Day 7

Today we are seven days into our two month odyssey of discovery. What an awesome thing this is! There is palatable sense of spiritual momentum among us and I can hardly wait to see what church will be like this weekend!

One of the things I have discovered in a new way over the past week is that Jesus was keenly aware of the reality of the dark powers He was setting out to overthrow. Jesus was on a mission from heaven and His objective was to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus knew that beyond the material world there was a spiritual world which is filled with malevolent beings intent upon dominating and destroying human lives. Jesus came to challenge and destroy their dominion.

In Matthew 16 Jesus introduces for the first time the church. The ekklesia — the community of those called out of the world system into the alternative system of the Kingdom of Heaven. The church is the current expression and experience of the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth. Jesus pronounces that He will build His church and that it will be founded upon the conviction and confession that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Answer).

No sooner does Jesus introduce the church than He makes it clear that the church is destined for warfare.

Upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

The gates of Hell are the Satanic strategies which are employed to keep people in darkness and bondage. Demon spirits are not merely involved in harassing individuals on a personal level, but there are demonic schemes and strategies to establish institutionalized sin and bring spiritual confusion to people through societal structures. It’s Jesus’ intention to smash these demonic strongholds through His church.

It was extremely significant yesterday when South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed a bill banning nearly all abortions in South Dakota. Of course this will eventually end up in the Supreme Court, but we are seeing the beginning of a process that could possibly end with the overthrow of Roe v. Wade. The blood of millions and millions of innocents shed through the demonic practice of abortion has brought a curse upon America. The church needs use its spiritual authority to bind and loose in prayer warfare to see this atrocity outlawed.

At the time of the signing of this bill Governor Rounds said,

In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society.

Upon hearing this statement I called one of my pastor friends in South Dakota to tell him I wanted to congratulate a Christian from South Dakota for their state taking a strong stand for justice. Justice is a major issue with God and justice has much to do with defending the helpless in society.

Isaiah rebuked the unjust society of Judah with this prophetic poem (Isaiah 1:15-23),

When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together,
Says the LORD,
Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

Let’s exercise our spiritual authority as the church of Jesus Christ and bind the strategy of hell to continue to pollute our land with innocent blood and loose justice to prevail for the innocent.

Day 6

Jesus’ mind was filled with thoughts about the Kingdom of Heaven. This theme dominated Jesus’ preaching. Sermons and illustrations and parables on the Kingdom constantly flowed out of Him.

It’s helpful to remember that the term Jesus used is actually the Kingdom of the Heavens — plural. Jesus isn’t talking about heaven, but the kingdom of the heavenlies; that is the kingdom that is first established spiritually in the hearts of men and then has a gradual but eventually enormous influence on society.

One of the great mistakes of the church in the past one hundred years is that evangelical revivalism influenced a minimalist approach to the gospel and reduced it almost exclusively to an issue of personal salvation as it applies to an afterlife. During much of the 20th Century, fundamentalists, evangelicals, pentecostals and charismatics reduced the gospel to a heaven and hell minimalism. The gospel has been thought of almost exclusively in terms of getting people ready to die. But this is not how Jesus preached the gospel of the Kingdom.

Yes, salvation certainly includes an escape from hell and a home in heaven at death, but in the way Jesus preached the gospel of the Kingdom it is obvious He was emphasizing a kingdom that would transform lives now which would in turn ultimately lead to a transformation of society. The Gospel as Jesus preached it is not primarily about how to go to heaven when you die, but how to live the abundant life of the Kingdom now. The gospel of the Kingdom is not just a matter of personal salvation. The “leaven” of the Kingdom of Heaven should have a redemptive influence on government, education, economics, ethics, arts, etc. The gospel of Jesus Christ not only saves the soul of an individual, but it can also save a culture from the corrupt influences of the fallen world order. This is much of what Jesus had in mind when He preached the gospel of the Kingdom.

To understand the societal impact of the gospel upon Western Civilization I highly recommend Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization by Alvin J. Schmidt.

In Matthew 13 Jesus gives seven parables on the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Parable of the Sower
Deals with the various individual responses to the word of the Kingdom.

The Parable of the Tares
Reveals Satan’s strategy to dilute the influence of the Kingdom with nominal Christians. Jesus warns us not to try to separate real believers from nominal believers.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
The Kingdom begins as a single seed, the solitary life of Jesus, but grows into a kingdom where multitudes can nest, rest and be blessed.

The Parable of the Leaven
Shows the quiet but thorough influence of the Kingdom. Instead of protesting the culture, it is better to be worked into the culture and transform it as leaven.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
A man stumbles upon a treasure so great he will give sell all he has to obtain it.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
A seeker finally finds what he has been looking for when he finds the Kingdom.

The Parable of the Dragnet
This parable should be compared with the parable of the tares. In the parable of the dragnet, it is not the devil that brings those who lack a real work of grace into the Kingdom, but the nature of preaching the gospel itself. Some people who have not experienced a genuine regeneration will inevitably be a part of the outward expressions of Kingdom life (the church). But as in the parable of the tares, the work separation must be left to God at the end of the age.

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At the end of chapter 15 I was struck by these words:

Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them all.

-Matthew 15:29, 30

Most probably the mountain referred to is Mount Arbel, a prominent mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee. This is a favorite place of mine in the Galilee. Here is another view of the mountain showing the way people would have approached the mountain.

This world is filled with broken and hurting people. During these two months let’s make a special effort to bring people to feet of Jesus where they can find healing and wholeness.

-BZ

Day 5

Today Jesus chose His twelve Disciples.

1. Simon Peter (Cephas)
A fisherman from Bethsaida in Galilee. One of the major leaders of the early church. Was crucified by Nero (upside-down) in Rome c. A.D. 64.

2. James son of Zebedee
A fisherman from Galilee. One of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples along with Peter and John. The first of the disciples to be martyred when he was beheaded by King Agrippa I in Jerusalem c. A.D. 44.

3. John the brother of James
The younger of the Zebedee brothers, John was first a disciple of John the Baptist. John was the only one of the Twelve not to die a martyr’s death. After his exile on Patmos he died in Ephesus c. A.D. 100.

4. Andrew
The brother of Peter. A disciple of John the Baptist. Was martyred in Achaia by crucifixion.

5. Philip
A fisherman from Bethsaida in Galilee. The first disciple of Jesus. Died as a martyr in Hierapolis.

6. Nathanael Bartholomew
From Galilee, a friend of Philip. Was martyred among the Parthians.

7. Matthew Levi
The son of Alphaeus. A tax collector from Galilee. May have been the “scribe” among the Twelve. A martyr in Ethiopia.

8. James son of Alphaeus
From Galilee and the brother of Matthew. Sometimes called James the Less. Martyred in Egypt.

9. Thomas Didymus
A twin from Galilee. He took the Gospel to India where he was martyred.

10. Simon the Zealot (Simon the Cananean)
From Cana of Galilee. A member the anti-Roman revolutionary Zealots. Martyred in Persia.

11. Judas Thaddaeus (Judas son of James)
From Galilee. Martyred in Persia.

12. Judas Iscariot
From Judea (the only disciple not from Galilee). The betrayer of Christ. Died of suicide.

The forerunner John the Baptist announced, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. When Jesus began His ministry He said, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. When Jesus sent forth His disciples, He told them to preach saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (Matthew 10:7) Jesus told the disciples to heal the sick and cast out demons because healing and deliverance are part of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus also warned the disciples of the persecution they would face. (Matthew 10:16-42) You will notice that of the eleven disciples (Judas having betrayed Christ and killed himself) only John did not die a martyr’s death.

When I was in India last week, I had breakfast one morning with four pastors who had been persecuted for preaching the gospel in Orissa. A mob of Hindu devotees of the monkey god Hanuman beat them with sticks, forced them to drink beer mixed with cow dung (a Hindu initiation rite), shaved their heads, put Hindu devotee marks on their foreheads and paraded them through the town on donkeys — a sign of humiliation. These men may have been humiliated before men, but they are honored among the angels and it was an honor for me to meet them. Each of these men continue to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Orissa.

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Sunday I really enjoyed Eric Stark and the band doing Bob Dylan’s “I Believe You.” A song of resolve and prayer to remain faithful even when persecuted. Here are the words.

I Believe In You
By Bob Dylan

They ask me how I feel
And if my love is real
And how I know I’ll make it through.
And they, they look at me and frown,
They’d like to drive me from this town,
They don’t want me around
‘Cause I believe in you.

They show me to the door,
They say don’t come back no more
‘Cause I don’t be like they’d like me to,
And I walk out on my own
A thousand miles from home
But I don’t feel alone
‘Cause I believe in you.

I believe in you even through the tears and the laughter,
I believe in you even though we be apart.
I believe in you even on the morning after.
Oh, when the dawn is nearing
Oh, when the night is disappearing
Oh, this feeling is still here in my heart.

Don’t let me drift too far,
Keep me where you are
Where I will always be renewed.
And that which you’ve given me today
Is worth more than I could pay
And no matter what they say
I believe in you.

I believe in you when winter turn to summer,
I believe in you when white turn to black,
I believe in you even though I be outnumbered.
Oh, though the earth may shake me
Oh, though my friends forsake me
Oh, even that couldn’t make me go back.

Don’t let me change my heart,
Keep me set apart
From all the plans they do pursue.
And I, I don’t mind the pain
Don’t mind the driving rain
I know I will sustain
‘Cause I believe in you.

Day 4

If we were in Galilee around the year A.D. 28 to witness the ministry of Jesus, I think the thing that would catch our attention the most would be the miracles of healing. Jesus was not just a teacher, a preacher, a rabbi, a sage, a philosopher, a reformer — Jesus was a miracle worker. This is the thing that first distinguished Jesus, this is the thing that drew the multitudes to Jesus, and this is the thing that sets Jesus apart from other sages and spiritual teachers. And Jesus didn’t just work a few scattered miracles, miracles were prolific in His ministry, and the most common miracle of all was healing. In Matthew chapters 8 and 9 there are ten accounts of Jesus healing the sick.

As I look at these ten accounts of healing I can’t find any particular pattern of how Jesus healed the sick. Jesus didn’t heal by ritual or formula, Jesus simply was The Healer. Jesus didn’t practice a rite of healing like some sort of shaman, instead Jesus Himself was healing and if you were around Him healing would happen. Healing the sick seems to have been as natural to Jesus as walking or talking.

A quick review of the ten healing episodes in our reading today shows that, without any particular formula or prescribed pattern, healing was natural and prolific in the ministry of Jesus.

1. Jesus healed a leper who expressed a desire for healing by touching him.

2. According to the “great faith” of the Roman centurion Jesus healed his servant by speaking a word.

3. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever by simply touching her hand.

4. Jesus healed all the sick in Capernaum who came to the house where He was.

5. On the other side of the Sea of Galilee Jesus healed two violently demonized men by speaking one word: “Go.”

6. Back in Capernaum Jesus first forgave then healed a paralytic in response to the faith of those who had brought him to Jesus.

7. A woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

8. Jesus raised the ruler of the synagogue’s daughter from the dead by taking her by the hand.

9. Jesus healed two blind men in Capernaum who followed Him crying out, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus asked them if they believed He was able to do this, and when they said, “Yes, Lord”, Jesus touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be to you.”

10. Jesus healed a mute man who was brought to him by casting out a demon.

Actually there is an eleventh account of healing, because in 11:35 Matthew sums up the healing ministry of Jesus in Galilee with these words:

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

A few thoughts:

Healing was not merely something Jesus did that can be separated from who He is. Jesus is the Healer. For Jesus healing the sick was part of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. To assert that healing was something that Jesus once did but does no more is an absurd notion without any warrant, and worse, almost a sort of denigration of Jesus. Let’s expect more miracles of healing to be worked among us in the name of Jesus.

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It was great to be back at Word of Life last night. Praise and worship was awesome, I thought the message was strong and well received, and I could definitely sense a spirit of expectation among us. Exciting!

BZ

Day 3

The Sermon on the Mount. How can you describe it other than…THE GREATEST SERMON EVER PREACHED! But it’s not really a sermon…it’s more like a whole catalog of sermons. As I read the 107 verses that make up the Sermon on the Mount I count more than 80 sermon topics. You might describe the Sermon on the Mount as the manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus begins His great sermon by announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven is now open and available to everyone — even to those who had always been left out and shut out from all the good things: the mournful, the meek and the poor in spirit. Now they can be comforted, made heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven and inherit the earth.

One of the most amazing things about the preaching ministry of Jesus is its breadth of appeal. The teachings of Jesus are rich enough to occupy the greatest minds for a lifetime, yet they are accessible to illiterate peasants. Imagine the challenge of preaching a sermon to a group of Nobel laureates and Third World illiterates at the same time and being able to, not only hold the attention of both groups, but be able to speak with equal effectiveness to both groups. It would seem an impossible task, yet this is exactly what Jesus accomplishes in the Sermon on the Mount. It’s sheer genius. It’s divine genius.

Last week as I was speaking three times a day to 4,000 pastors and Christian leaders in the Indian tribal state of Orissa, I experienced the challenge of trying to communicate effectively to people from a vastly different cultural, linguistic and educational background. What I discovered was, the more I relied on the words, parables, stories and illustrations used by Jesus, the more I was able to effectively communicate to these people. Jesus is not only the greatest miracle worker, He is also the greatest communicator.

One of the things I noticed as I sat on the green slopes of the Galilean mountain and listened to Jesus preach this sermon (remember, we’re not just reading the Gospels, we’re living them), is that Jesus is obviously inaugurating a New Kingdom — a New Israel. Instead of an imposing mountain in the Sinai desert, this New Kingdom is given its manifesto from a pastoral mountain in Galilee. Instead of founding it upon twelve tribes, Jesus founds His New Kingdom upon twelve apostles. Instead of the Ten Commandments and a myriad of Levitical laws, this New Kingdom is built upon two great twin commandments: Loving God and loving your neighbor.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Sermon on the Mount (and it’s the thing that astounded the original hearers — see the last two verses of chapter 7) is that Jesus initiated these radical changes on the basis of His own authority. Over and over Jesus says, “You have heard it said…but I say.” Jesus was asserting that His authority was greater than Moses’ and that He had authority to establish a New Kingdom founded upon new laws. Then Jesus invites us to build our lives upon the rock of His words and He promises that if we do so, we will survive every storm of life.

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At the beginning of this blog I mentioned that in one sense the Sermon on the Mount is a whole catalog of sermons. It sort of reminds me Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. Written in 1963, Dylan has described it a song where each line could be a separate song. A sort of song of songs.

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

by Bob Dylan

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways,
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard,
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’,
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’,
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard,
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’,
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’,
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’,
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’,
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard,
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I met another man who was wounded with hatred,
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts a-fallin’,
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’,
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’,
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

Day 2

New York

To “live” in Matthew 3 and 4 and not just read it, I think you have to catch the sense of expectation that permeated Judea and Galilee around the year A.D. 30. Everyone felt that something big was about to happen, although they would not agree on what it was. For some it was an eager anticipation of liberation, for others I suspect it was more a dark foreboding of impending doom. But there definitely was a palpable sense that change was coming — there was just too much tension for things to stay the same. For the Jews these expectations were focused on the appearing of Messiah. Those who were expecting Messiah to appear (and there were many) were correct that Messiah would soon appear, but the Messiah turned out to be different than anyone anticipated. So in the end, everyone wound up being at least surprised, if not flat out wrong.

Today we live in a similar time, except that today it’s not a localized region or society possessed by a sense of expectation — today there is a global phenomenon of expectation. And like it was in the days of John the Baptist, some have an eager expectation, while others have a dark foreboding, and for many it’s a mixture of both.

Something big is about to happen. God will be involved in it. His redemptive purposes will be at work in awesome ways on a global scale. But be careful about being too locked into a specific notion about exactly what is going to happen or how it will happen. This is the bane of overconfident prophecy “experts.” If you doubt it, read some of their old books. Remember, even John the Baptist didn’t get it exactly right regarding what Messiah would do in His first coming, so beware of getting too set on a particular prophetic scenario. Two things I do know: 1) God is about to do some big things on a global scale. 2) God is full of surprises.

John the Baptist steps onto the stage of redemptive history for an explosive and extremely brief performance. John’s public ministry lasted less than a year. His role was to prepare the way for Messiah. Of course God had been preparing the way for Messiah since the calamity in the Garden of Eden. God had been preparing the way for millennia through prophets and patriarchs, through kings and nations, though world events and obscure happenings. But John had the role of finalizing these preparations and ultimately the honor of baptizing and introducing Messiah.

In reading Matthew 3 and 4 I noticed that John the Baptist and Jesus began their preaching with the same message:

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'” (Matthew 3)

“Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee…from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'” (Matthew 4)

John and Jesus both preached the same theme: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Yet there was a difference in their preaching that was as different as the stark contrast of where they preached. John preached in the bleak and barren Judean wilderness; a foreboding landscape. Jesus came preaching in the green hills of Galilee; a landscape, that as G.K. Chesterton put it, “has a real hint of Eden.”

Even though they used similar words, the difference in the tone of John and Jesus is as different as the Judean desert and the Sea of Galilee. John was austere and definitely something of an ascetic. He used prophetic metaphors such as axes being laid to roots and chaff being burned with unquenchable fire. John thundered his rebuke and denounced broods of vipers.

Jesus on the other hand was never counted as an ascetic (His critics would call Him a winebibber and a glutton) and His announcement of the Kingdom was decidedly good news. More often the prophetic metaphors Jesus used to describe the coming Kingdom were lost sheep being found and buried treasures being discovered.

Here is the principle: Understanding the bad news (we are sinners and guilty before God) prepares the way to receive the good news (we are invited into a Kingdom of God’s grace). Until the bad news of the human condition is appreciated we are not fully prepared to receive the good news of the gospel. Until we understand the bad news, the good news will essentially be no news.

Bonus Blog

I am composing this blog ten hours into a 15 hour flight from New Delhi to New York. When I left home twelve days ago I brought five books with me and I have read them all. So yesterday I went to a bookshop in New Delhi to find some reading material for the flight home. I ended up buying a book of essays by Salman Rushdie. Over the past few years I have become a real fan of the highly regarded Indian born writer Salman Rushdie — no doubt one of the greatest living writers. (Please note that I said writer and not teacher. Salman Rusdie is not a Christian and doesn’t write Christian books. I don’t read him for spiritual edification. I read him because, in my opinion, he uses the English language more skillfully and creatively than anyone and I enjoy his writing. He’s also a deep thinker.) Last night before I went to sleep on the plane I read several of the essays. One is on them was on the Taj Mahal. I want to share some of this essay with you because what Rushdie is saying about the real Taj Mahal as opposed to cheap replicas, is exactly what I mean when I talk about discovering the real, unvarnished Jesus as opposed to the cheap imitations. As I read this last night, I knew I had to share this with someone. Just substitute Jesus for the Taj Mahal and you will see what I mean. (By the way, Rushdie is right about the Taj Mahal).

“The problem with the Taj Mahal is that it has become so overlaid with accumulated meanings as to be almost impossible to see. When you arrive at the outer walls of the gardens in which the Taj is set, it’s as if every hustler and hawker in Agra is waiting for you to make the familiarity-breeds-contempt problem worse, peddling imitation Mahals of every size and price. This leads to a certain amount of shoulder-shrugging disenchantment. Recently, a British friend who was about to make his first visit to India told me that he had decided to leave the Taj off his itinerary because of its over-exposure. If I urged him not to, it’s because of my own vivid memory of pushing my way for the first time through the jostling crowd of imitation-vendors, past all the myriad hawkers of meaning and interpretation, and into the presence of the thing itself, which utterly overwhelmed me, and made all my notions of about its devaluation feel totally and completely redundant. The building itself left my skepticism in shreds. Announcing itself as itself, insisting with absolute force on it sovereign authority, it simply obliterated the million million counterfeits of it and glowing filled, once and forever, the place in the mind previously occupied by its simulacra.”

From Step Across This Line by Salman Rushdie