Mary - Joseph - Jesus - Shepherds. Magi

At that time

Nope! That is not really the story.

Jesus, The Good (?) [?]

I think we all heard stories of brave heroines and heroes who had to undertake an enormous challenge, to achieve something big, or something impossible, to complete a great task, if they were to gain..... 

Hear God's trumpet

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

The Heart

Heart issues?

Non-Voter Escape! (Edited3)

I noted the early figures showing a lot (many millions) of USA non-voters. That is in addition to so many millions of USA citizens unregistered!

It will be some time before the final actual vote numbers from the big 2024 election over there are known. Interest will soon fade. Eventually their Census people will have the data - unless it gets shut down!

Don't Steal Votes! (Edited 2)

 Don’t steal votes?

You shall not steal surely applies to votes, and to elections! 

Halloween?

?

Some readers may find the free "Light Party" resource from Scripture Union UK valuable.

The resource is copyright, or I would reproduce some of it here (see below).

https://content.scriptureunion.org.uk/halloween

The SU (UK) resource has a particular purpose and intended audience. That is made plain at the outset.

The cover tells me:

• Your questions about Halloween answered
• How to run a light party
• Games and activities
• Light experiments
• Creative prayer ideas

From the contents I noticed:

Page 8 "Halloween and the 95" has discussion of the origin and meaning.

Page 10 "Talking about darkness"

Page 12 "Questions about halloween"

Page 14 "Engaging with the Bible"

There are many practical activity ideas, which are, of course, geared towards the interest(s) of children.

Disclaimer: I have never myself used this resource (nor any other on Halloween) and have nil actual background in the topic.

These days it might not be possible for people with young children to fail to notice what is going on in the community. I see the attempt by SU (and others) to address the matter as commendable and useful.

My own grumpy inclination has been to ignore this modern Halloween phenomenon. I see the observance as a (another) failed attempt to legislate "Christianity" on to more ancient religious ideas. 

According to SBS News, commerce was anticipating a 2024 spend of $450,000,000 in Australia, so I think the event is here to stay.

What do you think? 

May God bless you
and especially any young people who look to you
Allen Hampton

Jesus and Common Sense

Jesus and Common Sense

Alternative title: Was Jesus Risk Averse?

Jesus drew the crowds

Not far from the end of the Jesus account we read:

David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight (Mark 12:37 NIV). But - why were the crowd delighted? Apart from the members of the elite whom Jesus questioned, was it true of everyone else there?

Not so long before that, there was a (different) crowd that was far from delighted, in fact it was dangerously disturbed:

Jesus: Temple Time

Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, possibly via this road, to spend time in the Temple there, etc.  (Those trees were there recently.) This was not Jesus' first visit, but it was his last before the crucifixion.

Executed under Pontius Pilate

Edited - from main blog

The accounts are unambiguous: Jesus of Nazareth was executed by crucifixion under the authority of Pontius Pilate.

INTERPRETATION!

reproduced from main blog of July 2021

Cherry-pick from the Bible?

Jesus the Drunk!?

 People said Jesus was a drunk!

The Prayer(s) Jesus Gave (edited 5)

The prayer, or prayers, Jesus gave his friends. They could pray the one, or use the other as a model for prayer. Then they knew how to do it!

The source: 

Jesus - Investigated, Questioned, Interrogated

 Jesus investigated, questioned, interrogated

Opposition to Jesus developed and expanded until the final deadly stage. Quite early on the Pharisees and others began making inquiries about him. The findings must have been alarming. However, before that growing and aggressive concern over Jesus, there was another disturbing question for the established leaders. (Spoiler alert: this is a comprehensive, lengthy, post!)

Jesus & that Jew from Tarsus

(Edited. Originally published as part of "Jesus & the Jews" but revised here)

The man from Tarsus may well have walked (?) that road

Apart from Jesus himself, the most prominent person we know about in the spreading of the message of Jesus was Paul. (He was originally introduced as the Jew, “Saul of Tarsus”). He presents as formerly furiously antagonistic, miraculously changed into a representative of Jesus. (Below I am thinking about Paul’s “CV” - I do not plan to make this exhaustive.)

Saul first enters the Acts record here, as a participant in the Jerusalem death of Stephen, a Jesus’ follower:

Jesus Died & "The Jews" (Revised)

Jesus: Killed/died - the roles

Early in the document we call “the Acts of the Apostles” Peter addressed a crowd gathered in Jerusalem. This was about 50 days after Jesus’ death on the Roman cross. The specific day is called “Pentecost”, though, as usual, the calendar year (33 or 30?) is a matter of conjecture. Here is a part of the record: “Fellow Israelites,[a] listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth,[b] a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power (Acts 2:22-24, NRSVUE).

Here I am focussing on the statement that these Jews in Jerusalem had apparently had Jesus handed over to them and had killed him (by other hands) - and fulfilled God’s plan. Now that may not be as simple as it sounds! How had Jesus been handed over, and to whom, and by whom?

Jesus: rejected

Originally published in main blog 22 May, 2022

Jesus was rejected.

Jesus and Faith (edn2)

As I went by there was a team clearing a block. The picture is what I saw...

I hope they ended their day safely!

Jesus: The Reprieve that Wasn't

The sentence became final. What happens if you look at the four accounts of the moment, and compare them?

Do they tell the same story, even without being identical?

In this post I am examining the four accounts of the critical moment when Jesus became a “dead man walking”.

Jesus and those Crowds (edn 2)

PS! "Crowds" is a bigger topic and I intend a follow up on the wider occurrences in the Gospels. AH 11/09/24

Jesus was welcomed to Jerusalem at the start of the last week by a deliriously happy crowd. At the end of the week he was rejected and scorned. How could that be? 

Jesus must G O !

But.. h o w?

The hierarchy long knew they wanted Jesus gone. They also knew they did not want to be tainted by the killing. They could find another way... quite unknowing what it all meant....!

Quite early on the powerful religious in Jerusalem, and round about, knew that Jesus had to go. He was continuing his campaign, and not in any way that they could accept. Jesus had failed to respond to their probes, and resisted their intervention. Could they conspire to do away with him, safely?

Jesus: Told his betrayal

They were told; 

there was an agenda, but, whose was it?

The first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels, clearly recount that Jesus told his friends, and others, what was to befall him at the "end". The first (but different) such encounter in the text comes in John. (Was that the chronological first - I wonder? For the John pericope, see previous post: “Jesus: Lifted Up”.)

Matthew, Mark and Luke have several clear reports, with increasingly detailed words from Jesus.

Jesus: The Name

Why was the Bethlehem baby named .......s? Was it a family name? Where do we get the word "Jesus"?

Jesus: Forgiver

Jesus gave forgiveness

Jesus and YOU!

YOU have decided to follow Jesus? Fantastic.

You are a forever member

Christmas ??

Reproduced from earlier post

CHRISTMAS

Coming

The Bible does not contain the word "Christmas". (That is also true for some of the traditional "seasonal" representations, including the dating.) So, why this post? I examine New Testament (NT) statements that actually do relate to Jesus coming into our world the first time.

Jesus: Earliest days

Jesus : the early years - by Luke (1&2); +

 

Embryo; newborn; infant; boy: Reading Luke is a good starting point to know Jesus.

Christmas is coming!

Waiting for Christmas? Many people have a long wait until their next Christmas. Some people have even a bit longer to wait.