ALL ABOUT LOVE

Many theologians have preached on the concept of love but still struggle with the idea of it. To explain divine love, they generally do so by dissecting eroticism, brotherly, and familia love; of which are senses of belonging sexually, as a fellow human, and membership from a common patriarch. Then they turn to the Greek word “agape” to help in understanding.

Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment; His answer was this:

 

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; this is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Mat 22:36-40)

 

There are two metrics therein: self-love (part 2) and divine love (part 1).

Note that it does not say you must first love yourself to love others.

Self-love is a given and is instinctive. Even animals seek to preserve themselves from death, don’t they? Self-love seems to be the desire to never die — to exist forever.

In fact, even salvation is a form of self-love; to survive both in the world and thereafter.

Regardless of the pain here, most people would hang onto life. (Suicide may be, not an act of giving up, but ending whatever pain that torments the mind of people.)

That is not just an opinion but a biblical truth:

 

Ought men to love their wives as their own bodies? He that loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church; for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. (Ephes 5:28-30)

 

The standard of love is our own flesh. With that said, flesh is of the world, so it would not be of the Kingdom of God.

The fleshes of people are for life in the world. Once the world is given up, flesh will be of little importance. The “flesh” that you love so much… it will be given up for new flesh. Strangely how so many hang onto and cherish the flesh even as they pull the trigger.

The flesh is a sensory organ. It is the flesh that must be adorned and appeased for way too many people. For instance, consider tattoos and such; they are ways to adorn the flesh. Tattoos are a metric of how much love there is for both art and the “biblia” on which it is written.

For thousands of years pictures were drawn on vellum — the dried skin of calves. Now pictures are drawn on human vellum and left to dry.

The point is that humans love their flesh and find ways to glorify it. Some do so with ink and such while others are less brave, each morning applying whatever rouge and mascara it takes to glorify the flesh.

We all do that; and selfies prove it! Makeup, whether temporary or permanent, are types of selfies.

Paul also defined hatred: those who do not cherish and nourish the flesh. His point was there is no such person! In the same manner, those who love others must cherish and nourish their flesh — their very basic human existence.

“The Jewish Problem” is not that Jews are not human, but that those who hate them, in their hearts, souls, and minds; hate God. You cannot hate others and still love God. That is why those two commandments because us and Jesus should be members of the same body — the Church.

(I rest my case; in general, most humans love their own flesh).

The nature of human beings is to despise others beyond their own members: families, nations, ethnicities, and such.

Scripture does not address hating the cultures of others, but hating those within any culture is unlawful. Like the animals we are, those similar but different than ourselves are suspect and threatening. Indeed, the survival of the fittest is in mankind as well as the animal kingdom. Foolish people often diminish others. As such, most races are racists because each cherishes their own flesh and their means of nourishing it is to diminish others.

Jews, for instance, have been persecuted for millennia. For Christians and Muslims, to elevate themselves; it is easier to denigrate Jews. It is easier to deface others than to improve yourselves.

Christianity is about advancing everyone for God has a room for all who come to Him:

 

…the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:14-17)

 

In that passage, God defined His own divine love: Whosever believes in Jesus should never perish. Love is therefore for everyone who chooses to be of the family of God; all have the right to The Tree of Life (Gen 3:24) if they trust Jesus for salvation. That is what God wants and to be of like mind of God; Christians must also want than none should perish.

Hence, Christians must never hate any human being because God sees them all as “worthy,” not as they are, but what they can be. He sees the golden opportunity to regenerate them from whatever ethnicity that they are into the Christian ethnic wherein all are welcome.

Christians, do you not find it easier to love people who are much different than yourselves if you know they are Christians? It is much easier to love Christians because you are all members of His body just as Paul wrote.

However, God is less discriminating for He knows that anyone (“whosoever”) can be Christians. A good example was Christ’s worst enemy Saul; a member of “whosoever” that God changed into the Christian martyr, Paul.

Jesus corrected His followers saying, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Mat 5:44). He practiced what He preached, and Saul is evidence of that!

Did Jesus like the idea that Saul was a murderer as well as His own adversary? No; God chose the one who hated Him the most, knowing that as a zealot, Saul could love Him the most. Are you a zealot for Him? If not, then perhaps you should be. Paul’s turn from hatred demonstrated love and soon he would turn his hatred for Christians into love for them.

So, you are a Christian! Good for you, but how about others? Paul went into the world, perhaps even as far as England as some say.

How far will you go for Christ. That distance is somewhat a measure of your love for Christ and others. Why go unto the world as Jesus commanded: “Go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Every creature includes more than your household or community. It means more than preaching in a church building. YOU must go where the other creatures are, even those much different than yourselves. Hence, missionary trips are honorable ways to love, but you can go to them even without going to them in person. Now you can travel the world with social media and financial support. If you can’t preach, others can with your financial support. (My way of going into the world is this blog and my books.)

Note that Jesus came to Saul, not to get just Saul, but to get to the world through Saul. Jesus calls you, not just to get you, but to get others, even your enemies. Sharing that passion is true love; that you must want that others should not perish, just as for yourself, you must want that none should perish.

Saul had crazy ideas — that Christians were so different that he wanted them dead. Jesus changed Saul for afterward Paul desired that none should perish and even gave his own life (as a martyr) that others have opportunity to live forever.

Paul traded his proud flesh to save others. He was humbled, as the name “Paul” means and in the end, he humbly went to his own cross for Jesus so that others need not. He was not Jesus, but his flesh no longer belonged to Satan either.

Love is not emotional; it is empathetic: “The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another” (Merriam-Webster 2023). Love is a mindset not just a whim. Sympathy is emotional (sadness), but empathy is caring. Therefore, divine type of love is a mindset.

Why to be “mean” to people who are not Christians? Their souls are worth offending them. Of course, you don’t have to be mean-spirited, but the first try is with love. You can love sinners into Christianity but sometimes love hurts.

To save the souls of the lost is worth offending their flesh. Whatever animal instinct that they have must feel pain. True contrition is when you finally find yourself offensive. How do I realize that I am offensive? God told me that I am. To love God, you must know that you offend God. Sin is essentially offending God, and the Gentleman that He is, He made allowances for offensive humans. That is grace.

How would you ever know that you offend God? By sinning. Each time a person sins, it offends God.

Demonstration of love is measurable — by how much we either offend God or not. So, you do not sin? Do you thank God for anything, let alone in all things? If not, that offends God. Thanking God (praying or praise) does not offend God. How often do you pray to praise Him? True, you pray for things for yourself and your loved ones, but all but forgotten are the unloved. Love is caring enough for the eternal lives of others that you chance offending them.

Get over the idea that love is emotional. Sure, when you think about cruelty to Jesus that is emotional. But if you are not an emotional person, empathy will do. Put yourself in His place… feel His pain and agony that he had for YOU! Jesus did not agonize for Himself, but for all mankind, the centurion who pierced Him, and even those who mocked Him. He even died for Judas — His old friend who turned enemy — but Judas defected. If he had only waited for Jesus to make the sacrifice, his suicide was in vain. You cannot justify yourselves because Jesus alone can do that!

Emotions come from your own feelings. They cannot be forced, although some fake it well, as my grandson often proved.

Jesus provided a simple way: “If you love me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). What are His commandments? To love Him and others! The Law, He said, hung on those commandments.

The first four commandments are ways to demonstrate love for God and the last six are ways to demonstrate love for others. They are not “commandments” at all but things you are willing to do to express love. The Jews never realized that! They were not things a believer must do, but the way people empathize with God and others. Hence, love is cognitive, so shed those fake tears. Prove your love by taking the commandments seriously.

Now perhaps you are mad at me. Maybe you have been tattooed or wear too much makeup. Perhaps you spend too much time on your appearance while neglecting how you appear to God.

All of our fleshes have been altered. All the hearts of all mankind have been hardened against God. Even King David’s heart was shaped in iniquity (Psalm 51:5) but he knelt to God, and it was remolded.

You cannot alter what has been done but can whatever it is that you are doing. Only God can soften the heart, but it must be presented to Him as a living sacrifice for the hardness to be removed. So, you love God? Do you love others? Not tolerate but love them enough that you will risk offending them.

The first step is to come to understand that you do offend God by what you both think and do. Not doing things is a good start but thinking (remembering the pleasure) will “harden the flesh” as Lot’s wife demonstrated.

Love allows God to soften the heart one day at a time. His Spirit is the “tenderizer” that really works if used with love.

                               Brain Heart Connection Image (Adobe Stock)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE AGONY AND EMPATHY OF HOLY COMMUNION

 Today, another blurb from my manuscript that is likely to be named, So Goes the Church:

SERIOUS COMMUNION WITH GOD

Filled with the Holy Ghost is fully engaged with the Being of God; the same divine Substance that Jesus was fully engaged. Filled with the Holy Ghost of Jesus is a total mindset on Him and Him alone as Savior. The Christian is cognitive, having the thoughts (cognate) with Jesus and doing what Jesus would do and even think.

Unknown is that eerie cognitive substance. However, just the air is filled with waves, some of which, you intercept, so it is with the spirit world. That Satan is the “Prince of the Power of the Air” (Ephes 2:2) is more than an expression, but the spirit of demonic beings that penetrate like fiery serpents (Num 21:6); penetrate even your thick skulls and attack your mind.

So, cease thinking of the Holy Spirit as merely some substance but the flow of thoughts.

The “Church” would be a group of people over whom the Presence of God fills their minds. Communion is in remembrance (anamnesis) of Jesus (1 Cor 11:25). Anamnesis is total recall; recall what? That Jesus and Him alone died in your place.

How can anyone have total recall if communion is taken ritually or hurriedly? Christians should dwell on Christ and His goodness while absorbing His Body and Blood as if the crucifixion is right now again.

Transubstantiation is the Catholic mass wherein the elements that are eaten are transformed into the real Body and Blood of Jesus in the mouth. Not so! it is as if the communicant is taking the genetics, or countenance, of God into their own flesh. It is not done by a transfusion, but an infusion of truth into their minds; (i.e., seeing the crucifixion as happening again and again to experience what Jesus experienced.)

 It is seeing Jesus in His agony and feeling His pain, as if it is your own. Hence, Holy Communion is having total empathy for Jesus, and is working out, and continuing, salvation in your own minds. Holy Communion is both a time of agony and thanksgiving that it was not you who died, but His agony was a gift to save you agony!

Holy Communion is allowing God to saturate your minds with the agony which Jesus endured for you.

That should promote more significance to Holy Communion.

HIM RATHER THAN YOU

USE OF SCRIPTURE AS FIERY DARTS

What is the purpose of scripture? What IS scripture? Scripture is simply “written things” (Strong 2006). It is known from 2 Timothy 3:15 that the reference is about “holy scripture,” or holy written things. At the time that was written, the main extant holy writings were in the Old Testament: the Law, the wisdom literature, the psalms, and the prophetic writings.

The gospels were not written by the time of that letter that Paul wrote to Timothy (below). The “gospels” were at best, the same decade as the Pauline letters. The holy gospels were of two types: (1) the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; and (2) the gospel of John that is unlike any of the others, going back to the Word in the beginning.

Mark wrote about the gospel:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send My messenger before your face, which shall prepare thy way before you.” (Mark 1:1-2) 

The gospel is the account of the life and times of Jesus Christ as previewed in holy scripture; specifically in Malachi 3:1. Mark referred to the scripture that was the reference for what he was about to write; so technically, the prophetic scripture is the beginning of the gospel, and indeed, the prophetic books are mostly about Jesus. With that said, the prophetic books are part of the gospel.

The “gospel” is the English word for “euangelion” — “a good message” (ibid). According to Mark that good message begins with the activities of John the Baptist, which is found in the gospels, who was preparing the Way for the Good Messenger, Jesus (Mark 1:3).

The gospels are, therefore, the writings about both John’s preparation for Jesus and the Words of Jesus Himself.

As you can see, the simple answer is that the gospels are the written Words and actions of Jesus and about Him.

The gospel is all about Jesus, but Paul wrote about Jesus too! Paul’s words made him the new messenger in the absence of Jesus, so since he was given authority by Jesus and the other apostles, Paul’s writings are “canon” as well, meaning that they are “an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture” (Merriam-Webster 2023).

Note that the scribes did not carry around the writings of the gospels nor the letters of Paul and the others. Hence, the “holy writings” were the Law, the prophets, and the ancillary books of the Old Testament.

Paul wrote to Timothy about those holy writings:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

God inspired the prophets of old to write their prophecies. Those prophecies were, according to Mark, about the life and times of Jesus that would come to pass. Therefore, the gospels are validation of the Word of God written down by the prophets.

What is missed is that all the patriarchs of the Old Testament: Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David et al were, as well as the major and minor prophets, in that God spoke truths to them.  

For instance, David wrote psalms about the coming of the Lord God in the flesh. God gave him insight about the coming of the Lord — the gospel Messenger — long before the gospel writers set down their quills. Hence, overall, the gospels are the subject matter about Jesus both before and after His coming, if one uses the Bible as their “dictionary.”

God inspired the writers of the Old Testament. The words written in that book are the Word of God. John validated the authenticity of that when he wrote that the Word was there in the beginning and is Jesus (John 1:1-14). John saw the gospel message a little differently than Mark and perhaps the others. He saw that the Word began not with the advent of John the Baptist, but with the first Adam (man) that we have named “Adam.”  They didn’t even argue about their differences!

Since Jesus is the “last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45), the inspired Word of God is the gospel, and it began in the beginning. Jesus was the “quickening spirit” of the book of Genesis who, according to John, made all things.

The gospel story did not begin with John the Baptist who paved the way for Jesus, as Mark wrote, but John got it right. He was not “synoptic” with the other three.

John truly saw that the gospel story began with the Creation. Since Jesus was glorified at His death (John 7:39), then He returned to the original state in which man was made — He was the very Image of God as another Adam. Jesus was there in the beginning in “phantom” (that “quickening spirit;” selem in the Hebrew).

The gospel is all about Jesus from the beginning to the ending. It is Him that is the “alpha and omega” (Rev 1:8) — the aleph and the tav in the Hebrew (the Hebrew hieroglyphs for the ox and the cross which I believe is the life and the death).

So, what is the gospel? It is the Message from God throughout time.

Where is it in Genesis? It is God giving life in the beginning; it is God saving life after the two Adamah sinned (Gen 3). The Lord God who made Adam and Eve coats of skin and clothed them (Gen 3:21) was about the preservation of mankind; the very “gospel message.”

What I am leading to is that oftentimes there is no simple answer to what seems simple questions. I believe that the gospel message includes the Old Testament, and both Mark and John saw it that way as well.

The problem is that theologians call only the first four books of the New Testament “gospels.” Most people miss that the gospels began when the Word made Adam and the woman glorious in the very Image of God. All scripture is from people inspired by God with that message from the beginning of time.

Scripture, according to Paul’s letter “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

“Doctrine” is the Message from those inspired from God.

“Reproof” is the evidence for the message and the Messenger. The Old Testament proves the things to come came from God because the prophets got it all right.

“Correction” is to make upright again. It is lifting-up, not putting down.

“Instruction” is nurturing in righteousness, not by diminishing those who are learning, but guiding them by the hand, so to speak to understand what is right — what is acceptable to God.

Note that within those uses for scripture nothing is said about judging others or putting them down. It is about exalting God and others, especially other Christians, because they (me included) have Christ in them. Why set out to destroy others who have Christ in them? Why destroy even your enemies who you should want to have Christ in them?

Each day, I write a commentary about what I have learned from the Spirit of God. Hopefully it is God that inspires me with His Word.

Sometimes I may err; perhaps often. God corrects me when I do when I discover more in the gospel story. Because I was “born again” does not mean that I became a “know-it-all” but one seeking the gospel truth about Jesus, and it begins in the beginning. Why so? Because what was “finished” on the cross (John 19:3) was numerous things, but one of them was the gospel about the truth about Jesus; that He indeed is God in the flesh.

The gospel story did not begin with John the Baptist, but with “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1). Technically, that is the beginning of the gospel, and it was proven at the Crucifixion and validated at the Resurrection.

Hopefully, you understand that I understand the gospel. That is my insight about the “full gospel” story.

Abraham was in Paradise because he knew and trusted Jesus long before the gospel writers were ever born (Luke 16)!

The entire Bible is, in a sense, the gospel story because it too prepared the Way for Jesus. Mark did get it right because he understood the Old Testament, but John even had more insight from God who knew that the gospel began at the beginning, not just with Malachai.

I write this with a heavy heart. I intend not to be denominational nor even ideological. My aim is not to offend anyone, nor do I desire to cut God short. I endeavor to present the message of the gospels and know that I am not perfect.  I will, and do, err at times and God corrects me. Whether you believe what I write is none of my business but the business of God. I write… God persuades (Acts 8:13) in the manner of Paul who said right things and God changed them.

What is scripture for? To present the gospel — the beginning and the ending of the truth about Jesus which indeed should be the “Good News” given that Jesus is the Source of the Virtue emanating from God.

That is the gospel; and there is no simple answer. It is the “gospel” as I understand it. If you are looking for Webster’s definition; that is his insight. If you understand it differently; that is your insight, but insight must not incite.

Many approach the Word as ammunition to “shoot” their grudges against each others. For some reason, some Christians, maybe many of them, must be right about all things and they even parse each word from the keyboard of others to find some technicality.

For myself, I can always express myself better but often do not. Some assumption must be made about the intelligence of the recipient. With children, every word must be literal, or they use it against the parent. So many Christians are like the little children in that they look for error in the ways of others.

The gospel is not a bully pulpit to put others down; it is to lift them up to the truth.

The gospel is not about catching the error of others but your own! “He that is without sin (error) among you, let him first cast a stone” (John 8:7) and nobody did so.

The gospel is not about slinging fiery darts at others; that is the vocation of the Devil.

The gospel is not about shutting anyone down but lifting them up to the standard of Jesus.

The gospel is not for warring but for making peace.

The gospel is not for destruction of others but for the salvation of their souls. You cannot argue a person into heaven; love is what persuades them!

Denominations came about, not because of different scripture, but because people understand the gospel differently. We cannot all be right! Each church errs on many points whereas the gospel is without error. It is us that may be messed up, not God.

The gospel intent is to love God and one another. It is not to diminish God and each other.

Some Christians are like Satan himself; just waiting on others to pass by and out of their own little world, and then fire scripture at them like Satan fires his fiery darts.

Theological arguments make Christians the adversaries of each other. Argumentative Christians become useful tools of Satan, and they are adversaries on his behalf. They are much like the early church and the inquisition — if you do not believe as I do, then you are dead!

I feel threatened when somebody comes at me with a gun or other weapon. I feel more threatened when someone comes at me with scripture. They are not going to convert me because I am already persuaded, so since they cannot harm that; they try to harm me.

When at odds with one another the worst weapon is one of destruction. Their “Greek fire” is using the gospel message to burn down the fortitude of another Christian. They fire scripture as if it is a rapid-firing automatic weapon to be aimed straightly at the forehead at the brain.

The message sent to me from so many is that I am smarter than you! Indeed, you probably are but I make not claim to smartness, it is not me, or as the song goes, “yet not I, but through Christ in me.”

We are to love one another. Oftentimes, I sense an attack on me operationalized by some other Christian. Sensing an attack, I get defensive and try to respond in a humble way that will keep the peace. Humility reveals my underbelly, and they take that for as soft spot to shoot.

I do wish I knew it all but only Jesus was the only man that knew all things. If I pretend that I know it all, then I am pretending to be Jesus in the same manner as Lucifer who was cleverly the “Serpent” within.

Since so many seem to know it all, then why read any more scripture? It is because none of us know the Thoughts of God and never will fully know what God is thinking. Do not ask me cunning questions to shut me down; ask God outright questions to left you up out of your arrogance.

I try not to be mean, but sometimes Christiam must defend themselves from both the barbs of the wicked ones and prideful Christians.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (Jas 4:10).

I can be wrong and often I am wrong. God is never wrong; it is us who get it wrong.

If you genuinely seek an answer, please ask. If you want verbal warfare, please refrain. That is not the nature of us Christians to always be right in all things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE NARCISSUS IN US

 

There were consequences for those who betrayed Jesus. The first to be convicted of sin was Judas: 

Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? see you to that” (Mat 27:3-4)

Judas repented, just as well the thief on the cross, for his sin. ‘Dismus,’ the thief repented because he realized that Jesus was innocent of anything. Judas did the same thing… he believed that he betrayed innocent blood. Was Judas saved to Paradise? There is no mention of that. What was missing in Judas that was there in Dismus? The latter, before Jesus even died, saw that Jesus was God in the flesh.

Repentance is not enough. Even Judas with Satan in him repented, not because Judas knew that Jesus was God, but because Satan in him knew that quite well. Judas repented to save his own flesh, whereas Dismus repented because He would have saved Jesus if he had been able to do that. Dismus felt no remorse for himself but was very much concerned with the agony of Jesus.

I may have missed something in my life. I have repented of my sins almost daily since I was a child. However, my repentance was to save my flesh from perishing without a thought of goodwill for Jesus. I have missed the mark, coming far short of the glory of God. For me, my concern for Jesus was mostly about my own flesh, never minding the well-being of Jesus.

About the fate of Jesus, the elders and priests said, ““What is that to us? see you to that.” Like me, they failed to worry about the fate of Jesus; even that He was innocent. The murder of Jesus was no concern to them, and what is more, they were not even concerned with the fate of their accomplice who would die.

That, in a nutshell, is the sin of so many of us. We have no concern for Jesus nor anybody else. Astute Christians will understand that the elders and priests themselves were breaking the Greatest Commandment, and by the sin of omission, neither have I not worried about the fate of others nor even that Jesus suffered in agony.

picture credit: Historic Mysteries; "Narcissus")

 

FEARING THE BEAST WITHIN

Jesus often quoted scripture. As I have written before, the New Testament is not the scripture when Jesus spoke because it remained unwritten and certainly unpublished. The Old Testament is ‘scripture’ in the sense that it is the written Word of God.

Jesus, as the Word (John 1:1-14), spoke those words to the prophets and patriarchs by divine inspiration (2 Tim 3:16).,

Jesus healed the blind (Mat 21:14) and the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that Jesus did, but were much displeased (Mat 21:15).

Neither the chief priests nor the scribes could heal anybody. Jesus, they surely felt, stole their glory. That remains a problem to this age, to the extent that in 2005 the Stolen Valor Act was enacted in the United States.

Think about their thinking: We do all the work, but this Man gets the glory! Just as scripture says, their thoughts were not the Thoughts of God (Isa 55:8).

The chief priests and Pharisees, at least one of them asked Jesus, “Hear you what these say?” They were saying, “Hosanna to the son of David” (Mat 21:15) — Oh, save us, son of David.

Why were they angered? David was king, not a priest. King Saul, long ago, assumed the role of priest and did the things that the chief priest Samuel was to do. Saul stole Samuel’s valor, and “The Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Sam 15:35).

Jesus was doing their jobs! That goes deeper than it first appears. The job of the scribes was writing copies of the scripture. Perhaps there was jealousy because they only copied it, but Jesus wrote it! Jesus was stealing their valor.

As for the chief priests, they enforced the 613 Laws, but Jesus wrote them as the Word in the Old Testament.

Think how their feelings were hurt when Jesus asked, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?’” referring to God.

The scribes had written that perhaps hundreds of times, and most certainly the chief priests had read that as many times.

Now think on how smart we feel when we quote scripture. The point that Jesus was making was that writing about the Word of God and even reading it is not soterial.

That is likely a new word for you; soterial means ‘relating to salvation’ (Merriam-Webster 2023).

In fact, that hits me squarely in the face; I read the scripture and write a commentary nearly every day, but that does not make me a Christian nor will it save me. It makes me feel righteous but does not make me righteous. Merely reading and writing scripture can be merely placebos unless those precepts are lived.

I do all the hard work, ala the priests and scribes, but that brings me no glory. If I get any glory for what I do, that is valor stolen from Jesus.

Jesus was effectively asking them, Do you not practice what you read and write? To be honest that applies to me as well. Often, I find myself doing the very things that I write that should not be done. Each time, the only solution is to turn to Jesus and give Him the glory that He deserves. The scribes and priests would not do that, but the little children did!

Jesus quoted what both parties should have known by heart, and perhaps they did — “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?”

Again, what were the children saying? “O save us, son of David.” They gave credit to Jesus as both King and High Priest. David was not; he could not save. However, the children saw that Jesus was the legitimate King of the Jews, which He was, and was also God Himself.

Why would that bother the scribes and Chief Priests. Since Jonathan Hyrcanus was both king and chief priest not too many years before, that the chief priests aspired to the Davidic Throne. Those children did not see the chief priests as kings, and the latter were sore about it. They surely desired the esteem that Jesus was getting. It was them who struggled to save the Jews against the adversaries, and here was Jesus who they saw as the ‘Adversary.’

Jesus had been caught doing wonderful things before, and along came the Pharisees who accused Jesus: “This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils” (Mat 12:24).

The children were calling Jesus Savior and King. The religious leaders claimed Jesus to be the Devil. They believed that they could cast out Devils; they could not, so the two chief priests had Jesus crucified not too long after. Jesus was steeling their glory. How so?

Royalty have ‘Houses,’ using the name of their leader. The chief priest at the time of the crucifixion was Caiaphas. He was the fifth chief priest in the ‘House of Annas” who was there with Caiaphas to put Jesus in his place. Caiaphas was royalty in a sense — he was of the House of Annas, and they were there to defend their aspirations. Jesus was outperforming them, and the multitude loved Jesus as much as they despised the chief priests who enslaved them with the Law.

Jesus called them out — You know scripture, but you fail to live scripture. He seemed to belittle them, but it was the truth. They, however, were not humbled, but were very agitated, so much so that those two men would soon have Him killed.

Jesus quoted scripture. That was His defense against His accusers. Without a written account of the gospels, Jesus quoted a Psalm from the Old Testament: 

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your Name in all the Earth! who has set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit Him? (Psalm 8:1-4)

 Jesus knew that they knew all that song. They had read it over and over and even sung it in the synagogue. Jesus was good at projecting His Thoughts. He merely quoted one verse that would bring to mind the rest of the story. That is what songs do? Just start singing a tune and then stop; those who listen will grasp the whole song if they know it well.

He said one short passage, but what would they think? He claims to be our Lord and that His Name is excellent. He claims to be the Creator of the heavens and the Earth, just as the song says. And to further antagonize them, Who are they to come visit Him?

Jesus never attacked them. He let them judge themselves by filling in the blanks to the Psalm. They were nothing compared to Him, but here they were questioning His Lordship that he had just displayed by doing things that only God could do!

Jesus said so much by saying very little. He did not claim the be the Lord God. However, they must have feared that He was God, or perhaps just a king. They had no reason to fear Jesus; they should fear nothing more than fear itself. They should not have feared Jesus who had done so many wonderful things but fear themselves who had done so many awful things.

SPORTS FANS

Many live for their sports whether it be football, basketball, hockey, and volleyball. Some even get thrilled during the sport of curling. Many select their home team and each season, even during the holidays, they root for them; ironically, even during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s day.

There is nothing wrong with supporting your team. Supporters are as if they are part of the team, and the most dedicated of them all are those who pay thousands of dollars to sit in rainstorms or blizzards to witness the games. Indeed, their presence and enthusiasm are encouragement to the players. Playing in an empty stadium would be disheartening to any team. Even the visiting team needs some supporters because of the home-team advantage.

Sports fans are necessary for the success of the team. Indeed, athletic supporters are part of the team.

In some seasons, the home-team may be on a losing streak and apathy ensues. No longer are they not enthused but have submitted to inevitable losses. Ironically, the more apathetic the supporters become, the more losses their team seem to have. Apathy on the part of sports fans is as if their home teams are the opponents. Some may even see losses as well-deserved punishment. Usually, the manager or coach takes the ‘fall’ for the entire team.

Sports fans, when things go wrong, tend to become severe sports critics. Their discouraging words, as they sit tight on their hands, is their way of punishing lackluster players and the managers.

Sports fans are part of the team and are necessary for success. Teams without fans are never in the limelight.

So, just what is a ‘fan’?

The word ‘fan’ in that context comes from the English word ‘fanatic,’ meaning an insane person. The Latin origin was fanaticus "mad, enthusiastic, inspired by a god," also "furious, mad” (Douglas Harper 2001-2023). Therefore, ‘fan’ is as much a fervent religion as any religion might be.

You all have seen it yourselves; sports fans are religious about supporting their teams. Even atheists, therefore, have a religion of sorts. Many sports fans even follow their teams to distant places to support them. Their religion is Sports Enthusiasm. They cheer for their most revered object which is as much a team of lesser gods managed by a higher ‘god.’ Some Hoosiers still idolize coach Bobby Knight — the ‘god’ that just recently died.

Sports have always been a religion. That religion became organized in 776 B.C.  Ancient Olympic games “were held at the Panhellenic religious sanctuary of Olympia, in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin” (Wikipedia 2023).

Before the coming of Christ, the way of dating time was the year of the Olympiad. So, for sports fanatics, their time here on Earth, rather than measured from the time of Christ, is the time from the first Olympiad. For a period, that time stopped in the second century, AD, but continued secretly.

The ancient Olympiad was a celebration of Zeus every four years. That religion has been restored with the modern Olympic games, ostensibly to some unknown god.

That ‘god’ is the unholy spirit of Zeus. Hence, sports fans are unwittingly glorifying the Greek god Zeus, all the time thinking that they are just ‘fans’ as in ‘fannian’ — “to stir up air” (Douglas Harper 2001-2023).

Ironically, Satan is “Prince of the Power of the Air,” if that has any significance… and I believe it does. Sports events, for some, are more important than church and winning games is more important than winning souls. It is okay to support your teams, but not at the expense of neglecting the One True God. It is okay to support your team if not robbing God of His due.

Just what does God (Jesus Christ) deserve? Glorification!

The psalmist wrote that “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord; and shall glorify Your Name” (Psalm 86:9). His ‘Name’ became more than the Hebrew, ‘A Sem;’ He was called Jesus (Mat 1:25).

‘Glorify’ comes from the Hebrew, ‘kabad’ — to put much weight upon. In the case of Jesus, that is to value Him highly and esteem Him much. In other words, to become a ‘fan’ of Jesus — a Jesus fanatic, or becoming fervent for Jesus. You could even imply that Christians are to go overboard with Jesus.

That brings us to Peter. While still safe in the boat, Peter saw Jesus who was walking on turbulent waters. Peter went a little insane for Jesus, perhaps with much zealousness. He went overboard for the sake of Jesus.

Jesus said “come’ and, “And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” (Mat 14:29). Peter was not ‘making-sport’ of Jesus, mocking Him, but did go overboard for Him.

Peter was a fisherman and knew the water could drown him, especially with so much turbulence during the storm, but He was such a fan of Jesus that he did a crazy thing — he went overboard for Jesus. Peter was the fan of Jesus and was fanatical about Him to the extent that He would walk with Jesus all the way to his own death. As it turned out, Peter was such a fanatic for Jesus that he went to his own cross as well, then Nero had him crucified in the same manner as Jesus.

Peter did not only go overboard for Jesus but aboveboard. He, without resistance, died for his ‘team’ — the Church — and its ‘Coach’ — Jesus.

In AD 60, Nero commenced the Olympic games in Rome, just in time to burn the ‘Olympic Torch” (as it turned out, Rome) and to persecute the Church to honor Zeus. Then Peter was crucified at about the time of the Second Roman Olympiad games.

Playing sports for Zeus (Latin ‘Jupiter’) was more exhilarating to Nero than being part of Christ’s ‘Team.’ Although a fan for Jupiter and pagan Rome, Nero was a fanatic against Jesus and the Church — the new ‘team’ that was forming to compete against Zeus.

What was the spark that ignited this commentary? Certainly not the Olympic Torch but the Divine Spark of God.

I was speaking to a person just recently who indicated that it was okay to believe in God but not to go overboard; not to be overly enthused.

Glorifying God is essentially going overboard for Him. Just think about that; when Big Ship Earth is stormed, as it will be someday, we will indeed step off the ‘ship’ and look for safe harbor. There will be no dock to step onto, but only to trust Jesus for salvation.

We will someday be called by Jesus to “Come,’ as He told Peter. Will you go overboard to walk with Him wherever it is that He goes? Will you be enough of a fan to go overboard with Him?

‘Overboard’ is to go aboveboard with Jesus — to cross the firmament to another realm to go to a place that few will ever go because they were afraid of being fanatic enough to walk on lofty places to go to heaven!

Sports fans are fanatics of an invisible god as well. It is just that their god has no power to overcome the world as our God — Jesus — has done.

What does God expect of us? To follow Him wherever He walks, just like a rabid sports fan.

You may go to an adjacent city, or sports fanatics may go to many cities, even to distant places. Some may neglect friends and family to engage in watching sports. It may not even matter whose team or what sport they are, but you can count on them to be there glorifying their team, most often not even for a reason!

If it is okay to be a sports fan, it is okay to be a fanatic for Team Jesus — to go overboard or aboveboard for Him. That, readers, is the Way to Paradise in heaven!

 

WHO KILLED ADAM?

 Fear killed the first man! So, when Adam died, all his kind would thereafter die, as it is written, “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12). In the Greek, sin entered by one “man” or in the Greek, “anthropos.”

Consider the general application of that premise. That one word distinguishes human beings from beings of a different order, or “kind.”  It was some being, another existence, that walked upright and who had countenance — self-control, a personality, character, and intelligence. The anthropos of which Paul spoke were not the other kinds made during the Creation, but those made in the Image of God.

There is much discussion about what is the “Image” of God. However, scripture points toward the events of Genesis chapter one being the creation of a Paradise in another world with the different kinds therein.

(Bare with me; this is going somewhere.)

All those kinds would be, well, a kind, or sort. Even the animal kingdom would be kind within the Garden in the sense of having a fundamentally good nature or “genome” using scientific terms. Neither the plants nor the animals in that Garden paradise were harmful.

In that Adam and Eve, and apparently two each of the other kinds, were sent out into the world (Gen 3:24), world “history” began and all that came before was of another world. While in the “Garden,” indubitably Paradise in heaven, the flesh of the anthropoi would have been some type of incorruptible supernatural (glorious) flesh that was the covering for their immortal souls.

As such, not the person Adam sinned first, but the woman — the female of the anthropoi kind. Sin was in the woman; she alone could pass along the genetics within her mitochondria vessels. Imagine that; the women’s genetics have the transportation device — the mitochondria — wherein genes are hidden. As the mother of all living, it was Eve’s genes that made it aboard the Ark of Noah.

So, why all the genetics? Because fear is genetic. Mankind (anthropos) cannot help themselves because it is their nature to fear. Our countenance is the face of fear and has been since the first sin.  After realizing that they had sinned, Adam and Eve cowered when confronted by God, “They heard the Voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the Garden” (Gen 3:8). They were not afraid of Satan; they were afraid of God.

Imagine that; they had just been deceived by Satan, in the form of a Beast, but rather than fearing Satan, they feared God! The male Adam was the first to confess that: “I heard thy Voice in the Garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Gen 3:10).

It is taught that they were ashamed of their “flesh.” Their flesh may not have changed at that time.

(They obtained human flesh in preparation for the world when God put onto them coats of flesh v. 21 — corruptible and mortal flesh for their time in the world outside the realm of heaven.)

Therefore, their “nakedness” of which they were ashamed was their subtlety (‘aram in the Hebrew) (Strong 2006). They had assumed the nature of the Beast. The demon, Lucifer, had overshadowed Eve, apparently with carnal knowledge, for thereafter, they would “beget” rather than God (Gen 4).

They were like the first creature (Lucifer) who rebelled from God and used deception, or “subtlety” and to this day, according to Jesus: “You are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:43).

Jesus revealed several things; among them were that our kind (anthropoia) is genetically like the Devil, Satan, and that our nature is “subtlety” like that of the Devil’s, the Serpent. Think not that Eve was encompassed by some serpentine beast, but an unholy alien being from the world who connived its way into the Garden.

Who did Adam and Eve really fear? Sure, they feared retribution by God but what they feared primally was themselves. When Roosevelt said, “You have nothing to fear but fear itself,” that implies that everyone, if they fear anything, they should fear what is inside of themselves.

Jesus expanded upon that when He said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell” (Mat 10:28).

Who “killed” Adam? Adam, both of the adama, killed themselves, male and female, they did that! They chose death and they did that by seeking knowledge that could harm them.

What knowledge was that? Demonic knowledge. So, you don’t believe in demons? Neither did Adam and Eve; they thought that being was an angel of Light (Lucifer) and that it would bring Light, or truth, to them. Rather than Light and Truth, they were the receptors for darkness and deception, and to this day, mankind is gullible to lies and deception while they shun the truth.

Ironically, the truth aroused their fear in God. They both realized (Gen 3:7) the truth, the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were now “deceivers” and that their nature had changed. They did not fear the Beast for it was too late; the Beast was in them and wherever they would go, there was the Beast.

They did multiply, but not living souls. They multiplied many “beasts” and Eve was the mother of all of them. When scripture says that we “come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23), that coming short is the Beast, or brutishness, inside ourselves. Again, it is ourselves that we fear.

No wonder so many are paranoid. “Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality” (Collins 2018). Get that… paranoia is instinctual. It is written in the DNA of every person.

The beasts instinctually fear everything but their own kind; they generally live in peace with each other. However, man’s greatest enemy is other men (and women); we war with others, with God, and with ourselves.

Paranoia is unfounded fear. It is the expectation that many or even everybody is out to get you. In a sense, it is yourself of whom you should be afraid.

You need not live in fear. You only need to trust God to overcome the world for you.

 

³² Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³ These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:32-33)

 

Jesus has already overcome the world. Trust that He has! Never fear the world, but only fear God. You are the one that can kill the body, but God can perish both the body and the soul — the body to the grave and the soul judged to be worthy of Hell. Satan cannot kill your soul and demons are less effective (Book of Job). They can provide tribulation, but God determines when and if you die. When is that? When there is no longer a need for you in this world, and so long as you work for God, and not Satan, there is a need for you here.

 

Now, I have a confession to make. As a child, I was afraid of myself. I recognized my own paranoia by examining reality — the actual facts.

I would often walk from home to the auction house down the road. It was about one-half mile. I stayed on the sidewalk until it ran out. I could almost see the auction from that distance.

During the winter, I would wear earmuffs because of the cold. I could hear my own heart beating as I walked. I didn’t know that I was hearing me, so thinking that they were the footsteps of someone else, I would run. The faster that I ran, the faster the “man” chased me. By the time I got to the light, I saw that there was nobody chasing me. I had feared myself. I had been paranoid because there was no rational reason to be fearful!

I should have learned my lesson the first time, but no; each time I ran faster out of more fear than the time before. It was only from my safe-space at home with my parents that I resolved that fear of myself. If there was really someone out to get me, he would have already gotten me. I had scared myself many times, but each time I had arrived safely. Sometimes I had not gone to the auction because I had been afraid. I had not been afraid of real things but my own heartbeat.

If my heart had trusted God, then God would have been with me. (This is not fabricated: it really happened!) I was afraid of myself, and to this day, I do not like being alone.

To be honest, I was afraid of the dark growing up because the darkness ravaged my mind. There was always a “monster” under the bed and one behind every tree. Only when I trusted Jesus did the monsters leave me and the trees became beautiful again.

Satan does not scare me now. I am not important enough for him to spend time on me. However, demons do the dirtiest work, scaring people of what is inside of them. Our problem is that we do not have demons inside, but the shadow of Lucifer that is us inside. We all should understand that the inward us is our problem, but demons make it appear that it is others we should fear. As such, others become the demons in our minds, and they won’t go away until Jesus comes in.

Paul wrote that Christians are Jews inwardly (Rom 2:29). Jews are the remnant remaining of the Hebrews from Abraham and God’s Covenant with him.

Abraham means “Shield.” As Jews inwardly, God is our “Shield” because the nature of Abraham had been changed from “Abram.” In other words, God is the Shield of Christians and as Christians, we trust in God to shield us.

Paranoia is not something of which to be ashamed because most of us fear ourselves. At one time, I feared me so much that I turned down promotions at work. I feared that I was not capable of the tasks at hand. With God, I overcame that fear. I had been paranoid and feared myself. I learned that I can do all things if in Christ. He is my Shield, of which Paul wrote, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephes 6:16).

Sure, we should fear some things. But they must be tangible things. We must fear the ones that can destroy the body — bad doctors, evil-doers, dangerous activities, the occult, and even drugs. We must never fear the shadows nor the silent but vocal voices in our minds that scare us to death. The Voice of God can preserve us if we trust the Word.

After Adam and Eve wore the Garment of God, no longer did they fear either what they could not see, nor did they fear themselves.

As for Noah, he feared the new world when he took off the Garment of God — Grace — even for one night. His “nakedness” was exposed, not his flesh, but who he truly was inside. He feared the genes that identified him as specifically him. He was afraid of what he might do. Afterward, for little or no reason, paranoia enveloped him, and he feared his own son, Ham, and cursed his grandson, Canaan, because he was like the evil one from before the flood.

I could go on with how the mind works to scare us to death, bit by bit, until we wither away. The world worked on Adam for 930 years until he tired of his inner self.  The mind can work for us or against us, but that is for another day.

Neither God nor the Serpent killed Adam. He did it himself because the Devil wore him down, as we learn from the Books of Adam and Eve. 

(picture credit; "Worrying Man;" Unsplash) 

 

 

 

 

 

JESUS REVEALS HE IS NOT CRAZY

 Sometimes when scripture is read, the message does not click. It seems out of place and maybe self-contradictory. In those cases, the passage(s) cannot be glossed over. Such is the case with the key verse for this commentary: 

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. (Mat 5:25)

 Jesus is speaking. The topic began with blessings, but now it has been gradually changed to what seems an unrelated topic — agree with your adversary and quickly. Jesus, in the previous passages, seems to be talking about His crucifixion would be to reconcile the sins of the world. Now the topic is agreement with His enemies. Surely not! That requires expository study.

First off, let us examine the word adversary. In the Greek — the textus receptus — the word is “antidikos.”

Adversary is an appropriate translation, especially, the “Adversary,” the Devil. Would Jesus say that a person is to agree with the Devil at all, no less quickly? Probably not! The other meaning is “an opponent in a suit of law” ( (Strong 1890). Jesus was tried several times in mock courts before He was sentenced to death. He said nothing in His defense other than to agree with the accusations. You see, Jesus knew the Father was in charge and this day was God’s day.

Pontius Pilate, the prelate, and acting on behalf of Caesar who was in seclusion on the island of Capri, judged Jesus in the absence of Caesar. Pilate asked a direct question, “What have you done?” Jesus quickly answered, without further ado the thing He had done: 

³⁶ My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence. ³⁷ Pilate therefore said unto Him, “Art thou a king then?” Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:36-37)

 The ”adversary” in this case were the Jewish leaders — the two chief priests (verse 35). Pilate asked of them, what is this man accused of? They never answered the question! One of them said, “If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee” (verse 30). They believed Him to be guilty of something, of what, they were not sure (In the manner of Donald Trump.) [1]

A malefactor is an evildoer, but the priests would dribble on: “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death” (verse 31). Jesus, if He had been trying to save His life, would have agreed with that for He had done no evil, and they had jurisdiction only if Jesus had broken their Law. Jesus would have agreed with that statement of fact!

As it turned out, the accusation changed. The new accusation was that Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews. The Jewish kingdom, Jesus knew, was not to be in this world but another.

When the Abrahamic Covenant was made, perhaps only Abraham knew that the “Promised Land” was in another realm, and the Book of Jasher placed Abraham king of that realm; the one that Luke called “Abraham’s Bosom” (Luke 16:22).

It was God’s intention to deliver His own Person to be the Holocaust. Jesus quickly agreed. He was indeed King of the Jews, but not king of them in this world but in another realm. He was the successor to Abraham as the “Seed of Abraham,” hence the genealogy of Matthew chapter one. If it had been the Davidic Kingdom, like David, His people would have fought to retain the House of David with Jesus as King. As such, the Father was the One who judged the case, and the Father found Jesus guilty as charged!

“Guilty?” you ask, but Pilate found no fault in Him (John 18:38).

Yes, Pilate found no fault in Him, so the Jewish leaders changed the accusation’ they said, “He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” (John 19:21).

Jesus never said that; they said it! Jesus was a legitimate heir to the Kingdom of Judea, but never did He contend for that empty throne, just like Abraham who was comfortable living in the same land and being king of another realm.

Looking back at the key verse, Jesus never denied even false claims about Him because He trusted the Father. He was born to die, and that was the truth. If they had accused Him of that, Jesus would have quickly agreed. The Jewish leaders seem to be the accusers, but who really was?

Pilate reminded Jesus that he had the power of Caesar with him; that he could either condemn Him or release Him. To which Jesus responded, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore He that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin” (John 19:11).

At first glance, those that delivered Jesus to Pilate were the chief priests. They did sin a greater sin, but was Jesus speaking of them?

Who delivered Jesus to the Cross? Was it one of the leaders to which Jesus could have appealed? Was it the chief priests? Judas? No! It was the Power from above who delivered Jesus.

Paul knew the answer to that; “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Father God was responsible for the death of Jesus. He made Jesus sin; not in a verbal sense because Jesus never sinned. Jesus was made the scapegoat (Lev 16:10). He never sinned but carried the sin of all mankind.

God broke His own Law. “Thou shalt not kill,” but then He reconciled that sin by resurrecting Jesus. God was vindicated because Jesus died so that others might live (John 3:16).

So, in this case, Jesus, and Him alone, agreed with His adversary, but it was God to whom Jesus succumbed, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46). He had not forsaken Jesus because soon, it is revealed that the Father resurrected Him (Mat 27:53).

God is in charge. If it is your time to die, then it is God’s decision. Arguing with the adversaries may seem to delay the time but death comes with God’s timing. There was nothing that Jesus could say that would change the Plan of God, so He just agreed with all the accusations made by all His adversaries.

Satan — the Adversary — had nothing to do with the death of Jesus. The Holy Ghost of Jesus had put Satan in his place and deposited him in Hell with sin after the darkness subsided. For one time, Satan was not responsible for this. The sin of Judas was great; and although He had Satan in him, God is greater than Satan or sin!

Continuing with the key verse, Jesus was cast into a “prison.” We think of bars and jails as prisons, but Jesus was confined to the Cross. His prison was when all movement was contained, and He could do nothing!

Some Jews believed in Jesus, even while the Cross made for Him a prison of sorts. Jesus said to them, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

What made the believing Jews free? They too saw that Jesus is God when the Person Jesus revealed His Inner Self — the Holy Ghost. Most could not see it, but Jesus was revealed as God when He gave up the Ghost in a sort of second transfiguration.

Jesus, in a sense, was “crazy” as He was beside Himself, finally as accused by His friends, “And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, ‘He is beside Himself’” (Mat 3:21). The governor Festus agreed with that (Mark 3:22). The Greek word “existemi” is translated both as “beside Himself” and “crazy.”

Let’s take that word literally… “To stand out of wits.” (ibid) — to stand beside the Intelligence, or Jehovah, the “Existence.”

When Jesus died, He gave up the Holy Ghost and soon was at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33). Jesus was finally at His death, “beside Himself” as His Holy Ghost was revealed. He was not crazy but did have a second “Person.” To this day, schizophrenia is thought of as craziness with the sick person having delusions of grandeur. Jesus proved that God is for real when He showed Himself beside Himself!

Can that key verse be applied to us? We all shall die, and it will be in God’s time. Anything we say cannot change God’s time because when the death angel is due, he shall come for us.

(Picture; "Christ Before Pilate")

 

 

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[1] For a comparison see my book, Trump and Triumph.