SCANDAL OF THE CROSS: Scandal of His Birth

KEY VERSES: As it is written (in Isa 8:14), “Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Rom 9:33). Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed (1 Pet 2:7-8), and sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread, and he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Isa 8:14)

  In all those passages “rock of offence” refers to THE Rock – Jesus Christ – and “offence” is “scandalous” (Greek; “scandalon”), and refers to the “Cornerstone” of the living Church. The Holy Church of God was built on nothing less than a scandal, and the Holy Cross is the symbol of Christ and the Church. There is much said about the “scandal of the cross.” However, without peeking at others perspective on the scandal, I present my version of the meaning.
  First off, the “cross” represents Jesus purpose: “For I know the thoughts (plans) that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace (well-being), and not of evil, to give you an expected end (future and hope)” (Jer 29:11).
  “Well-being” is the assurance of eternal preservation, or if you prefer, certainty that you will always exist! Even as a child, I was dismal at the thought that I would someday merely cease to exist. I didn’t consider Heaven or Hell, but poof… no longer here; annihilated as if I never was! That is morbid, and those who think in that manner are without hope! Those who believe in Hell, and care little if they make it or not, are apathetic to extending their lives. They too are without hope.
  Well-being, or peace, in this existence is dependent on having a future, not just for tomorrow, or the days of our lives, but for eternity. Life is not worth the living without Jesus. Some people actually think, Jesus takes all the pleasure out of this life, who cares about the next? The question is, which is more pleasant: excitement or contentment? (immediacy or longevity)? Christians hope for eternal future with bliss as the expected end. “Bliss” is what Jesus meant when he said, “Blessed are they…” He meant that his disciples would experience bliss (total happiness) in the heavenly Paradise.
  The cross, for me, is the directional sign-post. It points toward the heavens, and has a destination sign: “King of the Jews” is atop the cross, and the King resides in the Kingdom of God.  It should be clear by now what the “cross” part of scandal of the cross means. Let me call it “prosperity,” from the Abrahamic Covenant. God promised Abraham a blessing, “I will bless thee…” (Gen 12:2). In other words, God was willing to bliss Abraham’s descendants. However, the Jews thought it would be with prosperity in the land of milk and honey. It turned out that the prosperity of which God spoke was not in the earth but in the heaven. Deliverance of the bliss would be from the Messiah. Now we can reword the phrase to the “Scandal of Eternal Bliss.” It seems that the prosperity of Christians is due to the misfortune of our Savior’s life being considered a scandal! Because Jesus was humiliated, Christians shall be glorified. That is the “Paradox of the Scandal.”
  The Jews thought prosperity in the land would come with a warrior king/general on the order of the previous Maccabean kings. They desired to have a king who would deliver them from Roman rule. That was “bliss” for them. Kings have power, authority, riches, and prestige. They were expecting a wealthy prestigious leader who would deliver them from the evil Roman Empire. Imagine at the humiliation of the Jews when their king was a meek carpenter’s son whose birth seemed to be in iniquity!
  Consider iniquity: David was a legitimate son of Jesse and Nitzevet (from the Talmud), and the youngest of eight sons. All of Jesse’s sons and daughters were legitimate, and David the most legitimate of them all, being the youngest. With David’s legitimacy certain, consider what David said about himself: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Since God ordained multiplication, it is apparent that Jesse and Nitzevet, although married, had accidentally conceived David because of pleasure. (I believe that originally, procreation was for replication only, but there is no way to verify that assumption.)
  Now examine the birth of Jesus: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost” (Mat 1:18). Mary and Joseph were “engaged” using today’s vernacular, but she was pregnant by a “ghost.” Chew on that tidbit for a moment. Place yourself in ancient Jerusalem when Mary claims, “I am with child, but I have known no one, even Joseph.” Listen to the gossip of her friends when they whisper, “Mary says a ghost impregnated her.” Thus, the scandal commenced on the day that she knew no one!
  Unlike David, “the Son of David,” was not shapen in iniquity. Jesus was shapen in righteousness as the Holy Spirit of God imbued Mary. There was no pleasure, perhaps some joy, and no coitus. There was no sperm and maybe no ovum involved. Why do I say that?

Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! (Mat 12:47-49). 

  It always saddened me to read that Jesus denied his mother and siblings, but Jesus must speak the truth as God Is Truth! I thought it rhetorical, but it surely was reality. It seems that Mary was a surrogate, and Jesus was without an earthly father or mother. Paul wrote of Melchizedek, “King of Peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually” (Heb 7:2b-3). Since Abraham tithed to the King of Peace, surely Melchizedek was pre-incarnate Jesus who appeared to Abraham as a priest.
  With that said, Joseph was not Jesus’s father and Mary was not his mother. Jesus was speaking absolute truth. Neither of his “parents” were his biological parents. God was His Father and rather than multiplication, Jesus’s birth was a replication of His Father.
  Jesus, therefore, was not shapen in iniquity, but created from the elements in purity. Mary was the unused womb that would incubate Jesus as he matured, unlike Adam who was created a man. When the Holy Ghost came upon Mary, God merely breathed life into His own Flesh, and became a physical Living Spirit. The Son of Man, the Son of God, and the Holy Ghost are just the attributes of Jesus. Think outside the obvious; Jesus was called “the Son of David.” He was not called the son of Joseph on most occasions! David was more fit as a comparison than Joseph, and David was King with Jesus as legitimate heir.
  Jesus was not from David’s bloodline, but God’s. The use of the term “Son of David” is the belief that the Messiah was the promised heir of the Kingdom of David. God seldom used the eldest son as heir, but always the younger, and Jesus was the youngest heir of David. However, listen to the ancient whispers still echoing through the gossip halls: “Mary says a ghost impregnated her; that is scandalous.” People still doubt that story, and think that Mary lied.
  Think of the lyrics to the song, Mary, Did You Know: “Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?” Mary knew much: (1) That she was a virgin, (2) that the Holy Ghost Fathered her son, and (3) that Jesus was not shapen in iniquity! What the assembly thought was that, (1) Mary was a harlot, (2) who knows who was the father, and (3) that Jesus was illegitimate. Thus, the scandal commenced!
  What should have happened to Mary?  Well, there was a law for that just as there were for most things:

If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, “I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:” Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, “I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; and, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, ‘I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.” And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; and they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you. (Deut 12:13-21)

  Mary surely was thought of as a harlot! Face it, would not most rational people doubt that a ghost impregnated her? Only those, such as Joseph, Zedekiah, Elizabeth, and a few others would believe Mary, not because of their knowledge, but because of God’s inspiration. Mary never had social nor physical intercourse with a man. She was a pure vessel for a pure God’s use – nothing more, and she certainly was not a harlot. Only because of God was she shielded from stoning!
  There was another story of harlotry recounted by the apostle John:

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” To which Jesus replied, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:3-5)

  The scribes and Pharisees knew the Law. They referred to the penalty in Deuteronomy chapter twelve. By Law, the adulterous woman should have been stoned, and so should have the virgin Mary! The know-it-alls accused the woman of adultery, and certainly they whispered behind Jesus’s back of his own scandal; that his mother was perceived as a prostitute. Could they have thought, Jesus is merely defending the conduct of his harlot mother! Jesus corrected the gossip (Mary is not my mother) before he died, but that did little toward diminishing the scandal!
  Can you just hear the murmuring? The king says that his mother is not a harlot; that she is not his mother! 
  Did you know, Mary, that your son will make you new. That song (Mary, Did you Know) has an unintended double-meaning. Jesus surely endeavored to cut the gossip grapevine and end the scandal when he denied Mary as is mother! Not only that, later on, Mary came to believe that Jesus was not her son, but her Savior, and that he would make her new with a rebirth.
  Jesus’s birth was scandalous. Who could ever believe such a tall story and coverup? Albeit, the scandal of his miraculous birth is almost beyond belief, Jesus’s entire life was a scandal. It had to be to end up with God on the Cross.
  Harlotry was always scandalous in God’s eyes. In the Old Testament, Samaria and Jerusalem were the sister harlots, Ohalah and Oholihah. Ohalah was the oldest of the harlot “sisters” and Oholihah the younger sister who increased her harlotry beyond her “sister’s.” The nations of Samaria and Judea deserved stoning, according to Mosaic Law, but the Lord promised that the “sisters” would be rehabilitated. “And the company (those returning from exile) shall stone them (“sisters” Oholah and Oholihah/Samaria and Jerusalem) with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. (Ezek 23:47). However, like the adulterous woman, Samaria and Judea didn’t get what they deserved, but reprieve by the grace of God. Just as Jesus saved the adulterous woman in his life, his death would save the adulterous Israelites.
  The life of Jesus was certainly not a scandal, but the purpose of the Holy Cross; to save the nations from harlotry. Yet Jesus is still condemned as a myth and a phantasm by Gnosticism. Ironically, those who question that Jesus was born by knowing the Holy Ghost, claim that a ghost died on the Cross. You can see how scandalous the people are when it comes to the truth about Jesus!



Tomorrow I will continue with another scandal involving Jesus.