“Your
Son’s Here!”
“O that Petesy! He can do anything. He can play the trombone,
slam a golf ball three hundred yards, go to college in Missoura!
O that Petesy-boy – he can do anything!”
Jackson
Snyder, May 20, June 13, 2005, Dedicated to V. A. Snyder
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My Statement Regarding the Polygamy in B'nai Yahshua Synagogues
Worldwide: Are these Rabbis just dirty old men? |
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Spiritual Gifts Revelation 1: |
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Fight
child poverty now with BUNCHIES, for It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs! |
Jackson Snyder Bible Search and Study All Sermons A poem, “The Beautiful
Picture of Yah and His Son”
Go directly to the Message
PREVIEW:
Adam’s Return by Richard Rohr V. A. Snyder, 635 E. Lincoln St.
Here is a NEW, literal translation of the prolog to John’s
Gospel. See footnotes
for translation notes. Yochanan-John
1:
1 In
beginning was the Logos[1],
and the Logos was with the Deity[2],
and divine[3]
was the Logos. 2 This one[4]
was in beginning with the Deity. 3 All came into being through him, and without
him not one thing became which had become. 4 In him was life, and the life was
the light of humanity. 5 And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness
seized[5]
him not.
6 A man came into being, sent from deity, namely, Yochanan[6]: 7
this man came as a witness that he might witness about the Light, that all
might believe through him. 8 He was not that Light; but he came so that he might witness about the light - 9 that the True
Light was coming into the world that lights everyone.
10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, yet the
world knew him not. 11 To his own he came, and his own received him not. 12 But
as many as received him, the ones believing in his name, to them he gave
authority to become divine children; 13 who were born not of bloodlines, nor of
desire of flesh, nor of desire of a husband[7],
but out of deity.
14 So the Logos became flesh and tented among us, and we beheld his
radiance[8],
the radiance as of an only-born from a father, full of favor and of truth.
15 Yochanan witnesses about him
and has cried aloud, saying: This was
he of whom I said, The one after me has come to be before me since he was my
first. 16 Because of his fullness we all have received, even favor in place of
favor[9];
17 for the Torah through Moshe was given; the favor and the truth through
Yahshua[10]-Anointed[11]
came to be.
18 Deity has no person never[12]
seen; an only-begotten deity, being in the Father’s breast, that event he declared.
Wisdom
9:9. {Solomon
prays for Wisdom} With you, O Yah, is Wisdom, she who
knows your works, she who was present when you made the world; she understands
what is pleasing in your eyes and what agrees with your commandments. 10. Dispatch her from the holy heavens, send
her forth from your throne of glory to help me and to toil with me and teach me
what is pleasing to you; 11. since she knows and understands everything she
will guide me prudently in my actions and will protect me with her glory.
12. Then all I do will be
acceptable, I shall govern your people justly and be worthy of my father's
throne. 13. What human being indeed can know the intentions of Elohim? And who can comprehend the will of Yahweh? 14. For the reasoning of mortals is
inadequate, our attitudes of mind unstable; 15. for a perishable body presses
down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the mind with its many
cares.
16. It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth, laborious to know what lies within our reach; who, then, can discover what is in the heavens? 17. And who could ever have known your will, had you not given Wisdom and sent your holy Spirit from above? 18. Thus have the paths of those on earth been straightened and people have been taught what pleases you, and have been saved, by Wisdom.
OR, for Fathers’ Day -
Invitation
to the Apocrypha, Daniel Harrington
Some of them have left behind a name, so that
others declare their praise. But of others there is no memory; they have
perished as though they had never existed; they have become as though they had
never been born, they and their children after them. But these also were
godly men and women, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten; Their
offspring will continue forever, and their glory will never be blotted
out. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their names live on generation
after generation.
I want to walk as
a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus.
In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the light of the city of
I want to see the brightness of God. I want to look at Jesus.
Clear sun of righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the
Father.
I’m looking for the coming of Christ. I want to be with Jesus.
When we have run the patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus.
- Kathleen
Thomerson, 1966
There For You
In 1989,
The Prolog and the Song
I suppose I’ve read the prolog to the Gospel
of John a hundred times. I’ve probably
translated it a dozen different ways. No
matter how much I study it, power
still “radiates” from it: new and ever-more-brilliant aspects of both Father
and Son.
This time through, I was struck by the
relationship between the Logos and the Logos-giver: perfect parenthood,
respectful child-ship. It’s as though
John the Baptist, who was sent from the Father, is the voice of the Father. He
says, “The one after me has come ahead of me since he was my first.” Through his messenger, Yahweh’s saying that
the Logos had attained highness
without grasping for it, but by virtue of coming to be the only-born of the Heavenly Father, and first-born of many children.
Yes, Yahshua was the Father’s first.
How Yahshua attained his majesty reminds us
again of that ancient hymn the Apostle Paul sang to the Philippians:
Consider
the Anointed One, who, existing in a form of deity, didn’t regard equality as
something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave:
humbled himself, obedient to the death – even a stake’s death. So the Father
highly exalted him, and bestowed upon him the name above all, so at the name
of Yahshua all might bend a knee, and every tongue profess him Anointed Master and Radiance of the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)
This primeval psalm has proven to be
prophecy fulfilled in our time, since
the name Yahshua (in the corrupted form “Jesus”) is indeed the name above all others – a name
cherished and emulated – a name relied upon by millions – a famous name – a
name receiving worship and fomenting rebellion.
A Proud Father
Yahweh Almighty says through his Messenger,
“he was after me – but now he’s before me – because he was my first.” Yahshua
was a special offspring – not conceived through human will or through a husband
(says the inspired
writer)
but brought into being through a woman by the good intention and expressed will of the
Heavenly Father.
No matter how good or successful a father
is, there’s no guarantee that the offspring will follow. No matter how smart the father –
there’s no guarantee. No matter how
religious or obedient, an offspring’s behavior can’t be predicted. Unpredictable, that is, until that son or daughter is tested and tried by
life’s difficult circumstances.
The earliest sources tell us that when
Yahshua was dunked in the
So Yahshua in his maturity is singled out to
bear the title Anointed; his free
will, having been carefully projected by his history, would surely take him in
paths of righteousness rather than damnation.
Now, after all, the Father introduces his son to the world in the joy
and pride of human fatherhood.
For this is his first-born and only-born child – a son is given to the world; and the government shall rest upon his shoulders.
He
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and Yahweh Elohim
shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the
house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke
1:32,33).
If
that isn’t an announcement of paternal satisfaction! Might we go as far as to say that this Father
is just plain proud of his boy?
It would be such a beautiful picture of
Yah – proud – holding a son close upon his old heart,
Examining fingers and toes and his
soul, exploring each new and near perfect-formed part.
This Father employed the rude pottery
wheel to fashion his son to his righteous demand,
And to fire his skin and to sharpen his
mind; strong legs, ‘gainst his foes, he was rendered to stand,
With piercing, discerning young eyes and
keen ears, designed so that truth might be seen and be heard
And be told with a mouth for the
heavenly word: a word that sprouts wings, branches just like a bird.
How proud must the Father have felt all
those years, to witness his Son thrive in life and in limb,
So to lead many brothers and sisters and
kin to a full-grown maturity, all just like Him.
-Jackson Snyder, 2005
A Confident Father
“I’m well-pleased in my Son,” said our Heavenly
Father.
Some of us
grew up with a father figure who, like the Heavenly Father, affirmed our
abilities as we stumbled to adulthood. I was fortunate to have V. A. Pete Snyder for
a grandfather. He was an encourager. He told everyone
how wonderful his children and grandchildren were until they were tired of
hearing it. Grampa Pete often tried to
convince us we could to do anything, and many times he extended the means of going forth in a “right-doing” direction.
That was because my Grampa Pete
knew discouragement. He was raised one
of eight children by overworked farm parents in a wretched one-room shack out
in the country. In 1976, at seventy-two,
he could retire if he wanted, having spent his life building a better one for
his family. But he didn’t; and that was
good for me.
I was
twenty-three, married, a failure at college, feeling low down, no real
prospects. I hadn’t asked for help, but now
I had to ask; I had a newborn.
While
waiting outside Grampa’s office door, I heard him talking to a real estate
agent about my brother Pete. “O that
Petesy! He can do anything. He can play the trombone, slam a golf ball
three hundred yards, and now he’s going to college in Missoura! That Petesy-boy – he can do anything!”
I thought,
“And here I am, needing encouragement.
All my golf balls fly
about fifty yards straight in the air and end up in the woods! If I were only Petesy, I wouldn’t be here – I’d be out doing anything! Anything!”
I turned to leave, but then Grampa shouted, “Jackie, come on in.”
With my
eyes to the floor, I said, “Grampa, I need help. I’m starting a little business, but in the
meantime, I’m broke. I don’t even have
milk money for the baby.” Grampa was
chewing his gum. “I thought you were
workin’ on the sewer, Jackie.” I
replied, “Yeah, I was, but it’s too dangerous for me. I quit.”
Grampa was chewing that gum.
“That’s no place for someone as smart as you, Jackie; Awww! Don’t worry about it!” I said, “A bad job’s better than no
job.” But he said, “Just forget it – you
don’t belong in the sewer anyway.”
The real
estate agent was still outside the door.
“Marv! Come in here a minute.”
Marv came back in. Grampa Pete said,
“Marv, Jackie needs a good job. He’s mowed my yard for fifteen years and
painted my house; he can really play the TUBA; you oughta hear him! Marv, you gotta job for ‘im, don’t ya?” I was really embarrassed, but felt better;
somebody didn’t see me for what I
couldn’t do, but for what I could, based on what I’d done.
Marv said,
“Well, yeah, Jackie. I need a couple
fellows who’ll work hard without supervision.”
I was happy to hear that. Instead
of a handout, someone believed that this
young man could be trusted to work independently. Before I left, Grampa stuffed a bill in my
jacket pocket. “This’ll hold ya over
till payday,” he said. Then he said,
“Look in my eyes. Don’t let me down now,
Jackie!” How could I?
A little
confidence, like a little encouragement, goes a long, long way. The
prophet tells us the Heavenly Father had confidence
in his son even before he was born. The son appreciated that confidence,
and acted accordingly. He’d die
rather than let Father down. At the very
heart of our text is confidence. “To
as many as received him, believing in
his name, he gave authority to become divine children.” That includes you and I, friend – divine
children. Now that’s real
encouragement! He has confidence IN YOU
AND ME that he’s not bashful about making public. Now doesn’t that give you confidence? Amen? Doesn’t that make you want to be an
encourager?
A Reliable Father
To become
a divine child takes an act of faith – we trust that he’s made it so. We’re reborn!
Our reliance upon Father is evident in our prayers, as we mostly ask
favors. And we’ve received whatever we’ve needed when we’ve trusted in his
providence and favor. Father is reliable.
Consider
what David says about his Father’s reliability in
Psalms 37:23-26. Yahweh
guides a strong man’s steps and keeps them firm; and takes pleasure in
him. When he trips he is not thrown
sprawling, since Yahweh supports him by
the hand. Now I am old, but ever
since my youth I never saw an upright person abandoned, or the descendants of the upright forced to beg their bread. (NJB)
One fellow
from church told me about his father. He
also started poor, during the Great Depression.
There were few jobs. This
fellow’s father had a job, but it was
a wretched-hard labor with long hours – like slavery. He earned only enough to feed the
family. “In hard times,” the fellow told
me, “a bad job’s better’n no job.” He
watched his father come home every night spent – he’d fall asleep on the
worn-out couch. Then every morning
early, the boy watched his father get ready for work again. He’d shave with a straight razor – then drink
a pint of gin.
“What do
you think of that?” the fellow baited me.
I believe he wanted to find out if I was in the Temperance Union. I didn’t know
what to say. I asked him, “What
do you think of that?” He said, “Daddy never missed a day’s work;
his days were long and hard – and he did whatever he needed to get
through. He never complained. Why?
Because he had a job. There was food on the table every day. Maybe that drink got him through. I never doubted his reliability.”
This
testimony described to me a father who wasn’t perfect, but who had responsibility then actually took responsibility. “There was food on the table every day!” When he said that, I could tell how this
fellow still felt about his Daddy, though he’d long since departed. He respected him! For, despite appearances, despite poverty,
despite the economy, he proved reliable in the worst of times. And that boy, now retired himself, has
demonstrated a lifetime of responsible living on behalf of those whom the
Heavenly Father has entrusted him.
It’s hard
to find reliability in affluent
fathers, much less in poor. However, if
a flawed man can assume full
responsibility for what’s come to be through him, how much more might a perfect
man be reliable for you, his child, even in the hardest of times?
Being Reliable Children
Though
Yahshua was the first-born of a proud father, he wasn’t to be the last-born. Paul tells us, “Those Yahweh foreknew, he
also fore-appointed to be formed to the image of His Son, that he might
be first of many brothers”
(and I might add, “sisters”) (Romans
8:29). Paul’s nemesis, James, affirms this by adding,
“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.” Our gospel text
explains that Yahshua was the radiance of the Almighty and the light
of humanity. Now we know that the
Heavenly Father is full of lights,
and sons and daughters are begotten of
light.
James continues, “Of his own free will he
brought us into being by the Word of
truth, the first fruits of his
creatures” (James
1:17,18). Yahshua’s own brother declares the privilege
we have as the family of the Heavenly Father. It also yokes us with tremendous
responsibility – as offspring of lights, we’re to shine forth; it’s in our new
nature to shine.
As I was preparing this message, a dear lady
called to say her middle-aged son was visiting, fixing things around the house. Inspired by the Gospel, I said, “You must be
proud of a son that helps out like that.”
She told me, “He wouldn’t be much of a son if he didn’t!” And she was right; many sons are dark stars.
As the darkness isn’t able to seize the True
Light, our light shan’t fade so long as we abide in our Big Brother and do
as he does. No one’s able to ignore the
light in the dark that is you.
So let yourself shine. Let
yourself shine. It’s your new nature as
the newly begotten of a proud father – an offshoot of divine light. And let the darkness scatter when you alight!
She Saw the Light
Yes, the light shines in darkness even when
folks don’t realize it. Ignorance of
light is what Scripture means by “darkness.”
Consider the hospital nurse – she escorts a sad young fellow to the bedside of a dying man. “Your son’s here,” she whispers several times
until the man’s eyes open. He dimly sees
the youth through the haze of his last morphine injection. The dying man reaches out a little, and the
younger squeezes his hand, conveying encouragement. The nurse brings a
chair. He thinks, Why, this is what
Jesus would do.”
All night the youth holds that frail hand,
offering hopeful prayers and words. The
man dying says nothing; an occasional squeeze makes it clear he knows his son’s
near. The morning comes; the patient
dies quietly. The youth places the
lifeless hand back upon the bed and fetches the nurse, who’s also spent the
night at duty. While she tarries with
the body, the youth waits. When she’s
finished, she offers her condolences for the loss of a father. But the young man interrupts her.
“Nurse,
just who was that man?” The nurse
replies, “I thought he was your father!”
The visitor answers, “No, I never saw him before.” The nurse asks again, “Then why didn’t you
say something when I took you in last night?”
The young man slowly explains, “I guess I knew he needed his boy,
but his boy wasn’t around. It seems
Jesus sent me instead; for he needed me.
And in some way I can’t explain, I
needed him, too.”