December 26-B, 2024

It is well within the Reformed tradition—the Reformed Jewish tradition, that is--
to see Jesus and John the Baptist 
as classical prophets of Judaism, 
come to proclaim  “Now is the time!” 
To turn the light around 
and understand the present moment 
as the time and place for reformation 
of the religion of the forefathers 
and the reclamation by the people 
of the Land of Promise--by living in it
as it should be lived in,
welcoming the stranger and the foreigner alike,
and bringing the Kingdom of God 
to life upon the earth.

Their message was reformation and reconciliation
of the religion of the day 
with the way of the Father 
who led the people through the desert 
to the Promised Land. 

Reclaiming the land was a spiritual, 
not a a political process. 

In Jesus’ proclamation, 
“You have heard it said, but I say unto you,” 
and his “I am” declarations in John’s Gospel, 
and various “Sayings” scattered through the Gospels,
he makes plain his intention for Israel 
to become the land of milk and honey for all people.

However, the Scribes, Pharisees, and Romans 
were not to be converted, 
and the people were more interested in being 
delivered than being transformed, 
and so Jesus’ “How long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” etc. 

His death and the testimonies of his resurrection 
played into the hands of opportunists 
(Paul and some of the apostles, 
with the “Thou art Peter” declarations 
and the proclamation of 
the Christian Church as the bearer of salvation for a new age catching on to the chagrin of both Judaism and Rome, 
and the rest is history. 

But, how many are to see things in this light
when the "Truth" has been proclaimed through the ages 
to the prosperity of those serving that Gospel? 
And, what’s the point of disturbing 
the Doctrines as they have been handed to us? 
To what end the folderol? 
When Bebe Jesu is all the rage?

With what might have been always on the scaffold,
and what is always on the throne.