Luke 23:1-56

The men who hung beside Christ were thieves in this world and were caught. There was no escape for them. They had earned what they now faced: punishment, shame, and suffering.

How they chose to spend what little time they had left on earth was curious to me. The first thief outwardly mocked Christ. The other questioned His identity and claims of deity. The latter ultimately decided to believe and was assured a place in paradise that very day.

The “how” did not bother me as much as the “why”.

The thief gets to go to heaven, but why? Why is this even acceptable? He didn't “earn” it. So he is a screw up his whole life but he gets a free pass right at the end?

The story stuck with me; it was unsettling for reasons I could not place. It irked me to be missing some key understanding. However, the answer would arise repeatedly, in subtle and at times, astounding ways throughout my life: grace.

This thief was not a member of a religious organization, nor had he the opportunity to make a public statement of faith with a water baptism, nor had he paid any tithes to his church. It had been impossible for him to “earn” his salvation with these human-approved rituals. What he did do was believe.

He simply believed and was saved by grace through faith.

Because of grace, we do not get what we deserve. No other realization has ever humbled me more than when I could finally piece together the spiritual implications of the thief on the cross. The magnitude of grace is unfathomable to my human comprehension, yet I am filled with gratitude.

This story gives me hope because I know that I too am nothing more than a thief in this world. Yet, I believe.

He's the one

goes down, every day

on

each of us,

in all of our shame

cursed, for

entering and leaving

home

to break in

our morning,

red

dawning

our joy

at his return

and we cluck his handle

with inflamed finger

as if to say, You---!

Of a---

but

when he comes, in

shows a ruddy face

and smiles upon

our fortune and lot

we've gladness, at root

And in all the Good Book

in all of Life, its Deed and Trials

when he goes,

out

we know

in a Word, of God

He's the One, will give up

the Ghost

of us, all

and we wait, in

the Name of the Father.

02.17.2024

Favorite Biblical Persona challenge @Plexiglassfruit

There’s a few things about the Book of Job that I come back to for.

The first is the poetry, same as the other, limited amount of books I’ve read of the Bible. It’s simple and powerful. When you read certain sentences, you believe these words might were delivered by God Himself.

But obviously this alone is not enough to separate Job—only a basic appreciation of the Bible collectively.

The most obvious greatness of Job is its mysteries of the base understanding of the world, good and evil, and God.

It is one of those Books that affects me deeply, stays with me. And it is all seemingly straight forward.

And so on the surface, Job is a great man. Then God takes everything away from him. Then he lives a long time, finds peace, perhaps, and then he dies. Doesn’t sound so spectacular so far.

*** ***

The first striking distinction of the Book of Job is a strange ‘give-and-take’ relationship between Satan and God.

They meet in council between angels and God, in which Satan appears and in which God asks Satan where did he come from. Satan says he comes from under the ground and came up in it, or something along those lines.

It’s a beautiful moment, where Satan, for a moment is revealed as a child of God, the black sheep who God still loves and respects.

And then influences God‘s decision-making. Where God says Job is a fine man who praises Him, Satan says make Job’s life ‘Hell’ and see how much praise You gather then.

*** ***

Job’s setting is also a mystery. It takes place in the land of Uz. Scholars have a pretty good idea of where this is but there is likely no way to guarantee the coordinates of Uz in a modern day geography. As far as I know, the time of the story cannot be placed either. I believe this might be an attempt to make it timeless. Also adding to the mystery.

To summarize the plot, Job loses everything, and so then the beauty occurs. He knows in his heart he’s done nothing wrong in order to deserve this, so he asks that all-time question, why?

He hosts friends who tell him he must have done something wrong in order for God to strike down such vengeance.

Finally, he speaks to God. Nothing is set straight, other than God telling him it is impossible to understand the world. In a way, God admits the world is beyond Good and Evil. An interpretation might be that the world is beyond any understanding at all.

The book’s magnificent to me for three main reasons: God’s relationship with Satan; the idea that a good man might suffer under God’s will for the sake of nothing, that we might suffer without redemption; and that there might be a God willing to admit there lies a world in which He created that He also cannot quite explain.

I cannot quite place why I find it so perfect, similar to the setting of the book itself cannot be placed; it is the lack of answers that somehow becomes soothing. The lack of explanation and the not not-knowing becomes the end-all, like we might know what God knows after all.

In my eyes, no story slashes through my heart more than that of Eve.

She has become the mother of every living person on Earth - and of everyone buried beneath the surface - but she has never had the pleasure of having a mother herself. Eve lived forced to be an eternal daughter. Not once could she search out the comfort of a maternal figure, to lay her head in the woman’s lap, consoled when her body changed and morphed into something new. There was no other woman on Earth for her to seek solace from, to talk of the mysteries that men do not understand because they have not been pained by them.

But worst of all, even more awful than her loneliness and despair is how she has been painted through history, through the story of the Bible, through every myth and legend that has stemmed from Abrahamic roots. Donned original sin, the original sinner. Had it not been for her actions, humanity would have forever lived in paradise.

How can any person blame her though? She was human, as we are, her biggest sin was being a soul stuck in flesh. Everyone lives with curiosity, and worse so with the ability to be manipulated. When life had been nothing but pleasure and goodness, how can any of us blame her for not knowing what would happen.

I mourn her and the way she has been dragged through history, the way that all women have been sullied because of her actions. I remember she was human - as so many others have stripped from her - and therefore made mistakes as humans do today. I see her in serpents and fruits, but also in lilies and crisp summer days. I want to remember her not as a sinner, but as a woman that was worth so much more.

Paul. One of the admirable characters in the Bible, he has a humble yet ambitious fire for God. He was one that persecuted Christians, but after Jesus approached him - he dedicated his whole life to preaching the Gospel. I think in some way, I'm someone that disliked religion, and been a horrible person most of my life in one way or the other. But, my life turned into a more hopeful journey. I realised that there was light at the end of the tunnel. And I hope to preach the Gospel and love everyone as much as I can. It's the least I can do.

One of the most inspiring individuals in the Bible to me is the woman who suffered from a bleeding disorder. She had spent all her money seeing healers who were unable to cure her, she just continued to get worse. She had suffered with it for twelve years. She heard that Jesus would be going to Jairus' home and as he and his disciples walked through the crowded streets. She truly reached out to Him in faith.

This woman in her faith, knew that if she could just touch his garment, whether it be the hem or the tassel (various accounts are written) she knew that she would be healed. As soon as she touched the garment, she felt her body changing and she knew she was cured. Jesus stopped and asked, "who touched my garment?" His disciples told him, the streets are crowded anyone could have touched you...he looked into the crowd knowing someone reached out to him in faith... the woman stepped forward and fell before him at his feet...She shared her story, knowing that if she could just touch him, she would be healed. He told her, "Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

This story has impacted my life so many times on so many levels. He tells us if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. It tells me no matter what I am going through in my life, it is never too big for my God. Faith is that precious strong belief in God.

When I picture Deborah, there is no hearth or home involved. Instead, I see her on top of the domelike Mount Tabor with the general Barak, watching as the oppressive Sisera gathers a terrifying army of 900 chariots below.

I imagine her turning to Barak, and with command in her voice saying "Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?”

Then I imagine Barak stirring, calling his troops to attention, and storming down the mountain, all under Deborah's watchful eye.

Later, after the battle, I picture her and Barak again on top of Mount Tabor, looking out on the scattered bodies of Sisera's troops. I picture the joy on her face, as she receives the news that her prophecy has come true: it was to Jael, a mere tent-dweller, that the Lord had delivered the fleeing Sisera: the oppressor of her people is finally vanquished.

And then, I picture Deborah breaking out into song, braids possibly flying:

“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,

in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,

and travelers kept to the byways.

7 The villagers ceased in Israel;

they ceased to be until I arose;

I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel."

Deborah was a prophetess, a military leader, a mother figure, and a judge during a time when her nation was oppressed by cruel rulers, such as Sisera. Yet not once do we see her flinch, and not once do we see her acquiesce, even while the men around her are quaking in their boots (sadly, many of the tribes, refuse even to rise up against their oppressors).

How does Deborah, a mere woman in a nation of male dominance, have such confidence and clout?

“Lord, when you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

the earth trembled

and the heavens dropped,

yes, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked before the Lord,

even Sinai before the Lord,[a] the God of Israel."

Her confidence is in her God, and in no one else. And from God comes her clout. That is how she could tell Barak clearly that it was time to attack: that is how she could command with decisiveness and purpose. And not once in the Bible can you find a caveat for Deborah's leadership, such as you hear in many pulpits today (i.e. 'Deborah was only in charge because there were no suitable men around'). The Bible does not offer any excuse or apology for her leadership - it simply paints her as a stellar example of a leader who listened to God and did what he said. Period. No gender roles involved.

This is to me, a wonderful example of a godly, unapologetically strong woman. We women who now trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; we women who have the very same God as Deborah guiding us (in the form of the Holy Spirit); we women who are instructed by Paul to take every scripture as God-breathed and useful for teaching and instruction in righteousness; we women (and men too), can learn that when we listen to God and point our noses unyieldingly in the direction of his will, he will use us in mighty ways, regardless of our gender.

Deborah was not obedient to man - she was obedient to God. Deborah was not submissive to the commander Barak - she was submissive to God. Deborah was not quiet and home-centered - yet her spirit was quiet and centered in the will of God. Does God find delight in a woman like that? It sure seems so.

His story is my favorite. Well, okay, when animated by Disney and Vision Video(find their content all on YouTube). When done for the general audience it's really a captivating watch full of character depth and nuance.

Some that I certainly feel should have been included in the book proper. LOLZ. First time ever the movie did it better.

But really, in any reality, in any time historians could pore over the story of the beloved youngest son, set to some grand destiny and so is overtly favored by his Father that his elder brothers grow jealous. And it isn't like they ever have anywhere to go rather than home where they have to watch. It becomes, understandable. Well, almost. And that wasn't even adding in the prophetic dreams this spoilt, overly arrogant boy couldn't explain quite well if movies are to be believed.

Without realizing the story really touches on themes of parental favoritism and how even without malicious intent, when you're blinded by some grand expectation of one child, you begin to put them on a pedestal they don't deserve. It deals with how those bonds between brothers at their strongest are degraded over time stewed in envy. A story that as a writer, itches to be modernized and considered from a more literary angle.

I for one, want to know what happened in Egypt with Joseph, Benjamin, and their Father now in the know. Benjamin was there when his brothers confessed and prostrated themselves to their brother! Youngest Benjamin was the only one who could "rejoice," that his brother was alive and not eaten by wolves! The lie that had been told to their Father and now thrown back at their faces from the brother they'd also lied to.

Unassuming, underestimated, and obedient. That’s what they thought of Jael too, until she did something no one else could.

As a society we are led to believe that Biblical women were soft, but the reality is quite the opposite. Jael is simply one example of such a fearsome female, not to mention my favorite.

Captain Sisera was the villain in this tale. Many had tried but none could stop his tiereny. Whilst on the run he sought shelter, which Jael gladly gave him. After some milk and a comfortable place to rest, Sisera fell into a deep slumber.

Jael then drove a tent peg into his skull, killing him. She conquered the enemy, something battle-trained soldiers failed to do.

So often we believe to fight battles, we must go out in a blaze of glory, when measured control and a little ingenuity do wonders.

As a new teacher, I had students tell me I was too sweet and I would get eaten alive. Little did they know, behind my baby face exterior beat the tenacious heart of a warrior. Here I am, five years later, still going strong. Daughter of Jael for life.