onwards I guess

[sparrow_lately]

Possibly a dead person and stumbling towards the end of the semester...or, you know, lurching.

As a peek into my mess of a mental state, this is my actual attempt at an academic outline.

Comments

[sparrow_lately]

CAN I TELL YOU ABOUT LAZARUS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IT'S FUCKING ACTIVELY RIDICULOUS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS

IT'S EXACTLY HALFWAY THROUGH THE GOSPEL AND IT MARKS THE LAST OF THE SIGNS BEFORE THE BOOK OF GLORY--JESUS'S LAST BIG MIRACLE BEFORE HE BOWS OUT

AND HE KNOWS THAT SAVING LAZARUS WILL SET IN TO MOTION EVENTS THAT WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO HIS DEATH BUT HE DOES IT ANYWAYS BECAUSE LAZARUS IS A PROXY FOR HUMANITY IN JOHN, JESUS DIES TO SAVE HIM (ESSENTIALLY)

AND THE WHOLE STORY IS ABSOLUTELY RIFE WITH APOCALYPTIC SYMBOLISM WHICH IS HILARIOUS BECAUSE TAKEN AT A LITERAL LEVEL IT MAKES NO SENSE AND JESUS IS KIND OF A HUGE ASSHOLE BUT TAKEN AT A SYMBOLIC LEVEL IT'S THE LAST GREAT MOMENT OF MESSIANIC GLORY BEFORE THE "MESSIANIC BIRTHPANGS" AS IT WERE BEGIN--THE JEWISH ESCHATOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING BEING THAT SUFFERING MUST PRECEDE THE NEW KINGDOM

ugh and Jesus wept. shortest verse in the bible and Jesus in John doesn't show emotion beyond really annoyance because NOBODY EVER LISTENS TO HIM and in all the other gospels Jesus has this moment before the crucifixion where he kinda breaks down (in Mark he falls to his knees and confesses that is afraid to die, and asks God to spare him; in Matthew he basically says the same thing but way less desperately, and he doesn't fall; in Luke he sort of just notes that he's afraid but "teachable moment" Luke doesn't allow him any actual doubt because Luke likes to sugarcoat EVERYTHING) but in John it's SUPERMAN JESUS HE HAS NO DOUBTS because his will is one with the Father's BUT HERE
IN BETHANY
HE CRIES

okay I'm sorry this is literally a year's worth of work for me ugh I just
I will talk to you about the theological deconstruction of the Lazarus story for hours if you ever care which wow I'm probably boring you shitless but

also Lazarus Rising is my favorite episode of SPN there's that

...
hi Bruce!

[prufrock_26]

omg Sparrow

My first reaction to this was amusement because walls of text on theology and eschatology tend to have that effect on me and then I started reading it and holy shit that is interesting stuff and I did not know any of it so yes please continue to talk about the theological deconstruction of the gospels all you like because I've got twenty years of Sunday school and Bible studies behind me and I could probably recite the story verse by verse but hearing it from a totally new perspective is amazing so yes

also hi how've you been besides lazarus and mountain goats

[sparrow_lately]

literally do not get this ball rolling I will emerge from the library laden with commentaries and crying because John hates Peter and turns him into a golden retriever who takes Jesus's metaphors literally* and because Matthew is such a rabbi and takes prophesy so seriously he has Jesus ride two animals at once to make it fit and Mark overuses "immediately" and Luke sugarcoats all the things and has the disciples be joyful in their doubt which is hilarious

and in John Jesus is all "God is my father!" and like half the crowd is like "Jesus we know your parents wtf are you doing"

also fun fact Jesus is a nickname for Joshua, or rather the Anglicization of the Germainization of the Greek spelling of the Aramaic nickname
if you just knew Jesus from down the street you'd probably called him Jesus (pronounced Yeshu) ben Joseph

I WILL TALK FOREVER GIVE ME A TOPIC AND I WILL (OR TELL ME TO BE QUIET) there is no in between :P

how's you?

*except that last chapter which is tacked on and might as well be called "Peter finally got it!" and was probably an attempt to smooth things over between the Johhanine community and the ones that aligned themselves with Peter and why 153 fish why I ask you we just don't know

[prufrock_26]

Oh man our rector totally gave a sermon a few months ago in which he talked about the 153 fish and I can't remember for the life of me what significance he said that number had but it was something

also it pleases me to think that there is a reason for Peter being the way that he is. particularly the part with the transfiguration when he's all "so should I start building tents for you guys" needs some explanation. (also omg i've been laughing at the two donkeys thing forever Matthew you need to let the prophecy go man)

WAIT WAIT i remembered the thing about the fish; it was something along the lines of supposedly there were 153 species of fish in the sea of galilee? this sounds like the kind of fact people make up to make random things in the Bible sound impressive but this guy is super smart and insanely well educated and constantly uses lots of historical texts in his sermons and is generally Academically Credible so I may be remembering it wrong and he may have been quoting a ridiculous explanation that other people have given rather than an actual bit of wisdom

but yep besides the confusion over fish things are pretty good here. starting the summer out right by making bad decisions about sleep and food and money :) probably i should go to sleep soon because I have to work tomorrow but i just want to stay up and do dumb things and eat all the food in the house

seriously though i'm never going to stop being amused by the image of jesus just stubbornly straddling two mismatched donkeys at the same time and just daring the disciples to say anything

[sparrow_lately]

TACKLE THAT RECTOR AND ASK HIM YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND NOBODY KNOWS
my (amazing perfect lovely) early christianity prof literally looked at us and went "we just don't know" like there are buckets of theories but none of them anyone can totally endorse and apparently Raymond Brown used to say when he got to heaven that would be the first damn thing out of his mouth just "WHY 153" because John is chuck full of symbolism and everything EVERYTHING means something in John I mean somebody says "hi" and you can tear that verse apart for 900 eschatological signs and 40 weird historical community reasons he might have said that and 6 alternative translations that tell you something about who wrote it and 11 random Hebrew bible references plus 3 Jewish custom references and an inside joke between that writer and his brother like for real and then the fish just
153
we? just? don't? know??
theories upon theories but nothing we can pin down the way we can most things and i just why John why whatever collective produced this document makes up basically my favorite writer ever and you can't just leave me hanging on those goddamn fish please

my favorite moment ever is when Peter randomly produces two swords because he's a golden retriever and doesn't get Jesus at all...that and Matthew being the biggest rabbi to ever rabbi in the history of rabbis with the donkeys

i have a train in like 7 hours but i'm awake because welp it happens and because I love the Upper West Side (where my best friend's apartment is/where I'm staying) and I'm gonna miss it so I'm soaking it in

[prufrock_26]

okay wow I had no idea that the fish were such a chink in our collective knowledge maybe I will ask about that some time (although the danger of asking father brown anything is that you have to be prepared to listen to at least an hour of enthusiastic theology and church history so i don't know)

having only been in nyc once in my life (for about three hours in the middle of the night on a rescue mission to pick up my sister when she got stranded in Penn station at an ungodly hour by travel mixups) i cannot share your enthusiasm for the Upper West Side but enjoy it while it lasts

and oh man as somebody who spent about 60 solid hours on trains last week I wish you all good travels and may the leg rests never break on you :(

[sparrow_lately]

just call me and ask him and leave the phone there because like I have zero interest in following in several family members' footsteps to the church (I can't be a preacher I'm too mean) but uggggh I love this stuff

I love love love the Upper West Side (and Morningside Heights). my two best friends in the entire world live within 15 blocks of one another here and there's something about all it that just makes me the happiest bee, plus it's the part of NYC I can most confidentially navigate by *far*

I'll only be on the train for four hours and then I'm finally finally home (and I get to see my mom! for the first time since her surgery! and she can drive to pick me up this is a big deal eeee)

[prufrock_26]

Aww yes that is super great; have a wonderful time! and if I do end up asking him, I'll be sure to wear a bug so I can stealthily record it and send it to you. (what shut up no this is totally a matter for espionage and stealth recording tbh any excuse to pretend i'm on mission impossible works for me)

[sparrow_lately]

I'm remembering that villain sidekick from the Disney film about llamas or whatever that sang his own theme music...that's you.

[prufrock_26]

YES THAT IS ME I AM KRONK

A THEOLOGICALLY CURIOUS KRONK SEEKING CLARIFICATION ON OBSCURE POINTS OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

[sparrow_lately]

did you mean me for the last nine months?

PS Speaking of Disney my friend for whatever reason sent me the opening theme from Lilo & Stitch and I haven't seen that movie since it came out but this is fucking gorgeous holy wow

[prufrock_26]

It is an animated-movie-soundtrack nostalgia kind of night I guess; I've been listening to the Hebrew version of When You Believe from that movie for which the only title my brain is coming up with is the Sound of Music

Prince of Egypt

yes that movie Prince of Egypt and oh man I get crazy goosebumps every damn time when the harmony line comes in and ugh wow my entire brain is dissolving in gorgeous

[sparrow_lately]

MY BEST FRIEND HAD NEVER SEEN THAT MOVIE SO MY FRIEND AND I MADE HER WATCH IT AND OH GOD that is bar none one of my all time favorite movies ever I just saw it Sunday night and it's so gorgeous and perfect and oh, man, the Hebrew version of When You Believe...*goes to listen*

[prufrock_26]

*listens one more time and goes to sleep amid incoherent happy paroxysms of joy and wonderment*

[sparrow_lately]

*waves from the train*
*pulls up entire Prince of Egypt soundtrack*
*happy*