Tag: gold

What Was Jesus Doing 2 Weeks After The Crucifixion? ~ from the 2024 International Impact Book Awards Winning Book ~ In Their Image And Likeness ~ PART 1


https://LindaHourihan.com ISBN:9798263562120

The first chapter of Jesus in India, by Mirza Ghulam Admad mirrors the in-depth work of Nicolas Notovitch in 1894, a Crimean Jewish adventurer who claimed to be a Russian aristocrat, spy, and journalist. Notovitch also tracked Jesus into India, Tibet, and Kashmir, uncovering history of Jesus which reports that he dies of natural old age. These are not the only accounts of Jesus surviving the crucifixion.  There is more to this story that warrants further investigation. …

Admad points out the well-known history, that seven hundred, twenty-one years before Jesus was born, the ten tribes of Israel were taken prisoner from Samaria by Shalmaneser, King of Assur, to Media. Jesus tracked the lineage of his family tree through this region and India, like we track our ancestry using genealogical searches to discover our own family tree roots. This was the same time frame of the Jewish capture and exile into Babylon, east of Israel, historically known as the Babylonian exile. While the Temple was reconstructed in Jerusalem, not all the members of the ten tribes of Israel returned at that time.

Admad adds that it was the mission of Jesus to find the ten lost tribes, since many of them had adopted Buddhism, and gradually relapsed into idolatry.

Consider Luke 24:39 and Luke 24:42, 43. Here Jesus is showing his wounds from the nails in his hands, and how they recognize him as he eats broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb with them after the crucifixion. He is with them physically, literally, not as a spiritual illusion or other manifestation.

Admad asks such good questions, “If he had been resurrected after death, how was it that this body of spirit could still have borne the wounds inflicted upon him on the Cross? What need had he to eat? And if he required food then, he must be in need of food even now.”

Notice what Jesus ate after the crucifixion, “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, he said to them, “Have you any food here?” So, they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And he took it and ate in their presence.” Luke 24:40-43

Spirits do not eat food.

I do not believe this was a mistake, nor matter of chance that the food Jesus was given held immense healing benefits for his recovery from crucifixion. Other people previously survived crucifixion.

I have always used food as medicine, just as I, my mother, and grandmother did throughout our lives. First, I investigated the medicinal benefits of honey.

Honey has high levels of monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose. It has antiseptic and antibacterial properties often used in chronic wound management and combatting infection. Honey promotes wound healing, heart health, and healthy blood sugar levels. All of these would benefit Jesus’ wounds after the crucifixion.

There are many references to the history of honey dating back to 2100 BCE and several are mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament:

Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” King James Version

1 Samuel 14:24-30, “Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food. The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.” Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

Deuteronomy 32:13, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;”

2 Samuel 17:27-29, “When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Psalm 81:16, “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Ezekiel 16:13, “So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.”

Matthew 3:4; and Mark 1:6, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.”

There are eleven evidence-based health benefit of eating fish:

  1. High in important nutrients
  2. May lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes due to Omega fatty 3 acids
  3. Contain nutrients that are crucial during development
  4. May boost brain health
  5. May help prevent and treat depression
  6. A good dietary sources of vitamin D – functions like a steroid
  7. May reduce your risk of autoimmune diseases
  8. May help prevent asthma in children
  9. May protect your vision in old age
  10. May improve sleep quality
  11. Delicious and easy to prepare

Fish also has Vitamin B12, crucial for the growth of healthy red blood cells which Jesus needed to recover from his near-death experience.

It is also important to note that the gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh, and Gold presented to Jesus by the Magi, was a foreshadowing of his path. Frankincense is an antiseptic aiding digestion, coughs, and cold. Myrrh is an antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, helping to repair the immune system and reduce fevers. Both Frankincense and Myrrh would be beneficial for healing after a crucifixion. Gold has always been a treasured mineral which would have been necessary for the purchase of travel and goods on his travels to the east post-crucifixion.

The Hyssop stalk soaked in wine was what Jesus had put to his lips when he said, “I am thirsty,” recorded in John 18:9:28. Hyssop is a holy herb that was used to sprinkled on lepers. It is commonly used in tea for coughs, decongestant, shortness of breath. It is also used to treat bruises, cuts, and wounds.

Might it have been for purposes of compassion rather than merely mockingly giving Jesus a bitter drink at such a distressful time on the cross?

Gold ~ Frankincense ~ Myrrh ~ Hyssop


The names of the three Wise Men are Melchoir, Gaspar (Caspar), and Balthazar.

Consider the following for a meditation. It is taken from my book, IN THEIR IMAGE AND LIKENESS, subtitled, UNIVERSAL WISDOM, winner of the 2024 INTERNATIONAL IMPACT BOOK AWARDS in the Social Change category:

The first chapter of Jesus in India, by Mirza Ghulam Admad mirrors the in-depth work of Nicolas Notovitch in 1894, a Crimean Jewish adventurer who claimed to be a Russian aristocrat, spy, and journalist. Notovitch also tracked Jesus into India, Tibet, and Kashmir, uncovering history of Jesus which reports that he dies of natural old age. These are not the only accounts of Jesus surviving the crucifixion.  There is more to this story that warrants further investigation. …

Admad points out the well-known history, that seven hundred, twenty-one years before Jesus was born, the ten tribes of Israel were taken prisoner from Samaria by Shalmaneser, King of Assur, to Media. Jesus tracked the lineage of his family tree through this region and India, like we track our ancestry using genealogical searches to discover our own family tree roots. This was the same time frame of the Jewish capture and exile into Babylon, east of Israel, historically known as the Babylonian exile. While the Temple was reconstructed in Jerusalem, not all the members of the ten tribes of Israel returned at that time.

Admad adds that it was the mission of Jesus to find the ten lost tribes, since many of them had adopted Buddhism, and gradually relapsed into idolatry. …

Consider Luke 24:39 and Luke 24:42, 43. Here Jesus is showing his wounds from the nails in his hands, and how they recognize him as he eats broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb with them after the crucifixion. He is with them physically, literally, not as a spiritual illusion or other manifestation.

Admad asks such good questions, “If he had been resurrected after death, how was it that this body of spirit could still have borne the wounds inflicted upon him on the Cross? What need had he to eat? And if he required food then, he must be in need of food even now.”

Notice what Jesus ate after the crucifixion, “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, he said to them, “Have you any food here?” So, they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And he took it and ate in their presence.” Luke 24:40-43

Spirits do not eat food.

I do not believe this was a mistake, nor matter of chance that the food Jesus was given held immense healing benefits for his recovery from crucifixion. Other people previously survived crucifixion.

I have always used food as medicine, just as I, my mother, and grandmother did throughout our lives. First, I investigated the medicinal benefits of honey.

Honey has high levels of monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose. It has antiseptic and antibacterial properties often used in chronic wound management and combatting infection. Honey promotes wound healing, heart health, and healthy blood sugar levels. All of these would benefit Jesus’ wounds after the crucifixion.

There are many references to the history of honey dating back to 2100 BCE and several are mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament:

Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”

1 Samuel 14:24-30, “Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food. The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.” Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

Deuteronomy 32:13, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;”

2 Samuel 17:27-29, “When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Psalm 81:16, “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Ezekiel 16:13, “So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.”

Matthew 3:4; and Mark 1:6, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.”

There are eleven evidence-based health benefit of eating fish:

  1. High in important nutrients
  2. May lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes due to Omega fatty 3 acids
  3. Contain nutrients that are crucial during development
  4. May boost brain health
  5. May help prevent and treat depression
  6. A good dietary sources of vitamin D – functions like a steroid
  7. May reduce your risk of autoimmune diseases
  8. May help prevent asthma in children
  9. May protect your vision in old age
  10. May improve sleep quality
  11. Delicious and easy to prepare

Fish also has Vitamin B12, crucial for the growth of healthy red blood cells which Jesus needed to recover from his near-death experience.

It is also important to note that the gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh, and Gold presented to Jesus by the Magi, was a foreshadowing of his path. Frankincense is an antiseptic aiding digestion, coughs, and cold. Myrrh is an antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, helping to repair the immune system and reduce fevers. Both Frankincense and Myrrh would be beneficial for healing after a crucifixion. Gold has always been a treasured mineral which would have been necessary for the purchase of travel and goods on his travels to the east post-crucifixion.

The Hyssop stalk soaked in wine was what Jesus had put to his lips when he said, “I am thirsty,” recorded in John 18:9:28. Hyssop is a holy herb that was used to be sprinkled on lepers. It is commonly used in tea for coughs, decongestant, shortness of breath. It is also used to treat bruises, cuts, and wounds.

Might it have been for purposes of compassion rather than merely mockingly giving Jesus a bitter drink at such a distressful time on the cross? …

Jesus spent time in India, the Himalayas, and Tibet. His famous Sermon on the Mount comes straight out of The Upanishads of India. Jesus would have had to travel to India prior to his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 to have had his words carry the same meaning so closely stated.

The book, Living In Freedom & Love Without Conditions by Phyllis M. Brooks, mentions that Joseph of Arimathea was a trader of tin and was the uncle of Jesus. He took Jesus on several merchant trips by boat and by land to India during those eighteen missing years of Jesus life, from ages twelve to thirty, but you have never heard about in today’s bible. When you read about his travels to India, and learn what Jesus learned, you discover that the sages of India over two thousand years ago embarked on an experiment that is worth repeating today. This is the reason The Upanishads rolled off the tongue of Jesus so easily at his famous Sermon on the Mount. There are enormous amounts of Wisdom in The Upanishads.

Rather than focusing on the outside of life, Hindu and Buddhist sages focused on what is inside humanity, consciousness, and the Energy that lies within each one of us. They discovered the changeless reality of what this book is about, what Aldous Huxley called Perennial Philosophy, the Eternal Well-Spring of the Eternal Universal Life Force Energy.

Can you discover this deepest part of you, the God-realization that dwells within you, as Jesus taught?

Yes, this is apocryphal knowledge. Apocryphal means HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, not anti-Christ. It is time to get out from under cult-like indoctrinations, which prefer to teach their own human understanding rather than to teach all the words of Jesus Christ. I stand on the words of Jesus Christ.

Christian Nationalism ~ Whatever Side You Are on ~ Listen to or Read This Post ~ Repost


The following is an important message on CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM by James Talarico, seminary student:

Our pastor, Dr. Jim Rigby, is on his writing leave but I don’t know how much writing is getting done. I sent him a text asking for some inspiration for this sermon, and he gave me this. It’s “The Top Reasons Beer is Better than Religion.”

Number One: when you have beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give it away.

Number Two: there are laws against forcing beer on minors who can’t think for themselves.

Number Three: nobody’s ever been burned at the stake because of their favorite brand of beer.

Number Four: you don’t have to wait more than two thousand years for a second beer.

Number Five: and last, if you’ve devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you.

My granddad was a Baptist preacher. I’ve been a member of this church since I was two years old. And now I’m in seminary studying to become a minister myself. My faith means more to me than anything. But if I’m being very honest, sometimes I hesitate for telling someone I’m Christian.

There is a cancer on our religion. Until we confess the sin that is Christian Nationalism and exorcize it from our churches, our religion can do a lot more damage than a six-pack of Lone Star.

There is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism. It is the worship of power, social power, economic power, political power in the name of Christ. And it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.

He told us we would know them by their fruits. Jesus includes, Christian Nationalism excludes.

Jesus liberates, Christian Nationalism controls.

Jesus saves, Christian Nationalism kills.

Jesus started a universal movement, based on love. Christian Nationalism is a sectarian movement, based on mutual hate.

Jesus came to transform the world. Christian Nationalism is here to maintain the status quo.

They have co-opted the Son of God.

They’ve turned this humble rabbi into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist.

And it is incumbent upon all Christians to confront it and denounce it.

Christian Nationalism is on the rise.

Two years ago, Christian Nationalists stormed the Capitol, killing police officers while carrying crosses, and signs reading “Jesus Saves.”

Last year, Christian Nationalists on the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, allowing states like ours to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

And as we speak, two Christian Nationalist billionaires are trying to replace public schools in Texas with private, Christian schooling.

We are closer than we think to a Christian Theocracy.

How did this happen?

The first followers of Jesus didn’t call themselves ‘Christians.’

They called themselves ‘The Way.’

Their crucified teacher taught them a different way of being human.

And they intended to follow it.

The early church was a revolutionary community built on radical love, a ‘peculiar people’ who shared all their possessions and refused to participate in the economy, the military, or the culture.

The Book of Acts tells us that the first Christians were persecuted for ‘turning the world upside down.’

But three hundred years after Jesus was executed by the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion of that very same empire.

Constantine was the first Christian Nationalist.

And ever since, the powers that be have been taming Christianity, domesticating it, diluting it into something more palatable.

Pro-war, pro-wealth, pro-white supremacy.

That original counter-cultural movement became a tranquilized, privatized, weaponized religion the official sponsor of western civilization.

A religion of sharing became a religion of greed.

A religion of peace became a religion of violence.

A religion of forgiveness became a religion of judgment.

A religion of ego transformation became a religion of ego affirmation.

Today, Christian Nationalists obsess over people’s private parts while the planet burns.

Eight men own as much wealth as 3.6 billion people and Christian Nationalists are boycotting Barbie.

The Bible doesn’t mention abortion or gay marriage.

But it goes on and on about forgiving debt, liberating the poor and healing the sick.

Christian Nationalists like to say this is a Christian nation.

Not only is that historically inaccurate.

Not only is that theologically blasphemous, but it is just not true.

Look around us.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would forgive student debt.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would guarantee healthcare to every single person.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would love all of our LGBTQ neighbors.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would make sure every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would never make it a Christian nation, because we know the table of fellowship is open to everybody, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and atheist neighbors.

Jesus could have started a Christian theocracy. But love would never do that.

The closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multi-racial, multicultural democracy where power is truly shared among all people, something that’s yet to exist in human history.

Christan Nationalism is not only a threat to the American experiment in democracy. It’s also a threat to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When someone asked Jesus to name his most important commandment, he cheats and gives two – two that he says are related. The first is to love God. The second, he said, is like it: “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

It’s like it because when I recognize the divine image in myself, I can’t help but recognize it in my neighbor; whether they’re Christian or not, whether they’re religious or not.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus specifically defines neighbor as someone different from us, racially, economically, politically, religiously.

God loves diversity.

God loves variety. Just look around this big, beautiful planet of ours.

Do we really think that God would make all these beautiful people with all their beautiful traditions for no reason at all?

There are so many pathways to the sacred.

The Islamic mystic Rumi said, “Every religion has love, but love has no religion.”

God is so much bigger than our human categories.

God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb.

God is not a being. God is being Itself.

God is love.

And that’s why Jesus is against anything that gets in the way of that love between neighbors, including religion.

That’s why he’s always breaking religious rules.

That’s why he’s always getting in trouble with the religious authorities.

That’s why he says sinners will see the kingdom of heaven before religious people do.

Sorry to everyone here. (parishioners laugh)

I knew you came all this way.

Religious supremacy is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus didn’t come to establish a Christian nation.

He came to reveal ultimate reality, which he called the kingdom of God.

But it’s not like any kingdom we’ve ever known.

Instead of a throne, Jesus sits at a table.

Instead of a warhorse, Jesus rides a donkey.

Instead of a sword, Jesus picks up a cross.

The kingdom of God inverts the power dynamics of “all the kingdoms in the world.”

True strength is vulnerability.

True stature is equality.

True wealth is sharing.

And we as Christians are called to realize that kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven,” not by force, but by faith.

Jesus asked us to have the faith of a mustard seed, trusting that by living and dying for love we give birth to a better world.

That’s not easy to do.

In a world full of fear, Jesus knew we would put our trust in something other than God, something other than love.

As a Jewish rabbi, he called those things idols: money, status, and the most dangerous idol of all, power.

When Jesus was tempted by the devil, when he was in the wilderness, one of the things the devil offered was power, “all the kingdoms of the world,” and Jesus rejected it.

When his disciples ask who will be the most powerful in the kingdom of God, Jesus said, you know the lords of the earth push their people around, “but among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be a servant.

And when they still didn’t get it, and they ask who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God? Jesus said, “Little children,” the least powerful, but most trusting members of any human community.

That’s the kingdom of God.

I think Chance the Rapper said it best, “Don’t believe in kings. Believe in the kingdom.”

Jesus knew, in the words of Dorothy Soelle, “There is only one legitimation of power and that is to share it with others. Power that is not shared, that is not turned into love, is pure domination and oppression.”

Christian Nationalists are more committed to the love of power than to the power of love.

And it exposes a lack of faith because the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is a healthy part of any faith. The opposite of faith is control.

When we stop trusting God, when we stop trusting love, we start taking control ourselves.

Christian Nationalists want to control what we read, who we marry, where we travel, when we have children.

They want to control our minds and our bodies.

“O Ye of little faith.”

Christian Nationalists trust domination because they think domination is what works.

But Jesus revealed that the true power of the universe is not domination, but love.

In Daoism, they teach that over time the soft overcomes the hard.

The water wears down the rock. The wind takes out the mountain. The grass upends the concrete. “The meek … inherit the earth.”

Violence may win in the short run, but in the end, love always wins.

Jesus said this kingdom of God is in our midst. It’s hiding in plain sight. Heaven is already here inside of us. Above us. All around us.

On my mom’s side my granddad was a Baptist preacher. But on my dad’s side, my Grandpa Talarico never went to church, but he was one of the most generous, compassionate, moral people I’ve ever met.

He was an immigrant from Italy whose family saw firsthand the dangers of mixing church and state.

He settled in the Texas hill country, and on Sunday mornings he would take these long walks through the wildflowers and the live oaks, and he would take me with him.

He said it was the best chance to see G.O.D., the Great Out Doors.

Biologists tell us that everything in nature is connected and evolving toward greater union.

Anthropologists tell us that our ability to share and corporate is humanity’s superpower.

And astrophysicists tell us that the universe is just gentle enough to make our existence possible.

This universe of ours is nothing but gratuitous grace.

Teilhard wrote that the very physical universe is love.

We see it in the harmonies of music, the principles of mathematics, the patterns of nature.

We are all expressions of that creative power.

We are the universe becoming aware of itself.

As children of God, children of the cosmos, we are loved unconditionally, indiscriminately, infinitely.

No achievement can add to it.

No mistake can take from it.

No amount of church going or church missing can change it.

That’s truly deserving of the title, “Good News.”

We are made by love, with love, to love.

I call that love God. You may use a different word, and that’s okay.

“There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

We can cure the disease of Christian Nationalism.

We can protect against the virus of religious extremism with healthy religion.

The great faith traditions of the world have so much to offer us in this time of global crisis.

Hinduism’s ahimsa provides an alternative to the logic of violence.

Buddhist meditation provides an alternative to the abuse of our attention.

Judaism’s Sabbath provides an alternative to the demands of capitalism.

And in a world where everything can be bought and sold including the earth itself, Native American traditions provide an alternative to ecological extraction.

It’s hard. It is so hard to protect your spirit in a world trying to kill it.

That’s why we need faith communities like this one.

That’s why we need stories and traditions and practices that heal our soul and transform our mind.

Every time on this sanctuary that we say the prayers, sing the hymns, sprinkle the water, eat the bread, drink the wine, we’re tuning our hearts.

Our Buddhist friends tell us that it takes practice.

Neuroscientists tell us that we can become kinder, more empathetic if we work at it.

Things like love, peace, and hope, they require strength training, a gym for the heart.

So every week we gather here to sing our songs and tell our stories just for the opportunity in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, “dwell in the ultimate.” Together. Just for a moment.

And that’s almost better than a cold glass of beer.

I invite you now to your own reflection on these words.

JESUS LIVES! ~ Part I


https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?jJYgIBP46qu8cMrJ7rlqn8T0VppG6jhdMFWZZrFGOQ7

Are you aware that the hyssop Jesus took a sip from while he was on the cross and the foods that he ate post crucifixion after meeting up with the apostles as they walked on the road to Emmaus, as told in Luke 24:16, were all foods that had healing and antiseptic properties?

“Consider Luke 24:39 and Luke 24: 42, 43. Here Jesus is showing his wounds from the nails in his hands, and how they recognized him as he eats broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb with them after the crucifixion. He is with them physically, literally, not as s spiritual illusion or other manifestation.”

In the book Jesus in India by Mirza Ghulam Admad, he asks a good question, “If he had been resurrected after death, how was it that his body of spirit could still have borne the wounds inflicted upon him on the Cross? What need had he to eat? And if he required food then, he must be in need of food even now.”

“Notice what Jesus ate after the crucifixion,[1] “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, he said to them, “Have you any food here?” So, they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And he took it and ate in their presence.” Luke 24:40-43

“Spirits do not eat food.

“I do not believe this was a mistake, nor matter of chance that the food Jesus was given held immense healing benefits for his recovery from crucifixion. Other people previously survived crucifixion.

“I have always used food as medicine, just as I, my mother, and grandmother did throughout our lives. First, I investigated the medicinal benefits of honey.[2]

“Honey has high levels of monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose. It has antiseptic and antibacterial properties often used in chronic wound management and combatting infection. Honey promotes wound healing, heart health, and healthy blood sugar levels. All of these would benefit Jesus’ wounds after the crucifixion.

“There are many references to the history of honey dating back to 2100 BCE[3] and several are mentioned in the Old Testament and New Testament:

“Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” King James Version

“1 Samuel 14:24-30, “Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food. The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.” Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

“Deuteronomy 32:13, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;”

“2 Samuel 17:27-29, “When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.”

“Psalm 81:16, “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

“Ezekiel 16:13, “So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.”

“Matthew 3:4; and Mark 1;6, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.”

“There are eleven evidence-based health benefit of eating fish:[4]

  1. High in important nutrients
  2. May lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes due to Omega fatty 3 acids
  3. Contain nutrients that are crucial during development
  4. May boost brain health
  5. May help prevent and treat depression
  6. A good dietary sources of vitamin D – functions like a steroid
  7. May reduce your risk of autoimmune diseases
  8. May help prevent asthma in children
  9. May protect your vision in old age
  10. May improve sleep quality
  11. Delicious and easy to prepare

“Fish also has Vitamin B12, crucial for the growth of healthy red blood cells which Jesus needed to recover from his near-death experience.

“It is also important to note that the gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh, and Gold presented to Jesus by the Magi, was a foreshadowing of his path. Frankincense is an antiseptic aiding digestion, coughs, and cold. Myrrh is an antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, helping to repair the immune system and reduce fevers. Both Frankincense and Myrrh would be beneficial for healing after a crucifixion. Gold has always been a treasured mineral which would have been necessary for the purchase of travel and goods on his travels to the east post-crucifixion.

“The Hyssop stalk soaked in wine was what Jesus had put to his lips when he said, “I am thirsty,” recorded in John 18:9:28. Hyssop is a holy herb that was used to sprinkled on lepers. It is commonly used in tea for coughs, decongestant, shortness of breath. It is also used to treat bruises, cuts, and wounds.

“Might it have been for purposes of compassion rather than merely mockingly giving Jesus a bitter drink at such a distressful time on the cross?”

I will share more considerations tomorrow.

God Bless Everyone Everywhere

[1] Why did Jesus eat fish after His resurrection? (christiantoday.com)

[2] Honey: Benefits, uses, and properties (medicalnewstoday.com)

[3] The Evolution and History of Beekeeping – Powerblanket Honey Warming Solutions

[4] 11 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Eating Fish (healthline.com)