We become like that which we behold (John 5)

If you look at the New Hampshire edition of the US quarter, it celebrates a natural formation in a granite cliff that resembles, from certain angles, a human face.  Nathaniel Hawethorne's short story The Great Stone Face uses this landmark to craft a moving parable about how we become what we behold. The French have a saying, that everyone over the age of 50 is responsible for his or her own face. Avarice, lust, resentment, and cruelty all engrave their lines upon us. So, too, do generosity, joy, and benevolence.

Jesus bore the imprint of his time spent in God's presence. This did not always sit well with his audience:

Joh 5:16 Şabat Günü böyle şeyler yaptığı için İsa'ya zulmetmeye başladılar.
Joh 5:17 Ama İsa onlara şu karşılığı verdi: "Babam hâlâ çalışmaktadır, ben de çalışıyorum."
Joh 5:18 İşte bu nedenle Yahudi yetkililer O'nu öldürmek için daha çok gayret ettiler. Çünkü yalnız Şabat Günü düzenini bozmakla kalmamış, Tanrı'nın kendi Babası olduğunu söyleyerek kendisini Tanrı'ya eşit kılmıştı.
Joh 5:19 İsa Yahudi yetkililere şöyle karşılık verdi: "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim, Oğul, Baba'nın yaptıklarını görmedikçe kendiliğinden bir şey yapamaz. Baba ne yaparsa Oğul da aynı şeyi yapar.
Joh 5:20 Çünkü Baba Oğul'u sever ve yaptıklarının hepsini O'na gösterir. Şaşasınız diye O'na bunlardan daha büyük işler de gösterecektir.
Joh 5:21 Baba nasıl ölüleri diriltip onlara yaşam veriyorsa, Oğul da dilediği kimselere yaşam verir.

 Jesus spent time watching God, the Creator. He became like what he beheld. What he saw the Father doing, he did. 

I pin my hopes on the one Jesus called "Father" for the energy and creativity I need, today, for the tasks before me. 

"You talkin' to me?" (John 4)

It's noon. You may be a bit hung over. Or, maybe you go to the well during the heat of the day, to avoid running into any of the other people of the village. You walk up to a man who is obviously worn out, tired, thirsty. He asks for a drink of water. And you say,

"You talkin' to me?"

This conversation is not off to a good start. A polite request is answered with a snub: "Hey, I thought your folks didn't have anything to do with my kind of people." End of conversation?

Then the guy grins back at you, and throws you a curve ball.[1] After the conversation is over, the entire village accepts your invitation to meet the mysterious stranger.

Let's look at the text:

Joh 4:6 Yakup'un kuyusu da oradaydı. İsa, yolculuktan yorulmuş olduğu için kuyunun yanına oturmuştu. Saat on iki sularıydı.
Joh 4:7 Samiriyeli* bir kadın su çekmeye geldi. İsa ona, "Bana su ver, içeyim" dedi.
Joh 4:8 İsa'nın öğrencileri yiyecek satın almak için kente gitmişlerdi.
Joh 4:9 Samiriyeli kadın, "Sen Yahudi'sin, bense Samiriyeli bir kadınım" dedi, "Nasıl olur da benden su istersin?" Çünkü Yahudiler'in Samiriyeliler'le ilişkileri yoktur.
Joh 4:10 İsa kadına şu yanıtı verdi: "Eğer sen Tanrı'nın armağanını ve sana, 'Bana su ver, içeyim' diyenin kim olduğunu bilseydin, sen O'ndan dilerdin, O da sana yaşam suyunu verirdi."

And, let's look at a few words:

• yolculuktan -- yol is an important Turkish word, meaning road, way, path. Add -cu- and you have traveler. Someone who is characterized by his relationship to the road. Add -luk- to transform this noun into an adjective -- you have a "travelerly" situation. Finally, add the genitive ending -tan to indicate source, root, origin. Something is because of a travelerly situation.
  
• yorulmuş olduğu için -- exhausted / he was / because
  
• yaşam suyunu -- living water. In the Hebrew language, you never offer someone "water" to drink, but only "running" water. Living water.

You can start a conversation by asking for help. And, if you are a skilled conversationalist, convert initial rejection into lasting friendship.
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[1] American idiomatic phrase, from the game of baseball. A "curve ball" moves in an unexpected direction.

[ctrl]-z (John 3)

Nerd culture include a number of "keyboard shortcuts" that work nearly everywhere. For example, on Windows computer, the [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Del] key combination pops up a program manager. Once upon a time, it rebooted your computer. [1] When you highlight text, you can use the [Ctrl]-c keystroke to copy it to a clipboard, the [Ctrl]-x keystroke to cut it, and the [Ctrl]-v keystroke to paste the text from the clipboard into the desired location. 

A widely used shortcut, the [Ctrl]-z, will "undo" the last action taken on an open file. Live in front of a computer terminal long enough, and this shortcut will become second nature. In real life, you say something better left unsaid, and the pinky and ring finger of your left hand will automatically twitch. Unfortunately, life doesn't seem to have an "undo" button. 

Or does it?

One of the cultural elite folks of Israel paid a nighttime visit to İsa. He may have worried about his friends and associates finding out that he was consulting an off-brand unauthorized source. After the initial exchange of pleasantries, the conversation got serious:

Joh 3:1, 2 Yahudiler'in Nikodim adlı bir önderi vardı. Ferisiler'den olan bu adam bir gece İsa'ya gelerek, "Rabbî, senin Tanrı'dan gelmiş bir öğretmen olduğunu biliyoruz. Çünkü Tanrı kendisiyle olmadıkça kimse senin yaptığın bu mucizeleri yapamaz" dedi.

Joh 3:3 İsa ona şu karşılığı verdi: "Sana doğrusunu söyleyeyim, bir kimse yeniden doğmadıkça Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'ni göremez."

Joh 3:4 Nikodim, "Yaşlanmış bir adam nasıl doğabilir? Annesinin rahmine ikinci kez girip doğabilir mi?" diye sordu.

Joh 3:5 İsa şöyle yanıt verdi: "Sana doğrusunu söyleyeyim, bir kimse sudan ve Ruh'tan doğmadıkça Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'ne giremez.

Joh 3:6 Bedenden doğan bedendir, Ruh'tan doğan ruhtur.

Let's look at a few words and phrases:

• Sana doğrusunu söyleyeyim -- to you / straight / I am saying. When I began reading Yuhanna in Türkçe,  I noticed how frequently this phrase turned up. 
  
• yeniden -- Again. Anew. The Greek preposition ἄνωθεν sheds additional light onthis term, since it is more frequently translated from above.
• Bedenden doğan bedendir, Ruh'tan doğan ruhtur 
• Bedenden -- from the body
• doğan -- is born
• Ruh'tan -- from the Spirit

The "new birth," the ultimate [ctrl]-z, does more than restore us to a previously saved version of ourselves. It is not a human acheivement, but a divine intervention in our lives that permits a global reset, a fresh start.

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[1] In fact, the IBM engineer who invented this shortcut retired in 2008.

Standpoint theory (John 2)

"Standpoint theory" asserts that underlings tend to be more aware of what's going on than their bosses are. People of lower status need to be able to negotiate their own social reality, as well as that of their "betters." Bob Dylan wrote a bitter ballad, Like a Rolling Stone, about a girl's sudden loss of status, and the new insights the process generated for her:

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
...

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you ...

Yuhanna 2 opens up with a story about how different observers see, and say, different things based on where they stand. The master of the feast makes a puzzled remark, based on his ignorance of what's going on. The servants, however, knew.

Joh 2:1 Üçüncü gün Celile'nin Kana Köyü'nde bir düğün vardı. İsa'nın annesi de oradaydı. 
Joh 2:2 İsa'yla öğrencileri de düğüne çağrılmışlardı. 
Joh 2:3 Şarap tükenince annesi İsa'ya, "Şarapları kalmadı" dedi. 
Joh 2:4 İsa, "Anne, benden ne istiyorsun? Benim saatim daha gelmedi" dedi. 
Joh 2:5 Annesi hizmet edenlere, "Size ne derse onu yapın" dedi. 
Joh 2:6 Yahudiler'in geleneksel temizliği için oraya konmuş, her biri seksenle yüz yirmi litre alan altı taş küp vardı. 
Joh 2:7 İsa hizmet edenlere, "Küpleri suyla doldurun" dedi. Küpleri ağızlarına kadar doldurdular. 
Joh 2:8 Sonra hizmet edenlere, "Şimdi biraz alıp şölen başkanına götürün" dedi. Onlar da götürdüler. 
Joh 2:9 Şölen başkanı, şaraba dönüşmüş suyu tattı. Bunun nereden geldiğini bilmiyordu, oysa suyu küpten alan hizmetkârlar biliyorlardı. Şölen başkanı güveyi çağırıp, "Herkes önce iyi şarabı, çok içildikten sonra da kötüsünü sunar" dedi, "Ama sen iyi şarabı şimdiye dek saklamışsın." 

Let's look at a single sentence pair here:

• Küpleri -- The vessels. küp -- vessel. Clay pot. -ler- plural ending. i -- direct object ending
  
• suyla --  with water. su -- water. -la -- the "with" ending. (parenthetically, su is the only irregular noun in Turkish, using a y as a buffer consonant, instead of the usual n.)
• doldurmak  -- to fill.
• ağızlarına kadar -- up to the brim. ağız-- mouth. lar -- plural sign. ın -- possessive sign. Turkish uses a "belt and suspenders" system for indicating possessives, with the item that possesses and the item that is possessed each having its own ending. a -- indirect object sign. kadar -- up to. kadar is another post-position.

This is the fun part of living one's life with Jesus. Today, as then, he has this habit of producing unexpected results as the outcome of our routine obedience. And those around us, and perhaps above us, look stunned and say, "Now where did THAT come from?"

Paradoxical paradigm (John 1, cont.)

It's hard to wrap your mind around the core of the Christian message. How is it possible that the Creator should show up within the constraints of his own creation, and suffer indignities on that diminished stage? Older apologists used the metaphor of an author and a novel. The author can write himself into the novel, and interact with the other characters there, while still retaining his identity outside of the pages of the book. Virtual worlds have adopted a Hindu term, avatar, for the representations of ourselves we can send into those constructed, artificial environments. First person shooter games allow you to direct an avatar through a hostile environment filled with various monsters intent on doing you harm. Older readers may remember crobots, a shareware game that allowed you to create an autonomous program with limited artificial intelligence, that you could release into a battlefield to compete with other autonomous programs.

The Jesus we read of in the Bible had some kind of sense of identity with the pre-existing Creator. While doing his business within the time-bound framework of the creation, Jesus yet maintained connection with a God who stood outside of time. These paradoxes make for some interesting word play! Let's consider what John the Baptist had to say:

Joh 1:29 Yahya ertesi gün İsa'nın kendisine doğru geldiğini görünce şöyle dedi: "İşte, dünyanın günahını ortadan kaldıran Tanrı Kuzusu! Joh 1:30 Kendisi için, 'Benden sonra biri geliyor, O benden üstündür. Çünkü O benden önce vardı' dediğim kişi işte budur. Joh 1:31 Ben O'nu tanımıyordum, ama İsrail'in O'nu tanıması için ben suyla vaftiz ederek geldim."

And, a few words:

• Benden sonra -- after me. Actually, sonra is one of those famous Turkish postpositions. "From me, after.."
  
• biri geliyor -- one comes
  
• O benden üstündür -- he / than me / greater is
  
• Çünkü O benden önce vardı -- because / he / than me / before / was there
  
• Ben O'nu tanımıyordum -- I / he / did not know
  
• ama İsrail'in O'nu tanıması için -- but / to Israel / Him / to make known / in order to
  
• ben suyla vaftiz ederek geldim -- I / with water / to baptize / am sent
  

I came to make known the One I did not know. He comes after me, but he is greater than me, because he was actually before me.

Go figure!

The day the earth stood still (John 1)

We finally watched a video of the 1950 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. It's a black and white movie, with cheesy special effects, and lousy lighting. Often, as a character walks across the screen, his shadow appears first on the left wall, then on the right. As an American, I found it fascinating to see what a different world our parents inhabited a half-century ago. Men wore hats, some even when indoors, broadcasting. People took pleasure in smoking. A mother could hand the care of her 10-year-old son over to a stranger.

The screenwriter drew much of his inspiration from the Christian gospels. The central character went by the name of Carpenter. He was an ambassador from a heavenly realm, with a message of peace. He suffered unprovoked murder, then rose from the dead to deliver his ultimatum to the world. He then returned to his off-planet home.

Yet the contrasts are even stronger. As Yuhanna (John) reports,

Joh 1:9 Dünyaya gelen, her insanı aydınlatan gerçek ışık vardı. Joh 1:10 O, dünyadaydı, dünya O'nun aracılığıyla var oldu, ama dünya O'nu tanımadı. Joh 1:11 Kendi yurduna geldi, ama kendi halkı O'nu kabul etmedi. Joh 1:12 Kendisini kabul edip adına iman edenlerin hepsine Tanrı'nın çocukları olma hakkını verdi. Joh 1:13 Onlar ne kandan, ne beden ne de insan isteğinden doğdular; tersine, Tanrı'dan doğdular.

And, a few words:

• Kendi -- self, own. Kendisini -- to his own.
  
• kabul etmek -- to welcome, to receive. kabul etmedi -- did not receive.
  
• dün -- the world
  
• dünyaya -- to the world
  
• dünyadaydı -- he was in the world
  

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. When Jesus arrived, it was not in a spaceship visible around the world, but quietly, in an obscure stable. We know practically nothing of his life before age 30, because, apparently, very little happened that was remarkable.

However, for those with eyes to see, a new world opens up. As John carefully explains, we become sons of the Living God in a metaphorical way, rather than by biological activity. We inherit from God's marvelous provision. We start looking and acting like the God who "adopts" us.

Milestone

My Turkish friends inform me that it is traditional to commemorate each pilgrimage through a holy book. To stop and give thanks that you have been permitted to live long enough to complete that reading.

I finished my second read-through of İncil on May 20, 2008. Yesterday (April 19, 2009), I finished my third read-through. In other words, this time through took a day less than 11 months.

Can I claim a reading knowledge of bir güzel dil (one lovely language!) yet? I guess that depends on how honest I want to be on my resume.

When I was learning Italian, Esperanto, and Afrikaans, I dove into the New Testament, dictionary in hand, after minimal preparation. A two-tape Berlitz introduction to Afrikaans. An excellent computer-based multimedia course in Esperanto, downloaded from this site. Or, a handful of introductory Italian resources, as described here.

However, my first trip through İncil came only after I'd spent 18 months working my way through most of a first-year Turkish textbook. It's a hard row to hoe[1], since there are so few cognates between Turkish and English. A famous aphorism, attributed to Kemal Atatürk, goes biz benzer biziriz -- we resemble ourselves. Now, it's true that turkic languages are spoken all the way from the Mediterranean to the Pacific. This is the fifth largest language family on earth, after English, Chinese, Spanish, and Hindi. However, Turkish is nowhere near the Ind0-European family of languages.

I am now back to the beginning of my trek, at John's Gospel. John uses simple language to express profound truth. John tends to use a repetitive, poetic cadence, no matter which language you read his writings in. I carry copy of the Turkish gospel of John in my bike bag, along with spare innertubes and a few tools. Every now and then I'll ride a 16 mile loop, with a pause at the 12 mile point for a milkshake and a page or two of Yuhanna.

Yet, as many times as I've read this text, in as many different languages, each time through brings fresh insights to light. I've changed, for example, and understand things that a younger RJR.fan was unaware of.

Thanks to all of you who are keeping me company on this adventure. The best is yet to come!

__________
[1] an agricultural idiom, for a difficult task.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear..." (Luke 24)

Most people use non-word "fillers" in their speech -- err, ahh, and so on. Skilled orators have filler phrases they can throw in to stall for time while their brain fetches the next thing they want to say. "As I was saying ...." "As my esteemed colleague pointed out ..." or, the one Richard Nixon used (and no one since!) "Let me make one thing perfectly clear:" Today, we'll start by playing with the way suffixes can transform a Turkish root into a number of other, related words.

Luk 24:1 Kadınlar haftanın ilk günü, sabah çok erkenden, hazırlamış oldukları baharatı alıp mezara gittiler. Luk 24:2 Taşı mezarın girişinden yuvarlanmış buldular. Luk 24:3 Ama içeri girince Rab İsa'nın cesedini bulamadılar. Luk 24:4 Onlar bu durum karşısında şaşırıp kalmışken, şimşek gibi parıldayan giysilere bürünmüş iki kişi yanlarında belirdi. Luk 24:5 Korkuya kapılan kadınlar başlarını yere eğdiler. Adamlar ise onlara, "Diri olanı neden ölüler arasında arıyorsunuz?" dediler. Luk 24:6 "O burada yok, dirildi.

Now, a few words:

• belirgin -- clear, evident
  
• belirmek -- to appear, to become evident
  
• belirlemek -- determine, fix
  
• belirsiz -- indefinite, uncertain
  
• belirti -- sign, symptom
  
• belirtmek -- state, make clear, specify, determine
  

One of my favorite paintings, Salvador Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper, presents a mystical vision of the resurrected Lord. A boat is being launched through his transparent body, representing, perhaps, the Christian church, the ark that carries our lives towards eternity. The depiction of early morning light speaks of the dawn of a new day. It's a lovely picture. Still, it does not represent a real-time historical event, but the artist's meditations on the meaning of the event.

The rest of this chapter abounds in concrete events. The two travelers who were joined on the road by a mysterious stranger. The disciples in a locked room, suddenly joined by the risen Christ, with visibly injured hands and feet. Just to demonstrate that he was not a ghost, Jesus invited their touch, and snacked on food that happened to be handy.

Unlike ghost stories, that take place at night during times of diminished and altered perception, the accounts of the forty days between our Lord's resurrection and his ascension happen in broad daylight. To people who are startled, who did not expect to see him again. Dali did get one thing right, though. Nearly 2,000 years later, this historical event sheds light, and joy, and wonder over the lives of believers today.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: life is found in and through the resurrected Lord. And those who have been illuminated find the experience too wonderful to keep to themselves. Come in out of the dark -- the family is waiting for you!

Imaginary emperor? (Luke 23)

For nearly 21 years, America had a Jewish emperor, Norton I. From 1859 to 1880, Joshua Abraham Norton patrolled the streets of San Francisco, inspecting the conditions of civic works, issuing regal proclamations, and dining at the finest restaurants. In those kinder and gentler days, the entire city played along with the lunatic's fantasy. Upon his death, 30,000 mourners came to his funeral.

Pontius Pilate was a mediocre politician whose clumsy brutality earned Caesar's reprimands. He governed a subjugated province with a contempt which his subjects returned. Then, in the wee hours of the morning, the pompous local bigwigs and a rag-tag mob showed up at his door, demanding action. Let's take a look at what happened next:

Luk 23:3 Pilatus İsa'ya, "Sen Yahudiler'in Kralı mısın?" diye sordu. İsa, "Söylediğin gibidir" yanıtını verdi.
Luk 23:4 Pilatus, başkâhinlerle halka, "Bu adamda hiçbir suç görmüyorum" dedi.

Pilate says to Jesus "You / of the Jews/ the King / are?" "As you say, it is," Jesus replies. Pilate then tells the chief priests, "This / man in / none, not a single, not one / guilty thing / am I seeing." Just another Jewish lunatic, out of an entire crazy nation.

How little did this bored Roman bureaucrat knew. Nearly 2,000 years later, his name is recited millions of times every day, around the world, whenever the followers of the still-living Jesus recite the creed that defines their faith: "He suffered under Pontius Pilate."

Bread and wine (Luke 22)

On Good Friday, April 10, I had the pleasure of seeing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ for the first time. The friend I watched this movie with, a Turkish Muslim, had seen it five years earlier. People in the audience wept, he said, to consider the pain inflicted upon the central figure. He then explained the doctrine of Islam that Jesus was whisked out of harm's way, and replaced by a disguised surrogate, Judas.

Christians, though, believe that Jesus was willing to suffer all of those torments on our behalf -- which is why we love Him so much. Christians rely on eyewitness accounts of the events. Muslims have a somewhat different perspective, reported more than 600 years later. Let's look at today's brief segment:

Luk 22:19 Sonra eline ekmek aldı, şükredip ekmeği böldü ve onlara verdi. "Bu sizin uğrunuza feda edilen bedenimdir. Beni anmak için böyle yapın" dedi.
Luk 22:20 Aynı şekilde, yemekten sonra kâseyi alıp şöyle dedi: "Bu kâse, sizin uğrunuza akıtılan kanımla gerçekleşen yeni antlaşmadır.

Let's look at a few words:

• ekmek -- bread
  
• şükremek -- to give thanks (to God)
  
• bölmek -- to break
  
• feda -- sacrifice, sacrificial offering
  
• bedenimdir -- my body is. beden -- body + im -- my + dir-- is.
  
• akıtılan -- poured out
  
• kanımla -- my blood with
  
• gerçekleşen -- to establish
  
• yeni -- new
• antlaşmadır -- covenant is.
  

If we can trust this eyewitness account, as it was reported to a meticulous historian, the passion of Jesus was a deliberate act, an integral part of his mission, and the means by which he made all things new.

Turbulent heavens (Luke 21)

Prophetic language is poetic language, using a "right brain" vocabulary of vivid images to convey truth in unforgettable word pictures. The Olivet Discourse fits neatly into the category of prophecy. Like the Old Testament warnings and exhortations, it draws from a set of standardized metaphors. For example, if Isaiah or Jeremiah want to talk about political disarray, they'll describe bizarre things happening to the heavenly bodies. Or, if you want to go back a little further, when Joseph had his dreams about the future political structure of his tribe, he spoke of sun, moon, and stars.

One of the most tormenting situations humanity knows is "waiting for the other shoe to drop."[1] For example, you "read the writing on the wall,"[2] and know that you'll soon be in the job market again. Business is slowing down, and the manager's demeanor is preoccupied. Meanwhile, you show up, do your work, and wait.

At the time Jesus gave this prophecy, it looked as though the governing powers of Israel were firmly ensconced. The political order in place looked stable, enduring, final. But, appearances were deceiving. Serious instability was in the cards.[3]

Luk 21:25 "Güneşte, ayda ve yıldızlarda belirtiler görülecek. Yeryüzünde uluslar denizin ve dalgaların uğultusundan şaşkına dönecek, dehşete düşecekler.
Luk 21:26 Dünyanın üzerine gelecek felaketleri bekleyen insanlar korkudan bayılacak. Çünkü göksel güçler sarsılacak.
Luk 21:27 O zaman İnsanoğlu'nun* bulut içinde büyük güç ve görkemle geldiğini görecekler.
Luk 21:28 Bu olaylar gerçekleşmeye başlayınca doğrulun ve başlarınızı kaldırın. Çünkü kurtuluşunuz yakın demektir."

Let's look at a few phrases:

• Çünkü -- Because
  
• göksel -- heavenly
  
• güçler -- powers
  
• sarsılacak -- will be shaken
  
• kurtuluşunuz -- your salvation
  
• yakın -- near
  
• demektir -- standing is.
  

Anxious bureaucrats do not portend the end of the world. Quite often, political crises are ginned up to justify the rapacious seizures of the liberties and properties of the citizens. An ugly German word, Reichstagbrand, refers to the time Hitler torched the German parliament building, then blamed the communists, in order to ensure his own political future.

Jesus assures his people that the other shoe will drop, but life will go on.

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[1] This American metaphor dates back to the old "boarding house" days. You have a small downstairs room. Just as you are dozing off, the renter upstairs drops one shoe on his floor, your ceiling -- and you can't get to sleep, while "waiting for the other shoe to drop."

[2] A reference to an incident in the Book of Daniel, when an angel's hand wrote a fiery message on the wall of the palace, curing a licentious feast. It was bad news.

[3] This idiom refers to the practice of divination using Tarot cards.

So who's in charge, here? (Luke 20)

African politicians often come to power by castigating the cronyism, nepotism, and favoritism of the party currently in power. After winning office, however, they are immediately barraged by demands from their own tribe for exactly those kinds of favors. Civil office is seen as a way to farm taxes. To enrich self and kin. There's an old term that needs to come back into vogue: rent seeking -- the use of government power for personal advantage.

In Chapter 20, Luke presents a series of sparring matches between Jesus and the leaders of Israel. He stood outside the system, owed nothing to the system, and spoke his mind freely about the system. The Soviet Union's doom was sealed in the 1970s, when The Gulag Archipelago was printed. Pirated copies made their way back to the nomenclatura, the bureaucrats who made the system work, mostly for themselves. People who live on the work of others offer a number of noble-sounding reasons for their actions.[1] Soviet bureaucrats discovered that, in the eyes of the world, they were the destructive villains of their society, rather than the heroic builders of a new order. Demoralization set in, along with a disgust for the status quo.

The Bible speaks of civic leadership as a ministerial responsibility. Legitimate government does not exist to serve its own ends, but a higher cause. Let's let Jesus put this concept into one of His vivid word pictures:

Luk 20:9 İsa sözüne devam ederek halka şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Adamın biri bağ dikti, bunu bağcılara kiralayıp uzun süre yolculuğa çıktı.
Luk 20:10 Mevsimi gelince, bağın ürününden payına düşeni vermeleri için bağcılara bir köle yolladı. Ama bağcılar köleyi dövüp eli boş gönderdiler.
Luk 20:11 Bağ sahibi başka bir köle daha yolladı. Bağcılar onu da dövdüler, aşağılayıp eli boş gönderdiler.
Luk 20:12 Adam bir üçüncüsünü yolladı, bağcılar onu da yaralayıp kovdular.
Luk 20:13 "Bağın sahibi, 'Ne yapacağım?' dedi. 'Sevgili oğlumu göndereyim. Belki onu sayarlar.'
Luk 20:14 "Ama bağcılar onu görünce aralarında şöyle konuştular: 'Mirasçı budur; onu öldürelim de miras bize kalsın.'
Luk 20:15 Böylece, onu bağdan dışarı atıp öldürdüler. "Bu durumda bağın sahibi onlara ne yapacak?
Luk 20:16 Gelip o bağcıları yok edecek, bağı da başkalarına verecek." Halk bunu duyunca, "Tanrı korusun!" dedi.
Luk 20:17 İsa gözlerinin içine bakarak şöyle dedi: "Öyleyse Kutsal Yazılar'daki şu sözün anlamı nedir? 'Yapıcıların reddettiği taş, İşte köşenin baş taşı oldu.'

And, a few words:

• miras -- the inheritance. Legacy.
  
• mirasçı -- The inheritor / heir. In Turkish, çı is the "agent ending," like -er in English. For example, a fish is balık. A fisherman is balıkçı.

The leaders of Israel had almost reached the point where they could cast aside any pretences of serving the greater good. One final challenge to their authority had just appeared, one final prophet who truly threatened their credibility. Get rid of Him, and their cozy gig would go un unimpeded. However, as Jesus warned them, and us, there are limits to God's patience.

Have a blessed Good Friday, everyone.

__________
[1] In America, expansions of government power and reductions of family liberty are "for the children."

Short guy stands tall (Luke 19)

A beauty queen addressing a Baptist convention spoke of how she began reading the New Testament for the first time. She thought someone was playing a joke on her by moving her bookmark back, since the same stories kept coming up time after time! We call the first three books of İncil the synoptic gospels, since they report the story of Jesus from a very similar point of view. The gospel of Mark, the oldest, apparently was assembled from a good many of Peter's sermon notes. Almost all of Mark, except for perhaps six verses, can be found in either Matthew or Luke.

Luke, a meticulous historian, made an effort to consult all the existing documentation, and to interview people with first-hand knowledge of the life, teaching, and deeds of Jesus. He went out of his way to talk to additional sources, such as women and outcasts. His gospel is the only one containing the story of the short tax collector:

Luk 19:1 İsa Eriha'ya girdi. Kentin içinden geçiyordu.
Luk 19:2 Orada vergi görevlilerinin başı olan, Zakkay adında zengin bir adam vardı.
Luk 19:3 İsa'nın kim olduğunu görmek istiyor, ama boyu kısa olduğu için kalabalıktan ötürü göremiyordu.
Luk 19:4 İsa'yı görebilmek için önden koşup bir yabanıl incir ağacına tırmandı. Çünkü İsa oradan geçecekti.
Luk 19:5 İsa oraya varınca yukarı bakıp, "Zakkay, çabuk aşağı in!" dedi. "Bugün senin evinde kalmam gerekiyor."
Luk 19:6 Zakkay hızla aşağı indi ve sevinç içinde İsa'yı evine buyur etti.
Luk 19:7 Bunu görenlerin hepsi söylenmeye başladı: "Gidip günahkâr birine konuk oldu!" dediler.
Luk 19:8 Zakkay ayağa kalkıp Rab'be şöyle dedi: "Ya Rab, işte malımın yarısını yoksullara veriyorum. Bir kimseden haksızlıkla bir şey aldımsa, dört katını geri vereceğim."
Luk 19:9 İsa dedi ki, "Bu ev bugün kurtuluşa kavuştu. Çünkü bu adam da İbrahim'in oğludur.
Luk 19:10 Nitekim İnsanoğlu, kaybolanı arayıp kurtarmak için geldi."

And, let's look at a few words:

• çabuk -- quickly
  
• aşağı -- down
  
• in! -- come! (second person imperative of inmek, to descend, dismount)

We have a Welsh Corgi. It's too easy for Pippin to be underfoot when he is under a foot tall at the shoulder. Luke, though, was too good a writer to overlook this short man with a big story.

Continuous prayer (Luke 18)

A 1941 speech (see excerpt below) Winston Churchill gave to a school he'd once attended became famous for one repetitive sentence:

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Persistence, the PM asserted, had power. I'm reminded of what Jesus said:

Luk 18:1, 2 İsa öğrencilerine, hiç usanmadan, her zaman dua etmeleri gerektiğini belirten şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Kentin birinde Tanrı'dan korkmayan, insana saygı duymayan bir yargıç vardı.
Luk 18:3 Yine o kentte bir dul kadın vardı. Yargıca sürekli gidip, 'Davacı olduğum kişiden hakkımı al' diyordu.
Luk 18:4, 5 "Yargıç bir süre ilgisiz kaldı. Ama sonunda kendi kendine, 'Ben her ne kadar Tanrı'dan korkmaz, insana saygı duymazsam da, bu dul kadın beni rahatsız ettiği için hakkını alacağım. Yoksa sürekli gelip beni canımdan bezdirecek' dedi."
Luk 18:6 Rab şöyle devam etti: "Adaletsiz yargıcın ne söylediğini duydunuz.
Luk 18:7 Tanrı da, gece gündüz kendisine yakaran seçilmişlerinin hakkını almayacak mı? Onları çok bekletecek mi?
Luk 18:8 Size şunu söyleyeyim, onların hakkını tez alacaktır.

And, a few words:

• hiç -- never
  
• usanmak -- be fed up, be disgusted
  
• her -- all
  
• her zaman -- all the time, always
  
• dua -- prayer
  
• dua etmek -- to pray
  
• süre -- period
  
• süreç -- process
• sürekli -- continuous
  
• süreksiz -- transitory
  
• süreli -- periodic
  
• ilgi -- interest, relation, connection
  
• ilgisiz -- indifferent
  
• ilgilenmek -- be interested
  
• ilgili -- interested in, connected to
  
• ilginç -- interesting
  
• bezdirmek-- to sicken, disgust, weary

The King James uses the quaint language, that "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." In the Greek, ἐκκακεῖν is somewhat more foreceful, bracketing the noun "bad, evil, rotten" with a preposition meaning "issue out of" and an infinitive verb ending. I think, perhaps, in this verse the Turkish verb is a better translation. The temptation, when our prayers are not instantly answered, is to yield to disgust.

Let's not. Heaven is readier to bless us than we can imagine. As Paul wound up one of his prayers,

Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

That's enough superlatives for now. Have a great day, and a wonderful eternity!

Standing still is not an option (Luke 17)

The Lord Jesus Christ lived during desperate times. The roof was about to fall in on the society he was born into, and a palpable sense of doom infused the atmosphere. The stress apparently drove many to insanity and/or demonic possession. A proud people with several thousands years of continuous identity, the Jews were no longer masters of their own house. Think of the 19th century Ottoman citizen, whose taxes disappeared into the bowels of the Administration of Public Debt, a foreign-owned and foreign-managed tax farming agency.

Or, think of a 21st century American whose hard-earned monies ensure that a foreign-owned entity, a branch office of the Bank of England, will always make a profit. Even if the dollar must spiral into hyperinflation.

Israel fretted under the Roman yoke, and yearned for a recycled David or Moses to lead them against their overmasters. This did not make the political message of Jesus popular -- get used to it, because it's going to get a whole lot worse.

But what should those who heard Him do when the fertilizer finally hit the air conditioner?[1] His message was succinct. Run for it -- and don't look back.

Luk 17:31 O gün damda olan, evdeki eşyalarını almak için aşağı inmesin. Tarlada olan da geri dönmesin.
Luk 17:32 Lut'un karısını hatırlayın!
Luk 17:33 Canını esirgemek isteyen onu yitirecek. Canını yitiren ise onu yaşatacaktır.
Luk 17:34 Size şunu söyleyeyim, o gece aynı yatakta olan iki kişiden biri alınacak, öbürü bırakılacak.
Luk 17:35 Birlikte buğday öğüten iki kadından biri alınacak, öbürü bırakılacak."

Let's look at a few words:

• O gün -- that day
  
• damda olan -- on the roof / he is
  
• evdeki -- which is in the house
  
• eşyalarını -- his things (definite object)
  
• almak için -- in order to take (için is a postposition)
  
• aşağı -- below
• inmesin -- let him not go.
  

Remember Lot's wife!

During the middle of the last bloody century, whenever the Nazis or Communists took over a town, they stationed agents at the railroad stations to arrest anyone who showed up with a heavy suitcase. Refugees who escaped with their lives did so with the clothes on their backs. Period. You walk out of your house, as if for a brief stroll, leaving the door unlocked. Buy a short train ticket, perhaps to the next village. Rinse and repeat.

Lot's wife failed to escape because she could not turn loose of those things that anchored her to the doomed city of Sodom.

_______________

[1] This is a euphemism for the colorful American expression, "the shit hit the fan."

He says to himself (Luke 16)

Today, I'm recycling an entry I made on July 11, 2007, on my first trip through İncil.

It’s when you’re peddling uphill that you notice the flowers beside the road, and hear the birds or frogs singing. Amazing what you can see if you just slow down.

Every time you read the New Testament for the first time again, you’ll notice things that went past in a blur on prior readings. Sometimes, the effort of looking up new words and phrases in your bilingual dictionary jogs loose new connotations. Or, sometimes, seeing novel grammatical constructions several times piques your curiosity.

For example, the Turkish construction kendi kendine can be roughly translate “himself, to himself.” This occurs four times in Luke’s gospel, only once, in Matthew’s, and not at all in Mark or John.

Luka 9: ³⁹İsa'yı evine çağırmış olan Ferisi bunu görünce kendi kendine, «Bu adam peygamber olsaydı, kendisine dokunan bu kadının kim ve ne tür bir kadın olduğunu, günahkâr biri olduğunu anlardı» dedi.

The Pharisee who’d invited Jesus into his house says to himself, “If this man (recognize the word adam?) was a prophet, he’d know what kind of woman was touching him.”

Luka 12: ¹⁷Adam kendi kendine, `Ne yapmalıyım? Ürünlerimi koyacak yerim yok' diye düşünmüş.

The parable of the rich fool. “The man himself says to himself, what shall I do? I don’t have room to store this harvest, he reflects.”

Luka 12: . ^45-46Ama o köle kendi kendine, `Efendim gelmekte gecikiyor' derse ve kadın erkek diğer hizmetkârları dövmeye, yiyip içip sarhoş olmaya başlarsa, efendisi, onun beklemediği bir günde, ummadığı bir saatte gelecek, onu şiddetle cezalandıracak ve imansızlarla bir tutacaktır

Matt. 24: ^48-51Ama o köle kötü olur da kendi kendine, `Efendim gecikiyor' der ve yoldaşlarını dövmeye başlarsa, sarhoşlarla birlikte yiyip içerse, efendisi, onun beklemediği bir günde, ummadığı bir saatte gelecek, onu şiddetle cezalandıracak ve ikiyüzlülerle bir tutacak. Orada ağlayış ve diş gıcırtısı olacaktır.

But the evil slave says to himself, “My master delays his coming,” and goes on to mistreat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the partiers …

Luka 16: ³«Kâhya kendi kendine, `Ne yapacağım ben?' demiş. `Efendim kâhyalığı elimden alıyor. Toprak kazmaya gücüm yetmez, dilenmekten utanırım.

The parable of the crooked manager – one of my favorites, and most enigmatic. “The steward says to himself, ‘What shall I do? My master is taking away my stewardship. To dig I am not able, and to beg I am ashamed.” I'm too old to work construction, and really don't want to go on welfare!

Luka 18: ^4-5«Yargıç bir süre ilgisiz kalmış. Ama sonunda kendi kendine, `Ben her ne kadar Tanrı'dan korkmaz, insana saygı duymazsam da, bu dul kadın beni rahatsız ettiği için onun hakkını alacağım. Yoksa tekrar tekrar gelip beni canımdan bezdirecek' demiş.»

The parable of the cynical judge. “At last he says to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God or respect men, this widow will wear me out with her continuous seeking after justices.”

Luka 18: ¹¹Ferisi ayakta dikilip kendi kendine şöyle dua etmiş: `Tanrım, diğer insanlar gibi soyguncu, hak yiyici ve zina edici olmadığım için, hatta şu vergi görevlisi gibi olmadığım için sana şükrederim.

The parable of the Pharisee and the publication. “The Pharisee stood on his feet, and spoke to himself praying thus, ‘My God, I think you that I am not as other men..’”

It’s strange, but the people who indulge in these interior monologues are the villains of our Lord’s little stories. The supercilious dinner host. The rich fool. The unfaithful overseer. The crooked manager. The cynical judge. The self-congratulating, posturing “worshiper.” So what are we to learn from this? That endless internal monologues and self-promoting soliloquies are bad for your mental and moral health?

Or maybe Luke, with a deeper awareness of Greek culture, tuned into this aspect of our Lord’s story telling?

Like a slave (Luke 15)

Jesus apparently had too much fun hanging around with "the wrong kind of people." His message of a new Kingdom, a new life, a new beginning, was good news indeed to those whose old lives were nothing to write home about.[1]

His delight in unsavory friends was an ongoing challenge to the professionally righteous people who used their ritual achievements as a platform to look down upon others from.[2] Jesus alternated between denouncing the religious people, and reaching out to them. In today's chapter, He describes a heaven that rejoices when something valuable is found again. A lost sheep, and lost coin, and two lost sons. The parable of the "prodigal" (wasteful) son presents word pictures of a Father, a dutiful older brother, and a wild and reckless younger brother. When the spendthrift lad comes sneaking home, the Father receives him gladly. The older brother, OTOH, resents the attention given the one who has wasted perhaps as much as a third of the family's capital.[3] Let's eavesdrop on this bitter conversation:

Luk 15:28, 29 "Büyük oğul öfkelendi, içeri girmek istemedi. Babası dışarı çıkıp ona yalvardı. Ama o, babasına şöyle yanıt verdi: 'Bak, bunca yıl senin için köle gibi çalıştım, hiçbir zaman buyruğundan çıkmadım. Ne var ki sen bana, arkadaşlarımla eğlenmem için hiçbir zaman bir oğlak bile vermedin.
Luk 15:30 Oysa senin malını fahişelerle yiyen şu oğlun eve dönünce, onun için besili danayı kestin.'
Luk 15:31 "Babası ona, 'Oğlum, sen her zaman yanımdasın, neyim varsa senindir' dedi.
Luk 15:32 'Ama sevinip eğlenmek gerekiyordu. Çünkü bu kardeşin ölmüştü, yaşama döndü; kaybolmuştu, bulundu!'"

Let's take apart a few sentences:

• Bak -- behold,
• bunca yıl -- how many years
• senin için -- for you
• köle gibi -- like a slave (gibi, like için, is one of those intriguing Turkish postpositions, which function in approximately the same was as English prepositions. It just comes after the word it governs, rather than before!)
  
• çalıştım -- I labored.
• Oğlum, sen -- My son, you
  
• her zaman -- all the time
  
• yanımdasın -- beside me were
  
• neyim varsa -- everything I have
  
• senindir -- is yours

The family is an economic unit, but far more than that. The older son viewed his father as a stingy slavemaster, and missed a major benefit of being in a family. The "righteous" people of our Lord's day, He seems to say, also have a distorted image of God, and lead constipated, impoverished, and stingy lives.

May the generosity of heaven enlarge our souls today!

__________

[1] "nothing to write home about" is an American idiom that denigrates some thing, or some action, as inconsequential, or embarrassing.

[2] English, unlike Latin, can put prepositions at the end of sentences. Imposing Latin grammar on English prose is an exercise in snobbery, which results in the overuse of the word which. Which sounds the same as, but must not be confused with, witch.

[3] Biblical inheritance law gives a "double portion" to the oldest son, the one who is expected to take care of the parents in their dotage. If you have three sons, divide the inheritance into four parts, and give two parts to the responsible son. Historically, government "social security" programs results in decreased family sizes, since the family unit is no longer required to take care of its own. As a surrogate "child," the government then also becomes the surrogate heir, with estate taxes.

The setup (Luke 14)

An associate or friend invites you to a party at her house. Getting an invitation to anything is a big deal in the USA, which is a "low-context" culture.[1] You show up at the door, eager to spend a few hours snacking and talking -- and discover that you've walked into a sales pitch. For kitchen products. Cosmetics. Or maybe "special" vitamins.

You're a lonely college girl. An attractive frat boy[2] suddenly notices you, and invites you to a party. You primp, dress your best, and show up at the frat house, heart pounding, walk in -- and notice how the other girls are all obese, unkempt, plain, or downright ugly. Surprise! You get to star in a "pig party," a cruel joke where the frat brothers compete to see who can bring in the ugliest date.

We read of a similar incident in Luke 14:1-6:

Luk 14:1 Bir Şabat Günü İsa Ferisiler'in ileri gelenlerinden birinin evine yemek yemeye gitti. Herkes O'nu dikkatle gözlüyordu.
Luk 14:2 Önünde, vücudu su toplamış bir adam vardı.
Luk 14:3 İsa, Kutsal Yasa uzmanlarına ve Ferisiler'e, "Şabat Günü bir hastayı iyileştirmek Kutsal Yasa'ya uygun mudur, değil midir?" diye sordu.
Luk 14:4 Onlar ses çıkarmadılar. İsa adamı tutup iyileştirdi, sonra eve gönderdi.
Luk 14:5 İsa onlara şöyle dedi: "Hanginiz oğlu ya da öküzü Şabat Günü kuyuya düşer de hemen çıkarmaz?"
Luk 14:6 Onlar buna hiçbir karşılık veremediler.

A few words:

• Herkes -- All of them
• O'nu -- at him
• dikkatle -- carefully, attentively
• gözlüyordu -- stared.
  

In front of him stood a man with edema, visibly suffering from a disabling illness. I like the way the Greek expresses it:

καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν ὑδρωπικὸς ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ.

And LOOK! a man, who was waterlogged, before him.

It's a Sabbath day. Will this so-called teacher honor God by keeping the Sabbath? Or will he "do work" on the Lord's day of rest? Enquiring minds wanted to know! Actually, they already knew what to expect. After all, Jesus had a reputation as a compassionate healer. This situation was a setup, a trap, an effort to discredit Jesus. Interestingly enough, at this table, He turned the tables on His enemies, and went on to deride their transparent social climbing.

_________

[1] This is a sociological term. A "high context" culture puts a lot of energy into the connections between people. A "low context" culture values independence. You end up with a lot of lonely high achievers!

[2] Fraternities are a fixture of most American college campuses. Those who are selected for membership survive some kind of "hazing" ritual that usually claims several lives every year. In exchange, you forge lifelong connections with people of influence. For example, the 2004 US presidential election pitted two members of the secretive Yale "Skull & Bones" society against each other.

Use Western Union (Luke 13)

One of the early Hollywood moguls, perhaps Samuel Meyers, had some pithy thoughts about the primary purpose of movies: to make a profit, by providing entertainment that people would want to buy. For example, he said, "It's better to sell four tickets than two." In other words, make movies that grownups can bring the kids to watch. He also said, "If you want to send a message, use Western Union."[1] A movie made as a means to another end is not likely to do well at the box office.

The eye of faith frequently sees tokens of God's hand at work in the universe. For example, a few weeks ago, a chartered airplane carrying two children and five grandchildren of the nation's largest private abortion profiteer crashed into a Catholic cemetery -- which includes a monument to the aborted children of our nation. It's tempting to read a message into the event -- a guy who made his millions by killing other people's children loses his own. At a place that commemorates the heinous source of the wealth that chartered the plane. Is there a message there? And if so, will it be received? Well, I'm not God, so I'll stay out of that loop. İsa warns us that we need to be careful about our assumptions:

Luk 13:1 O sırada bazı kişiler gelip İsa'ya bir haber getirdiler. Pilatus'un nasıl bazı Celileliler'i öldürüp kanlarını kendi kestikleri kurbanların kanına kattığını anlattılar.
Luk 13:2 İsa onlara şöyle karşılık verdi: "Böyle acı çeken bu Celileliler'in, bütün öbür Celileliler'den daha günahlı olduğunu mu sanıyorsunuz?
Luk 13:3 Size hayır diyorum. Ama tövbe etmezseniz, hepiniz böyle mahvolacaksınız.
Luk 13:4 Ya da, Şiloah'taki kule üzerlerine yıkılınca ölen o on sekiz kişinin, Yeruşalim'de yaşayan öbür insanların hepsinden daha suçlu olduğunu mu sanıyorsunuz?
Luk 13:5 Size hayır diyorum. Ama tövbe etmezseniz, hepiniz böyle mahvolacaksınız."
Luk 13:6 İsa şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Adamın birinin bağında dikili bir incir ağacı vardı. Adam gelip ağaçta meyve aradı, ama bulamadı.
Luk 13:7 Bağcıya, 'Bak' dedi, 'Ben üç yıldır gelip bu incir ağacında meyve arıyorum, bulamıyorum. Onu kes. Toprağın besinini neden boş yere tüketsin?'
Luk 13:8 "Bağcı, 'Efendim' diye karşılık verdi, 'Ağacı bir yıl daha bırak, bu arada ben çevresini kazıp gübreleyeyim.
Luk 13:9 Gelecek yıl meyve verirse, ne iyi; vermezse, onu kesersin.'"

And, a few words:

• tövbe -- repentance. tövbe etmek -- to repent. tövbe etmezseniz -- unless you (plural) repent.
  
• hepiniz -- all of you.
  

In other words, we all have skeletons in our own closets to worry about. We are all given a space of time on this earth to "get with the program." But sooner or later, time, and God's patience, will run out.

Yet the God of the İncil yearns to provide the best of everything to those who will hear His call to repentance, and pledge their allegiance to Him:

Luk 13:34 "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.
Luk 13:35 Bakın, eviniz ıssız bırakılacak! Size şunu söyleyeyim: 'Rab'bin adıyla gelene övgüler olsun!' diyeceğiniz zamana dek beni bir daha görmeyeceksiniz."

_____________

[1] Western Union was the old monopoly telegraph company.