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The Rule of Four
Four Gospels
Four Disciples
Four Gospels
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Four Maries
Four Disciples
Four Gospels
Four different versions of the name 'Mary' appear in the New Testament Koine Greek.
Four Disciples
Four Disciples
According to the sequence of events in the Gospel Matthew, Christ had identified four disciples prior to giving the sermon on the Mount, his first big public speech: Peter called Simon, his brother Andrew, and James son of Zebedee and his brother John.
Matthew 4:18-22
Four Living Creatures
Prophetic visions in both the old Testament (Ezekiel) and the New Testament (Revelation) mention four living creatures: human, lion, ox and eagle.
Four Horses
In the book of Revelation, during the apocalypse four horsemen appear, each with a different set of responsibilities.
Four Chambers
"Late last night and the night be-four,
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers,
Knocking on my door.
I want to go out,
but I don't know if I can,
Because I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man."
from the novel, Tommyknockers
by Stephen King
This piece of doggerel could have been penned by a fetus. Just imagine. "What is that ceaseless, infernal thumping noise?!"
And then, suddenly, not hearing it anymore, ever again.
Four Directions
Four Directions
Four Directions
North. South. East. West.
Is your heart truly your compass, or do other things influence your choices?
Beatitude Adjustment
Getting to know the boy wonder
"For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: 'He will be counted among the rebels.'"
Luke 22:37
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"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of god."
one of the Beatitudes, from Christ's Sermon on the Mount
Whoop de fucking do. An honorary title. That and a five dollar bill will get you a milkshake. Maybe. Shortly thereafter, in the same sermon, Jesus says this:
"Beware of false prophets...you will know them by their fruits."
That beatitude about peacemakers is a false prophet. Its fruit is not worth eating.
Jesus also says this at one point in a different context, putting himself in direct opposition to it:
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace. I have come not to bring peace but a sword."
Matthew 10:34
And this:
"Those who live by the sword, die by the sword."
Matthew 26:52
The quote above is more about principles than pacifism. Christ lived by his, and died for them, impaled on the cross by a spear.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" is another beatitude Jesus includes in his list.
Sounds lovely, right? Not so much, when you contrast it with other beatitudes that promise the kingdom of heaven or seeing God. It's essentially a tautology. The world is as it is. If you are meek, you accept that - including a shitty status quo that during Christ's lifetime included Jewish people occupied and under Roman rule, and women constrained by all kinds of misogynist laws and practices - and you inherit things as they are. You get what you get cuz you don't get upset.
Christ showed us that, sacrificing himself to a horrible injustice to make the point. This is how bad it can be. The kindest, most loving, most caring of us all can be subjected to public humiliation and torture to the point of death if we do not listen to our hearts and object and fight.
And what lesson do people take from that? Trapped in status quo mentality, unable to break free from their mental box, they just apply traditional thinking to the whole thing. Our people has a long tradition of using scapegoats to compensate for 'sins'. Therefore, precedent being all-important, Jesus must have been offering himself as such a scapegoat. Despite him never once saying he was dying for that reason.
Imagine being Christ's followers. They follow him, believe in him, worship him, love him. Then they stand by and watch him die a terrible, painful death, and no major social upheaval or new world comes about in the wake of it. This would provide tremendous psychological motive for re-contextualizing what happened, developing a narrative that imbues the horror and tragedy and the travesty of injustice with some kind of meaning. So they use what materials they have to do so, in the process warping their teacher's message all out of shape, distorting it so that generations to follow get everything backwards and it's not really possible to craft a complete and fully coherent interpretation anymore. It's a mess. But they get to almost look like heroes for being cowards and leaving him all alone to suffer.
Another beatitude with a *worthwhile* fruit says that those who are pure of heart - who live with integrity, and are willing to live and die by the flaming sword inside of them, forever flashing back and forth (Genesis 3:24) - get to see God.
What type of people tend to be purest of heart, most authentic, most open? The same type of people who can be naked, and not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)
"Truly I tell you, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:3
The more you think of Jesus as an impossibly brilliant (and sometimes naughty) man-child, a Peter Pan, not unlike the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, the more intelligible his life and teachings become. He plays games and creates puzzles because he wants to play. And he is like this because that is why the world exists.
God was alone, and wanted someone to play with, and here you are. It's your choice what you do with you, and whether you accept that invitation.
Read Luke 10:38-42 for more evidence.
Or Matthew 11:19.
Or Luke 7:36-50.
Or John 8:1-11.
