Monday, December 1, 2008

MITN VIII

1. When Jesus finished His sermon and came down from the mountain, the mass audience that had become so captivated by His message (and as a result were so enamored by Him) started following along after Him in great throngs as He moved.


2. And as He descended, a leper came up to Him and just fell down before Him, prostrate on the ground, and began to worship Him. And he said, “Lord, if You are willing, I believe that You are able to cleanse me of this horrible disease.”

3. And Jesus immediately reached out His hand and fearlessly touched the untouchable, saying, “I am able, and I am willing…and I call you clean!” And instantly, as Jesus said these words, the man’s leprosy disappeared and his body became completely whole.

4. And Jesus said to him, “Look, don’t go around telling everyone you see about this, because it will bring you more unwanted attention and publicity than you can imagine. Just go and show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded for a testimony, and as validating evidence to the people who will inevitably find out about it on their own.”

5. As Jesus went into Capernaum, a high-ranking Roman officer who was a centurion (one who was responsible for a century of men in the Roman army) came right up to Him and very politely but directly asked for His help,

6. Saying, “Master, I have a servant who is lying at my house paralyzed and in intense, physical pain.”

7. And Jesus said to him, “No problem. I’d be more than happy to come with you right now and restore him to health.”

8. But the centurion replied to Him, “Sir, I really don’t feel right about asking you to come under my roof because I don’t worship your God…I worship the many gods of Rome…and it would be unseemly of me to invite you into a home that you might consider pagan or unworthy. I don’t want to dishonor you like that. But I believe that if you will just speak the word, my servant will be cured.”

















9. “See, I, like you, am a man who has authority because I am submitted to authority. I have men who are over me, and I also have approximately one hundred soldiers who are completely under my command. I know that I explicitly follow the orders of my superiors, and if I just say to any one of those hundred men under me, “Go!”, he goes…no questions asked...no hesitation…no modification of the order whatsoever. I never have to second guess the command, or do any follow up on him, because I am confident that my directives will be carried out precisely as I gave them. To another of my men I may say, “Come!”, and when I speak, he drops what he is doing and comes immediately. And when I say, “Do this” to one of my servants, you can be sure that he follows my orders and does it. The continuity of this command system is the strength of our military power and, in the same way, I see that you have authority over the words of life. Words are your servants because you are submitted to the creative word of a Higher Authority. If you tell one of your words to do something, that word will absolutely do it because of your obedience to the commands given you by the One You call “Father.” The point is, I believe that if you command one of your servant-words to take your healing power to my man-servant, it will follow your orders and do exactly what you tell it to do!”

10. When Jesus heard this, He said, “Well, that’s just marvelous! Seriously, I am literally marveling at what you just said! I mean, since I have been in this dimension, I haven’t heard anyone in all of Israel say anything that even comes close to your expressed insight and understanding!” Then He turned to those who were following Him and said, “I want you all to know that I haven’t found faith like the faith of this polytheistic idol-worshipper anywhere in this whole nation!

11. “And I tell you that in the very near future, many more like him will come from eastern lands, as well as from the west…literally from everywhere in the world…and will sit down at the table of covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom that comes from heaven.

12. “Meanwhile, the original heirs to the kingdom will be driven deeper into the dark blindness of their elitist, nationalistic religion, where they will weep and grind their teeth in anger at the obvious fact that my covenant is not exclusive, or limited to the people of this belief-system, or of this geographical region.”

13. Then to the centurion Jesus said, “Go…there’s nothing more to say. You have exactly that for which you have believed.” And, sure enough, the servant was fully restored to health at the very instant the healing-word was dispatched.

14. Later, when Jesus went into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law lying ill with a fever.

15. So He touched her hand, and instantly the fever left her. She immediately got up and began waiting on Him as her guest.

16. When evening came, they brought to Him many who seemed to be under the power or influence of demons, and He expelled any and all such rebel spirits with a simple, authoritative word, and restored to health all who were sick.

17. And by doing this He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah who said, “He Himself personally took our weaknesses and infirmities and bore away all our diseases.”

18. Now Jesus, when He saw that the great throngs around Him were growing unwieldy, gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.

19. And as He was about to get into the boat, a religious scholar rushed up to Him and said, “Master, I want to follow You wherever You go.”

20. And Jesus replied to him, “Are you sure about that? You see, foxes have holes in which to live and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has no permanent place to lay His head. The urgency of my message keeps me constantly on the move, and rarely allows me to rest. And it forces those who want to keep up with me to have to rough it most of the time because of our vagabond lifestyle.”

21. Another of the disciples standing nearby said to Him, “Lord, my father is old and sick and probably very near death. I need to stay with him until he goes, and once I have buried him and have gotten everything in my house back in order, I’ll catch up with the rest of you.”

22. But Jesus said to him, “If you really are a disciple of mine, you’ll just follow Me in the now and deal with whatever you need to deal with when the time comes…your schedule and plans will be built around life, and not around death.”

23. Then He got into the boat and His disciples accompanied Him.

24. And He immediately fell into a deep sleep once the vessel was launched and, almost as immediately, there arose a violent storm on the sea-like lake. The boat was nearly being submerged by the huge waves, but Jesus was completely undisturbed by what was happening around Him.

25. So they frantically woke Him up and said, “Lord, You’ve got to get up and do something about this storm or we’re all going to die in it!”

























26. And, rubbing the sleep from His eyes, He said to them, “Why are you men of the sea so hysterical because of a typical, natural storm? And, more importantly, why is your faith so small?” Then He got up and matter-of-factly told the winds and the waves to settle down, and suddenly the atmosphere became silently still, and the surface of the water became perfectly placid. Then He lay back down and went to sleep.

27. And the men just stood there looking at each other, stunned and bewildered, and said “What kind of Man is this? What kind of authority does He have? Not only do demons and diseases obey Him…even the winds follow His orders, and the sea does what He tells her to do!

28. And when He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two insane men under the control of rebel spirits came out of the tombs to meet Him. They were so fierce and savage that they terrorized anyone who tried to pass that way.

29. And they screamed at Him, “What have You to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time when every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Your Lordship?

30. Now at some distance from where they were, a herd of pigs was grazing.

31. And the demonic rebels begged Him, saying, “If You tell us to leave the bodies of these men, we’ll have to do what You say, but will you at least not make us leave this local area? Command us to take up residence in the bodies of those pigs over there, and we’ll go where you tell us to go.”

32. And He said to them, “Get out of these men right now!” So they came out and went into the pigs and, when they did, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water.

33. The shocked herdsmen immediately fled, went into the town, and reported everything they had seen, including what had happened to the men under the power of the demons.

34. And then the whole town got together and sent a representative group out to meet Jesus and, as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their locality.



(The painting at the top is St. Matthew and the Angel by Caravaggio)

50 comments:

linda said...

Bish
Wow, MITN reads so easily I am going to read it to my K-5 class. They will so totally get this (I teach in a Christian school). Thank you for fulfilling your destiny by stopping and sitting down long enough to put this on paper, or I guess on computer screen these days (smile). I am glad that God saw fit to give you this vision as well as this time to get it done.

Have a great day,
we will be with you in the spirit when you travel to Brazil.

let there be light

Linda

ver word: vishrays = have a vision and He will rays it up for ya

NTL said...

22. But Jesus said to him, “If you really are a disciple of mine, you’ll just follow Me in the now and deal with whatever you need to deal with when the time comes…your schedule and plans will be built around life, and not around death.”

I have wrapped my head around this verse, and tied a knot.

Just keep moving forward.

Donald said...

Bishop, that was fantastic.
I'm still having trouble understanding why Jesus didn't try get the centurion to confess Him as his personal Lord and Savior before he told him to go back home.

The way that you opened up verse 26 is absolutely astounding. Jesus seems to be upbraiding his disciples for freaking out over things that they had probably already faced an untold number of times and should have been able to have taken it in stride. Like you said, they were accustomed to traveling by boat and surely had gotten caught up in a few storms in their lifetimes and now here they were all of a sudden panicking and squealing like a bunch of prom queens.

I almost get the feeling that he was getting on them for having to turn to him for help with a problem that they should have been able to deal with on their own.

Anonymous said...

God morning,

This continuance of Holy Spirit inspiration is building strength in the Body for the work to be done with our lives.

This is not only an easy read as Linda has said but definately something we are tempted to hold on to. I like what NTL said about that although tying my head in a knot does not sound like something I would enjoy. You are right NTL about moving forward, the best step we ever take is the next one.

The testimony of the Christ concernng the centurion is central to the good news. It is a favorite reference of most protesteants to make the point that God's goodness is not confined to the Roman Catholic Church. The 'what seems good to us thing' that causes various groups to exclude others outside their particular circle of fellowship seems to be a continuous cycle of abuse though but that wall is falling down even as we rap about it.

We have now grown to understand that Christ and the goodness of God is much bigger than most of us have been taught. The enlightened scholars and anointed teachers have been giving this truth to people since the first day of its empartation, when ever that may have been, but the importance of who said what first does not compare to what is going to be done next.

This writing of JITN and MITN along with all the writings that follow are not just the legacy of a man but will continue to serve the world with a clear picture of the kind of rapport that is intended to be built among us all as a testimony to the God Who is Love.

Thank you for your courage once again Bishop, you move with the Holy Spirit that communicates the friendship of God to humanity.

Bish, your humor was very good medicine for us all yeasterday and the point made in closing to live in accord with seeking and recieving communication from the Holy Spirit will remain in the minds of all who heard it.

let it flow,

JB

Anonymous said...

I agree wholeheartly with "Nothing to Lose", verse 22 leaped off the screen at me and touched me with a whole new revelation. I know you have many things to do so I'm grateful to God that you take the time to let the Holy Spirit flow through you to give us this word.

Linda Luke said...

It is such a treat to read MITN while listening to Christmas music!

I am with NTL also on vs 22 regarding building our lives around LIFE!!! Also vs 9 about Jesus' words being His servants!

22. But Jesus said to him, “If you really are a disciple of mine, you’ll just follow Me in the now and deal with whatever you need to deal with when the time comes…your schedule and plans will be built around life, and not around death.”

God Speed and blessings as yall travel to Brazil!!!

I love Robert Schuller! I have listened to him since I was 12 and 'said' one day that I would visit his church. I finally got to in 1998. It was the first time I had ever seen a smiling Jesus! My fav! They have a statue that was carved by an artistof Jesus smiling with the children around him out in their garden.

Everyone have a 'crunk' day by His power!

Anonymous said...

Todays MITN really shows us the total power that our words do posess if we are willing to have that total obedience to the One that we call Father. Though our words create our future imagine the Now that is created when we speak what our Father tells us to speak when He says to speak it.

Anonymous said...

Bishop: Thanks for yesterday's sermon, it was really on point and it gave such clear direction. May the Lord continue to use you in the way that He does, so that so many may be delivered from "religion" and birthed into a true "relationship" with Christ.

Anonymous said...

Words of life
Push out the strife
Simply by
The words of life

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks, Linda...I love the idea of having MITN read to young students...thanks!

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Cool way to put it, NTL...there is a lot of good stuff to work with in Chapter 8...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks, Donald...the thought of the disciples "squealing like a bunch of prom queens" has already brought me several chuckles today"...I'm a little tempted to put that line in the chapter...maybe not...still funny, though...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

JB, sometimes your words make me want to sing "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and dedicate it to you...that may be a little much, but I do appreciate what you have to say every day, and especially today...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks, Brenda...hearing that the words "leapt off of the screen" and "touched you with a whole new revelation" is very gratifying to me...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Hey Crownjewel...it's actually his son that we're going to Brazil with, but he definitely has been an inspiration...

I watched him on TV Saturday night, and, even though he seems so advanced in age, his legacy (starting a megachurch in a drive-in movie lot in the 50'a...the whole idea of Possibility Thinking) will stand for generations...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Yes, Anon1057...more and more I believe that it really is all about the words, after all...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

CJ, that was supposed to be
"the 50'S")

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks, Anon1107...yesterday was a great day...I was happy that the crowd was that good on a holiday weekend...the glory that is on the place is magnetic...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Amen, Anon1128...

Anonymous said...

Bish (is it OK for people who don't go to your church to call you that?), you're making me understand things in these verses and chapters that I have never grasped before. A thousand thanks for your brave efforts!

MJL

tracy said...

For the past two weeks I have been "decreeing a thing". Anytime I feel like speaking negative I just say I am a magnet to the blessings of God. Well today I took Bailey to the dentist and the dentist gave her a yellow ballon. After dropping her off at school I hopped on the expressway and drove twenty miles with a yellow balloon stuck to the static electricity in my hair. What a sight I was dodging to and fro and this balloon following me wherever I turned! I could not ditch the balloon no matter what I tried and I am quite sure I looked as silly as I felt! If any of you saw me please let me know-I will laugh at myself! I sure hope that is how God's blessings are attracted to me!

tracy said...

Awwww wordver heart. I always think you guys are lying when your word ver spells something that makes sense! I digress.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon!
Bishop, it was so cool yesterday when you started speaking, you mentioned "Beth-el" experience.

Just the previous day or two I had been thinking about when Jacob named the place where he had the dream Bethel, and on my steno book as I was taking notes when you started, the previous page had the words Bethel-house of the Lord written and circled!

I also thought of when you mentioned a few months back about a pastor friend who said he never saw anyone wrestle with the word the way that you do...like Jacob and the angel(Lord).

Jacob named THAT place Peniel (face or vision of God)...and being preserved.
He wrestled until THE LIGHT OF DAY.
I see that as wrestling until you are blessed with the insight or revelation. What do you think?

Anonymous said...

December's intro in the AYTIN says "A month for revelation".

I just saw this at the library:
"Cherish your visions and dreams, as they are the children of your soul: the blueprint of your ultimate achievements."-
Napoleon Hill

...and from AYING:
Ispiration for the Imagination (the womb of the spirit)...

Anonymous said...

oops!...that's AYITN, not AYTIN or AYING...SORRY, just in a hurry.

...later.

Anonymous said...

Tracy, you are just too funny!

The baloon stuck to your head is probably a representation of the continuum of gratittude you have for the blessing of Baily.

I and we are all blessed with your Baily stories.

There is no greater love than that coming from a pure heart. It is no wonder to me that H.G. would have directed your veriword to be heart.

blessed

tracy said...

Thank you anon, that is sweet. At first I was irritated and then as I was batting the balloon around and it kept coming back-I just got tickled and probably looked even crazier laughing hysterically with the balloon stuck to the side of my head. I finally just left it there and kept driving...

Anonymous said...

Sing them over again to me,
Wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see,
Wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty
Teach me faith and duty.
Refrain:
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of life;
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of life.
Christ, the blessed One, gives to all
Wonderful words of life;
Sinner, list to the loving call,
Wonderful words of life;
All so freely given,
Wooing us to heaven.
Sweetly echo the Gospel call,
Wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all,
Wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior,
Sanctify us forever.

Linda Luke said...

A grand legacy indeed, Bishop! ...as are you! We only see the end results of all the seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, right choices, triumphing thru trials and tribulations that produces the legacy for generations to come! One of favorite sayings is, 'The road to success is not always a road.'

It is wonderful that his son is taking the baton and running the race! Their voices are almost the same to me!

Have yall ever gone to see the annual Christmas presentation they do with the live animals? It looks rather amazing what I've gotten to see on tv!

You are too cute Tracy! It's a balloon of blessings! Thanks for the smiles!

~btw~yesterdays pic makes me think of Bethlehem (more than the nativity)! It really is beautiful!

Lotsa of love!!!

peacemaker said...

Bishop, Your retelling of these events of a day in the life of Jesus is more believable than any other written account I've ever read. It's like you were actually there (in another dimension, I suppose) chronicling those conversations and healings in real time.
Maybe you were...

Also,
There is quite a phenomonen happening in tonight's sky. Jupiter and Venus are in very close proximity to the crescent moon. Past occurances have led the crescent and stars symbology seen on certain Middle Eastern flags.
This event will not happen again until 2052.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I think this is very cool.

Peace
PM

NTL said...

Just checking in to see what's going on.

first word ver...olespi...
(now that's a good one)

NTL said...

PM,
My family just went out and took a look at the moon and the two planets. That's pretty awesome. Thanks for the info.

Ebony said...

Everytime I read a chapter of MITN it just confirms to me that what I said this past Easter about your gift of words being Shakespearean was not an exaggeration, but the truth. Not only that, you still capture the essence of each gospel in the translation. In JITN God's love is throughout each page, and MITN celebrates Jesus as the Messiah. Love it! I missed service last Sunday but yesterday more than made up for it (Can I say, I LOVED watching you and Sophia dance to Troubador, reminded me of my dad with my nieces,) I wouldn't be surprised if "The Bible in the Now" comes out sooner than we all realize.

word verification: sonive (Combination of soƱar-Spanish for to dream, and vive-Spanish for Live/long live. Cool that the words dream and live would be combined. There's still life in our dreams)

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

I appreciate it, MJL...and, yes, you may call me that, but why not just come to my church?

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Great story, Tracy...and the wordver thing is interesting...I assume a computer program writes them, but lately I've seen several actual (and sometimes significant) words when I post a comment...

Things that make you go hmmm...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Awesome, Karl...that's what I think...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

No, CJ, I've never actually been to the Crystal Cathedral...would love to see the production, though...I have seen the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall with live animals (including real camels)...it's amazing...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

And thanks...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Wow, PM...thanks! It's the result of a lot of meditation on those stories over the years...

How do you know about all the celestial stuff? I just went out and looked, but I can't see it well from my house...very cool, though...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

My humble thanks, Ebony...

Yeah, it was cool to have that moment with her...they went back home today and I miss her already...

Anonymous said...

It's a long story, but, as I've heard you say, "never say never!"

MJL

NTL said...

MJL,
I love it when people shoot straight, and you are a straight shooter, right from the heart.

Miracles, peace and love to us all.

Anonymous said...

I have to confess, I have been somewhat of a blurker lately because of external events going on around me. And they have been more than a distraction but I try to keep my focus on what is going on in the spirit realm particularly as it refers to the Holy Spirit and what is being taught by you through Him and through Him as He trains my hand for battle.

Recently, my 86 year old aunt with Alzheimer's is under my care in my home and I must tell you it is more than a challenge. I always think that God's word (which I play in her hearing) as well as your teachings, washed in the word, lots of worship, tons of praise, but more importantly love and kindness and t.l.c. can solve a even a demented, dis-eased mind. Well, to express to you in the natural, this has not been the case. She has been extremely violent, contentious, physical and just very difficult to say the least. She doesn't have children and her husband has been deceased almost 10 years.

She is now in advanced stages of Alzheimer's and my family doesn't want her to go into a nursing home, but the Holy Spirit is totally going to need to walk me through this one. There is a part of me that believes that Alzheimer's is a term used to describe demonic oppression.

So I do read your re-phrasing of the gospel of Matthew and it is incredible and part of me believes that this work may very well become like Eugene Peterson's message bible which I still think is very cool and has truly opened and expounded on the written oracles of God for me.

It is ironic how I have such a heart to work with the seniors and help them and support them after working with seniors in Ga. as a licensed insurance agent selling medicare advantage products and realizing just how vulnerable and underserved this population of society is.

Often seniors are underserved, overlooked, exploited and mistreated in this society, so I believe Jesus would call them the least of these. I know good seeds are being planted and just seems ironic to me that whenever I am involved in a ministry, I am literally entrenched in the day to day nitty gritty real deal. It is very interesting that the Lord allows me to be first row and center stage.

Anyway, saying all of the above for several reasons, one, our seniors need help, and two they need our prayers and three I need the body of CITN and BITN's prayers. I want you to know your work is not being overlooked and it is important, way more important than the tomatoe picture, however, even to respond to this blog, as much as I love it, takes time. I didn't know that blogs can somewhat be off-putting, at least one of my sister's told me that is why my blog is often overlooked. Blog in the Now is relevant and very important and I am proud to be a regular contributor and like yourself, I will use some of my entries for a published work because my entries mean something as well.

I want you to know Bishop, as you pour your self into these words, and as a writer and a deep researcher, I can only imagine the long hours, you have a cyber-congregation that sees and feels and cares very deeply about this treasure that pour endlessly onto paper that saturates us with simple, concise, careful, well divided words which deposit priceless gems into our very beings. I say this because sometimes, just sometimes, the deepest most profound ideas, thoughts, speeches, writings, artistic expressions may truly take generations to catch on to. Perfect example would be I have a dream speech by Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr was a work and a thought and a dream before it's time. WE are just starting to realize the dream. 40 years is a long time. However God's timing is perfect. This work will stand long after you are absent from the body. I believe it is an eternal work that will not be shaken. So my prayer is and I hope you can agree with me that the four gospels can be published on a national scale and we will enjoy your fame with you as your Amen corner.

But be encouraged, even Jesus asked where was the other nine. I thank you and appreciate you for all you do!

Water Walker

Anonymous said...

This is all very strange. Nothing here is like one would think it would be or should be according to the traditional way of thinking in those days. Lepers (rotting people) coming up too close for comfort, pagan god worshiping, hated government officials being praised for one word of faith, someone getting healed that wasn’t even at the meeting, talking about all these outsiders being invited to the party while those that had worked so hard to get in are turned away, one got healed that didn’t even ask for it, just because she needed to get up and do some cooking, all these demon worshipers roaming in and out of the house, so that Jesus had keep casting them out. It was all really getting out of hand so that Jesus said “I’m getting out of here” and started to cross the lake to get away from this crazy bunch. Then some that didn’t have a clue what they were doing were trying to get in the boat with them. A huge storm comes up and nearly sinks the boat before Jesus gets up; then he just got up and told the storm to “shut up” and laid back down and went to sleep while everyone else was freaking out. Then they land the boat at none other than a grave yard and here is a demon possessed terrorist, so crazy he had everyone, I mean everyone, scared to death of him. This guy had a whole herd of demons in him. These were more stupid demons than most, because they thought they would out smart Jesus by asking him if they could go into some pigs; he never said they could so they went anyway so Jesus just had them run off in the lake killing the pigs, leaving these stupid demons still kick out. Then because these pig farmers got all upset and called together meeting of officials to get rid of Jesus because he was so good, it was bad for business………..WHEW! what a day!

Peace,
Dennis

Anonymous said...

Just goes to show ya that things in the Kingdom of God are sometimes pretty hectic and may seem upside-down to the rest of the world. while some really great stuff is being done in the Kingdom.

Peace,
Dennis

Unknown said...

PM, here's something I found on the internet regarding the planet lineup (happened Nov. 29 thru Dec. 1)...

"In what's called a planetary conjunction, the two planets —the brightest in the night sky — will appear extremely close, separated by only the width of a finger held at arm's length. They won't be this close together and well-placed for evening viewing again until May 2013.

In fact, some astronomers think a similar alignment of the planets on June 17 in the year 2 BC is behind biblical accounts of the Star of Bethlehem present during Christ's birth. The bright planets would have appeared so close together they could have been taken as a single shining star."

Re: the "whatever" star in Bishop's pic of CITN and the Nativity, for me its another indication of walking in Spirit--"is that a star?" well? maybe that one wasn't, but you sensed a "star happening" on Nov. 30, Bishop, and one was actually in mid-manifest.
Month of Miracles!

Once again, I recommend the "Star of Bethlehem" dvd. Jaw-dropping science dug out by a lawyer.

wordver: sturatus
close enough for me: stratosphere!
Miracles are in our mouths.

Unknown said...

Tracy, I've never changed a single word ver letter...it would mess with my own joy in them.

MITNVIII, v.8--reading this dialogue, I could sense the things that could have repeatedly been said to this "idol worshipper" in his life by the members of the "elitist, nationalistic religion" that he knew Jesus was a part of. "I don't want to dishonor you."...wow. just wow.

and ditto, JB, on v. 9's . This MITN version will be called "a manifesto of the Kingdom".

Clearly, Caravaggio's guiding angel is still at work!

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Avatar, I've been looking for my "Star of Bethlehem" DVD because I might want to show at least a part of it in church some time during this season, but haven't been able to find it...do you have a copy?

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Brilliant observation about the upside down kingdom, P. Dennis...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks again, everyone...beautiful writing here today...