Jesus & antinomian symbolism
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:02 pm
I’ve been doing some research on a curious symbolism: It seems the Jesus of the Four Gospels is surprisingly often connected to thieves and thievery.
Firstly and most importantly, Jesus compares himself to a sort of sneak thief (Mathew 24:43; Luke 12:39), “if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through”. In like manner Jesus is called “Thief in the Night” (1. Thessalonians 5:2, 5:4; 2. Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3, 16:15), which seems a particularly sinister allegory.
In the light of these quotations other similar examples become more meaningful. In several places Jeesus says that people have come for him as against a thief (Matthew 26:55; Mark 14:44-52; Luke 22:52). Yet in another place Jesus compares himself not only to a thief, but compares his methods to a robbery: “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house” (Mark 3:27).
Then there is the case of taking an ass without permission, which could very well be called a theft: “Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them” (Matthew 21:2-3).
We also know that Jesus was crucified between two thieves (Matthew 27:38), where he actually takes the place of Barabbas, who “was a robber” (John 18:40).
The last curious thing I want to mention is from Margaret Starbirds book ”Magdalene’s Lost Legacy”, where she mentions that in the New Testament many references to evil are derived from the gematric root 23, “for example 23 x 12 is 276, the number on which references to Satan, Beelzebub, evil, the dragon, and Hell are built” (page 77). Now this “number of evil” 276 is especially connected to the Law of Moses:
“stone tables” (2. Cor. 3:3) 276 x 2
“the Sabbath Day” (Luke 13:14) 276 x 8
“the letter killeth” (2. Cor. 3:6) 276 x 4
“religion” (Acts 26:5) 276 x 4
“unclean” (Luke 4:33) 276 x 2
“the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” (Matt. 5:20) 276 x 18
“but where there is no law, neither is there transgression” (Rom. 4:15) 276 x 11
Now it does seem that there is not only an antinomian aspect to Jesus, but there might also be an antinomian teaching hidden in the greek New Testament. I see here an example of a gnostic, and perhaps even a Left Hand Path teaching inside the Christian tradition. I would be very interested to hear your interpretations of these queer findings.
To add one more curious detail, a notable exception to this theme is The Gospel According to John, which not only refrains from comparing Jesus to a thief, it actually sets the thief as an opposite example of Jesus (John 10:1, 10:10, 12:6).
Firstly and most importantly, Jesus compares himself to a sort of sneak thief (Mathew 24:43; Luke 12:39), “if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through”. In like manner Jesus is called “Thief in the Night” (1. Thessalonians 5:2, 5:4; 2. Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3, 16:15), which seems a particularly sinister allegory.
In the light of these quotations other similar examples become more meaningful. In several places Jeesus says that people have come for him as against a thief (Matthew 26:55; Mark 14:44-52; Luke 22:52). Yet in another place Jesus compares himself not only to a thief, but compares his methods to a robbery: “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house” (Mark 3:27).
Then there is the case of taking an ass without permission, which could very well be called a theft: “Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them” (Matthew 21:2-3).
We also know that Jesus was crucified between two thieves (Matthew 27:38), where he actually takes the place of Barabbas, who “was a robber” (John 18:40).
The last curious thing I want to mention is from Margaret Starbirds book ”Magdalene’s Lost Legacy”, where she mentions that in the New Testament many references to evil are derived from the gematric root 23, “for example 23 x 12 is 276, the number on which references to Satan, Beelzebub, evil, the dragon, and Hell are built” (page 77). Now this “number of evil” 276 is especially connected to the Law of Moses:
“stone tables” (2. Cor. 3:3) 276 x 2
“the Sabbath Day” (Luke 13:14) 276 x 8
“the letter killeth” (2. Cor. 3:6) 276 x 4
“religion” (Acts 26:5) 276 x 4
“unclean” (Luke 4:33) 276 x 2
“the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” (Matt. 5:20) 276 x 18
“but where there is no law, neither is there transgression” (Rom. 4:15) 276 x 11
Now it does seem that there is not only an antinomian aspect to Jesus, but there might also be an antinomian teaching hidden in the greek New Testament. I see here an example of a gnostic, and perhaps even a Left Hand Path teaching inside the Christian tradition. I would be very interested to hear your interpretations of these queer findings.
To add one more curious detail, a notable exception to this theme is The Gospel According to John, which not only refrains from comparing Jesus to a thief, it actually sets the thief as an opposite example of Jesus (John 10:1, 10:10, 12:6).