Part I of this article appeared here.
by Larry Fyffe
God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son:
And He said, "Take now thy son Thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest ... And offer him there for a burnt offering Upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2)
Just as Abraham is about to stab his son to death,
God announces: “This is only a test”:
And He said, "Lay not a hand upon the lad ... For now I know that you fearest God Seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son Thine only son from me" (Genesis 22:12)
Taking his cue from Mark Twain’s “Letters From The Earth”, singer/songwriter/musician Bob Dylan parodies the biblical story:
Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son" Abe said "Man, you must be putting me on" God said, "No, Abe"; Abe say, "What?" God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but The next time you see me coming, you better run" Well Abe said, "Where do you want this killing done?" God said, "Out on Highway 61" (Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited)
https://youtu.be/weyK8YlXsUM
Things don’t turn out so well in the New Testament as in the Old. There’s no one around to stop God from looking the other way when His own son Jesus gets killed. Apparently, by sacrificing a human ‘Lamb’ to Himself rather than an ordinary lamb, God intends to strikingly demonstrate that His creations no longer need fear Him; the crucifixion is done for their benefit, to show that the Almighty forgives them in return for their loyalty:
At the ninth hour, Jesus cried, with a loud voice, saying ... "My God, my God, why hath Thou forsaken me?" .... And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost (St. Mark 15: 34, 37)
Posed in the following song lyrics is an interesting question:
Through many a dark hour I've been thinking about this That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss But I can't think for you You'll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot had God on His side (Bob Dylan: With God On Our Side)
https://youtu.be/M7FKyouUIsQ
The phrase the ‘Lamb of God’ first appears within the Holy Bible in the Book of St. John:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him And saith, "Behold the Lamb of God Which taketh away the sin of the world" (St. John 1:29)
St. John takes great pains to separate the followers of John the Baptist from those he refers almost exclusively to as ‘the Jews” ; the consequence thereof is the demonizing of ‘the Jews’ by Christian leaders for many centuries, including the killing of Jews by the Crusaders on their way to take the Holy Land from the followers of Islam; for the Nazis of the twentieth century the table’s been prepared:
Though they murdered six million In the ovens they fried The Germans now, too Have God on their side (Bob Dylan: With God On Our Side)
I can’t think for you, you’ll have to decide – are the lyrics below rife with sarcasm as well?:
I've been saved By the blood of the Lamb Saved By the blood of the Lamb Saved Saved And I'm so glad Yes, I'm so glad I'm so glad So glad I want to thank You, Lord I just want to thank You, Lord Thank you, Lord (Bob Dylan: Saved)
https://youtu.be/iOWukkyhjV8
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Untold Dylan is written by people who want to write for Untold Dylan. It is simply a forum for those interested in the work of the most famous, influential and recognised popular musician and poet of our era, to read about, listen to and express their thoughts on, his lyrics and music.
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I have decided that I’m happy to think for myself.