Yeshua (Jesus) and Yohanan (John the Baptist)
The actual Hebrew names of Jesus and some of his family members were Elizabeth: Elisheva, Zachariah: Zeharya, Mary: Miryam, Joseph: Yoseph, John: Yohanan, and Jesus: Yeshuah.
Miryam and Elisheva were cousins. Their husbands were Yoseph and Zeharya respectively and their sons respectively were Yohanan and Yeshua. Yohanan and Yeshua were raised by loving parents in a world of pain and suffering to become leaders in their community. Not all of us are destined to be as great as or to die as Yohanan and Yeshua did. Not all mothers and fathers suffer as did Elisheva and Zeharaya or as Miryam and Yoseph watching their sons die, but many do.
What are their names?
How may we change this?
Did the message of Yohanan and Yeshua include the family? Is a part of the spiritual teaching of Jesus about our obligation to family and our relationships to our family members and our immediate circle of friends? Did they sit around the kitchen table and talk about politics? I think they did...
Can we be spiritual without honoring the relationships we have as a result of our birth or caring for those of our family?
I think not. It seems to me that in order to be truly Spiritual we must care about those closest to us. How do we hold our families in our consciousness? Do we bring spirituality into our homes? Do we teach peace and love through our actions? Do we honor family as a God created form? Do we accept all our family members as God created them? Do we care for our family members and our friends?
Do we think about the families that will be destroyed when we vote for war? Do we think of other people across the world as belonging to families?
It seems to me that as spiritual beings our first obligation is to our families and those closest to us and that our second obligation to the greater community is fulfilled in the world as we carry out the first obligation.
Living life is not easy, but in America relative to the rest of the world we have it comparatively more than good, yet we have one of the highest crime rates statistically in the world. I would guess and I have no statistics to back me up that more people die in America due to guns and gang warfare on a daily basis than are killed in Iraq at present. What are we doing to those poor people; planting seeds of love or of hate? And what about the families of the occupation? Do we really need these lessons?
Matthew 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you..."
From whom did he learn this divine principle?
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