In the Land of Milk and Honey: May 31, 2012

^{We were driving more North}

At home we all were given scripture to memorize

and when it was the right time,

we were supposed to share our scripture with the group

I knew my scripture was coming up

so when everyone had come back from the bathroom I started:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi

but Todd said: not yet

So we went on a hike

this time we met lots of groups

walking along the water

water defined this place

water means life

when we stopped I tried to say my verses again:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi

but Todd stopped me: "not yet"

under a Roman bridge

we came to the Rock

Most of Jesus teaching was in the triangle

where the religious Jews lived

when He does go out, He does it to make a point

This was a place where fertility gods were worshiped

A pretty sick way of "worship"

with sacred goats

The water used to come out of the rock

before an earthquake

It must have been a picture of fertility

perverted as it was

When Todd gathered us he asked me to say my verses

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,

he asked his disciples, “

Who do people say the Son of Man is?

but after 2 lines he asked me to stop again

I was getting frustrated with this memory verse thing

I'd so enjoyed working on them at home

We sat down in the shade and talked about

Jesus setting his face like flint for Jerusalem

we'd have to get the scripture reference ourselves

I didn't find it, but Annie did and she shared it with all of us

I will make your forehead like the hardest stone

We also talked about our youth, our kids

how to protect them

how to help them live in the world and not be off it

Many parents do not realize

how huge their influence is on their kids faith

I wish parents would realize that they are the primary

people to influence their kids, not school or church

That's actually very Jewish

a lot of Jewish teaching is in the home

also the feasts have usually a huge "home" part

I finally did get to say my full scripture:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

^{This was it but I think the next part belongs too}

and those went more into the rock:

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. And I tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it

It made us think about what Jesus meant

What is the rock?

Peter?, Ceasarea Philipi? Peter's confession? Discipleship?

the answer is likely: yes, to all

we drove away from the sea of Galilee to the East

I come from a greenhouse farm, couldn't help myself

had to take a picture

The Sea of Galilee is still visible

In front of us a very steep hill

with ruins on the side

A closer look reveals buildings, the hillside is so steep

that the front yard of one building

is the roof of the one below

There is a hole in the wall

lots of good pasture, no sheep

we are in the Golan Hights

Walking down where the Romans breached the wall

This is a Zealot town

Pharisee - live obediently in the world

Zealot - live out of the world, but use it's stuff

Herodians - live in the world and use it

Essenes - live out of the world and don't be part of it

what did Jesus say?

If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world — on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world — therefore the world hates you.

and Paul:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The Zealots lived here and could go out and do damage

They killed 100.000 Romans in 10 years

Living on this steep hill was like

sticking up their middle finger to the Romans

The Zealot symbol was a palm branch

waving a palm branch was at times a crucifiable offense

The next day, the large crowd that had come for the festival heard that Yeshua was on his way into Yerushalayim. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Deliver us!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai,the King of Isra’el!”

We do a re-enactment of a synagogue service

This synagogue is original first century

Outside the synagogue a Mikvah

Head, Heart, Hand & Feet

we learn a song to sing for when the Hazan brings out the scroll

Hine(y) ma tov u'manayim
Shevet akh-im gam ya-khad
Hine(y) ma tov
Hine(y) ma tov
la la lai la la la la la lai

It's the only Hebrew song we know, sort of

How good and pleasant it is
For brothers & sisters to sit together.

We had so much fun during this teaching

We were dancing and kissing the scroll

How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!

at Jesus time the reading calendar was about 200 years old

you knew the scripture for the day

every member of the synagogue took their turn, women 13+ too

after reading the scroll goes back in the Torah closet

the reader gives the message derashah, 5 minutes

(how this scripture has impacted me)

sitting in Moses seat

“The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe. So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act!

Jesus went o the synagogue in Nazareth

Now when he went to Natzeret, where he had been brought up, on Shabbat he went to the synagogue as usual. He stood up to read, and he was given the scroll of the prophet Yesha‘yahu. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of Adonai is upon me;
therefore he has anointed me
to announce Good News to the poor;
he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned
and renewed sight for the blind,
to release those who have been crushed,to proclaim a year of the favor of Adonai.”

After closing the scroll and returning it to the shammash, he sat down; and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He started to speak to them: “Today, as you heard it read, this passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled!” Everyone was speaking well of him and marvelling that such appealing words were coming from his mouth. They were even asking, “Can this be Yosef’s son?”

and was almost stoned

Then Yeshua said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me this proverb — ‘“Doctor, cure yourself!” We’ve heard about all the things that have been going on over in K’far-Nachum; now do them here in your home town!’ Yes!” he said, “I tell you that no prophet is accepted in his home town. It’s true, I’m telling you — when Eliyahu was in Isra’el, and the sky was sealed off for three-and-a-half years, so that all the Land suffered a severe famine, there were many widows; but Eliyahu was sent to none of them, only to a widow in Tzarfat in the land of Tzidon. Also there were many people with tzara‘at in Isra’el during the time of the prophet Elisha; but not one of them was healed, only Na‘aman the Syrian.”

On hearing this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of town and dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which their town was built, intending to throw him off. ³⁰But he walked right through the middle of the crowd and went away.

Stoning was done on a high hill

the 2 witnesses push the (naked) guy down

every witness drops a boulder on him

Most people died already from the fall

but some people survived

they assumed that was a sign that they were not guilty

The sin of Nazareth is a common one "pride"

Be careful not to miss the humble way He taught us to live

“Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus' yoke is His method of interpretation