Day 77, Luke 22-24, John 1-6

Whoa, sorry for the late freaking entry! I've been on a bit of a bender lately... Last night, for instance, I stayed out until eleven, binge drank soy milk, and baked cookies. The crazy college life... You know how it is. Anyway, I actually completely forgot to read the bible and I've been so lazy all day that it took awhile to get the entry done.

Luke ends interestingly, differing from the other synoptic gospels in a handful of ways. One example is Judas's betrayal; while Mark and Matthew suggest that Judas betrayed Jesus because he wanted money, Luke's author writes that "Satan entered into Judas" (Luke 22:3). Demonic possession! It's just like Harry Potter! Maybe Judas's sandals were a Horcrux or something.

The betrayal scene itself plays out a little differently too, with Jesus asking his pal, "Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:48). That line has a pretty different vibe from the whole "do what you gotta do" thing in Matthew! Makes you think, huh?

Another Lucan addition comes in the trial; after Pilate "find[s] no guilt in [Jesus]" (Luke 23:4) he sends him to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee who happens to be in Jerusalem on vay-cay. Herod questions and mocks him, but Jesus refuses to respond, so Herod dresses him in fancy clothes and sends him back to Pilate. After this, weirdly enough, Herod and Pilate become BFFS FOR LIFE: "And Herod and Pilate became friends with each toher that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other" (Luke 23:12). As they say, nothing will bring two people together like hatred for a third person!

As they lead Jesus to the cross, he has a pretty cool line: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children" (Luke 23:27). He then alludes to all his "apocalypse is coming" bullshit, but as a stand-alone I really like the line. You can imagine he's telling them to cry for themselves because of their general brutality and inhumanity. PRETTY DEEP SHIT!!!!

In Matthew and Mark, Jesus's last words were "My God, why have you forsaken me?" but here he is a lot more cheerful, saying, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46). That's nice. I like the exclamation point, it adds some zest.

Luke's author finally clears the air about Joseph the disciple, too. Although he was on the Sanhedrin, it is noted that he was "a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God" (Luke 23:50). Aren't we all, buddy?

Chapter 24 describes Mary Magdalene's encounter with the angels at Jesus's tomb; this time she is accompanied by not only the other Mary, but a woman named Joanna as well. After they hear the good news and relate it to Jesus's other followers, we get a brief story about a man named Cleopas, who is walking with his friend and encounters Zombie Jesus. For some reason he doesn't recognize his old teacher, but the men are generally friendly to Jesus and invite him to dine with them. When they give him bread, they suddenly realize who he is, and he vanishes. Spooky!

The book ends with Jesus being reunited with the apostles, to whom he shows the holes in his hands as proof! Then he asks for food, since I would imagine being crucified would make me hungry, and they give him some bread. Zombie Jesus can apparently still eat. Then he tells them to spread the word of his resurrection and all that, and the tale is over!

The final gospel, John, is not one of the "synoptics" and stands in pretty marked contrast to Matthew, Mark, and Luke; it is generally considered to be more spiritual in nature. Although one might assume it was written by the apostle John, the author is actually unknown. The reason it is so frequently ascribed to John is because John is not mentioned within it, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but how much really does anyway? John's Gospel probably originated in Asia Minor around the end of the first century.

Like Luke, John starts off with a fancy pants prologue, where he states that, "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Pretty neat way of putting it! If you glean all the best stuff out of Jesus's ministry, I think that's a good way to describe it. After the introduction, John jumps right into John the Baptist's ministry. Unlike in the other gospels, John the Baptist is not likened to Elijah; he describes himself as "the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said" (John 1:23).

John the Baptist recognizes Jesus immediately upon seeing him, pointing out to his disciples, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). He coerces Andrew and Peter to follow Jesus, and soon after they enlist two pals named Nathanael and Philip. Nathanael is at first hesitant, asking, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). I guess Nazareth must be the Fresno of the middle east or something.

In chapter 2, Jesus goes to a wedding with his mom, who he is a total bitch to. When she mentions to him that the hosts have run out of wine, he rudely asks, "Woman, what does this have to do with me?" (John 2:4). I don't know, Jesus! Maybe she was just trying to make conversation? Despite acting like a jerk, he subsequently endears himself to the wedding guests by turning water into wine so the party can go on! One thing that is made clear about Jesus is that he likes to par-tay.

After the wedding, Jesus goes to Jerusalem and has what I like to refer to as his "Axl Rose moment" in the temple, where he breaks everything and yells at everyone. It is certainly interesting that John places this incident so early in Jesus's ministry, since, as my religious studies professor puts it, going into the temple and throwing a fit is a really good way to ensure that you're dead within a week. When the Jews ask him what the HECK HE THINKS HE'S DOING?!, Jesus tells them to destroy the temple so he can rebuild it in three days. They tell him to stop being so wacky, but John's author notes that in retrospect, the apostles realized that "he was speaking about the temple of his body" (John 2:21). Eerie!

In chapter 3, Jesus makes a little speech about how his followers have to be "born again." I guess that's where they get the term "born again Christian," huh? Jesus's followers are pretty incredulous about this, asking, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" (John 3:4), to which Jesus replies that the rebirth is more of a spiritual kind of thing.

This chapter also contains a small section that contradicts Jesus's claim in the synoptics that he comes to bring division/a sword instead of peace. Here, he declares that "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). Isn't that nice!

After these fun little chats, Jesus goes to Samaria. While his disciples are off buying food, Jesus hangs out at a well and meets a woman, who he demands give him water. She's all like, "Bitch, why you up in my grill? Don't you know that Samaritans aren't friends with Jews?" but Jesus snaps his fingers in a z-formation and is like, "Bitch please if you knew who I was you'd give me some goddamn water." He then explains that, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again" (John 4:13-14). She thinks this sounds pretty cool, so Jesus tells her to call her husband. She tells him that she doesn't have one, but Jesus already knew this; in fact, he correctly tells her that she has had FIVE husbands, all of whom are presumably dead. Impressed by his magical knowledge, she becomes convinced that he is the messiah. At this point, the apostles come back -- and "marvel that [Jesus is] talking with a woman" (John 4:27), because apparently Jesus doesn't get a lot of action -- and the whole gang accompanies the Samaritan into town, where she tells everyone that he is the messiah.

After this little adventure, Jesus and company go back to Galilee, where they cause quite a stir by healing on the Sabbath and being generally offensive. Most outrageous to the temple officials is the fact that Jesus "[calls] God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).

Chapter 6 contains two of our favorite miracles: Jesus multiplying the bread, and Jesus walking on water. Jesus also makes a very weird speech about how he is the "bread of life": "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:53-54). Whoa, okay. Jesus is a zombie AND a vampire. This book has everything!

Chapter 6 ends with Jesus's prediction of Judas's betrayal, calling him "a devil" (John 6:70).

John is pretty cool! It's a welcome break from the synoptic Gospels, which were getting kind of old. More of this tomorrow, when I will try to be more prompt!

Day 76, Luke 13-21

So, in case you haven't figured it out by my prompt morning posts, I write this thing the day before I put it up. And I procrastinated on doing it all day. It has been a pretty weird Thanksgiving; since I'm alone in Canada, I spent the day eating soup and crackers and STROOPWAFELS, pretending to be Anne Frank. When you eat matzo ball soup (Jew food) and stroopwafels (Dutch cookies) sometimes you just gotta pretend to be Anne Frank.

Irreverent comments aside, the point I'm getting at is that I was too busy doing weird stupid shit all day to find the time to properly focus on the reading, so I apologize if I leave out interesting bits or don't write a lot. This is a lengthy project. I have not been as meticulous with it over the past few days as I wish I had been. Oh well. According to Jesus, you're supposed to forgive me!

Chapter 13 kicks off with Jesus healing a woman who has a "disabling spirit." I love the phrasing, it just seems so politically correct. She's not a LEPER or a CRIPPLE, she just has a DISABILITY.

The Pharisees give him shit for healing on the Sabbath, but Jesus tells them to piss off. He then announces that he has to head out for Jerusalem, since, "it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from [there]" (Luke 13:33).

I can't get over how freaking intense it is! In her poem, Suicide Note, Anne Sexton alludes to the incident:

Once upon a time
my hunger was for Jesus.
O my hunger! My hunger!
Before he grew old
he rode calmly into Jerusalem
in search of death.

It is just such a strange thing to fathom! Who goes looking for death?

Anyway, on the road to Jerusalem he keeps on a-preachin' and a-healin', telling the people that they should humble themselves and be good and so on and so forth. He mentions that if you have a dinner party you should invite deadbeats and losers instead of your friends, since your friends can repay you but the bums can't. Well, okay. Whatever you say, Jesus.

He also acts like a total asshole here and says that, "if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26-27). Geez Louise! For a guy who has come to be synonymous with "family values," he sure does hate families. He totally spurns his own, and tries to get other people to do the same. I guess Jesus probably eats Thanksgiving dinner alone and pretends to be Anne Frank too.

These chapters also contain some pretty famous parables, some of which I'll share. The parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin are basically synonymous, but I preferred the latter because it is phrased in a more amusing way. A woman has ten coins and loses one; Jesus asks, "Does [she] not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!'" (Luke 15:8-9). Could you imagine if your friend called you up because they'd found a quarter they lost and asked you to celebrate with them? It's pretty funny.

This chapter also contains the return of the prodigal son, which you must know but I'll tell you anyway. A man has two sons, one of whom demands his inheritance and a young age and subsequently squanders it. Impoverished, he decides to go home and ask his father to work as a servant, since he is unworthy to be called the man's son. The father, however, is overjoyed that his son who "was dead... is alive again" (Luke 15:24) and welcomes him back into the house. The well-behaved son complains about this, but the dad just tells him to SHUT UP.

It's a nice story! And apparently this is how God responds to sinners who repent, which is good to know.

In chapter 16 Jesus talks about how a person's decisions in small matters reflects their greater character: "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much" (Luke 16:10). He eventually concludes that a person cannot serve two masters, and must choose between God and money.

We also have a pretty scary account about a rich man and a guy named Lazarus. Lazarus is a total loser, poor and covered in sores, and he lives at the edge of the rich man's property. The rich man blows him off, but when they both die Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man goes to hell. He begs for help but none is granted. He then asks if he can be resurrected to warn his brothers, but God replies, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31). Yeah, spooky ghosts are definitely not as convincing as BOOKS WRITTEN BY DEAD GUYS. What the fuck, man.

Chapters 17 and 18 don't have a lot of new stuff... Then chapter 19 contains a pretty weird story about a tax collector named Zacchaeus, who runs to see Jesus and has to climb up a tree because he's so short. Jesus sees him and tells him to get out of the tree so they can have a SLEEPOVER, and when the Pharisees see it they get all whiny because Zacchaeus is a sinner. Zacchaeus explains that he's started giving half of his stuff to the poor, however, so Jesus decides he's an okay guy!

It is interesting to note that the people seemed to think the "Kingdom of God" was coming sooner rather than later; the author remarks that Jesus "proceeded to tell another parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because [the people] supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately" (Luke 19:11).

Jesus has his "triumphant" entry into Jerusalem, this time riding a colt instead of a donkey -- I think they're basically interchangeable, although Luke doesn't mention the bit about a donkey representing peace while a horse represents war. The Pharisees tell Jesus to rebuke his disciples when they call him the king, but Jesus gives a snarky response: "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40). Somebody has an ego!

The rest of the reading is stuff we already saw in Matthew and Mark: Jesus goes all Axl Rose and fucks up the temple, tells parables, talks to the Sadducees about resurrection, responds to the Pharisees who challenge his authority, describes the end of days... The norm. Tomorrow we finish Luke and start John, which is not a synoptic Gospel and should be very interesting! Until then, later gators.

Day 75, Luke 6-12

I haven't been in much of a bible mood lately, for some reason. I've found that my interest level for this project sort of ebbs and flows, mostly depending on what my other interests are doing. Sometimes I really feel like thinking about religion, but right now I want to think about other stuff! Like Richard Brautigan!! I spent my whole day reading his poems instead of paying attention in class, he is just the best.

But that is irrelevant, because right now we're going to talk about LUKE! I just do those little introductory paragraphs so you can get some insight into my SOUL and form an idea about what sort of fantastic person I am.

Since I'm feeling lazy today, I'm going to follow the format I've been using and just tell you about things that deviate from Matthew's version of the story, and things I found particularly interesting.

Chapter 6 contains Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount, with a modified version of the Beatitudes. On top of listing everyone who is "blessed," Luke also adds a series of "woes":

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
"Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
"Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
"Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."

Luke 6:24-26

I actually think I might like this even more than Matthew's version. Although you could interpret it in a sort of boring, simplistic way and say that Jesus is simply deriding the aristocratic priests and pharisees, I've always liked to see these Beatitudes as an expression that life has its ups and downs; those who are happy now will eventually be sad, and those who are sad will eventually be happy. In his excellent book, The Last Temptation of Christ, Nikos Kazantzakis writes, "A prophet is the one who, when everyone else despairs, hopes. And when everyone else hopes, he despairs. You'll ask me why. It's because he has mastered the Great Secret: that the Wheel turns."

Pretty cool!

Chapter 7 contains assorted healings and exorcisms, most of which we've heard of before. There is an instance where Jesus raises a woman's son from the dead; I think this might be unique to Luke. There is also an incident that somewhat mirrors Jesus's anointment in Bethany, but bears differences as well. Jesus is invited to eat in the house of a Pharisee -- because Luke depicts him as being chummier with the Pharisees in general -- and a woman starts kissing his feet and anointing him. The Pharisees reprimand him, since she is evidently a sinful woman, but he provides them with a parable about two servants. Both are in debt, one for fifty denarii and one for five hundred, and the moneylender lets them both off the hook. Jesus asks the Pharisees which one will be more grateful, and they answer the one with the greater debt. Jesus explains that this is how the woman has been before God: "I entered your house," Jesus says to them, "you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair... Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven -- for she loved much" (Luke 7:44-48). This is a pretty nice message, but the Pharisees are distracted by the fact that Jesus had the nerve to forgive someone of their sins! Who is he to do that, huh?

Not a lot of new stuff in chapter 8 or 9, although Mary Magdalene receives her first mention that isn't related to the building of Jesus's tomb. She is described as one of his followers, along with a handful of other women. Apparently Jesus is popular with the ladies. 

In chapter 10, Jesus sends out SEVENTY-TWO disciples to do exorcisms and healings for him. Seventy-two! That's a lot! For the record, this doesn't replace the earlier stories where he sent out just the twelve, but supplements it. When the seventy-two return, they are super psyched about all the powers that Jesus gave them, and everyone is really happy! In his enthusiastic joy, Jesus thanks God for being such a swell guy and "[hiding] these things from the wise and understanding and [revealing] them to little children" (Luke 10:21). Enthusiasm ABOUNDS from everyone here!

Chapter 10 also provides us with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which I imagine you are familiar with; someone asks Jesus who he should consider his "neighbor" and we get a great little story. Basically, a man is beaten up and left on the side of the road. A priest walks by and ignores him, then a Levite walks by and does the same thing. Only the Samaritan is willing to stop and help the poor guy out. "Which of these three," Jesus asks the crowd, "proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" (Luke 10:36). 

For the record, Samaritans are a sort of fringe sect of Judaism. Instead of praying at the temple they pray at Mount Gerozim, and they only acknowledge the Pentateuch as their biblical canon. They are historical rivals with the Jews, and although their numbers have dwindled substantially, a small population still exists today! Gee!

At the end of chapter 10, Jesus visits two babes named Mary and Martha. Martha occupies herself serving Jesus, while Mary relaxes. Did we mention that EVERYONE in this book is named Mary? Anyway, at some point in the evening Martha approaches Jesus and asks him if he noticed that her sister is being a lazy bitch, to which Jesus responds, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42).

What does that even mean?!

In chapter 11, Jesus continues a-preachin' and a-healin', providing us with the Lucan version of the Lord's Prayer. I've noticed that everyone is really EXCITED in Luke; at one point a woman exclaims, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!" to which Jesus responds, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:27-28). Luke sure likes his EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!! I feel you, pal. I'm a fan of the exclamation point myself.

The last two chapters seemed headed towards the end-of-days kind of stuff we saw in Matthew and Luke: we've got the mention of the sign of Jonah, urges that the people stay alert and ready, etc. Remember that line in Matthew where Jesus says he comes bringing a sword, not peace? Here it is phrased a little differently, and I thought it rang a bell: "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?" Jesus asks. "No, I tell you, but rather division" (Luke 12:51). Jesus is going to cause DIVISION on earth? You don't say!

Anyway, I'll leave you here for today. More Luke tomorrow. The party never ends!

Day 74, Mark 13-16, Luke 1-5

Mark wraps up rather unremarkably -- or perhaps unremarkably is the wrong word, since this story is AWESOME, but we just read a more fun version of it in Matthew so you know how it is. Not much new stuff. Here are my scant observations:

- The translation I've been reading as of late, the English Standard Version, keeps having people call Jesus "rabbi." What I want to know is WHY? Jesus wasn't a rabbi -- there WEREN'T any rabbis in the Second Temple period. The closest thing was a Pharisee, and although Jesus has some pharisaic characteristics, he's also depicted as constantly getting in bitch fights with them. I don't get it.

- There are only a few moments completely unique to Mark, but one of them is freakin' great. When Jesus is taken to his trial, a young man wearing a loincloth follows him. The authorities try to grab him, but he rips off his scant garment and runs away naked!

- Unlike in Matthew, Jesus actually professes to be the Christ when interviewed by the high priests. This is doubly offensive, since -- as you may remember -- "Christ" means "anointed" and the priests actually were anointed, or "Christs." He was totally undermining them.

- The disciple who buries Jesus is here described as a "respected member of the Council" (Mark 15:43). Apparently this means he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Weren't they the ones who convicted Jesus? I'm so confused!

- Another difference is that Mary Magdalene's friend Mary is the mother of Joses instead of John and James. And it is noted that Jesus at one point expelled seven demons from Mary Magdalene.

- The resurrection scene is a little different here too, omitting the presence of Roman guards outside of the tomb, among other small changes. Interestingly, some older manuscripts end the book with the angel's proclamation that Jesus has risen, after which the two Marys run from the tomb in terror. Not such a happy ending! Later editions have included a tale comparable to that in Matthew, where Jesus actually appears to the disciples.

Next up is Luke, which so far is my favorite gospel. As far as I can tell, Mark just wants to get the job done, Matthew adds in a few flourishes, but with Luke it's FREAKIN' STORY TIME! YEAH!!!

So grab some hot cocoa and listen up. Luke's author was a Gentile Christian who my study bible describes as "one of the first church writers with a real awareness of himself as a literary figure." It was presumably written in the 90s CE, like Matthew, and seems to borrow heavily from Mark at least as far as the story's framework is concerned. It is the final "synoptic" gospel.

Unlike the first two books, Luke opens up with a dedication to a fellow named Theophilus, which translates to "lover of God." Very literary! He also refrains from jumping right into the story of Jesus, prefacing the narrative with John the Baptist's birth. An old couple named Zecheriah and Elizabeth are living in Jerusalem, where Zecheriah is a priest. Although they are pious and upright, they have no children -- kind of like Sarah and Abraham, huh? Anyway, one day the angel Gabriel appears to Zecheriah and tells him that he will soon sire a son, who he is to name John. Zecheriah is doubtful, which causes Gabriel to make him go mute! That's what you get for fucking with angels!

After making his detour to Jerusalem, Gabriel goes to visit Mary and Joseph, who live in Nazareth (not Bethlehem). He tells Mary about how she's going to get knocked up by the Holy Spirit, which she is super psyched about, and she goes to visit Elizabeth. When she walks in the door, John the Fetus Baptist "leap[s] in [Elizabeth's] womb [and fills her] with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:41). Isn't this weird and fun? Didn't I tell you it was story time?

Chapter 1 ends with John's birth, while chapter 2 is explicitly concerned with Jesus. Joseph and Mary have to travel to Bethlehem to register for... something... Taxes? I'm not sure. Ostensibly, the reason they have to go is because Joseph is a descendent of King David -- but it's actually totally unrealistic that a Nazarene man would have to travel to the home of his ancestor who is something like fourteen generations removed. Like Matthew, Luke probably made this journey up to ensure that Jesus's birth fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. On their journey, Mary goes into labor and has to give birth in a manger because there is no room at the inn that they find. My best friend wrote a concept album called Jesus Christ Super Cool, which aptly describes this moment:

"Where are we going to stay?" cried the woman.
"This manger looks pretty swell," said the carpenter.
"A hotel room is better, what have we got to lose?"
The carpenter said, "We can't, 'cause we're cheap Jews."

At this point, an angel finds three shepherds and tells them to go CHECK IT OUT, the Son of Man was just born!  It is interesting that Luke's author chose shepherds instead of magi, as Matthew's author did. It is possible that Luke -- who was particularly concerned with the plight of the poor -- wanted to link Jesus with the common people.

My best friend's song confuses the two accounts:

Mary had her baby in a manger.
She said, "Let's invite some strangers!
"Some wise men to help me sleep.
"How 'bout some goats and some sheep?"

 After his birth, Jesus is presented at the temple in Jerusalem and an old man named Simeon gets super psyched because God promised him that he would not die until he had seen the messiah with his own eyes. He must have some crazy ESP or something, because he instinctively knows that Jesus is the right guy.

At this point the story jumps ahead to when Jesus is twelve years old, and travels to Jerusalem with his family for the Passover feast. They lose track of him and, assuming that he is with the departing party, leave without him. When they realize that Jesus is gone they have to go back and spend three days looking for him, before they finally find him "in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions" (Luke 2:46). Clever as can be, the young Jesus amazes the elders with his insight and understanding. My best friend writes of Jesus's precociousness in her album:

This Jesus is pretty young,
But he can already tie his shoes,
I think this baby's gonna be King of the Jews!

 Jesus's parents reprimand him for disappearing, but he simply responds, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49).

One thing I'd like to note: although nowadays, because we think of Jesus as being the "son of God," we might interpret this as a direct reference to their intimate relationship. But all Jews at that time referred to God as "our Father." Jesus calling God "father" is not in and of itself unusual at all, and although his pronoun of choice ("my" instead of "our") is slightly deviant, it was not unheard of.

Chapter 3 tells us all about John the Baptist's ministry and Jesus's baptism. It also contains Jesus's genealogy, which goes back to Adam instead of stopping at Abraham. As a Gentile Christian, Luke probably wanted to emphasize Jesus's connection to all of mankind, rather than his connection to the Jewish people.

Chapters 4 and 5 contain Jesus's temptation in the wilderness, his rejection in Nazareth, the recruitment of the first four apostles (and later the tax collector, Levi), assorted healings, and questions from the Pharisees about fasting. Nothing new here, except maybe the fact that the Nazarene citizens actually want to throw Jesus off a cliff when he preaches to them, as opposed to just politely asking him to leave. Well, you know. These people aren't big on the whole "moderation" thing.

Before I take off, I wanted to address one of my lovely commenters. Under the pseudonym of "boring idiot," someone remarked on the scene in Mark 12 when an old widow donates her last two coins to the temple. I rather flippantly described the scene as "sweet" or "cute" or something like that, which prompted my humble commenter to write, "No, it isn't. A poor lady giving her last coin to the church is one of the greatest images of harm religion does."

Okay. Yeah, that's a valid point. I admit that I sometimes get so wrapped up in the biblical mindset when reading that events like this don't perturb me, but what our friend "boring idiot" has said has truth, particularly when considered in a modern context. The one defense I will make of the Evangelicals is this: in the Second Temple period, there was no separation of religion from everyday life. The Temple here does not only represent Judaism, but all authority, divine and otherwise; it is the foundation of the entire society. I'm not saying this makes it better, but I do think it's somewhat anachronistic to apply our modern sensibilities about religion to the Gospels.

But thank you for your comment, "boring idiot" ! Thank you to everyone who commented! You are a delight to me. See you all tomorrow.