He Hath Done All Things Excellently

Libertarian John Tamny Says "Humans Are Capital"

Here, just in time for Holy Week.

Yeah. The life of Jesus was worth just 30 pieces of silver. Maybe 30 of these Tyrian tetradrachms, about 4 months' skilled wages.

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. ... When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money." So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me."

-- Matthew 26: 14f., Matthew 27:3ff.

If Agape Is So Special . . .

If agape is so special . . . then how come you can:

love darkness with it? (John 3:19)

Or the praise of men? (John 12:43)

Or worldly treasures? (Matthew 6:24)

Or the best seats in the synagogues, and shows of respect in the streets? (Luke 11:43)

Or little? (Luke 7:47)

You kids out there might want to come up with something else for "my bad".

A "bad" person, "inferior in quality" from 1200 C.E., from Old English baeddel or baedling, an "effeminate man", a "hermaphrodite", a "pederast", from baedan, "to defile". 

Some Historical Problems Of The Palm Sunday Accounts

• Mark 10-11 has the healing of the blind Bartimaeus at Jericho immediately precede the Palm Sunday event, otherwise known as the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Matthew 20-21 has the healing of two unnamed blind men at Jericho precede it, while Luke 18-19 has the healing of a single unnamed blind man at Jericho precede the assembling of crowds hailing Jesus riding into Jerusalem. But John 11-12 has no such healing of anyone blind at Jericho at all. Rather John has the presence of the previously raised from the dead Lazarus now back at Bethany, not mentioned by the other Gospels. It is Lazarus arisen the crowds are there to see in John, and his miracle worker Jesus.

• Mark has a single colt for Jesus to ride in procession, found by two disciples, Matthew has an ass and a colt, and Luke has one colt, whereas John has Jesus find a single young ass for himself without the aid of disciples.

• Mark has both garments and branches strewn in the way before Jesus as does Matthew, but Luke has only garments and knows no branches of any kind, whereas John knows no garments but only palm branches.

• Mark says the crowds blessed the Kingdom of David that comes in the name of the Lord as Jesus proceeded on his way, in addition to blessing He that comes in the name of the Lord. But Matthew has only the latter, while Luke has the crowds explicitly bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord, as does John who expands that to the King "of Israel". In Luke the additional intruding narrative about Zacchaeus at Jericho also includes the expectation of the people that the Kingdom of God would appear forthwith.

• The Synoptics agree that Jesus enters Jerusalem after the procession, and heads straight for the Temple. In Mark however it is an anticlimactic reconnoitering mission only, with Jesus entering, having a look around, and retreating overnight to Bethany. Jesus cleanses the Temple only on his return the next day. In Matthew, however, Jesus cleanses the Temple immediately on the same day as the triumphal entry, and hangs around also to perform healings, which elicit Hosannas from the children there, to which the scribes and chief priests object, only after which he retreats to overnight in the safety of Bethany. In Luke the objection is from the Pharisees, to the earlier procession pronouncement Blessed Be The King, not to the Temple healings and acclamations per se, which Luke does not mention. For now Jesus is found in Luke daily teaching in the Temple, where the chief priests and scribes engage him in debate but are frustrated in their attempts to destroy him because he was too popular with the people, a sentiment also expressed in Mark. Matthew includes the Pharisees with the chief priests in fearing the multitude supporting Jesus, which kept him ring fenced and out of their reach. Still by night, Jesus in Luke is said to be retreating to the Mount of Olives.

• John, of course, locates the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, not at the end of it as in the Synoptics, right after the first of his miracles, the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana. Instead, at this point in John's narrative the hubbub producing the Palm Sunday event crowds is the presence of Lazarus at Bethany, and Jesus' public return there after having gone into hiding after raising him from the dead. It is this Lazarus event which the Pharisees see as the cause of the whole world going after him, not the Jericho miracle, and preventing them from prevailing against him. The subsequent entry into Jerusalem, however, is inconclusive in John, if he ever really makes it on this try. A voice thunders from heaven during an interlude in the procession, after which Jesus again goes back into hiding. We next meet him, all of a sudden, days later at a Passover meal in Jerusalem.

Both the Synoptic accounts and John's portray a Jesus who looks less certain of what he's supposed to be doing next than is often admitted. The inconsistency of the more minor details of the narratives suggests there was trouble with this part of the tradition which was not susceptible of easy resolution. It is noteworthy that quite apart from the cleansing of the Temple, the people's acclamation of Jesus as their King, and his refusal to disown it, can stand alone as the reason for his eventual arrest, trial and execution. It is not necessary to make the Temple cleansing the straw which somehow broke the camel's back.

In the Synoptic accounts Jesus is more or less retreating from Jerusalem to Bethany or its vicinity nightly, the cleansing of the Temple having accomplished nothing in the way of ushering in the Kingdom of God. As earlier in the sending out of the disciples to proclaim the gospel in Matthew 10, the failure of the Kingdom to materialize meant to regroup and move forward, not give up. Accordingly Jesus appears to use willingly the protective curtain of the multitudes for safety by day, and hiding out of town under cover of darkness by night. In Mark you almost get the impression that he is nonplussed on arrival at the Temple after all the fuss made over him, says what now, and retreats to Bethany to figure out what to do next. The events in Gethsamene a few days later with armed disciples under cover of darkness suggest further indecisiveness, not purpose. He does not go willingly to slaughter. He has not yet surrendered all. Perhaps just the opposite of the what the text says, he really did call on his father's legions of angels, but they did not come. And from there it was not far to My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

In John the picture of a Jesus hiding out from the authorities is more thoroughgoing. He has to flee, for example, after raising Lazarus, and does so again on Palm Sunday itself, not reappearing until the night in which he was betrayed (nevermind the problem that his attempted entry into Jerusalem appears to be a day later than in the Synoptics). That is all the more remarkable because at least in this part of John's narrative Jesus' pretensions to being the coming King of Israel smack more of an earthly than of the heavenly one of the rest of the narrative. The explicit reference to the palm branches strewn in the procession as opposed to the more generic parts of trees as in the Synoptics must have signified the end of the present earthly conflict with Rome and the commencement of a new era of peace.

It was not to be.  

Neither Abraham, Nor The Lord, Kept Kosher At Mamre

The Oak of Mamre in 2008

"And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead [it], and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave [it] unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat."

-- Genesis 18:1ff.

Why Lent Is A Protestant's Favorite Time Of Year

The Market Is Like The Devil

One little word can fell him.

Interesting Description Of Catholic Right Wing

Interesting description of the American Catholic right wing (seen here in the comments):

• Libertarian in economics -- The Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan

• Pro-torture -- Rev. Robert A. Sirico, President of The Acton Institute, and Raymond Arroyo, EWTN News Director

• Pro-preventative war -- George Weigel, Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Richard John Neuhaus, First Things

Interesting description of inter-war period Catholic Europe:

• Grandmothers of Bolshevism -- Oswald Spengler

Just When You Think You've Heard It All, Along Comes "Grilled Cheesus"

GrilledCheesus.com bought an ad on Larry Kudlow's WABC radio program this morning.

Just in time for Easter!

Here's the link.

The New Pope On Same Sex Marriage

“This is no mere legislative bill. It is a move by the father of lies to confuse and deceive the children of God.” (Pope Francis I, quoted here)

The Purpose Of Life: The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God, And So Do We

Can you hear the sound the universe makes? Can you hear the sound that you make with it? Just by living you make that sound, perhaps especially when you say nothing at all. Let all mortal flesh keep silence before Him! So be! So do! Speak, and be silent! So create, and take your rest! For everything there is a season. Let the excellence of it be! Do well! Give thanks in everything. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might! To the glory of His holy name! 

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world."

--Psalm 19:1ff.

Joel Miller Misunderstands "Martyr" From Every Angle

Joel Miller, here:

"Coptic Christians have long tattooed their wrists with small crosses, little blue-green marks that silently profess their faith. It’s not without irony that the word witness in Greek is martyr. Copts are often harassed by Muslim neighbors for their markings, and reports of Christian girls forced into Muslim marriages include references to having their crosses cut out or burnt off with acid."

Not only did Greek "martyr" not have the sense Christians later came to invest it with but had instead a long judicial pedigree which informs the main sense of "witness" in the New Testament itself, the idea of actually craving to be tortured and killed for Christ like Ignatius is probably the last thing on the Copts' minds when they get a small tattoo on the wrist. It's like an identity card you flash to identify yourself to a fellow Christian, or to a westerner you assume is Christian, in a country where you need all the friends you can get. 

Was Jesus "Good"? He Didn't Seem To Think So.

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone."

-- Mark 10:18

Single Sense Exegesis v. The Multiple Senses Of Scripture

Single sense exegesis produces multiple good outcomes

The multiple meanings of "Stop" produce multiple bad outcomes

Devil's Dictionary Definition Of "Proselyte"

Proselyte: Twofold more child of hell than yourself.

Also happens to be Jesus' definition in Matthew.

I Went To Church Today, Oh Boy . . .

I went to church today, Oakhill Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, oh boy . . . the English Army had just lost the war.

"The church is incredibly confused about grace" the pastor said.

"The law is scary stuff" he said.

Everywhere we turn in today's society, he had started, all we see is law and legalism. "Grace is above the law" he ended, as if that meant paraenesis were secondary, or the law so dangerous that it must be kept locked up in the ark against its purpose. The man obviously never contemplated the Lutheran demand for Law and Gospel, the letters of Paul, a mezuzah, or teffilin.

"[D]o you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." -- 1 Cor.6:9f.

We have millions of dead in our country from abortion. Do Christians need to reminded that this is murder? They lose themselves in an hour of praise in a church with daring hands held high to God when they should be lying prostrate in sackcloth and ashes.

Millions are in defiance of God's law of marriage, even in the church which blesses broken union after broken union while they eat bread and wine. Do they need to be reminded that divorce is against God's law?

Millions support the right, the right, to live in sexual immorality, as if that had something to do with what the founders of the country meant. Do they need to be reminded that this was not their intent, that the founders accepted the moral code of the Bible and thought our constitution would not survive without a Christian population?

Millions now support homosexuality, unimaginable just a generation ago. Do they need to be reminded that this is against nature and nature's God? And yet this pastor calls it a law-oriented society, when it is fast becoming nothing but a nation of greater and greater lawlessness.

If ever there were a time for grace, this is not it. It is instead a time for condemnation, repentance, separation and woe. A time for Christians to flee from the wrath which is surely coming.

I Dig A Hate Crime

"Do I not hate them that hate thee, O LORD? And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies."

-- Psalm 139:21f