Heyaa I recently stumbled across "Skaywalker" by Babyfather and I love it(probably in this sub?) Since a lot of musicians from very different genres seem to be her fans too (Johnny Rotten for example) So there must be more, right? :) Do you know more songs like that or songs that use quotes by Kate? I don't mean covers!

"Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?"

The main reason Jesus died on the cross was to defeat Satan and set us free from his oppressive rule. Everything else that Jesus accomplished was to be understood as an aspect and consequence of this victory (e.g., Recapitulation, Moral Influence, etc.).
This understanding of why Jesus had to die is called the Christus Victor (Latin for “Christ is Victorious”) view of the atonement. But, what exactly was Christ victorious from, and why? To find out the answers to these questions, we have to turn to the Old Testament, as that's what the apostles would often allude to in order to properly teach their audience the message they were trying to convey (Rom. 15:4).
The OT is full of conflict between the Father (YHVH) and false gods, between YHVH and cosmic forces of chaos. The Psalms speak of this conflict between YHVH and water monsters of the deeps (an ancient image for chaos) (Psa. 29:3-4; 74:10-14; 77:16, 19; 89:9-10; 104:2-9, etc).
The liberation of Israel from Egypt wasn’t just a conflict between Pharaoh and Moses. It was really between YHVH and the false gods of Egypt.
Regardless of whether you think the aforementioned descriptions are literal or metaphorical, the reality that the Old Testament describes is that humanity lived in a “cosmic war zone.”
The Christus Victor motif is about Christ reigning victorious over wicked principalities and Satan's kingdom, and is strongly emphasized throughout the New Testament. Scripture declares that Jesus came to drive out "the prince of this world” (John 12:31), to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), to “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14) and to “put all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25). Jesus came to overpower the “strong man” (Satan) who held the world in bondage and worked with his Church to plunder his "palace" (Luke 11:21-22). He came to end the reign of the cosmic “thief” who seized the world to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy” the life YHVH intended for us (John 10:10). Jesus came and died on the cross to disarm “the principalities and powers” and make a “shew of them openly [i.e., public spectacle]” by “triumphing over them in [the cross]” (Col. 2:15).
Beyond these explicit statements, there are many other passages that express the Christus Victor motif as well. For example, the first prophecy in the Bible foretells that a descendent of Eve (Jesus) would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). The first Christian sermon ever preached proclaimed that Jesus in principle conquered all YHVH's enemies (Acts 2:32-36). And the single most frequently quoted Old Testament passage by New Testament authors is Psalm 110:1 which predicts that Christ would conquer all YHVH’s opponents. (Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to in Matthew 22:41-45; 26:64, Mark 12:35-37; 14:62, Luke 20:41-44; 22:69, Acts 5:31; 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, 1st Corinthians 15:22-25, Ephesians 1:20, Hebrews 1:3; 1:13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11, 15, 17, 21; 8:1; 10:12-13, 1st Peter 3:22, and Revelation 3:21.) According to New Testament scholar Oscar Cullman, the frequency with which New Testament authors cite this Psalm is the greatest proof that Christ’s “victory over the angel powers stands at the very center of early Christian thought.”
Because of man's rebellion, the Messiah's coming involved a rescue mission that included a strategy for vanquishing the powers of darkness.
Since YHVH is a God of love who gives genuine “say-so” to both angels and humans, YHVH rarely accomplishes His providential plans through coercion. YHVH relies on His infinite wisdom to achieve His goals. Nowhere is YHVH's wisdom put more on display than in the manner in which He outsmarted Satan and the powers of evil, using their own evil to bring about their defeat.
Most readers probably know the famous story from ancient Greece about the Trojan Horse. To recap the story, Troy and Greece had been locked in a ten-year-long vicious war when, according to Homer and Virgil, the Greeks came up with a brilliant idea. They built an enormous wooden horse, hid soldiers inside and offered it to the Trojans as a gift, claiming they were conceding defeat and going home. The delighted Trojans accepted the gift and proceeded to celebrate by drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. When night came and the Trojan warriors were too wasted to fight, the Greeks exited the horse, unlocked the city gates to quietly let all their compatriots in, and easily conquered the city, thus winning the war.
Historians debate whether any of this actually happened. But either way, as military strategies go, it’s brilliant.
Now, there are five clues in the New Testament that suggest YHVH was using something like this Trojan Horse strategy against the powers when he sent Jesus into the world:
1) The Bible tells us that YHVH's victory over the powers of darkness was achieved by the employment of YHVH’s wisdom, and was centered on that wisdom having become reality in Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:25, 1 Cor. 2:7, Eph. 3:9-10, Col. 1:26). It also tells us that, for some reason, this Christ-centered wisdom was kept “secret and hidden” throughout the ages. It’s clear from this that YHVH's strategy was to outsmart and surprise the powers by sending Jesus.
2) While humans don’t generally know Jesus’ true identity during his ministry, demons do. They recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, but, interestingly enough, they have no idea what he’s doing (Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7, Luke 8:21). Again, the wisdom of YHVH in sending Jesus was hidden from them.
3) We’re told that, while humans certainly share in the responsibility for the crucifixion, Satan and the powers were working behind the scenes to bring it about (John 13:27 cf. 1 Cor. 2:6-8). These forces of evil helped orchestrate the crucifixion.
4) We’re taught that if the “princes of this world [age]” had understood the secret wisdom of YHVH, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8 cf. vss 6-7). Apparently, Satan and the powers regretted orchestrating Christ’s crucifixion once they learned of the wisdom of YHVH that was behind it.
5) Finally, we can begin to understand why the powers came to regret crucifying “the Lord of glory” when we read that it was by means of the crucifixion that the “handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us [i.e., the charge of our legal indebtedness]” was “[taken] out of the way [i.e., canceled]” as the powers were disarmed. In this way Christ “triumph[ed] over” the powers by "his cross” and even “made a shew of them openly” (Col. 2:14-15). Through Christ’s death and resurrection YHVH's enemies were vanquished and placed under his Messiah's feet, and ultimately His own in the end (1 Cor. 15:23-28).
Putting these five clues together, we can discern YHVH's Trojan Horse strategy in sending Jesus.
The powers couldn’t discern why Jesus came because YHVH's wisdom was hidden from them. YHVH's wisdom was motivated by unfathomable love, and since Satan and the other powers were evil, they lacked the capacity to understand it. Their evil hearts prevented them from suspecting what YHVH was up to.
What the powers did understand was that Jesus was mortal. This meant he was killable. Lacking the capacity to understand that this was the means by which YHVH would ultimately bring about the defeat of death (and thus, pave the road for the resurrection itself), they never suspected that making Jesus vulnerable to their evil might actually be part of YHVH's infinitely wise plan.
And so they took the bait (or "ransom"; Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim. 2:5-6). Utilizing Judas and other willing human agents, the powers played right into YHVH’s secret plan and orchestrated the crucifixion of the Messiah (Acts 2:22-23; 4:28). YHVH thus brilliantly used the self-inflicted incapacity of evil to understand love against itself. And, like light dispelling darkness, the unfathomably beautiful act of YHVH's love in sending the willing Messiah as a "ransom" to these blood-thirsty powers defeated them. The whole creation was in principle freed and reconciled to YHVH, while everything written against us humans was nailed to the cross, thus robbing the powers of the only legal claim they had on us. They were “spoiled [i.e., disempowered]” (Col. 2:14-15).
As happened to the Trojans in accepting the gift from the Greeks, in seizing on Christ’s vulnerability and orchestrating his crucifixion, the powers unwittingly cooperated with YHVH to unleash the one power in the world that dispels all evil and sets captives free. It’s the power of self-sacrificial love.

Why Penal Substitution Is Unbiblical

For the sake of keeping this already lengthy post as short as possible I'm not going to spend too much time on why exactly PSA (Penal Substitutionary Atonement) is inconsistent with Scripture, but I'll go ahead and point out the main reasons why I believe this is so, and let the reader look further into this subject by themselves, being that there are many resources out there which have devoted much more time than I ever could here in supporting this premise.

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"-1 Corinthians 5:7

The Passover is one of the two most prominent images in the New Testament given as a comparison to Christ's atonement and what it accomplished, (the other most common image being the Day of Atonement sacrifice).
In the Passover, the blood of the lamb on the door posts of the Hebrews in the book of Exodus was meant to mark out those who were YHVH's, not be a symbol of PSA, as the lamb itself was not being punished by God in place of the Hebrews, but rather the kingdom of Egypt (and thus, allegorically speaking, the kingdom of darkness which opposed YHVH) was what was being judged and punished, because those who were not "covered" by the blood of the lamb could be easily identified as not part of God's kingdom/covenant and liberated people.
Looking at the Day of Atonement sacrifice (which, again, Christ's death is repeatedly compared to throughout the New Testament), this ritual required a ram, a bull, and two goats (Lev. 16:3-5). The ram was for a burnt offering intended to please God (Lev. 16:3-4). The bull served as a sin offering for Aaron, the high priest, and his family. In this case, the sin offering restored the priest to ritual purity, allowing him to occupy sacred space and be near YHVH’s presence. Two goats taken from "the congregation” were needed for the single sin offering for the people (Lev. 16:5). So why two goats?
The high priest would cast lots over the two goats, with one chosen as a sacrifice “for the Lord” (Lev. 16:8). The blood of that goat would purify the people. The second goat was not sacrificed or designated “for the Lord.” On the contrary, this goat—the one that symbolically carried the sins away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness—was “for Azazel” (Lev. 16:8-10).
What—or who—is Azazel?
The Hebrew term azazel (עזאזל) occurs four times in Leviticus 16 but nowhere else in most people's canon of the Bible, (and I say "most people's canon," because some people do include 1 Enoch in their canon of Scripture, which of course goes into great detail about this "Azazel" figure). Many translations prefer to translate the term as a phrase, “the goat that goes away,” which is the same idea conveyed in the King James Version’s “scapegoat.” Other translations treat the word as a name: Azazel. The “scapegoat” option is possible, but since the phrase “for Azazel” parallels the phrase “for YHVH” (“for the Lord”), the wording suggests that two divine figures are being contrasted by the two goats.
A strong case can be made for translating the term as the name Azazel. Ancient Jewish texts show that Azazel was understood as a demonic figure associated with the wilderness. The Mishnah (ca. AD 200; Yoma 6:6) records that the goat for Azazel was led to a cliff and pushed over, ensuring it would not return with its death. This association of the wilderness with evil is also evident in the New Testament, as this was where Jesus met the devil (Matt. 4:1). Also, in Leviticus 17:1-7 we learn that some Israelites had been accustomed to sacrificing offerings to "devils" (alternatively translated as “goat demons”). The Day of Atonement replaced this illegitimate practice.
The second goat was not sent into the wilderness as a sacrifice to a foreign god or demon. The act of sending the live goat out into the wilderness, which was unholy ground, was to send the sins of the people where they belonged—to the demonic domain. With one goat sacrificed to bring purification and access to YHVH and one goat sent to carry the people’s sins to the demonic domain, this annual ritual reinforced the identity of the true God and His mercy and holiness.
When Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity’s sins, he was crucified outside the city, paralleling the sins of the people being cast to the wilderness via the goat to Azazel. Jesus died once for all sinners, negating the need for this ritual.
As previously stated, the goat which had all the sin put on it was sent alive off to the wilderness, while the blood of the goat which was blameless was used to purify the temple and the people. Penal substitution would necessitate the killing of the goat which had the sin put on it.
Mind you, this is the only sacrificial ritual of any kind in the Torah in which sins are placed on an animal. The only time it happens is this, and that animal is not sacrificed. Most PSA proponents unwittingly point to this ritual as evidence of their view, despite it actually serving as evidence to the contrary, because most people don't read their Old Testament and don't familiarize themselves with the "boring parts" like Leviticus (when it's actually rather important to do so, since that book explains how exactly animal offerings were to be carried out and why they were done in the first place).
In the New Testament, Christ's blood was not only meant to mark out those who were his, but also expel the presence of sin and ritual uncleanness so as to make the presence of YHVH manifest in the believer's life. Notice how God's wrath isn't poured out on Christ in our stead on this view, but rather His wrath was poured out on those who weren't covered, and the presence of sin and evil were merely removed by that which is pure and blameless (Christ's blood) for the believer.
All this is the difference between expiation and propitiation.

The Content of Paul's Gospel Message

When the New Testament writers talked about “the gospel,” they referred not to the Protestant doctrine of justification sola fide–the proposition that if we will stop trying to win God’s favor and only just believe that God has exchanged our sin for Christ’s perfect righteousness, then in God’s eyes we will have the perfect righteousness required both for salvation and for assuaging our guilty consciences–but rather they referred to the simple but explosive proposition Kyrios Christos, “Christ is Lord.” That is to say, the gospel was, properly speaking, the royal announcement that Jesus of Nazareth was the God of Israel’s promised Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The New Testament writers were not writing in a cultural or linguistic vacuum and their language of euangelion (good news) and euangelizomai would have been understood by their audience in fairly specific ways. Namely, in the Greco-Roman world for which the New Testament authors wrote, euangelion/euangelizomai language typically had to do with either A) the announcement of the accession of a ruler, or B) the announcement of a victory in battle, and would probably have been understood along those lines.
Let’s take the announcements of a new ruler first. The classic example of such a language is the Priene Calendar Inscription, dating to circa 9 BC, which celebrates the rule (and birthday) of Caesar Augustus as follows:
"It was seeming to the Greeks in Asia, in the opinion of the high priest Apollonius of Menophilus Azanitus: Since Providence, which has ordered all things of our life and is very much interested in our life, has ordered things in sending Augustus, whom she filled with virtue for the benefit of men, sending him as a savior [soter] both for us and for those after us, him who would end war and order all things, and since Caesar by his appearance [epiphanein] surpassed the hopes of all those who received the good tidings [euangelia], not only those who were benefactors before him, but even the hope among those who will be left afterward, and the birthday of the god [he genethlios tou theou] was for the world the beginning of the good tidings [euangelion] through him; and Asia resolved it in Smyrna."
The association of the term euangelion with the announcement of Augustus’ rule is clear enough and is typical of how this language is used elsewhere. To give another example, Josephus records that at the news of the accession of the new emperor Vespasian (69 AD) “every city kept festival for the good news (euangelia) and offered sacrifices on his behalf.” (The Jewish War, IV.618). Finally, a papyrus dating to ca. 498 AD begins:
"Since I have become aware of the good news (euangeliou) about the proclamation as Caesar (of Gaius Julius Verus Maximus Augustus)…"
This usage occurs also in the Septuagint, the Greek translations of the Jewish Scriptures. For instance LXX Isaiah 52:7 reads, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news (euangelizomenou), who publishes peace, who brings good news (euangelizomenos) of salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'" Similarly, LXX Isaiah 40:9-10 reads:

"…Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings (ho euangelizomenos) to Sion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings (ho euangelizomenos); lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Ioudas, “See your God!” Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and his arm with authority (kyrieias)…."-NETS, Esaias 40:9-10

This consistent close connection between euangelion/euangelizomai language and announcements of rule strongly suggests that many of the initial hearers/readers of the early Christians’ evangelical language would likely have understood that language as the announcement of a new ruler (see, e.g., Acts 17:7), and, unless there is strong NT evidence to the contrary, we should presume that the NT writers probably intended their language to be so understood.
However, the other main way in which euangelion/euangelizomai language was used in the Greco-Roman world was with reference to battle reports, announcements of victory in war. A classic example of this sort of usage can be found in LXX 2 Samuel 18:19ff, where David receives word that his traitorous son, Absalom, has been defeated in battle. Euangelion/euangelizomai is used throughout the passage for the communications from the front.
As already shown throughout this post, the NT speaks of Jesus’s death and resurrection as a great victory over the powers that existed at that time and, most importantly, over death itself. Jesus’ conquest of the principalities and powers was the establishment of his rule and comprehensive authority over heaven and earth, that is, of his Lordship over all things (again, at that time).
This was the content of Paul's gospel message...

Justification, and the "New" Perspective on Paul

The following quotation is from The Gospel Coalition, and I believe it to be a decently accurate summary of the NPP (New Perspective on Paul), despite it being from a source which is in opposition to it:

The New Perspective on Paul, a major scholarly shift that began in the 1980s, argues that the Jewish context of the New Testament has been wrongly understood and that this misunderstand[ing] has led to errors in the traditional-Protestant understanding of justification. According to the New Perspective, the Jewish systems of salvation were not based on works-righteousness but rather on covenantal nomism, the belief that one enters the people of God by grace and stays in through obedience to the covenant. This means that Paul could not have been referring to works-righteousness by his phrase “works of the law”; instead, he was referring to Jewish boundary markers that made clear who was or was not within the people of God. For the New Perspective, this is the issue that Paul opposes in the NT. Thus, justification takes on two aspects for the New Perspective rather than one; initial justification is by faith (grace) and recognizes covenant status (ecclesiology), while final justification is partially by works, albeit works produced by the Spirit.

I believe what's called the "new perspective" is actually rather old, and that the Reformers' view of Paul is what is truly new, being that the Lutheran understanding of Paul is simply not Biblical.
The Reformation perspective understands Paul to be arguing against a legalistic Jewish culture that seeks to earn their salvation through works. However, supporters of the NPP argue that Paul has been misread. We contend he was actually combating Jews who were boasting because they were God's people, the "elect" or the "chosen ones." Their "works," so to speak, were done to show they were God's covenant people and not to earn their salvation.
The key questions involve Paul’s view(s) of the law and the meaning of the controversy in which Paul was engaged. Paul strongly argued that we are “justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law” (Gal. 2:16b). Since the time of Martin Luther, this has been understood as an indictment of legalistic efforts to merit favor before God. Judaism was cast in the role of the medieval "church," and so Paul’s protests became very Lutheran, with traditional-Protestant theology reinforced in all its particulars (along with its limitations) as a result. In hermeneutical terms, then, the historical context of Paul’s debate will answer the questions we have about what exactly the apostle meant by the phrase "works of the law," along with other phrases often used as support by the Reformers for their doctrine of Sola Fide (justification by faith alone), like when Paul mentions "the righteousness of God."
Obviously an in-depth analysis of the Pauline corpus and its place in the context of first-century Judaism would take us far beyond the scope of this brief post. We can, however, quickly survey the topography of Paul’s thought in context, particularly as it has emerged through the efforts of recent scholarship, and note some salient points which may be used as the basis of a refurbished soteriology.
[Note: The more popular scholars associated with the NPP are E.P. Sanders, James Dunn, and N.T. Wright. Dunn was the first to coin the term "The New Perspective" in a 1983 Manson Memorial Lecture, The New Perspective on Paul and the Law.]
Varying authors since the early 1900's have brought up the charge that Paul was misread by those in the tradition of Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers. Yet, it wasn't until E.P. Sanders' 1977 book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, that scholars began to pay much attention to the issue. In his book, Sanders argues that the Judaism of Paul's day has been wrongly criticized as a religion of "works-salvation" by those in the Protestant tradition.
A fundamental premise in the NPP is that Judaism was actually a religion of grace. Sander's puts it clearly:
"On the point at which many have found the decisive contrast between Paul and Judaism - grace and works - Paul is in agreement with Palestinian Judaism... Salvation is by grace but judgment is according to works'...God saves by grace, but... within the framework established by grace he rewards good deeds and punishes transgression." (Paul and Palestinian Judaism, p. 543)
N.T. Wright adds that, "we have misjudged early Judaism, especially Pharisaism, if we have thought of it as an early version of Pelagianism," (Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p. 32).
Sanders has coined a now well-known phrase to describe the character of first-century Palestinian Judaism: “covenantal nomism.” The meaning of “covenantal nomism” is that human obedience is not construed as the means of entering into God’s covenant. That cannot be earned; inclusion within the covenant body is by the grace of God. Rather, obedience is the means of maintaining one’s status within the covenant. And with its emphasis on divine grace and forgiveness, Judaism was never a religion of legalism.
If covenantal nomism was operating as the primary category under which Jews understood the Law, then when Jews spoke of obeying commandments, or when they required strict obedience of themselves and fellow Jews, it was because they were "keeping the covenant," rather than out of legalism.
More recently, N.T. Wright has made a significant contribution in his little book, What Saint Paul Really Said. Wright’s focus is the gospel and the doctrine of justification. With incisive clarity he demonstrates that the core of Paul’s gospel was not justification by faith, but the death and resurrection of Christ and his exaltation as Lord. The proclamation of the gospel was the proclamation of Jesus as Lord, the Messiah who fulfilled Israel’s expectations. Romans 1:3-4, not 1:16-17, is the gospel, contrary to traditional thinking. Justification is not the center of Paul’s thought, but an outworking of it:
"[T]he doctrine of justification by faith is not what Paul means by ‘the gospel’. It is implied by the gospel; when the gospel is proclaimed, people come to faith and so are regarded by God as members of his people. But ‘the gospel’ is not an account of how people get saved. It is, as we saw in an earlier chapter, the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ….Let us be quite clear. ‘The gospel’ is the announcement of Jesus’ lordship, which works with power to bring people into the family of Abraham, now redefined around Jesus Christ and characterized solely by faith in him. ‘Justification’ is the doctrine which insists that all those who have this faith belong as full members of this family, on this basis and no other." (pp. 132, 133)
Wright brings us to this point by showing what “justification” would have meant in Paul’s Jewish context, bound up as it was in law-court terminology, eschatology, and God’s faithfulness to God’s covenant.
Specifically, Wright explodes the myth that the pre-Christian Saul was a pious, proto-Pelagian moralist seeking to earn his individual passage into heaven. Wright capitalizes on Paul’s autobiographical confessions to paint rather a picture of a zealous Jewish nationalist whose driving concern was to cleanse Israel of Gentiles as well as Jews who had lax attitudes toward the Torah. Running the risk of anachronism, Wright points to a contemporary version of the pre-Christian Saul: Yigal Amir, the zealous Torah-loyal Jew who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for exchanging Israel’s land for peace. Wright writes:
"Jews like Saul of Tarsus were not interested in an abstract, ahistorical system of salvation... They were interested in the salvation which, they believed, the one true God had promised to his people Israel." (pp. 32, 33)
Wright maintains that as a Christian, Paul continued to challenge paganism by taking the moral high ground of the creational monotheist. The doctrine of justification was not what Paul preached to the Gentiles as the main thrust of his gospel message; it was rather “the thing his converts most needed to know in order to be assured that they really were part of God’s people” after they had responded to the gospel message.
Even while taking the gospel to the Gentiles, however, Paul continued to criticize Judaism “from within” even as he had as a zealous Pharisee. But whereas his mission before was to root out those with lax attitudes toward the Torah, now his mission was to demonstrate that God’s covenant faithfulness (righteousness) has already been revealed in Jesus Christ.
At this point Wright carefully documents Paul’s use of the controversial phrase “God’s righteousness” and draws out the implications of his meaning against the background of a Jewish concept of justification. The righteousness of God and the righteousness of the party who is “justified” cannot be confused because the term bears different connotations for the judge than for the plaintiff or defendant. The judge is “righteous” if his or her judgment is fair and impartial; the plaintiff or defendant is “righteous” if the judge rules in his or her favor. Hence:
"If we use the language of the law court, it makes no sense whatsoever to say that the judge imputes, imparts, bequeaths, conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or the defendant. Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom. For the judge to be righteous does not mean that the court has found in his favor. For the plaintiff or defendant to be righteous does not mean that he or she has tried the case properly or impartially. To imagine the defendant somehow receiving the judge’s righteousness is simply a category mistake. That is not how the language works." (p. 98)
However, Wright makes the important observation that even with the forensic metaphor, Paul’s theology is not so much about the courtroom as it is about God’s love.
Righteousness is not an impersonal, abstract standard, a measuring-stick or a balancing scale. That was, and still is, a Greek view. Righteousness, Biblically speaking, grows out of covenant relationship. We forgive because we have been forgiven (Matt. 18:21-35); “we love" because God “first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:8, 10, Gal 5:14, Jam. 2:8). Paul even looked forward to a day when “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10), and he acknowledged that his clear conscience did not necessarily ensure this verdict (1 Cor. 4:4), but he was confident nevertheless. Paul did in fact testify of his clear conscience: “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation [i.e., behavior] in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (2 Cor. 1:12). He was aware that he had not yet “attained” (Phil. 3:12-14), that he still struggled with the flesh, yet he was confident of the value of his performance (1 Cor. 9:27). These are hardly the convictions of someone who intends to rest entirely on the merits of an alien righteousness imputed to his or her account.
Wright went on to flesh out the doctrine of justification in Galatians, Philippians, and Romans. The “works of the law” are not proto-Pelagian efforts to earn salvation, but rather “sabbath [keeping], food-laws, circumcision” (p. 132). Considering the controversy in Galatia, Wright writes:
"Despite a long tradition to the contrary, the problem Paul addresses in Galatians is not the question of how precisely someone becomes a Christian, or attains to a relationship with God….The problem he addresses is: should his ex-pagan converts be circumcised or not? Now this question is by no means obviously to do with the questions faced by Augustine and Pelagius, or by Luther and Erasmus. On anyone’s reading, but especially within its first-century context, it has to do quite obviously with the question of how you define the people of God: are they to be defined by the badges of Jewish race, or in some other way? Circumcision is not a ‘moral’ issue; it does not have to do with moral effort, or earning salvation by good deeds. Nor can we simply treat it as a religious ritual, then designate all religious ritual as crypto-Pelagian good works, and so smuggle Pelagius into Galatia as the arch-opponent after all. First-century thought, both Jewish and Christian, simply doesn’t work like that…. [T]he polemic against the Torah in Galatians simply will not work if we ‘translate’ it into polemic either against straightforward self-help moralism or against the more subtle snare of ‘legalism’, as some have suggested. The passages about the law only work — and by ‘work’ I mean they will only make full sense in their contexts, which is what counts in the last analysis — when we take them as references to the Jewish law, the Torah, seen as the national charter of the Jewish race." (pp. 120-122)
The debate about justification, then, “wasn’t so much about soteriology as about ecclesiology; not so much about salvation as about the church.” (p. 119)
To summarize the theology of Paul in his epistles, the apostle mainly spent time arguing to those whom he were sending letters that salvation in Christ was available to all men without distinction. Jews and Gentiles alike may accept the free gift; it was not limited to any one group. Paul was vehement about this, especially in his letter to the Romans. As such, I will finish this post off by summarizing the letter itself, so as to provide Biblical support for the premises of the NPP and for what the scholars I referenced have thus far argued.
After his introduction in the epistle to an already believing and mostly Gentile audience (who would've already been familiar with the gospel proclaimed in verses 3-4), Paul makes a thematic statement in 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” This statement is just one of many key statements littered throughout the book of Romans that give us proper understanding of the point Paul wished to make to the interlocutors of his day, namely, salvation is available to all, whether Jew or Gentile.
In 1:16 Paul sets out a basic theme of his message in the letter to the Romans. All who believed, whether they be Jew or Gentile, were saved by the power of the gospel. The universal nature of salvation was explicitly stated. The gospel saved all without distinction, whether Jew or Greek; salvation was through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately after this thematic declaration, Paul undertakes to show the universal nature of sin and guilt. In 1:18-32 Paul shows how the Gentile is guilty before God. Despite evidence of God and his attributes, which is readily available to all, they have failed to honor YHVH as God and have exchanged His glory for idolatrous worship and self-promotion. As a consequence, God handed them over in judgment (1:18-32). Paul moves to denunciation of those who would judge others while themselves being guilty of the very same offenses (2:1-5) and argues that all will be judged according to their deeds (2:6). This judgment applies to all, namely, Jew and Greek (2:9-10). This section serves as somewhat of a transition in Paul’s argument. He has highlighted the guilt of the Gentiles (1:18ff) and will shortly outline the guilt of the Jew (2:17-24). The universal statement of 2:1-11 sets the stage for Paul’s rebuke of Jewish presumption. It was not possession of the Law which delivered; it was faithful obedience. It is better to have no Law and yet to obey the essence of the Law (2:12-16) than to have the Law and not obey (2:17-3:4). Paul then defends the justice of God’s judgment (3:5-8), which leads to the conclusion that all (Jew and Gentile) are guilty before God (3:9).
Paul argues that it was a mistaken notion to think that salvation was the prerogative of the Jew only. This presumption is wrong for two reasons. First, it leads to the mistaken assumption that only Jews were eligible for this vindication (Paul deals with this misunderstanding in chapter 4 where he demonstrates that Abraham was justified by faith independently of the Law and is therefore the father of all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike). Second, it leads to the equally mistaken conclusion that all who were Jews are guaranteed of vindication. Paul demonstrates how this perspective, which would call God’s integrity into question since Paul was assuming many Jews would not experience this vindication, was misguided. He did this by demonstrating that it was never the case that all physical descendants of Israel (Jacob) were likewise recipients of the promise. In the past (9:6-33) as in the present (at that time; 11:1-10), only a remnant was preserved and only a remnant would experience vindication. Paul also argued that the unbelief of national Israel (the non-remnant) had the purpose of extending the compass of salvation. The unbelief of one group made the universal scope of the gospel possible. This universalism was itself intended to bring about the vindication of the unbelieving group (11:11-16). As a result of faith, all (Jew and Gentile) could be branches of the olive tree (11:17-24). Since faith in Christ was necessary to remain grafted into the tree, no one could boast of his position. All, Jew and Gentile alike, were dependent upon the mercy and grace of God. As a result of God’s mysterious plan, He would bring about the vindication of His people (11:25-27). [Note: It is this author's belief that this vindication occurred around 66-70 AD, with the Parousia of Christ's Church; this author is Full-Preterist in their Eschatology.]

I'd like to share a lengthy and self-indulgent note about my history with the Baha'i community and the impact it had on my family and me. It's worth noting that I'm sharing this using a throwaway Reddit account that I generally reserve for browsing porn. I find funny to imagine a Baha'i apologist reading this, becoming angry and judgmental, and then, investigating my profile and ending up jerking off. With that said, let's dive into my story.
I want to share my experience in case it resonates with someone else, a lot of the stories on this Reddit helped me, and perhaps my story will give some comfort to someone else. It has taken me a while to write this down, and I'm glad I finally got around to doing it.
My parents emigrated from their homeland for reasons of principle and value. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by Baha'is who met them. And so, lovebombed and lavished with love, praise, and celebration for moving countries due to values that they portrayed as being closely aligned with the Baha'i faith, my parents fell for this validation and worked very hard once they became Baha'is in the mid-1980s.
My dad got rid of all of his whiskies, and swiftly, my parents began hosting potlucks and fireside chats, diligently working to integrate into the Baha'i ecosystem. Back then, the atmosphere was fairly light-hearted, with devotional gatherings, prayers, and a somewhat 1960s-esque hippie vibe. There was live guitar music, and joss sticks.
However, I remember Baha'i classes having an interesting edge. We were taught that Buddhists were not following a religion but merely a way of life, and that Hindus had become pantheistic because they had lost the core of their faith and religion, which had become corrupted over time. Thanks to Google, I can discover that yes indeed, this is from Lights of Guidance.
There was a significant emphasis on the importance of gender equality and the oneness of humanity – because, hey, the eighties. I feel sad there isn't anything anymore about the Virtues project - even if the Virtues project was sort of framed like it was created by Bahais.
Even in the 1980s, there was an overwhelming atmosphere that the key to being a good Baha'i was how you presented yourself rather than your actual behaviour. I recall learning an apocryphal tale of a young Baha'i who, while fasting, participated in an aerobics class and nearly fainted (yeah, aerobics, this is a real 80s fable), but was told by another Baha'i to prioritize representing the faith well over completing the fast because *it looked bad*. From a very early age, I learned the importance of putting the right face forward.
My parents then took their relationship with the Baha'i faith to the next level and volunteered at the World Centre in Haifa. As a child, this was a pretty interesting experience. I was suddenly immersed in the Iranian, or rather, Persian community, with its strong culture of martyrdom. Even as a child, every event seemed to feature graphic videos depicting young kids being taken from their homes. It was quite frightening, and I remember being afraid.
I also recall a strong sense of hierarchy within the community. My family lived in a small apartment with a very old, busted-up car from the 1970s, while others resided in nice homes with pleasant views and drove nice cars. I attended a local Israeli school, which was a cultural experience in itself, while my peers my age went to the much fancier American school. It's important to note that, at this point, the conversation about the "great catastrophe" – two-thirds of the world's population dying, leading to a period of peace and the entry by troops – was a prevalent topic openly discussed at the World Centre.
We completed our stint there, even living through the Gulf War. Upon returning to my birth country, my parents chose to live in places with smaller Baha'i communities, as they wanted to support and help establish Local Spiritual Assemblies. Things had changed by this point, not only because I was a teenager but also because the community itself had transformed. There was a significant Iranian presence everywhere, and the focus had shifted heavily towards rules, especially those related to sex, drinking, and drug use. There was also a huge emphasis on financial contributions to the faith, and it was the first time I began to see a somewhat materialistic outlook within the community.
As a preteen and teenager, I engaged in activities like dropping off flyers in mailboxes and soliciting strangers to talk about this great new religion, all in the name of “teaching”. I joined the local choir and sang, inspired by a crush I had on a girl there. This was probably the golden time of the community, with the choir doing outreach and a balance between Western and Iranian believers.
However, things began to accelerate. The Ruhi Institute and teaching became significant focal points. I was encouraged to bring a good friend of mine to a Baha'i camp, and once there, I was pressured to ask him to convert. It was very uncomfortable.
This Reddit loves cringe stories, so here is a winner: I had a birthday party with my non-Baha'i friends, and two older Baha'i girls attended. One of the girls ended up stalking my friend, showing up at his workplace and calling him at home with sexually suggestive comments. The matter was escalated to the Local Spiritual Assembly, but instead of talking to me about it, they basically ended my friendship with this kid. To me, this somehow captures so much of what it was like to be a Baha'i child and how Baha'i adults treat children to this day.
When I turned 15, I signed up for Baha'i membership because it was the expected thing to do. However, by the time I was in my early 20s and studying at university, I had started to interact more with the local, real-world community. This might seem like a small thing, but it was actually quite significant. You see, my parents had always felt a little bit on the outside compared to the average person on the street around them. This sense of elitism was really exacerbated by being a Baha'i because Baha'is would walk around in a cloud of self-assurance, slapping each other on the back and saying , "We don't do drugs. We've got all the answers and solutions, not like you." That was pretty much the attitude. It felt very socio-economic, with a lot of judgment towards working-class people. When the Iranians arrived, the cultural judgments grew even stronger.
But I was working in restaurants and learning about booze from bartenders. I had gotten to know real people. I had lost my virginity, and all that Bahai jazz seemed so much less relevant. I hardly even noticed when the year 2000 arrived without the predicted apocalypse, entry by troops, or any of the other anticipated events. Life went on. I lived in another country and met a girl, and we lived together.
Here is cringe story #2: my girlfriend /fiancé and I hosted a Bahai couple from my hometown. Despite being in my late 20s and engaged, and even though I hosted this gentleman in my house and helped him with his preparations for his business and presentations in the country where I lived, he reported to the Local Spiritual Assembly that I was living with a woman and we weren't married. It was absolutely amazing. The level of judgment still grosses me out.
I started to reflect on what the religion had meant to me and saw how it had changed. The obsession with fundraising was becoming ever more strident and panicked. The gaps in the actual scriptural logic of the religion were becoming more exacerbated as real-world problems still ran rife, and real-time discussions on social media brought these issues to light. It took me a while to start really digging into it, and it was only much later, when I started therapy, that I realized I needed to formally resign from the religion.
Looking back, it's astonishing how this religion, which professes to have such blind equality between the genders, as if other religions have some kind of hardwired sexism, actually had hardwired sexism in how the Universal House of Justice operates. A religion that taught the oneness of humanity, as if all humanity is equal and other religions don't recruit from anyone they can find, places divisors. Although of course, Bahai’s can’t recruit from Israeli Jews, so much for oneness of humanity. But this religion has taught that all humanity is equal, unless, of course, you're gay. Then you can't get married, let alone have sex.
There are other principles I haven't touched on, such as non-involvement in politics, unless it involves things happening to Baha'is or politics in Iran. The principle of independent investigation of the truth doesn't seem to work if you might investigate something that's not in line with the Baha'i perspective. The idea of a universal language? I don't really see any evidence that they're even really thinking about that one. The unity between science and religion? A religion that only allows men to sit on its senior board of a global theocracy probably isn't going to jive with a contemporary scientific perspective…. I mean, apparently you don't need a penis to be a man anymore, right?
In between these moments are my colorful memories of random things, like endless discussions about the boundaries of physical intimacy, people getting married at the age of 16 because they had exemptions for being Persian, and meeting Ms. Khanoom in Israel, feeling some sadness that the lone woman who at least brought some feminine energy to the World Centre is now gone, replaced by 12 boring men.
I've had conversations with my wife where I tried to explain what Baha'is actually do. She just wonders why they aren't doing stuff like normal religions do, like reading to the elderly or supporting schools for the disabled. I explain that's not the target demographic. I remember a wealthy man brought to firesides who obviously nobody else wanted to listen to, but we all sat around and applauded him like he was a great ukulele player and a clever man. He pointed out a hilariously Iranian man who was an alternative healer, and they got into a debate about modern medicine. The wealthy man said, "Well, you should see my daughter and what she studied. She studies Law." And then quickly changed the subject when asked about her name since I studied at the same Law school. Here's this man who's self-aware enough to join the adoration of his crowd but doesn't want his daughter mixed up in it in any way. Absolutely hilarious. Make that cringe story #3.
This reflection was sort of sparked when my wife and I discovered that the writings attributed to Rumi, which Baha'is often quote, is the same guy who started the Whirling Dervishes. We read about Rumi and I realized just how different he is from Baha'u'llah. Rumi wrote poetry, but he didn't pretend to be a prophet of God. He was just offering a different dynamic for how to interpret spirituality. He didn't say he was part of some sort of cycle. There's something beautiful about that simplicity. And needless to say, Rumi lived long before the Baha'is ever started.
It makes me wonder, will anyone ever watch the equivalent of a whirling dervish dance for the Baha'is?
The obsession with appearances sounds like a joke, but it isn't. It wasn't for me. Some bad stuff happened to me on my trip to Israel. When we got there, my parents didn't understand why I was so upset about everything. It was a culture shock, attending a local school, not speaking Hebrew, being lumped together with Russian kids who also didn't speak Hebrew, and getting beaten up in the toilet. It wasn't a very good time for me.
So, I was sent to counsel with a local Israeli counselor. After several sessions, she instructed that I had to sit down with my parents and tell them what I needed to tell them, particularly about the shadow that had come over me since coming to Israel. My parents were enraged when I said, “I wish we never became Bahai”.
And so, we returned from the Holy Land and moved to a tiny community that was struggling to get members. To this day, my parents are still members. I've resigned so I'm never dubbed a "covenant breaker." I'm pretty sure my parents know that I resigned because they literally never raise the topic of the Baha'i faith with me. I wish the religion had some interesting cosmology, something mystical, some interesting new take on the universe, or provided my family with tools to handle being migrants or raising teenagers. At the very least, it could have given us a common language we could have used to bond together. It did none of that.
But to be fair, if it wasn't the Baha'is, some other rinky-dink cult would have love-bombed my parents back in the 1980s. Of course, it would have been so much more fun if it had featured more sex and drugs 😊

Kadillac Kirk had been a good friend of mine for several years. I had met him through friends from The Spring Stage; and he never had anything to do with The Imp, which is why he didn’t appear in the Married Mary saga. Mary would have totally thrown herself at him, and Kirk would have definitely “thrown it in her.” He loved the ladies and often remarked that there was no such thing as an unappealing woman, nor was there anything sweeter than finding the pearl of passion in an outwardly plain dame. Fortunately for Kirk, he never met Mary. This was probably fortunate for Mary as well, seeing as Kirk was a confirmed bachelor and his rakish nature might have broken her fat heart.
Kirk was an older guy. Not MOE old, though. He was in his early forties, but he easily passed for a carefree dude in his 30s... not that he lied about his age. I only mention this trait to juxtapose Kirk’s genuine youthful air with Moe’s unconvincing youthful farce. Kirk dressed normally, avoided stupid jargon, and never busted out gimmicks like tarot cards or spells. He just existed, behaved affably, and people liked him for it.
He drove a classic 1962 Cadillac El Dorado convertible with red leather interior, and he lived in a charmingly quaint (and ridiculously expensive) neighborhood. How he made his fortune remained a mystery, but he never bloviated about his wealth. He just threw spectacular parties and people showed up. And, to my knowledge, he never tried to lure women into bed with his money (although I’m sure he got his fair share of boom-boom thanks to his digs and his wheels, even if the gold-diggers denied their monetary agendas).
Kirk was legitimately handsome. He was a drummer, he had a full head of black hair, he was clean-shaven, he worked out, and he knew all the hidden gems in Wellsprings. So why hadn’t I tried... or even desired to date him? I don’t know. I just didn’t feel drawn to him like that. He felt like a cool uncle and he had, thus far, never done anything to change my perception. Plus, the age difference weirded me out a little. Kirk didn’t look forty; but knowing that he had so much more life experience than I did created a power imbalance that would have creeped me out if we’d been dating. As buddies, I just felt supremely cool riding in his Cadillac, smoking Fantasia cigarettes, and hitting the speakeasies and jazz clubs I would have never known about if it weren’t for Kirk’s connections.
And he had been a good person to talk to about my romantic woes. He never lecherously suggested that I should date him, and he gave the type of tempered advice that only comes with lived experience. But he often lightly mocked me for my crush on Dennis and he did a hilarious impression of Smegal popping too soon over his “precious.” So when Mary “got me back” by doing whatever she did with to Dennis, I called Kadillac Kirk and told him the drinks were on me if he’d be my designated driver for the night.
Why hadn’t I called Whisky??? Well, A) Kirk was way more fun to hang out with, at least from my past experiences up to that point. And B) I needed to bitch about a boy, something I couldn’t do in good conscience in front of a guy I was dating. So I put on the sexiest plunging halter dress I owned, applied heavy eye makeup and spikey accessories, braved a pair of stilettos, and sashayed out to Kirk’s convertible. I felt like a badass rock star. I probably looked like a try-hard hooker.
Kirk: Daaaaay-um! Somebody really did do a number on you, huh? I know you said you were upset, but the gents are gonna be writing thank you notes to that fat girl and that butt-fucking hobbit.
Me: I just need to feel pretty and numb. And I trust you to keep me from making a fool of myself.
Kirk squeezed my shoulder. “I’ve got you. You do whatever you need to do to get rid of these demons.”
He sparked up a J and offered me the first puff. I gladly accepted. He took one puff of his own, but said that the rest was mine since he didn’t want to drive stoned. See? He was responsible! Weed wasn’t legal in California yet, so I got a little bit baked before I stashed the sativa in the glove box and wrapped a scarf around my hair like a starlet from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Kirk sped out of the parking lot and said he was taking me to a downtown hotel that was hosting a party that night in their lush lobby.
Kadillac Kirk pulled up to the main entrance, paid the valet, and then opened my door. I was wobbly from the weed. And I had stupidly decided to wear heels. You can get high or you can wear high (heels). You can’t have both. Not if you’ve repeatedly injured both ankles (as I have). I had to take Kirk’s arm to keep from keeling over. “Can people tell I’m stoned?” I whispered. Kirk replied, “Nobody’s paying any attention to anyone else’s intoxication. I promise you that much.” I nodded, steadied myself, and strutted alongside my very cool friend, feeling a little more confident.
A live jazz orchestra was playing Cole Porter as we entered the lobby. Everything sparkled. The music was even more intoxicating than the spliff had been. “Just One of Those Things” brought tears to my eyes since the lyrics hit every raw nerve regarding the Dennis debacle. But I smiled. It might sound mental, but being distraught over a trash fire of a one-sided romance was exhilarating. Immature, for sure. But also exhilarating. You see, that kind of sadness doesn’t hurt. Not really. It stings. It leaves little bruises, but it’s very safe to wallow in because you haven’t actually lost anything. Melancholia over that which you never had is as sweet as it is bitter; and that type of twisted splendor is rivaled only by Stendhal.
“Here's hoping we meet now and then. It was great fun, but it was just one of those things.” I sang along with the band, and a fat tear rolled down past my melancholic smile and onto my chin. Kirk brushed it aside. “Too close to home?” I wiped away the remnants of the tear’s journey from eye to chin and smiled a more genuine smile. “The perfect distance from home. Shall we get drinks? Remember, I’m buying.”
Kirk: No, no. This is your time to heal. And I’m here as your pal, not your chauffeur. What would the lady like?”
I pretended to barf. Kirk knew I hated it when he got overly formal and overly attentive. So he did it just to mess with me. “Shot of vodka,” I replied.
Kirk: How many?
I thought briefly. “FIVE.”
Kirk: Five to one, baby. One in five...
Me: No one here gets out alive.
Kirk: Are you able to hold yourself upright, or should you come with?
I took a seat on an ornate, damask-upholstered chaise lounge. “I’ll be okay. And I was kidding about the five shots.”
I sat there lost in the music for a while. I thought very little about Dennis. Even less about Mary. And not at all about Whisky (whom I had shagged less than a week ago). My mind danced through the ornate lighting in the hotel lobby, and I suddenly felt the need to join the hoity-toity guests on the dancefloor!
Kirk returned with four shots of vodka. Two for him, two for me. That was quite reasonable of him. He knew damn well that I couldn’t handle five shots, but he also knew that I was in a... state. One that called for more than a single shot. I raised a both miniature glasses to “No more ninnyhammers or hairy-footed lovers.” Kirk did his hilarious Smegal impression, we double-toasted, and downed the shots. The band launched into “Let’s Misbehave,” and I kicked off my stilettos and made a beeline for the dance floor.
“There’s something wild about you child that’s so contagious. Let’s be outrageous! Let’s misbehave.” Kadillac Kirk swept me up, twirled me around, and dipped me as we both sang along with the lyrics. I wasn’t swooning for him, but I was enthralled by the moment. The music, the dancing, the combination of booze and bud... so I kissed him as he pulled me back to my feet. And he kissed back. In a way that Dennis never had. In a way that Whisky’s beard wouldn’t permit. I didn’t feel the visceral sensations that I’d felt when Dennis had kissed me, but it felt nice to feel desired. And then I noticed that other guests were watching us and applauding. Now, that was a dopamine rush if ever there was one!
I gently broke away from the embrace, high-fived Kirk and returned to the chaise lounge to put my stupid shoes back on. He followed me and smashed his face back onto mine. I pulled away and laughed. “It was a moment,” I told him. “I appreciate the dance, and that kiss was the perfect finale. But it’s not happening again.”
Kirk: Not to worry, Valerie. I know you. I knew all along that we were performing, and I was more than happy to be your scene partner.
Me: And dance partner! Those were some excellent moves! I didn’t know you had ballroom training.
Kirk: You name it, I’ve mastered it. Another drink for the lady?
I pretended to barf again. “Not yet. I’m not sad right now. Do you mind if I just sit here and enjoy the music?”
Kirk: Ah. My kisses do have healing properties...
I flipped my hand up at him. “Knock that shit off, bro. I wanted to hang out with you because I trust you not to get weird. Even if I get weird, I know you have the maturity to balance me out.”
Kirk: Are you calling me old???
Me: No. I’m calling you rational, responsible, and respectful.
Kirk: Well, now. If you can articulate an alliterative statement that fluently, then you clearly aren’t drunk enough!
I dismissed this comment as a joke. And he did indeed knock off the flirtation. We had a perfectly pleasant time chatting and dancing (no more kissing, though). And then I noticed a girl I knew from Into the Woods entering the lobby. She’d played Florinda and I’d played Little Red. I called her name and waved enthusiastically. She waved back. And then her date entered. It was D.E.N.N.I.S. I sank into the chaise. Kirk caught on immediately. “The hobbit???” he asked. I nodded silently. “You wanna make out again?” he enthused. I shook my head. I had to go say hello to Flo. And I had an idea...
I crossed the lobby, smiled, squealed, and hugged her.
Florinda: Lil’ Red! It’s been forever! So glad to see you!!! This is my friend, Denny.
From the corner of my eye. I could see Dennis shifting uncomfortably. I refused to look directly at him, neglected to acknowledge Flo's introduction and continued to converse only with her. "So glad to see you, too! What have you been up to since we left the woods?"
Dennis: C’mon, Val...
Florinda (appearing oblivious to the iciness between me and Dennis): Oh, I had some drama after the show closed. I'll have to tell you about it some other time... Have you seen Prince Big Bad (Scumbanger) lately?
I laughed. “Last time I saw him, he was hitting on some nasty fat chick at The Imp.”
Flo and I both scoffed at the pervy pest. Into the Woods was where I’d initially met Scumbanger. He played The Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince. Again... typecasting. There’s a whole essay in my brain about my first encounter with the pest, during which he quoted the song that he sang to me in the show, “Hello, Little Girl.” But it gets into some pretty uncomfortable territory because he made me feel... excited. Well, excited and scared. Nothing of note happened during Into the Woods, but our odd interactions did kind of set the stage for some extremely regrettable events during that Cats cast party.
I excused myself, saying that I needed to get back to my friend. And then I leaned in and said in a hushed voice to Flo, “Watch your ass with that one. If he’s the Denny I’m thinking of...” I gave her a look that only another female would be able to read. Her eyebrows shot up and she nodded. Dennis continued to shift as though he were trying to hold in a massive dump. “BABE! Uh...”
Flo apparently answered to that moniker as well. “What is it, Denny? Don’t worry. That was just telepathic girl talk. You apparently have a reputation...”
Dennis: Different Denny. I assure you I’m a pious gentleman.
Me: Ah. My mistake. Well, then. You guys have a good time! They’re playing Cole Porter, and the band is delovely. Great to see you, Flo!
I hugged Flo again, gave Dennis a curt nod, ignored the scent of mandarins and mountain air, and returned to Kirk.
I collapsed on the chaise lounge, exhausted from holding back the rage. I had no right to be mad at Florinda. I hadn’t seen her in three years, so how was she supposed to know that I’d had a thing with Dennis? Hell, I couldn’t even be mad at Dennis because the last time he and I had spoken in any meaningful way, I’d told him that I was no longer entertaining my crush on him. So why was I surprised to see him dating??? And why had he never taken ME out on a date like this??? And why wasn’t I smitten with Kadillac Kirk who HAD taken me out on a date like this, was an objectively excellent kisser, and a bona fide BALLER? What was wrong with me???
Kirk suggested going down the street to a quaint little bar and then sobering up at a diner closer to my apartment. I numbly nodded and followed him in silence for a few blocks. He assured me that I had “turned several heads” on the way to the new location, but I neither cared nor believed him. This wasn't the type of numbness I'd been aiming for. Now I needed to get schnockered. “Five shots of vodka, please.” Yes, I was serious.
Kadillac Kirk, my reliable designated driver, ordered only a beer and watched in something across between astonishment, concern, and delight as I slammed all five shots in rapid succession. I half expected to immediately retch all over the bar. But I felt fine. I half expected to immediately lose consciousness and wake up in the hospital. But I remained coherent. How I’d managed to take in that much hard liquor and suffer no direct consequences, I’ll never know.
I think I wanted to suffer. I wanted to either feel nothing at all or to feel a sickness bad enough to distract me from the scorching sting that pulsed through my being when I realized that I had lost the abstract notion I’d been addicted to this entire time. Hope. It wasn’t Dennis himself I couldn’t quit. It was that drug called hope. The hope that maybe, just maybe Dennis would give our romance a fair chance. The hope that maybe, just maybe he would make peace with himself, get his mind out of his crotch, and enjoy some agenda-free togetherness. The hope that maybe, just maybe he would stop bloviating about his admittedly impressive accomplishments for five fucking minutes and ask about my life. I had my own reasonably impressive accomplishments, even if they paled in comparison to his. A proper suitor would have enjoyed hearing about them.
But seeing him out with another woman, a woman who had no reason to parade her Dennis escapades before me as some means of revenge, a woman he was clearly courting of his own volition... My hope had died. It died before I’d had time to wean myself off it. Now I had to mourn the loss of hope, which is a very tricky brand of grief to navigate. Vodka wasn’t the answer, but it was what I had to work with. So it would have to do.
After enough time had passed without vomiting or collapsing, I asked Kirk to bring his car around to the bar so that I didn’t have to walk two and a half blocks drunk and in heels. He nodded and dramatically leaned in for a kiss. I recoiled. “DUDE! I told you. The moment has passed.”
Kirk: I beg your pardon. I misread your eyes. Thought I saw a green light...
Me: It’s fine. I just want to go home while I’m still feeling okay.
Kirk: Of course. Your chariot will be here soon.
He skipped off to fetch his Cadillac and I noticed that the lights in the bar were beginning to dance a bit. This should have been concerning. But then I realized that I was giggling. Wait... What? Oh shit. Sure, I was drunk from those shots. But what I was feeling in that moment wasn’t drunkery. It was stonery. Kirk probably misread my face because my pupils were dilated. Not from desire, but from drug use.
Some of you might be thinking that I was a bad friend for not introducing Lucy, an old dude connoisseur, to Kirk. Well... I did. Several years before the events of this story. He adored her. She, on the other hand, thought he was immature. And she wasn’t wrong. Lucy was astute when it came to sussing out a person’s true nature. Far more astute than I. Her initial assessment that Kirk was immature is about to be vindicated. Stretch those cringe muscles! It’s almost time for pie...
I somehow managed to get to his car. I honestly don’t recall how I got there. Did one of the bartenders carry me? Did some kind patron allow me to lean on him? Had Kadillac Kirk carried me out? I’m not sure. But my memory ceases to be fuzzy about halfway to the 24-hour diner. It might have been the very same 24-hour diner where Mary pulled her... shenanigans. I’ll never know.
Kirk: Would you say that you’re more drunk or more stoned?
Me: STONED. Definitely stoned.
Kirk made some sort of grunty noise and reached for my thigh. I slapped his hand.
Kirk: Stoned but not amorous? That’s rare.
I started laughing rather unkindly. “You’re a fucking horndog! I thought you were my safe straight male friend, dammit.”
Kirk: I solemnly swear that your safety is my primary concern, my stoned beauty.
I pretended to throw up.
Kirk: So... You’re not horny. But are you hungry? The diner I’m heading to makes this Maple Walnut Pie with the most sumptuous... sensual cream and exquisite drizzling of...
Me: Ew! Stop trying to bang the pie. Bro. Are YOU stoned? (Then I remembered the question.) Yes, I’m hungry. But I don’t like nuts. I’ll have banana cream.
Kirk made that repulsive grunty noise again. “Uhhhhh... Mmmmmm. Cream. Yessssss. Yes, we’ll be there in just a minute.” He was squirming in the driver's seat.
Me: GROSS, DUDE! If you’re gonna be like that I’ll just order HASH brows. Get it? Hash??? (I giggled.) You can’t make that sound nasty.
Kirk: Forgive my jokes. I think my blood sugar’s a bit low.
As Kirk parked, I began to wonder how I might get away with walking shoeless into the diner. The stilettos had to get off my feet. At least while I was walking. And Kirk was kind enough to give me his socks and wear his loafers “island style” into the establishment. Okay, that was gallant of him. Maybe he was going to behave himself for the rest of the evening.
I wasn’t terribly talkative as we sat down, and he expressed a bit of concern for my emotional well-being. I wasn’t coherent enough to explain what was happening to my emotions and I wasn’t sure I trusted him with my deep, dark secrets at that point. So I shrugged like a sulky teenager, ran my hands over my messy, windblown hair, and mumbled that I was “just hungry.” And right on cue, a very kind, slightly older waitress with a sweet southern accent stopped by to take our order.
Kirk: Ah, yes. We’ll have two cups of black coffee. And we’ll share a slice of that delectable Maple Walnut Pie.
Waitress: Oh, honey. That pie is scrumptious! I take it you’ve been here before?
Kirk: I have. This will be her first time to taste the splendor.
I hated to be a killjoy, but I interrupted and said to the waitress, “Ma’am? I’m sure the Maple Walnut is excellent, but could I please get a slice of Banana Cream? And a big glass of ice water?
Waitress: Sure, hon! Banana Cream’s just as yummy! I’ll be right back with those coffees and that big water.
Kirk was sucking on the tip of his forefinger and shaking his head a bit. “You’re passing up so many sensational... sensual...”
I put my forehead on the table and growled. “You swore you’d stop being nasty!” I held this #headdesk pose for quite some time before I finally lifted my head... only to see that Kirk was still sucking his fingertip and staring at me like a wild animal. “Pleeeeeease be normal,” I whined. “It’s been a really weird night for me.”
Kirk: Indeed. Many surprises. You know... You’re like titanium. Your flame burns so fast and so bright, if a guy doesn’t get in there while the iron is hot, he’ll never get another chance. I was too slow.
What the...? I was pretty sure he was wrong about titanium burning quickly. I’m no chemistry wiz, but my dad and my oldest brother are both big-brains when it comes to physics and chemistry. So I picked up some things just listening to them talk. Accurate or inaccurate, Kirk was being creepy again. He’d never been creepy towards me before, although I’d seen him act like this with other women. Usually with staggering success. Why????? His money. It had to be his money. Kirk was a nice-looking man, but holy shit... No amount of good looks could save this creep show
And then, our sweet waitress sat down our coffees, my water, and the two slices of pie. After I gulped down a whole bunch of water, I grabbed a fork, prepared to quell my munchies... and then I froze. Kirk was quickly flicking his finger back and forth across the top of his pie. And moaning. He noticed my wide-eyed stare, smirked, sucked the tip of his thumb, picked up the plate with both hands, and began flicking his tongue across the tip of the triangular pie slice. And moaning some more. Well, there went my appetite.
Kirk took his middle finger and jabbed it into the crustless vertex of the pie slice, then he began pumping it in and out like a piston, and flicking his thumb across the increasingly demolished top layer of whipped cream. He gasped this time. People were starting to stare. His pointer finger joined his middle finger in the piston action, and he replaced his thumb with his tongue. Between flicks of the tongue, he groaned, “Oh yeah, baby... Let me taste you,” but it was kind of hard to understand him.
And I was either about to run to the back office, tell them that I was in danger and needed a police escort home... OR I was about to burst out laughing at the spectacle. Kirk continued... He removed his fingers and gregariously licked pie filling off of them. "Ohhhhh," he groaned, "I got you soooo sticky. So sweet. So moist." And then he started sucking his fingertips again, switching from middle to pointer, middle to pointer and emitting a delighted little, “Mmmmmm” with every suck.
Finally, he jabbed his fingers back into the utterly destroyed pie, lowered his face into the mess and lapped loudly and passionately, moaning, grunting, and mumbling “Come on, baby. Come on. Mmmmmm. Come on.” I could see the waitress and some dude in a suit heading over to the table, so I sank down in my seat, partially covered my face, but continued to watch the train wreck. At last, Kirk shuddered violently as he splatted his entire hand onto the plate and rubbed furiously. And then he locked eyes with me. He sucked the tip of his thumb one final time and said, “You...” There was a long pause during which Kirk lovingly stroked the mess he’d made. “You... are the pie.”
I don’t hang out with Kadillac Kirk anymore. But he’s still a bachelor, ladies!

The book is James Hinton’s Selections from Manuscripts. There are four of them in total, with each being 600-800 pages.
Here is the download link from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/search?query=%22selections+from+manuscripts%22
I have been reading this series of four books for three months now. I feel the title I give is not exaggerating at all and a necessary means to grab the attention of indifferent people who may be overwhlemed by the quantity of information on the Internet.
And one of the reasons that such a phenomenal work is obscure to the public eyes is that James Hinton chose to publish them for private circulation only.
And for those who are sensitive to this kind of works containing a substantial amount of Light, it will only take a few minutes for you to recognize the value of them. Because THROUGHOUT these books are profound claims and you could just pick a random page to see if what I say is true.
Regarding questions such as why do we have suffering, the nature of pleasure, the nature of this world as we now perceive it, consciousness, Love, creature/creation, Being/non-Being, this book gives answers to them under the framework of Christian mysticism. Though this book has not penetrated to the ultimate layer of whyness of everything, it did to a significant degree.
Here are some quotes:

1. There can be no 'not' without where there is no 'not' within ; the only way of perceiving or being affected by 'not' is having it within. In fact it comes to this : all evil is merely formal, and touches not the fact; and this formal evil is the means of Being, is part of the progress of creation. All the evil is worth while, for it only means that there is a 'not' in the Being who perceives it. The 'not' is its own punishment ; it makes evil all around it, puts a man in hell. This is heaven ; but we do not see it. It is darkness to us. If a man is not to see the light, make him blind. This is casting us into outer darkness —the sinner casts himself there. There can be no evil to love. The 'not' is not evil to love ; it is only the scope and sphere of its self-sacrifice. Is it not essential to the very Being of love, which exists in giving. So the 'not' of the creature is the very Being of God, is His self-sacrifice for them. Love turns all into the opposite, redeems all not in time only, but eternally. Where love is there no evil comes ; ' He that loveth is in God.'
2. Talent is doing, genius is suffering. This puts suffering in its right light. For see : it is genius does the work of the world ; talent exists only for it, is of no use save as laying a basis for the work of genius. So man's work is done, not by doing but by suffering. It is by what we bear the world is redeemed ; our doing is very unimportant, in itself of no value ; but it is in our suffering God's work is fulfilled ; for suffering the world exists ; then we are used; God's work is done in us; in our suffering is the Being of the universe. Christ was a sufferer, not a doer. What He did was of little moment comparatively, and of little efficacy ; its use was not for itself but to reveal the true meaning and value of His suffering. In delirium tremens, both sight and touch may be under illusion. Is it not disease that makes us perceive that which is not ? so we, perceiving matter, are diseased. And Christ, in saving us, raises us to a new state, gives us a life not physical, and giving us new Being, necessarily gives us new perception.
3. Is not this beautiful: to think that we are to have an altruistic Being, a true personal own feeling of 'man'—feeling as good to me, as my own actual happiness, that which is good to 'man'; no more as now feeling it opposed to my good. Then I have a direct and personal interest and concern in more than that which concerns 'me,' in that which concerns 'man.' All that concerns him is my good, in a literal sense. I am not bound as I seem to be ; that is error and illusion and false feeling.—Then in suffering for the good of man (and all suffering is such), I am suffering strictly for my own good, for a good that will be my own. Even selfishness thus is turned round, and made servant to her conqueror, Love. In suffering I do not lose ; it will be my own joy.—Surely thus one embraces that reward—the future happiness to recompense suffering—which is in the ordinary faith. It will be altruistic happiness : in being made thus 'conscious' the happiness will be given. Yet observe: that is, and must be, a spiritual change: radically moral, not physical: it will be a consciousness according to truth, actual, not phenomenal.

I feel it urgent to widely disseminate these four books before negative people notice this and maybe secretly tamper with the scanned files.

Game Information

Game Title: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (May 21, 2024)
• PC (May 21, 2024)

Trailers:

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Official Trailer The Game Awards 2023
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - The Senua Trailer Xbox Games Showcase 2023

Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 84 average - 86% recommended - 55 reviews
MetaCritic - 81 average - 34 reviews

Critic Reviews

AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 95 / 100

Few games in recent times have been able to do what Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 has done: make me feel so engaged and immersed that I wish the feeling would never stop. It is a game that will keep you in constant awe throughout the playtime with its fantastic and mysterious story, incredible graphic and sound presentation and realistic and brutal combat that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 7.5 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II won’t be for everyone. But if you are looking for a brutal continuation of a fantastic story that feels like you’re actually playing a movie, you’ll have a great time here.

CGMagazine - Justin Wood - 7 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 starts incredibly strong in the first half, but after certain revelations, the story speeds up to a point where the conclusion feels rushed and half-baked.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 95 / 100

It has been a very long time since I played a game as assured, polished, and emotionally affecting as Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.

Cerealkillerz - Steve Brieller - German - 7.9 / 10

If you expect an immersive but not so interactive “game”, Senua’s Saga Hellblade II delivers a short yet intense experience. Ninja Theory has once again skillfully created an impressive atmosphere, as they did in Senua’s Sacrifice. Unfortunately, the issues remain as well: Puzzles and combat are too easy and there is no variety in either. So please keep in mind, that this is more a Hellblade 1.5 than a true sequel.

Checkpoint Gaming - Charlie Kelly - 10 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is well worth the wait and is a serious game of the year contender. Senua's follow-up journey is the best exploration of mental health that we've seen in games to date, using incredibly striking visual imagery, metaphors and immersive soundscapes to have you feel right there next to her. In what has to be the most photo-realistic game of all time, you're guaranteed to be constantly taken by the hero's adventure as you take in the beautiful and often haunting Viking Iceland. Through mud and dirt, blood and bones, Senua and Ninja Theory in turn bare all to you, the player. A masterpiece, benchmark and magnum opus, Hellblade II is crucial storytelling you won't soon forget.

Console Creatures - Patrick Tremblay - Recommended

With Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Ninja Theory shows that video games can be more than simple entertainment: they can be profound artistic and emotional explorations, capable of touching and transforming those who play them. This is an unforgettable journey into the heart of Iceland's darkness, where every step of Senua is a step towards self-discovery.

Digital Trends - Tomas Franzese - 4 / 5

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is a visual stunner for Xbox even if its gameplay isn't too creative.

Echo Boomer - David Fialho - Portuguese - Essential

Ninja Theory has finally delivered the long-awaited and provocative sequel to Hellblade, with one of the most impressive interactive cinematic experiences of the generation, which makes you question what is real and leaves you dreaming of the graphic potential of future games still on current consoles.

Enternity.gr - Christos Chatzisavvas - Greek - 9.5 / 10

With Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Ninja Theory builds the game it dreamed of, creating a title on a larger scale than any other.

Eurogamer - Johnny Chiodini - 5 / 5

Hellblade 2 continues Senua's story with grace, confidence, surprising brutality and thundering conviction.

GAMES.CH - Olaf Bleich - German - 89%

The game sucks you skin and hair into its fantasy world and creates such an intense bond with the characters and their stories that you want to know at every second how the adventure ends.

Game Informer - Marcus Stewart - 9 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s conclusion ends on another strong note, and despite my initial reservations about continuing Senua’s story, I walked away happy to see her conquer new monsters, both literal and metaphorical.

GameSpot - Jess Cogswell - 6 / 10

Hellblade 2 is perhaps the most visually remarkable Xbox title to date, but is ultimately undermined by its emphasis on fidelity over story and gameplay.

GamingTrend - Cassie Peterson - 95 / 100

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a stunning and immersive storytelling experience that really puts the player into the mind of its titular character. It's even more narratively-focused than the first game (not to its detriment), with a bigger emphasis on how Senua sees and interacts with the world around her. The whole experience from start to finish has been beyond memorable.

Generación Xbox - Pedro del Pozo - Spanish - 9.3 / 10

Ninja Theory manages to place Senua in the Olympus of videogames with the most visually and sonorously powerful game we have seen so far. A spectacular, stunning and awe-inspiring journey.

IGN - Tristan Ogilvie - 8 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is another Viking-worthy feast for the senses that meets the high bar set by its predecessor, even if it never really manages to clear it.

INVEN - Soojin Kim - Korean - 8.5 / 10

The game's high level of immersion makes you want to play it from start to finish in one sitting. With outstanding audiovisual presentation and effects, it gives the feeling that you're playing a movie, not watching it. However, the gameplay elements, such as combat and puzzles, still lack significant meaning, which leads to rather disappoint feelings.

Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 80 / 100

While the story & gameplay's broad strokes might be familiar, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2's execution, perspective, and overall production values are just stellar and highlights Ninja Theory's strengths in delivering what it does best: story-heavy cinematic gaming. The characters are fleshed out and well-written, with proper focus on your main character and her turmoils that carry over from the first game, the fighting feels weighty and challenging without being completely frustrating, and the HUD-less approach to presentation is welcome.

Kotaku - Claire Jackson - Unscored

A spellbinding meditation on anguish and compassion, Hellblade II delivers one of the most gripping interactive and sensory experiences of 2024

Merlin'in Kazanı - Murat Oktay - Turkish - 89 / 100

The chaotic story of Senua continues. We set out to take revenge on the Viking raiders who have inflicted devastating losses on the people of Orkney.

Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 5 / 10

A joyless slog of barely interactive entertainment and a muddled portrayal of mental illness… that just so happens to have the best graphics ever on a video game console.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 9.5 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a true masterpiece: a deep and highly immersive narrative experience that manages to make us feel all the protagonist's torment within an impressively realistic world. Ninja Theory reveals itself to be one of the most valuable studios in the Xbox stable here, reaching levels of absolute excellence in graphics, audio, narration, and acting. A must-play.

New Game Network - Alex Varankou - 70 / 100

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II keeps the basics intact, and while a strong lead character, great animations, and simple but enjoyable combat continue to deliver, the poor pacing and performance issues prevent this sequel from breaking free of its past.

Nexus Hub - Sam Aberdeen - 8 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is the best-looking game we've ever played - a true visual powerhouse backed by an emotionally charged story and gripping dark fantasy setting, if you can look past some of its shortcomings.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - 9 / 10

Hellblade 2 is a triumph in masterful storytelling and impeccable audio design for Ninja Theory. It is an emotionally powerful experience that depicts a sensitive subject that is hardly talked about in the medium.
To achieve this, the game stripped out several features and systems like combat and exploration in favor of a deeper narrative affair. This is not for everyone, but it is something I would encourage everyone to try at least try out.

Oyungezer Online - Onur Kaya - Turkish - 8 / 10

Next gen graphics and presentation is now among us, next gen game design on the other hand, will be running late.

PC Gamer - Robin Valentine - 58 / 100

Despite its greater scale and visual splendour, this sequel fails to escape the shadow of its predecessor with a muddled tale that Senua herself feels out of place in.

PCGamesN - Cheri Faulkner - 9 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is an impeccable story of coming to terms with trauma and making difficult decisions, punctuated by moments of outstanding beauty and strength.

Pixel Arts - Danial Dehghani - Persian - 9 / 10

Hellblade 2 is a stellar example of a sequel done right, building on the elements that made the original a landmark in gaming. It stays true to its roots, prioritizing depth and atmosphere over broad appeal. Fans of the first game will find much to love here, as it remains a unique and compelling experience. However, if the original didn't resonate with you, Hellblade 2 follows a similar path and might not change your mind.

Polygon - Yussef Cole - Unscored

Where the first game felt like a journey of self-discovery, both for Senua and for the player, Hellblade 2 feels more invested in creating the myth of Senua: Senua as legendary giant slayer, as mystical seer touched by the underworld.

Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 9 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is yet another arresting, artful chapter in an adventure now two games long. Though it might approach iteration with a very safe hand, only going so far as to correct the original's shortcomings, Ninja Theory's clear strengths in story craft, audiovisual design, as well as their care for the dark subject matter manage to shine through brighter than ever before.

Rectify Gaming - Tyler Nienburg - 10 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II emerges as a visual and storytelling masterpiece, and is unquestionably the best-looking game I've witnessed on Xbox Series X since its launch.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Rick Lane - Unscored

A more uncompromising version of the first game, Hellblade 2 offers a well told story and immaculate presentation. But it's also even simpler, to the point where it treats interaction like an inconvenience.

SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 9.5 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is, at its core, a short game, but an excellent one. But it's not for everyone. It's a bloody and often disgusting experience based on strong emotions and immersion in a character that just won't let you go. It's more of an artistic experience than a traditional game.

Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 10 / 10

An exceptionally well realized portrayal of Senua's struggle both real and praying on her fears, with brutal and satisfying combat and puzzles that require you to appreciate the world. It successfully continues what the first game started and improves upon almost every aspect.

Seasoned Gaming - Ainsley Bowden - 9 / 10

Senua's Saga is a journey unlike any other. It's fantastical, evocative, and demonstrative of Ninja Theory being masters of their craft.

Shacknews - TJ Denzer - 9 / 10

Hellblade 2 still does incredibly well. The new story is weighty, the audio is exceptional, the scenery is ridiculously dense and rich, and the combat feels intense and impactful in new and interesting ways.

Slant Magazine - Justin Clark - 3.5 / 5

The newest chapter in Senua’s story is powerfully told but feels like it’s missing a few pages.

Spaziogames - Gianluca Arena - Italian - 7.6 / 10

Senua's Saga is as strong as its predecessor, if not more, and delivers both in its storytelling and on the technical side. The gameplay, however, has still a lot of room for improvements and boils down to almost-QTE combat and boring puzzles. An experience more than an actual and so-called video game, but an experience worth living nonetheless.

Stevivor - Jay Ball - 9.5 / 10

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 is a video game only on its surface. Scratch that away and you’ll see that it’s a deep, thought-provoking, interactive experience proving games are an art form that demands skill and talent. Ninja Theory should be very proud.

TechRaptor - Robert Scarpinito - 7.5 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II features intense audio, beautiful graphics, and wonderful camera work, creating a powerful presentation that’s worth experiencing. However, the narrative doesn’t quite stick the landing.

The Escapist - Unscored

Video Review - Quote not available

The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 5 / 5

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II sets a new bar for performances and presentation. Combined with smart improvements to gameplay, it is arguably the most cinematic, immersive, story-driven experience we’ve ever seen.

TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - Unscored

Just like its forbear, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is an oppressive, powerful and haunting example of the power of video games, and one that sets its own parameters for what a digital experience can be. It is a game that must be experienced, not least because, there’s nothing else quite like it.

Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Riviera - Italian - 10 / 10

What Ninja Theory has achieved transcends reality, creating a work that is practically perfect for what it aimed to be: an audiovisual adventure with a strong narrative component. Beyond state-of-the-art graphics and sound that will undoubtedly set a standard in the coming years, what truly astonishes is the maturity with which the team has taken an excellent game like the first Hellblade and molded it into something so qualitatively impressive that it becomes difficult to even describe. This elevates the medium to a new communicative level, capable of evoking emotions and surprising players from start to finish. Experiences like Hellblade 2, which leave a lasting impression on the soul, are few and far between in a generation, and we can only rejoice in seeing how the beautiful artistic vision of the Ninja Theory team has become a reality.

Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez - 5 / 5

Hellblade 2 feels like a living, breathing shapeshifter, manipulating its surroundings around the player with precision and consistency, making it one of the most visually stunning video games of this generation. This is an amazing title that carefully balances its artistic and gaming ambitions, a masterpiece that I encourage any gamer to experience.

TrueAchievements - Sean Carey - 9 / 10

Ninja Theory has created an outstanding sequel with Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. An unforgettable narrative adventure that is brought to life through impeccable sound design, fantastic visuals, and a story that will stick with you long after the final credits roll. Hellblade 2 is one of the best games Xbox has to offer.

TrueGaming - عمر العمودي - Arabic - 8 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a technical achievement for the gaming industry, the visuals are impressive and realistic in a way we haven't seen before and the audio design is very impressive. The game itself though, we think it could've offered more as puzzles are repetitive and combat is quite limited. However, the storytelling is strong in this chapter of Senua's journey, though it feels heavy and depressing.

VideoGamer - Tom Bardwell - 9 / 10

Though uncomfortably bleak and distressing, Helldivers 2 is something truly special.

WellPlayed - James Wood - 6 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is an achievement in visual fidelity but fails to define itself amid clumsy retreads and unengaging new ideas.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 7 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a beautiful but ultimately hollow game. The fantastic presentation props up a story that is less personal and engaging than in the first game, and the gameplay feels like an afterthought. It was great to see Senua again and to see her outside of the grief-misery she was enveloped in during the first game, but beyond that, there's not much to Hellblade II. It's a short and less memorable experience that shows off Ninja Theory's visual craft to its fullest - but it achieves little else.

Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 90%

While Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 might not set any new standards with its simplistic gameplay mechanics, from an audio-visual experience standpoint, it's frankly quite a stunning experience. Hellblade 2 is as close to playing the leading role in a big budget movie as you’re likely to get, and Ninja Theory’s continued coverage on the complexities of severe mental health issues deserves to be commended once more. Bravo, Ninja Theory. Bravo.

XboxEra - Jon Clarke - 10 / 10

Despite the backing of a company as large and as well-funded as Microsoft, Ninja Theory have, in my opinion, nurtured their independent spirit and kept it well and truly alive in every facet of Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. It's brutal. It's breath-taking. It's brilliant. If this is “Independent AAA”?
Sign me up for more.

ZdobywcyGier.eu - Bartosz Michalik - Polish - 9.5 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is undoubtedly one of the best games of this year. Not only does it shine in terms of audio-visual setting, but also in terms of story. The only element that could be considered caveat is at the same time its greatest asset, namely cinematography. Sometimes one gets the impression that the developers, in an effort to achieve the best possible effect, had to make a lot of compromises, which significantly limited the gameplay possibilities. Nevertheless, for a great narrative and immersion, this is something to turn a blind eye to.

Game Information

Game Title: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (May 21, 2024)
• PC (May 21, 2024)

Trailers:

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Official Trailer The Game Awards 2023
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - The Senua Trailer Xbox Games Showcase 2023

Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 84 average - 86% recommended - 55 reviews

Critic Reviews

AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 95 / 100

Few games in recent times have been able to do what Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 has done: make me feel so engaged and immersed that I wish the feeling would never stop. It is a game that will keep you in constant awe throughout the playtime with its fantastic and mysterious story, incredible graphic and sound presentation and realistic and brutal combat that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 7.5 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II won’t be for everyone. But if you are looking for a brutal continuation of a fantastic story that feels like you’re actually playing a movie, you’ll have a great time here.

CGMagazine - Justin Wood - 7 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 starts incredibly strong in the first half, but after certain revelations, the story speeds up to a point where the conclusion feels rushed and half-baked.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 95 / 100

It has been a very long time since I played a game as assured, polished, and emotionally affecting as Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.

Cerealkillerz - Steve Brieller - German - 7.9 / 10

If you expect an immersive but not so interactive “game”, Senua’s Saga Hellblade II delivers a short yet intense experience. Ninja Theory has once again skillfully created an impressive atmosphere, as they did in Senua’s Sacrifice. Unfortunately, the issues remain as well: Puzzles and combat are too easy and there is no variety in either. So please keep in mind, that this is more a Hellblade 1.5 than a true sequel.

Checkpoint Gaming - Charlie Kelly - 10 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is well worth the wait and is a serious game of the year contender. Senua's follow-up journey is the best exploration of mental health that we've seen in games to date, using incredibly striking visual imagery, metaphors and immersive soundscapes to have you feel right there next to her. In what has to be the most photo-realistic game of all time, you're guaranteed to be constantly taken by the hero's adventure as you take in the beautiful and often haunting Viking Iceland. Through mud and dirt, blood and bones, Senua and Ninja Theory in turn bare all to you, the player. A masterpiece, benchmark and magnum opus, Hellblade II is crucial storytelling you won't soon forget.

Console Creatures - Patrick Tremblay - Recommended

With Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Ninja Theory shows that video games can be more than simple entertainment: they can be profound artistic and emotional explorations, capable of touching and transforming those who play them. This is an unforgettable journey into the heart of Iceland's darkness, where every step of Senua is a step towards self-discovery.

Digital Trends - Tomas Franzese - 4 / 5

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is a visual stunner for Xbox even if its gameplay isn't too creative.

Echo Boomer - David Fialho - Portuguese - Essential

Ninja Theory has finally delivered the long-awaited and provocative sequel to Hellblade, with one of the most impressive interactive cinematic experiences of the generation, which makes you question what is real and leaves you dreaming of the graphic potential of future games still on current consoles.

Enternity.gr - Christos Chatzisavvas - Greek - 9.5 / 10

With Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Ninja Theory builds the game it dreamed of, creating a title on a larger scale than any other.

Eurogamer - Johnny Chiodini - 5 / 5

Hellblade 2 continues Senua's story with grace, confidence, surprising brutality and thundering conviction.

GAMES.CH - Olaf Bleich - German - 89%

The game sucks you skin and hair into its fantasy world and creates such an intense bond with the characters and their stories that you want to know at every second how the adventure ends.

Game Informer - Marcus Stewart - 9 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s conclusion ends on another strong note, and despite my initial reservations about continuing Senua’s story, I walked away happy to see her conquer new monsters, both literal and metaphorical.

GameSpot - Jess Cogswell - 6 / 10

Hellblade 2 is perhaps the most visually remarkable Xbox title to date, but is ultimately undermined by its emphasis on fidelity over story and gameplay.

GamingTrend - Cassie Peterson - 95 / 100

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a stunning and immersive storytelling experience that really puts the player into the mind of its titular character. It's even more narratively-focused than the first game (not to its detriment), with a bigger emphasis on how Senua sees and interacts with the world around her. The whole experience from start to finish has been beyond memorable.

Generación Xbox - Pedro del Pozo - Spanish - 9.3 / 10

Ninja Theory manages to place Senua in the Olympus of videogames with the most visually and sonorously powerful game we have seen so far. A spectacular, stunning and awe-inspiring journey.

IGN - Tristan Ogilvie - 8 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is another Viking-worthy feast for the senses that meets the high bar set by its predecessor, even if it never really manages to clear it.

INVEN - Soojin Kim - Korean - 8.5 / 10

The game's high level of immersion makes you want to play it from start to finish in one sitting. With outstanding audiovisual presentation and effects, it gives the feeling that you're playing a movie, not watching it. However, the gameplay elements, such as combat and puzzles, still lack significant meaning, which leads to rather disappoint feelings.

Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Leo - 80 / 100

While the story & gameplay's broad strokes might be familiar, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2's execution, perspective, and overall production values are just stellar and highlights Ninja Theory's strengths in delivering what it does best: story-heavy cinematic gaming. The characters are fleshed out and well-written, with proper focus on your main character and her turmoils that carry over from the first game, the fighting feels weighty and challenging without being completely frustrating, and the HUD-less approach to presentation is welcome.

Kotaku - Claire Jackson - Unscored

A spellbinding meditation on anguish and compassion, Hellblade II delivers one of the most gripping interactive and sensory experiences of 2024

Merlin'in Kazanı - Murat Oktay - Turkish - 89 / 100

The chaotic story of Senua continues. We set out to take revenge on the Viking raiders who have inflicted devastating losses on the people of Orkney.

Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 5 / 10

A joyless slog of barely interactive entertainment and a muddled portrayal of mental illness… that just so happens to have the best graphics ever on a video game console.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 9.5 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a true masterpiece: a deep and highly immersive narrative experience that manages to make us feel all the protagonist's torment within an impressively realistic world. Ninja Theory reveals itself to be one of the most valuable studios in the Xbox stable here, reaching levels of absolute excellence in graphics, audio, narration, and acting. A must-play.

New Game Network - Alex Varankou - 70 / 100

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II keeps the basics intact, and while a strong lead character, great animations, and simple but enjoyable combat continue to deliver, the poor pacing and performance issues prevent this sequel from breaking free of its past.

Nexus Hub - Sam Aberdeen - 8 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is the best-looking game we've ever played - a true visual powerhouse backed by an emotionally charged story and gripping dark fantasy setting, if you can look past some of its shortcomings.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - 9 / 10

Hellblade 2 is a triumph in masterful storytelling and impeccable audio design for Ninja Theory. It is an emotionally powerful experience that depicts a sensitive subject that is hardly talked about in the medium.
To achieve this, the game stripped out several features and systems like combat and exploration in favor of a deeper narrative affair. This is not for everyone, but it is something I would encourage everyone to try at least try out.

Oyungezer Online - Onur Kaya - Turkish - 8 / 10

Next gen graphics and presentation is now among us, next gen game design on the other hand, will be running late.

PC Gamer - Robin Valentine - 58 / 100

Despite its greater scale and visual splendour, this sequel fails to escape the shadow of its predecessor with a muddled tale that Senua herself feels out of place in.

PCGamesN - Cheri Faulkner - 9 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is an impeccable story of coming to terms with trauma and making difficult decisions, punctuated by moments of outstanding beauty and strength.

Pixel Arts - Danial Dehghani - Persian - 9 / 10

Hellblade 2 is a stellar example of a sequel done right, building on the elements that made the original a landmark in gaming. It stays true to its roots, prioritizing depth and atmosphere over broad appeal. Fans of the first game will find much to love here, as it remains a unique and compelling experience. However, if the original didn't resonate with you, Hellblade 2 follows a similar path and might not change your mind.

Polygon - Yussef Cole - Unscored

Where the first game felt like a journey of self-discovery, both for Senua and for the player, Hellblade 2 feels more invested in creating the myth of Senua: Senua as legendary giant slayer, as mystical seer touched by the underworld.

Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 9 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is yet another arresting, artful chapter in an adventure now two games long. Though it might approach iteration with a very safe hand, only going so far as to correct the original's shortcomings, Ninja Theory's clear strengths in story craft, audiovisual design, as well as their care for the dark subject matter manage to shine through brighter than ever before.

Rectify Gaming - Tyler Nienburg - 10 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II emerges as a visual and storytelling masterpiece, and is unquestionably the best-looking game I've witnessed on Xbox Series X since its launch.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Rick Lane - Unscored

A more uncompromising version of the first game, Hellblade 2 offers a well told story and immaculate presentation. But it's also even simpler, to the point where it treats interaction like an inconvenience.

SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 9.5 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is, at its core, a short game, but an excellent one. But it's not for everyone. It's a bloody and often disgusting experience based on strong emotions and immersion in a character that just won't let you go. It's more of an artistic experience than a traditional game.

Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 10 / 10

An exceptionally well realized portrayal of Senua's struggle both real and praying on her fears, with brutal and satisfying combat and puzzles that require you to appreciate the world. It successfully continues what the first game started and improves upon almost every aspect.

Seasoned Gaming - Ainsley Bowden - 9 / 10

Senua's Saga is a journey unlike any other. It's fantastical, evocative, and demonstrative of Ninja Theory being masters of their craft.

Shacknews - TJ Denzer - 9 / 10

Hellblade 2 still does incredibly well. The new story is weighty, the audio is exceptional, the scenery is ridiculously dense and rich, and the combat feels intense and impactful in new and interesting ways.

Slant Magazine - Justin Clark - 3.5 / 5

The newest chapter in Senua’s story is powerfully told but feels like it’s missing a few pages.

Spaziogames - Gianluca Arena - Italian - 7.6 / 10

Senua's Saga is as strong as its predecessor, if not more, and delivers both in its storytelling and on the technical side. The gameplay, however, has still a lot of room for improvements and boils down to almost-QTE combat and boring puzzles. An experience more than an actual and so-called video game, but an experience worth living nonetheless.

Stevivor - Jay Ball - 9.5 / 10

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 is a video game only on its surface. Scratch that away and you’ll see that it’s a deep, thought-provoking, interactive experience proving games are an art form that demands skill and talent. Ninja Theory should be very proud.

TechRaptor - Robert Scarpinito - 7.5 / 10

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II features intense audio, beautiful graphics, and wonderful camera work, creating a powerful presentation that’s worth experiencing. However, the narrative doesn’t quite stick the landing.

The Escapist - Unscored

Video Review - Quote not available

The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 5 / 5

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II sets a new bar for performances and presentation. Combined with smart improvements to gameplay, it is arguably the most cinematic, immersive, story-driven experience we’ve ever seen.

TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - Unscored

Just like its forbear, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is an oppressive, powerful and haunting example of the power of video games, and one that sets its own parameters for what a digital experience can be. It is a game that must be experienced, not least because, there’s nothing else quite like it.

Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Riviera - Italian - 10 / 10

What Ninja Theory has achieved transcends reality, creating a work that is practically perfect for what it aimed to be: an audiovisual adventure with a strong narrative component. Beyond state-of-the-art graphics and sound that will undoubtedly set a standard in the coming years, what truly astonishes is the maturity with which the team has taken an excellent game like the first Hellblade and molded it into something so qualitatively impressive that it becomes difficult to even describe. This elevates the medium to a new communicative level, capable of evoking emotions and surprising players from start to finish. Experiences like Hellblade 2, which leave a lasting impression on the soul, are few and far between in a generation, and we can only rejoice in seeing how the beautiful artistic vision of the Ninja Theory team has become a reality.

Too Much Gaming - Carlos Hernandez - 5 / 5

Hellblade 2 feels like a living, breathing shapeshifter, manipulating its surroundings around the player with precision and consistency, making it one of the most visually stunning video games of this generation. This is an amazing title that carefully balances its artistic and gaming ambitions, a masterpiece that I encourage any gamer to experience.

TrueAchievements - Sean Carey - 9 / 10

Ninja Theory has created an outstanding sequel with Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. An unforgettable narrative adventure that is brought to life through impeccable sound design, fantastic visuals, and a story that will stick with you long after the final credits roll. Hellblade 2 is one of the best games Xbox has to offer.

TrueGaming - عمر العمودي - Arabic - 8 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a technical achievement for the gaming industry, the visuals are impressive and realistic in a way we haven't seen before and the audio design is very impressive. The game itself though, we think it could've offered more as puzzles are repetitive and combat is quite limited. However, the storytelling is strong in this chapter of Senua's journey, though it feels heavy and depressing.

VideoGamer - Tom Bardwell - 9 / 10

Though uncomfortably bleak and distressing, Helldivers 2 is something truly special.

WellPlayed - James Wood - 6 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is an achievement in visual fidelity but fails to define itself amid clumsy retreads and unengaging new ideas.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 7 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a beautiful but ultimately hollow game. The fantastic presentation props up a story that is less personal and engaging than in the first game, and the gameplay feels like an afterthought. It was great to see Senua again and to see her outside of the grief-misery she was enveloped in during the first game, but beyond that, there's not much to Hellblade II. It's a short and less memorable experience that shows off Ninja Theory's visual craft to its fullest - but it achieves little else.

Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 90%

While Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 might not set any new standards with its simplistic gameplay mechanics, from an audio-visual experience standpoint, it's frankly quite a stunning experience. Hellblade 2 is as close to playing the leading role in a big budget movie as you’re likely to get, and Ninja Theory’s continued coverage on the complexities of severe mental health issues deserves to be commended once more. Bravo, Ninja Theory. Bravo.

XboxEra - Jon Clarke - 10 / 10

Despite the backing of a company as large and as well-funded as Microsoft, Ninja Theory have, in my opinion, nurtured their independent spirit and kept it well and truly alive in every facet of Senua's Saga: Hellblade II. It's brutal. It's breath-taking. It's brilliant. If this is “Independent AAA”?
Sign me up for more.

ZdobywcyGier.eu - Bartosz Michalik - Polish - 9.5 / 10

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is undoubtedly one of the best games of this year. Not only does it shine in terms of audio-visual setting, but also in terms of story. The only element that could be considered caveat is at the same time its greatest asset, namely cinematography. Sometimes one gets the impression that the developers, in an effort to achieve the best possible effect, had to make a lot of compromises, which significantly limited the gameplay possibilities. Nevertheless, for a great narrative and immersion, this is something to turn a blind eye to.

Why being transgender is not a sin, by MARK WINGFIELD NOVEMBER 9, 2018

Link to original post: https://baptistnews.com/article/why-being-transgender-is-not-a-sin/#.YYk6tE7MK72
I recently met a lovely young family in the northern suburbs of Dallas. They told me they previously attended a large Baptist church there – until their high school son became their daughter.
The mother was committed to her volunteer work in the church, and when she told the pastor who supervised that ministry area that her child was transgender, the pastor said: “That’s fine. We love everybody here. But it’s still a sin.”
“Blah, blah, blah, but….” Whatever comes after the “but” always negates whatever nice things were said in the first part of the sentence. Beware of the “but.”
Some would look kindly on the suburban pastor’s response because, after all, the pastor didn’t kick the family out of the church or condemn the teenager straight to hell. But.
Even among Christians who appear kind or progressive, too often the existence of someone who identifies as transgender gets chalked up to “sin.” No doubt that’s the root reason so many Christians happily pile on against transgender persons and their family members about bathrooms and schools, because in their heart of hearts, they don’t understand transgender identity and simply default to thinking it is a sinful lifestyle choice.

I think we all can agree that a “sin” is something we do that we shouldn’t do, something we have a choice about. If I eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream, I am likely guilty of the sin of gluttony. I didn’t have to eat the ice cream. If I fixate on why other people are more athletic and agile than me in my mid-life body, I probably am guilty of the sin of envy. There is a way for me to redirect my thoughts to avoid envy.
The same is not true of transgender identity. Emphatically and conclusively, this is not a choice. It is who a person is. Did you choose to have red hair? Did you choose to be tall or short? Did you choose to have the genetic markers you have? Of course not. Transgender persons are simply acknowledging that the gender identity assigned to them at birth because of physical anatomy does not match the brain, biochemical and genetic gender identity they know inside.
Since writing a column two years ago about understanding transgender identity – an opinion article that has been read more than 1 million times and led to giving a TED Talk on the same subject – I have conversed with hundreds of transgender persons and family members of transgender persons. That’s not just ministerially speaking. It really has been hundreds. Every one of those transgender persons has told me that they knew from their earliest awareness – from the time they were 4, 5 or 6 years old – that the gender anatomy they showed on the outside did not match who they knew they were on the inside.
There is an increasing body of scientific evidence to back up this assertion. For example, a 2008 study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that female fetuses with increased prenatal exposure to androgens are more likely to have gender nonconforming behaviors. Researchers – including some theologically conservative ones – point to environmental factors that may be responsible for what appears to be an increase in transgender identity through endocrine disruption beginning in the 20th century. This is linked to industrialization, development of new chemicals and medicines.
But these environmental factors only explain an increase, not the presence of transgender identity, which has been documented for centuries. The American Academy of Pediatrics (not to be confused with a small association of conservative pediatricians often cited by critics of transgender rights) recently released a new policy statement explaining that variation in gender identity is a normal part of human diversity. For an excellent, lay-friendly description of the emerging science of transgender identity, look to this report from Harvard University.

I could quote chapter and verse for study after study, and that would not change the minds of some people who are determined to label as sinful anything they do not understand, usually because “the Bible says so.” In these cases, I ask people to tell me where in the Bible being transgender is condemned as sinful. The only answer usually offered is Deuteronomy 22:5, which says: “A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.”
Here’s the problem with even a literal reading of that passage: Transgender persons will tell you they are not “men” putting on “women’s” clothing or “women” putting on “men’s” clothing. Instead, they are declaring an identity much deeper than clothing; they are saying that they are dressing outwardly to match who they know they are on the inside. This is not cross-dressing, which is not the subject of this column. Cross-dressing is about finding pleasure in wearing certain clothes. Being transgender is about finding mental and spiritual peace by aligning outward presentation with inner being.
Occasionally, people will point to Genesis 1:27 as a condemnation of transgender identity: “male and female he created them.” Most transgender persons will tell you they believe God has, in fact, created them as either male or female; the problem is how they have been labeled by others who are not God.
Some people today identify as “gender fluid,” meaning they find in themselves bits of both male and female identity and cannot definitely say they are one or the other. While this may sound unsettling to some of us on first hearing, a return to Genesis might help. There we also learn that God created both “night” and “day” and that God separated “land” from “sea.” Yet we have no problem understanding the existence of dawn and dusk or marshes and everglades. Also, the point of Genesis 1 is inclusion, not exclusion. The ancient text tells us that God created everything: “and,” not “or.”
The other lesson we need to keep learning from Genesis is that all humanity is created “in the image of God.” Everybody. Without exception. When we look at others who are different than us and try to see in them the image of God, we gain new understanding and empathy.
Sometimes well-meaning Christians get this part but still can’t get over the “sin” label. So they will say things like, “All of us are sinners in God’s eyes, and it’s just that my sin is different than your sin.” That’s another way of saying, “I love you, but….”
There’s an easy way to remember why this is wrong: Transgender identity is about who a person is. It is about their fundamental being as humans created by God in God’s image – an image that God has declared to be good.

So for some context I am disabled and can only work about 2-3 days a week. Used to be able to work more but I can't any more.
Both of our parents are dead and I have manic depressive bipolar plus ADHD and meds do not seem to help much. Whereas my aunt has anger issues and ptsd. And I live with my aunt because of this. My brother (25M) and I (27F) have never really gotten along, he used to chase around with knives and torture me essentially.
He has been in and out of prison and has 3 kids. Well last year he got out of prison and his baby momma didn't want anything to do with him so I let him stay with me. He did not have a job but was looking for one, he did get food stamps and helped around the house though, so I had no issue with it.
I had a really cushy stay at home job at the time that worked with my disabilities and I loved it. Then my grandmother went on hospice so I had to take care of her too. Then while she was on hospice at my house he asked if his baby momma could stay for a couple of days so grandma could see his newborn so I said yes. It went downhill from there.
Grandma passed, I asked him to help me clean out grandma's apartment because I couldn't do it on my own. I also paid him to help so he would bring it to my house so I could go through it later when it was so fresh. He didn't even bring half of it, the safe as missing and he stole and sold stuff and I didn't trust him after that
He would also use my Doordash account to make himself money then not help pay bills or find a different job. They would not clean up after themselves and got mad at me for trying to. Their (Grandma’s) room looked like a DCFS case. I tried to kick them out multiple times but they wouldn't leave and since they stayed over 2 weeks the cops couldn't do anything.
They took over grandmas room f*cked on her Deathbed and let their 3 year old wipe his feces from his diaper onto my 60” tv and just left it there for me to find after it had crusted.
The job terminated me because of the background noise of them and the 2 kids screaming and them beating each other. So I couldn't take it anymore, so since they wouldn't leave I did and I moved in with my aunt.
Now it's a year later they got kicked out of that apartment, moved to Effingham and got into an argument with his BM’s mom and he ripped the door off the hinges and she kicked them out. My aunt went to go get them now the cycle is repeating and she just doesn't seem to care because and I quote “that's our family and my grandbabies.”
So because they f*cked up I am screwed again. I pay the majority of bills since I work and my aunts on Disability. So if I leave she loses the house, but I don't see any other option. I can't do this again, I just can't.
So here I might be the asshole. I know if I leave she’ll get kicked out and it's not like I make enough to pay the bills and save enough to leave anyway. I brought this up several times but she just doesn't seem to understand.
So I don't know what to do. I just feel lost and stuck. So I'm going to tell her (my aunt) tomorrow, that it's them ( which is him his 3 kids and his baby momma) or me but I already know which one she'll pick, so wish me luck.

I just had to share a book on KU that I am now FULLY obsessed with. It's called {Alternate Endings by Ali Rosen} and it's like if Emily Henry went international. Single mom, workplace romance, second chance, traveling to Ireland, otherwise in NYC. I just adore it. I liked her last book but this one is even better (and it was named an Editor's Pick for best Romance by Amazon, so not just me haha). Has anyone else read this and can gush with me?
A few favorite quotes:
"We all grow up thinking when we become adults, we’ll finally figure our true selves out, but that’s such a boring way to think of it. We all have different chapters in our lives. We can find success but then change. We evolve. And thank goodness.”
"There’s a grief that comes with endings, but perhaps similarly with new beginnings. Hiding behind the grief and anger is sometimes easier than forgiveness and having to face a world with possibilities in front of you."
Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of Recipe for Second Chances comes a smart, sexy, heartfelt romance about a single mother juggling homelife and career who finds unexpected complications while in Ireland for work.
Beatrice Leal's personal life is complicated between her divorce and her precocious six-year-old. But the job she loves is the one thing she counts on to be straightforward—that is, until her boss's own divorce prompts a move from NYC back to Ireland.
Now Bea's in Ireland twice a month for work. It's wreaking havoc on the custody agreement she and her moody ex are sorting out while he lives downstairs in the brownstone they co-own. And to top it off, her company's new CTO turns out to be the boy who once broke her heart: Jack Sander. It's been twenty years since Bea and Jack saw each other. Their lives are both messy. So when they hook up one night in Ireland, they plan to just keep it a work fling that stays there. But the more time they spend together, the more Bea wonders if happiness might not always mean needing to have your life in order.

Hello, below is a quote from another commenter in this group. I am not a catholic however I am interested in the religion. I’m interested in all religions. Catholicism is one I have yet to understand.
Why would a religion so powerful and important not stand for loving and accepting someone - anyone, the way that they are. Why would you follow a religion that is based off judgment?
I understand that it is important to live life based off morals. And I respect that. But why are the morals and rules of this religion so divided and sometimes hateful? Why not accept everyone, be kind to everyone? Why live your entire life with rules that could effect friendships, relationships, and possibly family?
I am asking genuinely
Can you please cite the Scripture or Tradition or Dogma or Theology in Catholicism that says it's about love and acceptance?
We must never accept or approve sin. That isn't truth or love. We must share God in His Truth, His Love and His Mercy. Love God, Love one another. ❤️
Here is counter to your assertion, in my mind.
Scripture: Jesus said, 49 I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?
50 And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?
51 Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.
52 For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.
53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

So the day finally came when I saw Ben live in flesh and blood in front of my eyes for two nights straight. Only now when a couple of days have passed, I am able to comprehend as to what just happened.
Okay, so to put things into perspective, I've been an admirer of his craft since the Every Kingdom days, and like most of the fans out there, I absolutely love Every Kingdom and I Forget Where We Where along with the Burgh Island EP. It's the quintessential Ben Howard stuff that you recommend people to listen.
So the song which fueled my utmost devotion towards Ben was Conrad like many others, more so because me and my ex used to listen to that song together through our drives and at home and everywhere else cause we were in a situation where we understood that "we will never be the change to the whether and the sea" and I knew that, but still "I loved her with the good and the careless in me" as Ben felt too I guess. So when the relationship did end, I followed the words of Ben and "built a world without her love, and I built it mean" where "I Forgot Where We Where" and my days were reduced to "ten Marlboro cigarettes that I rolled the butts into the bottle tops and stared at the sea until my eyes would eventually have enough for the day".
So when the Is It? tour was announced and I got to know that Ben is going to be in my country, my elation knew no bounds, because it was a person who knew how I've felt and with whose words I've spent the most time with. But there rose my concern, and like that of many others, that what if he doesn't play more from the EK and IFWWW days anymore, the songs that have stayed with me the most. No doubt, I absolutely loved Days of Lantana and Couldn't make it up and Moonraker and others from the album. And I guess, a part of me knew that he probably doesn't want to play the old stuff because he doesn't feel the same way about them anymore.
Anyways, with a lot of excitement I went to the gig and Ben started with Couldn't make it up and Life in the time, and it blew the fuck out of my ears. I have listened to a lot of big bands live and I loved them to bits, but the sound of Ben and his guitars was something I have never seen or experienced before live and I was absolutely mesmerized with the tracks following from Is It? to Collections to Noonday. But obviously everyone has their favorites and lot of them were requesting for the old stuff like Esmeralda and End of the affair. And then in that moment, Ben started to speak, he said and I quote "It's quite difficult to live through so many forms of yourself, working through records. Cause you forget a lot, tunings and people, mostly tunings". And I stood there for a moment, thinking about it, and it struck me that we humans resist change so much, when change is the most natural thing. And like all of us Ben has changed too, and for the good. This is a man who has gone from feeling "Blinded, now I see that death moves amongst us" to saying "to be by your side I'd walk the Nile twice". And this is a story of triumph. The Ben of now is happy and looks full of hope and it's so damn heartening to see that. And make no mistake, his skills and craft haven't gone down, but have only evolved. He poured his heart and soul into every song from is it? and I can proudly say that it's the best album by Ben for me going forward. The only thing I would tell anyone who loves the old stuff from Ben and not the new ones is to stop resisting the change and then everyone will be able to see how good the new stuff is. And to all the people who are going to see him in the coming days, it's a request from me to cheer the loudest for the songs from is it? because he's Ben Howard, the man who said 'I will become what I deserve' and he deserves every fucking bit of happiness like everyone of us and feel the 'jubilation in the faint june shine!'
Thank you for the memories Ben and the band. The best shows I ever attended. And for restoring the faith in me that changes eventually happen for the best.

so a little bit of a preface: we've only been together 1 year but he was in a long term relationship from the age of ~13 to ~20 years old. he's told me before he was unsure about us being super committed because he was in SUCH a committed relationship for so long (i.e: they did EVERYTHING together, because her parents weren't in the picture a whole lot due to their professions) so he said he was still trying to figure himself out as an individual (which i was and am 100% okay with, we're still super young and im still figuring myself out too!) BUT this is MY first very serious relationship, i've been in other relationships but i always knew they were temporary and never felt about those people the ways i feel about my current boyfriend.
onto the story: he's been having a really tough few days. he's been very short with me and has sounded completely uninterested in my existence anytime i've talked to him in the past few days but i brushed it off and tried to remain understanding. today though i felt like he was being the mean person he was being to himself in his head, to me. i'm a very understanding and supportive person in general but especially to him because i love him. so by the end of the day we were sitting in the gym parking lot when he said he needed to do a favor for his mom but didn't have his debit card on him in order to do the favor. he asked if he could use apple pay, i said yes and tried to explain it to him but he was in a bad mood and wasn't trying to hear me out and insisted on going home to find his debit card yelling at me "that's the only way it's going to work." i said okay, no problem and held back my tears as he got out of my car and into his own. he softened up a bit and told me to have a good work out, i told him i was just going to go home. i was feeling defeated and not particularly motivated to workout anymore and so i gave him back the energy drink he bought me and we played a game of hot potato before i finally put it back in his car. long story short, i accidentally ran the drink over and he called me and yelled at me about it.
we had a very heated discussion about the way he was treating me today for about 30 mins before calming down and both apologizing for our parts played. then i drove to his house so we could kiss & make up, essentially. when i got to his house we started talking about things again and he said he felt like a disappointment and a fuck up. so, i started trying to help him sort through these feelings because i don't think those things about him and neither does anyone else around him.
we talked for about an 1.5 hrs and the conversation finally ended because he said, and i quote, "MY problems are MY problems, they're not for you to begin picking my brain and trying to solve them. i don't want to open up to you, i don't want to tell you everything that's on my mind. i don't want you or need you solving my problems or giving me advice on how to live my life. i don't want or need a therapist, if i do open up to you it's not because i want advice from you. i don't spend time with you for your advice. i'll live and learn, let me live."
i apologized for overstepping his boundary and told him i would no longer give him advice on his issues.
my issue now is, where do we go from here? how are we supposed to build anything or truly feel anything for each other if he isn't willing to be open and honest? i don't WANT to therapize him, i just want to help him through his issues now and in the future so we can continue to build something together.
am i overreacting and being overbearing? is this normal? i'm a very solution driven person, and it seems to me like he just wants to dwell in his feelings and frankly in his self-pity. he says all of these horrible things about himself to me, and i just don't see those qualities in him that he sees so i try to help him see himself from my point of view and get to the bottom of why he feels this way. is that wrong?

Okay I'm gonna get a few bugbears out of the way, because I have seen some shitty takes and people here so to scare them off: Sakura is gonna be the main character, deal with it. There are gonna be LGBT characters, boo fucking hoo, cry me a river. I have ships and will ship them. And I'm going to change the magic system a bit. If these things bother you, move on. There are a million fics that are to your liking, you just need to do a bit of googling and scrolling.
My fic is my way of practicing writing action and powescaling. I do like the show but there are problems. Let's face it, Kishimoto is not the best writer and overlooked a character that he didn't mean to be central and just the "set of tits the boys can fight over" but having this character be in the same squad as them and thus in the middle of the action. And by the time he realized "oops she's technically a main character" it was too late and Sakura as a character is cursed and everyone who acts as her in anything and everything faces death threats, stalking, and other forms of harassment. The fact he never saw this shit coming shows he isn't the greatest writer. (Though I'm not either.)
Okay now with the bugbears thoroughly pointed out, let's get to the main issues I've noticed and am going to address in this fanfic but please note: I am not saying I'm a better writer than Kishimoto.
I'm in no way saying I'm better than Kishimoto. Kishimoto is a wonderful writer but he's not the best, nor is he the worst. However, I have the benefit of not having to deal with a publishing company breathing down my neck and forcing certain constrains on me. I have complete creative freedom here.
Then why am I coming here?
I want to see if there are issues that I didn't notice in the story of Naruto. Arcs not addressed, things not followed up on etc. I'm not a big brained Naruto nerd that knows everything about everything in Naruto. So I want to others to to point out things that I can avoid and tackle before I end up running head first into those holes.
What I have so far that I know and will be addressing:
1.) Sakura becomes a powerful and main character.
To address this, I'm making the story centric around Sakura, yes Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi are there and they all are a team but Sakura isn't fully reliant on them. Sakura has her own goals and aims outside of them. For instance, she became a Shinobi because she didn't know what to do with her life. She wanted to find what it is she can do as a person and felt that being a Shinobi would be the best way to find herself and find what she wants to do and benefit her village.
Her family is still a civilian family and fully support her choice. Sakura still has a crush on Sasuke but she is more reserved about it, not constantly crying and pining about him, rather she is more of "how the hell do I even approach him about my feelings? Would he even reciprocate?" Kind of over thinker about it.
Her treatment of Naruto is more reserved to an eyeroll and your occasional Leroy Jethro Gibbs light smack on the back of the head type of girl. There may be times where she will growl at him and actually scream at him but those will be rare and situational.
Sakura will have her own Jutsu crafted on her own and be able to be on par with her peers. She will be on demon timing and will be a menace on the battlefield in the best way possible.
2.) Chakra Scaling
I'm planning on treating this the way Mana is treated in League of Legends instead of the "Chakra amount= Power" that Kishimoto uses.
To quote a certain Celestial Dragon in League, "Imagine what you can do with a bigger canvas" and "Mages are like infants trying to grasp at the machinery behind reality. At least you have a plausible excuse."
Chakra is merely a tool and the more control you have over it, the stronger the Jutsu and the less hand seals you have to use. To better explain it lets look at it using the Sanin and a few Kage.
In my fanfic the power scaling would be like this with these characters.
Tsunade is stronger than Tobirama and Hashirama and has more utility than them.
Tobirama and Hashirama are stronger than Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Orochimaru.
Jiraiya is stronger than Hiruzen.
Hiruzen, Minato, and Orochimaru are all equal in strength.
This is the scaling. This does not mean that these characters are weak. Far from it. They do not suck at using their chakra efficiently, far from it. But it's not to the same level as Tsunade's chakra control.
To put it simply all Medical Ninja are practically Jonin without the title, but they're not Kage level. For Tsuande, she doesn't even need to think about her control over her chakra, it's not even second nature. It's like breathing to her. If Tsunade is a pro gymnast, then the others are body builders. Some will have good balance and flexibility, but it's not to her degree if that makes sense.
They each have different focuses and specialties. Hiruzen and Orochimaru for instance love to study Jutsu, but that's that. They don't have the level of control over their chakra as Tsunade and thus cannot perform Medical Ninjutsu despite knowing it exists and knowing a lot about it, they could try to brute force it but they'd end up hurting themselves or somebody else.
If they were all to use the same Jutsu, say for instance a Fire Ball Jutsu. Tsunade's fireball would be fairly big but last longer and burn hotter than the others because of her sheer precision alone.
3.) Time with the Konoha 11
The fanfic is gonna be LOOOOOONG like really long. There will be MANY chapters before we even get anywhere near the Chunin Exams. We will be meeting the other characters long before we even get there (except the Sand Siblings, they will be introduced in the Exams)
4.) Byakugan and Sharingan shenanigans
I'm still trying to navigate this. Ideas are welcome. Please. Lend me your big brains.
This what I can think of off the top of my head. If you have anything else I should look out for. Please just tell me. If you want an idea of what's going to happen.... My page is free to look at, just click on my icon. If you want an idea of my writing and how it's gonna be tackled, please look at the concept chapter entitled "Disasterology".
Thank you whomever had the balls to read all of this.
I don't do TLDRs. Suffer.

A little background for you guys.. For most of my life I've grew up in this friend group of three. There was me (19m), S (18f), and L (24m). I know that the ages are probably throwing some of you off, but all of our parents' were friends, so we were always around each other. When me and S were both 15, again our parents thought it would be cute for us to date. I've only ever seen her as a friend but just never had the heart to tell her.
For the past year or so me and L had been saving up to take S to visit her family in spain as an early birthday/ graduation gift. When it finally came around to leave for spain and we dropped S off at her parent's house there. L started slowly making moves on me. I've made out with him a few times without my gf knowing, which im aware now is a shitty thing to do. Since L knew that S would be gone awhile I'm now realizing that I think he had the idea of taking things up a notch (if some of you know what i mean).
I've told him no so many times, that I don't feel comfortable and yet he's always meaning snarky comments like, "well the very least you could do is wear my clothes for tonight" or "get on your knees, i want to see how you look down there". I'm not even kidding, one from one, exact quotes. No matter what I told him, he would never stop. He started doing more explicit things like: leaning against me, rubbing his dick against me, and even tried sucking on my neck. While we were in fucking spain for my girlfriend and his childhood friend.
Me and him were staying at a nearby hotel by my gf giving her space to do her own thing with catching up with family. And the amount of times I've let the hotel room with hickeys he gave me in my sleep is insane. During the last night we were staying in spain for, L was laying up on the bed doing god knows what on his phone. He told me to come lay down on him and he started playing with my hair. Which I couldn't even lie felt so good.
Ten minutes laters when he finally realized I was blushing shamelessly in his arms. He asked me what he's been waiting for. I told him that if I said yes to him doing whatever he wants to me, he'll never ask again or bring this up. I needed to stand up before anything happened, I told him i was going to take my mood stabilizers and when I came back I had seen him take condoms out from his pocket. He knew what he was doing from the start, planning everything out. I felt so sick to my stomach, about to throw up. I gotta admit, he knew what he was doing. I wanted to not give him the satisfaction of me finishing, but it was so hard and at moments everything felt so unreal.
I think he was going at this for about twenty minutes before we heard a knock at the door. At first I didn't think much of it but when I saw S walked through the door my heart stopped. She was in tears in seconds. I later found out that she had left her parents' house early because one of her uncles were making her uncomfortable. They gave her the choice to stay with another cousin for the night or go back with her friends. It crushed me afterwards finding out she just wanted to be comforted by me and forget about all the uncalled for comment S's uncle made.
I fought back so many tears pushing L off of me. He finally stopped after five minutes of me screaming and begging him too. I know the more I was begging him, the more it was turning him on to the point where he would do anything but stop. By that I had no clue where S was. Neither of our calls went through to her, and by that point is when I started blaming L. I asked him what was his obsession with me, and all I got back was him saying how much of S I reminded him of. I told him that if he wanted her so badly then he can have her.
I knew she wouldn't ever speak to me again. She never believed me when I told her I loved her, and I can't blame her because none of it was actually true. S said that at any point of our relationship she saw i wasn't committed she's cutting me off. I knew at some point this was going to happen I just wished I could have told her myself. S ended up switching flights home. Long story short I haven't talked to her in weeks.
That was until she called me back yesterday. At first I didn't know what to do. I haven't heard from her all this time, I was about to just completely ignore her. But if anything, I love her so much as a friend I couldn't. I answered it to her in tears, screaming at me. I couldn't make out anything she was saying except for how L actually managed to find her at a mutual friend's party and ending up basically raping her. The dude forced himself on top of her and by the time she was completely in tears, all L said was, "He finally said ‘I could have your pretty face all to myself now that he's through with you’".
That pissed me off how he was that fucked up he could say those types of things and the fact he tried blaming rape on me? Saying I gave him permission? And defining my ex gf as just based off her body?
I managed to get S to tell me wheres she's been staying and for the past night I've just been staying with her. Doing everything I can to comfort her and make her feel less used. Once I noticed that she finally fell asleep, I called L up to tell me what the fuck was going through his head. He got defensive very very quickly, saying how if we were to tell anyone he'll post a video from the other night of him and S fucking making it look consensual and how she was trying to babytrap him. He's always threw around empty threats but something about this time felt to real for someone to lie about.
S still hasn't waken up, and I don't know what to do anymore. I'm thinking about not telling her I went against her words and called L. But I feel like theres no win even if I didn't lie. I'm writing this after pulling an all nighter, and I'm on the phone with my sister who only speaks german. If i wrote anything in german by mistake thats why mate. My sister's going through a really bad first year of college right now. Especially trying to make friends after moving across the country, and how she's wishes she had friends like S and L who she could rely on. Which just makes me wonder even more how much of my friendships with them were fake. I'm at a lost for everything right now and honestly don't know what to do.

The Collect
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever; Amen
Readings:
Psalm 5; 6 Proverbs 4
Gospel: Matthew 11:7–15
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary:
We often find others, and sometimes ourselves, in a moment of religious fervor quoting a single verse or perhaps a passage, as a means of accentuating our editorial point or even justifying that point or opinion. When a verse is used appropriately, in that the contextual meaning of the verse actually is relevant to the theme we are seeking to emphasize, the usage stirs great emotion and sometimes introspection or encouragement. But when a verse is used out of context, the result is an opposite effect, causing confusion when the reader attempts to understand the writers intent or motivation.
Therefore, if we are going to use bible verses effectively, without sowing confusion and misunderstanding, we should attempt to learn all we can about the Bible, especially these individual scenes or vignettes we are presented with in bible studies such as the one today.
Quite frequently, the backgound of the Gospel account and the historical and cultural influences, are interesting, enlightening, and add a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lesson presented in the Gospel.
Regarding the setting or background of the passage we are studying today, we find John the Baptist—who had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod Antipas (see Mt. 4:12 and 14:1-12) hearing reports of the works of Christ—even while in prison—leading John to send two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he was indeed the Christ, the anointed one promised by the prophets. The one that the people were longing for with great expectations; a Messiah that would lead them out of subjugation by the Romans and restore the kingdom to its former glory as was under the reign of King David. (v. 11:2-3)
Donovan writes of this situation:
“The reason behind John’s question is found in his messianic expectations. He called people to repent (3:2), because “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire” (3:10). He warned that the one who was to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (3:12). John clearly expects a fire-and-brimstone messiah.”
“Jesus has not lived up to that billing. He has pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and peacemakers (5:1-11). He has called his disciples to love their enemies (5:42-48). He has warned them not to judge others (7:1-5). These teachings seem weak by comparison with the actions anticipated by John’s fire and brimstone preaching.”
“Furthermore, Jesus moved away from Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the center of religious authority, and began his ministry in Galilee (4:12).”
“Then Jesus worked a series of healing ministries in chapters 8-9—what Bruner calls an “ambulance ministry”—of tremendous significance to those who were healed, but not significant to the nation as a whole. It has been centuries since Israel has heard a prophetic voice (other than John’s). People are looking for a voice of authority—for a fire that will purge the dross—for a powerful leader who will restore Israel’s former glory—for a messiah who will restore the people of God. John keeps watching Jesus hoping to see fireworks, but thus far has been disappointed.”
“But we must admire John. He has a problem with Jesus, so he approaches Jesus as directly as his imprisonment allows—no behind-the-back criticism! He sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one or shall they look for another? John has doubts, but he seeks to learn what Jesus will say—is open to hearing Jesus say that he is, indeed, the one! ”
In verse 6, Jesus states, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” John did not take offense, but only expressed doubt. We can surmise, that John was questioning his own situation just as he was questioning that of Jesus. After all if he (John the Baptist) was truly the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, why is he in prison? Wouldn’t he better serve God by being out preaching the word of God? And if Jesus was the anointed one, why isn’t he calling down lightening strikes on the Romans, putting them on the run out of Judea? John, as great of a prophet as he was, is about to learn a great lesson in messiah-ship.
“Jesus could rebuke John for his doubts, but instead offers him a blessing. Jesus has not lived up to John’s expectations, but John has not allowed that to be a stumbling block (skandelisthe). Soon enough, Jesus will deal with cities that refuse to repent (11:20-24)—hometown people who take offense (13:57)—Pharisees who take offense (12:1-8; 15:12) and conspire to kill Jesus (12:9-14) and charge that Jesus gets his power from Beelzebul (12:24)—and even disciples who desert him when the chips are down (26:31-33). John has done none of those things, but simply asks Jesus to confirm that he is the one for whom everyone has been waiting. Jesus offers the blessing, not just to John, but to all who do not take offense—all who do not stumble—all who are not scandalized. Jesus blesses us when we remain faithful in the face of prayers that seem not to be answered or hopes that go unfulfilled.” (Donovan)
Perhaps you now understand the importance of reviewing the nuances of the surrounding factors relative to a passage. Hopefully the brief summation provided helps you to understand why Jesus did not rebuke John, but in the verses suggested as today’s study, we find Jesus offering John praise.
“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?”(v. 7) John’s disciples had departed, returning to Herod’s prison to report what Jesus had said, and Jesus turns his attention to the followers who had gone out to hear John preach and now were intently listening to and watching Jesus.
Instead of teaching in the formal places of religious instruction, such as the temple in Jerusalem or the outlying synagogues, John had preached in the wilderness, rural areas free of distraction and creature comforts. It required effort upon the part of the people to make the arduous journey out there to hear him, but none the less they did, in great multitudes according to the Gospel writers.
Jesus—in a rhetorical manner—asks them, “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” Naturally, no one—much less multitudes of people—would make such a great effort to venture out into the desert to hear someone preach who was unworthy. “ They who are weak as reeds will be shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit, Eph. 4:14. When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair, when the storm of Herod's rage on the other hand grew fierce and blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a reed, of a man who was of one mind to-day, and of another to-morrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it is intimated (Jn. 1:20); he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it afterwards, Jn. 3:28. ” (Henry)
In essence, Jesus is stating “Let me tell you what kind of man John is!”
“But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (vs. 8-10)
John was said to wear a rough cloak made from the hair of a camel, with a leather belt to gird it, eating wild honey and grains so as to avoid the comparison of those political and religious leaders who lavished upon themselves great luxury. “A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.” Is a direct condemnation of the weak and lascivious usurper who had inherited his father’s throne, Herod Antipas, who in an attempt to seduce his own step daughter granted her a wish, which resulted in her mother asking for John’s head on a platter.
“Note, they who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven off from their religion by persecution. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked after him.” (Henry)
“A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” Israel endured four hundred years without a prophet. When John burst onto the scene with his fiery preaching, the authenticity of his ministry generated enormous public appeal. “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” “John prepares the way of the one who is to come. People check roads before the king travels them. Servants repair potholes and scouts insure security. Today, executives have assistants who plan their travel, secretaries who make their reservations, chauffeurs who drive their cars, and pilots who fly their planes. Just as the services of those who prepare the way enhance the executive’s ability to accomplish work, so also John smoothed Jesus’ entry into the world by calling people to repentance.”(Donovan)
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:” (v. 11a) Jesus declares John to be, not just the greatest prophet, but the greatest figure ever. Given Israel’s pantheon of heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, and David, this is an astonishing statement, indeed. What makes John so special is not his personal characteristics, excellent though those might be, but his privileged place in salvation history. All the other heroes of the faith have done mighty works, but only John has the privilege of introducing the Messiah.
“notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”(v. 11b) “ John stands at the pinnacle of the old era, but even the greatest representative of the old era is less than the humblest representative of the new. An appropriate metaphor is the ancient astronomer whose observations were limited by a small, primitive telescope. The most brilliant person, so limited, could never match the work of a more ordinary person with access to today’s space-based telescopes. Like Moses, John marched up to the border of the promise without actually entering it himself. He was Jesus’ forerunner—not his disciple. If the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, consider where that places us. We may be very ordinary Christians, but God considers us to be great.” (Donovan)
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (vs. 12-15)
Jesus’ reference to violence refers to both the intensity of spiritual warfare surrounding the ministry of Jesus and His herald, and also to the intensity required to persevere in following God and His kingdom.
The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ” Jesus saw an era ending with John; all the prophets and the law anticipated John and his ministry as a herald. There is a sense in which John spoke for every prophet who heralded Jesus’ coming. Under the Old Covenant, every other prophet announced, “The Messiah is coming.” John alone had the privilege of saying, “The Messiah is here.”
“The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it is reckoned, Mk. 1:1; Acts 1:22. This is shown here in two things: [1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die, v. 13. So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not removed till Christ's death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the kingdom of heaven as at hand. [2.] In him the New-Testament day began to dawn; for (v. 14) This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi—the link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti—the link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah, Mal. 4:5, 6. Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a history, they ceased to prophecy. ” (Henry)
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” “A proverbial form of speech often used by Jesus after important utterances, here for the first time in Matthew.” (Bruce) A saying of Jesus that will appear throughout the Gospels which is a veiled warning to all mankind, to listen, to take heed, to understand that the teachings of Christ are indeed the thoughts and commandments of his Father in Heaven, and an implication that to ignore these words will result in less than favorable circumstances.
Benediction
It is not enough to acclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and King. Our mission in life is to make his kingdom a reality among us and to bring it to those around us by our words and deeds. The way to do this is to live as he lived: for others, in love and service. May almighty God bless you for this task: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to give shape to his kingdom. Thanks be to God!
Thought for the Day:
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury

The Collect
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever; Amen
Readings:
Psalm 5; 6 Proverbs 4
Gospel: Matthew 11:7–15
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary:
We often find others, and sometimes ourselves, in a moment of religious fervor quoting a single verse or perhaps a passage, as a means of accentuating our editorial point or even justifying that point or opinion. When a verse is used appropriately, in that the contextual meaning of the verse actually is relevant to the theme we are seeking to emphasize, the usage stirs great emotion and sometimes introspection or encouragement. But when a verse is used out of context, the result is an opposite effect, causing confusion when the reader attempts to understand the writers intent or motivation.
Therefore, if we are going to use bible verses effectively, without sowing confusion and misunderstanding, we should attempt to learn all we can about the Bible, especially these individual scenes or vignettes we are presented with in bible studies such as the one today.
Quite frequently, the backgound of the Gospel account and the historical and cultural influences, are interesting, enlightening, and add a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lesson presented in the Gospel.
Regarding the setting or background of the passage we are studying today, we find John the Baptist—who had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod Antipas (see Mt. 4:12 and 14:1-12) hearing reports of the works of Christ—even while in prison—leading John to send two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he was indeed the Christ, the anointed one promised by the prophets. The one that the people were longing for with great expectations; a Messiah that would lead them out of subjugation by the Romans and restore the kingdom to its former glory as was under the reign of King David. (v. 11:2-3)
Donovan writes of this situation:
“The reason behind John’s question is found in his messianic expectations. He called people to repent (3:2), because “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire” (3:10). He warned that the one who was to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (3:12). John clearly expects a fire-and-brimstone messiah.”
“Jesus has not lived up to that billing. He has pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and peacemakers (5:1-11). He has called his disciples to love their enemies (5:42-48). He has warned them not to judge others (7:1-5). These teachings seem weak by comparison with the actions anticipated by John’s fire and brimstone preaching.”
“Furthermore, Jesus moved away from Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the center of religious authority, and began his ministry in Galilee (4:12).”
“Then Jesus worked a series of healing ministries in chapters 8-9—what Bruner calls an “ambulance ministry”—of tremendous significance to those who were healed, but not significant to the nation as a whole. It has been centuries since Israel has heard a prophetic voice (other than John’s). People are looking for a voice of authority—for a fire that will purge the dross—for a powerful leader who will restore Israel’s former glory—for a messiah who will restore the people of God. John keeps watching Jesus hoping to see fireworks, but thus far has been disappointed.”
“But we must admire John. He has a problem with Jesus, so he approaches Jesus as directly as his imprisonment allows—no behind-the-back criticism! He sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one or shall they look for another? John has doubts, but he seeks to learn what Jesus will say—is open to hearing Jesus say that he is, indeed, the one! ”
In verse 6, Jesus states, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” John did not take offense, but only expressed doubt. We can surmise, that John was questioning his own situation just as he was questioning that of Jesus. After all if he (John the Baptist) was truly the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, why is he in prison? Wouldn’t he better serve God by being out preaching the word of God? And if Jesus was the anointed one, why isn’t he calling down lightening strikes on the Romans, putting them on the run out of Judea? John, as great of a prophet as he was, is about to learn a great lesson in messiah-ship.
“Jesus could rebuke John for his doubts, but instead offers him a blessing. Jesus has not lived up to John’s expectations, but John has not allowed that to be a stumbling block (skandelisthe). Soon enough, Jesus will deal with cities that refuse to repent (11:20-24)—hometown people who take offense (13:57)—Pharisees who take offense (12:1-8; 15:12) and conspire to kill Jesus (12:9-14) and charge that Jesus gets his power from Beelzebul (12:24)—and even disciples who desert him when the chips are down (26:31-33). John has done none of those things, but simply asks Jesus to confirm that he is the one for whom everyone has been waiting. Jesus offers the blessing, not just to John, but to all who do not take offense—all who do not stumble—all who are not scandalized. Jesus blesses us when we remain faithful in the face of prayers that seem not to be answered or hopes that go unfulfilled.” (Donovan)
Perhaps you now understand the importance of reviewing the nuances of the surrounding factors relative to a passage. Hopefully the brief summation provided helps you to understand why Jesus did not rebuke John, but in the verses suggested as today’s study, we find Jesus offering John praise.
“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?”(v. 7) John’s disciples had departed, returning to Herod’s prison to report what Jesus had said, and Jesus turns his attention to the followers who had gone out to hear John preach and now were intently listening to and watching Jesus.
Instead of teaching in the formal places of religious instruction, such as the temple in Jerusalem or the outlying synagogues, John had preached in the wilderness, rural areas free of distraction and creature comforts. It required effort upon the part of the people to make the arduous journey out there to hear him, but none the less they did, in great multitudes according to the Gospel writers.
Jesus—in a rhetorical manner—asks them, “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” Naturally, no one—much less multitudes of people—would make such a great effort to venture out into the desert to hear someone preach who was unworthy. “ They who are weak as reeds will be shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit, Eph. 4:14. When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair, when the storm of Herod's rage on the other hand grew fierce and blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a reed, of a man who was of one mind to-day, and of another to-morrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it is intimated (Jn. 1:20); he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it afterwards, Jn. 3:28. ” (Henry)
In essence, Jesus is stating “Let me tell you what kind of man John is!”
“But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (vs. 8-10)
John was said to wear a rough cloak made from the hair of a camel, with a leather belt to gird it, eating wild honey and grains so as to avoid the comparison of those political and religious leaders who lavished upon themselves great luxury. “A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.” Is a direct condemnation of the weak and lascivious usurper who had inherited his father’s throne, Herod Antipas, who in an attempt to seduce his own step daughter granted her a wish, which resulted in her mother asking for John’s head on a platter.
“Note, they who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven off from their religion by persecution. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked after him.” (Henry)
“A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” Israel endured four hundred years without a prophet. When John burst onto the scene with his fiery preaching, the authenticity of his ministry generated enormous public appeal. “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” “John prepares the way of the one who is to come. People check roads before the king travels them. Servants repair potholes and scouts insure security. Today, executives have assistants who plan their travel, secretaries who make their reservations, chauffeurs who drive their cars, and pilots who fly their planes. Just as the services of those who prepare the way enhance the executive’s ability to accomplish work, so also John smoothed Jesus’ entry into the world by calling people to repentance.”(Donovan)
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:” (v. 11a) Jesus declares John to be, not just the greatest prophet, but the greatest figure ever. Given Israel’s pantheon of heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, and David, this is an astonishing statement, indeed. What makes John so special is not his personal characteristics, excellent though those might be, but his privileged place in salvation history. All the other heroes of the faith have done mighty works, but only John has the privilege of introducing the Messiah.
“notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”(v. 11b) “ John stands at the pinnacle of the old era, but even the greatest representative of the old era is less than the humblest representative of the new. An appropriate metaphor is the ancient astronomer whose observations were limited by a small, primitive telescope. The most brilliant person, so limited, could never match the work of a more ordinary person with access to today’s space-based telescopes. Like Moses, John marched up to the border of the promise without actually entering it himself. He was Jesus’ forerunner—not his disciple. If the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, consider where that places us. We may be very ordinary Christians, but God considers us to be great.” (Donovan)
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (vs. 12-15)
Jesus’ reference to violence refers to both the intensity of spiritual warfare surrounding the ministry of Jesus and His herald, and also to the intensity required to persevere in following God and His kingdom.
The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ” Jesus saw an era ending with John; all the prophets and the law anticipated John and his ministry as a herald. There is a sense in which John spoke for every prophet who heralded Jesus’ coming. Under the Old Covenant, every other prophet announced, “The Messiah is coming.” John alone had the privilege of saying, “The Messiah is here.”
“The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it is reckoned, Mk. 1:1; Acts 1:22. This is shown here in two things: [1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die, v. 13. So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not removed till Christ's death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the kingdom of heaven as at hand. [2.] In him the New-Testament day began to dawn; for (v. 14) This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi—the link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti—the link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah, Mal. 4:5, 6. Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a history, they ceased to prophecy. ” (Henry)
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” “A proverbial form of speech often used by Jesus after important utterances, here for the first time in Matthew.” (Bruce) A saying of Jesus that will appear throughout the Gospels which is a veiled warning to all mankind, to listen, to take heed, to understand that the teachings of Christ are indeed the thoughts and commandments of his Father in Heaven, and an implication that to ignore these words will result in less than favorable circumstances.
Benediction
It is not enough to acclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and King. Our mission in life is to make his kingdom a reality among us and to bring it to those around us by our words and deeds. The way to do this is to live as he lived: for others, in love and service. May almighty God bless you for this task: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to give shape to his kingdom. Thanks be to God!
Thought for the Day:
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury

The Collect
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever; Amen
Readings:
Psalm 5; 6 Proverbs 4
Gospel: Matthew 11:7–15
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary:
We often find others, and sometimes ourselves, in a moment of religious fervor quoting a single verse or perhaps a passage, as a means of accentuating our editorial point or even justifying that point or opinion. When a verse is used appropriately, in that the contextual meaning of the verse actually is relevant to the theme we are seeking to emphasize, the usage stirs great emotion and sometimes introspection or encouragement. But when a verse is used out of context, the result is an opposite effect, causing confusion when the reader attempts to understand the writers intent or motivation.
Therefore, if we are going to use bible verses effectively, without sowing confusion and misunderstanding, we should attempt to learn all we can about the Bible, especially these individual scenes or vignettes we are presented with in bible studies such as the one today.
Quite frequently, the backgound of the Gospel account and the historical and cultural influences, are interesting, enlightening, and add a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lesson presented in the Gospel.
Regarding the setting or background of the passage we are studying today, we find John the Baptist—who had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod Antipas (see Mt. 4:12 and 14:1-12) hearing reports of the works of Christ—even while in prison—leading John to send two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he was indeed the Christ, the anointed one promised by the prophets. The one that the people were longing for with great expectations; a Messiah that would lead them out of subjugation by the Romans and restore the kingdom to its former glory as was under the reign of King David. (v. 11:2-3)
Donovan writes of this situation:
“The reason behind John’s question is found in his messianic expectations. He called people to repent (3:2), because “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire” (3:10). He warned that the one who was to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (3:12). John clearly expects a fire-and-brimstone messiah.”
“Jesus has not lived up to that billing. He has pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and peacemakers (5:1-11). He has called his disciples to love their enemies (5:42-48). He has warned them not to judge others (7:1-5). These teachings seem weak by comparison with the actions anticipated by John’s fire and brimstone preaching.”
“Furthermore, Jesus moved away from Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the center of religious authority, and began his ministry in Galilee (4:12).”
“Then Jesus worked a series of healing ministries in chapters 8-9—what Bruner calls an “ambulance ministry”—of tremendous significance to those who were healed, but not significant to the nation as a whole. It has been centuries since Israel has heard a prophetic voice (other than John’s). People are looking for a voice of authority—for a fire that will purge the dross—for a powerful leader who will restore Israel’s former glory—for a messiah who will restore the people of God. John keeps watching Jesus hoping to see fireworks, but thus far has been disappointed.”
“But we must admire John. He has a problem with Jesus, so he approaches Jesus as directly as his imprisonment allows—no behind-the-back criticism! He sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one or shall they look for another? John has doubts, but he seeks to learn what Jesus will say—is open to hearing Jesus say that he is, indeed, the one! ”
In verse 6, Jesus states, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” John did not take offense, but only expressed doubt. We can surmise, that John was questioning his own situation just as he was questioning that of Jesus. After all if he (John the Baptist) was truly the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, why is he in prison? Wouldn’t he better serve God by being out preaching the word of God? And if Jesus was the anointed one, why isn’t he calling down lightening strikes on the Romans, putting them on the run out of Judea? John, as great of a prophet as he was, is about to learn a great lesson in messiah-ship.
“Jesus could rebuke John for his doubts, but instead offers him a blessing. Jesus has not lived up to John’s expectations, but John has not allowed that to be a stumbling block (skandelisthe). Soon enough, Jesus will deal with cities that refuse to repent (11:20-24)—hometown people who take offense (13:57)—Pharisees who take offense (12:1-8; 15:12) and conspire to kill Jesus (12:9-14) and charge that Jesus gets his power from Beelzebul (12:24)—and even disciples who desert him when the chips are down (26:31-33). John has done none of those things, but simply asks Jesus to confirm that he is the one for whom everyone has been waiting. Jesus offers the blessing, not just to John, but to all who do not take offense—all who do not stumble—all who are not scandalized. Jesus blesses us when we remain faithful in the face of prayers that seem not to be answered or hopes that go unfulfilled.” (Donovan)
Perhaps you now understand the importance of reviewing the nuances of the surrounding factors relative to a passage. Hopefully the brief summation provided helps you to understand why Jesus did not rebuke John, but in the verses suggested as today’s study, we find Jesus offering John praise.
“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?”(v. 7) John’s disciples had departed, returning to Herod’s prison to report what Jesus had said, and Jesus turns his attention to the followers who had gone out to hear John preach and now were intently listening to and watching Jesus.
Instead of teaching in the formal places of religious instruction, such as the temple in Jerusalem or the outlying synagogues, John had preached in the wilderness, rural areas free of distraction and creature comforts. It required effort upon the part of the people to make the arduous journey out there to hear him, but none the less they did, in great multitudes according to the Gospel writers.
Jesus—in a rhetorical manner—asks them, “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” Naturally, no one—much less multitudes of people—would make such a great effort to venture out into the desert to hear someone preach who was unworthy. “ They who are weak as reeds will be shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit, Eph. 4:14. When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair, when the storm of Herod's rage on the other hand grew fierce and blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a reed, of a man who was of one mind to-day, and of another to-morrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it is intimated (Jn. 1:20); he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it afterwards, Jn. 3:28. ” (Henry)
In essence, Jesus is stating “Let me tell you what kind of man John is!”
“But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (vs. 8-10)
John was said to wear a rough cloak made from the hair of a camel, with a leather belt to gird it, eating wild honey and grains so as to avoid the comparison of those political and religious leaders who lavished upon themselves great luxury. “A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.” Is a direct condemnation of the weak and lascivious usurper who had inherited his father’s throne, Herod Antipas, who in an attempt to seduce his own step daughter granted her a wish, which resulted in her mother asking for John’s head on a platter.
“Note, they who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven off from their religion by persecution. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked after him.” (Henry)
“A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” Israel endured four hundred years without a prophet. When John burst onto the scene with his fiery preaching, the authenticity of his ministry generated enormous public appeal. “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” “John prepares the way of the one who is to come. People check roads before the king travels them. Servants repair potholes and scouts insure security. Today, executives have assistants who plan their travel, secretaries who make their reservations, chauffeurs who drive their cars, and pilots who fly their planes. Just as the services of those who prepare the way enhance the executive’s ability to accomplish work, so also John smoothed Jesus’ entry into the world by calling people to repentance.”(Donovan)
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:” (v. 11a) Jesus declares John to be, not just the greatest prophet, but the greatest figure ever. Given Israel’s pantheon of heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, and David, this is an astonishing statement, indeed. What makes John so special is not his personal characteristics, excellent though those might be, but his privileged place in salvation history. All the other heroes of the faith have done mighty works, but only John has the privilege of introducing the Messiah.
“notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”(v. 11b) “ John stands at the pinnacle of the old era, but even the greatest representative of the old era is less than the humblest representative of the new. An appropriate metaphor is the ancient astronomer whose observations were limited by a small, primitive telescope. The most brilliant person, so limited, could never match the work of a more ordinary person with access to today’s space-based telescopes. Like Moses, John marched up to the border of the promise without actually entering it himself. He was Jesus’ forerunner—not his disciple. If the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, consider where that places us. We may be very ordinary Christians, but God considers us to be great.” (Donovan)
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (vs. 12-15)
Jesus’ reference to violence refers to both the intensity of spiritual warfare surrounding the ministry of Jesus and His herald, and also to the intensity required to persevere in following God and His kingdom.
The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ” Jesus saw an era ending with John; all the prophets and the law anticipated John and his ministry as a herald. There is a sense in which John spoke for every prophet who heralded Jesus’ coming. Under the Old Covenant, every other prophet announced, “The Messiah is coming.” John alone had the privilege of saying, “The Messiah is here.”
“The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it is reckoned, Mk. 1:1; Acts 1:22. This is shown here in two things: [1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die, v. 13. So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not removed till Christ's death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the kingdom of heaven as at hand. [2.] In him the New-Testament day began to dawn; for (v. 14) This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi—the link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti—the link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah, Mal. 4:5, 6. Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a history, they ceased to prophecy. ” (Henry)
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” “A proverbial form of speech often used by Jesus after important utterances, here for the first time in Matthew.” (Bruce) A saying of Jesus that will appear throughout the Gospels which is a veiled warning to all mankind, to listen, to take heed, to understand that the teachings of Christ are indeed the thoughts and commandments of his Father in Heaven, and an implication that to ignore these words will result in less than favorable circumstances.
Benediction
It is not enough to acclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and King. Our mission in life is to make his kingdom a reality among us and to bring it to those around us by our words and deeds. The way to do this is to live as he lived: for others, in love and service. May almighty God bless you for this task: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to give shape to his kingdom. Thanks be to God!
Thought for the Day:
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury

The Collect
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever; Amen
Readings:
Psalm 5; 6 Proverbs 4
Gospel: Matthew 11:7–15
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary:
We often find others, and sometimes ourselves, in a moment of religious fervor quoting a single verse or perhaps a passage, as a means of accentuating our editorial point or even justifying that point or opinion. When a verse is used appropriately, in that the contextual meaning of the verse actually is relevant to the theme we are seeking to emphasize, the usage stirs great emotion and sometimes introspection or encouragement. But when a verse is used out of context, the result is an opposite effect, causing confusion when the reader attempts to understand the writers intent or motivation.
Therefore, if we are going to use bible verses effectively, without sowing confusion and misunderstanding, we should attempt to learn all we can about the Bible, especially these individual scenes or vignettes we are presented with in bible studies such as the one today.
Quite frequently, the backgound of the Gospel account and the historical and cultural influences, are interesting, enlightening, and add a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lesson presented in the Gospel.
Regarding the setting or background of the passage we are studying today, we find John the Baptist—who had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod Antipas (see Mt. 4:12 and 14:1-12) hearing reports of the works of Christ—even while in prison—leading John to send two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he was indeed the Christ, the anointed one promised by the prophets. The one that the people were longing for with great expectations; a Messiah that would lead them out of subjugation by the Romans and restore the kingdom to its former glory as was under the reign of King David. (v. 11:2-3)
Donovan writes of this situation:
“The reason behind John’s question is found in his messianic expectations. He called people to repent (3:2), because “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire” (3:10). He warned that the one who was to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (3:12). John clearly expects a fire-and-brimstone messiah.”
“Jesus has not lived up to that billing. He has pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and peacemakers (5:1-11). He has called his disciples to love their enemies (5:42-48). He has warned them not to judge others (7:1-5). These teachings seem weak by comparison with the actions anticipated by John’s fire and brimstone preaching.”
“Furthermore, Jesus moved away from Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the center of religious authority, and began his ministry in Galilee (4:12).”
“Then Jesus worked a series of healing ministries in chapters 8-9—what Bruner calls an “ambulance ministry”—of tremendous significance to those who were healed, but not significant to the nation as a whole. It has been centuries since Israel has heard a prophetic voice (other than John’s). People are looking for a voice of authority—for a fire that will purge the dross—for a powerful leader who will restore Israel’s former glory—for a messiah who will restore the people of God. John keeps watching Jesus hoping to see fireworks, but thus far has been disappointed.”
“But we must admire John. He has a problem with Jesus, so he approaches Jesus as directly as his imprisonment allows—no behind-the-back criticism! He sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one or shall they look for another? John has doubts, but he seeks to learn what Jesus will say—is open to hearing Jesus say that he is, indeed, the one! ”
In verse 6, Jesus states, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” John did not take offense, but only expressed doubt. We can surmise, that John was questioning his own situation just as he was questioning that of Jesus. After all if he (John the Baptist) was truly the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, why is he in prison? Wouldn’t he better serve God by being out preaching the word of God? And if Jesus was the anointed one, why isn’t he calling down lightening strikes on the Romans, putting them on the run out of Judea? John, as great of a prophet as he was, is about to learn a great lesson in messiah-ship.
“Jesus could rebuke John for his doubts, but instead offers him a blessing. Jesus has not lived up to John’s expectations, but John has not allowed that to be a stumbling block (skandelisthe). Soon enough, Jesus will deal with cities that refuse to repent (11:20-24)—hometown people who take offense (13:57)—Pharisees who take offense (12:1-8; 15:12) and conspire to kill Jesus (12:9-14) and charge that Jesus gets his power from Beelzebul (12:24)—and even disciples who desert him when the chips are down (26:31-33). John has done none of those things, but simply asks Jesus to confirm that he is the one for whom everyone has been waiting. Jesus offers the blessing, not just to John, but to all who do not take offense—all who do not stumble—all who are not scandalized. Jesus blesses us when we remain faithful in the face of prayers that seem not to be answered or hopes that go unfulfilled.” (Donovan)
Perhaps you now understand the importance of reviewing the nuances of the surrounding factors relative to a passage. Hopefully the brief summation provided helps you to understand why Jesus did not rebuke John, but in the verses suggested as today’s study, we find Jesus offering John praise.
“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?”(v. 7) John’s disciples had departed, returning to Herod’s prison to report what Jesus had said, and Jesus turns his attention to the followers who had gone out to hear John preach and now were intently listening to and watching Jesus.
Instead of teaching in the formal places of religious instruction, such as the temple in Jerusalem or the outlying synagogues, John had preached in the wilderness, rural areas free of distraction and creature comforts. It required effort upon the part of the people to make the arduous journey out there to hear him, but none the less they did, in great multitudes according to the Gospel writers.
Jesus—in a rhetorical manner—asks them, “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” Naturally, no one—much less multitudes of people—would make such a great effort to venture out into the desert to hear someone preach who was unworthy. “ They who are weak as reeds will be shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit, Eph. 4:14. When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair, when the storm of Herod's rage on the other hand grew fierce and blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a reed, of a man who was of one mind to-day, and of another to-morrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it is intimated (Jn. 1:20); he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it afterwards, Jn. 3:28. ” (Henry)
In essence, Jesus is stating “Let me tell you what kind of man John is!”
“But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (vs. 8-10)
John was said to wear a rough cloak made from the hair of a camel, with a leather belt to gird it, eating wild honey and grains so as to avoid the comparison of those political and religious leaders who lavished upon themselves great luxury. “A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.” Is a direct condemnation of the weak and lascivious usurper who had inherited his father’s throne, Herod Antipas, who in an attempt to seduce his own step daughter granted her a wish, which resulted in her mother asking for John’s head on a platter.
“Note, they who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven off from their religion by persecution. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked after him.” (Henry)
“A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” Israel endured four hundred years without a prophet. When John burst onto the scene with his fiery preaching, the authenticity of his ministry generated enormous public appeal. “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” “John prepares the way of the one who is to come. People check roads before the king travels them. Servants repair potholes and scouts insure security. Today, executives have assistants who plan their travel, secretaries who make their reservations, chauffeurs who drive their cars, and pilots who fly their planes. Just as the services of those who prepare the way enhance the executive’s ability to accomplish work, so also John smoothed Jesus’ entry into the world by calling people to repentance.”(Donovan)
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:” (v. 11a) Jesus declares John to be, not just the greatest prophet, but the greatest figure ever. Given Israel’s pantheon of heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, and David, this is an astonishing statement, indeed. What makes John so special is not his personal characteristics, excellent though those might be, but his privileged place in salvation history. All the other heroes of the faith have done mighty works, but only John has the privilege of introducing the Messiah.
“notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”(v. 11b) “ John stands at the pinnacle of the old era, but even the greatest representative of the old era is less than the humblest representative of the new. An appropriate metaphor is the ancient astronomer whose observations were limited by a small, primitive telescope. The most brilliant person, so limited, could never match the work of a more ordinary person with access to today’s space-based telescopes. Like Moses, John marched up to the border of the promise without actually entering it himself. He was Jesus’ forerunner—not his disciple. If the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, consider where that places us. We may be very ordinary Christians, but God considers us to be great.” (Donovan)
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (vs. 12-15)
Jesus’ reference to violence refers to both the intensity of spiritual warfare surrounding the ministry of Jesus and His herald, and also to the intensity required to persevere in following God and His kingdom.
The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ” Jesus saw an era ending with John; all the prophets and the law anticipated John and his ministry as a herald. There is a sense in which John spoke for every prophet who heralded Jesus’ coming. Under the Old Covenant, every other prophet announced, “The Messiah is coming.” John alone had the privilege of saying, “The Messiah is here.”
“The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it is reckoned, Mk. 1:1; Acts 1:22. This is shown here in two things: [1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die, v. 13. So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not removed till Christ's death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the kingdom of heaven as at hand. [2.] In him the New-Testament day began to dawn; for (v. 14) This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi—the link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti—the link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah, Mal. 4:5, 6. Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a history, they ceased to prophecy. ” (Henry)
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” “A proverbial form of speech often used by Jesus after important utterances, here for the first time in Matthew.” (Bruce) A saying of Jesus that will appear throughout the Gospels which is a veiled warning to all mankind, to listen, to take heed, to understand that the teachings of Christ are indeed the thoughts and commandments of his Father in Heaven, and an implication that to ignore these words will result in less than favorable circumstances.
Benediction
It is not enough to acclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and King. Our mission in life is to make his kingdom a reality among us and to bring it to those around us by our words and deeds. The way to do this is to live as he lived: for others, in love and service. May almighty God bless you for this task: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to give shape to his kingdom. Thanks be to God!
Thought for the Day:
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury

The Collect
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever; Amen
Readings:
Psalm 5; 6 Proverbs 4
Gospel: Matthew 11:7–15
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary:
We often find others, and sometimes ourselves, in a moment of religious fervor quoting a single verse or perhaps a passage, as a means of accentuating our editorial point or even justifying that point or opinion. When a verse is used appropriately, in that the contextual meaning of the verse actually is relevant to the theme we are seeking to emphasize, the usage stirs great emotion and sometimes introspection or encouragement. But when a verse is used out of context, the result is an opposite effect, causing confusion when the reader attempts to understand the writers intent or motivation.
Therefore, if we are going to use bible verses effectively, without sowing confusion and misunderstanding, we should attempt to learn all we can about the Bible, especially these individual scenes or vignettes we are presented with in bible studies such as the one today.
Quite frequently, the backgound of the Gospel account and the historical and cultural influences, are interesting, enlightening, and add a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lesson presented in the Gospel.
Regarding the setting or background of the passage we are studying today, we find John the Baptist—who had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod Antipas (see Mt. 4:12 and 14:1-12) hearing reports of the works of Christ—even while in prison—leading John to send two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he was indeed the Christ, the anointed one promised by the prophets. The one that the people were longing for with great expectations; a Messiah that would lead them out of subjugation by the Romans and restore the kingdom to its former glory as was under the reign of King David. (v. 11:2-3)
Donovan writes of this situation:
“The reason behind John’s question is found in his messianic expectations. He called people to repent (3:2), because “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire” (3:10). He warned that the one who was to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (3:12). John clearly expects a fire-and-brimstone messiah.”
“Jesus has not lived up to that billing. He has pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and peacemakers (5:1-11). He has called his disciples to love their enemies (5:42-48). He has warned them not to judge others (7:1-5). These teachings seem weak by comparison with the actions anticipated by John’s fire and brimstone preaching.”
“Furthermore, Jesus moved away from Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the center of religious authority, and began his ministry in Galilee (4:12).”
“Then Jesus worked a series of healing ministries in chapters 8-9—what Bruner calls an “ambulance ministry”—of tremendous significance to those who were healed, but not significant to the nation as a whole. It has been centuries since Israel has heard a prophetic voice (other than John’s). People are looking for a voice of authority—for a fire that will purge the dross—for a powerful leader who will restore Israel’s former glory—for a messiah who will restore the people of God. John keeps watching Jesus hoping to see fireworks, but thus far has been disappointed.”
“But we must admire John. He has a problem with Jesus, so he approaches Jesus as directly as his imprisonment allows—no behind-the-back criticism! He sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one or shall they look for another? John has doubts, but he seeks to learn what Jesus will say—is open to hearing Jesus say that he is, indeed, the one! ”
In verse 6, Jesus states, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” John did not take offense, but only expressed doubt. We can surmise, that John was questioning his own situation just as he was questioning that of Jesus. After all if he (John the Baptist) was truly the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, why is he in prison? Wouldn’t he better serve God by being out preaching the word of God? And if Jesus was the anointed one, why isn’t he calling down lightening strikes on the Romans, putting them on the run out of Judea? John, as great of a prophet as he was, is about to learn a great lesson in messiah-ship.
“Jesus could rebuke John for his doubts, but instead offers him a blessing. Jesus has not lived up to John’s expectations, but John has not allowed that to be a stumbling block (skandelisthe). Soon enough, Jesus will deal with cities that refuse to repent (11:20-24)—hometown people who take offense (13:57)—Pharisees who take offense (12:1-8; 15:12) and conspire to kill Jesus (12:9-14) and charge that Jesus gets his power from Beelzebul (12:24)—and even disciples who desert him when the chips are down (26:31-33). John has done none of those things, but simply asks Jesus to confirm that he is the one for whom everyone has been waiting. Jesus offers the blessing, not just to John, but to all who do not take offense—all who do not stumble—all who are not scandalized. Jesus blesses us when we remain faithful in the face of prayers that seem not to be answered or hopes that go unfulfilled.” (Donovan)
Perhaps you now understand the importance of reviewing the nuances of the surrounding factors relative to a passage. Hopefully the brief summation provided helps you to understand why Jesus did not rebuke John, but in the verses suggested as today’s study, we find Jesus offering John praise.
“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?”(v. 7) John’s disciples had departed, returning to Herod’s prison to report what Jesus had said, and Jesus turns his attention to the followers who had gone out to hear John preach and now were intently listening to and watching Jesus.
Instead of teaching in the formal places of religious instruction, such as the temple in Jerusalem or the outlying synagogues, John had preached in the wilderness, rural areas free of distraction and creature comforts. It required effort upon the part of the people to make the arduous journey out there to hear him, but none the less they did, in great multitudes according to the Gospel writers.
Jesus—in a rhetorical manner—asks them, “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” Naturally, no one—much less multitudes of people—would make such a great effort to venture out into the desert to hear someone preach who was unworthy. “ They who are weak as reeds will be shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit, Eph. 4:14. When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair, when the storm of Herod's rage on the other hand grew fierce and blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a reed, of a man who was of one mind to-day, and of another to-morrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it is intimated (Jn. 1:20); he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it afterwards, Jn. 3:28. ” (Henry)
In essence, Jesus is stating “Let me tell you what kind of man John is!”
“But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (vs. 8-10)
John was said to wear a rough cloak made from the hair of a camel, with a leather belt to gird it, eating wild honey and grains so as to avoid the comparison of those political and religious leaders who lavished upon themselves great luxury. “A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.” Is a direct condemnation of the weak and lascivious usurper who had inherited his father’s throne, Herod Antipas, who in an attempt to seduce his own step daughter granted her a wish, which resulted in her mother asking for John’s head on a platter.
“Note, they who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven off from their religion by persecution. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked after him.” (Henry)
“A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” Israel endured four hundred years without a prophet. When John burst onto the scene with his fiery preaching, the authenticity of his ministry generated enormous public appeal. “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” “John prepares the way of the one who is to come. People check roads before the king travels them. Servants repair potholes and scouts insure security. Today, executives have assistants who plan their travel, secretaries who make their reservations, chauffeurs who drive their cars, and pilots who fly their planes. Just as the services of those who prepare the way enhance the executive’s ability to accomplish work, so also John smoothed Jesus’ entry into the world by calling people to repentance.”(Donovan)
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:” (v. 11a) Jesus declares John to be, not just the greatest prophet, but the greatest figure ever. Given Israel’s pantheon of heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, and David, this is an astonishing statement, indeed. What makes John so special is not his personal characteristics, excellent though those might be, but his privileged place in salvation history. All the other heroes of the faith have done mighty works, but only John has the privilege of introducing the Messiah.
“notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”(v. 11b) “ John stands at the pinnacle of the old era, but even the greatest representative of the old era is less than the humblest representative of the new. An appropriate metaphor is the ancient astronomer whose observations were limited by a small, primitive telescope. The most brilliant person, so limited, could never match the work of a more ordinary person with access to today’s space-based telescopes. Like Moses, John marched up to the border of the promise without actually entering it himself. He was Jesus’ forerunner—not his disciple. If the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, consider where that places us. We may be very ordinary Christians, but God considers us to be great.” (Donovan)
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (vs. 12-15)
Jesus’ reference to violence refers to both the intensity of spiritual warfare surrounding the ministry of Jesus and His herald, and also to the intensity required to persevere in following God and His kingdom.
The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ” Jesus saw an era ending with John; all the prophets and the law anticipated John and his ministry as a herald. There is a sense in which John spoke for every prophet who heralded Jesus’ coming. Under the Old Covenant, every other prophet announced, “The Messiah is coming.” John alone had the privilege of saying, “The Messiah is here.”
“The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it is reckoned, Mk. 1:1; Acts 1:22. This is shown here in two things: [1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die, v. 13. So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not removed till Christ's death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the kingdom of heaven as at hand. [2.] In him the New-Testament day began to dawn; for (v. 14) This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi—the link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti—the link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah, Mal. 4:5, 6. Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a history, they ceased to prophecy. ” (Henry)
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” “A proverbial form of speech often used by Jesus after important utterances, here for the first time in Matthew.” (Bruce) A saying of Jesus that will appear throughout the Gospels which is a veiled warning to all mankind, to listen, to take heed, to understand that the teachings of Christ are indeed the thoughts and commandments of his Father in Heaven, and an implication that to ignore these words will result in less than favorable circumstances.
Benediction
It is not enough to acclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and King. Our mission in life is to make his kingdom a reality among us and to bring it to those around us by our words and deeds. The way to do this is to live as he lived: for others, in love and service. May almighty God bless you for this task: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to give shape to his kingdom. Thanks be to God!
Thought for the Day:
Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury