The Builders and the Stone

When the Apostles were arrested in Acts 4 they were force to confront the very people that had Jesus put to death. While some of these people could be swayed according to the theology they held, many of the members of the Sanhedrin were harsh, having their own interest in view. Their judgment was tempered only by the prevailing will of the people, which, if they could influence as was done in the case of Jesus’ crucifixion, strengthened their resolve to have their own desires implemented. Six months to a year ago these same men had Jesus put to death, and now they found themselves wrestling with his movement in the persons of the Apostles.

 

Lame Man Walking!

It wouldn’t be difficult to understand a man’s joy, if he were suddenly able to walk after being crippled for over 40 years. Peter healed such a man sitting at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple when he and John went up to pray (Acts 3:1-2). The man was expecting a small donation for a meal, but ended up being made whole. The text says that he was put at the gate daily, no doubt by someone in his family, but who would have thought when they put his socks on that morning…What a surprise!

 

The Conclusion of the First Pentecost

As a result of Peter’s first sermon on the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, as it is called in the Greek, three thousand souls came to believe in Jesus and came under his authority. They repented of their rebellion against God (an inward expression) and submitted to baptism (an outward expression or testimony) to the new life they were given by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Peter concluded that the promise of new life was offered first to the Jews, but also to those who are afar off (Acts 2:39). That is, the new life of the Spirit was to include both Jew and Gentile. How this would be brought about was probably not understood at this point in time, but in a few years it would come clear.

 

Image of the Beast & the 7 Sons of Sceva ~ Part 2

Presently, I am considering the seven sons of Sceva, the high priest and the seven ‘sons’ of Annas, the high priest of Jerusalem in the 1^st century CE. Earlier, I had written that the descendents of Annas comprised the Image of the Beast in Revelation 13, but do these things pertain to Acts 19:13-16 and exorcising of evil spirits?

 

Jesus is Alive!

Years ago those who doubted the Gospel came up with several arguments against the resurrection. The critics imagined stories ranging from the women and everyone else went to the wrong gravesite to Jesus simply fainted on the cross and actually didn’t die at all but later revived in the tomb, moved the stone and overcame or eluded the guards. The arguments are pretty much ridiculous, and the best one, although it is very weak, is that the Apostles stole the body of Jesus, and it is the argument used by unbelievers in the New Testament.

 

The Gift of Life from the Murdered One!

Before I leave the discussion of Jesus with Nicodemus, I wish to consider again John 1:14. Here Jesus made reference to Numbers 21:4-9. What an odd reference to compare with Jesus! The serpent is often a figure of the Enemy—Satan. It has been since Genesis 3 where man fell into rebellion against God. There God promised that the Seed of the woman would be at war with the seed of the ‘serpent.’ In this battle the ‘serpent’ would receive the death blow (to the head) but the Seed of the woman would be wounded (per the heal).

 

Jesus and Dionysus

Several of the critics of Christianity would have us believe that the New Testament plagiarized the myth of the Dionysus cult. Nevertheless, the only similarities between Dionysus and Jesus are in the imagination of the purveyor of this myth. Why would they do such a thing, if it weren’t so? Well, I couldn’t claim that all simply wish to make their fortunes on the name of Jesus without submitting to him as their Lord, but when I consider some of the outright lies I’ve investigated in this series concerning supposed pagan similarities, it is difficult to imagine the almighty dollar isn’t behind most of it.

 

Jesus and Gautama—the Buddha

Did you ever wonder why Christianity is scrutinized so much? I mean we have people claiming Jesus is not an historical figure; we have the textual critics that seek to show not only syncretism, but that the apostles were not the true authors. Some would place the writing of the New Testament late in the 1^st century CE to the middle of the 2^nd. Then you have the critics looking for contradictions and which of the variants represent the true manuscripts. With the possible exception of the Hebrew Scriptures, where do we find such scrutiny in handling the rest of the world religions? Now, I am not complaining, on the contrary, I invite the controversy given my faith. The fact is according to the Scriptures, Jesus (the Lamb) was supposed to be keenly observed, scrutinized etc. to see if there was any fault or sin in him (cp. Exodus 12 and the unblemished lamb).

 

Jesus and Horus

In this blogpost I’ll be referring to the fourth god that the writers of the New Testament are supposed to have copied in order to sell Jesus to the gentile world. One has to wonder how many similarities can be found by modern scholars (so-called) who seek to sell this sort of trash to the unsuspecting world, especially those of us in America. Perhaps the answer is according to how many gods were worshiped at the time of the New Testament’s writing.

 

Jesus and Krishna

Some people believe that there are so many similarities between Jesus and Krishna that it seems obvious that they refer to the same individual. This is partially true, but not in the manner most purveyors of this similarity would like us to believe. Some of the supposed similarities are:

• Jesus was born on December 25^th … so was Krishna
• Jesus was born in a stable… so was Krishna born in a stable

 

Differing Crucifixion Traditions

Image via Wikipedia

This chart indicates what occurred during the final week of the life of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The days of the week in each crucifixion theory are placed against the background of the first column and how many days before the Passover Feast Day (Nisan 15) that the Scriptures indicate the activity would have had to occur. For the Bible references, see the associated blogs above for each crucifixion theory.

 

Jesus Was Crucified on a Wednesday!

Unless I am missing something, a Wednesday crucifixion is the only day that can be reconciled with the Scriptures. The events noted in my previous five posts would fall in this order:

 

How About a Thursday Crucifixion?

Some brethren believe that Christ had to have been crucified on Thursday. Is this possible? No, I don’t believe the Scriptures allow for this anymore than they do for a Friday crucifixion. One reason would be that six days before the Passover Holy Day (John 12:1) would mean Jesus left Jerusalem and entered Bethany on the weekly Sabbath. This was forbidden by the law. Moreover, the people he cast out of the Temple would have been doing business on the Sabbath and this could not have occurred. Another reason would be that Nisan 15, the day after the crucifixion, was the Sabbath Holy Day and it would have occurred on Friday with the next day being the 7^th day Sabbath. A Thursday Crucifixion would cause back to back Sabbaths to occur. This is not scriptural, because, if we have two Sabbaths in the same week coming one after the other, when would the women buy the spices to anoint the body of Jesus? When would they have the time to prepare those spices without breaking the Law governing the Sabbath Days (cp. Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:54-56)?

 

A Friday Crucifixion?

Image via Wikipedia

The tradition of the Friday crucifixion puts “six days before the Passover” (John 12:1) on the Sunday previous to the crucifixion. Is this possible? No, for according to Scripture, it was not possible for Christ to have been crucified on Friday! This is because a Friday crucifixion demands that the day previous to Christ’s first entry into Jerusalem must be a weekly Sabbath (Saturday). Christ’s activity and the activity of everyone in the Gospel accounts make this an impossibility. Notice what Luke’s account says. Jesus journeyed and came near to Jericho (Luke 18:35). He entered and passed through Jericho (Luke 19:1), but when he saw Zacchaeus in a tree Jesus told him he and his disciples would be Zacchaeus’ guests for the evening (Luke 19:5).

 

A Sabbath Day’s Journey and Jesus

Image via Wikipedia

It is important to understand that once in Bethany, Jesus could not return to Jerusalem until after the Sabbath day was over. The law concerning traveling on the Sabbath can be found in Exodus 16:29, where Moses tells the Israelites that they cannot go out of their “place” on the Sabbath day. The word for “place” (H4725) is maqowm and means “locality, country, or home.” In other words, Moses wasn’t trying to keep everyone in his tent, but no one was permitted to leave the camp. In Numbers 35:5 the Law fixed the limits of the city to its suburbs of 2000 cubits (3000 feet) on every side. This was considered to be a Sabbath day’s journey, set by ancient rabbis and continued to the time of Jesus (Acts 1:12). That Jesus agreed with this prohibition of travel on the Sabbath can be seen in the Olivet Prophecy in Matthew 24:20, where he told the apostles to pray that their flight in persecution would not occur in winter or on the Sabbath day. If we would compare Luke 24:50 with Acts 1:12, we would not find any contradiction as some would have us think: