May 24th, 2025

The season of Easter still continues on, although there is the matter of the ascension of Jesus to consider as well. That is coming this Thursday, forty days after his resurrection. And the presence of Jesus is a good topic of discussion, especially because some Christians consider Jesus’ ascension to be an important part in determining the extent of his presence in the supper which he instituted before he made his sacrificial death. When Jesus says, “This is my body,” it follows that there is to be nothing in the mind that says he is not able to make that happen. As true God, he can do whatever he wants.

A different aspect that takes Jesus into the present is the presence of what is typically called an “historical present”. That means that, instead of the text saying that a person “did” something, the form of the verb is that the person “does” something. The verbs that are in the historical present in the Gospel according to Luke have a great amount of variety when it comes to the persons attached to those verbs. And that characteristic is important if the connection to this account is made to a specific LIVING creature of the Lord’s throne, the living creature of the ox. A throne typically shows the ramifications or the authority of the one who sits on that throne. And the ox is a powerful but gentle creature and able to work with a variety of others, especially when compared to the living creature of the lion. Jesus, true God, was able to work with a huge variety of people.

It should also be said that the verbs in the historical present in the text below are in capital letters. And the hyphens below are given to help give the reader an idea of how many words in English are from the one word in the Greek. And the particular words in English have been chosen to show a close connection between the English and the Greek.

With all of the above taken into account, and with all the possible choices that a translation could be, the following is called an EXTREMELY literal translation of a particular Greek text. Although the Gospel reading for this Sunday is also a choice, like last Sunday, they are both from the Gospel according to John (16:22-33; 5:1-9). With the writings of this website, we are currently going through the Gospel according to Luke. And we are looking at the work in the order that was laid out by the writer, a section at a time.

Hopefully such a translation will be helpful. It is highly recommended that at least one other translation or a study bible is nearby to help understand the text below. And what follows is Luke 11:29-54.

Now  the  crowds  pressing-upon,  he-began  to-say,  “The  generation,  this  generation,  evil  it-is;  a-sign  it-seeks,  and  a-sign,  no,  will-be-given  to-it,  if  not  the  sign  of-Jonah.  For  even-as  he-became,  Jonah  to-the  Ninevites,  a-sign,  so  he-will-be  also,  the  Son  of-the  Man,  to-the  generation,  this.  Queen  of-south,  she-will-be-raised  in  the  judgment  with  the  men  of-the  generation,  this,  and  she-will-condemn  them,  because  she-came  from  the  extremities  of-the  earth  to-hear  the  wisdom  of-Solomon,  and  behold,  a-greater-thing  than-Solomon,  here.  Men,  Ninevites,  they-will-rise-up  in  the  judgment  with  the  generation,  this,  and  they-will-condemn  it,  because  they-repented  into  the  proclamation  of-Jonah,  and  behold,  a-greater  than-Jonah,  here.”

“No-one  a-lamp,  having-lit  into  a-crypt,  he-puts,  now-not  under  the  basket,  but-on-the-contrary,  upon  the  lampstand,  that  the-ones  coming-into,  the  light  they-may-see.  The  lamp  of-the  body,  it-is  the  eye  of-you.  When  the  eye  of-you,  single,  it-is,  also  whole,  the  body  of-you,  bright  it-is;  now  when  evil  it-is,  also  the  body  of-you,  dark.  Therefore,  scope,  not  the  light,  the  in  you,  darkness  it-is.  Therefore,  if  the  body  of-you  whole,  bright;  not  having  part  any  dark,  it-will-be  bright,  whole,  as  when  the  lamp,  with-the  ray-of-light,  it-enlightens  you.”

Now  in  the  to-speak,  HE-ASKS  him,  a-pharisee,  that  he-would-dine  beside  him;  now  having-come-into,  he-reclined.  Now  the  pharisee,  having-seen,  he-marveled  that  not  first  he-was-baptized  before  the  dinner.  Now  he-said,  the  Lord,  toward  him,  “Right-now  you,  the  pharisees,  the  outside  of-the  cup  and  of-the  dish,  you-catharsis,  now  the  inside  of-you  is-full  of-robbery  and  wickedness.”

“Unwise-ones,  not  the-one  having-made  the  outside  also  the  inside  he-made?  Nevertheless,  the-things  being-within  give  mercies,  and  behold,  all-things  clean  to-you  they-are.  But-on-the-contrary,  woe  to-you,  to-the  pharisees,  because  you-take-a-tenth-from  the  mint,  and  the  rue,  and  every  herb,  and  you-come-along  the  judgment  and  the  agape  of-the  God;  now  these-things  it-is-necessary  to-do  and-those  not  to-send-along.”

“Woe  to-you,  to-the  pharisees,  because  you-agape  the  proto-cathedral  in  the  synagogues  and  the  greetings  in  the  agoras.  Woe  to-you,  because  you-are  as  the  tombs,  the  unseen,  and  the  people,  the  walking-around  over,  not  they-do-know.”

Now  having-answered,  one  of-the  legalists,  HE-SAYS  to-him,  “Teacher,  these-things  saying,  also  us  you-are-insulting.”

Now  the-one  said,  “Also  to-you,  to-the  legalists,  woe;  because  you-burden  the  people  with-burdens  difficult-to-carry,  and  yourselves  with-one  of-the  fingers  of-you,  not  you-do-touch  the  burdens.”

“Woe  to-you,  because  you-build  the  tombs  of-the  prophets,  now  the  fathers  of-you,  they-killed  them.  So  witnesses  you-are,  and  you-entirely-approve  the  works  of-the  fathers  of-you,  because,  on-the-one-hand,  they,  they-killed  them;  on-the-other-hand,  you,  you-build.  On-account-of  this,  also  the  wisdom  of-the  God  said,  ‘I-will-send-out  into  them  prophets  and  apostles,  and  out-of  them,  they-will-kill,  and  they-will-persecute,  that  it-may-be-sought-out,  the  blood  of-all  of-the  prophets,  the  having-been-shed  from-the  foundation  of-world,  from  the  generation,  this;  from  blood  of-Abel  until  blood  of-Zachariah,  of-the  having-perished  between  the  altar  and  the  house;  yes,  I-am-saying  to-you,  it-will-be-sought-out  from  the  generation,  this.’”

“Woe  to-you,  to-the  legalists,  because  you-took  the  key  of-the  knowledge;  yourselves,  not  you-did-come-into,  and  the-ones  coming-into  you-prevented.”

And-from-there,  coming-out,  he,  they-began,  the  grammatists  and  the  pharisees,  terribly  to-be-angry  and  to-draw-out-from-the-mouth  him  concerning  a-great-number-of-things,  lying-in-wait-for  him,  to-trap  something  out-of  the  mouth  of-him.

Perhaps you “caught” that the vocabulary near the end of this section was quite complicated, and it was also terribly negative. Well, Luke was a doctor, and a doctor usually has a rich vocabulary. A doctor also usually sees a variety of bad bodies, and he knows that these bodies are wasting away. This particular doctor also knows the end of the story about Jesus’ body. And his death is truly not the end of the story. There is more to come. There is MUCH more to come.
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The use of the word “Lord” above in the third paragraph also gives us an indication of what is to come. The word started a few chapters ago when there was compassion for a widow whose son had just died. There is sadness in the world. There is sin. There are a lot of words that keep us distracted from the Lord of sin, the Lord of death, the Lord of life. Here is Jesus.