Friday, February 26, 2010

Mark 5 -- alone in a crowd

A US military advertising slogan promotes the soldier as "an army of one." Just think, kids! Learn to use our high-tech gadgets, and you can find yourself inside a real-life video game!

The Lonely Crowd was a landmark sociological book a half-century ago. It spoke of people who go through life with nothing inside, who take their cues from those around them.

This chapter has a number of crowd scenes, and individual encounters. For example, the guy with too much internal population:
Mar 5:7 Yüksek sesle haykırarak, "Ey İsa, yüce Tanrı'nın Oğlu, benden ne istiyorsun? Tanrı hakkı için sana yalvarırım, bana işkence etme!" dedi.
Mar 5:8 Çünkü İsa, "Ey kötü ruh, adamın içinden çık!" demişti.
Mar 5:9 Sonra İsa adama, "Adın ne?" diye sordu. "Adım Tümen. Çünkü sayımız çok" dedi.
Then, there was the one lady in a crowd who had a meaningful encounter with Jesus:
Mar 5:27 Kadın, İsa hakkında anlatılanları duymuştu. Bu nedenle, kalabalıkta O'nun arkasından gelip giysisine dokundu.
Mar 5:28 İçinden, "Giysilerine bile dokunsam kurtulurum" diyordu.
Mar 5:29 O anda kanaması kesiliverdi. Kadın, bedeninin derinliğinde acıdan kurtulduğunu hissetti.
Mar 5:30 İsa ise, kendisinden bir gücün akıp gittiğini hemen anladı. Kalabalığın ortasında dönüp, "Giysilerime kim dokundu?" diye sordu.
Mar 5:31 Öğrencileri O'na, "Seni sıkıştıran kalabalığı görüyorsun! Nasıl oluyor da, 'Bana kim dokundu' diye soruyorsun?" dediler.
Mar 5:32 İsa kendisine dokunanı görmek için çevresine bakındı.
Finally, there was a crowd of mocking mourners around the house of woe:
Mar 5:38 Havra yöneticisinin evine vardıklarında İsa, acı acı ağlayıp feryat eden gürültülü bir kalabalıkla karşılaştı.
Mar 5:39 İçeri girerek onlara, "Niye gürültü edip ağlıyorsunuz?" dedi. "Çocuk ölmedi, uyuyor."
Mar 5:40 Onlar ise kendisiyle alay ettiler. Ama İsa hepsini dışarı çıkardıktan sonra çocuğun annesini babasını ve kendisiyle birlikte olanları alıp çocuğun bulunduğu odaya girdi.
A guy wrote a book a while back with the lengthy title Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

The majority can be wrong -- or simply irrelevant.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mark 4 -- ignorant growth

What advice can you give desperate people, who wonder if deep-seated political, personal, economic, and spiritual struggles will ever break through into resolution? One answer that is sadly too prevalent in American Christianity is -- wait for the Second Coming! Everything will be all right then! Meanwhile, just grin and bear it![1]

Jesus seemed to have a different understanding of the Kingdom. It was, he said, like a seed. Give it good soil, and things will take care of themselves. God works quietly, secretly, and over time.

Here is one of the rare chunks of Mark that is not also found in Matthew or Luke:
Mar 4:26 Sonra İsa şöyle dedi: "Tanrı'nın Egemenliği, toprağa tohum saçan adama benzer.
Mar 4:27 Gece olur, uyur; gündüz olur, kalkar. Kendisi nasıl olduğunu bilmez ama, tohum filizlenir, gelişir.
Mar 4:28 Toprak kendiliğinden ürün verir. Önce filizi, sonra başağı, sonunda da başağı dolduran taneleri verir.
Mar 4:29 Ürün olgunlaşınca, adam hemen orağı vurur. Çünkü biçim vakti gelmiştir."
Let's look at a key concept here:
  • Gece olur, uyur; gündüz olur, kalkar. -- Night / comes, / he sleeps; / Daytime / comes, / he wakes up.
  • Kendisi nasıl olduğunu bilmez ama, -- By itself / how / it happens / he does not know / but,
  • tohum filizlenir, gelişir. -- The seed / sprouts, / comes forth.
The universe does not depend on us. God's work keeps on keeping on, without our attention, while we pursue the routines of life.

__________

[1] A woman was married for the fourth time. To her husband's astonishment, she was still a virgin. "Well," she said. "My first husband and I really loved each other, but he'd had a terrible accident. But, he was a kind man, a good man, a good provider, so our marriage worked. After he died, I married again. Right after the ceremony, my second husband told me that he really preferred boys. But, he was a kind man, a good man, a good provider, so our marriage worked. My third husband was a (fill in party label of choice). He just sat on the bed and talked about how great it was going to be!"

Monday, February 22, 2010

Mark 3 -- conflicting opinions

In this chapter, Jesus continues to heal and preach. Crowds thronged around him, or maybe I should say throngs crowded around him, attracted by his lively discourse and the spectacle of healings and exorcisms. He is starting to attract hostile attention as well. Opinion about him is divided.
Mar 3:21 Yakınları bunu duyunca, "Aklını kaçırmış" diyerek O'nu almaya geldiler.
For example, some sought to draw near to him out of sincere concern, fearing that Jesus had lost his mind. Or, as the colorful Turkish expression has it, "Aklını kaçırmış." His mind, wits, intelligence / have fled.

Others read the worst possible explanations into his motives:
Mar 3:22 Yeruşalim'den gelen din bilginleri ise, "Baalzevul O'nun içine girmiş" ve "Cinleri, cinlerin önderinin gücüyle kovuyor" diyorlardı.
Mar 3:30 İsa bu sözleri, "O'nda kötü ruh var" dedikleri için söyledi.
"Obviously," the current religious leaders said, "this upstart must be in league with the devil. After all, he's not one of us, and we are God's official representatives on earth!"

His family shows up, apparently worried:
Mar 3:32 İsa'nın çevresinde oturan kalabalıktan bazıları, "Bak" dediler, "Annenle kardeşlerin dışarıda, seni istiyorlar."
"Look," they said, "With mother / your brothers / outside (are), / you / they seek."

And Jesus just goes on teaching. The opinions of others do not deflect him from his purposes. As the elegant old Turkish proverb has it,
İt ürür, kervan yürür.
The dogs bark, the caravan moves along.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Mark 2 -- the center of attention

Charisma. Everyone knows who has it. Those who don't are mystified, and envious. An episode of the old TV show Cheers centered around a visit from Sam's charismatic brother. The viewer never saw the brother -- just the noisy, cheerful crowd that always surrounded him, with enthusiastic individuals occasionally breaking away from the throng to display some new ability, some new insight, some new encouraging thought.

Attention. None of us ever seems to have enough of it. Yet charismatic people pay it, spend it lavishly, and have more than enough to give away. We on the fringes only see them soaking it up, and wonder why nobody is as fascinated with our own amazing persons!

The energy around Jesus attracts four guys with a paralyzed friend, crippled in body and soul.

The energy swirling around Jesus attracts a tax collector, and his slimy, disreputable friends. When the "nice" people mutter about the kind of company Jesus keeps, the Teacher says, these are the kind of people I'd rather hang around with, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Mar 2:16 Ferisiler'den* bazı din bilginleri, O'nu günahkârlar ve vergi görevlileriyle birlikte yemekte görünce öğrencilerine, "Niçin vergi görevlileri ve günahkârlarla birlikte yemek yiyor?" diye sordular.
Mar 2:17 Bunu duyan İsa onlara, "Sağlamların değil, hastaların hekime ihtiyacı var"
The nattering nabobs of negativity wonder why his disciples don't fast, and Jesus tells them -- There's a party going on! A time of festive celebration!

Sorry, folks, I'm not here to tinker with the existing order, I represent a whole new order. And those who aren't too embedded in the current order have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor![1]

___________

[1] This idiom comes from the stock market. Folks who "get in on the ground floor" purchase stock in a company at the initial public offering for a price that looks trivial later, when the value of the stock soars. Many Microsoft employees became millionaires, for example.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Mark 1 -- by the company he keeps.

It's an old, but wise saying: you know a man by the company he keeps. Or, as the rhyming cliche puts it, "Birds of a feather, flock together." Mark 1 is full of personal interactions. For example:
Mar 1:13 İsa çölde kaldığı kırk gün boyunca Şeytan tarafından denendi. Yabanıl hayvanlar arasındaydı, melekler O'na hizmet ediyordu.
Here, we see the Master hanging out with Satan, wild beasts, and angels, a crowd that definitely encompasses diverse social strata!

Later, he summons fishermen to go after bigger game:
Mar 1:17 İsa onlara, "Ardımdan gelin" dedi, "Sizleri insan tutan balıkçılar yapacağım."
In the synagogue a few verse later, he evicts a demon. Crowds show up at his host's door after sunset (when the sabbath ended). Finally, after he heals a leper, this guy's testimony brings even larger crowds around him.

In every context, the King is in command of his situation, and is the most influential party in every party.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Matt. 28 -- man your battle stations !

Matthew's gospel ends with the command Christians call "The Great Commission."
Mat 28:18 İsa yanlarına gelip kendilerine şunları söyledi: "Gökte ve yeryüzünde bütün yetki bana verildi.
Mat 28:19 Bu nedenle gidin, bütün ulusları öğrencilerim olarak yetiştirin; onları Baba, Oğul ve Kutsal Ruh'un adıyla vaftiz edin;
Mat 28:20 size buyurduğum her şeye uymayı onlara öğretin. İşte ben, dünyanın sonuna dek her an sizinle birlikteyim."
The general is on the battlefield, directing every operation. He already has complete jurisdiction everywhere ...
  • Gökte ve yeryüzünde bütün yetki bana verildi. -- In heaven / and / on earth / all / authority / to me / has been given.
Our sphere of operation is as large as the created universe. The subset we need to focus on, however, is the nation, the cohesive ethnic group. Every nation. The Greek phrase, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, all the nations, includes the root of our word ethnic. Let's take a look hear at our task for the nation, including Turkey:
  • Bu nedenle gidin, bütün ulusları öğrencilerim olarak yetiştirin; -- For this reason / go, / all / the nations / my disciples / make / to attain, arrive, catch up.
  • onları Baba, Oğul ve Kutsal Ruh'un adıyla vaftiz edin; -- Them / Father / Son / and Holy Spirit / in the name of / baptize.
  • size buyurduğum her şeye uymayı onlara öğretin. -- to you / my commands / every / thing / adaptation. conformity. fit. respect. agreement. accommodation. adherence. compliance. conformance. conformation. deference. observance / them / teach.
  • İşte ben, dünyanın sonuna dek her an sizinle birlikteyim."-- Behold / I / the earth's / end / until / every / moment / with you / I am.
And the moral of this story is, beware of aiming too low. Yes, we can bring massive resources to bear on "converting" individual souls. Human beings are not, however, self-contained units. We are also members of families and tribes. A gospel that has the best interests of entire tribes at heart is more interesting to those who take their families seriously.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Matt. 27 -- the blood of this man

The irascible governor was roused from his bed by the restless rabble rioting outside. It seems they wanted to lynch a troublemaker. After a brief examination, the governor tries to find a face-saving way to bring the disturbance to a conclusion. Perhaps he could extend executive clemency to the suspect?
Mat 27:15 Her Fısıh Bayramı'nda vali, halkın istediği bir tutukluyu salıvermeyi adet edinmişti.
Mat 27:16 O günlerde Barabba adında ünlü bir tutuklu vardı.
Mat 27:17 Halk bir araya toplandığında, Pilatus onlara, "Sizin için kimi salıvermemi istersiniz, Barabba'yı mı, Mesih denen İsa'yı mı?" diye sordu.
Mat 27:18 İsa'yı kıskançlıktan ötürü kendisine teslim ettiklerini biliyordu.
Mat 27:19 Pilatus yargı kürsüsünde otururken karısı ona, "O doğru adama dokunma. Dün gece rüyamda O'nun yüzünden çok sıkıntı çektim" diye haber gönderdi.
Mat 27:20 Başkâhinler ve ileri gelenler ise, Barabba'nın salıverilmesini ve İsa'nın öldürülmesini istesinler diye halkı kışkırttılar.
Mat 27:21 Vali onlara şunu sordu: "Sizin için hangisini salıvermemi istersiniz?" "Barabba'yı" dediler.
Mat 27:22 Pilatus, "Öyleyse Mesih denen İsa'yı ne yapayım?" diye sordu. Hep bir ağızdan, "Çarmıha gerilsin!" dediler.
Mat 27:23 Pilatus, "O ne kötülük yaptı ki?" diye sordu. Onlar ise daha yüksek sesle, "Çarmıha gerilsin!" diye bağrışıp durdular.
Mat 27:24 Pilatus, elinden bir şey gelmediğini, tersine, bir kargaşalığın başladığını görünce su aldı, kalabalığın önünde ellerini yıkayıp şöyle dedi: "Bu adamın kanından ben sorumlu değilim. Bu işe siz bakın!"
Mat 27:25 Bütün halk şu karşılığı verdi: "O'nun kanının sorumluluğu bizim ve çocuklarımızın üzerinde olsun!"
Let's look at a few phrases:
  • Bu adamın kanından ben sorumlu değilim. Bu işe siz bakın! -- This / man's blood from / I / am guilty / not. / This / matter, business / you see to!
  • O'nun kanının sorumluluğu bizim ve çocuklarımızın üzerinde olsun! -- His / blood / the guilt thereof / ours / and / our children's (double possessive -- you can do that easily in Turkish) / upon / let it be!
In another generation, the people who committed the greatest crime since the Garden of Eden -- the unjust murder of God's most precious emissary, got what they had asked for. Their children and grandchildren perished miserably in the catastrophic fall of Jerusalem. And the majority of their descendants since then have lived resentfully, enviously, apart from and outside of God's glorious eternal Kingdom.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Matt. 26 -- the price of a man

Post-modernism is "skepticism regarding grand meta-narratives," if we believe the communications scholars. It's "weirdness for the sake of being weird," if we heed Mo Sizlak, the bartender on the animated series The Simpsons. It has become fashionable to present Judas as an enigmatic figure, someone who, for reasons known only to himself, but perhaps, in some sense, justifiable, betrayed Jesus. Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ, Superstar treated Judas as the central character, the honest observer who grows uneasy as things don't seem to add up.

Medieval Christians simply assumed that Judas was "bad to the bone," a thief, who finally decided to cash in his chips when the gravy train went off the rails.[1]

Let's see how Matthew describes the moment of betrayal:
Mat 26:6,7 İsa Beytanya'da cüzamlı Simun'un evindeyken, yanına bir kadın geldi. Kadın kaymaktaşından bir kap içinde çok değerli, güzel kokulu yağ getirmişti. İsa sofrada otururken, kadın yağı O'nun başına döktü.
Mat 26:8 Öğrenciler bunu görünce kızdılar. "Nedir bu savurganlık?" dediler.
Mat 26:9 "Bu yağ pahalıya satılabilir, parası yoksullara verilebilirdi."
Mat 26:10 Söylenenleri farkeden İsa, öğrencilerine, "Kadını neden üzüyorsunuz?" dedi. "Benim için güzel bir şey yaptı.
Mat 26:11 Yoksullar her zaman aranızdadır, ama ben her zaman aranızda olmayacağım.
Mat 26:12 Kadın bu güzel kokulu yağı, beni gömülmeye hazırlamak için bedenimin üzerine boşalttı.
Mat 26:13 Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, bu Müjde dünyanın neresinde duyurulursa, bu kadının yaptığı da onun anılması için anlatılacak."
Mat 26:14,15 O sırada Onikiler'den biri -adı Yahuda İskariot olanı başkâhinlere giderek, "O'nu ele verirsem bana ne verirsiniz?" dedi. Otuz gümüş tartıp ona verdiler.
Mat 26:16 Yahuda o andan itibaren İsa'yı ele vermek için fırsat kollamaya başladı.
Apparently, the last straw was this impractical act of devotion, that poured out a year's worth of income upon the feet of Jesus. A cynic, Oscar Wilde wrote, "is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing." Judas settled on a price he considered adequate, then set upon to earn his pay.

_______________

[1] Did I pack enough cliches into that sentence? The expression "to cash in your chips" refers to card games, at the point where a player takes his winnings and walks away from the table. "Gravy train" is, I fear, an obsolete metaphor dating back to the days when the railroads were a more visible feature of American life.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Matt. 25 -- an austere man

In this chapter, Jesus continues using stories to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. Many folks then (and, alas, now) viewed this Kingdom as something that would appear magically, full-grown, apart from human "blood, toil, sweat, tears." In the first parable, we learn how great opportunities that catch us unprepared leave us worse off than before. That which we had yearned, longed, and hoped for happens -- but we are not ready. We need to have and build reserves, so as to be fit to capitalize on opportunities.

The third parable connects Kingdom rewards to the way we treat the agents of the Kingdom, the "brethren" of the Lord -- those who hear, believe, and act upon His Word. Nations that are cordial and hospitable to the Gospel message, and messengers, enjoy divine favor.

I'd like to look at the middle parable, today. What is the Kingdom like? Well, it is like the King who isn't there!
Mat 25:14 "Göksel egemenlik, yolculuğa çıkan bir adamın kölelerini çağırıp malını onlara emanet etmesine benzer.
Mat 25:15 "Adam, her birinin yeteneğine göre, birine beş, birine iki, birine de bir talant vererek yola çıktı.
Mat 25:16 Beş talant alan, hemen gidip bu parayı işletti ve beş talant daha kazandı.
Mat 25:17 İki talant alan da iki talant daha kazandı.
Mat 25:18 Bir talant alan ise gidip toprağı kazdı ve efendisinin parasını sakladı.
Mat 25:19 "Uzun zaman sonra bu kölelerin efendisi döndü, onlarla hesaplaşmaya oturdu.
Mat 25:20 Beş talant alan gelip beş talant daha getirdi, 'Efendimiz' dedi, 'Bana beş talant emanet etmiştin; bak, beş talant daha kazandım.'
Mat 25:21 "Efendisi ona, 'Aferin, iyi ve güvenilir köle!' dedi. 'Sen küçük işlerde güvenilir olduğunu gösterdin, ben de seni büyük işlerin başına geçireceğim. Gel, efendinin şenliğine katıl!'
Mat 25:22 "İki talant alan da geldi, 'Efendimiz' dedi, 'Bana iki talant emanet etmiştin; bak, iki talant daha kazandım.'
Mat 25:23 "Efendisi ona, 'Aferin, iyi ve güvenilir köle!' dedi. 'Sen küçük işlerde güvenilir olduğunu gösterdin, ben de seni büyük işlerin başına geçireceğim. Gel, efendinin şenliğine katıl!'
Mat 25:24 "Sonra bir talant alan geldi, 'Efendimiz' dedi, 'Senin sert bir adam olduğunu biliyordum. Ekmediğin yerden biçer, harman savurmadığın yerden devşirirsin.
Mat 25:25 Bu nedenle korktum, gidip senin verdiğin talantı toprağa gömdüm. İşte, al paranı!'
Mat 25:26,27 "Efendisi ona şu karşılığı verdi: 'Kötü ve tembel köle! Ekmediğim yerden biçtiğimi, harman savurmadığım yerden devşirdiğimi bildiğine göre paramı faize vermeliydin. Ben de geldiğimde onu faiziyle geri alırdım...
Mat 25:28 Haydi, elindeki talantı alın, on talantı olana verin!
Mat 25:29 Çünkü kimde varsa, ona daha çok verilecek ve o bolluk içinde olacak. Ama kimde yoksa, kendisinde olan da elinden alınacak.
Mat 25:30 Şu yararsız köleyi dışarıya, karanlığa atın. Orada ağlayış ve diş gıcırtısı olacaktır.'"
Let's look at the key concept:
Senin sert bir adam olduğunu biliyordum.
You / hard /a / man / are / I know.

The Greek adjective the slave used is transliterated into the English word austere. It means hard, strict, severe. Whoops, that's in Luke's account of the story. Evidently, like any public speaker, Jesus recycled his sermon illustrations as he moved from audience to audience. The word Matthew reports Jesus using is σκληρὸς -- hard.

The guy held his boss in contempt, and resented the Master's wealth. Envy, hostile resentment, are not tolerable in the Kingdom of Heaven. Nor, for that matter, on earth. The intriguing book Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster describes the insanity of rapacious unions and their thuggish leaders, parasites who were perfectly willing to bleed the host to death.

To bring the story down to earth, it's very easy to let resentment about our situation cause us to sit on our "talents," to refuse to energetically employ the opportunities we have been given. And this surly sterility is rooted in a contempt for the King, in disrespect for God.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Matt. 24 -- let no man deceive you

Israel had, without quite realizing it, missed the last exit ramp and was hurtling down the road towards the missing bridge. Bad times were ahead, as Jesus spells out in this chapter. He gives His disciples the specific signal they'll need to heed, if they are to jump clear of the wreck:
Mat 24:33 Aynı şekilde, bütün bunların gerçekleştiğini gördüğünüzde bilin ki, İnsanoğlu yakındır, kapıdadır.
A consistent metaphor used in the Bible is "clouds," as indicators of God's judicial presence. In other words, they tell us, "Here comes the judge."[1] When the pieces fell into place, it was time to make a hasty exit.

Meanwhile, if they valued their temporal and eternal welfare, there was a more immediate threat they had to watch out for: false prophets.
Mat 24:4 İsa onlara şu karşılığı verdi: "Sakın kimse sizi saptırmasın!
Mat 24:5 Birçokları, 'Mesih benim' diyerek benim adımla gelip birçok kişiyi aldatacaklar.
...
Mat 24:11 Birçok sahte peygamber türeyecek ve bunlar birçok kişiyi saptıracak.
Hegel said, "The owl of Minerva only flies at twilight." Only towards the end of a civilization, he thus asserted, do its inhabitants achieve wisdom. Jesus took a blunter, and more realistic, view:
Mat 24:28 "Leş neredeyse, akbabalar oraya üşüşecek.
Bad times bring forth worse people. Adolph Hitler leads his people out of economic desperation and into prosperity, and then on towards a shining destiny. FDR saves American capitalism by hog-tying American businesses and saddling a nation with a massive layer of socialist bureaucracies. A glib-tongued Kenyan who has achieved nothing but speaks in the White dialect of American English and can read a teleprompter offers salvation to a worried, nation, "Hope" and "Change." He will command the seas to stop rising, after all.

______________

[1] For fans younger than their mid-fifties, this is a famous line from the comedy variety show Rowan and Marti's Laugh-in.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Matt. 23 -- beware The Man

The resentment-driven underclass in America esteems a practice they call "sticking it to The Man." The Man is the personification of the social structure they blame for their woes.[1]

Jesus had a better idea -- outperform The Man. Self-governing people, people who honor the Lord as their king, live better lives than slaves.[2] This chapter is a withering indictment of the ruling class of first century Israel. Like the Mayor played by Bill Murray in the excellent little movie City of Ember, these people were willing to see their society collapse, as long as their own nests were feathered.[3] Let's look at a few extracts from this chapter:
Mat 23:1,2 Bundan sonra İsa halka ve öğrencilerine şöyle seslendi: "Din bilginleri ve Ferisiler Musa'nın kürsüsünde otururlar.
Mat 23:3 Bu nedenle size söylediklerinin tümünü yapın ve yerine getirin, ama onların yaptıklarını yapmayın. Çünkü söyledikleri şeyleri kendileri yapmazlar.
These folks are in power. To stay out of trouble, take them at their word and live up to the values they assert. Socialists claim to care for "the poor." So, our lives should be characterized by true benevolence, true charity. However, this concern of their rarely, if ever, translates into practical, sacrificial action on their parts.

The ruling class is where it is, so we need to be aware of them. However, we do not need to take them as seriously as they take themselves. Rush Limbaugh became an overnight success after 17 years, by simply pointing out the discrepancies between what the ruling class said, and what they actually did. The "filling" in this sandwich chapter is withering scorn poured upon the heads of the ruling elite and its media outlets. Injunctions for His disciples to do better. As Kingdom people, as self-governing people, we should not be driven by the power lust that characterizes contemptible rulers.

Let's drop down to verse 37 to see the bottom line, wherein Jesus compares Himself to a chicken:
Mat 23:37 "Ey Yeruşalim! Peygamberleri öldüren, kendisine gönderilenleri taşlayan Yeruşalim! Tavuğun civcivlerini kanatları altına topladığı gibi ben de kaç kez senin çocuklarını toplamak istedim, ama siz istemediniz.
Mat 23:38 Bakın, eviniz ıssız bırakılacak!
Mat 23:39 Size şunu söyleyeyim: 'Rab'bin adıyla gelene övgüler olsun!' diyeceğiniz zamana dek beni bir daha görmeyeceksiniz."
The bridge is out. Israel has just driven past the last exit ramp.

_________
[1] This sense of entitlement leads to numerous acts of pillage and pilferage. For examine, Social Security Supplemental funds are paid out to handicapped folks, or the parents of handicapped children. SO, coach the kids to act crazy, and the government will send you another check in the mail. The raids on the nation's productive class are sanctioned by the politicians whose role in this danse macabre is to buy the votes of the underclass with "public" money.

[2] The Finno-Russian War of 1939 quantified this observation. The Finns were outnumbered by around 12 to 1 -- but their soldiers were free men protecting their homes. The Russian invaders were conscripts.

[3] At the end of the Ottoman Empire, the ruling class in Istanbul were willing to sign away a whole nation to foreign masters, in exchange for their own continuing roles as pampered puppet rulers.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Matt. 22 -- the badly-dressed man

This chapter has a lot going on in it. For example, Matthew, the former tax collector, has yet another story on taxes (see also Matt. 17:21). The enemies of Jesus try again to outwit him, and are handily routed, publicly humiliated.

People of a certain age remember a bumper sticker prevalent during the Vietnam era -- "Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?" This recalls the parable that launches this chapter. The Kingdom of Heaven is like an incredible feast, a party. Strangely enough, the people honored by the first invitation (the Jews) not only snubbed the host, but mistreated the delivery boys. The King did not take this calmly -- and his verdict on first-century Israel was devastating:
Sonra kölelerine şöyle dedi: 'Düğün şöleni hazır, ama çağırdıklarım buna layık değilmiş.
Then / to his slaves / this saying / he said: 'The wedding / feast / is ready, / but / those who were invited / to it / worthy / were not.

It's not safe to snub the King's summons. Even when, especially when, He has invited you to a joyous and exuberant feast.

It's also not safe to try to get in on the gravy train when wearing the colors of a rival gang:[1]
Mat 22:11 "Kral konukları görmeye geldiğinde, orada düğün giysisi giymemiş bir adam gördü.
Mat 22:12 Ona, 'Arkadaş, düğün giysisi giymeden buraya nasıl girdin?' diye sorunca, adamın dili tutuldu.
Mat 22:13 "O zaman kral, uşaklarına, 'Şunun ellerini ayaklarını bağlayın, dışarıya, karanlığa atın!' dedi. 'Orada ağlayış ve diş gıcırtısı olacaktır.'
Mat 22:14 "Çünkü çağrılanlar çok, ama seçilenler azdır."
Modern bureaucrats hold meetings. The oriental potentates had feasts, formal occasions when the servants and subjects would report on conditions in their satrapies, and when the King would set the direction for the Kingdom's forthcoming activities. The King would furnish a rich table, and provide festive robes for the guests. In donning the robe, the guest accepted the King's authority. In feasting at the table, the guest was incorporated, metaphorically, into his body, to serve as his extensions throughout the realm.

It's communion Sunday, I need to get ready for church.
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[1] "Color riding" is the tradition of motorcycle gangs, each of which has its own "colors," its emblematic jacket.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Matt. 21 -- the hungry man of faith

First-century Israel was a glittering, influential culture. Jerusalem was the Mecca of a world-spanning community of faith, a place of pilgrimage for Jews and proselytes. A non-stop work ethic and a passion for learning helped the Jews to prosper wherever they went. A reasonable faith in one God attracted interest wherever they went. All seemed to be well.

As this acted-out parable demonstrated, however, Jesus saw beyond the superficial to the rot at the heart of the culture:
Mat 21:18 İsa sabah erkenden kente dönerken acıkmıştı.
Mat 21:19 Yol kenarında gördüğü bir incir ağacına yaklaştı. Ağaçta yapraktan başka bir şey bulamayınca ağaca, "Artık sonsuza dek sende meyve yetişmesin!" dedi. İncir ağacı o anda kurudu.
Mat 21:20 Öğrenciler bunu görünce şaşkına döndüler. "İncir ağacı birdenbire nasıl kurudu?" diye sordular.
Mat 21:21 İsa onlara şu karşılığı verdi: "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, eğer imanınız olur da kuşku duymazsanız, yalnız incir ağacına olanı yapmakla kalmazsınız; şu dağa, 'Kalk, denize atıl' derseniz, dediğiniz olacaktır.
Mat 21:22 İmanla dua ederseniz, dilediğiniz her şeyi alırsınız."
The fig tree, a frequent emblem for Israel, had plenty of leaves, but was barren. Soon, God's verdict upon this condition would be made visible. Yet people of faith would prevail in the coming time of chaos.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Matt. 20 -- the unfair man

Day laborers are near the bottom of the social order, just a step above beggars.[1] In many cities, illegal immigrants cluster on certain corners, waiting. People who need a few hours of unskilled labor drive by, select the likeliest candidates, and pay them in cash at the end of the day. If the employer is ruthless, and shorts them on their pay, they have no recourse. The story Jesus told in this chapter resonated with an audience that knew first-hand about ruthless employers who would do something capricious from time to time just to keep the hired help off-balance: insecure, apprehensive, docile.
Mat 20:1 "Göklerin Egemenliği, sabah erkenden bağında çalışacak işçi aramaya çıkan toprak sahibine benzer.
Mat 20:2 Adam, işçilerle günlüğü bir dinara anlaşıp onları bağına gönderdi.
Mat 20:3 "Saat* dokuza doğru tekrar dışarı çıktı, çarşı meydanında boş duran başka adamlar gördü.
Mat 20:4 Onlara, 'Siz de bağa gidip çalışın. Hakkınız neyse, veririm' dedi, onlar da bağa gittiler. "Öğleyin ve saat üçe doğru yine çıkıp aynı şeyi yaptı.
Mat 20:5 (SEE 20:4)
Mat 20:6 Saat beşe doğru çıkınca, orada duran başka işçiler gördü. Onlara, 'Neden bütün gün burada boş duruyorsunuz?' diye sordu.
Mat 20:7 "'Kimse bize iş vermedi ki' dediler. "Onlara, 'Siz de bağa gidin, çalışın' dedi.
Mat 20:8 "Akşam olunca, bağın sahibi kâhyasına, 'İşçileri çağır' dedi. 'Sonuncudan başlayarak ilkine kadar, hepsine ücretlerini ver.'
Mat 20:9 "Saat beşe doğru işe başlayanlar gelip kâhyadan birer dinar aldılar.
Mat 20:10 İlk başlayanlar gelince daha çok alacaklarını sandılar, ama onlara da birer dinar verildi.
Mat 20:11 Paralarını alınca bağ sahibine söylenmeye başladılar:
Mat 20:12 'En son çalışanlar yalnız bir saat çalıştı' dediler. 'Ama onları günün yükünü ve sıcağını çeken bizlerle bir tuttun!'
Mat 20:13 "Bağ sahibi onlardan birine şöyle karşılık verdi: 'Arkadaş, sana haksızlık etmiyorum ki! Seninle bir dinara anlaşmadık mı?
Mat 20:14 Hakkını al, git! Sana verdiğimi sonuncuya da vermek istiyorum.
Mat 20:15 Kendi paramla istediğimi yapmaya hakkım yok mu? Yoksa cömertliğimi kıskanıyor musun?'
Mat 20:16 "İşte böylece sonuncular birinci, birinciler de sonuncu olacak."
Oh, yes. The people knew about mean bosses. Many of those who heard Jesus with gladness came from the lower social orders, and had suffered this kind of abuse. The astonishing thing is, Jesus was talking about God as the capricious boss, and His Kingdom as the place where things do not turn out as expected.
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[1] A century ago, America had a vigorous "hobo" subculture. These restless souls "rode the rails," from place to place by secreting themselves in freight trains. They had their own idiom, including a set of "hobo signs," symbols inscribed on places where a man could get a sandwich in exchange for a few hours' work, places with a mean dog, or a mean cop. Hobos considered themselves to be migratory laborers, and looked down upon tramps (migratory non-laborers) and bums (non-migratory non-laborers).


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Matt. 19 -- a man and a woman

Thingamatropic walking sticks begin as young sassafras saplings, entwined by a vine. Over the years, as the two plants grow up together, each alters the shape of the other. In God's economy, marriage also result in two dissimilar beings growing together, and bending each other into a new shape. Having one other person so close, so inside your perimeter, your comfort zone, makes you a different person. You have someone else to think about as you make your decisions. Someone else to help you think. A guy I knew, who struggles with Aspergers syndrome symptoms, prayed desperately for years for wisdom in the area of human relations. He came to see that his prayers had been answered, in the form of an incredibly insightful wife. Even as a blind man can get around with the help of a guide dog, this guy learned to see situations through his wife's eyes, thereby avoiding uncountable faux pas. He described the relationship as a dual-processor computer, with a 128-bit bus connecting the processors. As long as the bus is maintained, each processor can benefit from the data the other processes.

Let's look at the way Jesus describes the ideal situation:
Mat 19:3 İsa'nın yanına gelen bazı Ferisiler*, O'nu denemek amacıyla şunu sordular: "Bir adamın, herhangi bir nedenle karısını boşaması Kutsal Yasa'ya uygun mudur?"
Mat 19:4,5 İsa şu karşılığı verdi: "Kutsal Yazılar'ı okumadınız mı? Yaradan başlangıçtan 'İnsanları erkek ve dişi olarak yarattı' ve şöyle dedi: 'Bu nedenle adam annesini babasını bırakıp karısına bağlanacak, ikisi tek beden olacak.'
Mat 19:6 Şöyle ki, onlar artık iki değil, tek bedendir. O halde Tanrı'nın birleştirdiğini, insan ayırmasın."
C. S. Lewis discussed the differences between the Catholic and Protestant positions on divorce by starting with what the two faiths agree on: divorce is radical surgery, like a double amputation. The only disagreement is over whether or not the patient survives the operation.

Matt. 18 -- woe to the man

My daughter and her husband first began encountering one another at two contrasting locations: the campus Calvinist club, and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). For some reason, a gauzy, fairy-tale sentiment lingers around the memories of the pre-Renaissance European culture. Young people try to recapture the sense of magic by dressing up in period costumes, affecting archaisms in their language, and fighting one another. Guys dress up in home-made plate steel armor, and bang away at each other with fiberglass swords, to the applause of spectators. Jugglers and acrobats perform, while musicians play lutes and flutes, and artisans create handicrafts.

Somehow, these people are drawn in by the external trappings of that which made the era noble, while overlooking the soul of chivalry: the solicitous care of the strong for the weak, the noblesse oblige[1] that matched matched power with duty. Again, these beautiful young people rarely give credit to the Christian faith that inspired small cities, of a few hundred thousand souls, to spend several generations building the incredible cathedrals of Europe. The faith that led to a decentralized, but continent-spanning, civilization.

The Christian message teaches that God cares for those who are unable to care for themselves: the widow, the orphan, the handicapped -- and those who are wise share this concern. This is a message with teeth it, though. Enforced with harsh language:
Mat 18:1 Bu sırada öğrencileri İsa'ya yaklaşıp, "Göklerin Egemenliği'nde en büyük kimdir?" diye sordular.
Mat 18:2 İsa, yanına küçük bir çocuk çağırdı, onu orta yere dikip şöyle dedi: "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, yolunuzdan dönüp küçük çocuklar gibi olmazsanız, Göklerin Egemenliği'ne asla giremezsiniz.
Mat 18:3 (SEE 18:2)
Mat 18:4 Kim bu çocuk gibi alçakgönüllü olursa, Göklerin Egemenliği'nde en büyük odur.
Mat 18:5 Böyle bir çocuğu benim adım uğruna kabul eden, beni kabul etmiş olur.
Mat 18:6 "Ama kim bana iman eden bu küçüklerden birini günaha düşürürse, boynuna kocaman bir değirmen taşı asılıp denizin dibine atılması kendisi için daha iyi olur.
Mat 18:7 İnsanı günaha düşüren tuzaklardan ötürü vay dünyanın haline! Böyle tuzakların olması kaçınılmazdır. Ama bu tuzaklara aracılık eden kişinin vay haline!
In Afghanistan, a popular proverb asserts that "a woman is for procreation, a boy is for pleasure." In America, if you merely have pictures of that transaction on your computer, you can find yourself in jail for years -- stripped of profession, status, property, liberty. Common law remembers is roots from time to time.
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[1] a Latin phrase meaning "nobility obligates." High rank imposes high responsiblities.