Saturday, March 14, 2009

MITN XIV, Verses 1 - 14

1. About this time King Herod was hearing reports about Jesus, and about the remarkable things that were occurring around Him, and because of Him.

2. So he told his officials, "I think that this man must be the re-incarnation of John the Baptist! The man that we executed has come back from the dead in the form of this Jesus, and that's apparently why He has the power to work these miracles!"

3. Herod was very aware of John, the Forerunner, because earlier he had arrested John, and had had him chained and put in prison.

4. He did this because John, outspoken as he was, had told him, "It isn't right or appropriate for you to take Herodias, the wife of your brother Philip."

5. Herod wanted to kill John for daring to confront him in this way, but the people thought that John was a prophet, and Herod was afraid of what they might do if he touched him.

6. But when Herod's birthday came, the teenage daughter of Herodias danced for the guests at his celebration, particularly directing her movements toward her uncle/stepfather. And Herod was seduced by the dance, and was greatly pleased by it…

7. …so much, in fact, that in an outburst of passionate reaction to her, he publicly swore to give her anything she wanted.

8. But the girl's mother, who has been incensed at the words of John, told her to say to him, "Right here on this platter, I want the head of that John the Baptist!"

9. And immediately the king regretted what he had said in the heat of the moment, but he didn’t want to break the promise that he had made in front of his guests. So he ordered a guard,

10. “All right, then…do it…go to the prison right now and cut off John's head.”

11. And sure enough, John was then decapitated, and his severed head was taken on a platter to the girl, and she then presented the gruesome trophy to her mother.

12. Shortly thereafter, John's followers took his headless body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus about the horrible thing that had happened.
13. After Jesus heard the shattering news about John, He crossed Lake Galilee to go to some place where He could be alone to grieve silently, and to try to process what had happened in His own way. But, as usual, the crowds found out that He was moving, and followed Him on foot from the surrounding towns.

14. When Jesus got out of the boat, He saw the large, needy throng, and instead of resenting their lack of sensitivity to His suffering, or focusing on His own feelings, He immediately was moved with compassion for them. So He translated His heartbreak into healing by curing everyone there who was sick. He sacrificed His own need for solitude for the sake of service, and in this way He soothed His own sorrow.

33 comments:

Larry Usher said...

Jesus wept

Anonymous said...

Bishop,

I know the first thought that should probably NOT be about this is what I am "incensed" about, but here it is.

I read this and just want to go over and smack good ole' mother dear. I try every day to be a model of compassion and honor for my daughters.........and THIS MOTHER lives her life that way and draws her daughter in with no regard for anyone, seriously not John. Relationship, compassion, honor, love, (self)respect, there was nothing there from mother to daughter; hence the suggestive dance being appropriate for her, as well to see it "pleasing" Herod, and all she can wait for is John to pay for his words. YIKES

Lord,I pray I do nothing in my lifetime to make YOU see that I showed anything but "right" to my daughters, gifts from YOU, Lord!

Peace,
Northern Light

Donald said...

Everytime I see in verses 13 and 14 about how Jesus would put his feelings and his need for solitude aside and minister to the crowds I have to realize how far I am from the example he set.
There have been too many times when things may have happened at work and I just want to get home and enjoy some peace and quiet only to be bombarded there with stuff and then end up saying something or doing something that I later regret.
It seems that Jesus never made that error but ALWAYS had it together.
Wow! That's a goal worth aiming for.

tracy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
River said...

It amazes me how much passion Jesus has. After he got the news of what happened He went to grieve by himself. People followed him wanting miracles for themselves and he preformed them. It's a good thing I wasn't Jesus because I would have put a plague on all who was involved in the death of John. I would have put a barrier between me and those who tried to follow me in my time of grievance. I wish I had that much compassion. That's beyond my comprehension. Three word Love Never Fails

Anonymous said...

He sacrificed His own need for solitude for the sake of service, and in this way He soothed His own sorrow.

and that is why ...
To worship YOU I live, to worship you I live, I live to worship YOU...
In our times of greatest sorrow, to have compassion for others is the deepest form of love

It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is
put into them that matters.
Mother Teresa

Bishop, that was beautiful

Unknown said...

One of the things that I appreciate about the 'ITN series of paraphrases is that they remind us of the unvarnished truth...not the "truth" with the Scarlet O'hara voice "unplayzent" parts glossed over. It is what it is...real people...before they've met the real perfect God in the real but not-yet-manifested-as-perfected world!

v.2...the man that "we" executed...interesting.

v.11...anyone who says that the world is getting worse by the day needs to read this verse. People still get jealous, but they don't casually present prophets heads to their pleased mother's anymore!

v. 14...and in this way He soothed His own sorrow. Profound truth revealed--Jesus knew the whole truth about service.

Anonymous said...

What impressed me about verse 1 is the phrase, "about this time." All things were being fulfilled regarding the law and the prophets.

2. "he told his officials" is interesting. Obvious to an earthly king that John's representation of authority superseded his own.

Herod's comment about re-incarnation is curious, considering he compared the possibility of John being the reincarnation of John the Baptist. Remember when Jesus talked about him, in Matthew 11:14? He compared him to Elijah.

4. Some texts say that Herod was actually a step-brother.

5. What if his desire to murder John was really a power struggle? Herod was a tetrarch, representing partial rulership of a kingdom. John heralded the approach of the King of all kingdoms.

6. Fascinating that Herod was afraid what the crowds would do to him if he touched John ("the grace or mercy of the Lord"). But, not his niece/step-daughter, Salome. ("perfect")

7. Matthew 13:33. The Kingdom of heaven is like leaven. (authority in three dimensions was present)

8. Reminds me of, "Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he make run that reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time. But, at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. (Habakkuk 2:2) The visionary's head, placed on a platter.

10. Horrifying visual, but fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6. (unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder)

13. Parable about the leaven? It ferments, it expands. It has the quality of permeating, altering and transforming.

14. "He translated his heartache into healing" suggests that the intensity/energy of this emotion can be transformed into something immensely beneficial.

He sacrificed His need for solitude.

Anonymous said...

I completely relate to Donald's post and can only rely on Love's mercy for the purging that refines me to a better kind of messenger/angel for the benefit of others.

A little retro to this but needful for posting here is what became more clear to me concerning the messenger/angel from MITN XIII. In verse 49 the darnel is re-adressed and the job of the angels at the close of a particular ion is to separate that which is good and eternal from what is not needed and was in someway added into the original good and eternal part.

There have been some powerful agents that have played their part in my refining process including some that are entirely spiritual (yes, I hear voices and I listen to those that speak only of goodness and eternity) but to this date the most powerful messenger/angel in my life that has raised my consciousness to an awareness of what is good and eternal in me is Bishop Jim Earl Swilley. His voice has become as audible to my memory of good words for recall as any other within my soul's sound system. I do not have a memory of what Jesus' voice would sound like so the best I can do is to use that of a person that has inspired my being toward goodness in this present ion.

When humanity really starts listening to the Holy Spirit that is resident within all of us, well that'll preach.

Thank you Donald for your encouragement, you are an important voice in this media and in the eternal Kingdom.

JB

Anonymous said...

Hey Izumi,

We were talking at the same time this morning but your keyboard is faster than mine, it has slow fingers. Loved your post.

JB

Anonymous said...

I'm visiting with Mom getting ready to watch CITN with her. I will comment on MITN XIV Later....

expecting a geat time of fellowship and a good word this morning...

Peace,
Dennis

Anonymous said...

I did not stream in today for the Word, :(, but did catch the first 40 mins. of Worship and part of P. Debye,while getting the fam ready to go to church here.

I can't wait to start seeing posts so I know what the topic was. I'm feelin' like it's going to be one I'll be ordering another DVD of by dinnertime !

Peace,
Northern Light

Lise said...

NL,
Just go ahead and order it! I'm gonna have to get this one, too.
Ya did it again, Bish. Now I don't want to send my mom the one of last week w/out following it up with this weeks. They go so hand in hand, in my opinion. So, think I'll wait till I get this one and send them both.

Feel a cool 'o the day walk with my best friend coming on.

See y'all later...

Donald said...

Yep, order that one NL.
I experienced it and I am still going to order a few copies.

Anonymous said...

ok...I'm ordering it NOW...but is anyone gonna give me a clue as to what I missed ? It takes daysssssssssssss for that DVD to get "north"......haha

Can a girl get a clue ? hey now..(on the service I mean, of course haha)
Peace,

Northern Light

Donald said...

I couldn't do it justice NL.

I will say that it had Her Majesty and I in tears.

It was just.........GOOD!

Lise said...

Bish, oh Bish... help me! Tell me if I'm doing this right.

I finally decided to try my hand at composing an art blog, but I need someone to go to it and see if it looks like it should. Or if you can even get to it. I'm not sure my settings are right. I know with yours, I always sign in first.

Anyway, if you or somebody (or a few somebodies) would try this and see if it works, I'd much appreciate it.

anartistspalate.blogspot.com

I'm experimenting right now. Certain it's not something I'll keep up with daily, but it might be fun, so thought I'd try.

Also, how do I do a playlist? Where do I go to access it?

Thank you, thank you!

Donald said...

Actually that should have read, "Her Majesty and me" instead of "Her Majesty and I".

Anonymous said...

Hey Donald,

Smart, Funny & Grammatically correct! ha Her Majesty has the whole package with you, now doesn't she?

But on the romantic side...be sure and buy her more than a bucket of mops with pretty red bows next year for Valentine's Day.....

Geez, I still get a giggle thinking about that post !

I ORDERED the DVD of today's service and now I really can't wait. I take your impression, comment and personal reaction to today's message to heart. Thank you for sharing....

Peace,
Northern Light

Iris said...

Bishop, awesome word this morning!

In November I pondered a word very similar to the one you gave this morning. I was stressed, problems pounded relentlessly at my hearts door, bringing a merciless grip of growing despair. So in search of relief and peace I went up to the North Georgia Mountains. After taking a short hike up the beautiful trail to Ruby Falls, I sat on a rock in front of the falls, soaking in the fresh air, enjoying the pallet of colors magnificently displayed by the autumn leaves against the crystal blue sky, and relished the splendor of the water as it surrendered itself to the force of nature, resuming its journey at the bottom without question.

My conversation with God went something like this…

“God, this is peace. I wish I could experience this tranquility permanently!”

“You can.” He replied.

“Yeah right God, I don’t see anything in the natural changing anytime soon, in less there’s some instant miracle you’re planning to do.” (God and I have conversations like this all the time.)

“I didn’t say anything about your circumstances changing; I only said you could have this peace all the time.”

“Ok God, I’m not quite on the same page with Ya here. How can I have peace all the time with all of this chaos continually raging around me?”

“First of all, why are you so stressed over what YOU call chaos? Have I ever failed you or let you down?”

“Of course not God.” I sighed.

“Haven’t you already slain the bear, the lion, the giant, and weathered many violent storms? So why do you think this is going to be any different. You will always rise to the top, you will always be the head and not the tail, you will always be above and not beneath. Nothing’s changed, except your perception. You see you are looking for the external to bring you peace. You’re waiting to experience peace when all of the problems go away, when your storms have calmed. If you wait for that to happen you will never know real peace. The only peace that will satisfy you is the peace that is within you. Enjoy the eternal peace which lives inside your core, and your peace will be endless no matter how fierce the storm."

My journey back to my car that day was totally different from the one taken only an hour before. I realized that I was looking for peace in all the wrong places. I’ve always had peace; I just needed to tap into its reservoir which dwells from within. It’s always there. Its reserve never runs out. I just had to look in the right place.

Since that time, when the bear or lion come, I don’t look at them in terror… I wave my hand and say “Oh, it’s just you.” Then dip my ladle in the well of peace, drink to satisfaction, and calmly relax in the knowledge of who I am in Christ dwelling inside of me.

Eternal peace, internally…
Iris

Donald said...

NL, I tape all the services and I've already listened to it again this afternoon.

Ebony said...

Two things:

1) Matthew in the Now is beautiful, every chapter gets better and better

2) Normally every word you give is a word in season, but this is probably the first time I had a same day turn around in the area of "real life application". I've been working on my specialist degree for a year, and while one of the classes is tedious in nature, the assignments are pretty easy, the other one is to be frank, one of-if not the hardest course I've ever taken. I've always been the kind of student that with a little effort, got good grades (like a person who can "fix" everything) and even though I am trying, I'm not as successful as I'd like to be. As we speak I have had to scrap my old research and start from scratch. And as I was thinking about my remaining assignments and what I have to do, I started to tear up because of the frustration, then I thought about what you said in church today and gave myself two options

1) continue to cry and stress make myself sick

2) consult with my professor, suck it up, read my notes more thoroughly, and start over with my research

I chose the later, reminding myself that if Jesus overcame the world, surely I can overcome "Research on Trends and Issues in Education"


ps: Tell Jonah Ms. Thornton thought he was GREAT in the play!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey JB, I've enjoyed your perspectives, too. I don't know if you're like this, but, every time I read a new chapter, I see things I've previously missed.

Like, when Jesus crossed over to the Sea of Galilee to grieve. One site describes its shape as a harp, the national instrument of the Hebrews.

It's also known as the, "eye of Galilee", due to its brilliance. Viewed from the mountains, it lights up the scenery.

No wonder Jesus crossed there to mourn the loss of his prophet friend.

Also appreciate the realm of possibility when Jesus went to, "process what happened in His own way." Today, we use that word to mean, "deal with it", & "mull it over".

I appreciate that the dictionary offers additional (applicable) definitions for process:

* a series of actions directed to some end

* a continuous action

* the whole course of proceedings in an action at law

* the action of going forward

Thank you, Bish. Because MITN is like a reservoir, I return with my cup, often.

Enjoyed today's lesson, too. Particularly, attentiveness to the significance of words Jesus spoke. (I've been doing that, too!) Also, about changing points of reference, how your mind links Scriptures together (ditto) and discovering the "See!" in the book of Joshua. (always been there, but news to me)

Now that you've opened the topic, it makes me wonder about God blessing the meek & their (our?) inheritance of the earth.

Wouldn't it be fun to write an allegory, too? Process and take dominion over the perception of things. Like, say, what's been happening on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. (good news is starting to catch on)

Anonymous said...

Iris, after I posted, I scrolled up to read the comments I missed while typing. (had to laugh at the similar God-thoughts - so cool)

Anonymous said...

OH no you did not just tell me that, Donald, my friend. That is, unless you wanted to send me that taped message via email ! TONIGHT ha

ha
Peace,
NL

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Wow, thanks everyone...today felt very different from last week...not better or worse, just different...revelation is still such a mystery to me...I don't know what makes a word come up in your spirit...can't explain that thing that takes you over that makes it impossible for you to think about anything else other than that word...seriously, the sayings of Jesus are flooding my consciousness so much lately, but in a whole new way...thank you for having ears to hear...your comments have given me a lot of joy...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Elle, it looks good, and it looks like you're figuring out the logistics...it's a lot of work to create and maintain a blog, but worth it if you enjoy it, and feel like you have something to say...

Anonymous said...

I agree, Bish; yesterday's service was much different than last Sunday's. On the drive home, I kept wondering what that difference was.

And, like you, I wonder why a word resonates in my spirit. Last night, it seemed to be "process". "Coincidentally", after I turned off the computer & went to bed, I channel surfed before getting sleepy. A Baptist church in McDonough was having service (no idea if it was pre-recorded) and the recurring word was "process"!

This morning, I glimpsed through the previous MITN chapters and had to laugh about Jesus and His allegories. Particularly, verses 24, 33, and 44.

It just occurred to me that Christ is the supersede!

Lise said...

Hey!
Thanks, Bish. I'm figuring a few things out, but the playlist is driving me crazy! Started out with playlist.com... spent a couple of hours finding songs... copied and pasted the code, and it still wouldn't take. After a search, I found FIQL which supposedly allows you to export from your itunes library. Liked that idea much better, but still can't seem to make it work. Don't know if the 'embed' function is temporarily malfunctioning or what. Oh well... one of these days, maybe.

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

It's ironic that you're stressing over a playlist...I remember you posting before that you always turn the volume down when you're here because the music distracts you...depending on how much you believe in the laws of attraction (or "out of the heart are the issues of life"), maybe you're working against yourself...just a thought...

Again...the whole thing is a lot of work...hang in there...

Lise said...

HA! HA! Touche! And, no, I don't know how to put the accents over letters :)

But I'm stressing over the fact that I can't figure it out! It's really bugging me. Aside which, I wasted a ton of time compiling lists only to find out that I can't figure out how to post them! Most uncool!

And let's face it... most people enjoy playlists, so I wanted to include one. But I really do have tunnel vision, so to speak, and am sure that I would mute my own playlist, too ;}

I'll get it eventually, and then I'll be saying ... nah, nah, nah, boo-boo!

Hey, my word ver is 'pleuvent'
That sounds very French! Is it? Anybody know?

Anonymous said...

Bishop,
You are my pastor. Praise God for the revelation!!! The fresh annointing. Let the Rain continue!For this 'revelation' is what washes my brain, changes my thought process, puts me to sleep at night, gets me up in the morning. I want the peace. Cannot handle the tribulation anymore. Anymore. Bishop, thank you for being obedient.
"I'm moving ahead, I'm not turning back..." I KNOW I AM AT PEACE. THANK YOU HOLY SPIRIT. IT WILL ALL WORK OUT :)

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Peace rules!