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Tag: parable

Matthew 25 – Parable of the Ten Virgins
Awake, the voice is calling us!
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"Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling us) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". 

It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying" (Catherine Winkworth, 1858), "Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling" (Francis Crawford Burkitt, 1906), and "Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple" (George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1908). 

The hymn is known as the foundation of J.S. Bach's chorale cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, as well as being the foundation of settings by other composers.

P. Nicolai wrote the hymn in 1598, a time when the plague had hit. - Source:  BachCantatas.com
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Wake up, the voice calls us
of the watchmen high up on the battlements,
wake up, you city of Jerusalem!
This hour is called midnight;
they call us with a clear voice:
where are you, wise virgins ?
Get up, the bridegroom comes;
Stand up, take your lamps! Hallelujah!
Alleluia!
Make yourselves ready
for the wedding,
you must go to meet him!

Zion hears the watchmen sing,
her heart leaps for joy,
she awakes and gets up in haste.
Her friend comes from heaven in his splendour,
strong in mercy, mighty in truth.
Her light becomes bright, her star rises.
Now come, you worthy crown,
Lord Jesus, God’s son!
Hosanna!
We all follow
to the hall of joy
and share in the Lord’s supper.

May gloria be sung to you
with the tongues of men and angels,
with harps and with cymbals.
The gates are made of twelve pearls,
in your city we are companions
of the angels on high around your throne.
No eye has ever perceived,
no ear has ever heard
such joy.
Therefore we are joyful,
hurray, hurray!
for ever in sweet rejoicing.

Advent 1

Advent, (from Latin adventus, “coming”), in the Christian church calendar, the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.
- In Western churches, Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 (St. Andrew’s Day) and is the beginning of the liturgical year.
- In many Eastern churches, the Nativity Fast is a similar period of penance and preparation that occurs during the 40 days before Christmas. The date when the season was first observed is uncertain.
- Bishop Perpetuus of Tours (461–490) established a fast before Christmas that began on November 11 (St. Martin’s Day), and the Council of Tours (567) mentioned an Advent season.
Source: Britanica.com

a woke OR AWAKE?

I’m uncertain in these last days of the Common Era (once commonly called Anno Domini, literally “in the year of our Lord“ IF our church is woke or awake.

(See link to ‘woke’ on TalkofJESUS.com cover page to learn more.)

I’m also not certain if Linus reading Luke is the anti-inclusive message of the Gospel which offends the Holiday spirits of TV audiences, but I suspect that our aversion to ‘christmas‘ with a capital CHRIST (Christ-mass) is a deepening darkness as evident as the coming winter solstice.

The title for this non-series for Advent ignored and ‘christian‘ ‘churches‘ CLOSED on christmas eve, christmas day or BOTH reflects my own nonplus question of why it seems so few christians really want to TALK OF JESUS at all, especially those of our local ‘church.’
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com

In previous years I have also prepared our hearts for Advent.

The Scandal of a Virgin

From Advent in the year of our Lord 2014

In fact, December in the year of our Lord 2022 seems to be a time to gather the oil for our lamps that at least some of the virgins might be prepared for Christmas .. in fact, prepared for more.

the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew

Doctrinally, it must be repeated that the belief in the Virgin birth of Christ is of the highest value for the right apprehension of Christ’s unique and sinless personality.
R. A. Torrey :: The Virgin Birth of Christ

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham..

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:

When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,

she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Gospel of Matthew 1:18 – King James Version

Therefore, Sleepers AWAKE!

Parable of Ten Virgins

“Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.

“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

“Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout,

‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

“Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

“But the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’

“And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast;

and the door was shut.

“And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’

“But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

A Caution of Jesus Christ to His betrothed, the Church

This hour is called midnight;
they call us with a clear voice:
where are you, wise virgins ?

Advent AD 2022: Are YOU awake?
A Savior IS come.
Christ died. Christ IS risen! Christ will come again.

Are YOU preparing your soul with the oil of Christ’s anointing in the advent of His return?
December 2, 2022
INTRO to our Story of The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter
INTRODUCTION: Once upon a time...

I love a story that begins, Once upon a time, don’t you?

Your parents may have used different names for stories like this:
- Fairy Tales, Fables, Adventures, Fantasies, Science fiction. (I think Disney has a ‘LAND‘ for every one of them.)
- Romances… (You know, “.. AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.”)
- SuperHERO stories, cartoons, comics, games, and movies.
As a parent if I were to tell you our secret about any ‘Once upon a time‘ STORY, then I must confess that even though we call them CHILDREN’S STORIES, almost EVERY parent loves these stories too.

‘Once upon a time‘ STORIES are FICTION.

That is to say, they are NOT TRUE. And even some grown-ups forget that.

BUT.. these stories may tell an important truth to us.

ANY STORY may include an illustration of times in life beyond the bounds of time and place – a picture of some person at some time in some place that we cannot see, hear or touch.

These stories may have men or women, boys or girls..

sometimes even animals we might like to be like.. or must be careful not to be..

or worse yet, those people, creatures and things we must stay away from altogether.

HEROES or VILLAINS (good or bad) may have been like someone we know (or don’t want to know). They may be just like real people who lived ‘once upon a time’ who we have never met.

THIS ‘once upon a time’ story, although it is FICTION, also includes some NON-FICTION characters at times – men and women who teach us good things for these times from their REAL lives a time long ago.. or even a time after any of us can imagine.

Parables, Allegories, Myths and more
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As part of my introduction to The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter my intent is not to instruct you in literature, but rather to provoke additional thought about Scripture and my serial story which follows. - Roger Harned
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a Parable

You have read or heard many parables, especially those told by JESUS, written down for our instruction in the Gospels of the Bible.
- DID JESUS REALLY SEE THESE THINGS HAPPEN?
  - NO, I think. (I cannot be certain.)
- DO THE PARABLES OF JESUS illustrate TRUTH?
  - YES, Jesus paints pictures in His Words of absolute inviolable truths.
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I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will tell riddles of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But we will tell the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His power and His wondrous works that He has done. 
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CLICK HERE FOR ALL of Psalm 78 – A contemplative, moral instructive song of Asaph.
Listen, my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

an Allegory
- a story, play, picture, etc. in which each character or event is a symbol representing an idea or a quality, such as truth, evil, death, etc.
  - – source: the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Some Bible Stories are allegories.

The Holy Bible also contains fictional truths told as allegories in addition to many oral (or verbal) histories — each told, then later recorded in writing, as accounts of TRUE history, i.e. non-fiction.
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I believe that Moses' creation narrative may be an allegory -- a most accurate illustration of the truths of God and creation, good and evil; 
a screenshot outside of time (to update his picture) of THAT WHICH NO MAN can see of life (eternal or otherwise) and death.
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Theologians have debated such truths of the Bible for millennia; but we must not dismiss God’s Truth by any misconception of man which debates the literal and symbolic of any of God’s Scripture. – RH
Your COMMENT is welcome about God, Creation, Moses, JESUS or the Bible.
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com

The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter

The story I introduce here today is neither parable or allegory, but quotes Biblical truth.

However, if you would like to sample a classic allegory from English literature, check out the best-loved Christian allegory of all time:

CLICK HERE to READ this classic English allegory,

“The Pilgrim’s Progress”

Myths and Fables
- myth –
- a story from ancient times, especially one that was told to explain natural events or to describe the early history of a people; this type of story; SYNONYM legend
  - ancient Greek myths
  - a creation myth (= that explains how the world began)
  - the heroes of myth and legend
    source: the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
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Permit me just one comment on this widely accepted definition of myth:  

Ancient Greek, Roman and eastern religion myths include gods (idols), legendary heroes (often gods or early icons of the faith), and a creation myth which includes one or more of the above. 

Many will attempt to dismiss ALL explanations of creation as false BECAUSE THESE ARE 'CREATION MYTHS;' however one explanation of creation must be TRUE (for the heavens and earth exist). 
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The stories of the LORD GOD and creation describe life beyond the bounds of time and place;
therefore creatures that we are, man can neither prove nor refute the eternal and immeasurable beyond this brief mortal life.
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com
- fables
- a fictitious narrative or statement: such as
  - a legendary story of supernatural happenings
  - a narration intended to enforce a useful truth
    especially : one in which animals speak and act like human beings
  - FALSEHOOD, LIE
  - source: Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary,
Fantasies

Many will know of or have read a famous Christian fantasy:

visit Narnia.com

C.S. Lewis also tells a favorite of mine appropriate for teens and especially adults, a story about two devils: Screwtape and his bumbling apprentice, Wormwood.
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C.S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good v. evil, temptation, repentance and grace. - source:
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A TIMELESS CLASSIC ON ‘HELL’S LATEST NOVELTIES AND HEAVEN’S UNANSWERABLE ANSWER’.

our Story of Three Characters
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It's up to you to solve the mystery of each to learn who they are.
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The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter

NEXT: ACT 1: The Gardener
March 26, 2022
A Priest, a Rabbi & a Stranger …
A 21st Century Parable

You know the old story (actually, several variations on a theme). Three men (but today you might have to include other designations) encounter the same situation and the third one gets the punch line.

That’s not quite what happened to me recently as I witnessed the following story (which also includes a woman I don’t mention and a well-dressed black man I include).

My story’s ending may be unexpected but to the best of my knowledge none of the three strangers were a priest, rabbi or a pastor. You may see some humor in it. Picture these strangers I encountered today.

Which neighbor of the three might you have been?

Stranded at our Neighborhood Kroger

It was no emergency and I was prepared. Yet I was unprepared for what would follow when my car wouldn’t start.

Yes, I had jumper cables in the trunk so I raised my hood and looked for some help.

Stranger number one

A man approached from the grocery store with just a few things in his bag. He headed for his car parked in the row just behind my stranded car with the hood up. I approached him as he entered his car.

“Could you help me jump my car?”

He rather reluctantly looked down and away from my glancing appeal from outside his door. “Sorry, but I can’t.”

Okay, I thought. He’s dressed up and could be in a hurry. Someone else will help. So I walked to a car on the other side of the same row where my car sat helplessly with its hood up.

Stranger number two

Another kind-looking man had just entered his car with a soft-knit cross hanging from the mirror. My spirit lifted with hope that here was a brother who would help. So I asked.

“Could you help me jump my car? I have battery cables.”

He nodded his head gently saying, “My battery is really low. I don’t think it would help.”

My heart dropped as I walked back to my car thinking of his cross on the mirror.

Later I thought, “Gee, I should have asked him if he was a priest or Levite?” (Of course I would never do that and neither would you, but we all think those things.)

So I called for road service, which could reach me in my local neighborhood grocery parking lot in something like forty minutes. It was then that Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan came to mind. Even most non-believers know that one, but no good Samaritan here today, I thought. No big deal. I’ll just wait.

Stranger number three

As I sat in my car with the hood up for a bit more time in thought a man walked up to me and asked if I had help on the way.

“Yes, I called a tow truck, but all I need is for someone to help jump my car.” He agreed to try and pulled his car up in front of mine.

After connecting my jumper cables to both cars I got in my car and turned the key. Nothing.

The man then said, “Let me get in my car and give it a little gas.”

I reconnected the cables making certain to have the best contact possible then we both got in our cars and I tried again. This time, success!

I thanked him, disconnected it all, drove home, unloaded groceries from my idling vehicle and drove to a neighborhood repair shop for a new battery.

Just like one helped by a fictional hero of my youth, ‘I didn’t even ask this man his name.’ He was The ‘Lone Stranger’ helping someone in need.

God knows the name of each good Samaritan and some praise their witness to a world steeped in self-righteousness, unlike a neighbor loved by the LORD.

A Not so Funny ending

Unlike the man in Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan, I was not on a distant highway, hurt and hopeless due to such a severe attack by robbers.

Ok, you might laugh that I’m not exactly your helpless victim in peril here. And you may laugh just a bit more at the great irony of the man with the cross in the window not helping a brother in Christ. (It’s really kind of typical of our witness, isn’t it?)

Yes, maybe there’s a lesson here too.

So in our 21st century story I guess it’s the second guy who gets the punch line and the third guy’s no joke. In fact he’s just the kind of neighbor we all wish we had.

The Good Samaritan

Jesus’ parable could have begun with ‘a priest, a rabbi and a pastor’ scenario because in this same way His characters were just as familiar to the parable’s hearers.

Three characters who could have helped

A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:31 CSB

To our many dear Jewish friends I might mention that the Messiah Jesus was considered a ‘lesser’ Jew from Galilee in the eyes of those proper Judean Jews who leaned on their status and the Law. After all, His parable was told to answer a question from the crowd mostly of Jews.

This Priest is a Jewish Priest, a very pure and proper sort of guy. (We would not have much difficulty envisioning a Roman Catholic Priest or Orthodox Priest with all the robes, incense and the like.) The Priest of the LORD is a long-forgotten intermediary of Jewish worship.

In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:32 CSB

The Levites were a Priestly class of Jews better than everyone else by their nearness to religious duties. (Of course nobody in charge of ‘christian’ churches would ever feel like that.)

We get it (and so did the Messiah’s crowds). A second man also could have helped, but didn’t. (The crowd awaits the Rabbi’s punch line.)

So everyone knows that the next one will help. (Perhaps they will be of a different religious school of thought.)

A Samaritan Stranger

Samaria, on the other hand, had a bad rap in Judah due to long-established cultural prejudices.

Those who followed the best religious practices expected a Jew to be the hero (just like we might expect a ‘good christian’ to do the right thing). Nobody expected a “Samaritan” to be ‘the good guy.’

But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion… He went over to him… and took care of him… [paid an innkeeper] and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
Luke 10: excerpt from Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan

Questions from Lawyers

Those who know a little more about the parable where two ‘religious’ guys (yes, Jews) didn’t help a man in need may know what prompted the Messiah’s parable.

Jesus was answering another question from a lawyer. (You probably know his question.)

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:29 NASB

Don’t falsely assume that the Samaritan was not a religious man with good and godly principles (just as Jesus points out that we cannot conclude that everyone who claims obedience to the Law will do what is right).

Prior to this question, most of us know Jesus confirmed the lawyer’s restated validity of the Law of Moses, which even Samaritans likely followed.

But then the lawyer went a step further by asking, ‘How does this apply in this contemporary case?’ (Who is my neighbor?)

A Contemporary Contention

By now most of us tire of endless questioning by contentious legal minds. They demand the right of their differences.

Who did right and how should we judge the failures of others?

They play to the crowds who expect more from religious and political leaders than the ordinary people they represent.

Careful, though. I tend toward this ‘phariseeism;’ and likely, beloved Christian brother, faithful Jew and misled Muslim, so do you.

Jesus said, “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.
John 8:15-16 NKJV

Ordinary powerless Jews and gentiles loved Jesus’ leading because He has an answer to the endless questioning of others by self-righteous men. It is God’s answer to an all-important question.

The Questioning before the Law

So the lawyer in the crowd standing in the spotlight of the crowds surrounding Jesus restates the Law. (Moses had reiterated it so many times.)

Deuteronomy – Devarim, “the words [of Moses]”.
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וּמָ֨ל יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֖ וְאֶת־לְבַ֣ב זַרְעֶ֑ךָ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לְמַ֥עַן חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
source:
30:12  לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה־לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃

5:20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

15:2 “And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD's release.

27:24 ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.' “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!'
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Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:18 KJV

Do ‘christians’ know the question Jesus answered with this parable?

ANSWER: The lawyer had asked Jesus this leading question:

“… what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The Good News of Luke 10:

Recall that Doctor Luke is a gentile disciple of the first century church, who would have been an outsider to ‘God’s chosen.’

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”

²⁷He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁸“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”

Do you as well have yet another question?

“Do this and you will live,” the Messiah Jesus tells us.

What must I do to receive eternal life? …

This is the question Jesus answered with the parable of The Good Samaritan.

Do you have a ‘Jesus’ bumper sticker on your car? (Didn’t you just cut me off in traffic? And you were on your cell, right?)

You don’t really want to know more than what the LORD has commanded us, do you?

Who’s right?

So Jesus seems to pick on the Jews (rather than pick the Jews).

Can a stranger actually inherit eternal life?

Christians often treat Jews and Muslims who worship the One God as Samaritans, even though some follow custom and righteousness without grieving the Holy Spirit of the LORD.

We all see and judge those Catholic Crosses and Protestant Jesus symbols. Yet what do these witness to others?

Can anyone but the Lord God judge a man’s heart or draw one to repentance and eternal life?

Some who do not fully believe that Jesus IS the only way to eternal life may be destined to see the Light of Truth on the path of righteousness.

Even some secretive believers must hide their faith in the Living Messiah of the Lord God. Christians traveling the road between this temporary earthly home and the Jerusalem of true worship must go into all the world with Good News (and not false witness).

Do you have a question for Jesus?

You can take the LORD at His Word. Or ask a brother or sister truly following Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, “What must I do?”

Beloved wounded man of flesh, fallen into the pit of sin along the dust of this dry and temporal life in failing flesh, I pray for your restoration to life, a recharging of your soul into the beginning of a true witness for the Messiah Jesus, One with the Father and Holy Spirit of the Most High God.

Along this busy quick highway of life, before its end what must you do?

Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
January 31, 2020