The Words of Jesus E-Book

Phyllis Tickle

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 362

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

What if you could encounter the words of Jesus on their own, lifted up from the surrounding narratives and presented in their full power and mystery? That's the question Phyllis Tickle--one of America's most beloved writers on Christian spirituality--asked when she set out to write what she calls a "Sayings gospel." In The Words of Jesus Tickle has compiled and arranged all the sayings of Jesus from the first four books of the New Testament and the first chapter of the Book of Acts in a way that creates an entirely new kind of encounter with the texts. And she has accompanied those sayings with her own personal reflections and commentaries not just on the words themselves but on the One who spoke them.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Reflections on the Words of Jesus

A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord

BOOK I - The Words of Public Teaching

1 The opening proclamation

2 The opening statement of mission and of His place in Scripture

3 The relationship between Father and Son, and with Their work

4 The Blessings and the Beatitudes

5 The description of those who can follow Him

6 The place of the Law in His Kingdom

7 The correct interpretation of the Law and its application

8 New ways of living and being for citizens of His domain

9 First public statement on the place of love in human conduct

10 First instruction specifically on religious practice

11 Instruction about the role of looking and seeing in the lives of the faithful

12 First instruction on wealth and the spiritual dangers of possessions

13 First recorded parable—a teaching about wealth and possessions

14 Temporal anxiety as a spiritual and religious danger

15 The dangers of judgmentalism in human affairs

16 Counterbalancing admonition about discernment

17 The first promise

18 The summary of the Law and the Tradition

19 Concerning the winnowing of the righteous from the unrighteous

20 The proper method for assessing religious leaders

21 The primacy of the Father’s will over all religious forms

22 A parable about enacted and embodied faith

23 John the Baptizer as fulfillment of prophecy

24 The call to rest in submission

25 The role of words in the soul’s life and eternity

26 The first prophecy concerning death and Resurrection

27 Concerning occupation by unclean spirits

28 The proper definition of family

29 The parable of the sower and the seed

30 Teaching the crowds at Capernaum

31 On religiosity as a rejection of God

32 The source of personal defilement

33 Assertion of His divine commission

34 On judging the sins of others

35 The assertion of His primal and fundamental nature

36 The assertion of “I Am”

37 His role as self-sacrificing shepherd and doorway

38 The importance to Heaven of every repentant convert

39 Second summary of the Law and the Tradition

40 The salvific role of the Law

41 The parable of the good Gentile

42 On forgiveness

43 On persistence in prayer

44 On the relative importance of blood ties

45 Concerning those who are clergy and professional functionaries of ...

46 Concerning discernment instead of signs

47 Human vulnerability and the call to repentance

48 The power of petition

49 The testimony of His objective acts

50 The end of Time

51 Prophecy of the Triumphal Entry

52 The place of government in the believer’s life

53 The cost of choosing to join the Kingdom

54 The parable of the prodigal son

55 The story of the rich man in Hell

56 The assertion of Now

57 The definition of prayer that is heard and received

58 On marriage, divorce, and celibacy

59 The cleansing of the Temple

60 The prophecy of the Resurrection

61 A reprimand to the established clergy

62 Exposing the weakness of arguing from doctrine

63 Condemnation of the socially righteous

64 His role as “the stone rejected by the builders”

65 The eternal life of the worthy

66 The great paradox

BOOK II - The Words of Private Instruction

1 Heaven and earth, spirit and flesh

2 The assertion of His messiahship and of a new way of worship

3 An admonition about greed

4 The utter primacy of devotion over any other necessities

5 His description of those for whom He came

6 His assertion of the radical nature of His work

7 The first commissioning, of the twelve

8 The second commissioning, of the larger company of the seventy

9 The first graphic and detailed discussion of the interplay between good and evil

10 The prophecies of persecutions to come and of their proper endurance

11 The cost of membership in His Kingdom

12 The rewards of honoring His Kingdom and its citizens

13 The direct bestowal of personal salvation

14 Mercy as the mediator of all religious law

15 On how understanding increases with understanding

16 Private exegesis on the parable of the sower

17 Similes of the Kingdom

18 Exegesis on the parable of the tares

19 Continuation of similes for comprehending the Kingdom

20 The offense, for His disciples, of the teachings about the Kingdom

21 The offense, for orthodox Jewish leaders, of the teachings about the Kingdom

22 Exegesis on the defilement teachings

23 The danger of literalness and of religiosity

24 Prophecy of the final judgment

25 The parable of the shrewd overseer

26 A prophecy of His suffering

27 Faith as a physical agency

28 Of the devil and true freedom from his grip

29 Condemnation of those who are portals for sin

30 Concerning angels and their guardianship of individuals

31 The process of disciplining believers

32 On forgiveness

33 Concerning the proper attitude for anticipating His coming

34 On the divisiveness of Kingdom membership

35 Belief as a divine and protected gift

36 About the proper approach to social class and status

37 The parable of the banquet

38 The believer’s role as indentured servant

39 About His second coming and the days preceding it

40 On persistence in prayer and belief in its efficacy

41 The restrictive burden of temporal wealth

42 A parable of final judgments

43 About humility and self-effacement

44 A parable about the final judgment and the time of its coming

45 Concerning true devotion

46 A prophecy about coming ages and the conclusion of temporal creation

47 Concerning the exact time of the end

48 The parable of holy watchfulness in anticipating the Kingdom

49 The description of the final judgment

50 His farewell before crucifixion

BOOK III - The Words of Healing Dialogue

1 The first healing miracle

2 The first healing on a Sabbath and His response to public condemnation by ...

3 The first exorcism

4 First attempt to contain notoriety

5 First healing of a Gentile

6 The casting out of an objectively operative demon

7 A direct absolution certified by a concomitant healing miracle

8 The flow of power by proximity and without intention

9 A resuscitation

10 Belief and faith as a measure of efficacy

11 The correct interpretation of the Sabbath

12 The compassionate raising of the widow’s child

13 An extended commentary on principalities and powers in the kingdom of Evil

14 His acknowledgment of a Gentile’s faith

15 The healing of the deaf mute

16 The healing of the blind man

17 Faith as a linchpin

18 The reason for some instances of human debility

19 His use of two unsolicited healings for Sabbath teaching

20 The role of faith in the healing of the Gentile leper

21 The pivotal efficacy of faith in healing

BOOK IV - The Words of Intimate Conversation

1 The first saying

2 First recorded exchange with His cousin, John the Baptizer

3 The desert temptations

4 The calling of Philip and Nathaniel

5 With His mother at a wedding in Cana

6 The calling of James and John

7 About the correct use of present time

8 The beginning of the public ministry

9 About becoming fishers of men

10 Faith as a force in the physical realm

11 His description to the emissaries from John the Baptizer, of His early, ...

12 The importance of rest

13 His engagement of Philip in the feeding of the thousands

14 Another demonstration of faith as a primal force in the physical world

15 His claiming of kingship on earth as well as in Heaven

16 His correcting of Peter

17 His instructions regarding His transfiguration

18 A prophecy of His death and Resurrection

19 The proper conduct of believers in relation to temporal government

20 The definition of greatness in the Kingdom

21 The power of His name as nonproprietary

22 The use of holy or divine power

23 On proper timing

24 The chastising of Martha

25 His message to Herod concerning His approaching death

26 The raising of Lazarus

27 Children as examples of necessary innocence

28 His second specific prophecy to the twelve of His forthcoming death

29 Concerning the Father’s authority over the Son’s followers

30 The redemption of Zacchaeus

31 Instructions preparatory to the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

32 His acknowledgment of His popularity

33 About the Holy City

34 The beginning of the days of final judgment

35 Another conversation about faith as a physical agent

36 A prophecy about the destruction of the Temple

37 Concerning the time of His approaching crucifixion

38 The use of extravagant devotion

39 Instructions about their last meal together

40 Final instruction about servant leadership

41 His direct instructions to them in preparation for His leaving them

42 The poignancy of betrayal and of human endings

43 His words concerning the bread and wine

44 Instructions about the employment of worldly goods in the work of the Kingdom

45 The new commandment

46 The prophecy about their weakness and failure in the face of fear

47 His assertion of His salvific role

48 The promise of the coming of the Comforter and Advocate

49 The benediction

50 His last prayer before them

51 In the garden of Gethsemane

52 The arrest and His interpretation of it

53 His claiming, before the High Priest, His divinity

54 Testimony before Pilate

55 His prophecy about the end times

56 His words of forgiveness

57 His assigning of John as caregiver to Mary

58 His resignation

59 His granting of salvation to one of the robbers

60 His last words before Resurrection

BOOK V - The Words of Post-Resurrection Encounters

1 The first words

2 His revealing of Himself as Messiah on the Emmaus road

3 The infusion of the Spirit in His empowering of those gathered with Him

4 The conversation with Thomas

5 The prophecy to Peter of his martyrdom

6 The words of Ascension

Acknowledgements

THE AUTHOR

INDEX TO CANONICAL SOURCES

INDEX TO KEYWORDS AND MAJOR THEMES

Teaser chapter

Copyright © 2008 by Tickle, Inc. Index to Key Words and Major Themes copyright © 2009 by Mary Tickle, Tickle Inc. Reader’s Guide copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

eISBN : 978-0-470-50568-7

Jesus said, “I have said these things toyou so that my joy may be in you, and thatyour joy may be complete.”

—John 15:11 [II.50]

Reflections on the Words of Jesus

When I began this project almost two years ago, I was innocent about what it would cost me. That cost has not been, as one might expect, in study time and mental effort. Actually, I enjoyed the months of concentrated work. The cost has instead been in the nights I lay sleepless and wrestling, like Jacob, with new perceptions about what it is to be both Christian and a self at the same time. Initially the wrestling was more benign than that, of course. Initially it was, more than anything else, a kind of introspective curiosity about just why in the world I had taken on such a piece of work in the first place.