Sunday, November 24 - A Greek Tragedy Takes Flesh—and Still Dwells Among Us
Historicized epics are manipulated to justify power structures and colonization. In contrast, Luke emphasizes liberation through submission to literary wisdom, not political dominance.
The Odyssey narrates Odysseus’s ten-year journey as the king of Ithaca, during which he attempts to return home after the fall of Troy. Virgil’s Aeneid chronicles the journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero and son of the goddess Venus. Aeneas escapes the fallen city of Troy and embarks on a quest to start a settler-colonial project in Italy.
Virgil wrote a work of total fiction, and then as if by witchcraft, Augustus traced his (and Rome’s) historical origins back to Aeneas.
In Jewish Antiquities, Josephus Flavius followed the line of Augustus, adulterating the Bible to appease the ego of his settler-colonial abuser, adopting the same Greco-Roman “literary-historicizing” framework. This may not have resonated with the Jews of the time, but man, would-be Christian imperial colonizers loved his historicizing of epic literature to “build” their apotheosis.
What good is Star Wars if lightsabers are not real, if you are not the heir of Luke Skywalker, and the Republic is not rightfully yours to “possess?”
So, thanks to Josephus Flavius, the (sellout, Uncle Tom) closet Hasmonean, and his oversized case of Bible-wrecking Stockholm Syndrome, by now, we’ve had to deal with two millennia of Hellenized theologians who really believe that Jesus picked up where Venus and Augustus left off.
If you want to understand the socio-political consequences of this approach, consider watching independent news media on YouTube.
If you want to be set free from the tyranny of Augustus and Josephus, hear the Gospel of Luke.
This week, I discuss Luke 7:17-19.
Show Notes
ἔρχομαι (erchomai) ب-و-ء (bā-wāw-hamza) / ב-ו-א (bet-waw-alef)
The Hebrew verb בוא (bo) and the Arabic verb بَاءَ (bā’a) “he returned” are cognates that trace back to a common Semitic root related to movement toward a point—be it coming or returning. This root corresponds to ἐρχόμενος (erchomoenos) in Luke 7:19, the one who is expected.
“‘Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come (יָבוֹא, yāḇôʾ) to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, he is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1)
“The Lord God has sworn by his holiness, ‘Behold, the days are coming (בָּאִ֣ים, bā’îm) upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.’” (Amos 4:2)
Related functions in Arabic:
بَاءَ (bā’a) To return, to incur, to be burdened with, to bring upon oneself.
بَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ
(bā’ū bi-ghaḍabin mina allāh)
“They have incurred wrath from God.”
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:61)
بَوَّأَ (bawwa’a) To settle someone, to provide lodging, to assign a place.
مُتَبَوَّأ (mutabawa’a) A dwelling place.
Arabic Lexicon, Hawramani, https://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/?p=1617&book=50#9b0b27
وَلَقَدْ بَوَّأْنَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مُبَوَّأَ صِدْقٍ
(wa laqad bawwa’nā banī isrā’īla mubawwa’a ṣidqin)
“And we settled the Children of Israel in a good dwelling-place.”
(Surah Yunus 10:93)
تَبَاوَأَ (tabāwa’a) Used in literature to describe competition and contention between characters. The verb carries a negative connotation that implies equality. To be equal with each other. Equality in sin or punishment: state of being equally guilty.
القتيلان فِي الْقصاص تعادلا (al-qatīlāni fī al-qiṣāsi ta‘ādalā)
“Two dead, in retribution, were tied.”
“بَوَاءٌ” Arabic Lexicon, Hawramani, https://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/?p=63888#dbd19f
Daniel 2:9 — Semitic Language Study
Shepherd’s Note: Blaise offers a compelling and thorough examination of the Aramaic word דת (dat) in the Book of Daniel. He navigates its linguistic origins and multifaceted usage, tracing this function to its Persian roots through Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, and Greek. His essay highlights an itinerary that can help us hear the biblical text. His essay connects dat to related terms such as Latin “data,” Sanskrit “datta,” and Greek “δότης,” illustrating the word’s interfunctionality and significance.
This week, Fr. Paul reiterates the importance of hearing Scripture within its historical and sociopolitical context. Beginning with Alexander the Great’s quest for divinity, he illustrates this with references to subsequent events, like the Maccabean Revolt and the resulting Roman domination of Judah. In contrast, he critiques the folly of philosophy in biblical studies, arguing that theology, under the influence of its namesake, Alexander the Great, continues the Macedonian’s quest for divinity, recounting the tale of how Aristotle’s pupil once halted a battle to embark on a “spiritual journey” into the desert, seeking to understand himself as an incarnate god.
Iron Sharpens Iron
Fr. Aaron Warwick
Fr. Aaron and Jason Ewertt host Teach Me Thy Statutes on the Ephesus School Network.
Fr. Fred Shaheen
Fr. Fred hosts A Light to the Nations on the Ephesus School Network.
Tammy Faye Bakker: An Old Fashioned Shaming
Shepherd’s Note: In this episode of Vexed, Andrea delves into the biblical teaching “shame under correction,” drawing parallels between ancient Scripture and contemporary literature. Examining passages from Ezekiel and the letters of Paul, she points to the portrayal of Tammy Faye in the HBO film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, illustrating how shame, when used constructively, can serve as a tool for correction.
Andrea hosts Vexed on the Ephesus School Network.
The lexicography of yi 異
Shepherd’s Note: Matthew’s essay examines the Chinese character 異 (yi), noting its interfunctionality with key biblical texts, such as Joseph’s meeting with Pharaoh and Yā‘ēl’s decisive action against Sisera. These stories illustrate yi 異’s function as change, renewal, and the complexity of difference. By drawing parallels with the New Testament and Qur’anic texts, Matthew underscores the relevance of yi 異 across traditions.
And what will you say?
Rev. Deacon Anthony Jarrell
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ is in our midst!
If you look at the word “barn,” ἀποθήκη “apotheke,” it is only mentioned one other time in the New Testament in Matthew, where Jesus talks about barns being torn down. The Old Testament’s corresponding Hebrew function connects apotheke to Joel 1:17, where it is written, “The seed shrivels under the clods. The storehouses are desolate. The granaries are ruined because the grain has failed.”
“Be confounded, O tillers of the soil, O vinedressers for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The fig tree withers, the vine languishes, the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple—all the trees of the field are withered, and gladness fails from the sons of men. Gird on sackcloth and lament, princes! Weep, O ministers of the altar! Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Bring cereal offerings and drink offerings, because cereal offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry to the Lord, “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, and joy and gladness from the house of our God?”’
That is the lexical or functional reference, and I will remind you again: God called this man a fool. That’s not us saying that; that is according to Scripture. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God. They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. None does good.”
The parable calls out the man who trusts in his riches because Jesus is the teacher breaking forth the Torah, the bread of life, to us, and someone interrupts him to say, “What about my inheritance?” That sounds a lot like us. We want to interrupt Scripture and the breaking open of Scripture in our lives to correct us, strip us, and make us into something new. We don’t want that. We want to interrupt it with all the things of life. We want to interrupt it with, “Oh, what about my inheritance? What’s in it for me?” And God will tell us that day, “Fool, this night, your soul is required of you.”
In what do you trust?
That’s the question. It is written, “He will build; He will tear down his old granaries and build up new ones.” In Galatians, Paul said, “If I build up again what I once destroyed, I am a transgressor.” So what we build does not matter; what we are built upon does. We must not trust in our riches.
Those of us—I don’t know about you—but every year around this time, you get the 401(k) statement saying, “It’s time to redo your benefits and adjust your 401(k)s and your pension plans.” He’s talking to us, the people with pension plans, the people with comfort, the people who are not in danger, the people for whom pestilence, fire, and danger are far from us. Scripturally, he warns us, “Fool, all these things around you are nothing. I can take them away like that. I can require your life with you, and to whom will these things go?”
Of course, somebody will say, “Well, then we have to talk about who gets what.” That’s not the point. The point is what’s going to happen to you on that day when you’re stripped of your riches and all the things in which you trust that aren’t of God—specifically the Scriptural God, the God that said in Joel, “Proclaim a solemn fast, because I have stripped you of your food and your raiment and your clothing.”
Later on, Joel talks about the cows and calves lowing in the field and being in dismay because there is no pasture for them. The entire land is destroyed in Joel, like Gaza, like Sudan, like Ukraine, like all of these places that we don’t live in, that we don’t think about. They are desolate. We destroy them and people like us who want to use the power that we have to ensure that we are comfortable, cozy, and collected and don’t have to think about God.
But God will say to you on that day, “Fool, your soul is required of you.” And what will you say?
You may say, “Lord, have mercy.” You may say nothing. Neither response will help you.
If you are fortunate, God will give you something from Scripture to say.
So remember this day and every day: trust in God, not your riches, and act like it.
Christ is in our midst!