I Was Blind and Now I See!

In this blog post entitled “I Was Blind and Now I see”, I refer to some of the Testimony of Faith I self published as The Ecumenical Affair. My self published work is a true story that holds up a mirror or a spiritual window that reflects the light of the Gospel.

As it happened to Saul 2000 years ago, it happened to me.

As it happened to the Woman at the Well,

as it happened to Zachaeus who went out on a limb on the road to Jericho,

as it happened to the bent Woman,

as it happened to the Woman with the hemorrhage,

as it happened to the Canaanite Woman,

as it happened to the Woman Jesus called Mary,

and as it happened to the Woman called the Magdalene, the Woman from A Mygdala it happened to me. 

As a young 32 year old homemaker I encountered Jesus, the Son of David at the 6th Assembly of the World Council of Churches. The Assembly was located not far from the Jericho Beach Road in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I know what you’re thinking. Is this just when I took Jesus into my heart for the first time?

No! I met a man I was convinced was and I am still convinced is Jesus the Son of David.

But I was blind and now I see.

I was blind because I like many women and men could not let go of “supposing” the Rabboni whom I had met under the cover of darkness (John 3:1-21; Luke 19: 1-10) and then again at NOON at the Well, had taken Christ’s body, had assumed Christ’s role as the Bride’s Bridegroom, the Everlasting Father, the Gift of God (John 4:10: John 1:47) promised to her.  

And then, 25 years later in a Garden of Tombs on the island of Crete, I encountered that same man, that same renowned Teacher, I had met in Vancouver near Jericho Beach.

Encountering the Greek, the Teacher and friend of Christ “face to face” in this Garden of Tombs 2000 years of history past as if it were merely 2 days. This encounter held a mirror up and reminded me of the Forerunner’s testimony who said 2000 years ago. “The bride belongs to the bridegroom” (John 3:29). And the words spoken by the Woman Jesus called the Magdalene, supposing the Teacher was the Gardner, her husbandman (John 15:1). “Sir have you taken my Lord’s body? And the Teacher’s words “Do not cling to me.”

11 years later, following another conference event, the Greek Teacher met with me privately and said to me in the presence of his and my friend and colleague Luke. “Linda I am worried about your soul. Do you know what Blaspheme is?” 

You see, my Greek friend loved me so much he was making sure, my love for a man I had brought with me to this Garden of Tombs was not keeping me from accomplishing the Word of God–as the Nazer the Branch known to Jeremiah as the Amygdala (Jeremiah 1:11). 

You see the man I love and had brought to the Garden who planted trees with me, is a Cyrenaic a Simon Bar Jonah who often thinks not like God but as a man who grew up learning about Jesus in the Pentecostal Faith amongst people whose ancestors were African American Slaves. He knows full well that Scripture says Jesus was nailed to a Tree that was hammered into a Rock resembling a SKULL, a bald headed man like him.

This man I love was brought up with people who believed Jesus was flogged, stripped naked, suffered horribly, died on the Cross, was buried in a rock hewn cave, and then on the third day, the Rock sealing the tomb rolled away, leaving the Woman Jesus called Mary in tears in the Garden “supposing” the Rabboni was the Gardener and had spirited away her Lord’s body. 40 days later when Jesus disappears into a cloud, people assume the Ascension is the final chapter, rather than the beginning of a new chapter where all those “watching” and paying attention to John and Simon aka Peter will “walk” the talk and enter by the Gate called Beautiful.

Oh but you’ll say the Man Peter healed was Lame from birth. Aren’t we all?

As Peter said 2000 years ago, people need to pay attention to Peter “and” John standing in front of the Beautiful Gate (Acts: 3:1-6). Both of these men were changed as I was and all who follow Jesus are. We are born again, when our eyes and our hearts are opened to the I AM Moses encountered as the ever-burning bush.

At the very moment, I saw the Amygdala blooming in front of a “weathered” yet “white washed” stone window frame posted on INSTAGRAM by a friend of the Orthodox Academy of Crete who posted also resistance poetry, my eyes were opened. With that iconic vision, I heard Jeremiah speaking and suddenly realized that it was Moses, the TEACHER OF ISRAEL the forerunner of Christ (John 3:29; Hebrew 6:20) who smithed and hammered the Golden Lamp Stand in the image of the Bush–the I AM–he encountered on the Mountain of the Lord (Exodus 25:31; Numbers 8:4).

Upon seeing and reading the Greek word Amygdala accompanying that iconic image in a quote from the late Nikos Kanzantzakis, I knew for certain, the Teacher of Israel, John’s Gospel calls Nicodemus was indeed the Rabboni aka Barabbas aka the Baptist. Further to this I knew that the Woman Jesus identified as the Magdalene was the Bride of Christ, the I AM of John’s Testimony who said.

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).

I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture (John 10:9).

And I knew the Lord she had chosen was a Simon, a man who heeds the Word of God and a gift of God who like many people needed to see the smithy’s nails binding Jesus to the Tree.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Thus John’s Gospel stands to remind us all, the Man Jesus chose and called Simon Bar Jonah aka Peter, as the Rock the foundation stone of the Church, the family of God, finally heard the voice of the disciple Jesus loved and stopped working by the sea in the dark. His spiritual eyes were opened to God’s Truth and Purpose for his life and he obeyed the call to change the way he was living…working at night. Working in the dark he was binding himself and others, keeping them from entering the Gate of Heaven. Make no mistake. The miracle of Jonah that Jesus had said would happen, happened (Matthew 12:38-41) despite the fact that the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by the Third Day (Matthew 18: 33-34).

Spoiler! The Third Day is the Day God spoke and thereby breathed life into the trees and other plants (Genesis 1:11). On the SIXTH day, God spoke and breathed life into Man.

Conversion to Christ Changes Lives