Where did he go?Elijah-style he had“hidden himself” againAnd simply“went out of the temple”.

Game, fifth set, and match to Jesus.6-love 6-love 6-love

6-love 6-love

_________________________________

ACT 5

The Good Shepherd

— risks his life for you. The Cost of Seeing



[Author to Reader]The time has now fully comeFor you to be fully blind.You’ll like this role.I’m trying to be kind.

O.K. I admit that you’re a poor blind beggar And that your blindness from birth is due maybeTo some venereal blightFrom paternal or maternal immorality

But then… ..you have a sense of humour And… ..you are certainly not in the dark

As to all that is going onAnd three… ..the first real person you see is JesusAnd four… ..the first place of any note

Upon which you ever set eyesIs the magnificent temple of God— the gold-plated one— the one which glows all afireAt every sunrise

And five… ..you have a keen sense of judgment.

But listen! They’re talking about your morals again(You do get sick of hearingThat you were “born in sin”…)“Rabbi; Who sinned:This man or his parentsThat he was born blind?”

If you think about ityou can see the tricky problemBut then you do get tired of being treatedAs a theological conundrum,As Rabbis pass you byOn their way into the temple— their blind blanket rules hold that

“a son shouldn’t be lumberedwith his parents’ guiltiness”

Indeed that“an unborn baby should be heldmorally blameless”

Rabbi: He is blindNot because he is a sinner.Nor is he blindBecause his parents sinned.

But he is blind in order for him to showThe good and righteous deeds of God.

You think:Oh!

Now that’s a change of tuneI could listen to!I wonder who…

Other readers (to you, the blind man):Don’t you know who the Rabbi is?

You:It’s been a couple of months since JesusShowed his face in Jerusalem,

But, yes!This is the lead-up to the next major feast



And what day of the week is it?As if I couldn’t have guessed!Of course;An official national day of rest!

I think we’re in for some drama— well I’ll be blest!

Jesus:..And we must work todayTo perform the deeds of Him whom I serve.

You to yourself:Ooh! This could be, I do observe,

My lucky day of rest!Jesus:

We must workAs long as the light of day lets us.For night will soon comeAnd put an end to such service.But while I AM in the world

Let me be Light for the World.“Ptuhh!”

You (in the dark): Someone spat near me!“Ptuhh!”Again. But he missed me!

Next (Jesus to you):Listen: Open your eyes and close your mouth.I’m going to put some mud over your eyesAnd then send you to wash it off In the pool of the Sent One— that is, the Pool of Siloam.

You (saluting imperially):My Caesar, Kaiser and Czar:I go, I wash;I shall see;

And I, shall, return![Exit you, led by the hand of a disciple.Curtain. Lights out. Short interval.]Curtain opens to a brightly lit scene… [Scene 2]

Neighbour 1:Look! Isn’t that blind Joe a-gazin’ at the clouds!

Neighbour 2:You mean beggar Joe who sits at the temple gate?

Friend 3:Yes it is!

[and he calls aloud…] Hey Joe, me old mate!Neighbour 2:

Nay — just a look-alike, a double,But a spittin’ image!You (the no longer blind man):

Is that you Jake?You never told me you had a big fat face!

Jacob:Are you really blind Joseph the beggarman?

You:Not any more!But I sure was this mornin’!



Jacob:How in Heaven’s name did you get your sight!

You:The man called Jesus set me right— rubbed some spit into clayAnd put it on my eyes earlier todayAnd sent me to wash in Siloam PoolAnd when I washed it away…

..I saw!Neighbour 1 (aside):

Jesus?!Aren’t they offering a rewardFor anyone to track him down?

Neighbour 2 (to you):Where is he now?

You (looking hurt and smelling trouble):I don’t know

— otherwise I would go, and follow —(muttering) but I wouldn’t tell you where

Even if I did know, so there!

Curtain briefly closes.

Jesus or the Church, but Not Both[Scene 3]

Curtain opens onto an inquisition scene— the official board of inquiryWith you, now seeing,But only to be looking down the barrel…

Pharisees:How is it that you can now see?

You:He put mud over my eyes.And I washed.And now I see.

Pharisees to each other:This… this… err… person

(they couldn’t even bear to mention Jesus by name)Can’t be from God in HeavenSince he desecrates our Sabbath Day of Rest.

Sympathetic Pharisee:But how can a sinner Ever do such miracles!

And so even the Pharisees,Among themselves,couldn’t agree.

Sympathetic Pharisee (to you):What is your own conclusionAbout his godliness,Seeing that he healedYour blindness?

You (still delighted at being healed, and



(That is: Swear on oath, before God, to tell the truth!Remember this phrase:

“Give Glory to God!”Or in English

“Gawds-trewth”For Jesus will quote it back at them later When establishing a proof.)

Give Glory to God!We are persuaded fullyThat this… err… personIs a sinner.

You:Whether or not he is a sinner,I cannot for certain give legal testimony.But what I do know for certain, is that

Once I was blind,But now I see.

Pharisees:Were you truly blind?What did he do to you?How did he heal your eyes?Do you really call him a prophet?

You(mimicking their voice and tone back to them, hiding a grin):

Are you truly deaf?What did I say to you?How come you didn’t hear my first replies?

Or do you, like a real convertJust enjoy hearing the stories over and over again!

Pharisee:YouMay be a devotee of Jesus!But as for us,We follow Moses.For we certainly know that through Moses,

God has spokenBut as for this… err… nobody,We don’t know where he,Comes from.

You (exasperated that they can’t see the Light):Now that is amazing!That you ministers of the Light,Can’t even see,Where someone who could give me sight,Would have to come from!

Because…[and adopting your best preacher imitation, you proceed,



With a more or less straight face…]“..If I can summarise the proceedings so far,

Of what has been established in this place.We know, firstly,

That God cannot listen,to the prayers of anyone evilBut only listens to those who fear HimAnd who do His will.

Plus, secondly,We certainly find,That nobody has ever heardof anyone able to healA man born blind.

Therefore, the only way that this man couldAccomplish anything of the kind is…

[now, with a dismissive tone, as witness for Immanuel,the Judge,

You thump the verdict home,Like gavel to wood]

..is if he cáme from Gód and Gód is wíth him

The Pharisees, temporarily winded, snort this retort:YouWere thoroughly born in sin,And youPresume to enlightenUs!

[and they revile you,And then, right on target,Excommunicate you…At least, you reflect,

You win your bet.Curtain closes briefly.]

The Good Shepherd

[Scene 4]

Jesus heard that they,The pastors appointed by God,Had thrown you out of the synagoguesAs a “sinner”— excluded from their flocks —And so Jesus went, like a good shepherd,

Braving the Pharisees’ houndsTo find this unrepentant grinner,By walking straight into the temple grounds,fearlessly through the temple gate…

Jesus (to you):Will you followThe Son of Man?

You:Just tell me who he is,



(both city and temple supposedlyFor harbouring and nurturingThe flocks of God).

And here he was standing right in the gateAnd talking straightTo the religious sorts,Saying…]

The Chief Shepherd and Gate-keeper Will only allowThe real shepherds in through the door.The True shepherdCalls to his sheep by nameAnd they recognise his voice.

[he turns to you]They come to himAnd he leads them out

He leads.They follow.

For they will follow him,Having recognised the call.

But…

[he turns to the Pharisees]..From a stranger’s voiceThey fleeAnd certainly will not follow.

[But they didn’t follow,The meaning

Nor recognise his call.So, Jesus…]

I AM the Door for the sheep.But apart from meOnly thieves and robbers have so far come.

But the sheep just didn’t listen.[Background music gradually swells.Jesus, adopting a dramatic and noble pose,Lifts his gaze high,With a steadily more emphatic delivery throughout…]

I AM the Door To Salvation

And through me,If anyone entersHe will find safety,And I will lead him out hereafter To green pasture and safe water.But the thief,

When he comesOnly wants to steal and killFor slaughter.Whereas I came to give them life,

Yes,The Life Beyond.

[Some Pharisees yawn,Others shake their heads,But Jesus carries on]

I AM the Good Shepherd



Who will willinglyGive up his lifeFor the flockNot a mere workman— who is only looking after himself,Instead of the sheep —And who(like each of you)Because he doesn’t himself own the flockFlees at the first sightOf the wolf,In frightAnd leavesThe sheep to be seized,And put to flight.I AM the Good Shepherd.

I know mineAnd mine know me,Just as the Father knows meAnd I know the Father.

And, take stock;I willGive up my lifeFor the flock.Other sheep have I,Outside of this fold

Which I must also bring inAnd call to followUntil all will join into One FlockWith the One Shepherd

[Snores fill in the pause]I will

Lay down my life,

Then I willTake it up again.

No-one will take my life,But I will myself lay it downAnd I have the right,To take it up againAs commanded to me,By my Father, who loves me.

At these sayings, the Jews,Into two minds, were split

Some exclaiming:“Why listen to the ravingsOf this schizophrenic lunatic?”

Others observing:“Lunatics neither talk like thatNor act like that.They can’t cure blind men;Can they?!”

[..and so Jesus, having rescued his sheep,By bravely entering the lions’ den— the enemy’s fold —leaves, Unscathed]



Act 5 Scene 5— The Wisdom Of Solomon

The “raving lunatic” next showed upWalking in ‘Solomon’s Porches’This is in the temple area.It was during Jerusalem’sWinter Temple Dedication ‘Feast of Torches’

The Jews immediately backed him into a corner of defenceand bowled:

“How long will you keep us in suspense?”[shiver, shiver from the cold]

“Tell us plainly if you are the MessiahOr not!”

[i.e.“give us grounds to stone you on the spot”]

Jesus obliges them by going even a little farther…“I told you.You didn’t believe me.I worked miracles which told you.

You didn’t believe them either.My good works tell youWho I AMBecause I do them“in the name of my Father”.You don’t believe that

I AMBecause

You are not my sheep.My sheep would recognise my call.I know my own to call them by nameAnd they follow me one and all.I lead them out to eternal Life

And they who follow meShall never die.

No-one can steal them away from my graspBecause they are in the hands of the Father Who is stronger than all His enemies.

No-one is able to steal them away from the Father’s graspAnd they are in my hands,Given to me by the Father.

I and the Father Are One.

The Jews once again,Picked up stones and were on the point of stoning him.

But Jesus began his defence by inquiring“Many good works of Father GodI have been performingShow me one, please,

Worthy of a stoning”.

“You don’t deserve a stoningFor any good deed;But for blasphemy instead”They said.



“You, a mere man, are pretendingTo beGod!”

So, to being called“blasphemous”

Jesus brings forth three witnesses…

#1 But your own law states, doesn’t it,‘You are all Gods’

NowSince the inspired infallible word of GodSays so,To you,Why do you contradict God?

#2 It is therefore no blasphemy, to say so myself ‘I AM the Son of God’‘I AM the Chosen One,In order for the Father Himself To be sent into this world.’

And #3 You don’t have to believe only me

That I AMHe

Unless I also show you the deedsOf the I AM

But since I do,Even if you don’t believe me telling it to you,

You should believeOn account of the miracles, yelling it at you.

Therefore you may consider the matter establishedAnd remain hereafter quite convinced:

That the Father is with me,And that I AM with the Father.

So the Jews had tried again to arrest him.

But Jesus had “slipped through their grasp” again!And he headed for the country, beyond the River Jordan.

ENDING OF PART ONE…

Jesus now slipped back easily to retireInto the daily grind of being Messiah.But really he was waitingFor that “final” resolutionAt the grand finalSacrificial Passover feast of salvation.

Meanwhile, it was more of the same; never-ending;

You know the run-of-the-mill sort of thing…— healing on a Sabbath Day,Right there in the synagogue anyway— Eating in Pharisees’ homes,With deliberately unwashed hands— converting tax collectors,And eating with sinners— healing blind IsraelisAnd denouncing blind Pharisees

With ‘Light of the World’ style discourses



And with ‘Rejecting the Son’ type parables— hiding himself from murderous plots,

Etc., etc.

BEGINNING OF PART TWO

There was the occasional highlightOf Isaiah coming to life‘larger than normal’So to speak

For instance when Jesus raised a four-day-old corpseCalled Lazarus;

And then there was the ground-shaking receptionBy half of JerusalemFor “King Jesus”At his triumphal re-entry

Plus the earth-shaking prophecies

Against the whole Jerusalem cityAnd The thundering from Heaven

“Glory be!Keep it up, Son!”

And of course the outpouring of the Power By which men cast SatanTo ground…

But I don’t want to bore youWith the details(which you can read elsewhere for yourself,If curiosity prevails)

And since this story is only that part of his-tory

Which aims to traceThe hateful resistanceReligious people had in the faceOf their own loving God,Well,We need to pick up on and explainThe bombardment which he sustainedUpon coming back within range,of Jerusalem.

The real play is about to begin.

The stage is crowded.

The Battle-lines are set.

The Mood: is huge.Again and again the crowd has been brought to the brink

of stoning their corrupt high priesthood.The common people feel robbedof their own spiritual inheritance.



They are in no mood for tolerance.But their bitter resentment is mixedwith joy at watching Jesusexecuting their will for them...

Lighting the Fuse for THE FINAL YEAR

Before the Opposition unleash their bombardment,I want to pause for breathTo give you a taste of some other reasonsWhy the rulers

Hated Jesus to death.(I hope you don’t object,that Jesus does some moralising…)

“Sinning Deserves Death”

Being intensely legalistic,The Pharisees hated to be called

“lawbreakers”

And being scrupulously moral,The Sadducees hated being labelled

“immoral”And Jesus had been doing both,

Publicly,By what he had been teaching,about

Divorce and adultery…“The Law of Moses against sinAnd the witness of the prophets

Were the only preaching,and were binding,Until John the Baptist’s announcing

The era of God’s forgiveness of sinFor entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.Since this Good News has been announcedEveryone presses close to get in.

However, forgiveness does not meanThat

Sin is no longer sin!Or that

Sinning no longer deserves stoning!No.

Easier it is for Heaven and EarthTo cease existing

Than for the smallest sin in the lawTo beNo longer sin

Or for God to change His mind aboutWhat is SIN!

For instance Everyone who lightlyDivorces his wife and marries another,

Commits adulteryAnd he who marries one who is so divorced

Commits adultery.”



Made them of two different sexes:Male and female

And thus made it necessary that a manCould only be brought forth out of two parents:

His father and his mother And also he must himself in turn cleave to another:

Body to body: husband to wifeSo joining two bodies into one body— producing yet one more body, yet one more life

Out of two.’So it pleased God.

[Now, for this debate,the important word is ‘cleave’

— ‘glue together with’,Or ‘remain faithfully attached to’,That is ‘never leave’]

“So the point is:Since it is GodWho ‘glued them together’ in marriage,

Do not let ManAllow the marriage to become unstuck.

Or in Greek:What God has ‘yoked together’Let not man cause to be unscrambled!”

The Pharisees, quite unbamboozled,Once more struck…

“Then why did Moses permit divorce!”Jesus:

What exactly did Moses command?Quote me your source.

Pharisees:Well, didn’t he say

‘Give her a certificate of divorceAnd send her away’

And soMoses himself Permits a manTo divorce his wife.

[Now, in those days, Roman law permittedA wife to divorce her husband,So for the Jews,The question was also one of male social domination— for ‘easy’ divorce was actually very hard on Jewish womenWho, except by being accepted under a male’s dominione.g. as daughter or concubine or wife

Really couldn’t live any independent life.

So Jesus now hits the nail squarely on the headMerely by mentioning how some men can be

‘hard’…]“Moses gave you this command” he said“only because you lot are,In your heart, so hard”

[You should read this command as:“Do not let a man divorce his wife, other than for adultery,



For the woman’s sake.But when you do forsake, your wife, write her out a certificáte”

Again, for the woman’s sake,you see — as proof.

In other words; this command is a case of;“Don’t sin;But when you do, at least do this…”]

“And I tell you that this Mosaic provision,Is not and never has been God’s plan or provisionFor ‘divorce outside of adultery’

And so whoever divorces his wifeFor some excuse other than adulterous infidelityOne: He himself commits adultery

(against his wife whenever he takes another woman)Two: He forces her into adultery

(when she has to marry a different man)Three: He whom she marries after being sent away

Also commits adultery.”

..Which dropped the self-righteous Pharisees right in it,Publicly,

And left them there.

An Unaccredited Story about Adultery

“Teacher;Shouldn’t this adulterous woman be stoned dead?She’s just now been caught in the bed,Of adultery— in the very deed.”

Now, I won’t ask you to fill any role for this— not that I can stop you filling the lady’s shoes, if you wish.

But consider insteadWhether you should be stoned or not…

Meanwhile,If Jesus answered ‘No’The Scribes and Pharisees would accuse him

Of subverting Moses’ Law code

But to answer ‘Yes’Would be subversion of the Roman lawNot to stoneAnd, by the way,Would kill an adulteress.

“Moses commands that she should be stoned.WHAT DO YOU SAY!”But this familiar dilemma— about whether to condemn her —Jesus threw straight back onto them

“He who has broken no commandments,Let him throw the first stone”

He said(by which the woman’s life was now suspendedOn a rapidly thinning thread



With her heart as heavy as lead— seeing that she could soon be dead).

But what exactly had Jesus invited them to do?

Either: break the Roman Law, by her execution— not likely

Or: break the Mosaic Law, by their abstention— from duty

And, by extension,declare their own death penalty— as lawbreakers

Which,in case you miss it,

soon emerges as the boomerang in this story.

Jesus stooped down to the ground, scratchingWith his finger,So that by his not watching,They each had quite a prolonged opportunity,

To think away quietly,And then to slink away quietly,Which they did, one by one,In order of seniority,

Which, if you think about it…..gives us all something to think about— whether or notyou should be stoned.

(see footnote to help you think)*And what you in their shoes,

would choose.

“Woman, have they all left?Did no-one condemn you to death!”

“No, Lord. No-one”

“Then neither do I. You may go.But

Sin no more !”

Such is the accountGiven by the old,But not the oldest manuscriptsBut usually included

Because of its obvious consistencyTo Jesus’ ministry.

He humbly triumphs, you see,Over arrogant, unfair, unjust, unmerciful enemies;With justice (by preaching

“Sin is Damnable”)And with fairness (by teaching

“Forgive, to be Forgiven”)And with compassion (by saying



“I do forgive you”).

Let’s call it round two.

*Here’s a tick-list of some of the Jewish death penalties.Please fill in. [ ]

[ ] Not Worshipping God, the Only God, only[ ] spiritism; witchcraft; idolatry; paganism; cursing God

[ ] illicit sex[ ] adultery; bestiality; incest; rape

[ ] murder [ ]accepting money to murder or condemn; lying in court

[ ] dishonouring your parents[ ] cursing or striking them

[ ] rebelliousness[ ] intransigent stubborn drunkenness and prodigality

[ ] false prophecy[ ] misleading the blind

[ ] oppression[ ] taking advantage of aliens, widows and orphans;

[ ] moving property lines[ ] cheating on the Day of Rest; not joining in the Passover;

[ ] not sacrificing properly..in fact…[ ] not keeping ALL the teaching.

“You are ALL Sinners!”

Scene:In response to being labelled “sinners” just nowby a Galilean from the provinces,some theologians tell Jesusabout the Galilean traitors

whose bloodthe Roman Governor Pilatehad “mixed with their sacrifices”.

That is, in the very act of worshipping— at the very altar of God —and, while seeking but not gettingdivine protection and favour from Godin a crisis.

So these city Pharisees trying in turnto label “Galilean zealots and troublemakers”(like Jesus)as “sinners”,seems to be round three.

But Jesus “the Galilean”simply called all men sinners.The difference lay,

in what people did about it.Jesus:

Are you wondering whether their shocking lot— catastrophic— unpitied by God —proves that they were more sinful citizensthan all other Galileans?



Do not.But listen to me.All of youfrom Jerusalem too,are sinners against Godand will come, likewise,to a horrific end

unless you yourselves repent.Or, to use your own excellent argument:what about those eighteen unwary victimsfrom Jerusalemin the collapse of the Tower of Siloam!

Why would God do thatto you in Jerusalem

if you are indeed better than Galileans?Oh but perhaps it was your reasoned suppositionthat these apparently innocent victimswere not “innocent” at allbut were singled out as sinners— worse than all other men who live in

holy Jerusalem?Not so, I say.Drop the finger of accusationand look to yourselves and repent.Or a sudden and terrible destructionwill prove that you yourselves,yes, you of Jerusalemare not wholly holy,

nor innocent.

Speaking FIG-uratively, as it were

Jesus continues:

“Don’t think of yourselves as “innocent” victimssince such sudden stark destroyingswill not overtake youwithout the ‘adequate legal warnings’…

Oh unholy holy city!Compare yourselves rather, to a fruit tree,say, to a properly cultivated fig tree,which, after much waiting,and despite everything being done to encourage it,and after many tries to redeem it,

over several years,still doesn’t yield

the good fruit it was planted for.Despite even the gardener pleadingfor the owner to give it

‘just one last chance’of digging and mulching and feeding— yet it still doesn’t respond!This is just what John the Baptistmade clear in his pleadingsto you lot,did he not,



some few years ago?

Let me repeat— and also add as a final legal witness…

“that God’s sharp axe isalready at the root of this bad crop.You will all simply get the eternal chopand be thrown into the fiery furnaceunless you bear fruits in keeping with repentance.”

Later Jesus will give them this direct object lesson:(In an act full of meaning— directed squarely at this “City of Kings”during the last days of his own pleadingswith the people of Jerusalem —on his way into that very city…)Hungry,he finds a particular fig tree— all healthy looking,

full of promise and in leaf but lacking the fruit he expected it to give him.

He cursed it.“May no-one ever eat fruit from you again.”

Within a day it had witheredand from the roots up,

had died.

— Oh Jerusalem. Oh Jerusalem —Within a century Jerusalem was twice dead.Within a week Jesus himself

was taken,tried,

condemnedand crucified,

and their ‘one last chance’

— of pruning and goading and teachingfor healing and hearing and repenting —

was alsodead.

How Not to Get into the Kingdom

So by round four, this war gamingwas warming up againand this next attacking move seemedto be triggered by this innocent bitof Jesus’ doctrine…

“Whoever does not receive the kingdomlike a baby,shall not at all enter it.”

(which is much like Nicodemus being told“You must firstly be born



Of God’s Spirit”)

And what ho!But at this mention of the kingdomin automatic reaction,out of pre-meditation,a certain ruler, young and richstraightway rushes up to him,kneels and calls him “Rabbi”— to pass himself off as another genuine enquirer

was his pitch —then slips in the old line…

“Teacher.What good thing must I doto inherit and obtain eternal life?”

And so it was just a matter of timebefore the inevitable “So Who Needs You!”comes out in opposition toJesus’ egomaniacal teaching of “Believe me. I AM the Door”

type preaching.

Jesus:Why are you asking,

questioning,doubtingand testing me?

There is only one “good”by which a man may enter life

[which is acknowledged by all the other various Rabbis]as you well know— to obey the commandments.

[That makes the tick-list recipe quite narrow— only six hundred and thirteen requirements!]

Exasperated ruler (pushing against the rebuff):Which ones!

Jesus:You know them:

You shall not commit adultery[Now there’s a themethat should strike a familiar chord]

Nor steal nor defraudNor give false legal witness

[Did Jesus, for emphasis, pause

as he quoted these laws,about truthfulness?]You shall honour your father and mother and love your neighbour as yourself.

Now, only a super self-righteous legalistic Phariseewould still keep coming on, and stick to his plan,after having been told to be impossiblyperfect, but…

Ruler:



All these have I kept, from my youth up.[Wait for it, here it comes…]So what else could possibly be lacking in me!

Now — all-wise and perfect reader — let me ask you.How would youreact to and viewan insincere spoilt young arrogant upstart ruler who had just publicly, proudly proclaimedbefore God as it wereto be completelyand perfectlyfaultless!

When Jesus heard this…[Imagine a pause,pregnant with the force of silence,while all eyes began to speak volumes]

Jesus “looked at” him…[Imagine being stared down

into uneasinessif not even to shame,until finally…]

Jesus “pitied him”,and says…

“Since you so obviously wish for perfectionthere is something you do still lack…Firstly, go and sell all your possessions

and give it all backto the poor — in order to re-store

your riches in Heaven.”

Now when the young man heard this wordhe became very much sad

simply because he was very richand owned much property.

“..And then” continued Jesus relentlessly“Come. And Follow Me!”

At this too, his face was peevedand he went away very grievedfor I don’t think Jesus could have profferedto him any course at all less preferred.

And Jesus turned to his real disciplesand his face ‘said it all’.But he added for the log

“How hard it will befor those who are wealthyto enter the Kingdom of God!”

[You and I, after two thousand years of such dogma,would, of course, not hesitate to give this the nod.]



But this astonished his (poor) disciples (back then)who thought “prosperity” translated to

“blessèd by God”which in turn meant

“favoured by God”while “poverty” held oppositely…

Jesus:“It is impossible for the riches of a manto pave for him an entrance into God’s Kingdom.”

[Yes, but would you and I give this next half also, the nod?]

“In fact, it is impossible for any mortal manto enter the realms of God.”

which further astonishedhis merely mortal, hopeful hangers-on.

They prayed,on behalf of all mankind, and you and I

“Who then can be saved?!”

[be saved…be saved… Who then?…who then?… can be saved…— Reverberate the question down through the Ages]Jesus:

“Ah, but it is possible for God’s riches— in power, in service, and in generosity —

to open the wayinto the promised glorious eternityfor a mere man.”

[O.K. so it is perfectly possible.BUT HOW!?

What good thing must I doto make it personally probable?]

“In fact

He is willingto open the way for anyonewho makes himself poor for the sake of the King.”That man, God will reward,and superabundantlyfor all the losses and persecutionsaccepted willingly

for the sake of the Gospelboth in the present age— with needed welcomeand in the age to come— with life eternal.

Peter pipes up:Look then— What’s in it for us — your crew?Since we left everythingto follow you!

Jesus:Twelve thrones in Heaven are waiting for you.You shall lead the twelve tribes of Israelin the coming glorious age of renewal.



But you must firstly receive,among other things due,abundant Earthly persecutions.

The Messiah Returns Fire:

What’s Waiting for the Rich in the Resurrection

This is what Jesus told,to those Pharisees overly fond of gold.It was just before Lazarus was raised,and about a week before Jesus was killed and also rose,which, since it was Jesus, mentioning Lazarus,and describing a rising,made it very short-delay fused.

“Now there was a certain rich man[a bit like a Pharisee, you see]

and habitually he dressed splendidlyand daily lived in luxury and gaiety…..while at his gate was laid,

covered in sores,a certain man named Lazarus,Who was very very poor.And while Lazarus longed to be ableto be fed with the crumbsfrom the rich man’s table,even the dogs used to comeand lick his sorry sores.

The poor man diedand was carried away by the angels.The rich man diedand was buried, on his way to Haydees.

In torment,

the rich man had a visionof Lazarus, in Abraham’s bosom

“Abba father Abraham!I am over here in flame!Have mercy on my pain and agony,and send Lazarus to come to meto cool off my tongue,with just one drop of water hungfrom his finger-tip.”

Abraham replied instead“Remember child” he said“that you have receivedall your rewards in life

just like Lazarus has receivedonly bad things in life.So now that you are dead,

you must there endure agonywhile he is here instead,and receives comfort welcomely.As well as thisthere is besides, betwixtus here and you there,a great chasm fixed,



so that none may cross,from there to usno matter how much,they wished.”“I beg you, then”said the once rich man“Oh Father Abraham!Raise up Lazarus to life againand send him back

to warnmy father’s household,where I was born,to warn my five brothers to repentwhile still up thereand not to end up in this place of tormentdown here!”“They have Moses”said Abraham to the man“Let them hear him.They have the prophets’ teaching too

— Let them give ear to them.Let them take heed, if they can,to what is already preached to Man”“Ah No! But Father Abraham!”begged the poor rich man

“If… If someone should go to themback from the dead…

Surely thenthey will repent!”“But No!” said Father Abraham.“If they give no ear to Moses;If they will not hear the prophets;Then they will not heed either

if someone else even risesfrom the dead!”

The next thing to happenwas that Lazarus was raised.

The next thing to happenwas that Jesus was killed and did rise.

The next thing to happenwas that the Pharisees didn’t believe.

Be As Shrewd As Serpents

but As Innocent As Doves

The Pharisees preferred learning and power and loving wealth and gaining reputation.And couldn’t listen to or bear Jesus’ speaking truth or giving castigation,like this…

“What is highly esteemed in human understandingGod considers detestable”

[which is freely translated into…“Humanism stinks to high Heaven;Wealth will turn to rotten-ness;



and Reputation-building is abominable”]

“You Pharisees try to seem righteousfor appearances in men’s sightBut God knows and considersthe abominations in your heart.”

In particular the Pharisees scoffedall the timeat Jesus teachingall the timeagainst their love of…MONEY.

Jesus:You cannot serve Godwhile ever you are serving Money.

No servant can servetwo different masters at the same time.Either he will hate and despise the one

and love and serve the other Or, he will hate and despise the other while loving and serving the one.

And so,since you have not been found faithful to God

in handling Earthly wealth,how can you expect God

to trust you with true wealth?You can only be expected to prove yourselves

unrighteouswith what is truly

important,

Since you have already shown yourselvesunrighteous

with what is, by comparison,unimportant.

But if only you showed yourselvestrustworthy in the lesser,

— in any Earthly money matter — by serving the God of love— by being

“as selfless as a dove”,You could also be held

trustworthy in the greater.

But who would be stupid enoughto entrust you with an Estate Eternal

if with a mere worldly economic matter,you have proven to be unreliable?

..and I have a lesson for you in a parable…

“There was once a wealthy magnate[They would, by now, easily take that to mean ‘God’]



whose manager was accusedof mismanaging the estate

[as Jesus was right now accusingthe religious stewards of the state]

So he called him to account,investigated,And gave him notice of dismissal.

[which, speaking “fig”-uratively, Jesus will soon be executing]

“Aaah, I’m surely falling now”the manager stated

[read ‘You Pharisees are in big trouble’]“I’m not fit enough for a labourer’s job.I’m too ashamed to begI need to make friends, and quickly— friends who will welcome and support meafter I lose my manager’s job,and no longer have a living,perhaps…

..not even a bed.

Ahah! I know what I must do…”[Oh? Is there hope and still time for me too?]

and he called each of his master’s debtors[In this language-mix, they would hear “invited in the ‘sinners’ ”]

and substantially wrote-down each of their debts.[They would understand and hear “forgave them each their ‘sins’ ”as in the prayer ‘Heavenly Father, forgive us our debts…’]

Yes, he colluded with them

to alter both of the written records— the manager’s own copy,and also the debtor’s.

The rich master, smiling,couldn’t help himself admiringthe cunning manager’s shrewdnessand his sensible prudence

in looking after his own interests.So he praised him.”

Jesus concluded:Oh that these sons of the Light

would show as much common senseand be as shrewd as serpentswith the wealth given to them on Earthto manage for another,as the double-dealers of this world manage towhen dealing with each other!Oh that they would at leastmake friends for themselvesamongst the other sinnerswith their wealth and generosity,



while they still have the opportunity and can— so that they may have eternal friends and a welcome,

and a home in Heaven!

But the Pharisees listening,

simply sneered at him, again, saying…

“He mismanages the divine estates”He himself calls sinners into forgivenessand “forgives” those who come

— so he states;

and now he further imagines God’s foolishness(perish the very thought!)

that God could “praise and admire”someone of this sort

— any of His managerswho sets sins at nought!

How absurd his silly story gets!How could anyone,be fool enough, anyway,to want to cancel debts!

Target Practice

How would you like a part of the ongoing action,dear reader?

..to trigger off round five— by being

“as harmless as a doveand as cunning as a cobra”

Well, for the pigeon part,you startby being a bit angryand painedwith having to battle your enemies,yet again,whom you are trying to save.

Then you work yourself upto your best fig-tree cursewhich’ll make your point,as a sort of rehears-al — for Jerusalem.

Next, with a steadily more determinedand angry gripyou doggedly plait yourself a strong and many-corded bullwhip.

(You know how to do it,’coz it’s part of the carpenter’s apprenticeship— making wagon drays,and all that bit)



Finally you explode in an indignation of furyagainst all the merchandisersand widow-robbersand all the temple-defiling JewryRemember?You upturned all their tables and chairs and coin— not even the temple security guards dared intervene— I suspect they were clapping insideat all these entertaining things —

So, having vented your raging zealand flapped your docile gentle wingsyou calm down,look innocentand in deed sinless,even smile,and retireto prepare your best shrewdness,

cobra-style;and turn up on the morrowto meet the coming counter-attacksfrom those outraged at your rudeness.

The soldiers have orders to arrest youand all they need is a pretext to.— After all’s said and done,within their temple walls,you are trapped…

..Chief priests and elders:[round five]

What have you done!Who do you think you are!What right do you have to do all this!

Your turn.Go for it.Turn the tables on them…

______________________________________

(fill in this blank) “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ”

______________________________________

Well? How’d you go? Come up with a good sermon?I’ll give you the original version…

Do you remember how they played this same cardon John the Baptist earlier on?

‘Who do you think you are?’‘Why are you (baptis-) ing then?’

or here…



‘Why are you (taking the Law into your own hands)?’‘Who told you that you could do all this?’

____________________________________________

You: Hold on. Fair go! Fair’s fair you know.Give equal times!Let’s not have a biased debatealong one-sided lines.But let me propose this fair deal to you— I’ll ask you a question tooAnd if you answer me nicelythen I also will answer you.

[The crowd shouts their approval, sealing the plan]Tell us all.

Who told John he could baptise?What right did he have, in your eyes?Was it from human motives only?Or was it with divine authoritydirect from God?

Out with it! Speak up publicly! ____________________________________________

Temple rulers,in a muddle,huddle:

Ooooh!We can’t say “from Heaven”‘coz then he will say

“Well why didn’t you believe him then— that I AM who I AM”

But we can’t say aloud

that John wasn’t a prophetin front of this crowd,who are quite convinced of it,‘coz they’ll stone us — their religious leaders!For being infidels and blasphemers

Let’s cover ourselveswith agnostic equivocation…

“We don’t know.We are ignoramuses”

You:“Well neither will I answer you your question”

[You’ve done very well!But there’s one more challenge to settle…]

Round Five-point-Five

Rulers:Well, if you claim to be doing thisfrom God’s authorityPerform a miracle from Heaven for us,



to prove it undeniably!You:

[Now, consider your bodyand think of your upcoming crucifixion.You must privately imagine your body of flesh(which is about to be sacrificed to assassination)— as being the ‘temple’ for the Holy Spirit

— for God to dwell in while you live on Earth —

and so you puzzle them with…]

“You will destroy this templewithin three daysand within three daysI will raise it up again.”

By this mention of the destruction of their templeyou have touched their gold-plated idoland they will not forget itbut they will raise it up again

in the legal goings-onwithin the three days’ time.

Rulers:A 46 year building enterprise is not so easily destroyed!

[The Roman soldiers managed it! 40 years later in A.D. 70]But certainly not rebuilt within 3 days!

Nevertheless, both temples were destroyed,and yours alone came back within the 3 days— as advertised.

Meanwhile, Jesus has a counter-blast before round six…

Jesus:“Now;Since you are self-professed

agnosticprophet ignorers,

perhaps you would like to try to wilfully ignore this…”

What Good is a Mirror to a Blind Man?

With this mirror, or parable— a variation on Isaiah’s “Vineyard” themeJesus next pictured Israel’s religious rulers’ destiny,to Israel’s religious elect…

but it was like holding up a mirror for a blind man to inspect…“A rich and generous landowner [with, as it turned out, some enemieswho harboured hostility]planted a vineyardof first-class quality,and of unlimited prospect…sparing no expense

— with good site,



soil and vines,with press and vat,tower and fence

And, planning to be absentfor a long timeleased it out to local growersof wine[who evidently didn’t like him much].

Later, to collect his rent at harvest time,from the tenant farmers[a share of the good wine,amounting to such and such],he sent someone, but they grabbed himand beat him hard and much,and sent him away,refusing to pay.

So he sent another,but they gave him a clout,humiliated him,and threw him out.

They killed another.Another they stoned.[To this sort of fate,Israel’s prophets were prone.]

Another larger lot of servants,which the owner owned, he sentwho likewise receivedthe same bad treatment.

And many others, pleading,expecting to see their master’s desire fulfilled,those caretakers ambushedand set upon or killed.

[still fresh on their memory was the blood of John]Finally the angry, but very patient owner asked

“What’s to be done?The only one left to sendis my own belovèd son!”

So…[Yes, dear reader,with seeming stupidity and excessive forbearanceand with foolish generosity, at least in appearance…]

..So… last of all,he sends them just one more chance

— Yes, exhausting his last option— he sent his very own son,

saying “Won’t they respectmy belovèd one?”.

But, recognising the son at once, of course,the farmers conspired together and plotted and reasoned thus…

“Come on. If we kill the only son and heir this vineyard will soon belong to us!”

[This proves a snare they couldn’t resist— a choice they couldn’t refuse.]



So they grabbed him too,abused him, through and through,dragged him outsideand killed him there.

[a decided reference to how the Jews were about to decide,on how to kill Jesus, and where]

“What then” Jesus asks his listeners[hinting of the end of the Ages, one discerns]

“will the furious owner, when he returns,with full and certain knowledge now,do?”.

“Bring those wretches” the people answered,right on cue,“to a miserable end.And give his vineyard over to others to tend— to those who surely will paytheir proper due.”

When the Scribes, Chief Priests and Pharisees heard it

they understood that Jesus spoke this parable against themand they exclaimed

“May God forbid it!”[did it not threaten their own eternal damnationinstead of assigning to them a glorious resurrection?]

But Jesus, born tragically for this planned rejection,to their very faces, said to them

“What does this scripture point to then…‘Something which God has plannedSomething which we cannot fathom

— that the builders rejected the very stonewhich was designed to be the most important one.’?

I tell you then, that God’s kingdomwill indeed be wrenched from you and given

to more obedient people to governAnd all who reject that essential, crucial keystonewill do so to their own utter, utter ruin.”

The religious rulers had indeedlistened very carefullyto this soon-to-be-fulfilledself-fulfilling prophecy.

They had listened carefullyto the parable’s plot

which had shown uptheir short-sighted greed a lot,and so they would havearrested him on the spotexcept that they fearedthat the crowd would riotbecause the mob truly believedthat Jesus was a prophet(besides, Roman reprisals would sorely harmtheir own political lot).



like this…

Round Six

“My Teacher,we know that you are truthful,fearlesslyteaching the true way of God,correctly.You rightly defer to no-oneand truly show no partiality (not even to Caesar);Tell us thereforewhat do you really think…

“Is it lawful for us to pay poll-tax to Caesar,or not?”

[A hush fell over the crowd…The issue was not a little hot.They might just as well have said

“Do you want to lose your head?or hang yourself?”

Their first commandment from God said“Hold no authority higher than Me”

And with the people hanging on his every word,would he dare lose their sympathyon this most unpopular decree,by saying

“Yes. Pay homage to Caesar”?And risk a stoning akin to blasphemy?But to answer

“No!No taxes to Caesar”

would require instead,

a Roman death penaltyfor a Galilean seditionistgiving revolutionist calls,like that.

[So how would you feelwith a sword at your throat,

a noose around your neck,and a dagger at your back?]

But Jesus perceived their clever trickery,malice and hypocrisy,

and said…

“Why are you testing me?

Hypocrites are ye![By this he alerts all the crowd to the treacherywhich is akin to ‘false testimony’and carries the death penalty]

Bring me a denarius to look at— a single day’s pay packet— the coin used for the poll-tax…Show it to me!”



The crowd had a moment’s dramatic pause for thought…What for??

“Whose likeness and inscription is this?”he asks, still dramatically drawing focus,while undermining any prejudice…

“Caesar’s, of course”they say, warily, thinking…

What next??

“Then give to Caesar what is rightly due to Caesar.(By this he answers ‘Yes’!)

And give to God what is rightly due to God!”(By this he calls them ‘Liars!’)

“Give Glory to God!”the crowd thought aloud a lot.

[Do you remember this oath?]He told the truth,

which they did not!This counter-attack rocked his opponents into silence,while the crowd picked up stones, aiming at the evil alliance

“You dishonour our God!You deserve the stoning!”

[The enemy beats a quick retreat]

A Comprehensive Rebuttal

The unlikely alliance was,that same day, brokenafter the Sadducees came separatelyto test him on the resurrection.

There had always been a healthy public debate— between humanism and fundamentalism —

as to which of the two parties was right— Sadduceeism or Pharisaism —

(or to label it in the modern schism— Liberalism v. Evangelical-ism)

You recall that the Sadducees controlledthe temple and the High Priesthoodand the influential positions,for instance, around King Herod;and they deny the existence of prophets, spirits, angels and miracles

and so don’t believe in prophetic oraclesbut acknowledge only the Law of Mosesand don’t credit the resurrection of all soulsto face judgment by God;

While the rival party — the Pharisees — acknowledge all— miracles, spirits, angels,

resurrection, judgment and prophecy —and even make a show of their ortho-doxy— their fundamentally ‘right dogma’.



Jesus seizes the opportunityto fight the Sadducees in their own territory,but is subtle

— he answers themfrom their own scripture— choosing a Mosaic sectionwhich, of an angel and a miracle,it pointedly makes mentionand which also offers an allusionto God and the resurrection.

To make this a comprehensive rebuttalhe starts with a commenton the inspiration of scriptural dialogueand makes a pinpoint pointabout the spiritual Power of Godthen, again making mention of angels

and resurrectionand Judgment Day

gives them an oraclein the form of a prophecy!as to what it will be likein angelic array…

Ready then?Round Seven: the Resurrection & Heaven

Sadducees:“Teacher,Moses wrote for us that if a man dies childless,his next of kinshould marry his wife

and, to his brother’s estate,raise up an offspring.

Now there were among us seven brothers,and the first married and died — childless,so he left his wife to his brother,but so also the second,and the thirdand indeed all,down to number seven,and last of all, childless,the woman died.

So in the “Resurrection”,how can she be any one’s wife?— It’s absurd;

for all seven had her!You must surely be wrongabout the rising of the dead!”

Jesus replied in verselike a prophet inspired of course

“It is you yourselves who are most certainly in error



And why?Simply because you won’t acknowledgethe inspiration of scripture.

It is you yourselves who are indeed greatly mistaken.And why?

Simply because you won’t acknowledgethe power of God in Heaven.

[“Spiritless” “faithless” “powerless”— yes, he really does label them “Godless!”]

For there will be a resurrection,and they of the resurrection will be likethe angels of Heaven,because the sons of the resurrectionwho are judgedto be worthy of Heavenare the righteous ones— the sons of God— considered worthy of

the Age to Come

..and so, like the angels of Godand as God’s sons in the resurrection,they will neither marry nor in marriage be given.

But even Moses teaches youof the resurrection of the dead

in the passage spoken by Godfrom the (miraculously) burning bush,where he said…

“I Be the I AM,

the Living One,the God of your father AbrahamI AM the God of Isaacand the God of Jacob— of the Patriarchs, in fact”

Have you really never read…that He is not the God of the dead!

For all ‘beings’are alive to Him, the God of Life

[the name of God being an interesting cross between“Living” and “Being”…

“I AM, I Be, I existor I cause to exist — I Father and I Create —I give life and I Live ”

— so ‘The Name’, of God,comes across with more meaningin the Semitic leaning and tongue]

So you see,it is you Sadduceeswho are the ones



who are in error yourselves.”

The crowds, the lawyers, the scribesand especially the Pharisees(not so strange to tell)all acknowledgedthat he had butted themmiraculously well!

__________________________

Beyond Orthodoxy — To the Spirit of the Law

It was now the Pharisees’ turnto plot separately and tryto publicly test and stretchhis mettle as a Rabbi,to either trip him in his orthodoxyor to trap him — lawyer-wise — in his own testimonyor use it advantageously.

They brought a lawyer forward— a scribe and expert in the Law —to ask Jesus his peculiar slanton this well-worn standard saw…

Round Eight

“Teacher, Teacher, which of allthe many commandments in our law— which is the foremost of them all?”

[which by interpretation,in this

my much expanded and interpreted version,reads…

“Now that you have silenced the Sadducees’ claimplease put them to further public shameby siding with our Pharisaical orthodoxy once again.And by the wayplease give to us grounds for public commentto make you look so much the more less importantalongside The Most Exalted Commandment.”]

Jesus:I thought I had answered you beforeor perhapsit must have been your brother

that fulfilling all the commandmentswas the path to Life given in the Law.

But yes,perhaps there is one which is above another

since now you are asking furthermore“Which is the most ‘most necessary’necessary requirement of the Father?”

The most necessary acts of worship



to our God above are three:Firstly, to LOVE.Secondly, to LOVE.And third, to LOVE.

The first, and most important lawin the Torahis what is called the Great Shema…

“Hear, O Israel: The ‘I AM’ is our God —The ‘I AM’ is The One — the One True God —And you shall LOVE the ‘I AM’ your Godwith all your heart

all your soul and mindall your strength and might”

The second verse is much like the first…“You shall LOVE your neighbour as yourself”

[Stage direction: Jesus noticeably closes the gapbetween the lawyer and himself ]

There is no other commandmentgreater than these twoupon which all the law dependsand all the prophetic writings too.

The third is only for my disciples trueso I will not tell it yet to youas it tells them how to LOVE one another but for that you would need to be a brother.

So there you have it“Thou shalt LOVE”

one, two and threeor, in translating the Hebrew word for ‘love’— or commitment to a friendly alliance— more fulsomely,the commands might be…

“Learn from and Give back to Godfaithful loving kindness loyallyand for pity’s sakeshow compassion to fellow manwith mercy too and with charity.So let it be. Amen.”

[Lawyer (to himself):

“So far, so good; all according to planHe’s publicly agreeingwith our orthodoxy

once again”]Jesus:

But how does what is written in the law read to you?[“even better”, you can have your say too,even though this “trap-you-into-agreeing” gameis now reversed onto you.



At least you have prepared for this particular turningby listening to Jesus often saying…

“Go and learn that this suffices‘I desire LOVE

MERCYand COMPASSION

not sacrifices’ ” ]Lawyer:

I agree Rabbi.You have spoken well!

“He Is One and besides Him there is no-one else”and to “LOVE Him with all the heart

all the understandingand all your strength”

and to “LOVE your neighbour as yourself”is much more obedience and worth in God’s sightthan all the burnt offerings and sacrifice

[and thus the Sadducees, whose forté is stemple serviceare only serving the Way of lesser importance].

When Jesus saw that he had answeredfrom his understandingalbeit well,he says…

Oh,And one thing I forgot to tell.And this is written so many times as wellexpressly for the wise man— as I’m sure you should be

since you and I so agreeably agree;and as I see that you are standingright in the Way of God— with the keys of knowledge,

to the gates of Truthblocking,

oops I mean standingright in the very thresh-holdof the Kingdom of Heaven and of God…

The law also says:‘Don’t just be able to quote it as right

and say it is rightSee to itthat you in deed obey it!’ Right?

and if you do love,you will live.

(for man cannot live on hypocrisy alone)

“Ah, well, umm…” says hebacking away from his neighbour Jesus(the ‘Samaritan’ ‘with a demon’

according to their unloving slight),and, still wishing to appear to be proven “right”,he strategically covers his withdrawal,by putting up one last fight…



“Pray tell to me…” says he,closing ranks with his brother lawyersand firing in round nine

“Please give meyour expert, professional, legal, definitive opinion:Who exactly is my neighbour?”

(Perhaps, thinks he,I can force him to agree, at leastthat he disagrees with meon my terms.)

“Let me tell a tale”Jesus says, to this pedantic lawyer “of a very holy maleand his very holy neighbour — people much like you —and of a certain unfortunaterejected Jew— a person much like me —who,being outside the city

on the road to Jericho…[This is where Jesus used to go— to stay and pray at nightsfor although he entered via the Jericho gatetriumphantly — as Jewish king by rights —being next rejected and persecutedby the priests, in hatehe could only take refugeoutside the City of God’s gate.]

..there this unhappy fellow fell,among bandits…

[For this was an uneasy, lonely, dangerous place— a place of bandits and dark gardens

— a place of tombs, and notably,of crucifixions]

..fell among banditswho beat him and stripped himand abandoned him half dead…

[Jesus was, within days, in this same place— outside Jerusalem’s gate —

beaten, stripped nakedand was left dying]

..A certain priest passed by quite circumstantiallyand seeing the sorry scene,bypassed him quite widely…

[treating him like an untouchable pariah —Is this how they treated their looked-for Messiah!]..Likewise a Levite — one of para-priestly birth —gave him a deliberately wide and coldly berth…

[? not wishing to become religiously defiled and unclean]

..Next there was a manfrom a neighbouring town…

[Now, when they kill a pig by sticking in the knife



they need to aim at the “sticking point” to take its lifeand quickly then it falls down dead“like a pig that’s stuck” as it’s aptly said.So choosing the neighbours most in question,which the Jews have; Jesus,the “Samaritan with a demon”says…]

..Yes, this man was a Samaritan…

[— the ones you Jews despise as ‘mongrel dogs’!— a neighbour]

..and right neighbourly was he,and was moved almightily,in his heart and spirit to pity…

[the important command in questionbeing to ‘love’ or to ‘pity’]

..moved at seeing this unfortunate Jew,his neighbour.

[Jesus takes a step closer]..And he came close to him,and with much sympathyand sparing no labour,and very carefullybandaged him,pouring oil and wine on each injury…

[that is, he poured out his compassion on him,most unreservedly]

..and put him on his own animaland brought him to the safetyof a hostel,

and took care of him that day

and to the innkeeper, gave a further day’s payto take care of him while he went his own waybut promising to repay,any further expense!”

[And, dear reader,well may you ask this soft-headed Samaritan

Why do you act so?Reader to Samaritan:

Why write a blank cheque at a wayside inn?Why save a penniless fellow?

who can’t repay!or trust Jewish innkeepers,

rather than kith and kin??Samaritan:Don’t ask me, ask Balaam’s mule.For even that ass had his golden rule.But for your sake, if you don’t know that storylet me state it anew…

“As you do unto othersMore so will God do unto you.”

So if you live in love,and in faith in God,



and in hopeyou’ll see that living in Love

faithfullyholds out quite a hope

for you and meand so I treated himas I would like to be treated myself.]

Jesus:So…

..which of these three— the priest so righteous— the Levite so holy— or the despised Samaritan dog

do you think proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among bandits?

Lawyer (crest-fallen

— trapped —into agreeing):

The merciful one.Jesus:

You goand you do the same…

[By nowthe lawyer’s pride and reputation,

so big,has dropped down dead,

“like a stuck pig”and Jesus continues…]

..for instance,stop planning to crucify me!but if I may,

to your question say,in sum:having said

(1) to ‘LOVE and obey the I AM your Godwho is One’

and having directed you(2) to help the helpless on the way,

tooand having said

(3) to ‘go and do what I decree,to you’I can put the three together in this way…The single most important thing for you to do, is…

“Do, just as I AM commanding you” *

*Exercises for students

(I) Write an essay,complete with references,footnotes and teaching exercisesas to the meaning of that last statement.Who was he talking about?



but took this last opportunity— to warn the leaders,and to warn the vulnerable crowd —about their leaders.

Here is the much shortened versionof a quite lengthy diatribewhich you readers will recognise,

but which was spoken with tears in his eyes…

Woe! Woe! Woe! to you Pharisees, Lawyers and Scribes!You claim Moses’ legal authoritybut then playthe sophist quibbling attorneyand only practiseadultery and hypocrisy!You burden men under your detailed ‘law’and then offer them no help at all!You love the respect of menand the titles they give you on Earth

and you do everything to be noticed by themmost especially on the

Sabbath.You make proselytes into sons of Hell

and teach them how to wash so well!You stand in the gates of Heavenand cast aside “sinners” without compassion— repentant sinnersmore worthy than you for savingwhile you yourselveseven devour a widow’s living!You swear by Goldand not by God!

Sacrilegious temple robbers!It is my Father’s templewhich you rob!

[I hope that you remember these negative vibes,so let us not stop to revise…]

Woe! Woe! Woe to you Pharisees, Lawyers and Scribes!You are like unmarked graves

which people walk over heedless— heedless that they are so near bodies full of rotten-ness!

full of putridness!Worms and smelliness!Maggots and filthiness!

You are like nicely whitewashed tombs in semblance— the only nice thing about themis their outside appearance!

Behind your facadeyou stink like a corpse.Outwardly

you display your righteousnessInwardly

you are full of godless hypocrisyand wicked lawlessness.



You proclaim, on the surface“We would never have killed the righteous

and the prophets,like our fathers did”

and you build nice-looking tombsand nice-looking lidsand erect decorated monuments for thembut if you strip away all that pretenceyou see what is really happening

— first your fathers kill themthen you, the sons, bury them!

showing yourselvesto be full accomplicesbut declaring yourselvesinnocent bystanders.But you certainly are sons of murderers

sons of the Devil— a brood of snakes and vipers —and will follow full in your fathers’ footstepsin murdering the righteous.

How shall you escape the punishment of Hell?

Woe! Woe! Woe to you Pharisees, Lawyers and Scribes!

God in His Wisdom prescribes“I AM will send you

prophets and wise menapostles and scribes”— some to be killed, some to be crucified— some to be whipped and beaten and flogged— some to be chased and hunted from city to city

— some to be persecuted by Council and synagogue

so that upon you may fallall the blood-guiltiness of allthe righteous men executed

and of all the prophetsthat have been murderedin all the landsince the fall of the worldfrom the first recorded murder — of Abel —to the last recorded slaughter — here in the temple —

of the prophet Zechariah,son of Berechiahwhom you murderedright next to this altar!

Let me prophesy to you,straight to your face

All these murderswill be blamed upon and held against you— you murderous race!



Yes, against you!City of murderers.

Oh Jerusalem! Oh Jerusalem!You kill the prophets.Those sent to you, you stone.

I have been willing to call your children,so often, into my salvation

the way a mother hentries to gather her chicks under her wingsfor their protectionbut I have always only ever met with your rejection.Therefore behold— Your destruction is upon you!

And oh how long it will be nowbefore you see your Saviour againbefore you repent of rejecting Him

Who comes to you in the Father’s nameand you say instead

“Welcomehim who comesin the name of the I AM”.

[Curtain closes for a long time]By the way,this is also where Jesustold that parable about those invited guestswho,shunned the King’s Wedding Feastwho,

despised the Sonand who,came to a woeful end.

How indeed shall they escape their punishment??But

nothing is impossible for God.Could you imagine something possibly like this?…

—Application Form for Amnesty from Woes-

Note: Everyone is invited and encouraged to apply

Both parts of this form must be completed

Part IConfession to High Treason

I hereby confess to being guiltyof the worst sin in the Universe,of wishing Your Highness, Jesus God, to drop deadof mistrusting your promise

of proudly disobeying you



of being insincereunfaithful,etc., etc.

and to be deserving of the worst punishmentsdevisable in your Universe.

Signed, Yours faithfully, __ __ __ __ __ __

Witnessed by God

Part IIPetition for Forgiveness

I humbly and sincerely beg for Your Highness’s pardonin full and undoubting trust and belief

that you will not break your promiseand will not sentence meto my ever well-deserved death

and will rather instead give me more goodnessthan I can believe in.

I declare furthermorethat I will no longer break faith with youand will hereinafter obey you

upon pain of such well-deserved punishmentfor further highest treasonas Your Majesty wills.

Signed, Yours hopefully, __ __ __ __ __ __

Witnessed by The Eternal Judge __________________________________________________

Curtain closes again— this time for a seeming eternity.

Now, A Role for You

I know you haven’t had a role of late,and I want to put that right.Perhaps though,you’d better leave Jesus to suffer aloneas his fate in life

is not very pretty from now on.

So I suggest you play a supporting role— there is no shortage to choose from,

of famous personalitiessince this is a semi-final scene— a sort of crowded finalé.

Let’s see…Would you like to be



or watching your mother watching you die slowly?

Or at carrying a dead bodyinto a tomb?)

and this role especially is pure sadness— do you think you could carry that?

I may not be able to handle it alone.It’s all too heavy for me to lift— and we need your help.You may even have to carry on,

and finish the story for us all,if I leave you too soon— because it’s time for me to stop —being flippant about the death of God.Yes.Death.

Your last hope is about to die.Jesus will soon be murdered!And your sad, sober role here

is simplyto be… crying about it— and to keep it up.

So try to imagine your sadnessseriously

— gratefully in fact —because after all,here is a man

who raised your brother to life!and who healed yourself!(who, if he forgives your sins,has promised to raise youto Eternal Life.

He loves youand you love him,earnestly,not physically,

and his life is nearly doneand gone

— you are about the only personwho realises…

he is about to be crucified.

And here’s the second trouble:

You need his forgiveness.Because, he has healed you of seven demons— which means you were up to your neck in sins.



And you used to be a harlotand so you are beyond your neck in adultery.

And so your eternal life is on the line.And nobody likes who you were.

Your name is Mary— Mary Magdalene

[a hairy claim, but justifiable,as will soon be seen]

So you are about to begin your role— by transferring your love

and lifeand heart

to the feet of Jesus— a man who is about to die…

At Jesus’ Feet

A Pharisee in Bethany, called Simon the Leper asked Jesus into his house to eat

(‘tempted’ or ‘dared’ him would be better).

Bethany was a village near the Jericho side of Jerusalemwhere Mary, Martha and Lazarus,and Jesus,used to meet.

Mary was the one who would always rather sit listening at Jesus’ FEETand once left all the hard serving to Marthawho thereupon got all in a fluster.

Martha told Mary off but

Jesus told Martha off and

they all loved happily ever after.[point one to Mary, rather than to Martha]

Lazarus was there, at the table, for supper (This was after he died— at least four days after because that’s how long he wasn’t alive.)Martha was there also, again as server.

[You now enter]Mary, when she heard,also cameto wash Jesus’ FEET

[You are a devotee, remember]bringing with her some expensive ointment,pure and sweet.

[Your most precious belongingis now laid at his FEET]



Now this Mary,as I promised to explain,and as will be clearly seen,was most probably that Marycalled Magdalene,because of what we can,from the Gospels glean,of Mary Magdalene:

..She was a sinner — a woman of the town —unclean— the one in whomseven demons had once been— the one who was a regular

Jesus follower and supporter — the one who brought the left-over embalming ointment later after he died— for his body and FEET— the one who, after he rose,

was again weepingand again kept clingingto his FEET.

[Get ready now, to start showing your grief]So likewise,Mary now brought her ointmentand came to weep…

[Feel now, the sadness beginning, in your guts]..to weep over…

where?over Jesus’ FEET

She stood behind Jesus,who was reclining

for such was the custom of the dayfor dining…

[Now start to play your heart-felt role.Let the feelings come up and outin gentle tears, from your soul]

..and she weptover his FEET…

[Visualise your part now;through a blur of freely flowing tears,right up close — close to the very hairs]

..and she wethis FEET

with her tears[Now, once again, with even more feeling…]

and she keptkissing them

[Close your eyes. Feel now the love.Your soul is pulled with care.]

and she wiped



point number two]

“A certain creditor”began Jesus

“had two debtors.One owed two years’ wages’ worth.The other only two months’ worth;

but neither was able,as it turned out, to pay.So he, very graciously,cancelled both their debts away.

Which of these two debtors, thereforedo you think, will love him the more?”

Simon in reply, scored four out of four…“I suppose;the one who was forgiven more.”

“Well, compare yourself alongside this woman.

When I came into your house, Simonyou gave me no water to wash my FEETbut she, with her tears,has lovingly bathed my FEETand with her own hair,has wiped my FEET.

You gave me no kiss, on entering,as if to greetbut she has not ceased, since I came,to kiss my FEET.

With oil you did not anoint my head,like shebut with perfume she has anointedeven my FEET!

which proves that her sins,though many, are indeed forgivensince much love is shownby those to whom much love is given.

But you love littlebecause little love have you been given.By which I mean, Simon,

this proves that your sinsare not yet forgiven.

But Jesus told Mary:Go in peace,saved by faith.Your sins I have forgiven.

[Your tears of hope now mingle with tears of joy,but this joy you realise, with humbly saddened gratitude,



will be won at the heavy priceof his own life.]

Scandal #2

Now, secondly,while the other Pharisees were grumbling(that he claimed, again, to forgive sins by himself)some of his own disciples were also scandalisedand indignantly mumbling

“Why this waste!What is the point?Why does she have to anoint?Even his FEET!”

One disciple — the twelfth — Judas(who was meaning to betray Jesus)pointed at Mary, by way of a scold

“Why wasn’t this ointment sold?

It’s a whole year’s wages’ wealth!Which could have been given to the poor.”

Now Judas had no concern for the poor but said this because he himself was a thief — pilfering from their own money pursewhich had been given to him to nurse.

But Jesus scored the point to Mary(that makes three out of three)

“Leave her alone— Don’t bother her —

for she has honoured me well.

You always have the poor with you,to benefit them whenever you wish to.But you do not always have me with you.She has done what she could do.Let her keep the ointmentfor the day of my burial— since that is her very point— to wash, then anoint, my corpse— to prepare me ahead of time,for my appointment with the tomb.She has pointedly poured out this perfume

for the anointmentof my body(and FEET).

She has done a truly remarkable featand a memorable good deedAnd wherever this Gospel is preachedall the world will take heed.”

The Two Big Deals



Well!Didn’t this firmly disjointthe nose of Judas!He then firmly appointedhis way to betray Jesusfor the blood MONEYwhich the chief priestshad offered after Jesushad raised Lazarus.

And soJudas went away and settled the price of the contract,on Jesus:

“Public Enemy Number One”

You see,as soon as they heard that Jesus was backthe crowds had flocked out to Bethany

to see Jesus the wonder worker and to see Lazarus the wonder man,

Mary’s brother.

So the frightened Chief Priestsout of pure jealousy,had early on put out a contract,advertising blood-moneyand to this first blood-money contract[which had sorely disturbed you]they had added another:

“Public Enemy Number Two”

..they also plannedto kill the once dead Lazarus [your brother!]— who was the sourceof this latest and greatest news.For because of him,so many of the Jewsnow disbelieved…

— disbelieved the teachings of the High Priests —and concluded…

— concluded,like Mary, thatJesus

was indeedthe real Christ.

[Mary remains on stageto witness and describe to all the other readers,the awful betrayal,

arrestand sentencing

and the crucial excruciatingcriminal crucifixion



and burial of Jesus.

As for me, I’ll soon be gone.I just can’t, from here on,do rightful justice to all the emotion.So I’m going to have to leave it to you]

End of Part Two:

The “cruc”-ial part is about to begin..“Jesus, living as the Christ, offered to them self-sacrifice”…

Curtain closes;but expectant background music carries on,while you work on your immortal lines,along the lines

of Matthew,Mark,Luke and John.

________________________________

PART THREE

— Self-Sacrifice ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

(You fill in the void, yes, you ‘flesh out’ his partplaying it your own way, putting into it, your own heart.And so please ‘bring to life’, all that happened from here on



and attach meaning to his sacrifice, by carrying on…) __________________________________________________

I can’t help you with this bit this time,or ‘self-sacrifice’ for you,so

‘So long’.

I suppose that the knack would be to ask for,and expectGod’s Holy Spirit,as promised,to work His heart, through you.

And don’t worry — just trust —that

— The Producer —will get back to you, anon.

Post-script to the final scene:

The Jews had first tried to ignore and marginalise Jesusand accuse him of trifling offences— against culture

and religionand traditionand sanity

Thenwith steadily increasing penalty

they had tried to slander him as a sinner outlaw him as a Sabbath breaker sentence him to stoning as a blasphemer

denounce him as a traitor

but finally had to settle withcrucifying him

“for being their king”.

Post-mortem:

So the only campaignthey won against Jesuswas this deadly war game:saying

“When in danger of losing the argument,

kill your opponent.You’ve got to be alive to reignsupreme”

This time they won.(So they thunk)

But just when they had“achieved their aim”

he once more controls the very end-game(and comes up trumps)



as you well can ascertain— it is after all, his main claim to fame —He simply broke all their rules, (again!),and…

..rose to life.

_________________________ _________________________

CONTENTS & SOURCES IN FULLTitle page — Contents in Brief BUILD-UPThe Cast

#Ge 28The Plot

#Mt 27 #Mr 14The Unbelief of the Religious Hierarchy

#Mt 23 #Lu 11The Principal Characters ThreeEntitle No Man “Master”

#Mt 23The Character of Jesus

#Mt 3 #Lu 3 RevelatonFor the Sons of the Father

#Mt 23But Is God My Father Angry with Me?

#1Pe 1Religious Sorts and Missionaries

#Mt 232.The Character Pharisaical

#Ac 23If the Mitre Fits, Wear It — Hypocrisy

#Mt 6, #Mt 23 #Mr 12 #Lu 11, #Lu 203.The Character of the Sadducee

#Mt 22 #Mr 12 #Lu 20 2Maccabees 4, #Ac 23What Price a Swap? Satan Tempts Jesus

#Mt 4 #Mr 1 #Lu 4The Temple Worship

2 Maccabees 5Concerning Temple Donations#Mt 23 #Mr 12 #Lu 21

Spotlight on the Temple (including temple cleansing)#Mt 21 #Mr 11 #Lu 19 #Joh 2

Concerning Degrees of Holy Vows#Mt 5, #Mt 23? Swear to Tell the Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth?#Mt 5

The Language Mix (-up)#Mt 14 #Mr 6 #Lu 12 #Joh 6 #Ex 3

Who Were the Scribes and Lawyers and Levites?#Num 18

So-Called “Experts” of Religion — Heavy legal burdens#Mt 23 #Lu 11



Resetting Your Watch — to A.D. 30#Lu 2 #Joh 18 Esther Daniel

PART ONE Act 1 9 Scenes SacrilegiousScene 1 The Setting of the Scene and the Rising of the Son

— Baptism & temptation#Mt 3, #Mt 4 #Mr 1 #Lu 3, #Lu 4

Scene 2 The Mad Prophet — John the Baptist#Mt 3, #Mt 14 #Mr 1, #Mr 6 #Lu 3, #Lu 9 #Joh 1, #Joh 3

Scene 3 Label#1— The Blasphemer! — Forgiving sins on Earth#Mt 9 #Mr 2 #Lu 5

Festival Mood#Joh 2

Scene 4 Libel#2— Drunken Carouser — Dining with tax collectors#Mt 9 #Mr 2 #Lu 5, #Lu 15, #Lu 19

— The Prodigal Son#Lu 15

Sorry Sinners — the Pharisee’s ‘Prayer’#Lu 18

“Unfair!” They Shouted — The Generous Vineyard Owner #Mt 20

Scene 5 Scandal#3 —The Ungodly Glutton —Fasting, Feasting & Wineskins#Mt 9 #Mr 2 #Lu 5

About Rejecting God’s Purposes — Children in the Market place#Mt 11 #Lu 7

Scene 6 Slander! — “Dirty Lawbreakers” — Washing and tradition#Mt 15 #Mr 7

Cleanliness and Appearance#Mt 23 #Lu 11

A Change of Mood#Mt 8

Scene 7 Blasphemy Plus — A Change of Pace — Crippled for 38 Years#Joh 5

Scene 8 Sacrilegious Robbing Hood — Eating holy bread

#Mt 12 #Mr 2 #Lu 6 #1Sa 21Concerning Compassion — Tithing vs. Justice#Mt 23 #Lu 11

Sabbath Breaker — Is healing lawful on the Sabbath?#Mt 12 #Mr 3 #Lu 6, #Lu 13, #Lu 14

Scene 9 Capital Offence#Mt 12 #Mr 3 #Lu 6

ACT 2Scene 1 Outcast — Nazareth Sermon

#Mt 4, #Mt 8, #Mt 13 #Mr 6 #Lu 4 #Joh 1:11 #Isa 61Doom for Spectators of Miracles — Denouncing Galilee#Mt 11

Outlaw! — Elijah and Elisha

#Mt 15 #Mr 7 #Kings 2ChronScene 2 Traitor! — Roman Centurion’s slave#Mt 8 #Lu 7

Consequences of Rejecting the Chosen Prince— The Son’s Wedding Banquet#Mt 22 #Lu 14

Criminal!#Ex 12

Bloodthirsty Tyrant or Server of Justice?#Heb 5-9



ACT 3 “I’m with you J.G.!” — the peasant Messiah gathers a followingScene 1 “Sedition!” — Feeding 5000

#Mt 8, #Mt 14 #Mr 4, #Mr 6 #Lu 8, #Lu 9 #Joh 6Scene 2 Egomaniac — Bread of Heaven

#Joh 6Cannibalist??#Joh 6

Scene 3 Peter’s Confession#Joh 6

ACT 3 and a half — Various crowd scenes — Scene 4#Lu 13

Devious Demagogue? Healing blind, dumb, deaf & lame#Mt 12, #Mt 9

Shirker! — Feeding 4000#Mt 15

Unholy Devil or Holy Spirit? — Beelzebul#Mt 12 #Mr 3 #Lu 11

“What Delusions of Grandeur!” — Defeating Satan#Mt 12 #Lu 12

“You Blackguards!” — Warning the Disciples

#Mt 10Mother-Hater — Rejecting Mary

#Mt 12 #Mr 3 #Lu 8Paranoid Schizophrenic or Simply Right? — Family Responsibilities#Lu 12

Father-Hater! — Abraham#Mt 8 #Lu 9 #Ge 11, #Ge 12 #Ac 7

Scene 5 Pretender to His Own Throne — Signs of the Times#Mt 12, #Mt 16 #Mr 8 #Lu 11, #Lu 12

The King’s Counsel — Settling with Your Accuser #Mt 5 #Lu 12

Scene 6 Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Beast? — Teaching of the Pharisees#Mt 16 #Mr 8 #Lu 12

Scene 7 Lame-Duck Weaklings! — Epileptic delivered#Mt 17 #Mr 9 #Lu 9

Scene 8 “Tax Cheat!” — Temple tax#Mt 17

ACT 4Set 1 Phoney!—Feast of Tabernacles Debate I—Where Christ Comes From

#Joh 7Set 2 But HOW! — Nicodemus — Light of the World I

#Joh 3Set 3 IMMANUEL — Feast of Tabernacles Debate II

#Joh 7 #Isa 7, #Isa 55— Light of the World II#Joh 8

Set 4 — Fathers and Sons#Joh 8Set 5 Bastard! — I AM

#Joh 8ACT 5 The Good Shepherd — risks his life for youScene 1 The Cost of Seeing — Blind Man

#Joh 9Scene 2 Neighbours

#Joh 9Scene 3 Jesus or the Church, but Not Both — Excommunication



#Joh 9Scene 4 The Good Shepherd

#Joh 9, #Joh 10Scene 5 The Wisdom of Solomon — I and the Father are One

#Joh 10Ending of Part One…

#Mt 22, #Mt 26 #Lu 11, #Lu 14, #Lu 18, #Lu 19 #Joh 8PART TWOBeginning of Part Two

#Mt 21 #Lu 10 #Joh 11Lighting the Fuse for THE FINAL YEAR

#Mt 24, #Mt 25 #Mr 13 #Lu 10, #Lu 21 #Joh 10, #Joh 12“Sinning Deserves Death” — since John#Mt 5 #Lu 16

Round 1 Divorce#Mt 5, #Mt 19 #Mr 10 #Lu 16

Round 2 An Unaccredited Story about Adultery#Joh 8

A Tick-List of Jewish Death Penalties#De 27

Round 3 “You are ALL Sinners!” — Catastrophes#Lu 13

Speaking FIG-uratively, as it were — the Fig tree#Mt 7, #Mt 21 #Mr 11 #Lu 19

Round 4 How Not to Get into the Kingdom — What must I do?#Mt 19 #Mr 10 #Lu 18

The Messiah Returns Fire— What’s Waiting for the Rich in the Resurrection? — Poor Lazarus#Lu 16

Be As Shrewd As Serpents But As Innocent As Doves— Shrewd Manager #Lu 16

Target Practice — Temple Cleansing

#Mt 21 #Mr 11 #Lu 19 #Joh 2Round 5 The Authority of John The Baptist

#Mt 21 #Lu 20Round 5.5 Destroy This Temple

#Mr 11:11, #Mr 19, #Mr 28 #Joh 2, #Joh 12:1What Good Is a Mirror to a Blind Man? — Vineyard Parable#Mt 21 #Mr 12 #Lu 20

“Shoot to Kill!”#Lu 20

Just Answer Evil According to Its Evil —#Lu 20

Round 6 Taxes to Caesar #Mt 22 #Mr 12 #Lu 20

A Comprehensive RebuttalRound 7 The Resurrection and Heaven#Mt 22 #Mr 12 #Lu 20

Round 8 Beyond Orthodoxy — to the Spirit of the Law#Lu 20

The Greatest Commandments#Mt 7, #Mt 22 #Mr 12 #De 6

Round 9The Good Samaritan#Mt 7 #Lu 10, #Lu 21:37 #Nu 22



Exercises for Students‘Be Silent in the Presence of the LORD’ — Whose Son Is the Christ?#Mt 22 #Mr 12 #Lu 20

..And Listen to His Accusation against You — Woe, Woe, Woe#Mt 23 #Mr 12 #Lu 11, #Lu 13, #Lu 20 #Joh 5

Application Form for Amnesty from WoesNow, a Role for You — Mary Magdalene#Mt 27f #Mr 15 #Lu 8, #Lu 10, #Lu 23 #Joh 11, #Joh 20

At Jesus’ Feet — Anointing with Oil#Mt 26 #Mr 14, #Mr 16 #Lu 7, #Lu 24 #Joh 12

Scandal #1 — Simon Loves Little#Lu 7

Scandal#2 — Mary Commended#Mt 26 #Mr 14 #Joh 12

The Two Big Deals — Betrayal Public Enemy Number One#Lu 22

— Blood money Public Enemy Number Two#Joh 12

End of Part TwoPART 3 — Self-Sacrifice —

Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion#Mt 26, #Mt 27 #Mr 14, #Mr 15 #Lu 22, #Lu 23 #Joh 18, #Joh 19

Post-script to the final scene#Mt 27 #Mr 15 #Lu 23 #Joh 19

Post-mortem — Resurrection

a five act light-hearted rendition of the

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