GOSPEL 6:1-17
Jesus Scandalizes the Clergy
JESUS SCANDALIZES THE CLERGY
6 1And it happened that, when Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other “sinners” came and ate with him and his followers. 2And when the clergy and Pharisees saw this, they asked his followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
3On hearing this, Jesus said, “Stop judging by outward appearances and start judging justly! 4Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in darkness.
5Listen. We are those who have died to ‘Sin’; how can we live in it any longer? 6For, having died to what once bound us, we have been released from religious Rules. We are bound now not to the old way of Holy Books, but to the new way of Spirit.
7Condemnation is over. For the law of the Spirit of Life sets you free from the law of ‘Sin.’ 8The mind governed by Rules is death; but the mind governed by Spirit is life and peace.
9For God is love! And I am convinced that neither death nor life, present nor future, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, is able to separate us from the love of God.
10Woe to you, then, clergy, Pharisees—you hypocrites! You travel the world to proseletyze; and when you finally succeed in converting someone, you only make them twice as much a fool as you are!
11You shut the door of the kingdom of peace in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, but neither will you let those trying to enter go in.”
12On hearing his words, some at the gathering said, “Surely this man is a prophet!” Others said, “He is the Messiah!” 13But the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
***
14Soon thereafter, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 15When morning came, he called his followers to him and chose twelve of them, whom he designated disciples: 16Simon (whom he called ‘Peter’), his brother Andrew, Matthew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called ‘the Zealot’), Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who would become a traitor).
17And he continued traveling throughout Galilee, speaking.
JESUS SCANDALIZES THE CLERGY
6 1Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῦ ἀνακειμένου ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, καὶ ἰδοὺ πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐλθόντες συνανέκειντο τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς συνόντι αὐτοῦ. 2καὶ ἰδόντες οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον τοῖς συνόντι αὐτοῦ· Διὰ τί μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει ὁ διδάσκαλος ὑμῶν;
3Ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας εἶπεν· Μὴ κρίνετε κατ’ ὄψιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν δικαίαν κρίσιν κρίνετε. 4ὁ λέγων ἐν τῷ φωτὶ εἶναι καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισῶν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν ἕως ἄρτι.
5Ἰδοὺ· οἵτινες ἀπεθάνομεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, πῶς ἔτι ζήσομεν ἐν αὐτῇ; 6νυνὶ δὲ κατηργήθημεν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἀποθανόντες ἐν ᾧ κατειχόμεθα, ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος.
7οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα. ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἠλευθέρωσέν σε ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τῆς ἁμαρτίας. 8τὸ γὰρ φρόνημα τοῦ νόμου θάνατος, τὸ δὲ φρόνημα τοῦ πνεύματος ζωὴ καὶ εἰρήνη·
9Ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν. καὶ πέπεισμαι ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος οὔτε ζωὴ οὔτε ἐνεστῶτα οὔτε μέλλοντα οὔτε ὕψωμα οὔτε βάθος οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ.
10Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι περιάγετε τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν ποιῆσαι ἕνα προσήλυτον, καὶ ὅταν γένηται ποιεῖτε αὐτὸν βλάκα διπλότερον ὑμῶν.
11Κλείετε τὴν βασιλείαν τῆς εἰρήνης ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὑμεῖς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε οὐδὲ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἀφίετε εἰσελθεῖν.
12Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου οὖν ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων τούτων ἔλεγον· Οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης· ἄλλοι ἔλεγον· Ὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός· 13ἀλλὰ πορευθέντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συμβούλιον ἔλαβον ὅπως αὐτὸν παγιδεύσωσιν ἐν λόγῳ.
14Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις ἐξελθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ ὄρος προσεύξασθαι, καὶ ἦν διανυκτερεύων ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ. 15καὶ ὅτε ἐγένετο ἡμέρα, προσεφώνησεν τοὺς συνόντα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκλεξάμενος ἀπ’ αὐτῶν δώδεκα, οὓς καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς ὠνόμασεν· 16Σίμωνα ὃν καὶ ὠνόμασεν Πέτρον, καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Μαθθαῖον καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ Βαρθολομαῖον καὶ Θωμᾶν καὶ Ἰάκωβον Ἁλφαίου καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν καλούμενον ζηλωτὴν καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰσκαριώθ, ὃς ἐγένετο προδότης.
17Καὶ ἦλθεν κηρύσσων εἰς ὅλην τὴν Γαλιλαίαν.
I upgraded my subscription to your Substack so now I can share poems in response to these gospel summaries.
Messy Messiah
I believe in the messy messiah,
who went to great lengths
to mock the idea
of being a king,
who took his time
caressing his disciples’ feet
and cuddled with them
at the last supper,
who let loose women
put their hands all over him
before humiliating the Bible
teachers who took offense,
who interrupted the
sanctity of worship
if anyone in the room
needed healing,
who preferred horsing
around with children
to all the orthodoxy posturing
of the Bible teachers,
who ravaged the tables
of the money changers
and was not afraid to use
a whip when necessary,
who constantly played
and told weird stories
that no theologian has
ever explained conclusively,
who made the very same
type of people who think
they own him today angry
enough to crucify him,
which is why they keep
doing it every time he
comes back as the same
trickster he’s always been.