John 2: erroneous belief in reversing physics

 John 2, Yeshua civically influences necessary good

Guide: CJB emphasis in bold (CJB online), text in green; NIV in magenta ; Nomads* discussion in yellow; and my comments in gray. I may use endnotes to cite outside literature or extensive comment.  

*Participative Sunday-school-class at UBC led by Ken Tipton. My continually improved statement about Genesis 1:26-28 is at the end of this post.

Today, I present a pivotal update of what I have learned so far as a Nomad at UBC. Experience and observations 1900 years since John wrote his book, lessen humankind’s dependence on The God mystery to explain what constrains the consequences of individual or collective human choices. The Complete Jewish Bible aids comprehension that the literature proffers the Word, or Logos, or order and knowledge, and Nomads uniquely explores possibilities. Thank you.

Nomads helped me discover and accept competitive views of Yeshua [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshua]. Yeshua, a Jew born in Nazareth, was a political and religious philosopher, who uniquely understood that humankind has the power, authority, and responsibility to pursue order on earth (as evidenced by each the laws of physics, Genesis 1:26-28, and Matthew 18:18).

Saul of Tarsus debated the small faction of Jews who thought the crucified Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah, who would soon return to establish obedience to the Torah and Israel’s monarchy on earth. Saul changed the topic from Israeli obedience and kingdom to body and blood sacrifice to save souls. But only to those who are mysterious elected by a triune God, Christ the one supplying the body and blood. I accept that I am not antinomian.

As Yeshua’s civic influence grew, his life was projected onto the Hebrew Bible, which featured reports of miracles, much like Moses persuading water from a rock and transforming a staff into a snake, or Elijah raising the dead. Let me use “Jesus” to express the miracle-working-Yeshua.

In Complete Bible context, we have the era mysterious gods through Genesis 1, 5500 years ago; the era of Yahweh, from 3700 years ago; the era of Yeshua’s civic influence, from 0 CE to 33 CE; a subsequent 292 years with Jesus, then Christ from 325 CE forward. Accepting each gods, Yahweh, the triune God, The God, Jesus, and Christ, I pursue Yeshua’s civic influence, because I like it and especially because it seems to follow the laws of physics.

I read, write, speak, and LISTEN, in order to learn. I have no desire to change anyone’s preferences, hopes, comforts, and happiness; much less joy. Let each person choose rather than listen to anyone who does not possess the ineluctable truth, such as Phil Beaver.

John wrote approximately 40 to 70 years after Yeshua was executed. I perceive civic considerations to necessary goodness related in John 2, below.

Concerns from John 2

a.       As we consider the scripture, we may and can take into account what has been discovered, experienced, and observed in the recent 1900 years (since John’s book was written).

b.       V1 By tradition, something good was expected on the 3^rd day. Christ was resurrected on the 3^rd day. See V 20. On the 3^rd day of creation, plant life began.

c.       V3 Yeshua’s mother knew he was the Son of God (Luke 1) but did not know he could perform physical miracles, similar to Moses hitting a rock to get water.

a.      “My time hasn’t come” does not affirm that Pontius Pilot would crucify him.

b.     The God could accommodate Pontius Pilot releasing an innocent man; in other words, Pilot erred.

c.      This suggest a change in motto from “In God We Trust” to “We Pursue Statutory Justice”; that is, upon discovery of an unjust statute, we amend the Constitution. Thereby, we accept both Genesis 1:26-28 and Matthew 18:18.

d.       V 18 Yeshua responding to a challenge for a sign is not consistent with his rejection of temptations in the desert. I doubt this passage through V 22.

e.       V 21 Yeshua’s civic influence rather than body a “temple”.

f.        V23-24 Yeshua did not commit to people who were impressed by miracles.

g.       V25 Yeshua knows I pursue his civic influence to humankind, and do not object to some citizens’ allegiance to Jesus the miracle worker or Christ the savior of elected souls.

John 1 CJB text; necessary goodness always was

^2:1 On Tuesday^{Greek: the third day, equivalent to Hebrew yom shlishi—something good expected} here was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. ² Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with his talmidim disciples. [Seemingly Yeshua did not escort his mom.] ³ The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” ⁴ Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me? — or you? Woman, why do you involve me? My time hasn’t come yet [Is this Yeshua speaking of his coming era, the Messiah anticipating his kingdom, or the writer promoting Moses-like miracle working?].” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶ Now six stone water-jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings [Clay ceremonial water jars could retain bacteria so were smashed after use. See plenty more ideas at https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/how-should-we-interpret-the-six-stone-jars-in-john-2/, for example.], each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons [At 30 gal, 6 jars hold 180 gallons, enough for 2100 people.]. ⁷ Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. ⁸ He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet”; and they took it. ⁹ The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So he called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” [Symbolic of Yeshua being the best?] ¹¹ This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, he did at Kanah in the Galil; he manifested his glory, and his talmidim came to trust in him. [Trust based on miracles is a matter of believing Yeshua could control physics much as Moses supposedly did, e.g., providing water by striking a rock, Exodus 17:5 and Numbers 20:11 or Elijah raising the dead in 1 Kings 17:17-24.] ¹² Afterwards, he, his mother and brothers, and his talmidim went down to K’far-Nachum Capernaum and stayed there a few days.

¹³ It was almost time for the festival of Pesach Passover in Y’hudah, so Yeshua went up to Yerushalayim. ¹⁴ In the Temple grounds he found those who were selling cattle, sheep and pigeons [Jews in Judea still practicing blood sacrifices. But the practice stopped when the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 CE.], and others who were sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ He made a whip from cords and drove them all out of the Temple grounds, the sheep and cattle as well. He knocked over the money-changers’ tables, scattering their coins; ¹⁶ and to the pigeon-sellers he said, “Get these things out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market [Principle: don’t commercialize or politicize The God.]?” ¹⁷ (His talmidim later recalled that the Tanakh says, “Zeal for your house will devour me.” ) ^{Psalm 69:10 (9) [Psalms 69 addresses Israel’s passionate, misguided pursuit of gods through sacrifice and self-fulfillingly predicts Yeshua’s estrangement from Nazareth.] 18} So the Judeans The Jews confronted him by asking him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove you have the right to do all this?” ¹⁹ Yeshua answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” ²⁰ The Judeans said, “It took 46 years to build this Temple, and you’re going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the “temple” he had spoken of was his body. ²² Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his talmidim remembered that he had said this, and they trusted in the Tanakh the scripture and in what Yeshua had said. [Trust based on miracles is a matter of believing Yeshua could control physics much as Elijah reportedly did, e.g., raising the dead, 1 Kings 17:17-24.] 

²³ Now while Yeshua was in Yerushalayim at the Pesach festival, there were many people who “believed in his name” when they saw the miracles he performed. ²⁴ But he did not commit himself to them [John overlooks that in every conversation with “the person on the street”, Yeshua was open minded and open hearted. I don’t trust John’s writing.], for he knew what people are like — ²⁵ that is, he didn’t need anyone to inform him about a person, because he knew what was in the person’s heart. [Perhaps John misinterprets here, and the real issue is that Jesus knew the political correctness of the Judean majority and feared for his life. That is a foretaste of Pontius Pilot, a god facing death, having the power and authority to free Yeshua, an innocent man.]

[I read to apply perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy. The Sumerians are parochially reference by Semite scribes of 3900 years ago, in Genesis 1:26-28; in my paraphrase:  Female-and-male-human-being may and can choose to independently and together constrain political democracy on earth: on earth, civic humankind has the power and authority to pursue necessary goodness and constrain the bad. Civic citizens may use the rule of law to develop statutory justice. Yeshua* affirmed these ideas in each Matthew 18:18 (no peace-power above humankind), Matthew 19:3-8 (spousal loyalty), Matthew 5:48 (pursue your perfection), and in other direct dialogue.
The next Bible canon could and should include the law codes of Sumer and competing civilizations. Resulting insights would take the heat off Judeo-Christianity, a Christ vs Messiah** vs The God competition vs Yeshua.*** Personal and institutional competition egregiously deludes Yeshua’s civic influence to necessary goodness. The collaborative view could accelerate mutual pursuit of human being (verb) and lessen habitual baby killings, like those happening in Israel, in Ukraine, and in the U.S. in the year 2024.

*In 4 BC, Yosef and Myriam of Nazareth begot Yeshua. 250 years beforehand, Greek translation of the Torah provided Ἰησοῦς and χριστός, both of which competed with “Yeshua”, the former during Yeshua’s life and the latter in afterdeath. Rome affirmed a triune God in 325 CE. By the 16^th century CE, Christianity used “Jesus Christ” to repress Yeshua. 

The person, Yeshua, said, in my paraphrase: if people don’t speak my name they can neither consider my civic influence nor share my open-heartedness. Competitive monotheism hides Yeshua’s civic influence. Churches hide Yeshua. Churches claim the Holy Bible is the word of the God yet do everything they can to negate Genesis 1:26-28: humankind is responsible to rule to necessary goodness on earth.

The God is a mystery. However, civic citizens may, can, and do discern Yeshua’s civic influence. Accepting Genesis 1:26-28 helps yet does not exclude the open-minded and open-hearted fellow citizen who has not discovered Yeshua.

**Cyrus, 600 BC, is called a messiah in Isaiah 45:1.

***Competitive monotheism survives on war.]

[I think Genesis 1:26-28 informs humankind to flourish in necessary goodness rather than accommodate badness and allow evil:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

Acceptance of the power, authority, and responsibility to rule on earth is human being (verb). Reliable human-beings pursue necessary-goodness to actual-reality.

The rest of the Bible discloses the chaos that ensues if most individuals choose wanton behavior -- neglect the laws of physics and progeny, e.g., biology and psychology.

The civic collective cannot rule if most fellow citizens practice/accommodate badness and allow evil.

Political and religious philosopher Yeshua affirmed Genesis 1:26-28, e.g. in Matt 5:48 (be as perfect as goodness); 18:18 (expect consequences rather than error-correction); and 19:4-6 (don’t divide/lessen goodness). 

Today there are more than 4,000 religions and 45,000 Christian sects on earth. Today is the time for individuals to accept the power, the authority, and the responsibility to practice civic integrity. “Ourselves” may either continue to leave reliable responsibility to “our Posterity”, referring to the preamble to the US Constitution, or practice necessary goodness.

Notes re modern perspective:

1.     Since monotheism is a human construct, I use the phrase, “The God, whatever it may be”, to express objection to any doctrinal God yet reserve humility.

a.      Blue highlight is to emphasize the pronoun usages, our and we.

b.     Perhaps the “we” infers the androgynous pair, like a married couple more than a mating couple

c.      It seems human choice may and can conform to the discovered laws of physics.

d.     Yet human inspiration and motivation are driven by goodness

e.      When goodness is uncertain, humility seems an option.

2.      Scholars understand that humankind in its present mutation is Homo sapiens (HS)

a.      Distinguished by brains with synapses and neurons continuously developing speed and capacity to handle exponential complexities

b.     Indeed HS is the dominant species on earth and its extensions

c.      Yet HS is challenged-to, perhaps will-not, control earth as much as possible

d.  Unfortunately, after 200,000 years, sexual-attraction rather than necessary goodness dominates society.

3.      The rest of the Holy Bible expresses the validity of Genesis 1:26-28:  Humankind may and can choose to rule on earth.

a.      Genesis 1 predates the existence of Israel by at least 1500 years.

b.     About 2000 years have passed since Yeshua lived.

c.      Yet war in the Middle East threatens humankind’s opportunity.

d.     It seems time to pay more attention to primitive thought – psychological and civic discovery during the period 8000 years ago to 4000 years ago.]