Tuesday, December 13, 2011

HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Two Discussion of verse 5

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Since I get such a kick, still, out of blathering on about this stuff, here's the continuation of the discussion of
HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Two !


Verse 5


5 ”In Bethlehem in Judea”, they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: . .. ...

from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter two, New International Version



Verse 5


5 “In the macropolis of David” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

from the text of the animation, HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew’s Two

written by R David Foster



Verse 5 Discussion



So this is the kind of thinking involved in the experience of the One. Bethlehem was a town in Judea. It was the birthplace of the King David. So it is known as the city of David. Now a city can be big, and referred to as a metropolis, which is a word with either Greek or Latin roots. Bethlehem was a small town, I believe.


The Acropolis, which means at the top of the city, is a fortified hill in Athens on which the Parthenon stood as a Doric temple to the virgin god Athena. And finally, the prefix “macro” is from the Greek makros, and is a “combining form meaning long, large”a. I did not look any of this up when I wrote the text of this animation, but now that I have looked it up, let's figure out what this means.


My thinking at the time of writing this, was that the Acropolis was a temple to all the gods of Greece, and that “macro” meant all as well as large or many. So the Macropolis of David would mean the temple to all the gods of King David, which, David serving the one God, would mean all the approaches of King David to the one God. But now that I have looked up the roots of this word Macropolis that I made up, let's see how one could interpret this made up word.


Macro means long or large, and polis means city. Metropolis, means mother-city, but can refer to any large city. So correctly and literally, Macropolis means a long or large city.


But Bethlehem is a small town, so why refer to it as a large city? I was not referring to the town of King David's birth nor the town where Jesus was born. I was referring to “where the Christ was to be born”, and in this animation story, the Christ, or One, is born in the, let's say, long or large city of David. For this to make sense, we must see the word “Macropolis” as having a religious context, and having the meaning of the large city of David's gods. And since both King David, and the author, David Foster, serve the One God, this plural gods means the many approaches to the One God.


The boy David was the son of Jesse, and a shepherd who was called upon to slay the giant Goliath. He later became King and wrote many psalms, as well as marrying the wife of a man he sent to certain death. His most popular psalm is known as the 23rd psalm which begins “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing that I want.”


David led a wondrous life as poet, warrior, shepherd and king. He truly had a thorough understanding of his Lord and God. The city of his knowledge of his Lord and God would be very large and magnificent.


So there you have it - this is the meaning of the answer to where the Christ was to be born- in the Macropolis of David. It takes a bit of thought to make sense of this stuff, but the experience is worth the effort and makes for a nice Sunday drive around one's mind.


This is what is meant by the Christ being born in the city of David, Bethlehem, and Joseph being a descendent of David – the Christ bears many of the aspects of King David, mainly the spiritual aspects. It is not important who Joseph was a descendent of, nor is it important what the geographic location of Jesus' birth was – it is most important what the Christ was building upon, which is the legacy and establishment of King David.


King David was a celebrated individual in the Hebrew faith. His life was held up as an example of one who was devoted to God and blessed by God. It was promised to him that the Messiah would be one of his descendents. This was not an incidental favour bestowed on David, this was an acknowledgment of his closeness to God. This is what is important, that David was close to God, as Christ would be close to God. David's offspring are incidental, as is the place of his birth, but his closeness to God is of primary importance.


So the One, or Christ, appears in the legacy of King David, rather than in a small obscure town or glorious lineage. Deliberation on the psalms and history of King David points to the Christ, and the One.


Finally, this animation text is the story of my experience of the Gospel of Matthew, and how I find the truths of the Bible played out in my life. It is a coincidence that my name is David and that I may appear as a spiritual scout, reporting on the spiritual territory that our people are entering into. Many may feel that it is obnoxious to write all this, and to dwell on my experiences, but I feel it is important for me to share my experience, as I am able, as we all should do, to identify and establish spiritual truths to those that follow us. None of us live in a vacuum - we all share this life with the others around us. Identifying and clarifying our existential nature is a joint endeavour of all of us. This, I find, is more important than what I will get for Christmas, or what state I will be in financially when the tally is taken. I readily welcome any comments and discussion, whether supportive or critical, and can be reached at vid932008@gmail.com .



a Page 361, Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Warner Books Paperback Edition, © 1984

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the third Sunday of Advent, December 11th, 2011

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