Linda Vogt Turner

If like many people, you struggle with The Emmaus Story and wonder who the heck is Cle opas? You’re not alone.

Most people just shrug their shoulders and zero in on the fact that Jesus appears after the Resurrection to a couple making their way home from the vicinity of the Cave where they have heard the body of Jesus is buried. The man’s name is Cleopas. So, one can assume they are a couple. They are discouraged because they had hoped Jesus of Nazareth would be the one to redeem Israel.

They’ve heard reports from their friends abroad. The Tomb is empty. Imagine.  How would you feel, if you had been invited to a dinner party, and when you arrive people tell you? “Don’t bother. Nobody is home.”

As the couple makes the day’s journey home, Jesus comes and walks along with them. As they talk with Jesus, they are kept from recognizing him. Something holds them back. Perhaps they are afraid for Jesus.

However, Jesus says they’re being foolish.

Jesus tells them, they need to believe all that the prophets and Moses have told them. The things that happened concerning the Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection happened according to the prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus (Luke 24:27).

Here’s a recap.

Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to the Cross (Acts 2:22) and the notorious resistance fighter Jesus Barabbas (the son of the Father) was released from prison (Matthew 27:17).

The Cross is a Tree and this Tree caused a scandal. (Rom. 9:33; Gal. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:8). This Tree like the Burning Bush spoke. This Tree said. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”(Luke 23:46; Psalm 31:5). The Father redeems the Tree. He is her rock and her redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

The Bible is filled with God stories where donkey’s talk (Number 2:28) and trees walk (Mark 8:24). Authors write and wrote The Emmaus Story and The Gospel stories so that people will believe Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God (John 20:31).

The Emmaus Story clues Christians in. The Scriptures need to be unlocked.

Christians should take the new command Jesus gave the disciples, seriously. It is one of the keys to understanding who Jesus is. Jesus told the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28: 18-20).

When Jesus the Son of God appears to Simon just after the mystery of the Scriptures is unlocked, the disciples exclaim, “the Lord is Risen indeed!” (Luke 24:34)

OPA!

Imagine the couple’s shock and surprise when they finally get it, when the Truth of what has happened sinks into their hearts. They are eternal. They have lived from the beginning of time.

All that happens to the Emmaus Couple and Jesus the Teacher, happens to give people hope. People die and suffer many losses and illnesses. But Love is stronger than the grave. It has the power to reunite people with their loves ones and their neighbours.  For nothing, not even 2 millennia can separate us from the Love of God.

The couple making their way home are the Key to understanding the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus the Teacher is not complete until Jesus the Bridegroom realizes he is the Clé and his Bride is the Teacher’s Opa, his oops!

The Teacher’s oops, his affair with the Woman of Luke 7:35, is no ordinary oops. It is an OPA and it is part of the prophecy.  It should be celebrated and remembered. Jesus of Nazareth is not perfect either. He needs to trust that Jesus the Teacher is a prophet who knows the Law, the Teachers of the Law, and idolatry have made the Woman a sinner (Luke 7:35;39; Psalm 31:6).

Jesus of Nazareth needs to trust what he hears, what his eyes and his heart are telling him! People are not crazy.  He died.  Some of his women pals saw  how his life as a single ordinary person ended the moment they saw him light up in the Tree’s presence and how she lit up in his.  He is the KEY and he has the Kleio safely in his pas, his all! (See  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clio).

Jesus of Nazareth is the Simon, the listening one and the one who judges correctly (Luke 7:43) who refused to believe he is God. He does not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped (Philippians 2:6).

Yet the Nazarene’s followers insist. He is the Key of David (Revelation 3:7). He is the Eternal Father (Isaiah 9:6) who rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

The Eternal Father is the first person of the Trinity. As stated in the first four sentences of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus Christ reveals the mystical triune nature of God (John 1: 1-4).

Jesus is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—three persons tied together for all eternity by the linen scrolls of their faith and their love for each other and all Creation.

Once Cleopas and his red-haired Bride realize who Jesus is…that Jesus is themselves talking face to face and breaking bread with the notorious Jesus Barabbas and his beloved who excels in grace giving, Jesus vanishes. Jesus becomes a cipher, a secret code that requires a Clé and an O PA!

This past Sunday I participated in a discussion group. The leader asked. “Do you believe the death and resurrection of Jesus actually happened?”

The consensus within the group was yes. If one can’t believe the death and resurrection, what point is there in being a Christian?

I suggested that the death and resurrection were symbolic. I used a story from my book The Ecumenical Affair, to illustrate how God spoke to Moses through a burning bush.

I recounted the story of how the Woman defended the idea that the bush was not an actual bush to two prominent visitors attending the 6^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.  At Noon that day, the Greek a prominent Greek philosopher and member of the Ecumenical Patriarchal Staff had invited the Woman to dine with him that evening. Also, invited to the Greek’s table that evening was his friend, a Roman Catholic father from the Vatican Staff.

The Father asked the Woman. What do you think of all those protestors denouncing this Assembly?

The Woman replied. “Oh, they’re just a bunch of Pentecostals who take the Bible literally.”

The Father says. “What do you mean? I take the Bible literally.”

The Woman says. “They don’t see the metaphors…take the burning bush for instance. Do you honestly believe that Moses actually saw and spoke to a burning bush?”

The Father replies. “Yes, if Moses said he spoke with a burning bush, I believe him.”

The more the Woman protested and offered examples of metaphors, the more excited she got. When she finally said. “A bush could be a sage…”

A Woman in Sunday’s group interjected. “What has a sage got to do with the burning bush?”

I replied, “A sage is a small bush and it is also a wise person and as I, the Woman of the story made this point, the two men suddenly started to speak rapidly and excitedly in Greek.”

The interjector continued.  “What has that got to do with a burning bush?”

I replied. “As the three of us discussed whether or not Moses actually heard God’s voice calling his name as he spoke with the burning bush, the burning bush leapt right out of the pages of scripture and appeared to me. The three persons on fire for their faith were that bush, a meta metaphor—not merely a metaphor, something more.”

The group looked skeptical.

Another offered. “I think Moses saw an actual bush with the sunlight coming down in such a way as to make it look like it was actually on fire.”

The Leader then asked. “What do others think. Was the death and resurrection meta metaphorical?”

One by one, people insisted the death and resurrection had to be more than a metaphor. It had to have happened because people have been believing for 2000 years.

People talked about near death experiences.  I mentioned that my late husband, their former minister, explained the resurrection of the Risen Christ as a spiritual one as opposed to a physical, bodily resurrection.

I said. “My late husband and I argued about this point often. I always took the stance that the resurrection had to be a physical one because Thomas demanded proof. He wanted to touch Jesus and put his fingers in the nail prints and his hand in his wounded side.”

The discussion continued with people remembering times when loved ones had died or nearly died.  The group’s experience with death was not one of fear. They felt at peace with death because of the Gospel testimony and the two-thousand-year Christian belief that God raised Jesus from the dead.

I went home thinking. “This is not good enough. Christians need to probe the enigma, the mystery, of who Jesus is and how and why Jesus the Nazarene died. The Apostle Paul is adamant. We have been crucified with Christ and we shall rise with him (Romans 6:6). More importantly, Paul says God raised Jesus from the dead so that God’s children may be knit together in love, “comforted with the full assurance of understanding, that they may acknowledge the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Colossians 2:2 KJV).

 So, on Monday I started to write this blog. I started with Sunday’s Gospel reading: John 20:19-29.

In this reading, Jesus breathes on the disciples and says. “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Thomas also known as the Twin says to the disciples. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later … Jesus stands among them and says, “Peace be with you!”  Then he says to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas says to him, My Lord and my God!”

I asked myself. Why? Why would Thomas, also known as the Twin need proof?

So, I turned to the alternate reading for Sunday. It came from the Book of Acts 2:14a, 22-32 

Here is what I was looking for. In this passage, Peter stands up, raises his voice and confirms the resurrection. He says. “Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him…He was handed over by God’s set plan … and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. ”

 The Rock stands up! Think about this. The Rock full of faith and personal conviction tells the disciples that Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a cross and put to death with the help of the disciples and lawless people.

Think about the Cross.

Is the Cross a stake that the Romans used to kill and exterminate lawless people?  For many people, it is.  For many Christians it is a tree, a symbol of God’s Love for all eternity?

Suddenly I saw something I had not considered before. Jesus is the voice Moses heard when he heard God speaking to him in a burning bush. Jesus is also the fruitful vine wedded to the Father (Psalm 128; John 15:1) Yes of course. Jesus is The Tree!  Jesus is also the Nazarene, the rejected Rock (Acts 4:11) from Galilee who denied knowing Jesus (Luke 22:56).

Of Course. The Rock, Simon Peter is Jesus the Nazarene “the Rock” of our Salvation and he is the Father, the Husbandman, who carried the Cross, the Tree, and was nailed to it (Mark 15:21)!

According to Scripture, death is not something to be feared. God raised Jesus the Nazarene up to show people that death and sin cannot hold people. When Jesus accepted the Cross, he vanquished sin and death. He put the joys and sorrows of his old life and the mistakes of the past behind him. Going forward, he committed himself to living by the righteousness of faith in God’s promises (Romans 4:13).

So how and where does Thomas the Twin fit into this scenario? He demands proof that the resurrection happened. Why?

Early before the Resurrection is clearly happening, Mary Magdalene visits the Garden where Jesus has been placed. It’s a place where there are many tombs. She’s grieving. She’s looking for her lord. She supposes that the Rabboni might be the Gardener, the Husbandman of Psalm 128 that her soul longs for (John 20:15).

The Rabboni makes it clear to the Woman that he is not the Father, the Husbandman.  So, people should be asking, Why, does the Rabboni say he needs to ascend to the Father? This may seem trivial.

Pay attention. The Rabboni is the Messiah, the Christ, the Woman of Luke 7 anointed in front of Simon. Yes, that’s right. There are two male Messiah and one female one. That is why the Rabboni, is also called the Twin. He wants to appear to Simon the Father of the Law.

Stay with me. There is a Biblical rationale.

Thinking about Moses and the Burning Bush. I suddenly saw Thomas as the twin brother of Jesus. I also saw the Rabboni as the resurrected dead and buried Moses.  As Moses heard the Burning Bush calling his name, so too has the Rabboni heard his name being called by the Tree. The Rabboni knows he and the Lord have bitterly treated and cursed her. This is why he calls her Mary. Standing before him in tears, she is asking him to covenant with her to free the Jews and the Gentiles from the bondage imposed upon them by the Pharisees, the Fathers of the Oral Tradition and the Law of Moses that makes everyone a sinner.

Knowing and accepting that Jesus of Nazareth is also known as Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7: 36 -50) and also Simon the Cyrene (Mark 15:21) and also Simon Peter, one can begin to understand why Jesus the Rabboni also known as the Twin demands proof.

The Rabboni is the one the Woman of Luke 7 anointed as the Christ and he wants to see Simon, face to face. Simon is the Pharisee—the Father of both the Oral Tradition and the Law. The Rabboni wants to see Simon attached and fully committed to the love and support of the Tree he and Simon bitterly cursed by calling her, the Woman who loves much—a sinner (Luke 7: 36-50). She is the Burning Bush. She is Wisdom (Luke 7:35), and She is justified by the faith of all her children (Luke 7:35). Her children and his need to know her love and faith in the Father, her Rock and theirs is eternal.

Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Full of remorse for having caused the Master Teacher any shame, Judas hangs herself on the tree. Wait did I just say herself?

Jesus the Master Teacher of Israel is the co-respondent of the Woman Trapped in Adultery.  The only way this Woman can go and sin no more is to blow the whistle on Jesus and let the authorities know he is the Man laid down on her, under the cover of darkness.

Not only is the Woman the one he laid down on, she is a Teacher in her own right.  As does the donkey in the Balaam story, she is faithful and serves God out of the goodness of her own heart. She gives her faith and loves generously. In return the Fathers of the faith flog her as a prostitute, a thief and a dog, someone who gleaned scraps from the Master’s table.

Scripture says that Judas had a purse and would dip into it and take money that [s]he and others felt should have been given to the poor.

John 12: 5-7 reads. Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 Judas did not say this because [s]he cared about the poor, but because [s]he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, [s]he used to take from what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “She was intended to keep this perfume to prepare for the day of My burial.…

Judas, as women and people have always done, who manage the household finances take funds that are not theirs alone and buy things for the household and for personal things like perfume for themselves or for the people in their lives they wish to honour with a gift.

Could not Judas, the person from Judea, have been criticizing herself and the system of charity? Selling all one’s personal right to property and giving all the money to the poor is not good stewardship. Moreover, seeking justice requires that one care more about justice than the poor.

Caring about, the poor by selling off one’s personal property to give charity to the poor, cheats the poor and turns the rich person into a thief. It robs the poor of the opportunity to develop their own resources and talents and to hire their service to others. It makes poor people.

The name Judas means God is praised! Spilling her guts and confessing who the Man was with whom she a Mary, a bitterly treated woman and a Red-haired Woman at the tomb of Lazarus in Judea–God is praised.  Scripture says, Satan entered Judas. So many people like to think the worst. Yet, they should remember, Matthew 16:23 says Simon Peter is Satan!

Bible Authorities and editors insert commas into the text to separate out the Marys and the Simons, giving one the impression that all the Marys and Simons are different people.  Do not be deceived. Put the Marys together. See my Master of Arts thesis project http://www.lindavogtturner.ca/papers.html . Then put the Simons together as the ROCK: Simon the Zealot, Simon the Pharisee, Simon the Leper, Simon the Iscariot, Simon son of John, and Simon the Cyrene.

Easter Sunday…Peter enters the tomb and so does Mary and Martha, the beloved of the Teacher. Let the story unfold and the Truth dawn.  Dry Mary’s tears. Christ has risen! Show her your faith! Let Simon Peter embrace her as his bride at Bethany with Martha’s and the Rabboni’s  blessing and Joy.

On Palm Sunday, my church was full of people shouting:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

⁵ “Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The key point here is…who is this? Who is He? Who is the Lord? Who is the King? Is he a King like Solomon or Alexander?

The King in Matthew rides in as the Master Teacher of Israel…bringing victory to the people! WAIT this Master and this victory rides on a donkey and a donkey’s colt.

Every Palm Sunday the Minister in charge of the parade tells the crowd, Jesus is not like the legendary King Alexander who personifies the Greek God Apollo and rides into conquered cities on a great stallion. This King rides into Jerusalem on a donkey to show his humility, his desire for justice and peace.

People shouting Hosanna, hosanna in the highest should know who the Don is who comes with the Dona in support of the Master Teacher of Israel? They should clue in simply by asking Don qui or Don qi? Some do. But many people do not. Verbal coincidences are for little children.

Today, over two thousand years later, many people protesting over the occupation and settlement of Jerusalem and the politics of the Middle East are a conquered people living in a land occupied by people of other faiths and traditions who have also been conquered. They have forgotten who Moses, Joshua and Hanna are. Many do not even care.  Furthermore, many have forgotten that the Hebrew word for LORD is Adonai, the plural of adon, lord. Many more have forgotten how Son in Patriarchal cultures is the plural of sons, children.

Some people may know or remember Baal is another Hebrew word for lord and some may remember the folk story of Balaam and the Talking Donkey. This story appears in Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible, in chapter 25:22-35. The fourth book of the Bible is part of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions.

In this story, God opens the Donkey’s mouth, and she argues with Balaam. As Jesus did in the Nicodemus story, the Donkey tells Balaam that he needs to rethink his Master position. Just because Balaam laid down and she laid down under him, he need not think she has abused him. She has never struck him with a stick!  Nonetheless, Balaam feels she has betrayed and humiliated him. So, he plans to curse her and sever his relationship with the Donkey in fable fashion. He takes out his sword intending to kill the Donkey—end their relationship. The Donkey should be pleased to be rid of such a hard Master, except like all servants whose services are terminated, the Donkey’s reputation would be ruined and she and her people would be cursed.

This causes the Angel of the Lord to speak up. He declares himself Balaam’s adversary, his foe. He is not happy with how Balaam has struck the Donkey three times with his staff. Nor is he willing to get behind Balaam’s plans to sever his relationship with this faithful little female donkey.

What a story! In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 16:23, Peter shows himself as a worthy adversary. He’s not happy with the Lord’s crucifixion plans. Jesus like the little colt stubbornly clings to the prophecy of Zechariah and says to Peter. “Get behind me Satan.”

As people, all over the world now know, the crucifixion story unfolds on Good Friday. People wonder why it is Good Friday? Mel Gibson and other cinematographers depict the crucifixion as real and as horrific as possible. By doing so Gibson and others overwhelm their audiences with the violence of a cruel ruling class.  Gibson holds up a mirror to western society. Has anything changed?  Modern audiences like people down through the ages who are outside the story imagine and think the worst of those trying to nail Jesus down and get Jesus to tell people once and for all who He coming in the name of the Lord is?

The crux of the matter is a matter of faith. If the multitude has to ask. Who is this? The chief priests and teachers have a major problem. They need to remind their congregations of this story. People need to have faith in the Donkey and the Colt, the Little Donkey. Many may think it preposterous and blasphemous to believe she can talk, let alone that she laid down under the Master Teacher of Israel under the cover of darkness.

If more people believe the Little Donkey’s relationship with the Master and the Donkey is a blessing that will bring peace to Jerusalem, peace will come.

For many, the Talking Little Donkey is just a fable. It has lost its relevance in a modern world. Many would rather cheer and believe in a vision of a political leader, leading a non-violent protest march—riding into Jerusalem in a borrowed or stolen Volkswagen bus, with a Volkswagen bug bringing up the rear.

Watch the story unfold on Good Friday. Don’t get overwhelmed by the details of the story. Feel the passion. See Jesus, the Nazarene and the King of Israel. See how they wrestle with the question. Who is this? Who is He who comes in the name of the Lord? Feel their pain as they struggle to believe that their relationship is the fulfillment of prophecy—a great blessing—not a curse.

See how Pilate offers the crowd a choice: Jesus Barabbas (the son of the Father) or Jesus the one also called called Christ (Matthew 27:17)? As the story goes in Matthew the crowd chose to release Jesus Barabbas, an insurrectionist who was trained to kill. Pilate then instructs the soldiers to flog and cloak Jesus the one also called Christ, in scarlet. Then as they lead this Jesus called Christ out to the place of the skull to die with the cursed, they meet a man from Cyrene, named Simon, coming in from the countryside. They force him to carry the Cross (Matthew 27:32). Mark’s Gospel tells the story slightly differently. It says Simon the Cyrene, the Father of Alexander and the one called Red was forced to carry the Cross (Mark 15:21).

Who is this Father who comes up from the wilderness? If you don’t know, watch for next week’s blog.

This past Sunday, April 2, was the 5^th Sunday of Lent. The Scripture reading was Ezekiel 27:1-10 and John 11: selected verses. The Sermon Title was “Breath and Bones.” The opening hymn was “As Comes the Breath of Spring”.

Sunday’s texts  remind people that with the wind and rain of Spring, a valley comes to life, trees blossom and people’s faith in the continuity of life is renewed.  The Hebrew text is the elder of the two texts.  Ezekiel’s prophetic vision of the Valley of Dry Bones precedes the Gospel text by six centuries. It fathers the Lazarus story and last century’s Negro Spiritual “Dem Bones” which reminds people to hear the Word of the Lord.

Ezekiel prophesied that one day the divided and scattered nation of Israel would one day be reconnected and unified. This was not as easy as “Dem Bones” suggests. The Hebrew people of Judah and Ephraim and Samaria were divided among themselves and Judah and Ephraim mistrusted and held bitter resentment toward “the other” and the Greek and Roman culture that had conquered, enslaved them and sent their leaders into exile. (See Mathew Henry’s Commentary on Ezekiel 37).

The minister on Sunday suggested that all that was needed to resuscitate a valley of dry bones and get them moving together again as one was the breath of God. Then he suggested that the people themselves should huff and puff and make a mighty wind.

Sitting in the pew, I thought. “If the people start huffing and puffing without listening to the Word of the Lord they’ll create a dust storm and the skull will get buried. How then will the skull and the bones of his body ever be found and connected together?”

Sitting down at my desk this week, I asked myself. “Is Lazarus the divided and broken body of Israel?” Is “he the skull that artists depict with Mary Magdalene?” And if he is the skull, is he then the Jewish Messiah? As this thought entered my head,  the passage from John 3:28-29 popped in. In that passage, John says. “I’m not the Christos, the Greek Messiah, but have been sent ahead of him. The bride belongs to the bridegroom.”

Digging deeper into the story of Lazarus buried in the sacred texts of John’s Gospel, one can see how the joy of seeing the Greek Messiah, the Christos, may have blinded people and killed the idea of a Hebrew Messiah. When Jesus claiming to be the Light of the World opens the blind man’s eyes, Mary and Martha become aware of this. They send for the Christos, because they realize their brother Lazarus is the Hebrew Messiah—the Bridegroom—who has has sickened and died. Mary is in tears.

Upon the Christos’ arrival, Martha met him outside and said, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her. “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered. “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her. “I am the resurrection and the life. He wo believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Yes Lord.” She told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

In the Lazarus story, the Messianic Bridegroom, who proceeds the Greek Messiah is dead. By telling readers Lazarus has been dead for 4 days, readers familiar with seeing dead bodies hastily buried in war torn places can easily imagine what a corpse would look like after 4 days. It would have turned black and as Martha says, “Lord by this time he stinketh.”

Martha’s Lord is not worried. He has told his disciples that Lazarus is merely sleeping. He says that this sickness that has come over Lazarus will not end in death.

He admits that Lazarus is dead and says to his close disciples. “And for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go there. And to the rest of the disciples he the Twin adds, “Let us also go that we may die with him.”

Is this a story about faith? Has Lazarus the Father of the Jewish family lost his breath? Is this how he died? Has the Patriarchal Word of God bound his head and body up in scrolls made of linen cloths so tightly that he can no longer breathe, let alone sing and dance?

In Patriarchal culture, the men are the head of the family and the women are the necks. This sounds very sexist today. Patriarchal tradition may try to convince people it is not, saying it is the neck that holds, cradles and turns the head.

But, in the story of Lazarus, it is Mary who goes with the Christos to the place where Lazarus has been buried and it is Jesus Mary, not the Christos who weeps!  It is this Jesus who loves Lazarus. She is the Bride who has the Bridegroom. Make no mistake! She has a head with eyes that see and weep.

Patriarchal language and the dictates of grammar make it nearly impossible to see the Bride as Jesus the Woman who loved Lazarus. In addition, the mud she made with the spit of her own mouth that opened the eyes of the blind man has caused a stink. For the Jews gathered there say, “See how [Jesus] loved him!”  Could not [the Jesus person] who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

As Martha has foretold. Lazarus is a stinker. He is dead. His body is stiff and he is no longer responsive. He can no longer breathe or talk, let alone sing and dance and show his sexual desire for his eternal beloved bride.

The people gathered to witness the raising of Lazarus are stinking mad. They remember the mud. The mud has sullied Lazarus’ bride in their eyes. Surely there was no need to tell people about her carnal affair with the Christos? Surely it must be this truth that has angered and embarrassed Lazarus and caused him and his love for her to wither and die. Moreover, the gathered people have lost faith in her. They think had she remained true to the faith of the Law of Moses, she would not have sinned.

So, Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they [Mary, Martha and the Christos] took away the stone.” They revealed their faith in Lazarus as the living eternal stone and Messianic High Priest who “hears the Word of God” (Hebrew 4:14-16). Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

Today, Christians are scattered all over the world and many of them are angry at all the injustices they see in the world. They believe Jesus calls them out as Jesus called Lazarus out and sends them out into the world as they mistakenly believe God sent Jesus out to “change” the world and to condemn the world for its racism, sexism, hedonism, and its idolatrous and tyrannical politics.

The Minister on Sunday din not openly challenge that belief. Rather he concluded the sermon by reminding the congregation that people die and just like Lazarus they get buried. Some get resuscitated only to die with the rest of their generation.

So as people were wondering where their hope lay? The Minister pointed to the cherry blossoms and said. “Go and see the cherry blossoms and enjoy the beauty of the tree.” Quite frankly the Minister’s vision of cherry blossoms left me a bit puzzled. I thought to myself. “how can a blossoming tree arouse people’s hearts and minds?”

The Minister then closed with the words of Paul, saying how nothing can separate us from the Love of God who is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8: 31-39).

Today as these words reclaim my heart and mind I remember. The Cross is a beautiful tree that blossoms. The Cross gives Martha and people of faith Jesus The Nazarene The King of the Jews. The Cross is a beautiful fruit bearing tree that blossoms and gives the Jews and Gentiles who love her and show their faith in her eternal life.

A philosopher from the philosophic tradition of Timaeus has exhausted all his savings. He sits outside his home near the street leading to the Academy where he spent his life teaching and philosophizing on the Cosmos and the meaning of life.  The once renowned Teacher, has little if any income and no money to travel. He’s begging and longing for the chance to see the Light with his very own eyes before he dies.

You may not think of Bartimaeus as a philosopher, a teacher and theologian because Biblical tradition describes him as a man who was born blind. However, Biblical tradition also says that the word bar means son of.  So, any person schooled in the philosophy of Plato and famous for the platonic tradition of symphilosophein, philosophizing together, would very likely be a son or a follower of Plato and his Socratic dialogue named Timaeus.

As the story goes in John’s Gospel Jesus claims to be “The light of the world,” and promises that “Whoever follows this Light will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life“ (John 8:12).

As I mentioned, Biblical tradition describes Bartimaeus as being blind from birth (Mark 10:46; John 9: 1-41).  Bartimaeus can only see darkly and only with the aid of a mirror. He wants to sit down and have a conversation with Jesus “face to face” because he wants to set aside his childish way of seeing. He wants to see fully and be fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12-13).

Seeing fully is one thing. Allowing others to know oneself fully is another.

When Jesus overhears, the disciples asking, “Who sinned, this man or his parents and caused his blindness,” Jesus decides to do something to set the record straight.  Jesus spits on the ground and mixes this saliva water into conversations about the soil. This makes mud, smut. Using this smut, Jesus flings it in Bartimaeus’ face and rubs it into his eyes.

Imagine Bartimaues’ thoughts, how he felt with this smut clinging to his face.  Having flung this smutty material at a poor man living at the mercy of his reputation, Jesus then tells Bartimaeus to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. The Gospel of John says the word Siloam means Sent.

According to Wikipedia, The Pool of Siloam is a rock cut pool on the southern slope of the Old City of Jerusalem, the City of David.

Yet, let us assume Jesus is telling Bartimaeus to go wash in the pool of water that has welled up from the Rock that has sent Jesus to Bartimaeus.

You will recall that the Sunday before last, the Hebrew Testament reading came from Exodus 17: 1-7. This was the story of how Moses struck the Rock and brought forth a pool of water on Mount Horeb.  Granted this pool was not named Siloam, nor was it located in the Old City of Jerusalem. But it should give you the idea that the Rock lifts up and sustains God. For God stands on this Rock and trusts this Rock to provide the children of Israel with their salvation, potable safe drinking water, to quench their thirst and water their crops and livestock (Exodus 17:6; Psalm 95:1).

The week before, the reading was about Nicodemus. Nicodemus was the Teacher of Israel and a council member who visited with Jesus under the cloak of darkness. Thus, the Sunday before last’s reading should not have been a surprise. One should not have been surprised to hear a story from the Hebrew Testament that recounts how Moses struck the Rock on Mount Horeb. Nor should one have been surprised to hear how the Gospel story recounts how a teacher of Israel came out in broad daylight to speak with a woman at a well. He told the Woman that the water he would give her would become in her a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Moreover, he says, I speaking with you am He, the Messiah they call Christ.  Believing he speaking with her was the Messiah called Christ, the Woman left her Kanata (pronounced Canada) behind, believing this Teacher would give her this water.

Now with this week’s Lenten reading we encounter a blind man. Let us assume he is Bartimaeus, the blind man from the synoptic Gospels. Let us also assume he is a teacher schooled in Greek philosophy and Hebrew prophecy waiting for the Light of Jesus to come and open his eyes and those of the prophet who Sent Jesus.

Onlookers see the Light spitting and flinging mud into the Teacher’s eyes made by the water that has sprung forth from the Light’s very own mouth. One may be a little confused because last week’s story may have left you thinking the male teacher was the one and only one called Jesus.

this past Sunday’s Gospel lesson says the man is blind. Sin has not caused his blindness. Yet sin is in the world and the teachers of the Law know he and everyone has sinned according to the Law of Moses. For one thing, this healing takes place on the Sabbath and according to the Sabbath Law, everyone must rest and abstain from any type of work on the Sabbath (John 9:14).

So, assume the blind man is the Teacher who went to see Jesus under the cover of darkness.  For the Teacher who went to see Jesus at night, knows people need to be born again and is willing to let the Light of the World open the World’s eyes starting with him.  Many teachers would not be so willing or so humble. They would be tempted to stay blind and in the dark with their cloaks on. Having mud on one’s face is humbling. It would matter little to teachers who have given up on the messianic prophecy that the mud Jesus made and their subsequent washing are necessary for them to be born again.

When the Teacher’s neighbours find out what the Light has done, they ask the Teacher. “Where is this man? And then he says, “I don’t know.”

Why does he say, “I don’t know?” Is he lying? Or is he making an allusion to the Son of Man who has nowhere to rest?

Could this Teacher be the man that Jesus was talking about back in John 3:1-17.  Is the man with mud on his face the one who fell or came from heaven? Is the muddied man the one who needs to be lifted up in the same way Moses lifted up the copper-headed snake in the desert? Are you confused about who Jesus is?

Confused about who Jesus is and why Jesus healed the Teacher by flinging mud at him, the Pharisees judge and throw the Teacher out and say. “You were steeped in sin at birth, how dare you lecture us” (John 9:34).

Having heard that the Teacher has been thrown out, Jesus says to the Teacher. “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Instead of answering directly, The Teacher like the Rabboni he is, responds to Jesus with a question. He asks. Who is he, …tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus then replies “he is the one speaking with you.”

To sit down with the Son of Man “face to face” one must humble oneself and let Jesus put the mud that opened Bartimaeus’ eyes on one’s own eyes and throw off one’s cloak.  One also needs to know the noble name of the prophetic rock who sends Jesus out and whose water not only removes the mud from Bartimaeus’ eyes, but brings the issue of redeeming this black rock to the disciple’s attention. Some want to keep this rock buried, thinking he is unclean and a false prophet. Others want to lift this rock up and sing his praises. For they believe God is depending on this black rock’s ability to generate clean energy to bring water and light to the nations.

This past Sunday was the third Sunday of Lent, the Sermon Title was “Beyond Labels.” The Psalm was 95: 1-5 and the Scripture reading was Exodus 17:1-7 and John 4:1-19.

Labels and Titles are handy when one needs to sort things out. Labels are not so great when they’re used to sort some people into categories like slut, homo or gay, liar, cheat or traitor to distinguish them from righteous people, people who adhere to the Law, have a high regard for the Truth and a keen sense of Justice.

My home church has a long history of seeking social justice. It’s an affirming congregation. We have two lead ministers. One is openly gay and married. The other is straight and married.  So, this past Sunday’s sermon piqued my curiosity. I asked myself. “What is our straight minister getting at?”

In his sermon, the Minister simply reiterated the traditional version of Jesus’ encounter at the Well of Sa Maria. The way the story is traditionally told, one thinks of the Woman who went to draw water at the well in Sa Maria as some kind of social outcast because according to traditional teaching, respectable women, women with the right titles come to draw water in the cool of the morning. They don’t come at Noon as this Woman did.

Back in the day at a little church I attended when I was a new mom not yet 30, people said the Woman of Sa Maria was a slut. I protested saying just because the Woman had had five husbands and the man she is currently with (in the story) is not her husband does not make her a slut. I argued the 5 husbands could have been the 5 books of Moses and the Man she was currently with could have been Jesus.

The more I protested and tried to convince the then male Minister and the other women in the Bible Study, the more they scolded me, silenced me and told me to read the commentaries of trained theologians.

As last Sunday’s Sermon unfolded, the Minister praised Jesus for his theological and deep metaphorical thinking and contrasted it to the Woman’s thinking as if she was an unschooled homemaker incapable of conversing with a renowned Teacher with many disciples (schooled in Latin, Hebrew and Greek) at a deep philosophical, theological and spiritual level.

My mind leaped to another story, the Minster told that morning. It was a story about a man needing an operation during the middle ages.

The man was an unkempt man of no apparent means. So, the operating physicians thinking this unkempt man was uneducated spoke freely to one another in Latin, the language of their profession. They thought he was a loser, someone who didn’t have a chance of living and someone who did not deserve their attention.

To their surprise, the unkempt man responded to what the physicians had said by quoting the well-known Christian scripture verse “whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do for me”—in Latin.

This past Sunday’s sermon like so many others cues the listener to pay attention to the Woman’s response. She runs off to tell people about this prophetic Teacher who she met during the Noon recess of a summer conference.  As she runs off, she leaves her jug behind.

Now if you know a little Greek and know who the man is who was speaking with her that day. You would know that he is familiar to many who have made the trek to the Samaritan Gorge.  You would also know it is essential to carry a jug, a κανάτα (pronounced Canada) to collect spring water along the way.

Today just as it was back in the day, Jesus is the Woman speaking with the Rabboni, the Teacher who speaks Latin, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic and even German. They are calling the people of the jug she left behind when she first rushed off. They are inviting them to sit down with her, the Teacher and his staff in the platonic tradition of symphilosophein to secure peace and eco-justice http://www.oac.gr/en/

Yet, still today many people educated in the best schools think the Woman is a loser, someone not worth their time, someone who has not been formerly trained in theology or philosophy, let alone environmental science. So, they are ignoring her invitation to attend Ecothee 17, an eco-justice symposium. Perhaps, they like the physicians in the Minister’s story have written her and this call off as a lost cause. There are so many credentialed women and just causes needing their time and money.

Rightly so, Jesus is a community of believers who live in love and share the Gospel and their faith in the one the disciples have recognized and called Jesus for 2 thousand years. Teachers and disciples all over the world know Jesus died, rose again and then ascended into the sky to live with God the father. Scripture bears witness to the event. The community of Bethany saw it happen (Luke 24:51).

The notion that Jesus will return at the end history to separate the goats from the sheep and toss weeds and unbelievers into a fiery furnace, an energy system, seems like science fiction (Matthew 13: 24-30). Nobody really believes it will happen.

Yet the Woman inviting people to come see the Samaria Gorge believes the planet can develop a sustainable energy system that includes fossil fuel so that every nation has enough clean energy to shine like the sun and pump life giving water to every city and person. See my paper “Biofuel: Wild Plants Among the Wheat” http://www.lindavogtturner.ca/papers.html Many environmentalists disagree.

Environmental protesters think the only way nations can deliver clean potable water to nations, cities and farming communities is to keep the oil in the soil and to stop mining coal. They mistrust business interests and refuse to trust research and development engineers that promise to develop, use and deliver oil and coal “cleanly.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading Jesus makes a promise to her. He says, “those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

The Hebrew Testament reading this past Sunday came from Exodus 17:1-7. In this passage, people are quarreling with Moses. They are thirsty and badly in need of water. So, Adonai commands Moses to use his staff and strike a certain rock that Adonai stands upon. As Moses obeys the LORD, water gushes forth. Adonai is the plural of the Hebrew word, for “adon,” the Hebrew word for Lord. Exodus is the Greek word for “the way out”.

At the close of Sunday’s Worship.  When many people were making their way out. Those nearby saw the Woman turn to a woman sitting in the pew beside her. Heard her say. “The Greek word for ‘jug’ is Canada.”

The other woman loudly replied. “How can that be? Did the Greeks steal the word from us? It’s an Iroquois name meaning village.

Then another elderly woman on the other side of the Woman, said. “Don’t you know, the Service is not over.”

The Woman apologized and said. “Yes, you’re right. I should have known better. The Postlude is part of the Service. I’m sorry the Spirit caused me to speak.”

With the closing notes of the Postlude, the Woman rose and turned around, for she was sitting in the front row with the two women she spoke to and other members of the Gospel Choir. Looking back, the Woman waived to a local black musician and song writer well known to many in the congregation. He was standing alone, off to the right in the aisle, beside a stone pillar.

Making her way towards him, she bent and spoke to an elderly black woman saying. “Don’s here, I’m going to go say hi.” Then the Woman walked down the aisle on her left to where the local musician stood and planted a kiss gently on his black mouth.

This man can’t be the Rock from which Moses and Jesus draw their water? Can he? (Exodus 17: 6; John 4:14).

The Story of Jesus and Nicodemus (John 3: 1-21) can trap the unsuspecting Christian reader and leave him or her in darkness. It represents the Truth the Church is afraid to proclaim or cannot proclaim because of those who insist Jesus was a celibate “straight” male. Under the cover of darkness, Jesus and the Teacher met alone. The Sunday School or Sunday Club version says the Teacher’s love for Jesus was platonic.

The Sunday School version puts a lid on the story. The Teacher’s love for Jesus is more than platonic and this should be “good news”. This Johannine story is linked to the Rich Person and the “Good” Teacher story of Mark’s Gospel chapter 10:17. Do not let others dissuade you. Believe me. These texts are linked and they are also linked to the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19: 1-10.  Jesus the “good” Teacher and member of the Assembly looks at Jesus with eyes of love and desire and asks to stay, to spend the night with the person people know is a tax collector…a Vogt, a wealthy property owner entitled to collect taxes and rents, an advocate for the Romans (Luke 19:6).

In the public eye, Nicodemus remains stoic and platonic as a teacher and rabbi of the ruling council and Jesus remains male. To suggest that Nicodemus had any sexual desire for a male Jesus would not only be blasphemous, it would be heretical. It would not advance the messianic and Johannine belief that Christ was the one who belongs to the Bridegroom (John 3:29).

The Truth is, alone with Jesus, Israel’s Teacher acts upon his love and desire. Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit responds, supposing Israel’s Teacher is Jesus the Christ. Later Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit confronts the Teacher in the Garden of the Tombs. There the Gordian Knot of confusion disappears. As the Truth dawns, Mary Magdalene’s Image and Relationship to Jesus becomes apparent. Jesus the Rabboni is not her Lord, the Christ the Everlasting Father. He is the Son of David and Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor is the Vogt…the promised Advocate, the bitterly treated and maligned Magdalene accused of blasphemy for saying she was The Light…the Magda Elaine of the World, the ADVOCATE  (John 8:12 and John 15:26).

In the Christian tradition, the 6 weeks leading up to Easter are called the Season of Lent.

The Sunday marked the second Sunday of Lent, the Minister at my home church told the children a story before they left the sanctuary for Sunday Club. This story featured a box. Inside the box was a word that no one was allowed to say or sing during Lent. This being the second Sunday of Lent, the Minister was not going to say the word and asked if anybody thought they knew the word. The Minister of Music embellished the story. Every time the Minister opened the box a crack, the other Minister would make a sound on the organ that reminded people of the word they weren’t supposed to hear or sing in the Church until Easter. This children’s sermon has been told every Lent for the past several years. And so, this year a youngster just couldn’t help but reveal the word.

The Scripture reading for the second Sunday of Lent this year was John 3: 1-17.  The adult sermon reflected the Minister’s interpretation of the story of Nicodemus and Jesus without any allusion to any ardent feelings that Jesus and Nicodemus, the platonic Teacher and Council Member had for each other. Rather, the Minister simply told the story as if Nicodemus was in the dark with the rest of the Council and Jesus’ disciples as to the reorientation his life would take once he openly admitted his love for Jesus.

From the perspective of the Minister, Nicodemus was boxed in like many of us because he didn’t want to upset the balance of power. The Minister projected Jesus as a scruffy fellow, some sort of country bumpkin, alluding to Simon the Cyrene, the man who carried the Cross of Jesus (Mark 15:21).

In his box, the Minister dared not even suggest Jesus was a slender young redhead richly dressed filling Nicodemus’ eyes with desire.

I must admit I was losing my patience with the Minister’s sermon, thinking. “What is wrong. Why can’t people see the Truth?” Nicodemus is the Victory of the people.  He is Jesus the Teacher that comes back at the end of the story to talk with the Red-haired Woman “face to face” in the Garden where the Teacher has a cave, a platonic academy dedicated to peace and eco-justice, situated overlooking two burial grounds.  Then just as my patience was at its thinnest, the Minister tells a story about when he was boy.

As I listened, I was struck by the coincidence of the Minister’s story and the story of Nicodemus.

As a boy, the Minister would run away from his parents and hide under blankets and things. One day he hid in the cedar chest where the blankets were stored. But unbeknownst to him, his elder brother was watching and saw a chance to assert his power. Knowing his brother was in the chest, the elder brother sat on the chest. The more the younger brother tried to push up the lid or reveal his whereabouts, the more he couldn’t. His cries were muffled under the blankets. The more he struggled and the more he tried to make a sound and failed, the more frightened he became. Finally, the elder brother stood up and he was able to open the chest.

With this story told by the Minister standing outside the pulpit, from the middle aisle, a flash of insight came to me. The Rock sealing the Teacher’s tomb, holds the balance of power. Until the scruffy don from the country who carried the Cross of Jesus, stands up bald headed and clean shaven ready to fulfill his role as the Bridegroom and Don (Mark 15:21), the Teacher is trapped in his platonic cave. The Teacher, like the youngster in the Minister’s Lenten story is trapped. He cannot come out and embrace the Light as her brother and be born again. And neither can the Madonna and their followers. They must wait and put their trust in the Lord, their Don. And the Good News is…he rises every EASTER and brings the wine.