Luke 15 prodigal son with Psalms 73 introduction
CJB emphasis in blue, green, and olive green for a seemingly extraneous
story, NIV in magenta, Nomads*
comments in yellow, and my comments in gray. *Participative
Sunday-school-class at UBC led by Kenneth Tipton
[I
read the Bible to consider a perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political
philosophy. It’s primitively expressed by Semite scholars of 3900 years ago in
Genesis 1:26-28, in my paraphrase: Female-and-male-human-being may and can,
independent of other entities, choose to constrain political democracy on
earth: on earth, humankind has the power to pursue the good
and constrain the bad. Rule of law may develop justice. Jesus affirmed these ideas in each Matthew
19:3-8, in Matthew 5:48, and in other direct dialogue. I think the next Bible
canon should include the law codes of Sumer and competing civilizations.
Resulting insights would take the heat off Judeo-Christianity, a Christ vs
Messiahs* competition** that egregiously deludes Jesus’ civic influence. The resulting
comprehensive view could accelerate collaborative pursuit of human being (verb)
and lessen baby killings, like those happening in Israel, in Ukraine, and in
the U.S.
*Cyrus,
600 BC, is called a messiah in Isaiah 45:1.
**Competitive
monotheism survives on war.]
Kenneth perceives Psalms 73 a
precursor to Luke 15 and in 15 creatively used “but” to highlight thegod’s
mercy.
73:1 A psalm of Asaf [chief Levite?]: How good God is to
Isra'el, to those who are pure
in heart!
2 But as for me, I lost my balance, my feet
nearly slipped, 3 when I grew envious of the arrogant and saw how the wicked
prosper. 4 For when their death comes, it is painless;
and meanwhile, their bodies are healthy; 5 they don't have ordinary people's troubles,
they aren't plagued like others.
6 So for them, pride is a necklace; and violence clothes them like a robe.
7 Their eyes peep out through folds of fat; evil thoughts overflow from their hearts. 8 They scoff and speak with malice, they loftily utter threats.
9 They set their mouths against heaven; their tongues swagger through
the earth. 10 Therefore his people return here and
[thoughtlessly] suck up that whole
cup of water. 11 Then they ask, "How does God know [Physics and progeny knows, e.g.
fat proves overeating.]? Does the Most High really have knowledge?" 12 Yes, this is what the wicked are like; those free of misfortune keep
increasing their wealth
[Free of misfortune does
not mean wicked, and most wealth continually overcomes misfortune.].
13 It's all for nothing that I've kept my heart clean and washed my
hands, staying free of guilt;
[Why isn’t free of guilt
its own reward to the writer? It is to me. Also, Pontius Pilate washed his
hands and was guilty of executing Jesus.]
14 for all day long I am plagued; my
punishment comes every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will talk like them,
"I would have betrayed a generation of your children.16 When I tried to understand all this, I
found it too hard for me -
17 until I went into the sanctuaries of God and
grasped what their [the
evil people’s] destiny would be.
18 Indeed, you place them on a slippery slope and make
them fall to their ruin. [The
writer erroneously attributes failure to thegod.] 19 How suddenly they are destroyed, swept away
by terrors! 20 They are like a dream when one awakens; Adonai, when you rouse yourself, you will
despise their phantoms.
[Why not souls?]
21 When I had a sour attitude and felt stung
by pained emotions, 22 I was too stupid to understand; I was like
a brute beast with you. 23 Nevertheless, I am always with you; you
hold my right hand.
24 You will guide me with your advice; and afterwards, you will receive
me with honor. 25 Whom do I have in heaven but you? And
with you, I lack nothing on earth. 26 My mind and body may fail; but God is the rock for my mind and
my portion forever. [The
writer addresses mind, body, and eternal portion rather than soul.] 27 Those who are far from you will perish; you
destroy all who adulterously
leave you. 28 But for me, the nearness of God is my good [Basing the good on a mystery yields fantasy.];
I have made Adonai ELOHIM [my great Lord] my
refuge, so that I can tell of all your works.
[The writer asserts 8 mysteries: God is
good to virtuous Israelites; God is not aware of behavior; the sanctuaries of
God; Adonai despises evil people; God the writer’s rock; God’ nearness the
writer’s good; and Adonai ELOHIM his refuge. He seeks good but perceives only consequences
to evil, leaving both God and Adonai mysteries. How can a person satisfy Genesis
1:26-28 in appreciating a constraining if not controlling mystery?]
15:1 The tax-collectors and sinners kept gathering around to hear
Yeshua, 2 and the P’rushim [politically correct Hebrews]
and Torah-teachers kept grumbling. “This fellow,” they said,
“welcomes sinners — he even eats with them!” 3 So
he told them this parable: 4 “If one of you has a
hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in
the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 When
he does find it, he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders; 6 and
when he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come,
celebrate with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7 I
tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner
who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have
no need to repent.
8 “Another
example: what woman, if she has ten drachmas and loses one of these valuable
coins, won’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search all over until she finds
it? 9 And when she does find it, she calls her
friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I
have found the drachma I lost.’ 10 In the same way,
I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.”
11 Again
Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of
them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will be
mine.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 As
soon as he could convert his share into cash, the younger son left home and
went off to a distant country, where he squandered his money in reckless
living. 14 But after he had spent it all, a severe famine
arose throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch.
15 “So
he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent
him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to
fill his stomach with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him any. [No one noticed he was starving.]
17 “At
last he came to his senses and said, ‘Any number of my father’s hired workers
have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! 18 I’m
going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned
against Heaven and against you; 19 I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’ 20 So
he got up and started back to his father.
“But [His father acted faster.] while he was
still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran and
threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly. 21 His
son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no
longer worthy to be called your son — ’ 22 but [His father acted fast.] his father said to
his slaves, ‘Quick, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put
a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet; 23 and
bring the calf that has been fattened up, and kill it. Let’s eat and have a
celebration! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but [Celebrate!] now he’s alive again! He was
lost, but [Celebrate!]
now he has been found!’ And they began celebrating.
25 “Now
his older son was in the field. As he came close to the house, he heard music
and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants
and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ 27 The servant told
him, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father has slaughtered the calf that
was fattened up, because he has gotten him back safe and sound.’ 28 But [Political correction!] the older son
became angry and refused to go inside.
“So
his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 ‘Look,’
the son answered, ‘I have worked for you all these years, and I have never
disobeyed your orders. But Political correction!] you have never even given me a young
goat, so that I could
celebrate with my friends [In 1986, my son, Stephen, pointed out that the older son did not
include his father in the desire for celebration. Luke did not tell a perfect
story.]. 30 Yet this son of yours comes, who
squandered your property with prostitutes, and for him you slaughter the
fattened calf!’ 31 ‘Son, you are always with me,’
said the father, ‘and everything I have is yours. 32 We
had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead but has
come back to life — he was lost but has been found.’”
[The politically correct and Torah-teaching Jews
represent the older son, who cannot celebrate his brother’s reform and mercy.
It seems Jesus’ story clarified that the person who
attempts to specify God’s values faces a mystery and can only construct a
phantasy.
Frederick Buechner (d. 2022) wrote, “Principles are what people have instead of God.” Nomads pondered humility as the first principle.]
No comments:
Post a Comment