Posted on 05/23/2021 5:50:58 AM PDT by Hebrews 11:6
Crack that whip, Mama, like Mary did at Cana!
Ahahah! He adores his mama and I adore him. We have a wonderful relationship, thank God!
That’s lovely and wonderful, Alba.
It is worth noting at this time who the ‘Samaritans’ were (See also The Good Samaritan parable).
The Samaritans, who lived in areas to the north and northeast of Judea, were considered a mongrel race any the Jews, and would not even talk to them unless it was absolutely necessary. They were shunned and ignored for the most part.
Why?
Because the Samaritans, named for the geographic area where they lived, were the descendants of the pagan people the Assyrians moved into the area after taking the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity.
When the ten tribes were carried away into captivity to Assyria, the king of Assyria sent people from Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to inhabit Samaria (2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2-11). These foreigners intermarried with the Israelite population that was still in and around Samaria. These “Samaritans” at first worshiped the idols of their own nations, but being troubled with lions, they supposed it was because they had not honored the God of that territory. A Jewish priest was therefore sent to them from Assyria to instruct them in the Jewish religion. They were instructed from the books of Moses, but still retained many of their idolatrous customs. The Samaritans embraced a religion that was a mixture of Judaism and idolatry (2 Kings 17:26-28). Because the Israelite inhabitants of Samaria had intermarried with the foreigners and adopted their idolatrous religion, Samaritans were generally considered “half-breeds” and were universally despised by the Jews.
Additional grounds for animosity between the Israelites and Samaritans were the following:
1. The Jews, after their return from Babylon, began rebuilding their temple. While Nehemiah was engaged in building the walls of Jerusalem, the Samaritans vigorously attempted to halt the undertaking (Nehemiah 6:1-14).
2. The Samaritans built a temple for themselves on “Mount Gerizim,” which the Samaritans insisted was designated by Moses as the place where the nation should worship. Sanballat, the leader of the Samaritans, established his son-in-law, Manasses, as high priest. The idolatrous religion of the Samaritans thus became perpetuated.
3. Samaria became a place of refuge for all the outlaws of Judea (Joshua 20:6-7; 21:21). The Samaritans willingly received Jewish criminals and refugees from justice. The violators of the Jewish laws, and those who had been excommunicated, found safety for themselves in Samaria, greatly increasing the hatred which existed between the two nations.
4. The Samaritans received only the five books of Moses and rejected the writings of the prophets and all the Jewish traditions.
From these causes arose an irreconcilable difference between them, so that the Jews regarded the Samaritans as the worst of the human race (John 8:48) and had no dealings with them (John 4:9). In spite of the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, Jesus broke down the barriers between them, preaching the gospel of peace to the Samaritans (John 4:6-26), and the apostles later followed His example (Acts 8:25).
Very informative, Red—thank you! Is this your own writing?
Not below the line.
I could have, but time is of the essence. Stuff I already knew.
Came from here:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Samaritans.html
..............
I knew the what but not the why, beyond the Samaritans’ mongrelization. Thanks.
Parable of the wineskins...................
Well, I can see AN application of that parable to this situation; but what application are YOU making?
The Parable of the Wineskins is probably the least understood of Jesus’ parables.
I have read several interpretations and they don’t always agree.
First, we must get our terms in focus.
The term ‘New Wine’, as used in the New Testament, means wine that has not completed its fermentation process, and so is still very sweet, having lots of sugar not yet turned to alcohol. It has an alcohol content of about 4-5% or roughly equivalent to a strong beer.
Next, ‘Old Wineskins’ are wineskins that are dried, stiff and brittle from usage and have been stretched to their limits by CO2 from the fermentation process, having been used previously.
Conversely, ‘New Wineskins’ are soft, pliable and stretchable, and will expand when new wine is stored in them.
These three things are metaphors for the time in which Jesus is speaking.
‘Old Wineskins’ is the metaphor for the religious stagnation of the Jews at that time.
‘New Wineskins’ is the metaphor for the religious rebirth that is coming.
‘New Wine’ is the metaphor for the NEW Christianity that will soon take root in the pagan Roman Empire.
The Jewish religious power structure of that day had become dried, stiff and brittle from centuries of dogmatic theocratic societal control. The Pharisees and Sadducees controlled everything in everyday Jewish life and had bent and twisted the religious rules to suit themselves and retain their power (Much like Democrats and Republicans in today’s USA).
The ‘New Wine’ of Christianity could not ferment, expand and take hold in this environment. It would have been extinguished even before it had a chance to grow.
The ‘New Wineskins’ are Jesus followers and not just the 12 apostles, but all the men and women who followed his ministry throughout Judea and Samaria.
But they were Jews! Yes, you are correct, they ‘were’ Jews right up until the Day of Pentecost, when in the closed upper room, the Holy Spirit descended upon them and Christianity was ‘born’.
Remember, they all began ‘speaking in tongues’ of every language then known. People said they were “Drunk on New Wine”, and they were! The New Wine of Christianity!
That this happened on the Day of Pentecost was no mere coincidence. This was a major annual religious holiday after Passover, 50 days. Jews from all over the Empire came to Jerusalem to celebrate, and they spoke every language from their homes. How surprised they must have been to hear the Gospel spoken to them in their own languages!
The Day of Pentecost was also a celebration of the Giving of the Torah (Law) and the summer wheat harvest. How apropos it was that Jesus had ‘Fulfilled the Law’ and the ‘Harvest’ of Christians had begun!.
But even though all this was happening in Jerusalem, it would not be enough to carry the New Wine of Christianity to the entire world.
Paul was appointed Apostle to the Gentiles to carry the message to the very heart of the Empire where it would take root, grow slowly and become eventually the religion of the Western world.
As it is written in Acts 28:
23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
It fascinates me that this series, predicated as it is on the Word, sees so little explication of it. But God, in His perfect wisdom, hasn't called me to expound upon or exegete from it--only to illustrate it.
see — new “wine”, not new “grape juice”
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