ALL ABOUT MARY

Jesus may have been speaking rhetorically when He denied that Mary was His “mother,” but on the other hand, perhaps He did not consider her so!

The Greek word is transliterated “meter.” Regardless of other possible meanings, the Bible always translates it as “mother.” However, is that correct? Thayer’s Greek Lexicon also says meter since the days of Homer also means “to measure” and linguists still argue whether that means “moulder” (molder) or “manager.” The former is “one that molds something or someone” (Merriam-Webster 1982). Mary “managed” only in the sense that she was only the environment it took for a molding process.

Consider molding; there is a turntable, a spindle, clay, a dynamo of some sort, and a shaper; usually the hands of a person in ancient times and in addition a tool for shaping fine features. God provided some pertinent information to the prophet Isaiah, “But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our Potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa 64:8).

The Father is the Technician (Tekton in Greek). He is the advanced Designer. Jesus was the “clay,” and the Potter is Jesus by whom all things are made, according to scripture: “All things were made by Him (Jesus); and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Hence, Jesus was the work of His own hands, just as Isaiah prophesied.

Technically speaking, Jesus was the molder of Himself, but the molding machine was Mary, hence she was the “meter” — the one on whom the mold was made. The dynamo for the machine would be the Holy Spirit of God who was the Power that molded.

Jesus could have been speaking literally in the sense that Mary mothered Him — metered Him out or that Mary was the one in whom God placed the Holy Substance to be molded. As such, Mary did nothing in the birth of Jesus other than being there.

Jesus did all the work. It was Jesus who provided the Grace, not Mary. Mary conceived neither the idea nor the act. Jesus, as God in the Flesh, made Himself. He provided the grace and did the work, whereas the Father provided the Seed, or genetics.

I submit, therefore, that Jesus was correct. He could not lie; Mary was not His mother just as He inferred (Mat 12:48). That Mary metered Him is the best approximation.

Of course, the Holy Spirit was the “Dynamo” that supplied the Virtue, so Mary did nothing but accept the process of the virgin birth. In today’s jargon, Mary was the surrogate from which the babe was metered out. She was the portal from one invisible realm to another. Mary was the “door” to salvation on which Jesus knocked to transmigrate.

In the end, Mary still does nothing for salvation: 

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my Voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:20)

 Grace is the “door” or “portal” from this world to the next. The only trait that Jesus received from Mary is her human genes to make Him the “Son of Man(kind).” It was her genes, pure as they were, that were mixed with the Image (Glorious Genes) of God to make Jesus both the gens of man and the Gens of God.

Mary’s genome was not of herself, but all things were made by God, and in this case, Jesus “turned” on the “turntable” of Mary the bodily shape of Himself and added His invisible Image at the baptism of Jesus by John — the Holy Ghost in the bodily shape of the Person, Jesus (Luke 3:22).

Jesus made Himself and no man or woman should ever get the credit! It was Him who provided the grace — His Glorious Genes — to Himself to make them available to all mankind. As such, Jesus was not born, but “borne,” here and Mary was the “transport portal” and perhaps the “pedestal” on which Jesus molded Himself.

(picture credit: St. Shenouda Monastery)

 

 

IS JESUS THE SON OF GOD?

 There is one Old Testament passage that mentions the “Son of God” by name: 

I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God, (Dan 3:25)

 King Nebuchadnezzar said that and was humbled by the Presence of the Son of God. He had an epiphany, the same as the magi, as it is written, “They saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him” (Mat 2:11).

The magi saw the Son of God. That was an epiphany; the same manifestation of the Messiah/the Christ that Nebuchadnezzar had seen.

Now, for some work: Nebuchadnezzar beheld four men; the three young men and a fourth whose appearance — bodily shape — could be compared to the “Son of God.”

Luke saw that same appearance when Jesus came up out of the water at His baptism of the Holy Ghost, “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a Voice came from heaven, which said, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased’” (Luke 3:22).

The Holy Ghost is the invisible image of God, the Father, and is the Spirit that emanates from Him, “…the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name…” (John 14:26).

What happened at the birth of Jesus? An angel of God revealed to Mary the conception of Jesus: 

And the angel answered and said unto her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

 The Holy Ghost that would overshadow Mary was literally the Holy Thing’s pneuma, translated as “Ghost.”

The dynamis — the Power, or Virtue, of God would overshadow Mary. Dynamis indicates a process where virtue was exchanged — dynamics.

The Breath of God would cast a shadow upon Mary. There would be no physical activity, God would strictly breath on Mary from above and Jesus would “be born.”

Of course, Jesus was not born at the time of overshadowing but after a normal pregnancy. There is no evidence that God planted in Mary a full-term baby that would be delivered immediately. The conversation was in a future tense, so there would be a waiting period.

So, Jesus was to be born and was planted when God overshadowed her. The Greek word therein is gennao, coming from the root word genos that represents a kind of being — genetics (Strong 1890).

The Virtue from God would generate a perfect Being of another kind than man. The point to this is that when Mary was overshadowed, the genes of God would be planted in her fertile womb, and after the “harvest” was ready, the “crop” would be matured and ready for the Comforter of God.

Then, God overshadowed Jesus, again with His Holy Ghost, and the Virtue of God was engendered within Jesus.

John baptized plenty but the baptism of Jesus was different, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33).

At His conception, God had planted His Genome into the womb of Mary. Mary did not even provide the egg, as Jesus denied that Mary was His mother (Mat 12:48-50). Mary was nothing more than a surrogate chosen to carry Jesus to full term. God generated Jesus just as he had Adam. He made the “clay” and then breathed life unto the Image of Himself.

All religions seem to require an image for their God to be real. All the others were still images made by human hands, but Jesus was the Living Image of God whose breath was the Genome of God. Mary did nothing in the birth of Jesus but was the host that nourished Jesus.

The important thing is that Jesus was the very Image of God in all respects as Adam was so long ago. He was the “last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45) because both He and Adam were of the direct Genome of God.

“Son of God” in the Hebrew is “bar ela.” Dema (Like) is the “Image” of God. Jesus is indeed the “Image of God,” as Paul wrote, “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim 3:16).

So, Jesus is God manifested and thusly, He is the very Image of God and not just another divine Being. His baptism was justification in the Spirit — vindication.

That act showed God in the Spirit becoming one with Jesus. It was the same justification that Jesus is God in the flesh shown at the crucifixion when the Father, in the Spiritual shape of Jesus, came out of the flesh of Jesus. The baptism of Jesus revealed that Him and only Him was God in the Flesh and that validated that Jesus was who He said He was — God. He was finally vindicated.

Jesus was also called, the “Son of David,” but the genealogy was not His but His supposed father, Joseph. Hence, Jesus was not of the gens, or family, of David by birth but by the Plan of God. David was not the father of Jesus at all, but his supposed germline (progeny).

The baptism of Jesus was proof that Jesus was the Son of God and not entirely the “Son of Man” and only in the image of man. His baptism revealed who His real Father was. However, just as Eve is the “mother of all living,” God is the “Father” of all living provided that each person carries His Genes.

At birth, the “father” of each person is the Devil (John 8:44) but the recessive genes of God lie dormant until the dynamics of Virtue from Jesus engenders to make them dominant like Adam’s in the beginning (Gen 1:26).

Hence, “born again, is literally “engendered from above” (John 3:7). Engendered is “generated again” (Merriam-Webster Dict. 1828-2022).

Genes are edited by the active Genome of Jesus in the Holy Ghost, and rebirth is not from the womb but from God Himself via the Holy Ghost. Yes, Christians have the genes of Jesus planted in them, but unfortunately, just as with Adam and Eve, they can be edited by defecting from God (apostasia; Heb 6:6).

Just as Jesus is not really the Son of David, “yhios Dabid,” but of the family of David through Mary, Jesus is not the “Son of God” (Yhios Theos) by birth but by family, implying genetics. In other words, Jesus was the “Son of God” not by birth because he was not a created Being, but by genetics, to wit: “(Jesus) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Pet 1:20).

Since Jesus was not born to God in a natural manner, then God used a divine process to engender Himself. Yes, Jesus is God Himself and so is the Holy Ghost. Anytime God is manifested, whether in the Word, the Flesh, or Spirit; those Substances are all God, not some other “Existence.”

Therefore, if Jesus is God in the Flesh, and His baptism proved that; then he is not the natural born Son of God but like Adam, the “Image of God.”

The Image of God in Adam was mankind as opposed to other kinds (Gen 1:25). We were not created “beasts” but divine beings. Sin altered our genetics, and the genome of Jesus is the only corrective measure. We must be engendered from above and genetically improved by the genes of Jesus from above via the dynamics of His Holy Ghost.

Jesus, is therefore, the “Son of God,” but not how you might think. Since Jesus was not a generated person but pre-existed the cosmos, He is God in the flesh of a man. In other words, God did not procreate Jesus as Lucifer did Cain, but transported Him from one dimension in heaven to another dimension in the world. As such, the placenta, on loan from God for the “trip” was the “room” in the “Ark” that brought Jesus, and the birth canal the portal, or door, from one world to the next.

God delivered His genes into the empty womb of Mary, not by carnal, but by divine knowledge. Hence, Jesus was not the fleshly Son of God but of the gens of God just as He was not the son of David but of the gens of David through Mary. However, like Jesus was the supposed son of Joseph, in the same vein, Mary was the supposed mother of God.

There was no carnality in the transportation of God to the World. He was the “Son of Nobody” and like Melchizedek, “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God…” (Heb 7:3).

Jesus was made like the Son of God — without genealogy (agenealogetos) from mankind, having only the genealogy of God as John wrote so succinctly, “And the Word was made flesh (Jesus), and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his Glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

That “Glory” is what? The only “begotten” (monogenes) — the “One Genes” of His Father. He was not conceived in a carnal manner, but God imbued within Jesus, via the Holy Spirit, the One Genes (Mono Genes) of the Father.

It seems that the “Glory of God” (the Splendor) is the Monogenes of God within Jesus and Him alone.

So, Jesus is not the “Son of God” in a fleshly sense but only the Divine. That should clear up how the “Son of God” might be God Himself.

It was by His Glorious genetics and not by any virginal birth; the latter made Him called the “Son of Man” because He was thought to be the Son of Joseph and Mary. Thinking that Jesus was the son of Mary, and that Mary is the mother of God is insulting to the Glorious and miraculous transmigration of the LORD GOD from His realm to ours. Mary was at best, the “Chariot of God.”

(picture credit; Pamono; Antonio Tempesta sketch)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCIENCE FICTION OR ABSOLUTE TRUTH

 Today will be a theological vacation from the Book of Matthew, taking a tour of Luke with a view of the end.

People gleefully say, “I am saved” without understanding what salvation entails. Today, we will examine the Way to salvation. The following are the key verses: 

When once the Master of the house has risen-up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, “Lord, Lord, open for us,” and He will answer and say to you, “I do not know you, where you are from… (Luke 13:25) 

The Master of the House is of course is God who wisely used symbolism to get the message across.

The “Master” is the owner of the Estate, and the Estate is Paradise. Only He has the right to allow entry; if not so, then the person trespasses onto the Estate of the Master. Jesus is the heir designate of the Master. By grace, God the Father has passed along the paradisical Estate to His Son. Paradise now belongs to Jesus and God in the Flesh of that One Man is the owner of the Estate. Hence, Jesus is the Way to Paradise.

There is a “door” between here and there. It is not a hinged door that can be locked as we might think, but something else.

Now for a moment, let us return to the days of Noah. Destruction was outside the ark. Anyone not on the ark would perish. The ark provided safe passage to a place where there was no manmade tribulation. The ark provided safe passage to a “paradise” for a new beginning.

The Way was through a door which was the entry for all who would be saved. God told Noah about the ark, “You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side” (Gen 6:16). The window was the frame for the door. The Hebrew word for “door” is petah, which is metaphorically a “gate of hope” and by entering through that “narrow gate” (Mat 7:13), hope is achieved.

Hope is not wishful thinking but an expectation that what is believed is real. Noah and his family thought that there was life on the other side of the door and found that was true. They found the Way to safety but to remain safe, they would need to endure the wiles of the Devil. Soon, Noah took his “grace” off, laid it aside, and according to the Book of Jasher, Ham stole the Garment of Adam from Noah. His grace was stolen when he became unsober and non-vigilant; he then was no longer safe but in danger.

The door that Noah entered was a real door that he had built. It did not lead from one realm to another but from one “economy” to another… “economy” being life under different conditions.

Noah’s door was also symbolic. It was belief that there was life on the other side. The fabric of the door to others was wood, but Noah knew its “fabric” was faith. He entered the door, knowing that God was on the other side. Perhaps, for his children, it meant only that there was a safe-haven away from sin, or so they thought, on the other side. Thus, the door to the ark was both real and metaphorical.

The ”door” tended by Jesus is real as well, but it cannot be seen. It is understood to be there when the time comes, and to enter it means that Christians must see the door as real to be allowed in. That “door” is the decision point “to guard the way to the Tree of Life” (Gen 3:24). That “Tree” is symbolic of Jesus who is now in Paradise, to wit: 

In the middle of its street (the Way in Paradise), and on either side of the river, was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2) 

How to get past the gate/door/whatever on the Way? 

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter through the gates into the city. (Rev 22:14) 

The “blessing” is having the right to pass through the opening to the Tree of Life; the one that is in Paradise in heaven — in another realm that cannot be seen by any other Way than passaging along with Christ.

Paradise is a real place with location, dimensions, and its own economy. The rules there are straight and right, so if you do not enjoy righteousness, you probably would not have joy in being righteous for eternity. It is your choice!

Now let’s discuss the “door” some more. The Master of the house/ark/Paradise is God who shuts the door just as He did in the Ark.

“So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in” (Gen 7:16). The door was wide open to everyone and even the animals. The animals came in, one of each gender for the most part, to be engendered again to multiply. After a long time, the choices had been made, and God closed the door. All who would enter in had entered in.

The door was open but those who failed to come in saw no door. They saw the freedom around the opening and as such, chose the wide gate to destruction (Mat 7:13). They saw only the door after it was closed and then they were too late because the waters came and the Ark arose, ostensibly to “Paradise” on the Holy Mountain.

Luke wrote about that “door” using the Greek word, “thyra” — “a way or passage into” — a “portal.” (Strong 1890). The “door” where Jesus stands at is not a physical door with hinges and such but merely an unseen “portal.” Christians can see the portal from this realm into the other. It is not really a door but an invisible passage from the cosmos to heaven wherein lies Paradise. You cannot see it but must understand that it is there to pass through!

In science fiction, the word "portal" generally refers to a technological or magical doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime. Portals are gateways that allow objects to pass through instantaneously.

The same definition applies to theology, but it is not technological nor magical but miraculous. It is neither science nor fiction but ultimate truth. To get from here to heaven requires a time/space/mass portal for objects to enter in. 

¹⁶ The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thes 4:16:17)

 Real objective bodies will rise and pass through first. That is the mass component. The time component is “with the trumpet of God.” It will be quickly. No one will go there after they ascend but will suddenly just be there. That is the miraculous entry through the portal, and the “Magician,” so to speak, is “the Lord Himself.”

Portals are not all science fiction but a certain one is truth. Paradise is in the realm of heaven, not some vast distance away but as close as a “twinkling of the eye” (1 Cor 15:52).

Take for instance the repentant thief to whom Jesus was speaking as He was about to die, ““Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Dismus, the thief, Jesus assured him, would be in Paradise that day. The day was ending as Jesus spoke those words. The Sabbath would begin shortly in a few minutes. Jesus transported Dismus to Paradise through a portal.

To enter in required them to become Spiritual. Jesus gave up the Ghost and so did Dismus and immediately their spiritual bodies — their souls — had passed through the portal between death and eternal life. It was not magical, and neither was it technological, but a miraculous ascension from one realm to another.

The Holy Ghost was in the “bodily shape” of Jesus (Luke 3:22). Jesus gave up the Ghost to pass through the portal to heaven. Dismus must have also; a believer, now in the bodily shape of the Holy Ghost of Jesus — in His image — passed through the portal in just a few moments, all the while the body of Jesus was being transported to a grave, and perhaps the body of Dismus as well.

The point here is that not just any body cannot pass through the portal; it must be an image in the manner of Christ to pass through. It just fits that shape, and some awkward or evil shape cannot pass through.

For instance, Satan, the image of Lucifer cannot pass through, and neither can his nature, the Serpent, crawl through! “On his belly he shall go,” according to Genesis, but not through the portal to life but the broad gate to Hell, or Gehenna, as it turns out with Judas dying with Satan in him.

You too can enter through that portal: 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:20)

That “door” is a portal, having no mass and no hinges to resist, let alone a lock to raise nor for time to pass. Jesus does all the work; all you do is pass through as the Voice of God opens the portal.

(picture credit: Shutterstock)

 

THE TRUTH THAT REMAINED CONCEALED

 

Herod died and Joseph thought it safe for him to return from Egypt to Judea. That would not be the case, as is written: 

But when he (Joseph) heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Mat 2:22)

 That Jesus shall be called a Nazarene is not in the canon of the Bible. Therefore, it may be in any of the lost writings of the sayings of the prophets, some of which are mentioned in the Bible. The exact word from the textus receptus is that Jesus would be “kaleo” a “nazoraios” — “proclaimed” a “Nazarite” which is “one separated” (Strong 1890).

But what if it is in the canon of the Bible? Where might it be found? 

²⁰ …The priest shall wave them (the Nazirite) as a wave offering before the Lord; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’ ²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.” (Num 6:20-21)

 Jesus was separated! From whom? The Judaeans. He was taken to Nazareth to keep Him apart from Archelaus, and perhaps to grow into manhood for His safety.

Herod Antipas had been “king designate” in the original will of Herod the Great, but just a short time before his death, Herod had designated his younger son, Archelaus as king. He appealed to Caesar to settle the inheritance and Archelaus was appointed king, or ethnarch of Judea proper. He was “king of the Jews” because Caesar declared him worthy.

Archelaus was king of the Jews from 4 B.C. to 6 A.D., then he was banished because the Jews abhorred him, so Caesar deposed him. Why is that so important? Calculate the age of Jesus > 6 B.C. to 6 A.D. He was twelve years old and by Jewish Law had become an adult.

The next we hear of Jesus is at twelve years old teaching wisdom in the Temple. Joseph and Mary found Jesus leading the teaching of the adults. He was accepted as an adult. He implored of Joseph and Mary, “And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’” (Luke 2:49). “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:51).

So, there we have it; Jesus was set apart from His infancy in Egypt to his maturity in Nazareth. The “Offering” had been set apart for the time when there was no king of the Jews. At twelve years old, Jesus was accepted as King of the Jews and the absence of Archelaus made Him “king designate” until Caesar would declare Him worthy.

Did “Caesar” ever do that? Well, in the absence of Octavian and Caligua on the island of Capri, and set apart from Rome, Pontius Pilate as prelate was the de facto “Caesar.” When Pilate said, “I find no fault in this Man,” (Luke 23:4), as acting “Caesar,” Pilate was declaring Jesus “worthy,” and washed his hands. As such, Pilate confirmed Jesus as King of kings (Caesar) and Lord of lords (God — the true “Pontificus Maximus”).

The priest would make unto a Nazirite, a wave offering and a heave offering. Do that right now. What did you just sketch? A wave was horizontal, and a heave was vertical; it describes the Cross. The Cross was what made Jesus the worthy sacrifice because He was both the wave offering on it and the heave offering.

The wave offering was for when an Israelite entered the land that God gave them (Lev 23:9). Jesus left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem in Judea. That was His own wave offering — Himself. The wave offering was to be a sheave of grain. Jesus was the “Bread of Life” that was set apart for the wave offering.

The heave offering comes from terumah — “lift up” and was to be offered after eating of the bread of the land (Exod 29:27). The breast was required to be sanctified, or set apart, to be heaved as a sacrifice to the Lord (Num 15:18-19).

Indeed, Jesus was a Nazarene (Christian) because the youth was set apart as the wave and heave offering. He was a Nazarite, not because he resided in Nazareth before coming to the city of Jerusalem, but because the Old Testament (Num 6:20-21) designated Him the perfect and pure offering. Jesus was set apart from two-years old until He was mature at twelve and was ready to be King of the Jews and the ultimate Sacrifice that would make Him worthy under the Law of Caesar.

Never gloss over scripture because those words are “THE WORD OF GOD.”

Jesus was a Nazarene, not because of a brief stay in Nazareth but because therein, the “Father’s business” was to separate Jesus from those who would harm Him until the sacrifice was ready. That He was ready to be King at the exact same time that Caesar deposed Archelaus was no accident.

Herod the Great, according to Josephus, had been king for three years before Caesar declared him worthy. For Jesus, He was King of the Jews but was declared worthy 21 years later by the decree of the acting Caesar. Pilate had written a sign and posted it above the head of Jesus. That did not satisfy the provocateurs: 

²⁰ Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. ²¹ Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:20-22)

 Pilate as prelate — the substitute “Caesar” — thought Jesus was worthy of the title, and thus Jesus was officially, by Roman Law, made “King of the Jews.” They killed their own king before He could make laws. He had made one Law, however, that must be obeyed, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:10).

There was little love in Jerusalem that day. All had broken the Law but a few: perhaps the apostles, perhaps the repentant thief, His mother and the other Mary, the centurion who pierced Him, and perhaps both Pilate and his wife. They did not harm and therefore fulfilled the Law. All the others broke the Law of God!

Now you know why Jesus was called a “Nazarene” and where it was written.

(picture credit: Pinterest)

 

 

 

THE LOST TRUTH ABOUT JESUS

 As it turns out, King Herod did not seek Jesus to worship Him as is written (Mat 2:7, but to destroy Him (Mat 2:13). Herod truly believed that Jesus was God in the flesh, or it would not have been that imperative to have Him dead.

Of course, Herod saw Jesus as a threat to the Herodian throne because He was of the family of King David, but he also understood that Jesus was God.

Wise men believed that Jesus was who He was, and perhaps Herod was wise as well. Herod, according to Josephus, although not a Jew had bought favor from the Jews by making Judaea great again. Likewise with his sponsor, Marc Antony dead, he turned to Octavian as the legitimate Caesar, and as a result, expanded his little country into a much larger kingdom.

Herod was not an idiot. He was pragmatic and did what he had to do to live his fantasy. Jesus, whether king or LORD would not be a part of that plan! Herod believed in Jesus, or he would have been satisfied with having him imprisoned or rendered powerless. By Roman Law, Herod had to will that Jesus be king for Caesar to approve of it.

Herod feared that Jesus just might be THE High Priest and King, on the order of John Hyrcanus II who could depose him. Hyrcanus was still their model king in their theocracy.

Now consider, the threat that Herod was: 

¹⁴ When he (Joseph) arose (from his dream), he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son (Hos 11:1).” (Mat 2:14-15) 

Jesus had to be called out of Egypt for the Jews to accept Him. If Jesus had not been called out of Egypt Hosea, the Hebrew prophet, would have been a false prophet. True prophets are right all the time, not just men with a good record of accuracy. God arranged for Jesus to come out of Egypt.

The importance of the birth of Jesus was that He was, and still is, God in the flesh of a man. Joseph’s supposed son, Jesus, at that time after remaining silent for 400 years, spoke to Joseph in the same manner He spoke to Hosea long before: 

The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. (Hos 1:1) 

Jesus — the Word of God (John 1:1-14) — spoke to the Judean and Israelite kings in those days, and now the Word in the flesh of an infant spoke to the rightful heir to the throne of David — Joseph the “son of David.” The little man was the majestic God of ancient days, and the Word spoke to Joseph in the same manner as He spoke to the Davidian kings.

Jesus did not learn the Law of Moses and scripture from Joseph while in Egypt but the infant imparted divine wisdom into Joseph! The Son taught His “father” the ways of God. He taught Joseph the Ways of the Lord by divine inspiration.

Jesus was unteachable because even as a child, He knew it all already, having experienced all things since the Edenic Covenant. He supplied the coat of skins for the Garment of Adam to keep him safe (Gen 3:21) and the “Little Man” warned Joseph to go to Egypt for safety.

That Jesus came out of Egypt was a fulfilling of the Law. Moses came out of Egypt and the Word wrote the Law on Tablets of Stone, out of Egypt on Sinai. To fulfill the Law, Jesus also must have come out of Egypt. Later, as an adult, Jesus would explain that: 

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Mat 5:17) 

Jesus did not come to destroy by undermining Moses but to supplement and complement him. Jesus is the same Word that wrote on the tablets of stone that Moses carried and the same Word that would write the Law of Love on the hearts of men… “Love is the fulfillment of the law,” as Paul said it (Heb 14:14).

Jesus had to come out of Egypt to walk the same way as Moses walked. Moses walked the Way for forty years, wandering in the wilderness, but Jesus walked the straight Way, perhaps in only forty days because it was revealed shortly that Herod was dead when the edict of the slaughter was issued in his will.

Joseph followed his son wherever he went. Joseph did not go the way that he would go, but the Way the Word told him to go. Joseph, as always, followed the Voice of Jesus whether in the Spirit or in the Flesh of God.

So, what happened to Joseph? He was mentioned last when he and Mary thought that Jesus was lost when Jesus was twelve years of age, “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously” (Luke 2:47).

The purpose of Joseph, it seems, was to protect and nourish Jesus until He was of age and could be king by his own right. Since Joseph never appeared at important events during the ministry of Jesus, it is safe to say that Joseph died and Jesus was the sole heir to the Judaean Kingdom and it would be Jesus that the protagonists would seek to kill, not the prime heir, Joseph, who had paid taxes on the House of David (Luke 2:4).

During the ministry of Jesus, Joseph, like Lazarus, would be safe from harm in “Abraham’s Bosom” (Luke 16). Jesus, because Joseph was dead would be the legitimate heir to the throne of David. The people asked, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?” (Mat 13:55).

Jesus may have been a “carpenter,” or He may not have been! A carpenter is thought to be an inglorious trade and that Jesus was born in a manger made Him seem poor. All that showed is that Joseph and Mary were not prideful, and they were humble enough, as expected, to stay in a stable which was often under the main house.

What trade was Jesus’s? From the Greek it is learned that both Jesus and Joseph were “tektons;” they were “craftsmen” in some or many trades. Today, they would be called “technicians.”

The two were creative and wise. Joseph revealed his wisdom when He listened to the Voice of God speaking and obeyed. The propensity of the evidence is that Joseph and Jesus were not “poor carpenters,” but that Joseph was a wealthy and skilled craftsman who paid taxes because they were nobility in the House of David. Joseph was required to pay estate taxes because he was heir to the throne of David, and everybody, even Cyrenius, the governor, knew that, to wit: “Because he was of the house and lineage of David” (Luke 2:4).

Everybody knew that royal family. Everybody knew that they were of the House of David. In other words, Jesus was born a king and many thought of Him as a newborn king. Most certainly Herod knew that! So, why was Jesus considered to be poor?

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Phil 2:5-7) 

Jesus was born a “king” but identified Himself as a “servant” like He wanted everybody else to be. He was made in the likeness of men. He made Himself poor that we could be rich! Richness and poverty are not degrees of wealth but how we think of ourselves. “The Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mat 20:28).

Jesus paid for our lives by ransoming His own. He forsook money and paid for our sins with the very blood of God. His blood became precious because it was the exclusive blood of the King of kings and LORD of lords. He indeed was King of the Jews and High Priest of priests.

He, for a time, since Judaea was without a king and Rome was without an active Caesar, was truly the “Caesar” (King of kings) and High Priest on the order, not of Annas nor Caiaphas, but on the order of Melchizedek — the Prince and Lord of Peace (Heb 5:6).

Jesus was born of a wealthy and noble family who made Himself poor for our sakes. His wealth would not have been sufficient if he had lived as a king. He gave all He had; He gave His blood. We should treasure every drop of blood that He shed because it is only by His blood that any can be saved (Rom 3:25).

(picture credit: MedicalXpress)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SHINY OBJECT

I have written before, several times, about the meaning of the gifts of Jesus. [1] Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were given to Adam by the Word in the beginning, according to the Books of Adam and Eve, and presented to them at their marriage. Now they were given to Jesus for His marriage to the Church.

Briefly, gold represents the royalty of Jesus, frankincense points toward the sacrifice of Jesus — the bitters, and myrrh the healing by the blood that Jesus sacrificed.

In review, as far as the “star” is concerned, in the previous commentary, I wrote that the “Star” was Jesus himself. Now that is further validated, to wit: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Rev 22:16).

A scotoma is a failure to see the obvious in the field of vision. For centuries, theologians and astronomers have sought the star of Jesus. According to the revelation of John, it was Jesus who was the “Bright and Morning Star.”

At the dawning of the Age of Pisces — the Christian Era — there was a convergence, or apparent motions, wherein the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appear to align in the celestial sphere. A conjunction occurs when two or more celestial bodies appear to meet in the night sky from a specific location on Earth. Hence, viewed from Israel, in 6 B.C. the planets Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon would in the constellation, Aries. Hence, as Aries wanes, Pisces would rise in the Spring of 6 B.C., some say on April 17. (O'Callaghan 2022).

With that said, the “wise men” would have predicted the exact day without seeing the convergence because it was calculated, based on the Jewish festivals by Jonathan Cahn to have been on March 20, 6 B.C.

Herod died in 4 B.C. Jesus would have been two years old or younger, given a 6 B.C. birthdate. Scripture is correct in that (Mat 2:16).

Jesus was born in March and in April the convergence would have pointed at Jesus in Bethlehem. Herod was alive in 6 B.C. The wise men sought Jesus, asking His whereabouts of Herod. The convergence had passed, so sometimes between April of 6 B.C. and 4 B.C. (either March 4 or April 4), (Encyclopedia Britannica n.d.), was when the astrologers came from the East to Jerusalem.

Herod wrote a will that would condemn the innocents, according to Josephus, that would be operationalized upon his death without revealing that he was already dead. Hence, Herod, even in death, sought to massacre the innocents and specifically to destroy the infant Jesus.

It is therefore plausible that Jesus was the “Star” that the other celestial bodies aligned with or converged upon.  Therefore, the convergence was really the Sun, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Jesus in Aries and after the Aries waned, the convergence was gone, and the astrologers found themselves in Pisces — the Christian Era.

The morning in “Bright and Morning Star” is specifically orthrinos, meaning “dawning” (Strong 1890). It was not referring to the dawning of a new day, but the dawning of a new age — the Age of Pisces of which Jesus was the “Star.” He was the “Shiny Object” not some far away astral body! With His birth, time passed from the Age of Abraham’s Ram to the Lamb of God whose astral sign is the fish… Jesus was the fisher of men. 

So, all the time that astrologers were looking for the “shiny object” in the heavens, the “Bright and Morning Star” came to Earth, ironically to the “celestial axis” and the “naval of the world” — Judah as was prophesied: 

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people, Israel. (Mat 2:6)

(picture credit: blogspot. com)

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[1] https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/search?q=gold+frankincense+myrrh

NOT HALF FULL BUT ENTIRELY FULL

 

This day commenced with me not wanting to read Matthew chapter two. It was the Christmas story that I had read so often, so how could I get anything from it? However, I did! This is what I finally saw — the “Star” of the wise men:

Wise men, or kings, brought Jesus three gifts from the East. The “wise” men were in the Greek, “magos.” In English, they were “wizards” in the modern lexicon; they had extraordinary power. Therein, their power was to see the truth; that Jesus was truly God and should be worshipped! They were not wizards by their own right, like Simon Magus the magician, but God gave them great insight.

So, what is insight? Seeing with the mind’s eye what cannot be seen with ocular vision. Their gift was insight, it was not magical at all, but supernatural from the Power of God. Nothing about God is magical but had always been about insight. All the patriarchs of the Old Testament, excepting a few like Moses and Jacob, did not see Jesus in the flesh but Jesus in the Spirit.

Now, consider the stereotypical glass of water question: Is the glass half empty or half full? It seems to be either one of the other because the liquid inside has substance. It can be sensed by at least one of the five basic senses. If it is rose water or putrid, it can even be smelled!

Most people have sensory scotomas [1] — a spot in the objective field of vision that goes unnoticed. In psychology, that “vision” would be the mental eyes and the object is something that goes unnoticed.

Now consider the glass either half full or half empty of liquid. If you are an optimist, you see the glass as half full. If you are a pessimist, you see the glass as half-empty. If you are a wizard, magi, or wise man, you see beyond what others can see; you  may perceive that all space is occupied by some thing.

That “emptiness” of the glass in a natural state, is the atmosphere. To prove it to yourself, seal the glass with cling wrap and turn it upside down. You can see that there is a bubble inside that supports the liquid for a moment and then moves to a higher position. There is indeed something else in the glass. Science reveals the constituents are naturally occurring in the atmosphere. There are many other things in the glass too small to see but it is still there.

I can “see” the air because I understand gravity and fluid dynamics. It is not visible, but I know it is there because I have c scientific insight that you may not have.

Now for the magi who tracked down Jesus. 

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the East, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. (Mat 2:9) 

The pragmatic person would see a star that moved in the sky with the magi following it. Indeed, the English says that the “star went before them.” Stars move, of course, but they appear to be stationary. If a person looks in the sky one month the star is in the same place that it was in the previous month. The distance is so great and the cosmos so expansive that stars appear to be stationary. That is the basis since time immemorial for travel. The stars do not move but provide direction.

The Greek for “went before them” is “proago,” — to lead forth from a place in which it previously has lain hidden from view. They did not follow a star but saw a vision that they had not seen before. It is called correctly, “aster,” – a star. The English version indicates that they “saw” a star, but did they? They “eido” a star; they perceived that a star was there.

They may not have even seen anything with the eye but realized that a “star” was over the child that had not been there before. The star had not moved at all, perhaps, but revealed itself to them. It had been there all the time and perhaps the patriarchs of the Old Testament knew of it, because God had revealed it to them as well.

Balaam was a revelator in ancient days, 

¹⁶ He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: ¹⁷ “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num 24:16-17) 

Now consider Balaam. In a trance, “his eyes were opened.” Balaam was made a wizard by God. He saw a vision, not an object. He saw into the future.

God’s plan, according to the Covenant with Abraham was a Star of stars (Gen 15:5). Abraham saw that vision as well, but the point is that the vision was there all the time since the foundation of the world. Jesus said that: 

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I AM; that they may behold my Glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24) 

“The Glory of God” therein was Jesus. It was Him that was the Star among all the other stars that was promised to Jacob. Balaam did not see stars in the sky when he was in a trance, but a “Sceptre” that shall arise out of Egypt. Sceptre therein is a “branch.” That branch of God and Abraham was Jesus. The “Star” of Balaam was the Star of Bethlehem, and it was not in the sky but in a humble home.

Balaam did not “see” the Star but beheld Him. He perceived in his mind’s eye in a trance that Jesus was the “Star.” The Sceptre was a thing that was there all the time but then God allowed Balaam to see it.

The same goes with the magi. Jesus had been there, perhaps as long as two years, but when the time was ripe for Herod to die, they beheld Him; they perceived that Jesus was the newborn king destined to replace Herod.

That Jesus was is the “Star” is for certain, it seems; Jesus said, “Be with Me where I AM; that they may behold my Glory.” Where He was, was in Israel, and there the wise men beheld His Glory (Greek; Doxa) — “splendour, brightness (of the moon, sun, stars); magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace; majesty”  (Strong 1890).

His “Glory” was the “Star” that Balaam beheld and that the wise men perceived.

So, there we go again. We are looking for a Star in the sky, and the “scatoma” was that the “Star” was the infant Jesus!

Balaam had seen the Substance of God that others could not see, just as the air (pneuma) in the half-full glass, and finally, the physical Substance of God was seen by the wise men.

The Substances of Jesus was Jesus all the time and Balaam saw what others could not see. Even the wise men saw what others could not see, nor what they could not see before.

It was not the “Star” that was moving but their vision; they perceived what they had not before, albeit Jesus was there all the time! Now, He was there in Spirit and the wise men saw what was once missing from the “half-full glass.”

Jesus called that “glass” His “Cup” or literally His Vessel (Mat 26:39-42).

The Cup of Jesus was there all the time and the patriarchs of old saw the empty part of the Cup as full of another Substance that most could not see. Jesus “fulfilled” the Cup when He was made flesh for all to see. They saw Jesus as the Cup half full, but Christians should be able to see the Spirit of Jesus that others cannot see — the full Cup!

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[1] For scotomas see my Daily Thought at https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/search?q=scotoma.