"a man should cast seed into the ground"

Around the Imperial Palace and the Supreme Court Bldg. of Japan




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Mar 4:25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
Mar 4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
Mar 4:27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

"it shall be measured to you" - The First Japanese World Traveler

Around Tokyo Imperial Palace

The First Japanese World Traveler 

Around 1800, Japan ruled by samurais and their shogun (king) closed the country since the samurai government was afraid of diffusion of Christianity in Japan.

Christianity had once worked well on Japanese townsmen and farmers, leading them to getting anti-samurai rule, when Spanish (including Saint Francis Xavier) and Portuguese reached Japan in the late 16th century. Even some samurais converted to Christianity to be an enemy of the ruling samurai clan Tokugawa.  So, to prevent Europeans from making contact with Japanese, the Tokugawa shogun government closed the country in early 1600s.

But some fishing boats happened to be wrecked by a tempest and carried away off Japan.  Nonetheless, in principle, those fishermen on board such ships were not allowed to return to Japan if they had been rescued by European or American ships which happened to be sailing in the Pacific Ocean.  If they had returned to Japan, they would have to face severe punishment including death penalty.

In one of such cases around 1800, a fishing boat drifted to the Aleutian Islands, a territory of Russia.  Then Japanese fishermen were luckily rescued by Russians.  They were somehow treated well.  Later they were sent across Siberia to Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, to see the Russian Emperor.  

As the Russian Government wanted to open trade with Japan, they decided to send those Japanese back to Japan.  So, though some of the Japanese fishermen opted to stay in Russia, several of them came on board a Russian government ship which sailed through the Gulf of Finland, the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Horn, the Pacific Ocean, and north to Polustrov Kamchatka in eastern Siberia, and then finally south to Nagasaki, Japan.

The were actually outside Japan, going on a round-the-world trip for 10 years between 1794 and 1805.  Though the samurai government of Japan was first reluctant to allow those Japanese to return to Japan and their home village, the Russian captain persuaded samurai officers with enthusiasm to accept poor Japanese fishermen and not to punish them for leaving the country for any reason.  So, finally, the shogun government conceded taking in ex-fishermen as they did not become Christian in Russia, but rejected opening trade with the Russian Empire.

The leader of those fishermen was called Tsudayu.  He was 49 years old when his ship got wrecked.  He died at the age of 70 in his home town in Sabusawa-jima (presently Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture which was severely hit by an M9 earthquake and great tsunami in 2011).  He could eventually take four of 16 fishermen initially on board the wrecked fishing boat back to Japan alive  over many difficulties, which seems not to have been easy in the era.

So, this is the story of the first Japanese who traveled around the world.

A Japanese Ship Used in Samurai Era before 1860s
http://kyodokan.exblog.jp/7921539



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Mar 4:23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
Mar 4:24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
Mar 4:25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.

"Physician, heal thyself"

Imperial Palace Plaza Park, Tokyo





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Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luk 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
Luk 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Luk 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

"Is not this Joseph's son?"

Tokyo Imperial Palace Plaza (the old samurai castle of shogun), Tokyo




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Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luk 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

"where men ought to worship" - Infinite God vs. Finite World

From Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace Plaza

Infinite God vs. Finite World

It is very rare that a man encounters an act of terror.

But you cannot tell if you should face such a situation in future.

People think it is a fate or a pure accident one cannot alter or work on to change it.  There are many such things in life.  You might have been involved in a car accident or you might have been hit by a car.  You might have chosen a wrong way or path to fall in a tragedy to become a victim of some crime.

Uncertainty is everywhere.  Even a very successful person in this world is a product of many, many chains of sheer good luck in a worldly sense.  And people a kind of respect those rich people living in good luck as they look so mysterious.

However, it is a matter of the world where gain and loss can be calculated and people believe in a value system based on criteria of worldly success.  In the domain where people think that the best thing is to enjoy their life as much as possible, you only have to be pleased or depressed according to luck you experience and encounter.

However, what can be measured is finite.  All the human matters are finite in this context.  Nonetheless the God is infinite.

Before the God any happiness or the largest good luck one can enjoy is nothing.

At this point we can get a clue on how to see a tragedy of being involved in terror or other rare horrible situation.

In other word, faith in the God should help us leave the world ruled by chances, ill luck, haphazard, a twist of fate, and darkness of minds.  The faith in the God can defeat the blind and violent force in this world that determines the course of our material life.  It lifts us up above the raging sea of this wild world ruled by uncertainty.

Faith is a key to leading us to a new world where the value of ourselves, our life, and our achievements is measured in an utterly different manner than the worldly sense.  Faith is a means for us to know what pleases the God who can change any value system associated with our existence.    

So, value of a man who is killed in an act of terror can be higher that that of those who enjoy a rich life without suffering terror, for example, which can be still found in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in Syria.

Compared with infinite glory the God can give to His followers, any lucky life in this world is nothing, since such good luck is finite.



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Joh 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

"the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches" - Brainwashed Victims

Tokyo Station in Tokyo

Brainwashed Victims

Though there is a difference in time of 13 hours between Japan and the East Coast of the US, Japanese viewers could follow TV live broadcasting from Boston.

It is apparent that somebody has brainwashed the two young Chechen Americans to induce them to conduct the act of terror on the Boston marathon.

The brothers could be victims, too.





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Mar 4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Mar 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mar 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

"Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent" - Hate Money but Love God

Very Recent State of Tokyo Station

Hate Money but Love God

Put simply recently a famous woman who loved money but hated the word of God died.

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To be a rich man, you have to do bad things or plan bad things almost everyday.

Even a dollar of a rich man cannot be earned without his plotting any crime.

Reversely, if you live completely a right, righteous, and rightful life, you cannot even earn a penny.

Besides, you are not allowed in principle to be rich if there is any man that is poorer than you in your neighborhood and in any part of society, according to religion.

Wealth and money are deeply linked to evil deeds, illegal acts, ruthless thinking and behaviors, and a way of living without love to the poor.  So, any young man who wants to be rich would be determined to be as cruel as possible to be liked or even loved by bad rich men.

So, Christ Jesus told to hate wealth and money but love words of God.

And there are too many stupid professional religious guys in this world who cannot understand the meaning of this word of Christ Jesus.  Such fools can be found anywhere on the earth from the Vatican to London and as far as in Japan.




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Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

"And he came to Nazareth" - Minamata Verdict

Tokyo Station & Shinkansen Trains

Minamata  Verdict

One woman who died in 1977 was today finally and officially recognized by the Japanese Supreme Court as a patient of the Minamata Disease, the worst pollution disease of Japan.

When this disease came to be focused on by the public decades ago, one high-ranking official of the Japanese Government said in a TV interview that Japan had to promote industrial development and increase output of the industry to cope with other advanced nations, so that something must be sacrificed.

So, elite bureaucrats of the Japanese Government knew well the Minamata Disease, but they would not stop operation of a factory which continued to discharge waste water where mercury was included, the very cause of the Disease.

Minamata disease, sometimes referred to as Chisso-Minamata disease , is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning...

Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which when eaten by the local populace resulted in mercury poisoning. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease

This disease caused by the industry indicates how evil the modern industry could be.  And it also shows how evil a modern government could be.



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Luk 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
Luk 4:15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

"Sir, give me this water" - Intangible Change

Tokyo JR Railway Station, Japan

Intangible Change

It is said that the 9/11 Terror on New York and the Pentagon changed the US decisively.

Today, however, can we identify big changes America has exhibited in these 12 years, though still some American soldiers are engaged in battles in Afghanistan?

Especially if it had been an act of God, the terror, could we find any spiritual effect among Americans?  Have Americans become more religious or spiritual than before to any direction or in any sense?

Will a history textbook in future read that since the 9/11 Terror Americans changed drastically to be very pious people?

For example, after the Civil War, the American society changed so drastically.  And, after the Vietnam War, the American society changed so drastically.  So, after the 9/11, the American society must have changed so drastically, too.  The symbolic incident is the election of Mr. Obama as US President.  But, something intangible must show a more grave change.  The question is what it is specifically.

Have more Americans come to pray to God than before the 9/11 tragedy of 2001?  That is a question, anyway.





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Joh 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Joh 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Joh 4:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
Joh 4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
Joh 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

"they could say nothing against it"

Tokyo Railroad Station, Japan





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Act 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Act 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Act 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
Act 4:14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

"worship him that liveth for ever and ever"

The Season of Cherry Blossoms Going Out around Tokyo







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Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

"the woman of Samaria" - Solution

Sea Shore on the Pacific near Tokyo, Japan, though Not Tsunami

Solution

There are many rich people in this world who can buy what their money allows them to buy.

There are many experts and scientists in this world who know what their ability and efforts allow them to know.

Modern wealth is created by modern technology based on advanced science which has been cultivated with a huge amount of money.

And, it is thought that poverty cannot be conquered by mankind since those who have wealth enough to eradicate poverty would not try to solve problems caused by poverty.

Of course the poor cannot fix their own problems arising from poverty as they have no material means.

So, it is clear that the enemy of poverty is rich men who would not help the poor.  For example, for the poorest man in the world, every other person who is richer than he is his enemy.  And for the second poorest man, every other person who is richer than he is his enemy.  In this sequence, you cannot find any key to the solution.  

Finally, we have to admit that only God can put an end to this grave issue of mankind.  Therefore, our faith in God is the solution.



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Joh 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Joh 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

"all the kingdoms of the world" - The Rich and The Poor

Pacific Coast of Honsyu Island, near Tokyo, Japan

The Rich and The Poor

If there were only two men in this world, one would be rich and another would be poor.

Then the poor might try to harm the rich.  Therefore, the rich would arm himself with any weapon better than that the poor has.   The rich would naturally lose friendship to the poor, while the poor should always feel unhappy as he cannot become rich.

Now there are so many people in this world who can be divided into the poor and the rich.

The rich think that the poor might try to harm them.  So, the rich have armed themselves with various tools, systems, schemes and regimes the poor cannot use.   The rich have no friendship to the poor, while the poor always feel unhappy, for they cannot become any rich.

But, above the poor and the rich, there is God.

The most important point is that God does not expect that mankind is split into the two groups: the rich and the poor.  So, God would correct this situation in the human world.  Actually He once sent His Son to the human world, though bad Romans and filthy priests of Judaism executed Him.

And it is well known that Christ Jesus is to come back.  The poor will welcome Him, but how will the rich react to this extraordinary interference by God through His Son.

I suppose the rich will try to execute Christ Jesus again.

So, I hope that Christ Jesus will destroy the Devil acting behind the rich once and for all.

Anyway God is the creator of mankind but not the poor and the rich if He created the Devil for some mysterious reason.



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Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

"not tempt the Lord thy God" - Unusual Weather

Mt. Fuji, Today

Unusual Weather

Today a big tempest has covered all over Japan, like a big typhoon, incurring some casualties.

Some meteorologist said that the decrease of ice in the Arctic Sea has made the atmospheric pressure around the north pole weak, allowing cold air mass in Siberia to move more freely even to the southeast and to Japan eventually.

So, this winter (from　December to February) was very cold in Japan with much snow falling in areas facing the Sea of Japan off Siberia.

But in March Japan had a summer day, when the temperature is over 25 degrees Celsius, a few times.  It is the first time in the Japanese history that this extraordinary weather condition has occurred in the end of winter.

In 2011 Japan suffered an M9 earthquake and subsequent great tsunamis, but the summer of 2010 was dangerously hot in Japan.

I hope that those extraordinary warm days in March are not an ill omen for 2013.



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Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

"all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time" - Capitalism and Commercialism

Imperial Palace Plaza (old Edo Castle of Shogun)

Capitalism and Commercialism 

Capitalism and commercialism have freed people from religion or the degraded Vatican in the western world.

But from a religious point of view, the fight between Christianity and the Devil seems to have resulted in victory of the Devil who allured and tempted people into poisonous capitalism and commercialism.

Now as you know the British royal family has degraded themselves so much and ordinary European people are used to enjoy degraded living so badly.  The situation is also bad in the north American continent where most of people do not respect normal living any more.

But, in the Islamic world, the Devil is yet to succeed in dragging people into capitalism and commercialism.  Muslim women look rather decent, wearing scarf; and Muslim men look rather pious, practicing worship toward Mecca.

Further in a wider scope, China and India have also succumbed to the Devil, outwardly developing their economy and enriching their people.   But capitalism and commercialism are causing more problems than providing solutions to their problems.

Since Europe and North America have the most advanced democracy, they are proving that democracy is not a weapon the God has given to mankind to fight evil of  capitalism and commercialism.

Now that the Vatican is so powerless, we have to again rely on Christ Jesus directly again.  Then we may be able to escape the great trap of the Devil.



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Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Luk 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

"the seven Spirits of God" - Some Rankings

Tokyo

Some Rankings

Ranking on Live Artificial Satellites 

1. Russia 1,450 

2. USA 1,113 

3. JAPAN 134 

4. China 133 

5. France 56 

6. India 50 

7. EU 

8. Germany


Ranking on GDP as of 1990 

1. USA 

2. JAPAN 

3. Germany 

4. France 

5. Italy 

6. UK 

7. Canada 

8. Spain 

9. Brazil 

10. China


Ranking of Car Exporters (2010) 

1 Japan 4.84 million cars 

2 France 4.78 

3 Germany 4.48 

4 S. Korea 2.77 

5 Spain 2.07 

6 USA 1.5 

7 UK 

8 Brazil

Ranking on GDP as of 2000 

1. USA 

2. JAPAN 

3. China 

4. Germany 

5. India 

6. France 

7. UK 

8. Italy 

9. Brazil 

10. Russia


Ranking of Internet User Population 

1. China 

2. USA 

3. JAPAN 

4. India 

5. Brazil 

6. Germany 

7. Russia 

8. UK 

9. France 

10. Nigeria


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Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Rev 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

"again into Galilee" - Korea before WWII

Tokyo Subway

Korea before WWII

Korea was not an independent and prosperous country before the Empire of Japan started to liberate Korea from the Qing Dynasty of China in the late 19th century.

The Korean kingdom then was a poor and devastated country with almost no farmers who could read and write.  And their farm land was also almost barren.

The second Manchu invasion of Korea occurred in 1636, when the Manchu Qing Empire brought Korea's Joseon dynasty into submission. It followed the first Manchu invasion of Korea of 1627.
...
Ming China attempted to send a minuscule force in support of Joseon in what was merely a token effort, but the force was wiped out in the sea during a storm. This desperate situation forced Injo to make his submission. King Injo yielded up three pro-war officers to Qing, as well as agreeing to the terms of peace:
1. Korea submits to the Qing Dynasty.

2. Korea has to break her traditional relationship with Ming. 

3. Korea offers the first and second sons of King Injo, and sons or brothers of ministers as hostages. 

4. Korea pays tribute to Qing as she has done to Ming. 

5. Korea will serve for Qing in the war against Ming. 

6. Korea offers warships to return of Manchu soldiers. 

7. Both ministers of Korea and Manchu became stuck together as marriage. 

8. Korea is not allowed to build castles. 

9. Korea pays tribute amount of quantity after 1639. 

Huang Taiji set up a platform in Samjeondo—the upper reach of the Han River. At the top of the platform he accepted King Injo's submission. King Injo kowtowed to Huang Taiji, who allegedly forced Injo to repeat the humiliating ritual many times.
...
Northern and middle regions of Korea were devastated by war. Although the Manchurian army was strict in discipline, the Mongolian soldiers plundered cities.
...
Until 1894, Korea remained a tributary state of Qing China, even though the influence of Manchus decreased from the late 18th century as the Joseon Dynasty began to prosper once again. Japan forced Qing China after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) to acknowledge the end of the traditional relationship with Korea, in an attempt to implement their plan to exploit and eventually invade Korea in the early 20th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Manchu_invasion_of_Korea

Correctly, Korea was not so prosperous at the time.  When Japanese started to help Koreans govern themselves, they found that most of agricultural fields in the Korean Peninsula were desolated.

Actually the Korean kingdom faced starvation partly due to the irresponsible court in early 1870s.  The upper class or the noble class of Koreans did not take care of farmers at all.  Korea was split between the incapable, old-guard, Confucius upper class and a majority of poor and illiterate farmers.          

Good or bad, modernization of the Korean Peninsula was carried out by the Empire of Japan till the middle of the 20th century, though the Empire had to annex Korea since Koreans could not maintain their new empire, which Japanese helped establish, by themselves alone.



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Joh 4:1 When therefore the LORD knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
Joh 4:2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
Joh 4:3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

"through Jesus the resurrection from the dead"

Tokyo




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Act 4:1 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
Act 4:2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Act 4:3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
Act 4:4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

"into the wilderness to be tempted" - Poverty in Old Japan

Tokyo

Poverty in Old Japan 

In any society in the world, being poor means being at the risk of one's life.

But in Japan it was not so dangerous if you had been poor even before the 19th century.

In the samurai era of Japan, which ended around 1870, farmers accounted for around 85% of the whole population at the time.  However they were governed by the samurai class which accounted for only 7%.

Japanese farmers in the samurai era could not freely move or change their residences.  They were bound to the land.

Farm lands were a kind of  property of daimyo samurai or  feudal lords who were subject to shogun or a samurai king who lived in Edo (Tokyo), though plots could be sold and bought by farmers, merchants, etc.  Farmers had to pay tax in the form of rice as rice was the staple food and a big commercial commodity in Japan.

Anyway, every farmer was forced to live in a village surrounded by paddy fields on the permanent basis.  So, no matter how poor a farmer became, he could rely on help from his community so long as he was a decent member of it.  In addition, in every village there was a Buddhist temple or a shinto shrine which could offer some help to a poor member of the community.  And low and order was of course maintained by samurai soldiers and officials.

In Japan being poor did not necessarily mean facing a threat to the life even in old days.  There were almost no different races, tribes, or foreigners in Japan for these 2000 years.

This situation and circumstance had a great influence on the Japanese culture and Japanese religions.  Japanese were not used to encounter extreme cruelty of a large scale, though its society had been governed by the samurai warrior class for more than 700 years before Japan started its westernization around 1870.  

In addition, the climate in Japan was not so sever.  Though it has snow and ice in winter, people can live even outdoor or in poor wooden houses comfortably from spring to autumn.  Safe and humble living was allowed in Japan due to its natural features in old days.  Poor people in a village might have looked like one part of the nature.

So, the Japanese Buddhism was especially influenced by this inclination of acceptance of poverty  in the Japanese society.

A Japanese Village in 1830s by Hiroshige

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Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

"his brethren and his mother" - 13.8 Billion Years Ago

Tokyo

13.8 Billion Years Ago

This universe began from the size of a coin.

The whole universe experienced a big bang 13.8 billion years ago; since then it has continued expansion to the size of 47 billion light years or more, taking 13.8 billion years.

Before it reached the size of a coin, it had also undergone an inflation expansion from 10^-36 meters in a period of time of 10^-33 seconds.

And before this inflation expansion, it is believed that our space has existed in the size of 10^-36 meters or less for 10^-44 seconds.

(Note: 10^-2 = 1/100 = 0.01)

However we cannot see this state of the universe if we had a great telescope which could see past states of stars, galaxies, and any part of the universe.  We could only see the universe as old as 380,000 years.  At the time the size of the universe was a sphere with a radius of 40 million light years.

So, if we had a super telescope and aimed it to any direction in the sky, we could see the space which has a size of only 40 million light years as the least size of it.  Today within this distance, namely 40 million light years, there are 1,000 or more galaxies existent or observed from the earth.

The state of universe 380,000 years ago is called transparent to radiation. Till then light could not fly freely because protons and electrons did not form atoms, thus obstructing movement of light. In other word, it was 380,000 years ago that atoms or specifically hydrogen atoms were first formed with a proton accompanied by an electron flying around the proton. So, in the space of the size of 40 million light years, there were no atoms at all before the state of getting transparent to radiation. In the space, protons and electrons in addition to neutrons were flying randomly without forming any atoms while light could not fly for a long distance as it was captured or deflected by protons and electrons so easily.  And stars and galaxies were formed after atoms were established in the space of the size of 40 million light years, which was 380,000 years old.
Today, even between the moon and the earth, it was impossible to imagine that the distance is filled with protons and atoms so densely without forming any atoms.  Incidentally, the distance to the moon is about one light second.

But this visible type of matters, such as protons, electrons, and atoms, accounts for only 10% of matters that exist in the whole universe; the rest is called dark matter.

And what is the most impressive thing is that if we had eyes like a super telescope, we could see the same limited zone in the size of 40 million light years in "any direction" as a place we could see the oldest stars, since the whole space was just as large as 40 million light years 13.8 billion years ago.    

The space looks like converging to a limited zone at the most distant area.

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Mar 3:31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
Mar 3:32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
Mar 3:33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Mar 3:34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.