Matthew 28 proffers a divisive gospel. I prefer Jesus’ leadership (Yeshua note)

 Note: In early 2024 I learned his mom and dad in Nazareth named and called him "Yeshua", and "Jesus" is a consequence of translations from Aramaic/Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to old English, then to Protestant English. "Christ" supports Paul, and some people believe Paul without civic objection. This discovery is wonderful and to be shared.

[Introduction: Biblical literature offers hints to the-ineluctable-truth about human opportunity. Imagine 3 possibilities: Jesus is the-God (John 1:1), Jesus’ wills/hopes (Genesis 1:26-28, NIV featuring “may” choose the-good), and Jesus’ message, "Be [as] perfect" as the-God (Mathew 5:48). Ineluctable means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, obfuscated, rationalized, or resisted.

The speaking Jesus may have advocated the-good rather than claimed to be “anointed one& king”, a Jewish argument. Human-beings can& may accept the-good, continually pursue the-good, and continuously practice the-good. If asked how humankind discovered self-interest in the-good, we can& may express appreciation to Jesus. Also, see my Genesis-1 essay about human duty, at the end of this study.

Consider the scholarly Bible evidence, “From Jesus to Christ”, Parts 1& 2, FRONTLINE,1998 at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN8FM1NCOSk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXqFvfCaFwY. Humankind can& may effect the public resurrection of the-civic-Jesus.

Under our generation’s mystery-watch to “ourselves and our Posterity”, Jesus-the-God can surpass Christ -- Judeo-Christian messiah& king. Each person may practice the-good by acquiring& maintaining appreciation& humility to life.] 

 

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. [With the horrible events to this point, it is striking yet typical that women have the courage to effect care. Similar examples are in Greek literature, where women take responsibility while men leave it to the-God. For example, when Clytemnestra discovers that Agamemnon is going to sacrifice Iphigenia, in order to gain favorable winds for the Greek armada, his wife says, essentially:  Not on my watch.]

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. [The details reflect an age when there were no biased fact checkers in business.]

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” [Would the angles be powerless if the women had not arrived?]

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. [These days, whistleblowers are encouraged and protected to volunteer such inside information, so that select media can increase their wealth. Listening to whistleblowers lessens public standing.]

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. [In other words, Thomas relieved other disciples from wonder about physical evidence.] ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [The Trinity, in fact Christianity itself, seems a Judeo-Christian church-construct that feels exponentially successful. In this era, there are 15 million Jews and 2400 million Christians among 8000 million people in the world. However, there are 45,000 Christian denominations. I think Father, Son, and Holy Ghost lessen Jesus’ message: individuals can& may choose the-good.]

[I apply Genesis-1-NIV perspective to Bible interpretation -- NIV because of the phrase “so they may” in Genesis 1:26. Coming from the-God, “may” implies “can”: Each person can& may choose the-good. For all I know, Jesus is the-God, and the-God may be the-good.

“For all I know” seems a casual equivalent of “I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth”. I consider my position humble to the-God, whatever it is and would appreciate opportunity to change my opinion toward more appreciation& humility.

I think Genesis 1:26-28 expresses the-civic-Jesus-message (CJM):  Human male unites-to female human-being and their spouse-hood can& may pursue comprehensive-safety& security to the living species and to the earth (SECURITY). In self-interest, there is no race; no rights; no coercion; no force – only human-opportunity to choose the-good. Every person can& may aid SECURITY, and the civic-citizen so chooses. “Civic” means reliable in human connections& transactions. Some persons neglect, partially or wholly, civic-Jesus-appreciation, Jesus’-peace, and SECURITY. I don’t know that there are humans who cannot, rather than will-not, aid SECURITY. But some humans choose not to aid SECRITY.

I call Genesis-1’s message, “responsible-human-independence”, or RHI. Some human-beings, throughout history, practice, facilitate& encourage RHI. Jesus exemplified& encouraged RHI. From the past, civic-citizens guide-us to the-good, and consequences from non-civic-persons warn-us against error. I think the-civic-Jesus guides-us to RHI. Perhaps the authentic Jesus merely advocated the-good.

But I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth (IDK). “Ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, obfuscated, rationalized, or resisted: I can& may choose either RHI or dependency, such as religious arrogance. I can& may choose dereliction to my self-interest.

Persons who appreciate contemporary human being (verb), during each generation, develop CJM. In other words, CJM facilitates the civic-appreciation that human being (verb) applied “before Abraham was born”, since then, and into the future. Given the question, “Was Jesus a man?”, I respond IDK, yet value CJM, an attitude which seems sufficient& complete to my person. I advocate the-civic-Jesus and admit CJM could be the-good. Yet the-good cannot replace the authentic Jesus. Nor can Christ displace Jesus. Allowing “Christ” to obfuscate Jesus seems ruinous. Yet I expect& accept judgement beyond myself.

Perhaps CJM always was the-good human being (verb). Perhaps intention to the-good was present at the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. There’s joy in accepting IDK, seeking the-ineluctable-evidence, and reserving humility to RHI. Joy may facilitate happiness.

It seems the-laws-of-physics& progeny (PHYSICS) constrains the consequences of each person’s choices. A person who claims to be a spirit nevertheless bleeds. Physics’ progeny includes: fundamental forces, mathematics, chemistries, biology, psychology, imagination, and their subsets. I choose to accept the-civic-Jesus and pursue Jesus’ “my-peace”, in-order-to commit-to and trust-in PHYSICS. For example, I work for food& shelter rather than accept what a bureaucrat might provide. Food is essential and I have no right to it. Only if I secure my energy to work can I help the indigent. I work to aid SECURITY rather than pray for an entity to usurp RHI. Make no mistake: if one of my loved ones seems threatened beyond my protection, I pray to the-God IDK.

Admitting I could be wrong, IDK, I accept that Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, urges me to constrain chaos in my way of living; in other words, urges me to the-good suggested by the-civic-Jesus I pursue by listening to fellow-citizens. IDK, but at age 79, I perceive joy made possible by Jesus’ direct-influence and look forward to what I can& may learn on the journey toward age 99. I hope readers will take these ideas seriously and share ideas I need to hear.]