Treasure

The words of Jesus in modern verse

paraphrased and annotated by Donivan Bessinger

3. Lessons About Life

[Section Index, 31-49]

31. The dynamics of good.

Treat others like you want to be treated.  a
That IS The Law and the Prophets.
 
: If you wouldn't want something done to you,  b 
: don't do that to somebody else. ::
 
 ---
 
A Pharisee asks, ‘What is the greatest commandment?’
 
What do you read in the Law?  c 
The first commandment is
Love God
 with all your heart
 with all your soul
 with all your mind.
 
The second commandment is very much like it --
Love your neighbor 
 as yourself.
 
On these two commandments 
 hinge
All The Law and the Prophets.
There is no commandment greater than these.
Follow these and you will live.
 
 ---
 
Happy are those who d
 hear the Word of God
 and keep it.
 
 ---
 
Trust God. e




 
 
 [31] [T] 

32. The dynamics of evil

Snakes! How can you speak good a
 when you are evil!
What one says comes
 from the treasure
 within one's own self.
Evil comes from the
 treasure of evil
 within one's own self.
 
You will have to give account
 for every evil word you say.
In the final court
You will be shown to be innocent
 by your words,
You will be found guilty
 by your words.
 
 ---
 
After leaving someone,  b 
When the spirit of evil
Searches the desert for a place to rest
 and can't find it,
That spirit will say
`I will go back where I was.'
 
The house will be empty 
 swept clean
 all in order.
 
That one will bring seven other spirits 
 even more evil.
The house will be worse off than before!
That's the way it will be
 with this generation.




 
  [32] [T] 

33. A lawyer asks, who is my neighbor?

A traveler was mugged
 on the road
 between Jerusalem and Jericho.
They stripped him
They beat him
They left him half dead.
 
A priest passed that way.
He scurried by on the other side.
 
Then there was a Levite.  a
He saw him too
And scurried by on the other side.
 
Then a Samaritan found him.  b 
He felt compassion for him
 and stopped
Cleaned and dressed his wounds
 and took care of him.
 
The next day
He paid the traveler's bill at the inn.
He told the innkeeper
`If there are any more charges
I will pay when I return.'
 
What do you think?
Which of these three
 was the neighbor
 to the man
 who was mugged? 
 
 ** [R(D): ‘The man who showed mercy.’ ] 




 
 You be a neighbor like that.





 [33] [T] 

34. On observing the sabbath. The fundamentalists protested when Jesus' disciples plucked grain, and Jesus healed a man, and later a woman, on the Sabbath.

When David and his companions were hungry a
 he entered God's house
 and took the holy bread
 presented to God.
By the religious Law it was wrong,
Only the priests should eat it
But he gave it to them anyway.
Don't you remember that?
 
And don't you remember
That priests aren't bound by the Law
 on the Sabbath?
 
Listen!
The One who is here
 is more important than the Temple rules.
If you'd understood the scripture
 `I desire mercy and not sacrifice'  b
You wouldn't condemn the innocent.
 
The Sabbath was made for people 
People weren't made for the Sabbath.
The Image-of-God rules the Sabbath. c
 
What if your son fell into a well  d
 on the Sabbath?
Or even an ox, or a sheep?
Wouldn't you rush to save him?
 
Let me ask you this -- 
Does the Law allow doing good on the Sabbath
 or harm?
Does it require you to save life
 or to kill?
 
The Law does allow doing good 
 on the Sabbath.
 
 ---
 
Woman,  e 
You are released
 from your disability. 
 
Hypocrites! 
On the sabbath
You untie your ox or your donkey
And lead it to water.
 
Then why shouldn't Abraham's daughter 
Tied up by Satan for eighteen years
Be untied on the Sabbath?




 
  [34] [T] 

35. Handwashing. The religious leaders asked why the disciples did not observe ritual handwashing before eating; the disciples warned Jesus that the leaders were offended by his answer.

Beautiful ! a
You write off God's law in your own traditions.
Why do you do that?
Moses said
  `Honor your father and your mother.' b
Moses said
 `If you dishonor your parents you will die.' c
But you say
 You can get out of helping your parents
 just by saying you gave the money
 to God instead.
When you keep people from helping their parents
You void God's tradition.
You do lots of other things
 just as bad.
 
You are hypocrites! 
Isaiah was right:
 `These people honor me with their lips d
 but not with their hearts.
 Their worship is empty.
 They just make up their own doctrines.'
 
Listen everybody.
Understand this --
It's not unholy hands or dirty food
 that makes you unclean
It's all that dirt
 that pours out of your mouths. 
 
- R: explain that to us. - 
 
Don't you understand?   e 
The food doesn't go into your hearts
It goes into the stomach
 and passes on out.
The evil that comes out of your mouths
 does come from the heart.
The evil thoughts
 And murder
 adultery and fornication
 thievery, lying, slander
 coveting
 pride, foolishness
That's what makes you unclean.
Eating with unholy hands?
No, that doesn't make you unclean.
 
 ---
 
Every plant will be rooted up  f 
 if the Beloved Creator
 did not plant it.
Let the blind guides alone.
When the blind lead the blind.
They both fall into a pit.





 [35] [T] 

36. Bathing Jesus' feet The host at dinner objected when a woman of bad reputation bathed Jesus' feet.

What if a lender forgave two loans --
 one of five thousand dollars  a
 one of five hundred --
Which creditor would love him more?
 
See this woman?
When I came to your house
You didn't rinse the dust from my feet
She has bathed them in her tears,
 wiping them with her hair.
 
You didn't give me the kiss of greeting.
She has been kissing my feet
 again and again.
 
You didn't anoint my head 
 with oil
She has anointed my feet
 with fine lotion.
 
She has been released from her many sins  b 
For she has loved greatly. 
 If you have been forgiven little
 you love little.
 
 -to the woman-
 
Your sincere faithfulness  c 
 has released you.
Go in peace.
 
 [36] [T] 

37. Sign from heaven? The religious leaders insisted on being shown `a sign from heaven', that is, for some sort of magic to prove Jesus' credentials.

You mean like a red sky  a
 in the evening?
That means fair weather.
 
You mean like a red sky 
 in the morning?
That means a storm is coming.
 
You know the weather signs 
But you can't interpret
The signs of the times.
 
 ---
 
Only an evil generation  b
 looks for such signs.
The sign of Jonah is the only sign
 which will be given.
 
Jonah was a sign 
 for two men at Ninevah.
I will be a sign  c
 to this generation.
 
For three days 
  Jonah was in the belly
 of the big fish.
For three days
For three nights
 I will be in the heart d
 of the earth.
 
When this generation is judged at the last court 
The queen of the South will testify against it,
 for she came from far away
  to hear Solomon's wisdom.
What's going on here is
 bigger than Solomon.
 
When this generation is judged at the last court 
The people of Ninevah will testify against it,
 for they turned around
 at Jonah's preaching.
What's going on here is
 bigger than Jonah's preaching.
 
  [37] [T] 

38. The religious establishment.

The religious leaders
 sit in Moses' seat
So live by what they say
But not by what they do.
They do not practice
 what they preach.
 
These doctors of the law  a 
Weigh people down
 with heavy loads
Loads almost impossible
 to carry,
And they won't lift a finger
 to help them.
 
Everything they do is for effect,  b
 just to be seen.
They wear oversize symbols
And exaggerated vestments.
They like special attention at the shopping malls
And the places of honor at banquets.
 
They like being called Teacher  c 
But do not call them that.
You have only one Teacher
All of you have the same rank.
 
Do not call humans 
 Father, either
Because your only father
 is in heaven.
 
And do not be called 
 Leader.
Only one is anointed leader,
 the Christ. d
 
Whoever is greatest 
 will be a servant.
Whoever seeks the high position
 will be brought down
Whoever is humble
 will be raised high.
 
Oyai! You clergy!  e 
 Hypocrites!
You use up the widows' pensions. 
 
Your long prayers are just a pretense.
For that, your condemnation
 is even greater.
 
Oyai! You lawyers!  f 
You have taken away the key to knowledge
You shut people out from
 the spiritual realm.
You don't enter yourselves
And you don't let in
 those who want to come.
 
Woe to you clergy!
You search over land and sea
For one convert
But then you make the convert
 into a child of hell
Twice as bad as you yourselves.
You are blind guides!
 
You say 
 `If anyone swears by the temple
 it means nothing,
But if you swear by
 the temple's gold
 you are bound by the oath.'
What blind fools!  g
Which is more valuable?
 The gold, or
 the temple which
 makes the gold sacred?
 
You say 
 `If anyone swears by the altar
 it means nothing
 But if you swear by
 the gift on the altar
 you are bound by the oath.'
What blind fools! 
Which is more valuable?
 The gift
 or the altar which
 makes the gift sacred?
 
If you swear by the altar 
 you swear by everything on it.
If you swear by the temple
 you swear by it and
 the One who lives in it.
 
If you swear by heaven 
 you swear by God's throne
 and by the One who sits in it.
 
Oyai! You clergy!
You ritually set aside
 the Lord's share
 even when you measure common spices
But you ignore discernment,
 and love of God.
That's what you ought to care about
Even while you keep the rituals.
 
Blind guides! 
You filter out gnats
And swallow camels!
 
You fundamentalists   i
Only clean the outside of your `dishes'
But your insides are dirty with
 extortion and greed.
You're fools. j
Did not the same One who
 made your outside
 make your inside too?
Give freely of what is within you
 then for you
 everything is clean.
 
You are hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs
Beautiful outside
But inside, full of old bones
 and death's corruption.
 
You are like unmarked graves  k 
Which you can walk over
 without knowing it.
 
You build and decorate monuments  l 
 to the prophets
The same prophets your fathers killed.
You say, `If we had lived then
 we would not have shed their blood.'
When you say that you just indict yourselves.
You admit your fathers killed them.
You are guilty sons
 building monuments to the victims.
 
Figure up the accounts of your ancestors  m 
You snakes!
Offspring of vipers!
How can you escape going to hell?
The Wisdom of God says  n
`I send you holy, wise and learned
 people
Some of them you kill, you crucify
Some of them you whip
 in the worship places.
You then abuse them
 from town to town.'
 
All the wounds of earth's good people 
 are put on your ledger o
All the innocent blood
 from Abel to Zechariah --
You know Zechariah, son of Barachia
 whom you murdered
 near the altar.
All of those accounts come due
 on this generation.
 
Oh Jerusalem!  p 
 Jerusalem!
Killing prophets
Stoning those who come to help you.
 
Oh! So often I have wanted 
 to gather you up
Like a hen takes her
 biddies under her wings  q
But you would not have it!
 
Your house is abandoned.
Your land is a desert.
 
Someday you'll say 
 `Praised be the One
 who comes
 in the name of the Lord.'
 
You will not see me again 
 until that day.




 
  [38] [T] 

39. A Syrophoenician woman approached Jesus, asking help for her disturbed daughter; he ignored her at first, then put her off.

I was sent only to
 lost Jewish sheep.
I must feed those children first.
It's not fair to throw
 children's food
 to dogs. 

** [R: At least the dogs could get the crumbs that fall from the table.]

Oh woman,
How much you trust!
You may go on your way.
You will have what you asked for.
Your daughter is healed.

  [39] [T] 

40. Stumbling blocks.

Whoever receives a child  a
 in my name
Receives me.
 
But if you cause a  b
 little one like this
 to stumble away from me c
You'd be better off
 if you were
 thrown into the sea
With a millstone
 around your neck.
 
Stumbling blocks like that  d 
Bring much despair into the world.
Yes, obstacles are sure to come e
But watch out when they do.
 
If your foot   f 
Causes you to stumble
 cut it off!
Otherwise you will be sacrificed  g
In the undying fire!  h
 
Everyone will be seasoned with fire.  i 
Every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  j
 
Salt is good
But without saltiness
What good is the sacrifice?  k 
Be salty. 
 
Be at peace with one another.
 
Be sure you value every one  l 
 of these children
For their souls see through everything m
 and look directly
 into the face
 of the Beloved Creator.




 
  [40] [T] 

41. Forgiveness and reconciliation

What if someone close to you  a
 does wrong to you?
Discuss it together
 just the two of you.
 
What if that doesn't solve the problem? 
Take along two or three witnesses
 from your group
 and discuss it again.
If that still doesn't work
 then take the matter
 to the whole assembly. b
If the person still refuses to listen
Then the person becomes an outsider.  c
But if the person repents
 you are to forgive.
 
Forgive every time it happens 
 not just seven times,
But seven times seven.
 
Whatever agreement you work out d
 in your ordinary life
Holds in the spiritual realm too.
 
Whatever agreement is broken
 in your ordinary life
Is broken in the spiritual realm too.
 
If two of you agree about
 what to ask spiritually
It will be done spiritually
 by the Beloved Creator.
 
Anytime two or three of you
 come together in my name
I am there among you.




  [41] [T] 

42. Mary and Martha. Martha objected that her sister Mary was listening to Jesus instead of helping serve the meal.

Martha, Martha!
Your mind is jumping around
 from one part to another
And you're all upset. a
 
There's really only one 
 part to pay attention to.
That's the good part Mary has chosen.
That won't be taken from her.
 
  [42] [T] 

43. At a marriage feast, Jesus remarked about how the guests jockeyed for seats of honor.

When you are invited  a
 to a wedding celebration
Do not go directly
 to the seat of honor.
 
You will be embarrassed when
 the host comes
Asking you to move down
 to make way for a prominent guest.
 
No, .start out at the far end
 of the table.
You will be honored
 in the presence of everyone when
The host Invites you to move up
To take the prominent place.
 
Whoever tries to be great 
 will be humbled.
Whoever is humble
 will be lifted to greatness.
 
When you host a banquet
Do not invite
 friends, family, rich neighbors
 who will repay the invitation.
When you host a banquet invite
 the poor, the disabled, the underprivileged
 who cannot repay the invitation.
You will be repaid
 In the spiritual resurrection.  b
 
 ---
 
Once there was a great banquet.  c 
The host had sent servants
Inviting many people to
 the wedding celebration.
 
When the time came 
The host sent the servants again.
`Tell everyone who is invited
 that everything is ready
 the table is set
 the food is prepared.
Come to the wedding celebration.'
 
Those who were invited 
 sent many excuses
One said, excuse me
 I must check out a new field
One said, excuse me
 I must check out the new cattle
One said, excuse me
 I myself was just married.
 
The host told the servants  d 
`Hurry up. Go into town
 into the streets and alleys
 and invite the homeless
 and the disabled.'
 
The servants answered 
`We've already done that.'
The host said
`Then go out onto the roads
 and into the fields,
 insist that people come
 to fill my house,
But not those I first invited.
Not one of them will have
 even a taste
 of my supper.'
 
And so the servants  e 
 went out
Gathering everyone
 good and bad together.
The banquet hall
 was filled with people.
 
  [43] [T] 

44. A friend at midnight

Suppose you had a friend
 arrive in the middle of the night
 after a long journey
And you had nothing to feed him.
You would go to a neighbor
 to ask to borrow
 three loaves of bread.
 
He would call 
Don't bother me!
I'm in bed!
The house is locked up.
I can't give you anything
Without waking up the children!
 
I tell you, 
He wouldn't get up and give you bread
 because of being a friend
But he would get up
 and do whatever was necessary
 because you kept after him! a
 
I tell you,   b 
Keep asking. You will be given it.
Keep seeking. You will find it.
Kee[ knocking. The door will be opened to you.
 
Everyone who asks will receive
Everyone who seeks will find
Everyone who knocks
 will have the door opened.
 
Which of you fathers  c
Would give your son a snake
 when he asks for a fish?
Or a scorpion
 when he asks for an egg?
 
Well then, if you 
 evil as you are
Know how to give good things
 to your children
How much more will
 the Beloved Creator
Give holy spirit
 to anyone who asks!




  [44] [T] 

45. On hearing of an atrocity by the occupying Romans.

Do you think those who suffered
Were more evil
 than any other Galileans?
 
I say, no.
But if you do not turn yourselves around
All of you will perish like that.
 
Remember those eighteen people 
Killed when the Siloam Tower fell?
Do you think they were worse
 than anybody else in Jerusalem?
 
I say, no.
But if you do not turn yourselves around
All of you will perish like that.




 
  [45] [T] 

46. A barren fig tree.

A man planted a fig tree
 in his garden.
He kept coming to get some figs
 but always found it bare.
 
He said to the gardener 
Look here! For three years
I have been coming to get some figs
 from the tree
 but I always find it bare.
Cut it down,
Why use up the space?
 
The gardener answered 
Let's leave it another year, Sir.
I'll dig around it
 and fertilize it.
If it bears next year, all right.
But if not, then you can
 cut it down.




 
  [46] [T] 

47. The prodigal son.

A man had two sons.
The younger son asked the father
`Let me have my inheritance.'
And so
 with all he had
The son traveled to a distant land
 living extravagantly
 wasting all he had.
 
When a famine came 
  he took work in a pigstye
 so hungry
He gladly would have eaten
 with the pigs.
No one gave him anything.
 
He finally saw himself 
 as he really was.  a
`My father's servants are
 better off than I.
They have more than enough to eat
 I have nothing.
 I will go home.
I will say to my father
 `I have been wrong about you
 I have been wrong about God
 I have hurt you.
I am no longer worthy to be your son
But take me back as a hired hand.'
 
And so, the young man went home.
The father saw him coming
Even when a long way off.
The father loved him
 ran to him and hugged him
 held and kissed him.
 
The son said 
 `I have been wrong about you
 I have been wrong about God
 I have hurt you.
I am no longer worthy to be your son
But take me back as a hired hand.'
 
The father called the servants. 
`Bring the best robe and put it on him.
Bring a ring for his hand
Bring shoes for his feet
Bring a fatted calf to kill!
We will eat, drink, and be joyful
For my son was dead
 and now is alive.
My son was lost
 and now is found.'
 
The older son 
 working in the field
Heard the music and dancing.
He asked a servant
 `What is going on?'
 
`Your brother has come home 
Your father has killed a calf
 to celebrate,
Your brother is safe and sound.'
 
The older brother was angry 
 refusing to go in.
The father came, implored him.
The brother said
`I've worked here all along
 for many years
Never disobeying your command
But you never gave me
 even a kid
To party with my friends.
Now that son of yours
Has spent your wealth on harlots.
 You fixed for him
 a fatted calf!'
 
The father said 
 `Son
I've always had you here with me
And all that's mine is yours.
But now we must celebrate
For your brother was dead
 and now is alive.
Your brother was lost
 and now is found.'




 
  [47] [T] 

48. The Steward.

There was a rich man
Whose manager was charged
With wasting away his finances. a
He called the manager.
`What about those charges?
Turn over the account books
You can no longer be my manager.'
 
The manager thought 
`What can I do about losing
 this job?
 I can't dig.
 I'm too ashamed to beg.
I know what I can do
 to save face
So people will still invite me
 when I am out of a job.'
 
The manager called in each  b 
 of the employer's debtors
 one by one.
He asked the first
 `How much do you owe?'
He answered, a hundred.
 `Act quickly.
 We'll settle for fifty.'
 
He asked the second 
 `How much do you owe?'
He answered, a hundred.
 `Act quickly.
 We'll settle for eighty.'
 
Well, the employer 
 praised the untrustworthy manager c
For he had been prudent.  d
This secular generation is more prudent
 about money
Than are the people of light.
 
Use money to make friends 
 in the secular world so that
You'll have friends
 in the eternal world
 when you fail.  e
 
The one who is trustworthy  f 
 in minor things
Can also be trusted
 in major ones.
 
The one who is not trustworthy 
 in minor things
Cannot be trusted
 in major ones.
 
If, then, you have not been trustworthy 
 in the secular world
Who will trust you
 with true riches?
 
If you have not been trustworthy 
 in caring for another's things
Who will trust you
 with your own affairs?
 
You cannot serve two employers  g 
 at the same time.
You will love one
 and hate the other,
You will be faithful to one
 and despise the other.
 
You cannot serve God 
 and the secular world
 at the same time. 
 
 ** [R: Certain Pharisees ‘who love silver’, object.]
 
You Pharisees try to look righteous  h 
But God knows your hearts.
What people dearly admire
 is absolutely disgusting
 to God.




  [48] [T] 

49. The rich man and Lazarus.

There was a rich man
 dressed in purple
 and fine linen
Who lived very extravagantly,
 happily every day.
 
There was another man 
 Lazarus
 quite poor
Who lay at the rich man's gate
 covered with sores
 licked by the dogs.
The crumbs from the rich man's table
 would have made him happy.
 
The poor man died 
 and was carried by angels
 into the arms of Abraham.
The rich man died
 and was buried.
Tormented in Hades
He looked up and saw Abraham
And Lazarus
 in the arms of Abraham.
 
He called 
`Father Abraham!
Have mercy on me.
Send Lazarus,
Let him just drop
 some water on my tongue
For I am tormented by the flames.'
 
Abraham replied 
`Son, remember your life.
You had good things
Lazarus had much misfortune.
Now he is in comfort here
While you are tormented.
 
`Besides, 
There is a great chasm
 between us and you,
And no one can cross over.'
 
The rich man said 
`Then, Father Abraham,
Send Lazarus to my home.
Warn my five brothers
To avoid this place of torment.'
 
Abraham answered 
`They have the warnings
 of Moses
 and the Prophets.
Let them hear them.'
 
The rich man said 
`No, but they would repent
If someone came back from the dead.'
 
Abraham answered 
`If they did not hear
 Moses
 and the Prophets
They will not be persuaded
By one who rises from the dead.'
 
  [49] [T] 

---

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