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province, to arrest the disciples under sedition law. Now I
understand that the Pharisees are extremely intolerant towards
that man in the tomb that they want to wipe away his memories;
everything created by him on the land of Palestine which has
relevance elsewhere as well, by tightening security at the tomb
and by arrest of his disciples. The Pharisees are not just depicting
that dead man in the tomb as impostor, they are trying to re-write
all that the man had contributed in his life time as deception and
mere deception, something without any trace of truth. It is their
attempt to present themselves as truthful, in contrast, all that
belongs to the dead man- his teachings, his actions, his works,
his people, depicted as deceptive and harmful to the society.
Community
But the community that journeyed with that man had
experienced forgiveness, healing and fullness of life. Therefore,
they choose to follow that man even up to the cross.
I am a bit confused about one thing. This time my
observation is not about that person in the tomb, but about
the Pharisees in particular. It is repeatedly said by many that
the Pharisees are different from Sadducees in their doctrinal
belief on resurrection of the dead. Their belief in resurrection
should not permit them to seal the tomb. Instead let the dead
raise. There is an anomaly between what they believe and what
Pharisees decided to do. Anyway, not all Pharisees are same.
One of their own Pharisee by name Soul who was later called as
Paul says that the Pharisees believe in resurrection of the dead
(Acts 23:5-8). Soul the Pharisee, one of the antagonists to that
person, had turned to be a faithful disciple of that same person.
There are Pharisees who strongly bent on revengeful acts is not
to justify that all Pharisees are same
Who is this dead man laydown in the tomb that the
Pharisees can’t even tolerate his name to be heard, even after his
death?
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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People