Because of several pastoral emergencies and other duties I have fallen behind in my posts.  I didn't want to skip  3 Epiphany since it has played a pivotal role in how I understand Jesus Christ as someone who was quite steeped in the mystical tradition.  The reading describes Jesus as he begins his public ministry -"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15 NRSV)."  Something worth noting is that neither the phrase "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven" appears anywhere in the Old Testament.  If you refer back to my post on Levels of Interpretation , you'll see that the Kingdom of God can neither be understood from the simple or the allusion level.  To understand it we need to look deeper into the Midrash or Kabbalah.  According to the Midrash, Kingdom could refer to the Messianic Age, when the world would be set right and the righteous would have the opportunity to study Tor...

There are always two options for readings on Christmas - The Nativity Story from Luke , and the more esoteric poetry from John .  Each tells the story from a different perspective, and both work together to help us understand the significance of Christ's birth. The main message that both Jesus, and John the Baptist preached was that the Kingdom of God had come near.  The Hebrew word translated as Kingdom is Malchut, which is also the name of the tenth sefirot in Kabbalah.  The significance of Malchut is that it is the receptical of all the other aspects.  Will, Wisdom, Understanding, Justice, Mercy, Compassion, Endurance, Splendor, and Foundation are all poured into Malchut.  On it's very surface, Malchut is about sovereignty, kingship, or on a very basic level - dignity.  The Gospel story is good news because it raises up ordinary people to the level of dignity that a king would have. In the story from  Luke  angels appeared to shepherds...