CADRE Comments

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) Lots of plotnotes to this entry, for various reasons; starting with some observations helpful in understanding what happens up in Syro-Phoenicia. Tyre and Sidon were two major port cities of the old Phoenician Empire, along the southern Syrian coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Galilee region of Palestine. The cities were under Roman Empire rule at that time, of course, along with everything else around "the Sea Amid the Land". These cities still exist and are still major ports for the nation of Syria. In deep antiquity, traders from Phoenicia established port cities further south along the Mediterranean Coast, forming the semi-independent territory of Canaan (Hebrew for 'trader'); often warring with the Hebrews, and eventually defeated and assimilated. At the ti...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) The GosLuke incidents reported in this chapter had no specific time/place tags--Luke implies very generally, by putting them where he does, that they happen during Jesus' final tour of Galilee on the way back to Jerusalem to die. Which still fits the general timeframe I am assigning them here; but since Luke isn't more explicit about the linkages, I've ported them over to fill a chapter while Jesus and His disciples are on the way north into Syria from Jerusalem. Plus, if crowds are following Jesus after the spats He recently had, with Pharisee disciples/supporters of His bowing out--and with His knowledge of where He's going, which soon becomes a key topic in preparing His disciples--then I can easily imagine Him nipping the crowd's enthusiasms by implicitly comparing ...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) The Death of the Year (The Evangelist continues:) Now there came to be the winter Feast of Dedications in Jerusalem; and Jesus walked among the Temple columns in the portico of Solomon. The Jews (meaning Jewish leaders, per the Evangelist's standard usage) therefore surrounded Him and said to Him: "If you are the Anointed King, then tell us plainly!" Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you don't believe. "The works which I am doing in My Father's name are testifying to Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep--just as I have told you. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them; and they are following Me. Now I am giving them God's own life, and they shall by no means be dying-into-the-eon. "And no one shall be snatching them...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) Another main dramatic climax in this chapter. Keep in mind that the Feast of Tabernacles is also known as the Feast of Light and Water. Of Light and Water... and Tenting Among Us After awhile, midway through the Feast (of Tabernacles, says the Evangelist), Jesus went up into the Temple and taught. The Jews (i.e. leaders among the Jews) therefore were marveling, saying, "Where has this man learned his letters, not having been taught (i.e. formally by a rabbi)??" So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching isn't Mine, but His Who sends Me! "If anyone ever wants to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or (whether) I am speaking from Myself. "He who speaks from himself, seeks his own glory; but He Who seeks the glory of the One Who sends Him...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) The Good Portion Now at their going (says the Scholar), Jesus went into a certain village. [Footnote: Bethany, according to other story contexts--what we would call a suburb of Jerusalem over on the other side of Olivet Hill, where Jesus would often stay at night when He was in the area.] And a certain woman named Martha entertained Him in her home; and she had a sister named Mary, who sat at the feet of the Lord (i.e. learning as a disciple from a rabbi), hearing the Word of the Lord. Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together around Him when they had come from Jerusalem (say the Follower and the Disciple); and seeing that some of His disciples are eating their bread with impure hands... --that is, unwashed (explains the Follower for his audience), for the Pharisees and al...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) Blind Sheep, Blind Shepherds, and the Door of Life Now (says the Evangelist, telling of something several months later), the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (early-to-mid autumn) was near. So the brothers of Jesus said to Him: "Leave here and go into Judea, so your disciples (there) may also behold your works which you are doing. For no one does anything in hiding when he is seeking publicity--if you are doing these things, reveal yourself to the world!" For not even His brothers were trusting Him (to know what He was doing). Jesus therefore said to them, "This is not My season yet; but the season for you is always here. The world cannot hate you; but it hates Me, because I testify about it that its acts are evil. "Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this fe...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) Knights and King, Errant Now getting into the boat, Jesus and His disciples crossed over again and came to His own city (Capernaum). And the crowd (whom He had given the slip by departing in the middle of the night before) welcomed His return, for they had all been hoping He would! And Jesus, standing beside the lake, sees the crowd as they gather to Him; and He has compassion on them, for they are harassed and thrown down, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He is saying to His disciples: "The harvest is vast; but the workers are few. Therefore implore the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest!" Now calling together the twelve apostles, He gives them authority over all the demons in order to cast them out, and to be curing every disease and every disability! Je...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: see here for the previous entry; and see here for the first entry of the series. (It explains what I'm doing, and how, and contains the Johannine prologue.) This 'chapter' runs rather long, for obvious reasons so I've broken it into two entries. Scripture refs for both parts are given together at the end of this entry. The King Declares the Kingdom (Part 2 of 2) "Beware of doing your fair-togetherness in front of people to be noticed by them; otherwise, surely you have no reward with your Father in the heavens! "Therefore, when you do an act of charity, you should not sound a trumpet in front of you!--the way that hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by people. Truly I tell you: this is all the reward they will have! "But when you do charity, do not even let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your alms (the money given in charity) may be in hiding; and yo...