Luke Chapter 7: Repeat After Me—John Is Not The Bloody Messiah

In chapter 7, yet again, C gets distracted by John the Baptist, while the KJV translators come over a bit shy about some of the realities of 1st century Judea that Jesus doesn't seem terribly interested in.

Chapter 7

Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

Returned to Capernaum, surely? You can really see the joins all the way through this chapter.

And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

Stop right there! I wanna know right now—do you mean "servant" or do you mean, perhaps, "slave"? For indeed, the word in Greek is "slave". There are Greek words for servant, but those are not what appears here. Let's press on, but mentally replace "servant" with "slave" in the following passages:

And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 

For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. 

So, those pesky Jews, the elders no less, have come to as Jesus for help, eh? Well, after all the trouble they've caused him, Jesus is obviously going to tell them where to go, isn't he? He's not going to help these "vipers" curry favour with the oppressors of Israel, is he?

Then Jesus went with them.

Oh.

And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 

Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 

For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 

When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 

And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. 

It's always dangerous to read too much into Bible stories. It's tempting to see the centurion as representing Rome in general, just as the elders represent Israel. Insofar that the miracle never happened, it's easy to read this as a parable of sorts. But it may simply be yet another miracle story, one among many.

But to the meat of the problem: Jesus says nothing about slavery here. It's probable that the translators of the KJV were embarrassed about this and so chose to use the word "servant"; they were capable of using the word "slave" in other parts of the Bible. In the 16th and 17th centuries, servitude was, to be sure, a thing hardly distinguished from slavery to modern eyes, but there was a psychological and legal bar to slavery on English soil due to technical readings of Magna Carta (800 years old today as I write this, as it happens), which was a document to bind the actions of a (very bad) atheist king, so there's your British irony for you. To have Jesus turn a blind eye to slavery was probably more than they could countenance. So "slave" became "servant". That leaves us with the issue of why Jesus says nothing. The simple reason is that the author of this story simply assumed slavery as part of normal life. Far from the character of Jesus being a revolutionary moral teacher, he is in fact very conservative when it comes to morals and reserves almost all his big speeches for doctrinal or theological points of limited moral importance. He certainly addresses unfairness but he doesn't really get worked up about it like he does about selling gewgaws in the Temple.

The whole story is another reminder that C is a good Greco-Roman. Rome feared slave revolts above all things, and speaking out against slavery would have been unthinkable for an educated upper-middle-class writer like C who almost certainly had slaves of his own; at the least it would have been a death-sentence. So the centurion is a paragon of faith and his rule over his slaves and soldiers held up as a model of good behaviour. This Christian blindspot would persist for a very long time in the mainstream and find its crowning moment in the greatest of all hypocritical writings - the American Declaration of Independence with its opening lines "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"—written by a slave owner who exploited his slaves for sexual gratification. But, since his "Creator" hadn't bothered to say anything against the practice, obviously it was okay, right? 

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 

Nain is a tiny spot of a village. The Greek word here is "polis", which does denote a more substantial settlement, usually with walls - which is backed up in the next verse's reference to gates. No trace of walls or anything resembling a city has ever been found in the village which the notorious fraudster Eusebius picked as the site of this.

Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 

Presumably that means both of them.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 

And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 

And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 

And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 

Well, no he didn't. He wasn't visiting, he was passing by and just took pity on the old woman (not the son). The widow just got lucky. There's no moral lesson here except that Jesus is a bit soft if you're crying but otherwise doesn't head off on his own bat to flush out the local cemeteries to restore other widows' dead children to them.

And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about. 

And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. 

Another jump-cut and we're back with John the Baptist who, last we heard, was in prison. But apparently not only receiving visitors but allowed to request them. This is a characteristic device of C's and one he will use over and over again when he writes the sequel to Luke: Acts of the Apostles, wherein a succession of jailers, guards, and even governors will show a laxity in dealing with prisoners which is simply laughable. C seems to have led a very sheltered life.

And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 

When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 

It's generally thought that chapter 7 was written well before chapter 1. Otherwise John is breathlessly asking this of the person he acknowledged as his successor while still in the womb. According to chapter 1, John has grown up in parallel with his cousin/brother Jesus and should presumably know exactly who he is.

And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 

A simple "yes" would have done.

Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 

C is really saying "John didn't do all these amazing things" and he's saying it to the followers of John Christ who were travelling around the Med in his day. He'll come back to it yet again in Acts.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 

And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

What the hell does this mean? I've no idea. "A reed shaken with the wind" is just a version of "whichever way the wind blows" but what C is trying to do by connecting that with John is beyond me. Although it seems insulting it also seems ironic so I'm not sure. It seems significant that the words are spoken behind the backs of John's disciples, after they leave.

But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. 

But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 

This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Jesus is just lying here; it was not so written. The quote in question refers to the messiah himself, not to a herald of the messiah. In other words, in the original text (in Malachi) "I" is Jehovah and "my messenger" is the messiah - supposedly Jesus in C's version. The words put into Jesus's mouth are a deliberate distortion of scripture. The problem for C is that the Malachi text would make John the Messiah, not Jesus and it's probably the case that John's followers were quoting it for exactly that purpose and C was looking for a way to turn their claim aside.

For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

More stitching by anti-Johnites. How can John the Baptist not be in the kingdom of God? Does that mean he's greater than himself? Also: Jesus was born of a woman, this might be a careless lift from a previous theology where Jesus was a spiritual being (to be blunt: from the theology of "Paul").

And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. 

Here, C flatly contradicts A's account in "Matthew". Putting that aside, C is claiming that "all" the people except the pharisees and lawyers have been baptised. Which seems unlikely.

And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 

They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 

The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 

That's people for you; never happy.

But wisdom is justified of all her children. 

This line introduces a somewhat mystical allegory. Wisdom in very ancient Jewish lore (i.e., before the Jews were monotheistic) was a female deity who, in legend, came down to Earth for the benefit of mankind but was spurned and abused. Sound familiar at all? In that light, the following lines have a much more mythical tone. Proverbs 7 and 8 are worth reading before continuing, for some strange contrasts and similarities. 

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.

Another patch in C's quilt where the Pharisees are not all bad guys.

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 

And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 

Read that again carefully. Perhaps Jesus's feet are attached to the back of his head?

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. 

And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 

Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 

And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 

Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 

My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 

Remember: "Messiah" means "the anointed one". There's hardly a word of this that sounds likely, is there? It's more like a dream. In real life, the woman would be pretty annoying while you're trying to eat. Why did Simon even let her in? Because it's just a story.

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 

Jesus is now talking bollocks.

And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 

And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 

And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

So, was it faith or love that absolved the woman?

Well, that's chapter 7. In chapter 8 Jesus will reveal an ignorance of the world which would take on a horrific irony 1400 years later as 10 million slaves were worked to death by Christians frantic to attain wealth and power. But it's okay, because they confessed their sins every Sunday and Jesus forgave them because they had faith and/or loved him.