Sorry I've been scarce lately. I had a funeral to attend on Friday, a two hour drive in each direction and of course I got lost going and coming. It's an interesting experience for me being in church, which rarely happens. The last wedding I attended was actually a Jewish wedding, and it was out doors. The funeral happened at a very fancy, very old church in Cambridge, Massachusetts with plaques commemorating such late congregants as Henry Cabot Lodge. Out of respect of course I stood and sat on cue, just as I covered my head at the Jewish wedding, but I didn't recite the mumbo jumbo.
Christianity, unlike many religions including Judaism (generally), is distinctive in that it proselytizes. Most religious groups are content to remain within themselves, in fact they value their religion as a marker of ethnic identity and are not interested in accepting converts. In fact in the Torah conversion is strongly discouraged, although in the Book of Ruth it is accepted, specifically for the purpose of marriage, and this is largely how it stands with contemporary Judaism. Actually the wedding I attended was of a Christian cousin who converted to Judaism in order to marry. But otherwise Jewish sects rarely actively seek converts.
Which brings us to Chapter 10. Jesus sends his disciples out to try to convert Jews to his cult, but he orders them to stay away from the Gentile and the Samaritans. Gentiles simply means non-Jews, but the Samaritans at this time were a breakaway group from the main body of Judaism. It's a complicated story and their own understanding of the history is a bit different from that of the Rabbinical Jews, but it doesn't much matter. The point is that for now, Jesus is only interested in preaching to the Jews. However, he changes his mind in Chapter 28, as we shall eventually see, and the disciples after his death began to proselytize among anyone who would listen. That's been the fundamental nature of Christianity ever since. Among other historical consequences, of course, is the form taken by European imperialism.
A couple of specific notes. The roster of the 12 apostles is slightly different in the various gospels and in Acts. The prophecy that following Jesus will rip families apart is one I can confirm has come true. Otherwise, you can make what you will of the various assertions and images in the latter part of this chapter. It mostly seems like gibberish to me but people interpret it all however they will.
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[c]37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 10:8 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
- Matthew 10:29 Or will; or knowledge
- Matthew 10:36 Micah 7:6
1 comment:
As someone who grew up Jewish in America, it's hard to know where to start calling out the bullshit in the books of the Christian bible.
First of all, the authors of the books -- I know we're just reading Matthew so far -- choose one disable to "betray" Jesus, and that disciple's name is "Judas" -- sounds like "Jew," or "Jude(n)" ["Jew(s)", in German]. And then, Jesus is basically setting up a cult with his disciples: follow me only, I'm more important than your daughters, your sons, your wife, your husbands, your parents, etc. Follow me, and everything will be hunky-dory. But betray those closest to you. Join my cult.
And then this fictional figure of Jesus tells the disciples that he's giving them the power (as his deputies) to heal leprosy, raise the dead, etc. etc. blah blah blah, and the precondition for performing these miracles for other folks is that people follow Jesus as being god. Then they'll be "saved," whatever the fuck that means.
The aspect of proselytization that you mentioned is behind much of the death and suffering in western civilization.
Finally, there is the extremely annoying language, which is bullshit and makes no sense: "Son of Man," "Truly I tell you."
So the biblical figure of Jesus is a crazed narcissist, a con man. Sound like anyone we know? The point here is that Christianity is complete bullshit, and believing this nonsense predisposes people to following psychopaths like Hitler and Shitler. Which a lot of them did and do.
Anyone rational enough to read this blog on a regular basis probably believes, as I do, that religion in general is bullshit, an unfortunate institution that helps people -- who want some spiritual foundation in their lives -- to (ironically) abdicate responsibility for their actions and to exclude non-members. But this one particular religion seems to have been perpetrated on humanity as an ineffably harmful, malevolent hoax.
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