LET THEM GO!!!
I recently started reading a novel, "Paul", by Christian author, Walter Wangerin. I haven't read much--it begins pretty intensely. The stoning of Stephen is among the first pages.
It made me think more about the martyrdom and suffering of the early church--and about some of the things that we experience, too. I picked up the book to read, this afternoon, and saw the grace--not only of God, but of the saints toward Paul. As Saul, slayer of the saints, he looked for and hunted down those who believed in the risen Messiah, and worshipped Him. Those saints had not rejected the teachings of Torah--they believed them more fully--now, they had seen, and walked with the Fulfillment of Torah and the Prophets!!! They were excited to spread all that they had seen and heard, but Saul and the Pharisee's wanted to extinguish that zeal, by any means necessary. They were willing and able to murder their own Hebrew brothers and sisters to keep business, as usual. It was worth it to them, to maintain the status quo--Jesus explained why: (THEN JESUS said to the multitudes and to His disciples, The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat [of authority]. So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy loads, hard to bear, and place them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger to help bear them. They do all their works to be seen of men; for they make wide their phylacteries [small cases enclosing certain Scripture passages, worn during prayer on the left arm and forehead] and make long their fringes [worn by all male Israelites, according to the command]. And they take pleasure in and [thus] love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, And to be greeted with honor in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi (teacher), for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven. And you must not be called masters (leaders), for you have one Master (Leader), the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are about to go in to do so. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows' houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence.[Matthew 23:1-14])
It was a good life for the Pharisee's--why shake things up? God was grieved for His people. He saw--and felt the suffering of Israel--and the Gentiles--still needing to be grafted in. Then Jesus came.... Jesus was rejected. He was rejected for many reasons: it was prophesied, but as the Word says, "woe to him by whom the offense comes". Saul, had been an offender of the Body of Christ--he was one of those that questioned the authority and veracity of the Apostles. He voted in the Sanhedrin, "concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless...of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as touching the Law, a Pharisee"--Saul's pedigree! For Saul, and others like him, life was good--at the top, change things??? NOT!!! Even though, they were missing something in settling for only the letter of the Law, they were satisfied, because this was all that they knew. I can't point fingers of blame at them. The unknown is scary.
Paul had to go on a journey. He thought he was in complete control--as always. However, his "control" came to a screeching halt, when Jesus came along for the trip ( Jesus is like that!). Jesus, didn't attack Him, but He did let him know that it was He who was in control. Loss of sight causes those of us who are used to eyesight to become very dependent, when we don't have it. Don't believe it--have someone blindfold you, and spin you around a couple of times, and see what happens! Paul, without sight, lost a lot of thunder ( he got it back, though--newer and better!), he needed a guide; that brought some humility--you can't be too demanding when you need to depend on others to lead and care for you. You begin to follow directions. As He followed directions, He came to know Jesus--the One he had been persecuting all of this time. No, not personally, but yes, even more personally than if he had nailed Him to the Cross, himself. You see, when Paul stood and watched as they "stoned" Stephen, that was crucifying Christ afresh--keep that in mind (I am coming back to that point, promise!). What am I saying? Perhaps you already know this but I didn't know how stoning was performed according to Talmudic Law. I thought people just threw stones and rocks at the "supposed" criminal--which is bad enough, but it is worse--particularly, when you consider the possibility of false accusation, that often accompanied the punishment. Wikipedia cites: The Talmud limits the use of the death penalty to Jewish criminals who: (a) while about to do the crime were warned not to commit the crime while in the presence of two witnesses (and only individuals who meet a strict list of standards are considered acceptable witnesses); and (b) having been warned, committed the crime in front of the same two witnesses. (We know from Jesus how "strictly" the Pharisee's adhered to these commands, right??!!!)The Talmudic method of how stoning is to be carried out differs from mob stoning such as implied by the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery in the Gospel of John. According to the Jewish Oral Law, after the Jewish criminal has been determined as guilty before the Great Sanhedrin, the two "valid" witnesses and the sentenced criminal go to the edge of a high place. From there the two witnesses are to push the criminal off. After the criminal has fallen, the two witnesses are to drop a large boulder onto the criminal - requiring both of the witnesses to lift the boulder together. If the criminal did not die from the fall or from the crushing of the large boulder, then any people in the surrounding area are to quickly cause him to die by stoning with whatever rocks they can find.
Now, I have already said a lot--maybe too much. But I have a point. In our lives, we throw stones and we have stones thrown at us--from time to time. We aren't experiencing literally being thrown over the "edge of a high place" or having a "boulder dropped on us" or having groups of people throw rocks at us until we succumb to death. However, all stones hurt--literal and figurative, as in words. "Stones" will happen. What will we do? We must learn how to live with those who throw them--let them go! Forgive!!! People who have thrown stones at us, may have forgotten about the stones--but we haven't! It is time to move on!!! Live life and let it be in the past. Free them; better yet, free yourself, remember, they have forgotten, but you are still holding on to what they did to you forty-two hundred years ago! Some of us, women, are still talking about what we are going to do to Eve when we see her in Glory--nothing! There will be no fighting in Glory! If that's what you think, you can't come. LOL
Drop your stones. If it takes a Damascus experience to open your eyes, don't run from it--walk, the walk! Don't throw stones and don't harbor ill-will toward those who have thrown them at you. Be right, before God and leave the rest, in His hands.
When you feel like complaining, read what the Apostles and early Church suffered, and they were just new Christians, trying to live for Christ--talk about uncharted territory!
Let It Go!!! Let THEM Go!!!
It made me think more about the martyrdom and suffering of the early church--and about some of the things that we experience, too. I picked up the book to read, this afternoon, and saw the grace--not only of God, but of the saints toward Paul. As Saul, slayer of the saints, he looked for and hunted down those who believed in the risen Messiah, and worshipped Him. Those saints had not rejected the teachings of Torah--they believed them more fully--now, they had seen, and walked with the Fulfillment of Torah and the Prophets!!! They were excited to spread all that they had seen and heard, but Saul and the Pharisee's wanted to extinguish that zeal, by any means necessary. They were willing and able to murder their own Hebrew brothers and sisters to keep business, as usual. It was worth it to them, to maintain the status quo--Jesus explained why: (THEN JESUS said to the multitudes and to His disciples, The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat [of authority]. So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy loads, hard to bear, and place them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger to help bear them. They do all their works to be seen of men; for they make wide their phylacteries [small cases enclosing certain Scripture passages, worn during prayer on the left arm and forehead] and make long their fringes [worn by all male Israelites, according to the command]. And they take pleasure in and [thus] love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, And to be greeted with honor in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi (teacher), for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven. And you must not be called masters (leaders), for you have one Master (Leader), the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are about to go in to do so. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows' houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence.[Matthew 23:1-14])
It was a good life for the Pharisee's--why shake things up? God was grieved for His people. He saw--and felt the suffering of Israel--and the Gentiles--still needing to be grafted in. Then Jesus came.... Jesus was rejected. He was rejected for many reasons: it was prophesied, but as the Word says, "woe to him by whom the offense comes". Saul, had been an offender of the Body of Christ--he was one of those that questioned the authority and veracity of the Apostles. He voted in the Sanhedrin, "concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless...of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as touching the Law, a Pharisee"--Saul's pedigree! For Saul, and others like him, life was good--at the top, change things??? NOT!!! Even though, they were missing something in settling for only the letter of the Law, they were satisfied, because this was all that they knew. I can't point fingers of blame at them. The unknown is scary.
Paul had to go on a journey. He thought he was in complete control--as always. However, his "control" came to a screeching halt, when Jesus came along for the trip ( Jesus is like that!). Jesus, didn't attack Him, but He did let him know that it was He who was in control. Loss of sight causes those of us who are used to eyesight to become very dependent, when we don't have it. Don't believe it--have someone blindfold you, and spin you around a couple of times, and see what happens! Paul, without sight, lost a lot of thunder ( he got it back, though--newer and better!), he needed a guide; that brought some humility--you can't be too demanding when you need to depend on others to lead and care for you. You begin to follow directions. As He followed directions, He came to know Jesus--the One he had been persecuting all of this time. No, not personally, but yes, even more personally than if he had nailed Him to the Cross, himself. You see, when Paul stood and watched as they "stoned" Stephen, that was crucifying Christ afresh--keep that in mind (I am coming back to that point, promise!). What am I saying? Perhaps you already know this but I didn't know how stoning was performed according to Talmudic Law. I thought people just threw stones and rocks at the "supposed" criminal--which is bad enough, but it is worse--particularly, when you consider the possibility of false accusation, that often accompanied the punishment. Wikipedia cites: The Talmud limits the use of the death penalty to Jewish criminals who: (a) while about to do the crime were warned not to commit the crime while in the presence of two witnesses (and only individuals who meet a strict list of standards are considered acceptable witnesses); and (b) having been warned, committed the crime in front of the same two witnesses. (We know from Jesus how "strictly" the Pharisee's adhered to these commands, right??!!!)The Talmudic method of how stoning is to be carried out differs from mob stoning such as implied by the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery in the Gospel of John. According to the Jewish Oral Law, after the Jewish criminal has been determined as guilty before the Great Sanhedrin, the two "valid" witnesses and the sentenced criminal go to the edge of a high place. From there the two witnesses are to push the criminal off. After the criminal has fallen, the two witnesses are to drop a large boulder onto the criminal - requiring both of the witnesses to lift the boulder together. If the criminal did not die from the fall or from the crushing of the large boulder, then any people in the surrounding area are to quickly cause him to die by stoning with whatever rocks they can find.
Now, I have already said a lot--maybe too much. But I have a point. In our lives, we throw stones and we have stones thrown at us--from time to time. We aren't experiencing literally being thrown over the "edge of a high place" or having a "boulder dropped on us" or having groups of people throw rocks at us until we succumb to death. However, all stones hurt--literal and figurative, as in words. "Stones" will happen. What will we do? We must learn how to live with those who throw them--let them go! Forgive!!! People who have thrown stones at us, may have forgotten about the stones--but we haven't! It is time to move on!!! Live life and let it be in the past. Free them; better yet, free yourself, remember, they have forgotten, but you are still holding on to what they did to you forty-two hundred years ago! Some of us, women, are still talking about what we are going to do to Eve when we see her in Glory--nothing! There will be no fighting in Glory! If that's what you think, you can't come. LOL
Drop your stones. If it takes a Damascus experience to open your eyes, don't run from it--walk, the walk! Don't throw stones and don't harbor ill-will toward those who have thrown them at you. Be right, before God and leave the rest, in His hands.
When you feel like complaining, read what the Apostles and early Church suffered, and they were just new Christians, trying to live for Christ--talk about uncharted territory!
Let It Go!!! Let THEM Go!!!
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