Ellis Washington
Symposium- -woman, thou art loosed!
By Ellis Washington
Socrates (470-399 B.C.) was a famous Greek philosopher from Athens, who taught Plato, and Plato taught Aristotle, and Aristotle taught Alexander the Great. Socrates used a simple but cleverly profound method of teaching by asking revelatory, psychologically probing questions. The Greeks called this form Dialectic – starting from a thesis or question, then discussing ideas and moving back and forth between points of view to determine how well ideas stand up to critical review, with the ultimate principle of the dialogue being Veritas – Truth.
Jesus heals the woman with an issue of blood. And the woman said within her heart, "If I can but touch the hem of his garment, I will be made whole."
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
~ Luke 13:12
"Never allow another person to define how you feel about you. You give too much power to other people... You cannot allow someone to be so important to you that if they don't like you, you don't like you."
~ Bishop T.D. Jakes, 1993 Sermon: Woman, Thou Art Loosed!
Characters:
Socrates
Bishop T.D. Jakes
Narrator
{Setting: Jerusalem, circa 30-33 A.D.}
Socrates: We are gathered here today at my Symposium in the ancient Holy land of Jerusalem in the Judea to examine the Biblical narrative of Jesus and the Woman with an issue of blood. This text brings to mind this question for the Ages: What is Blessing? One text calls it "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." But this definition is unsatisfactory to me because I don't want happiness from God. Why? Because happiness is transitory, fleeting, and based on happenstance, meaning it's here today and gone tomorrow. I want a Blessing from God based on Joy. Why? Because the Joy of the Lord is my strength. An existential Joy that exists from everlasting to everlasting and thus never ends despite my circumstance, problems, and pains.
Thus, this day, at this Symposium we will separate the wheat from the chaff, we will separate the lovers of God from the haters of Man. This day, we will separate the pure in heart from the Scoffers, Sophists, and Hypocrites. Therefore, the dialectical question I present to you this day at this Symposium is declared: Can Jesus bless who Man rejects?
Narrator: Now let us hear the Word of the Lord according to the Gospel of St. Luke 13:11-17:
Socrates: The great Theologian, Reinhard Bonnke, in his essential Commentary on the Bible wrote about this bleeding woman; this rejected, scorned, hated woman who had been bowed over in excruciating pain, bleeding uncontrollably for 18 long years; a woman who had spent all of her money on physicians of Men, yet was not healed until Jesus Christ, the Great Physician of the Universe healed her loss in such a transcendent and marvelous manner that the Gospel declares she was "loosed from thine infirmity."
Bonnke writes: "This woman's constant hemorrhage was a disaster (Luke 8:43-48). It left her anemic, weak, breathless and hardly able to walk. Because she had no money she was no longer able to eat nourishing food to compensate for her loss of strength. Also, she was ceremonially unclean, and because of her illness, everything and everybody she touched would be considered unclean (Lev. 15:19-30). Jesus made systematic circuits through the villages and she knew He would be coming. When He did, she struggled through the crowd and touched the fringe of His robe and was instantly healed. She felt it. So did Jesus. Now comes the real point of the story."
Socrates: {turning to Bishop Jakes} Bishop, now declare to my students and to this vast audience attending this Symposium who are the invisible characters of Luke's Gospel? Professional liars are they all. We in ancient times called them Scoffers, Sophists, Hypocrites, Men with Masks. In Jesus' day they called them Hypocrites, religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, the Lawyers, the Gnostics... Holocaust Men who tormented Jesus day and night... Evil men of wicked imaginations, self-righteous professional liars. People who always lived to silence Freedom of Speech... to silence Jesus... to silence Veritas (truth).
But I heard God's promise to Father Abraham, the Father of the Jews. He spoke unto their generations through the Ages in the Book of Genesis 12:3 – And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Bishop, today you call these people Professional Liars – Politicians, Judges, Journalists, Lawyers, Lobbyists, Congress, Intellectuals, Professors, Poverty Pimps, Poverty Preachers, Investment Gangsters... I mean Bankers... And the paradox of paradoxes is that it is We the People who empower these Holocaust Humans to power to kill society, to kill God, to kill, to betray our Judeo-Christian traditions and institutions that our Founding Fathers through the Ages gave their lives to preserve.
Tell me Bishop, who are these the invisible professionals that always stand between Christ and the Woman with the issue of blood? That stand between your Promise and your Deliverance ... That stand between Jesus and the Redemption of the whole World, boasting with Pride of their dark, perverted hearts like the Pharaoh of Egypt did before God's prophet Moses saying, "Who is the Lord, that I should worship Him?!"
Bishop T.D. Jakes: A hypocrite is reminiscent of a term applied to an actor who said their lines behind a mask. And the problem with ministering to people is it is difficult to get them to take their mask off. I want to challenge you... Take your mask off... Ceremony can never take the place over ministry... She was just a woman in the crowd, but he saw her. And the first thing I you must understand to experience any real deliverance from the Lord is that God sees you. He sees you, not who you pretend to be. Not who you think you have to be. Not what you do to defend your position. Not the callused person you have become through years of abuse and misuse... He sees you. He sees what nobody else sees...
One of the things that gives dignity and credence to us is when people look at us. It affirms the fact that we are important. Nobody had seen her. She had become an anonymous, fictitious character in the House of the Lord...
Socrates: Have you ever gone through anything and tried to get over it, but it was difficult to get over? How many people understand what I'm talking about?
Bishop T.D. Jakes: It's hard to get over everything. And you have to try different things. You try to pray it out. You try to fast it out. You try to sing it out. You try to become involved in other activities. Now you're going into sports. Now you're going into this – and now you're jogging, you're changing this and you're changing that. And you move from city to city and place to place. She tried a whole lot of things, but she in no wise could lift up herself... Many, many times Woman you lift up everybody but you.
Socrates: And isn't it terrible when everybody gets up because of you, but you? And they all walk away.
If you quit waiting on someone to ride up on a horse and get you out the tower and get your Bible off the shelf, and minister to yourself. Anoint yourself with oil. Tell the devil he is a liar! Bind every demon force that is trying to take advantage of your broken marriage, of your broken relationship; rebuke and put your foot on his head in the name of Jesus! Look in the mirror and say, "Girl, you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you." {Crescendo} Put your face on, your dress on, your hat on, your heels on; buy your car, and keep on living! {Shouts of praise to God}
Socrates: Jesus asked a seemingly silly question, "Who touched me?" Well, dozens had. Then the woman came trembling and afraid. Why? Because she had touched Him and she knew her defilement had defiled Jesus. (Likewise, our defilement of sin defiled Him – He was made sin for us on the Cross (2 Cor. 5:21). All eyes were upon her. The whole crowd was quiet, everybody straining to see who had brought the party to a screeching halt. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was entirely focused on one outcast, a little scrap of unknown humanity. Her loneliness and illness had put all heaven in a rage, and God sent His Son for her alone at this moment.
Again, I ask the same question I asked at the beginning of this Symposium: Can Jesus bless who Man rejects? Then came Christ's verdict. The same One who will one day judge the nations and pronounce His verdict on mighty empires, the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, paused for a moment and said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace" (Luke 8:48). This same Jesus is now knocking at your door today. Anybody sick or in bondage? Seize your opportunity! Jesus has come for you."
Bishop T.D. Jakes: Thank God Jesus is not afraid to deal with the ugly stuff. He didn't look at her after she got it together, he looked at her while she was still a mess. He dignified her presence with attention. He looked at her. Most men like to look at a woman who looks good. He looked at a woman who was twisted and mutated and couldn't get up, but He dignified her presence with His attention. He looked right at her. He saw her. He called her... He did not have to call her to heal her. We are talking about the Lord you know? He could have spoke the word. But your deliverance is not guaranteed to be convenient. You may have to make some changes to get what God has for you...
I want you to touch every woman you can reach and tell them: "God's got something else for you." Something more than where you've been. Something greater than what you've seen. Something higher than what you've reached. God's got something else for you. Why do you think he kept you alive? Why do you think you didn't lose your mind? Why do you think you didn't go crazy? Other women have gone crazy going through what you've been through... God! ...
I know the devil has been trying to tell you it's' over, it's finished, and it's done with, and that you not goin' to make it, and you are at the end of your rope. And you have become a cheerleader for everybody else. You better put your pom-poms down and get back out on the field... This is War!
... Woman, thou art loosed!
Book Notice
Please purchase my latest opus dedicated to that Conservative Colossus, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Here are the latest two new volumes from my ongoing historical series – THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION: History of Liberal Fascism through the Ages (University Press of America, 2015):
However, before the book is officially released to the public, I have to place 100 pre-publication orders (50 orders per each volume). I need your help to make this happen ASAP. Please place your order today for Volume 3 & Volume 4. Of course, if you can order all 100 copies today, the book will become official tomorrow.
Please circulate this flyer to all your email contacts & Facebook/Twitter followers who may be interested in purchasing this opus which will serve as a ready apologetic against the rampant Marxist-Progressive propaganda taught in America's public schools, colleges, universities, graduate schools, and law schools. Thanks in advance to all my friends, associates and colleagues for your invaluable support! Law and History Blog: www.EllisWashingtonReport.com
Invitation for manuscripts
I am starting a new a program on my blog dedicated to giving young conservatives (ages 14-35) a regular place to display and publish their ideas called Socrates Corner. If you know of any young person who wants to publish their ideas on any subject, have them send their essay manuscripts to my email at ewashington@wnd.com.
© Ellis Washington
November 5, 2015
Socrates (470-399 B.C.) was a famous Greek philosopher from Athens, who taught Plato, and Plato taught Aristotle, and Aristotle taught Alexander the Great. Socrates used a simple but cleverly profound method of teaching by asking revelatory, psychologically probing questions. The Greeks called this form Dialectic – starting from a thesis or question, then discussing ideas and moving back and forth between points of view to determine how well ideas stand up to critical review, with the ultimate principle of the dialogue being Veritas – Truth.
Jesus heals the woman with an issue of blood. And the woman said within her heart, "If I can but touch the hem of his garment, I will be made whole."
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
~ Luke 13:12
"Never allow another person to define how you feel about you. You give too much power to other people... You cannot allow someone to be so important to you that if they don't like you, you don't like you."
~ Bishop T.D. Jakes, 1993 Sermon: Woman, Thou Art Loosed!
Characters:
Socrates
Bishop T.D. Jakes
Narrator
{Setting: Jerusalem, circa 30-33 A.D.}
Socrates: We are gathered here today at my Symposium in the ancient Holy land of Jerusalem in the Judea to examine the Biblical narrative of Jesus and the Woman with an issue of blood. This text brings to mind this question for the Ages: What is Blessing? One text calls it "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." But this definition is unsatisfactory to me because I don't want happiness from God. Why? Because happiness is transitory, fleeting, and based on happenstance, meaning it's here today and gone tomorrow. I want a Blessing from God based on Joy. Why? Because the Joy of the Lord is my strength. An existential Joy that exists from everlasting to everlasting and thus never ends despite my circumstance, problems, and pains.
Thus, this day, at this Symposium we will separate the wheat from the chaff, we will separate the lovers of God from the haters of Man. This day, we will separate the pure in heart from the Scoffers, Sophists, and Hypocrites. Therefore, the dialectical question I present to you this day at this Symposium is declared: Can Jesus bless who Man rejects?
Narrator: Now let us hear the Word of the Lord according to the Gospel of St. Luke 13:11-17:
-
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.
15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
Narrator: Again let us hear the Word of the Lord according to the Gospel of St. Mark 5:27-28:
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Socrates: The great Theologian, Reinhard Bonnke, in his essential Commentary on the Bible wrote about this bleeding woman; this rejected, scorned, hated woman who had been bowed over in excruciating pain, bleeding uncontrollably for 18 long years; a woman who had spent all of her money on physicians of Men, yet was not healed until Jesus Christ, the Great Physician of the Universe healed her loss in such a transcendent and marvelous manner that the Gospel declares she was "loosed from thine infirmity."
Bonnke writes: "This woman's constant hemorrhage was a disaster (Luke 8:43-48). It left her anemic, weak, breathless and hardly able to walk. Because she had no money she was no longer able to eat nourishing food to compensate for her loss of strength. Also, she was ceremonially unclean, and because of her illness, everything and everybody she touched would be considered unclean (Lev. 15:19-30). Jesus made systematic circuits through the villages and she knew He would be coming. When He did, she struggled through the crowd and touched the fringe of His robe and was instantly healed. She felt it. So did Jesus. Now comes the real point of the story."
Socrates: {turning to Bishop Jakes} Bishop, now declare to my students and to this vast audience attending this Symposium who are the invisible characters of Luke's Gospel? Professional liars are they all. We in ancient times called them Scoffers, Sophists, Hypocrites, Men with Masks. In Jesus' day they called them Hypocrites, religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, the Lawyers, the Gnostics... Holocaust Men who tormented Jesus day and night... Evil men of wicked imaginations, self-righteous professional liars. People who always lived to silence Freedom of Speech... to silence Jesus... to silence Veritas (truth).
But I heard God's promise to Father Abraham, the Father of the Jews. He spoke unto their generations through the Ages in the Book of Genesis 12:3 – And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Bishop, today you call these people Professional Liars – Politicians, Judges, Journalists, Lawyers, Lobbyists, Congress, Intellectuals, Professors, Poverty Pimps, Poverty Preachers, Investment Gangsters... I mean Bankers... And the paradox of paradoxes is that it is We the People who empower these Holocaust Humans to power to kill society, to kill God, to kill, to betray our Judeo-Christian traditions and institutions that our Founding Fathers through the Ages gave their lives to preserve.
Tell me Bishop, who are these the invisible professionals that always stand between Christ and the Woman with the issue of blood? That stand between your Promise and your Deliverance ... That stand between Jesus and the Redemption of the whole World, boasting with Pride of their dark, perverted hearts like the Pharaoh of Egypt did before God's prophet Moses saying, "Who is the Lord, that I should worship Him?!"
Bishop T.D. Jakes: A hypocrite is reminiscent of a term applied to an actor who said their lines behind a mask. And the problem with ministering to people is it is difficult to get them to take their mask off. I want to challenge you... Take your mask off... Ceremony can never take the place over ministry... She was just a woman in the crowd, but he saw her. And the first thing I you must understand to experience any real deliverance from the Lord is that God sees you. He sees you, not who you pretend to be. Not who you think you have to be. Not what you do to defend your position. Not the callused person you have become through years of abuse and misuse... He sees you. He sees what nobody else sees...
One of the things that gives dignity and credence to us is when people look at us. It affirms the fact that we are important. Nobody had seen her. She had become an anonymous, fictitious character in the House of the Lord...
Socrates: Have you ever gone through anything and tried to get over it, but it was difficult to get over? How many people understand what I'm talking about?
Bishop T.D. Jakes: It's hard to get over everything. And you have to try different things. You try to pray it out. You try to fast it out. You try to sing it out. You try to become involved in other activities. Now you're going into sports. Now you're going into this – and now you're jogging, you're changing this and you're changing that. And you move from city to city and place to place. She tried a whole lot of things, but she in no wise could lift up herself... Many, many times Woman you lift up everybody but you.
Socrates: And isn't it terrible when everybody gets up because of you, but you? And they all walk away.
If you quit waiting on someone to ride up on a horse and get you out the tower and get your Bible off the shelf, and minister to yourself. Anoint yourself with oil. Tell the devil he is a liar! Bind every demon force that is trying to take advantage of your broken marriage, of your broken relationship; rebuke and put your foot on his head in the name of Jesus! Look in the mirror and say, "Girl, you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you." {Crescendo} Put your face on, your dress on, your hat on, your heels on; buy your car, and keep on living! {Shouts of praise to God}
Socrates: Jesus asked a seemingly silly question, "Who touched me?" Well, dozens had. Then the woman came trembling and afraid. Why? Because she had touched Him and she knew her defilement had defiled Jesus. (Likewise, our defilement of sin defiled Him – He was made sin for us on the Cross (2 Cor. 5:21). All eyes were upon her. The whole crowd was quiet, everybody straining to see who had brought the party to a screeching halt. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was entirely focused on one outcast, a little scrap of unknown humanity. Her loneliness and illness had put all heaven in a rage, and God sent His Son for her alone at this moment.
Again, I ask the same question I asked at the beginning of this Symposium: Can Jesus bless who Man rejects? Then came Christ's verdict. The same One who will one day judge the nations and pronounce His verdict on mighty empires, the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, paused for a moment and said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace" (Luke 8:48). This same Jesus is now knocking at your door today. Anybody sick or in bondage? Seize your opportunity! Jesus has come for you."
Bishop T.D. Jakes: Thank God Jesus is not afraid to deal with the ugly stuff. He didn't look at her after she got it together, he looked at her while she was still a mess. He dignified her presence with attention. He looked at her. Most men like to look at a woman who looks good. He looked at a woman who was twisted and mutated and couldn't get up, but He dignified her presence with His attention. He looked right at her. He saw her. He called her... He did not have to call her to heal her. We are talking about the Lord you know? He could have spoke the word. But your deliverance is not guaranteed to be convenient. You may have to make some changes to get what God has for you...
I want you to touch every woman you can reach and tell them: "God's got something else for you." Something more than where you've been. Something greater than what you've seen. Something higher than what you've reached. God's got something else for you. Why do you think he kept you alive? Why do you think you didn't lose your mind? Why do you think you didn't go crazy? Other women have gone crazy going through what you've been through... God! ...
I know the devil has been trying to tell you it's' over, it's finished, and it's done with, and that you not goin' to make it, and you are at the end of your rope. And you have become a cheerleader for everybody else. You better put your pom-poms down and get back out on the field... This is War!
... Woman, thou art loosed!
Book Notice
Please purchase my latest opus dedicated to that Conservative Colossus, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Here are the latest two new volumes from my ongoing historical series – THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION: History of Liberal Fascism through the Ages (University Press of America, 2015):
However, before the book is officially released to the public, I have to place 100 pre-publication orders (50 orders per each volume). I need your help to make this happen ASAP. Please place your order today for Volume 3 & Volume 4. Of course, if you can order all 100 copies today, the book will become official tomorrow.
Please circulate this flyer to all your email contacts & Facebook/Twitter followers who may be interested in purchasing this opus which will serve as a ready apologetic against the rampant Marxist-Progressive propaganda taught in America's public schools, colleges, universities, graduate schools, and law schools. Thanks in advance to all my friends, associates and colleagues for your invaluable support! Law and History Blog: www.EllisWashingtonReport.com
Invitation for manuscriptsI am starting a new a program on my blog dedicated to giving young conservatives (ages 14-35) a regular place to display and publish their ideas called Socrates Corner. If you know of any young person who wants to publish their ideas on any subject, have them send their essay manuscripts to my email at ewashington@wnd.com.
© Ellis Washington
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