[Please recall I ponder reliability to Genesis 1:26, NIV, “in our image so they may rule . . . earth”. May coming-from-the-God implies can and leaves the person with choice to pursue order or not. This is not equivalent to free-will, which is presented without assessment of consequences: there may be chaos (no rule).]
21:1 As
they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of
Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey
tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the
Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken
through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See,
your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
[The above is a construct
by Rabbinical leaders, weather Levites, Pharisees or synagogue lords. To accept
it as the word of God lessens Jesus to “the anointed one” and king, whereas
Jesus is at least a witness to the-ineluctable-truth, and for all I know is God
and source of Genesis 1 (as implied in John 1:1).]
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the
donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their
cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread
them on the road. 9 The
crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and
asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the
prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
[The point here is that Jewish hearsay had the Messiah
coming not from Nazareth. I perceive I associate with the crowd, except that I
refer to Jesus as a-civic-citizen rather than prophet.]
Jesus at the Temple
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who
were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money
changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will
be called a house of prayer,’[e] but
you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[f]”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and
he healed them. 15 But
when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he
did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of
David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they
asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants
you,
Lord, have called forth your praise’[g]?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where
he spent the night.
[I see no way selective,
physical miracle working comports to Genesis 1:26-28. Arbitrary favor creates
division rather than order.]
Jesus Curses a Fig
Tree
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to
the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up
to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately
the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How
did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not
only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this
mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe,
you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
[I take comfort that the-Jesus-that-influences-me does
not behave with meanness; does not take eye for eye; does not condemn the
errant citizen. The-civic-Jesus practices, facilitates, and encourages reliability
in living connections& transactions. “Civic” expresses reliability rather
than conformity; appreciation rather than praise; right rather than wrong.
Jesus knows what I pursue.]
The Authority of Jesus
Questioned
23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was
teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what
authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this
authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell
you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where
did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it
among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why
didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are
afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing
these things.
[Throughout my lifetime, Bible promoters invariable
corner themselves into admitting “I don’t know but that is what I believe”. In
my 80th year, I realize: “but” cannot negate what came before. That’s
why I often remind people, “I don’t know”.]
The Parable of the Two
Sons
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons.
He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his
mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the
same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they
answered.
Jesus said to
them, “Truly I tell you, the
tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God
ahead of you. 32 For
John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not
believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even
after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
[I nominate the above passage as an illustration of
the-civic-Jesus. Of the ideas attributed to Jesus, some are applicable to
reliability to humankind. In this case, the moment a person discovers the right
behavior, they can& may choose to make it a habit, so as not to risk bad
consequences of wrong behavior. For example, in 1972, I accepted that smoking
was killing me and Cynthia. Together we stopped, cold turkey. I never smoked
again and Cynthia smoked only a few times in the mid 70s.
At this moment, I realize that “civic”, a byproduct of my
work on the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, expresses reliability to U.S.
intentions. I sense that “civic” may yield to “reliable”, in my work as
impacted by Nomads and others in UBC. I now promote a-civic-people and may change
to a-reliable-people if it seems more expressive as the phrase matures in my mind.]
The Parable of the
Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who
planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and
built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved
to another place. 34 When
the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to
collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one,
killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then
he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants
treated them the same way. 37 Last
of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each
other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his
inheritance.’ 39 So
they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what
will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched
end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other
tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has
become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and
it is marvelous in our eyes’[h]?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away
from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls
on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be
crushed.”[i]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’
parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a
way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held
that he was a prophet.
[Once a human-being grasps the Mesopotamian message (MM) in Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, they may choose to accept that they can pursue in their way of living order-rather-than-chaos. The MM may be: pursue safety& security in your way of living. For all I know, Jesus is the source of the message, you can& may choose the-good for self-interest and aid a-reliable-people as well.]
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