2021/09/27

6. The Disciples of Jesus

I have thought about Ananias of Damascus,¹ who was involved in the conversion of St. Paul, many times because the conversation with the Lord Ananias had in the vision and the subsequent actions he took were a clear indication of a disciple Lord Jesus trained. Ananias was familiar with the voice of the Lord and spoke his thoughts openly to the Lord, trusting in his own attitude towards the Word of God. So, when Jesus commanded him to visit Paul, he answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name" (Acts of the Apostles 9:13). This relationship between the Lord Jesus and his disciple becomes the basis on which the disciple is constantly awake to the enmity God has placed in him,² and fully recognize the accidental information. Ananias did not hesitate to side with the Word, even when the stories he heard had come from trusted friends, and the negative information about Paul was solid. The words of Jesus, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40), was fulfilled in the disciples who walked with him. They became familiar with the voice of the Lord, shared his worldview with Jesus Christ and trusted in their own attitude towards the Word of God. The training to acquire this attitude was entrusted to the Book of Revelation for the disciples in later generations.

Reference: 1. Acts of the Apostles (9:1-20), 2. This blog (No. 5)

Maria K. M.

 2021/09/22

5. Gossip

In the last post, I said that the serpent in Genesis is the accidental information that arose between two or more people. An apt example of this is gossip. Whatever the source of the gossip, it comes and goes between people like a serpent crawling. Since accidental information occurs naturally among animals and in nature, it makes us feel comfortable in our senses and smoothly enters our thoughts. We often try to diffuse it without distinguishing it from our thoughts as we distinguish ourselves from others. But there is often a contradiction between the information we have spread and our thoughts. This contradiction causes fear in us and bruises the heel of us walking towards truth and hope. If you are a Christian, it will make you hesitate to walk with Jesus. To protect people from such a risk, God declared to the serpent in ancient times, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed" (Genesis 3:15). The enmity God has put in our memory alarms us when the accidental information comes to our senses. We need to be constantly awake to the enmity God has placed in us to recognize the accidental information as other. Christians must follow the example of Jesus tested by Satan (the demon) in the wilderness at the beginning of his public life. The accidental information appeared even in Jesus, who was divine but also human. Jesus, who was always awake to the enmity God had placed in him, clearly recognized this information as other and bruised its head by the word of God. And he dismissed it, calling it Satan.

Reference: The Estuary of Theology issue 14 "I will put enmity".

Maria K. M.

 2021/09/14

4. The Ancient Serpent

The dragon in the Book of Revelation is described as a great dragon, the ancient serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. The dragon is a mythical creature, and it is difficult to identify who it is because the words "the devil" and "Satan" are vague. However, since John wrote "the ancient serpent", I assume each refers to the serpent mentioned in Genesis 3. The serpent here is not a real serpent, judging from God's words: "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals" (Genesis 3:14). I think the serpent here is the information that eventually arose accidentally among the same species as the number of creatures increased according to the word of God, "Be fruitful and multiply." This information may have acted like knowledge in their brains and led to gradual evolution. Nowadays, it is known that not only cattle and beasts but even trees and plants transmit information to each other. This kind of information gives us always comfort and healing. The accidentally arising information also occurred between the man and the woman created in the beginning. And it developed rapidly. I suppose when this information overcame their memory that had been retaining God's command, they took and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had commanded them not to eat. From this time on, the accidental information that happened among people became the most cursed above all cattle and all wild animals.

Reference: The Estuary of Theology issue 11, "The Work of Man (the Serpent)".

Maria K. M.

 2021/09/06

3. Angels

People today may not be interested in talking about angels and fallen angels. But, I believe in the existence of angels. I often think of my guardian angel in particular. On the other hand, I find it hard to take the story of the fallen angels seriously, for it seems that the existence of fallen angels is a fairy tale. This feeling may come from the fact that I grew up in Japan in a family that had nothing to do with Christianity and got baptized myself when I was growing up. I have never heard of angels or even fallen angels from my family since I was born. But I have developed a particular interest in the angels in the Book of Revelation. It may sound strange to say, but it seems that these angels are like an AI created by God. Their wills are divine programs that God installed on the bodies of them who neither marry nor are given in marriage. It is precisely because they do not have free will, as people do, that when the author was about to prostrate himself at the feet of the angel and worship him, he said, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God." The author tries to worship the angels twice, and they respond exactly the same way choosing their words according to the situation (cf. Revelation 19:10, 22:9). The angels are reacting as God has programmed. They are like an AI that performs what is programmed with high reliability responding precisely to the situation without getting "tired." I am interested in these things thinking that the source of the worldview of Jesus Christ may be in such things.

Maria K. M.

 2021/08/30

2. The Worldview

Daily effort of reading aloud the words of the Book of Revelation and listening to the voice makes "what must soon take place," which is stressed in the book, happen to me. It means that I find in what I said and in small things that I experience in daily life the hidden meanings and have good opportunities to experience the Holy Spirit guiding me not by words but meanings. Some may say such an experience will happen in any case, but I can say that in my case, that happened in this situation. Also, when I talked with people who recently started the practice of reciting the Book of Revelation as I do, I noticed an interesting fact. They experience "what must soon take place," but they are not aware of it. They, without knowing it, often talk about their experience of finding in their words and deeds or what happened to them the hidden meanings. When I pointed out this fact, they were surprised but admitted what happened to them. As we talked about such topics, we realized that our communication with the theme of faith got smoother and that we could share our values more quickly on the day. Even when the argument that we had never agreed with each other before came up again, we could understand what each of us said as if we had seen and heard it ourselves. I thought this was because we were beginning to share the worldview of Jesus Christ with him as we made our daily efforts of reciting the Revelation and listening to the voice of it. The phrase "in my name" that Jesus speaks could mean the state in which one is sharing the worldview of Jesus with him.

Reference: The Estuary of Theology issue 22 "The Book of Revelation and the Twofold Spirituality of the Holy Spirit," issue 24 "The White Robe."

Maria K. M.

 2021/08/26

A world map of major civilizations according to Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington (Wikipedia)

1. Civilizations

According to the American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, Japanese civilization is classified as a unique independent civilization in the major civilizations of the 20th century. The history of Japan, where I was born and grew up, has never experienced the influence of Greek culture or Barbarian invasions or Islamic culture. On the other hand, the history of Christianity is Western history itself, which has developed mixing with these happenings. Therefore, the hermeneutics of the Bible has been strongly influenced by them. However, the process of the establishment of the Bible is independent of Western history itself. So, when I, a Japanese, even studying Western history, read the Bible and try to understand its teachings, I cannot share all the understandings Western history has been nurturing and embracing until now. But at the same time, I may encounter unexpected discoveries. In this situation, it is recent that I knew that the Book of Revelation expresses the worldview of Jesus Christ. When I realized this fact, I immediately decided to follow the recommendation: "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near" (Revelation 1:3). It was because I wanted to become the blessed one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, hears the voice, and keeps "what is written therein" in her memory.

Maria K. M.