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THE UNVARNISHED NEW TESTAMENT
By Andy Gaus Phanes Press
Copyright © 1991 Andy Gaus
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60925-483-4
CHAPTER 1
The Gospels
The Good Word According to
Matthew
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The book of the birth of Jesus the Anointed, son of David, son of Abraham: Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had Juda and his brothers, Juda had Phares and Zara by Thamar, Phares had Esram, Esram had Aram, Aram had Aminadab, Aminadab had Naasson, Naasson had Salmon, Salmon had Boaz by Rachab, Boaz had Jobed by Ruth, Jobed had Jesse, and Jesse had David the king.
David had Solomon by Urius's wife, Solomon had Roboam, Roboam had Abia, Abia had Asaph, Asaph had Josaphat, Josaphat had Joram, Joram had Oziah, Oziah had Joatham, Joatham had Achaz, Achaz had Hezekiah, Hezekiah had Manasses, Manasses had Amos, Amos had Josiah, and Josiah had Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian migration.
After the Babylonian migration, Jechoniah had Salathiel, Salathiel had Zorobabel, Zorobabel had Abiud, Abiud had Eliachim, Eliachim had Azor, Azor had Zadok, Zadok had Achim, Achim had Eliud, Eliud had Eleazar, Eleazar had Matthan, Matthan had Jacob, and Jacob had Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, known as the Anointed One, or "Christ." So the generations from Abraham to David made fourteen generations, and from David to the Babylonian migration fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian migration to Christ fourteen generations.
The birth of Jesus the Anointed was like this: When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they got together, she was found to be carrying a child in her belly by means of holy spirit. Joseph, her husband, being decent and not wishing to make an example of her, decided to break off with her discreetly. He had that on his mind when one night a messenger of the Lord appeared in a dream and said to him: "Joseph son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary for your wife. What has been conceived in her is of holy spirit. She will have a son, and you will call his name Jesus [which means "The Lord is salvation"], because he is the one who will save the people from their own errors."
All this happened to fulfill what was said by the Lord, speaking through the prophet: "Look! the virgin shall carry a child and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel" (which is translated "God-with-us"). Getting up from sleep, Joseph did as the messenger of the Lord commanded and took her for his wife, but he had no relations with her till she bore a son, and he called his name Jesus.
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When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea, in the days of King Herod [the Great], one day wise men from the East showed up in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star in the East and came to adore him."
Hearing that, King Herod was disturbed and all of Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the high priests and canon-lawyers of the people he inquired of them, "Where has the Anointed One been born?"
They said to him, "In Bethlehem, Judea, because that's how it is written by the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Juda,
Are by no means the least of Juda's leaders,
Since from you shall come the leader
Who herds my people Israel."
Then Herod, secretly calling the wise men, ascertained from them the time of the appearing star, and sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "When you get there find out in detail about the child, and when you find him, report to me, so that I can go and adore him too." They, having heard the king, went on their way, and look! the star they'd seen in the East was guiding them, till it came and stood over where the child was. Seeing the star, they were delighted with a great delight indeed. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and adored him, and they opened up their treasure-chests and offered gifts to him: gold and incense and Arabian ointment. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their country by another road.
When they had gone back, one night a messenger of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph and says, "Get up, take the child and his mother with you and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod is going to look for the child to kill him."
So he got up and took the child and his mother by night and went on into Egypt and was there until Herod's end, fulfilling what was said by the Lord speaking through His prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
Then Herod, seeing he had been tricked by the wise men, was utterly enraged, and he sent out and disposed of all the children in Bethlehem and its environs two years old or younger, according to the time he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been said by Jeremiah the prophet:
A voice was heard in Rama,
Weeping and wailing aplenty:
Rachel crying for her children,
And she would not be consoled,
Because she has none.
When Herod died, a messenger of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying, "Get up and take the child and his mother with you and proceed to Israel, for those who wanted the life of the child are dead." So he got up and took the child and his mother and went on into Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was king of Judea instead of his father Herod [the Great] he was afraid to go there; and being advised by a dream he proceeded to the regions of Galilee. And he went and settled in a town called Nazareth, to fulfill what was said by the prophets: "He shall be called a Nazarene."
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In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of the skies is approaching." He is the one described by Isaiah the prophet:
The voice of a crier in the desert:
"Prepare the road of the Lord,
Straighten his paths."
This same John had a robe of camel hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. At that time all Jerusalem and all Judea and all the surrounding country of the Jordan was going out to see him, and they were being bathed by him in the Jordan River and admitting their mistakes.
Seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his bathing he said to them: "Children of the snake, who tipped you off to run from the coming fury? Bear the fruit proper to a change of heart and do not think you can say amongst yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father!' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham out of these stones here. Already the ax is poised at the root of the trees. And so any tree not bearing good fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire.
"Now I bathe you in water to change hearts, but the one coming after me is stronger than me: I'm not big enough to carry his shoes. He will bathe you in holy breath and fire. Winnowing-fan in hand, he will clean up his threshing floor, and collect the grain to be put in the silo and the husks to be burned in unquenchable fire."
Then Jesus showed up from Galilee on the banks of the Jordan where John was, to be bathed by him. But John stopped him: "I have need of being bathed by you, and you come to me?"
Jesus answered and said to him, "Go ahead: it's right that we should fulfill all the law." So John let him do it.
After being bathed, Jesus came straight out of the water. And all of a sudden the skies opened and he saw the breath of God descending like a dove and coming toward him. And just then there was a voice from the skies saying, "This is my son, my beloved son in whom I am delighted."
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Then Jesus was led into the desert by the spirit, to be tested by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was utterly starving. And drawing near, the Examiner said, "If you're the son of God, tell these rocks to turn into bread."
He answered: "It is written: 'Humanity shall not just live on bread, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Then the devil takes him along into the holy city and sets him atop one wing of the temple and says to him, "If you're the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: 'His messengers have been instructed about you, and they will take you in their hands, so you don't stub your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus said to him, "It also says, 'You are not to experiment with the Lord your God.'"
Next the devil takes him along to a mountain way up high and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and says to him, "I'll give these all to you if you fall down and adore me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Get out of here, Satan! It says, 'The Lord your God is whom you shall adore, and you shall serve only Him'!"
Then the devil left him alone, and just then holy messengers came and waited on him.
But when he heard that John had been handed over to the authorities, he moved on into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he went and settled in Capharnaum by the sea, in the regions of Zabulon and Nephthali, to fulfill what was said by the prophet Isaiah:
Earth of Zabulon and earth of Nephthali,
On the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the nationalities,
The people lying in darkness saw a great light,
And to those in that land lying in death's shadow,
A light rose in the sky.
After that Jesus began to proclaim and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of the skies is approaching!"
Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, known as Simon Rock ["Peter"], and Andrew his brother, casting their net into the sea, since they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Come along after me and I'll make you fishers of humanity." And they put their nets right down and followed him. And going on a ways he saw two more brothers, James, Zebedee's son, and John his brother, in the boat with their father Zebedee fixing their nets; and he called to them. And right away they left the boat and their father behind and followed him.
And he started traveling round all of Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good word of the kingdom and curing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
And word of him spread throughout all Syria. And they brought him everyone in bad health with all kinds of diseases, and people living with torments, and the possessed, and the insane, and the paralyzed; and he cured them. And giant crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and across the Jordan.
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Seeing the crowds, he went up the mountain, and as he sat there his students came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
"The poor in spirit are in luck: the kingdom of the skies is theirs.
"The mourners are in luck: they will be consoled.
"The gentle are in luck: they will inherit the earth.
"Those hungering and thirsting for justice are in luck: they will get their fill.
"The merciful are in luck: they will be treated mercifully.
"The clean-hearted are in luck: they will see God.
"The peacemakers are in luck: they will be called God's sons and daughters.
"Those persecuted for the sake of justice are in luck: the kingdom of the skies is theirs.
"You are in luck—when they blame you and persecute you and tell all kinds of filthy lies about you, because of me. Be happy and delighted, because you will be well paid in the skies. After all, they persecuted the prophets before us the same way.
"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt goes tasteless, what do you salt it with? It's good for nothing any more but to be thrown out and stepped on by everybody.
"You are the light of the world. A city can't be hidden lying on a mountaintop. Nor do people light a candle and cover it with a big basket; they put it up on a tall candlestick where it can shine for everyone in the house. That's how your light must shine in front of the world, so that people see your good deeds and give credit to your Father in the skies.
"Don't think I came to dissolve the law or the prophets: I didn't come to dissolve them, I came to fulfill them. I assure you, till the sky and the earth go away, not one letter or punctuation mark of the law will ever go away until everything has come to pass. So anyone who dissolves even one of the smallest commands and teaches others the same way, will be known as the lowest in the kingdom of the skies; whereas anyone who keeps the commands and teaches them too, will be known as someone great in the kingdom of the skies.
"I'm telling you, if you don't brim over with justice more than the canon-lawyers and Pharisees, you will not get into the kingdom of the skies.
"You've heard how your ancestors were told: 'You are not to murder. Whoever murders is liable to be brought to justice.' But I say everyone who gets angry at his brother will be subject to justice, and if he calls his brother 'swine,' it will go before the high court, and if he calls him 'idiot,' he's liable to be thrown into the fire of Gehenna.
"So if you're just about to put your offering upon the temple altar and then you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift on the floor and get out of there: first make up with your brother, and then go make your offering. Get friendly with your adversary fast, while you're still on the road with him, so your adversary doesn't hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and you get thrown in jail; I assure you, you won't get out of there till you've paid off every last penny.
"You've heard how it was said, 'You are not to commit adultery.' But I say any man who looks at a woman and really wants her has already slept with her in his heart. If it's your right eye that gets in your way, pull it out and throw it off: you're better off losing one of your members than having your whole body thrown into the Gehenna fire. And if it's your right hand that gets in your way, cut it off and throw it aside: you're better off losing one of your members than if your whole body goes into the Gehenna fire.
"It was said, 'Whoever separates from his wife must present her with a divorce decree.' But I say anyone who divorces his wife for any reason but whoring is setting her up for adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman is living in adultery.
"You've also heard how your ancestors were told, 'You are not to break oaths, you give your oaths to the Lord.' But I say don't swear at all: don't swear by heaven, it's the throne of God. Don't swear by the earth, it's the footrest under His feet. Don't swear by Jerusalem, it's the city of the great King. Don't swear by your own head, you can't make a single hair white or black. Let your way of talking be 'yes' and 'no'; anything more than that comes from the Evil One.
"You've heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say don't stand up to the villain: if somebody raps you on the right side of your jaw, give him the other side, and if somebody sues you for your shirt, give him your coat too. And if somebody drags you a mile out of your way, go two miles with him. Give to those who ask you, and don't turn the person away who wants to borrow from you.
"You've heard it said, 'You are to love those close to you and hate your enemies.' But I say love your enemies and pray for your persecutors if you want to be children of your Father in the skies, because He shines his sun on villains and saints and rains on the innocent and the guilty.
"If you love those who love you, what pay do you get? Don't the tax-collectors do that much? And if you only say hello to your brothers, what are you doing special? Don't pagans do that much? So be perfect the way your heavenly Father is perfect.
6
"Be careful not to put your virtue in front of people to be noted by them. If you do, you will get no pay from your Father in the skies. So when you contribute to charity, don't have a trumpet-player go before you, like the fakes do in temples and down alleyways, so people will glorify them; believe me, they have already been paid their wages. But when you give to charity, your left hand shouldn't know what your right hand is doing, so that your charity is on the sly; and your Father, watching on the sly, will pay you back.
"And when you pray, don't be like the fakes who love to pray standing in the temples and on streetcorners so as to show off for everybody. Believe me, they have already been paid their wages. When you pray, duck into the store-room and lock the door and pray to your Father on the sly. And your Father, watching on the sly, will pay you back.
"When you pray, don't babble on like pagans who think they can make themselves heard with a great glut of words. Don't act like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from THE UNVARNISHED NEW TESTAMENT by Andy Gaus. Copyright © 1991 Andy Gaus. Excerpted by permission of Phanes Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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