War Club Tells the Good Story 12
12
1 Once again Creator Sets Free (Jesus) began to speak to them using stories:
STORY ABOUT THE VINEYARD
2“A tribal member planted a large vineyard. He encircled it with a hedge, dug a hole for stomping the juice from the grapes, and built a tower for watching over it. He then rented it out to other tribal farmers for a share of the grapes. Then he traveled far away on a long journey to another land.
“When harvest time came, the tribal member who owned the vineyard sent a trusted messenger to gather his share of the grapes, 3but the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4“The vineyard owner sent another messenger; but they treated him shamefully, struck him on the head, and sent him away also.
5“So he sent a third messenger, and this one they killed. The same thing was done to many others he sent. They beat some and killed others.
6“Finally, the vineyard owner had only one more that he could send—his much-loved son. So, last of all, he sent his own son to them.
“‘They will respect my son,’ he said to himself.
7“But those tribal farmers said to themselves, ‘This vineyard will one day belong to this son. If we kill him, the vineyard will be ours.’
8“So they killed him and threw his dead body out of the vineyard.
9“What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do?” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked the people who were listening.
He waited for an answer, but no one said a word.
Then he said, “He will return, put those dishonorable men to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read in the Sacred Teachings where it is said, ‘The tree the lodge builders threw away has become the Chief Lodgepole. 11This is what the Great Spirit will do, and when we see it, we will be filled with wonder?”#12:11 Psalm 118:22-23
12The spiritual leaders wanted to take him prisoner right then and there, for they knew the story was about them. But they were afraid of what the people might do, so they left him and went away.
THEY SET A TRAP FOR HIM
13The spiritual leaders sent some of the Separated Ones (Pharisees) and the Friends of Looks Brave (Herodians) to trap Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in his words.
14“Wisdomkeeper,” they came and said to him, “we know you always speak the truth about the Great Spirit and represent him well, no matter what others may think or say. Tell us what is right,” they asked. “Does our tribal law permit our people to pay taxes to the government of the People of Iron (Romans)? 15Yes or no?”
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) could see right through their false faces!
“Why are you putting me to the test?” he said to them. “Bring to me one of their silver coins and I will look at it.”
16So they brought one to him.
He took a good long look at it, holding it up to the sky to see it clearly. Then he turned the face of the coin for them to see.
“Whose image and words are carved into this coin?” he asked.
“The Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar),” they replied.
17“Then give this ruler the things that are his,” he told them, “but give to the Great Spirit the things that belong to the Great Spirit.”
The spiritual leaders were amazed at his words.
They could not believe it. They had failed right in front of all the people and could not use his words against him, so they walked away in silence.
THE UPRIGHT ONES TEST HIM
18Then the Upright Ones (Sadducees), who say that there is no rising from the dead, also came to test him.
19“Wisdomkeeper,” they said to him, “Drawn From the Water (Moses) instructed us in the Sacred Teachings that if a Tribal Member should die before having children, then his brother should marry his widow and give her children. This way the man will have descendants.
20“What if, in a family of seven brothers, the oldest took a wife, but died without children. 21Then the second brother married her, but he also died leaving no children. Then the third brother also married her and he, like the others, died with no children. 22The same happened to all seven of them, and last of all the woman also crossed over to death. 23So then, when they all come back to life in the time when the dead rise, whose wife would she be, since all seven brothers married her?”
24“You are asking the wrong kind of question,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered back, “for you do not understand the Sacred Teachings or the power of the Great Spirit. 25When men or women rise again from the dead, they will not marry, for they will be like the spirit-messengers from the spirit-world above.”
And then he said, 26“As for the dead rising again, do you not remember what was written in the Sacred Teachings about the time when the Great Spirit spoke to Drawn from the Water (Moses) from the burning bush? He said, ‘I am the Great Spirit of Father of Many Nations (Abraham), of He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), and of Heel Grabber (Jacob).’#12:26 Exodus 3:6 27He is not the Great Spirit of the dead, but of the living! So in this matter you are greatly mistaken.”
THE GREATEST INSTRUCTION OF ALL
28One of the scroll keepers overheard Creator Sets Free (Jesus) opposing the Upright Ones. When he heard the good answer he had given, he asked him, “Which instruction in our tribal law stands first?”
29“The first and greatest instruction is this,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered. “‘Hear me, O tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), there is only one Great Spirit and Maker of us all. 30You must love the Great Spirit with your whole being—with the strength of your arms, the thoughts of your mind, and the courage of your heart.’#12:30 Deuteronomy 6:4-5
31“The second instruction is like the first,” he added. “You must love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourselves. There is no other instruction greater than these.”
32“Wisdomkeeper,” said the scroll keeper with a smile, “you have answered well and spoken the truth, for the Great Spirit is One and there is none other except him. 33To love him with your whole being—with the strength of your arms, the thoughts of your mind, and the courage of your heart, and to love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourselves—is far greater than all ceremonies and offerings we make to the Great Spirit.”
34When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) heard the scroll keeper’s wise answer, he said, “You are not far from Creator’s good road.”
After that, no one dared to ask him any other questions.
A QUESTION NO ONE COULD ANSWER
35While Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was teaching at the sacred lodge, he asked, “How is it that the scroll keepers say the Chosen One is a descendant of Much Loved One (David), 36when Much Loved One (David) himself, speaking with the voice of the Holy Spirit, said, ‘The Honored Chief said to my Honored Chief, “Sit down beside me at my right hand, the place of greatest honor, until I defeat and humble all your enemies”’?#12:36 Psalm 110:1
37“If Much Loved One (David) called the Chosen One ‘My Honored Chief,’ how then can the Chosen One be his descendant?”#12:37 Lit. his son
The large crowd of people listened with glad hearts, because his wisdom was greater than the wisdom of the spiritual leaders.
FALSE SPIRITUAL LEADERS
38During his teachings he said, “Be on the lookout for the scroll keepers who like to show off by walking around in their fancy regalia, who want to be noticed at the trading posts, 39who take the best seats at the gathering houses and the places of honor at the feasts. 40With many words they make a big show of their prayers, and trick widows into giving them their homes and possessions. They will come to a worse end than others.”
A SACRIFICIAL GIFT
41Creator Sets Free (Jesus) found a place to sit across from the storehouse of the sacred lodge. He watched as people came to put their gifts on the offering blanket. The ones with many possessions were putting down more than others. 42Then he saw a poor widow come to the blanket and place two small, poorly beaded earrings#12:42 Lit. two small coins on it, worth almost nothing.
43He gathered his followers around him and told them about the widow’s gift.
“I speak from my heart,” he said, “this widow has given more than all the others. 44What they gave was only a small part of their many possessions, but this poor widow has given all she had left to live on.”
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War Club Tells the Good Story 12: FNVNT
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