Wednesday Bible Study: What were those commandments, again?

Matthew 19 is a compendium of disparate items. The Catholic proscription of divorce is based on the first part, but of course they don't really enforce it. If you have pull with the Bishop, you can get an annulment. In verse 12, he appears to suggest that if you don't think you can make a faithful marriage, you should castrate yourself. In fact, many monks did so! It isn't clear what he means by people being born as eunuchs -- maybe he's alluding to homosexuality?

 

When Jesus is asked to list the commandments, he lists only 6, not ten, and one of them is not among the original ten. So maybe Christians shouldn't be trying to display the Ten Commandments in school, but only these six. 

 

Then there's the bit about rich people not being able to enter the kingdom of heaven, which sounds good to me, except that he leaves an out. With God all things are possible after all, ergo rich people ignore this, as do the preachers who gladly take their donations. 

 

I've been busy the past couple of days so light posting, but I'll get back to it. These are interesting times. 

 

19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a] 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The Little Children and Jesus

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”

²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27
2. Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24
3. Matthew 19:19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20
4. Matthew 19:19 Lev. 19:18
5. Matthew 19:29 Some manuscripts do not have or wife.

 

Sunday Sermonette: Pick and choose the good parts if you like

The sayings attributed to Jesus are a weird stew of admirable sentiments, grotesque admonitions, and the utterly inscrutable. This means that people can make of Jesus what they want by selective citation. The Jesus presented to me in Sunday school was mostly the good stuff, such as the first 5 verses. The stuff about self-amputation I'll grant is probably not meant to be taken literally. Verse 19, like the grain of mustard seed and moving mountains, is obviously false. The part about forgiveness seems nice, but the part about eternal torture if you don't forgive not so much. It's all like that. 

 

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Causing to Stumble

⁶ “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷ Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. ^[11] [a]

¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Dealing With Sin in the Church

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[b] sins,^[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^{[d] 17} If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be^[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[f] loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[g]

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[h] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Footnotes

1. Matthew 18:11 Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke 19:10.
2. Matthew 18:15 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35.
3. Matthew 18:15 Some manuscripts sins against you
4. Matthew 18:16 Deut. 19:15
5. Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
6. Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
7. Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
8. Matthew 18:24 Greek ten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.
9. Matthew 18:28 Greek a hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see 20:2).

 

What might real criminal justice look like?

We have seen that criminal conviction, with or without lengthy incarceration, results in many cases in increasing, not decreasing, the likelihood that a person will be arrested and charged again. Of course incarceration makes it even worse. We have also seen why harsher punishments are not generally effective deterrents to most forms of crime. Given the profound racial disparities and socio-economic disparities in arrest, charging, conviction and sentencing, the "criminal justice" system as it now operates serves largely to amplify and more deeply entrench inequality and disadvantage.

At the same time, it is those very neighborhoods where disadvantage is concentrated that face the most severe impacts from the kinds of highly visible crime that make the nightly news, which only serves to further degrade the quality of life and opportunities for people who live there. People in those neighborhoods are often the most vociferous in demanding enhanced police protection. How do we break this vicious circle?

 

There are many projects underway right now to try to do that. Principles to keep in mind are, first of all, effective deterrence does not depend on the severity of punishment, but on the swiftness and likelihood of accountability.  That's a much better word than punishment because it takes the idea of vengeance out of the goal. Granted, often victims and victims' loved ones do want vengeance for the most egregious crimes, but remember that we agreed in the beginning that we aren't talking about rape of children or rape murders or other most egregious offenses. We would have to consider those separately.

 

So what do we mean by accountability? First of all, the person who committed the crime has to get the message, in no uncertain terms, that the conduct is unacceptable. Brief incarceration may help to get that message across in some cases, but longer term incarceration is mostly counterproductive. In appropriate circumstances, losing the right to drive or own a firearm, for some substantial term, may be called for. (Note however that outside of urban environments that are well-served by mass transit, losing the right to drive can also mean losing the ability to work, or go to school.) A restraining order, to keep the person away from people she or he has harmed can make the victims feel safer, and vindicated, assuming they are enforced, and also serve to drive home the message to the offender that they have done wrong.

 

Restitution and/or community service serve two purposes: they create responsibility that, again, signals to the offender the wrongness of their actions, but they also create the possibility of atonement and forgiveness. In fact they can increase the person's self-esteem and even lead to a habit of volunteering, or a profession. At the same time, we need to meet the needs and try to fix the problems that created a high risk of criminal offending in the first place. 

 

This is where much of the public balks. Why should criminals get mental health and substance abuse treatment, tutoring and specialized classes so they can get a GED or a trade, employability service and job placement, transportation vouchers, help finding housing . . . . when I don't get any of those things, at least not affordably. Those are very good questions, and I think you already know my answer. 

 

Anyway, although models vary somewhat, the basic concept is called diversion, and/or alternative sentencing. The judge delays the trial date (a euphemism -- very few cases go to trial, contra Law and Order, most result in a plea) and imposes some conditions the person needs to meet. These may indeed include restitution or community service, along with conditions such as mental health evaluation and following treatment recommendations; SUD evaluation and following treatment recommendations; random drug/alcohol testing; anger management classes, and a restraining order or curfew. Although these are often conditions of bail, most people get little or no help finding and accessing services.

 

The ideal program, therefore, puts everything under one roof. This includes intake assessment and individual service planning (called the “Life Skills Development Plan” in one program I'm familiar with); mental health and life skills counseling; medical assessment and referral, or ideally, primary care in the same setting, integrated with behavioral health care; SUD counseling and referral if indicated; housing assistance; financial counseling; employability and employment. Also, very important, case management: someone to make sure the person gets the services they need, and also arranges for community service, restitution, drug and alcohol testing, and keeps in touch with the courts. 

 

At the end of the process, if the person completes all of the requirements, and has not been re-arrested, they will see their charges dismissed and -- very important! -- their record expunged. That relieves them of all the disabilities that come with a criminal record. That doesn't mean the record is invisible to the court if the person is charged with a new crime, but it is invisible to potential employers, schools and landlords. 

 

Certainly there are additional considerations in some cases. People in recovery from SUD, for example, often want to be peer counselors, or work in health care settings. Due consideration is required for their own safety. Furthermore there is a complicated discussion to be had about SUD treatment more broadly, what works and what is required for it to work.  Obviously we aren't talking about child abusers being able to work in child care or elementary schools, although there is a very complicated discussion to be had about the public labeling of sex offenders. I'm not about to go into all that right now but I might in the future. 

 

Anyway, all of this may be a hard sell politically, especially right now, but what I'm doing for a living right now is trying to prove that it works. There's already growing evidence for it but we need to nail it down. Maybe we'll never get Republican legislators to vote for it but the solution to that is to vote them out of office. I'm happy to take any questions.

Wednesday Bible Study: More and more ridiculous

For those who don't know, understand that the chapters we're reading right now are among the most important in Christian mythology. However, if you think about it at all, this is just a lot of folderol that is essentially meaningless. There is no message or lesson here that is in any way relevant to how we should live, how we should behave, or how the world works. There is no moral to these tales.

 

This does introduce the concept of reincarnation and an afterlife, which was not really part of Jewish believe previously. So far, however, it only pertains to Moses and Elijah. Elijah, it turns out, was reincarnated as John the Baptist. The second coming of Elijah was a necessary precursor to the coming of the Messiah, according to the Book of Malachi, which is why this is necessary. However, Malachi was written somewhere around 500 BC and it predicted that these events were imminent. Moses just makes a brief visit to earth. In verse 20, Jesus says that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move a mountain. Well, no you can't. As for finding the coin for the temple tax in the fishes mouth, who the hell knows what that's supposed to mean? 

 

17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³ Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” ⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” ^[21] [a]

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

²² When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. ²³ They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

The Temple Tax

²⁴ After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵ “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

²⁶ “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. ²⁷ “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Footnotes

1. Matthew 17:21 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 9:29.

  

One of the most important causes of crime is criminal "justice"

From the same survey as the previous post, here's a list of problems people being released from jail expect to face.

 

 

When people are released on probation or parole, the court often mandates that they receive substance abuse treatment. However, none of those other problems are ever addressed by court mandates or services provided by the criminal justice system. At the same time, people with criminal records have great difficulty finding employment, or housing, not just because they usually didn't have a lot of marketable skills or earning potential to begin with, but because most employers won't hire people with criminal records -- or even pending charges -- and people with criminal records are usually excluded from subsidized housing. So what is likely to happen to people who are out on the street, can't get a job, and can't get housing, who often have mental health and/or substance use disorders, may be estranged from their families? I think you can guess.

 

So why do people commit crimes in the first place (Ted Bundy and Bernie Madoff aside)? Believe it or not, a guy named Gary S. Becker, who won a Nobel Prize in economics, came up with something called the "economic theory of crime." Because the pseudo-science of economics -- which is really more akin to a religion than to a science -- accepts as one of its tenets of faith that people are "rational" economic actors, Becker concluded that criminals are "rational." People will violate the law if the expected value of the gains from crime, less (cost * risk) of possible punishment, exceeds the rewards of licit economic activity. The policy prescription is to make sure that crime doesn't pay by ramping up punishments. 

 

I hope I don't need to tell you why this ridiculous. Well before mass incarceration, blue-collar crime didn’t pay. Now the “wages” for, say, burglary, are pennies per hour. And people who shoplift or rob liquor stores aren’t thinking 5 years ahead. Just as important, most violent crimes aren’t instrumental at all. They’re personal disputes that escalate, or impulsive acts. They have zero financial reward. People who do commit crimes are characteristically present-oriented and impulsive, and have poor judgment. These are consequences of growing up in a high crime environment, neglectful or abusive parenting, and other disadvantages. But criminal justice involvement and incarceration aren't going to solve these problems, they just make them worse. 

 

Another reason why long sentences are counterproductive is that most people age out of criminal behavior. The human brain isn't fully developed until age 25 or so -- younger people generally have poorer impulse control and judgement than older people. The authorities generally recognize this with affluent white kids and they'll get a break for youthful hijinks and indiscretions. No such luck for the poor and non-white. So here's the summary:

 

 

 

So next time, I'll discuss what does work.

Sunday Sermonette: The main point

 Chapter 16 is the most essential chapter in the entire Bible to the Catholic Church, as Jesus essentially founds the church and appoints the first pope. This is also where he declares himself to be the Messiah, by assenting to Peter. There is a good deal I could say about this but I'll just leave you with one really big, really major problem: the last two verses. Obviously, that didn't happen within the lifetime of any of the people who heard this, and the church is still waiting for it. Oops!

 

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

² He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.^{[a] 4} A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶ “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹ How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[c] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[e] loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Predicts His Death

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Footnotes

1. Matthew 16:3 Some early manuscripts do not have When evening comes … of the times.
2. Matthew 16:18 The Greek word for Peter means rock.
3. Matthew 16:18 That is, the realm of the dead
4. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
5. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
6. Matthew 16:25 The Greek word means either life or soul; also in verse 26.

 

Why crime?

Okay, given that we understand that neither Ted Bundy nor Bernie Madoff, or for that matter John Gotti, are representative of people who are charged with crimes, let's see what is true about the population of people who are incarcerated. We don't have good nationwide data but here's a recent cross section of the New York City jail population.

 

 

 As you can see, most have limited education, and were unemployed. Many have been homeless, and they have high rates of emotional disorders and Emergency Room use. So why did we start to incarcerate so many people in the 1980s? 

 

The first reason is that prisons replaced mental hospitals. 

Beginning in the ’70s, courts ruled that mental health patients should be moved from hospitals to community based services. States saved money by closing mental hospitals, but people were released without adequate care, housing, or social support. The idea was supposed to be that the states would replace institutional settings with community based supports, group homes, and outpatient mental health clinics. But for the most part, they never did that second part. Many people who were formerly institutionalized became homeless, and were arrested for substance abuse, petty theft, and disruptive behavior.A 2009 study found that 14.5% of men and 31% of women in jail suffered from serious mental illness. Available services preferentially benefit people with private insurance and less severe illness. Many providers, including state hospitals, will not accept Medicaid.

 

So here's what happened. These two curves are nearly mirror images.

 

 

The second reason is the war on some people who use some drugs. Of course these populations overlap to a large extent, as you can see.

 

 

 Historically, white and Black people have used illicit drugs at very similar rates, but Black people far more likely to be incarcerated for drug-related offenses. This is due to disproportionate police attention to minority communities,  disproportionate arrest, disproportionate charging, and disproportionate sentencing. 

 

These disparities begin with juvenile justice. In the affluent white suburban town where I grew up, if the cops busted kids partying they'd confiscate the pot and beer and tell them to get lost. (Then they'd smoke the pot and drink the beer themselves.) You know what happened to Black kids in the city. I did a study funded by the Office of Justice Programs in a couple of New Hampshire cities a while back, and basically, 100% of the white kids who were arrested were diverted to community service or counseling, and 100% of the Black and Hispanic kids were prosecuted. This is entirely at the discretion of the police, just to be clear. And being sentenced to a juvenile correctional institution is a straight path to adult prison.

 

Next we'll talk about the consequences of criminal conviction. 

 

 

 

Some true facts about crime

 

We must acknowledge that there are people who for whatever reason lack conscience or empathy, a condition for which there is no sure cure, and who cannot be in an uncontrolled environment. They are rare in real life, but very common on TV. We're not talking about Ted Bundy or Dennis Rader here. They don't constitute a blip in the statistics. However, they are the staple of TV police procedurals, which means that they constitute people's idea of what crime and criminals are all about.

 

In the next slide, I've lined up a graph showing the U.S. prison and jail population over time with the reported crime rate. We don't have reliable data on the crime rate going back as far as 1925, so the matchup begins in 1960. 

 

 

 

 I'm sorry if the dates are a little hard to read, but basically, the crime rate started to rise around 1975 and peaked in the early 1990s. The rate of incarceration followed that trend at first, but when the crime rate started to fall after 1995, the incarceration rate just kept going up, and didn't peak until 2010. Now it has come down a bit, but not nearly proportionately. The crime rate now is back to just a bit more than where it was before the increase began, and is probably pretty close to where it was throughout most of the 20th Century. So yes, we did have a troubling, and rather mysterious epidemic of violent crime, but it's been over for a while now. However, the corporate media, the general public, and politicians haven't gotten the memo.

 

We'll get back to why this may have happened. I personally think there's a pretty powerful single reason for it, but in order to understand it, we first need to consider who the people are who are incarcerated and involved in the criminal justice system. I remind you, that's not entirely congruent with the population of people who actually commit crimes, but it is in the minds of the public. 

Wednesday Bible Study: A man who cannot make up his mind

 Perhaps you remember Chapter 5, in which Jesus says the following:

 

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

 

Evidently he no longer believes this, because he nullifies the dietary laws in Verse 10 et seq. (And BTW, it is actually a good idea to wash your hands before you eat.) Then he calls a Canaanite woman a dog, and refuses to heal her, but after she grovels some more he finally relents. That's mighty Christian of him. Finally, the disciples shouldn't have been surprised when he feeds the multitude with seven loaves and a few fish, because he just did the same trick in the previous chapter. No doubt, just as with much of the Tanakh, this is a case of two versions of the oral tradition making it into the document.

 

5 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{[b] 5} But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

²⁹ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
2. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
3. Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
4. Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind

 

Turns out my series on crime is timely!

In his ongoing desperate attempt to get people to stop talking about his late friend Eppy, The Dumpster is promising a military occupation of the nation's capital in order to eliminate crime.  Crime in D.C. is actually at a 30 year low -- oh no, I take that back, it's just that the crimes are being committed by members of the federal executive branch. Anyway, here's my slide that sets up the rest of the talk:

 

 

 

 

 

Now I'm going to jump ahead and tell you what has really been happening historically, and what people believe, which is the exact opposite, at least for Republicans.

 

Here's the perception:

 

 

 

 And here's the reality:

 

 

 

Property crimes and violent crimes have been falling, steadily and quite dramatically, for 30 years. Here's what's really interesting:

 

 

 

While Joe Biden was president, 90% -- that's right, 90%  of Republicans believed that crime was increasing, while only 29% of Democrats thought that. But it wasn't true! It was a lie! Have you ever heard of Republicans believing lies before? It's quite astonishing. Anyway, next time I'll talk about why crime happens, how it's related to incarceration, and some likely reasons it's been declining, at least until this year.

Sunday Sermonette: Mystery Character

It's worth asking why the synoptic gospels make so much of the character of John the Baptist. He is pretty much irrelevant to Christian theology -- Jesus could be the son of God, preach, perform miracles, get himself crucified, be resurrected and become your Lord and Savior if John the Baptist never existed. The story of his imprisonment and death is entirely irrelevant to the ministry of Jesus. 

 

This has to do somehow with the politics of the era. As I have suggested before, a likely hypothesis is that Christianity emerged from a Jewish sect, specifically the Essenes or an Essene splinter group, and that John is an important figure to that sect. The story of his death as told in Chapter 14 is connected with some very complicated politics of the Roman administration. Some of the details are unclear in the historical record. If you're really interested you can read the Wikipedia article on Herodias. 

 

To put it in as small a nutshell as I can, the man called Herod here is obviously not the Herod who killed all the babies at the beginning of the story, but his successor. He is not however the first Herod's son, and Herod isn't even his real name. There is some confusion about who he actually was and what his real name was. Anyway, Herodias had divorced her first husband, who was indeed Herod II, but for complicated reasons (read the Wikipedia article if you really care) Herod the Great dropped Herod II from the line of succession, and at some point Herodias divorced him, and married the new successor, although we aren't sure who he actually was. In any case, John the Baptist opposed the marriage, which is why he got in trouble. 

 

It is strange indeed that Herod says in the beginning that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead because, obviously, at this point John the Baptist is not dead but very much alive, in Herod's prison. So you'll have to figure that out for yourself. Anyway, as we read on, when Jesus learns of John's death, it basically doesn't matter, he just goes on preaching and performing miracles as if nothing has happened. This is where we get the loaves and fishes. Remember that Satan tempted Jesus by proposing that he miraculously create food, and Jesus intimated that would be an improper use of his powers. It seems he changed his mind. Then he walked on water.

 

14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

 

International comparisons of crime rates

 Okay, since there was such a thunderous response to my presentation of the variables captured in the "crime rate," I'll just point out that neither system captures most of what we think of as white collar crime. Bernie Madoff, Bernie Ebers and Ken Lay aren't in there. Drug companies that illegally market products off label aren't in there. In fact, their crimes, and most forms of financial fraud, aren't usually treated as crimes at all. Viz. Trump University. The perpetrators sign a consent decree saying they didn't do it, they won't do it again, and they pay a fine that is substantially less than the profit they made from the fraud. 

 

Anyway, leaving all that aside, the UN does compile data on crime rates internationally. However, due to different definitions of crime, different likelihood of particular categories of crime being reported or ascertained by authorities, and varying reliability of the data collection process, comparisons are most valid for murder and armed robbery. Comparing murder rates, the U.S. ranks 10th in the world, just after Mongolia. (Jamaica, for some reason, is number one.) Remember, however, that we rank 5th in the rate of incarceration. However, for overall ascertained crime -- what the UN calls the "crime index," the U.S. is pretty average, 57th overall, comparable to Belgium and Sweden. 

 

I don't have to tell you the reason why we are so good at murder even though we don't have exceptionally much crime overall. The best way to kill someone is to use a machine designed specifically for that purpose, and we have more of them than anybody. So, these are some major caveats:

 

• “Crime” in official statistics does not generally include financial fraud, deceptive marketing or sales fraud, confidence schemes and extortion.
• Most crimes are not reported or ascertained, particularly in the above categories. Sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence are certainly underreported.

So, here are my takeaways for today.

 

 

 Next, we'll discuss the nature of the "crime" problem and what to do about it.

 

 

 

 

What does "crime rate" mean?

Could it be that the reason the U.S. incarcerates more people is that we simply have more crime? That's a reasonable question, although obviously if it is true locking people up doesn't seem to be solving the problem. But is it true? That's actually quite a complicated question. 

 

First of all, we have to define "crime." Dictionary definitions are generally of the effect that "Crime is behavior . . . defined by statutory or common law as deserving of punishment or penalty.” However, there are huge differences over time and place -- among countries, states and even cities, in what behavior is regarded as criminal. For example, sex work was legal in Rhode Island until quite recently, and it is legal today in Nevada, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The definition of criminality also changes over time due to changing social norms -- e.g. alcohol, homosexual acts, pornography, marijuana. It used to be perfectly legal in the U.S. for men to beat and rape their wives. I could go on but you get the idea.

 

In fact, although many acts that once were illegal are no longer, the changing social, material and technological context tends to increase the scope of the law. The invention of the motor vehicle led to a huge new body of criminal law. Computers and the Internet created a need for whole new categories of legislation to address new kinds of fraud and abuse. On the other hand some laws are enforced inconsistently, or rarely, or only against some groups of people. And there are huge differences among jurisdictions in what is considered serious or trivial. When we talk about crime rates, we usually aren't including minor offenses like parking tickets, littering, or even, say, public urination. So what are we talking about?

 

In the U.S. there are two main sources for "crime rate" numbers: FBI Uniform Crime Reports, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey. Here's the summary:

 

 

 

You may notice a few things of interest. I'll come back tomorrow to discuss them. 

 

 

The Carceral State

The United States has many distinctions, but one we probably should not be proud of is that we incarcerate a higher percentage of our population than all but a few countries we probably don't want to be compared to. We aren't quite number one, but we aren't in proud company. Here are the top six:

 

 

 

Okay, North Korea would probably be on there if we had reliable data, but that's scant comfort. And just looking at comparable countries, we're totally off the charts:

 

 

 And I hope the next picture doesn't come as a big surprise.

 

 

 

Welllll, you might say, maybe we have an exceptionally high crime rate. No, we don't. However, that's rather complicated. I'll take up the question of crime rates next.

Smart on Crime

I stole the title or this post from an essay by Mark A.R. Kleinman, in the journal Democracy, from which I pull this quote:

 

“Conservatives, who want to fight crime by hurting people who commit it, have a natural rhetorical advantage over liberals, whose tendency is to fight crime by helping those who have committed it or might do so.”

Mark A.R. Kleiman*

* Democracy. 28. 2013

 

I'm going to present a series of posts, based on a talk I gave recently. As you must know, the perception is widespread that crime in the U.S. has been increasing, that it constitutes a crisis, and that it's all the fault of bleeding heart liberals. None of this is actually true, but nowadays that doesn't matter. I'll discuss the reality of crime in the U.S., including statistics, the nature of the problem, and what we ought to do about it. Here are my next two slides:

 

 

 

 

 It probably won't surprise you that I'm somewhat more sympathetic to the first set of propositions than I am to the second, but they both need some criticizing. We'll embark on that journey next.

 

 

Wednesday Bible Study: Deepitude

A deepitude is a saying that may seem profound or wise at first glance, but turns out to be shallow or nonsensical. I believe it has been applied specifically to Deepak Choprah, but Matthew 13 is pretty much the quintessence of deepitude. JC clothes the simplest of ideas in elaborate allegories, avowedly for the purpose of making them difficult to understand. It also turns out that the people who know him best -- the neighbors he grew up with -- think he's a charlatan. Hmm.

 

Oh yeah, he has brothers and sisters. So Mary must not be a virgin. Just sayin'.

 

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹ He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’^[a]

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

³¹ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. ³² Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

³³ He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds^[b] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

³⁴ Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. ³⁵ So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,
    I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”^[c]

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷ “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

⁵² He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

A Prophet Without Honor

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴ Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. ⁵⁵ “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”

⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 13:15 Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)
2. Matthew 13:33 Or about 27 kilograms
3. Matthew 13:35 Psalm 78:2