THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF ANNAS

 The Christian Church was built on the foundation of the Temple, and God revealed that to Adam as early as the Edenic Covenant (Gen 3:14-15). God revealed to Adam how the head of the viper would be crushed and who would do it.

The chief priest and Pharisees knew scripture. Would they be able to follow the thread from original sin to themselves? Surely, they did because they became enraged. Have I followed the thread from original sin to the crucifixion of Jesus? You be the judge.

Jesus said many parables that day to teach the people truth. One specific parable was aimed at the Pharisees and chief priests; the parable about the reverence of the son (Mat 21:37) whom as it turned out, they were determined to kill to get his inheritance. (v. 38). (Think now of the inheritance as the Church, kingship, and Heaven itself.)

Of course, they were so determined that they finally did kill the Son. The message in the parable was that they would kill Jesus, which they did at the crucifixion. When Jesus said to Pilate, “He that delivered Me unto you has the greater sin” (John 19:11). Who delivered Jesus to Pilate to be killed? That is revealed as well: “Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:3), then the officers delivered Jesus to Annas first, then Caiaphas, who advised the Jews “that it was expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:14).

He that delivered Jesus was Caiaphas, and he was responsible for the death of his Savior. I submit that Judas had been the Antichrist that betrayed the Lord since he had Satan enter unto him (Luke 22:3). With the suicide of Judas, Satan went somewhere!

Luke also wrote about Judas, “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18). In modern terms, Satan suicided Judas because the ‘Serpent’ must move on. I submit that Satan then entered Caiaphas because it was him that became the ‘Adversary’ of Jesus, and thus the ‘Antichrist.’

How would Satan go? From one contemptuous person to the next. Judas hanged himself as Satan made him feel guilty, and rather than let Jesus handle the guilt, Judas did so himself. Then he fell headlong onto the ground, ironically, the ground meaning ‘Adam’ in the Hebrew.

That fulfilled the Adamic Covenant about the ‘Serpent,’ — “On his belly he shall go” Go where? “And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen 3:14). (Now keep the dust in mind for the rest of the story.)

That brings us back to the parable: Jesus revealed what would happen, “Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Mat 21:44). Jesus was the head of the corner, the stone rejected by the builders (Mat 21:42). Jesus was the Cornerstone of the Invisible Church.  

He would grind him (Caiaphas) to powder. Many theologians believe that the rich man in the story of Lazarus was Caiaphas, and his ‘brothers’ the five sons of Annas that were chief priests before him. That was the ‘House of Annas’ — himself, his five sons and Caiaphas, his son-in-law.

I agree with that assessment. The House of Annas would fall, just as Jesus said about them in the parable. He accused them and provided the outcome without direct accusation, but they knew that Jesus was speaking of them. He may have antagonized them to do just that. Ultimately, as Jesus revealed to Pilate, nothing can be done unless it is the Will of the Father. As such, Jesus, as God, presented Himself as the reasonable sacrifice in accordance with Romans 12:1.

Jesus put it into their hearts to kill Him, but Satan had to be in Caiaphas to deliver Jesus to his death. That makes him the Antichrist and soon after the House of Annas fell just as Jesus revealed in the parable… “Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” That happened twofold: (1) the House of Vipers — the Temple — fell and after the longest reign in history, Caiaphas was deposed by the Legate of Syria, Lucius Vitellius.

Jesus was speaking of Caiaphas and his House of Annas that would fall and be ground to dust. The fall of the House of Annas was projected in the very beginning when God cursed the Serpent, “Dust shall you eat all the days of your life” (Gen 3:14). God was not speaking of how the Serpent would crawl on its belly at all. It was not a ‘Serpent;’ it was the seraph angel, Lucifer, as Isaiah revealed, although it was hidden in the Hebrew (Isa 14:29).

On its belly it would go was the Serpents motion at the death of Judas. When Judas died, what happened to Satan. It crawled on its belly to reemerge from Judas, and it appears that the Serpent entered Caiaphas immediately thereafter, who several years later, caused the House of Annas to fall as well as their viviparous Temple.

No longer since that time has there been Temple worship. After the fall of the House of Annas, the Christian Church was built on the foundation of the Temple. Obviously, not the Dome of the Rock which stands there until this time, but the Invisible Church that is eternal with Jesus as the Cornerstone that the builders — the House of Annas — rejected! The Church was built on Jesus — the Cornerstone — on the dust of the House of Annas.

 

 

 

THE TWO-IN-ONE

Jesus spoke in parables and this time it was a parable of His own death. The householder employed husbandmen to run the vineyard in his absence.

The householder owned the estate, and he was the noble. It was his to do with as he pleased and his workers to do his pleasure.

“There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country” (Mat 21:33).

Compare that to the Garden of Eden. God was the certain householder and without a doubt the Garden belonged to God who had planted it. The householder of the parable would be God who planted a Garden in Eden.

In this case, the Garden was a vineyard. God planted it Himself and then left the Garden for Adam to administer. Himself was in Adam. Adam would be the right hand of God. He was without a name, but his kind was Adamic. Adam’s himself was without a name. As the only one of that kind, like God, he was called by the name of his kind.

Adam was the first ‘plant’ in the Garden, and he was one of many varieties of live but he alone was dominant. It was Adam who was ‘elected’ to be planted rather than any of the other kinds. “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed” (Gen 2:8). God planted a living soul that was His Image (Gen 1:27).

‘Eastward’ in this context is not the best translation. Since the Sun comes up in the East, the implication is that God planted the Garden before time (Strong 2006). Therefore, the Garden of Eden was created before time began. Hence, the ‘day’ translation could best be described as dynamic processes, each of which lasted ages of different lengths.

The parable was about growing vines in a vineyard. Jesus revealed the parable somewhat, when He said, “I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman” (John 15:1). The Greek word, ampelos (vine) implies two-from-one.

A vine is thus a binary multiplier — two from one, four from two, sixteen from four, and so on to a multitude from the first one. As the Vine, Jesus is the Invisible Image and the progenitor of the multitude in the gospels.

The husbandman in the parable is the vine dresser. If you remember, the first man was assigned the role of husbandman in the Garden of God, “The Lord God took the man (adam), and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen 2:15). That nameless man was assigned a vocation. He would be the ‘husbandman’ in the absence of the ‘Householder,’ on whose Estate he resided.

As the two-from-one, Jesus was the Vine and the Husbandman. His role was like a king to Caesar in whose absence, the king or governor became, not only the caretaker, but the Caesar. So, think of the ‘Householder’ as being a type of Caesar with both being the caretaker and the householder.

“But,” you say, “Jesus is the Vine and His Father the Husbandman!” Are you forgetting that the Vine and the Husbandman are the two-from-one? Jesus was both the Vine and the Husbandman, and John verified that (John 1:1-14).

Returning to the parable, the ‘vineyard’ would be the Garden that God planted. Its ‘crop’ was not grapes at all, but the Estate of God is a Garden of living souls that Jesus, as the Word, planted in the Garden before time began.

Jesus said for them to hear another parable; the one which I have been commenting qbout: 

There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. (Mat 21:33-39)

 The ‘householder’ is the master of the house that owns the plantation. A plantation is the ground on which things are planted. In this case, it refers to the LORD GOD as the Master and the Garden of the Lord, the ‘Plantation’ on which there was planted a Garden of the Lord.

Not only was it the Lord’s Garden, but it was the ground (Hebrew; adam) on which the LORD GOD planted the Image of Himself, so to speak. It was His own Divine Seed that was planted, and since the person, Adam, was of God and the ground, he was called the ‘Ground’ (Adam), or more precisely the dust, or atoms, of the ground. Mankind to this day have the same composition and in the same proportion as the elements of the ground itself.

Adam would be the ‘Vine’ because with that one man came two. Adam was the Vine that God planted and from that one seed came two human beings; Adam and his woman.

Consider what Paul wrote, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit” referring to Adam’s kind and Jesus. Adam and his woman were the first man, two-from-one. They were of one flesh, as Jesus said it; “The two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh (Mark 10:8), speaking of the first male and female.

The male and the female were one. They were the ‘vine’ that would multiply. That ‘crop’ failed (Gen 3) so, the LORD GOD Himself became the “Husbandman” as well as the ‘Householder.’

Adam #1 (Jesus is the ‘Last Adam.’) [1] was planted in the Garden. God took his soul that was made first (Gen 1) added the elements to make a visual image, then planted the living soul in the ground to grow and multiply its seed. Jesus was the ‘quickening spirit’ or the Miracle Grow® that worked wonders in the Garden.

Because a deadly spirit got into the Garden, the LORD GOD fired the first husbandmen and sent them to work another place in another realm. [2]

The Lord God became the two-from-one (the ‘Vine’ and the ‘Husbandman’ as one), to wit: “In the beginning (before time) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

In ancient days, the “beginning” would be said, “Eastward” since the Sun rises in the East. It was not directional at all but before time. Hence, the Word and the LORD GOD were One before time began. Before Jesus went to Paradise, He made a bequest to the Father, that “they may behold My Glory, which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). The LORD GOD said Jesus loved Him before time began.

Exactly when did time begin? With decay — with death. Time is the measure of living organisms and with the first sin, death ensued. (I submit that time began with the first sin and with the establishment of a Garden of Adam in the world.) In other words, the world was already there when time began; no wonder it is so ancient!

Recently, I went camping… about two months ago. I had put two slices of bread in my Tupperware® container and sealed it. The container was sandwich shaped so consider the bread the organic ‘soul’ that was covered with a Tupperware ‘body.’

When I finally checked my backpack, after two months time, those two slices of bread remained fresh even after all that time. If the vacuum had been perfect, in theory, that organic bread would have lasted forever, if the moisture was drained off early on.

Given a perfect environment in another realm, theoretically mankind could exist forever if they were engulfed in the quickening spirit (living water — the Holy Spirit) to keep them robust.

Not that the heavens are a vacuum but with no contamination, the Garden of God in Paradise, since it was perfectly good (Gen 1:31), organisms would live forever as if in a perfect vacuum. In other words, Paradise would have no foul air to degenerate living souls, and since souls are not even organisms, they would endure forever in the Garden of God.

Referring again to the parable, it should be obvious that Jesus was referring to Paradise in heaven where the Father of the Godhead is the ‘Householder,’ and in this case the two-from-one — the Husbandman as well with the Son having the authority of the Husbandman.

It is interesting that the parable says, “and hedged it round about.”

Satan accused God of putting a hedge around Job, His servant (Job 1:10; 3:23). The accusation was that Job was safe in the Garden of God as one of His ‘plants.’ The ‘hedge’ was literally a ‘restraint” (Strong 2006). There was a restraint placed around Paradise as well; after Adam colluded in sin with the woman, “He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the Way of the Tree of Life” (Gen 3:24). If there was a Garden with some type of gate, there must have been a hedge around the Garden.

Again, east is not directional; it is before time; hence time began when Adam was placed into the world. Since time has no direction nor substance, there is no such thing as time before it is experienced. It is time that kills. That piece of bread that I enshrined in a vacuum, experienced almost no time and it remained fresh.

There is a scientific experiment wherein an old fashion time clock is placed in a nearly perfect vacuum. When the alarm rang there was no sound since there was no medium for sound waves in a vacuum. It rings but does not alarm.

An alarm comes when the set time is reached. Because it was a mechanical clock, its mechanics indicated that time had elapsed, but if the time had been measured by an organism, no time would have passed. Time is therefore not the ticking of a mechanism but the decaying of an organism.

God enshrined both Adam and Eve in coats of skin (Gen 3:21) to endure the world. No longer in Paradise, God covered them just like we would cover plants with the last frost. It was literally covers for their exposure. Perhaps it was not skins at all but the ‘hedge’ as if Paradise was still with them and wherever they would go, they would be in a near Paradise wherein decadence does not exist.

No longer in a perfect place, say a “perfect vacuum,” they would be safe in an imperfect vacuum. They could endure the world as if they were in the paradisical Garden, or a Paradise on Earth. Before sin, they would have been in the realm of heaven, but God transplanted them into another ‘Garden of the Lord’ (Gen 13:10) along the River of the Garden (Naral Ha Yarden) — the Jordan River.

Lot saw that place as he entered Zoar, apparently where Job had lived long before. Could it be that God had indeed put a hedge around the earthly Garden Paradise in the same manner as Paradise in Heaven, or was Job wearing the ‘Garment of Adam’ that the Book of Jasher indicates was passed down from Adam to Noah and onward? Would that Garment be the ‘Whole Armor of God” (Ephes 6:11) of which Paul wrote?

Is the apparel of the armor the full covering like the ‘hedge’ of fig leaves that Adam and Eve put only around their pudenda? Had Adam attempted to put his own ‘hedge’ around them knowing full-well their punishment was in a sort of prison beyond their safe-space?

Since Eve became the goddess (Gen 4:1), had the male become the god, creating their own safe spaces — aprons of fig leaves, knowing full well that they would be transplanted as a very different kind in God’s Garden in the world? Was he creating their own ‘vacuum’ over their offensive genitalia to keep themselves virile? That seems to be the idea!

The ‘winepress’ of the parable was literally digging a drain for the juices to flow. (Strong 2006).

God dug the winepress at the crucifixion. As Jesus died the multitude beheld the digging of the winepress when, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Mat 27:51). The ‘Householder’ did that! Where was the Father during the death of His Son? Making the rocks rent for the ‘wine’ from the body of Jesus to flow from Jesus to the ground, or if you remember, the ‘ground’ was Adam. [3]

The Householder did something unusual for a Garden. “He built a tower.”  What in the world for? Not as a scarecrow, but a watch tower “to repel a hostile attack or to enable a watchman to see in every direction” (ibid).

The ‘garden’ of the householder, was Israel, which was surrounded by Eden. The land of the tribe of Dan was known before as ‘Eden’ and the Gulf of Aden (Eden) is in the entryway to Arabia at the nation of Yemen whose major city is Aden. Israel is the ‘midst of the Garden,’ on Earth as it was in heaven. I am suggesting that God made parallel realms of different ‘charges’ — one positive and one negative.

Could it be the coat of skin was not a coat from any animal, but skins like the beasts, so to dress and keep them? Could it be that the nakedness of Adam and Eve was not flesh but them without human flesh like the beasts? The beasts have theirs but to cover their shrewdness (ibid) — their innermost existence or brutish nature?

The “Tower” of the vineyard was a ‘Tree’ in its midst. The ‘tower’ in the Garden of the Lord was the ‘Tree of Life.’ It was there for the safety and longevity – life. That same ‘Tree’ is the one that Jesus hung from when He was crucified. It stood in the middle of the Garden of God in Israel. The Cross is the Watch Tower and on that ‘Tower’ Jesus watched as they persecuted Him, who Himself was the ‘Tree of Life.”

Remembering that the “Vine’ is two-from-one, The Householder put the Husbandmen in charge of the ‘vineyard.’ The Husbandman had the authority of the Householder. The Householder’s  ‘right hand’ was the Husbandman who had the same interests as if He was the Master. In the parable, the Householder and the Husbandman represent the two facets of God — the Father and the Son.

The householder went out into a far country, the parable says. How far did God go? Into another realm. He left Jesus, the Husbandman, in the near country (the world) to disperse His wine without charge; the ‘wine,’ representing the blood of Jesus (1 Cor 11:26).

While the Householder was on His Throne in heaven, the Husbandman was on His ‘footstool’ on Earth, so says the LORD GOD: “The heaven is My throne, and the Earth is My footstool” (Isa 66:1).

So far, the Husbandman was the Son of the Father, but before that arrangement, there were several other husbandmen who were cruel.

The last Husbandman was the Son of the Householder. It would be His Estate someday and He would be a fair Master, even a servant to the bondsmen who worked the Garden. Because He was the Master’s Son, the Son was as the Master.

In Roman times, the son was the right hand of the father, not in position, but authority. The Son of the Householder was no other than Jesus. He was revealing His Identity as Father God using a parable that only those who truly knew Him would understand.

The bondsmen would have reverence for the son as if he was the father and owner of the estate.

The son was not an ordinary husbandman. He had a stake in the plantation. In the last days, the entire garden would belong to the son, and as the very image of the father, he could probate the will of the father as if the garden, the bondsmen, and the harvest were his. That is Jesus. He is the Son, and the bondsmen fellow heirs of His. The bondsmen, if they had served well, would inherit their parts of the Kingdom of God just as the sons and adopted sons of Israel inherited the Garden of God — the land of Israel.

Who were the bad husbandmen? Annas and Caiphas, the High Priests who had the dishonor of killing the Good Husbandman since the Householder seemed to be far away, even another realm!

Jesus had told Pilate that it was not him that would kill Him, but “He that delivered Me unto you has the greater sin” (John 19:11). “He,” just like the ‘Vine’ is two-in-one. “He” was the High Priest Annas and his right hand, Caiaphas, acting with the same authority that Annas had before when he alone was the chief priest.

The several other bad householders were the five sons of Annas: Eliazer, Jonathan, Mathias, Theophilus, and Annas the son of Annas. Caiaphas, who was high priest was the son-in-law and adopted son of Annas. By the time of Caiaphas, he thought that the Estate — the ‘Vineyard’ belonged to the House of Annas, and that Annas was the ‘householder’ and Caiaphas the ‘husbandman.’

In other words, Jesus saw it coming and revealed what was about to happen in a parable. What would have anyone thought if Jesus had accused Annas and Caiaphas outright? That Jesus was a conspirator rather than a Savior!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] The intermittent ‘Adams’ were Eve’s kind since Adam named her cunning kind after the first sin and her beguilement.

[2] I believe that Eden was the place in Heaven whereon the LORD GOD created a Paradise and populated it. When the adamah were cast out of the Garden of the Lord; they were cast out into the world, so that man could run the garden that He had made in the world… a non-paradisical garden that Genesis chapter three aptly describes.

[3] In my book, The Skull of Adam, I contended that Adam was buried beneath Calvary — ‘the place of the skull’ of Adam to cleanse his sins by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus.

ABOUT DECEPTIVE DOCTRINE

The Bible has many, many truthful doctrines if the reader only stops to take time to consider them. The dynamics of God cannot be deciphered until they are stopped long enough to consider them; like photons of light, they are only a blur until they strike an object to reveal themselves.

Viewed in a vacuum like space, light cannot be seen from the side. Light rays are invisible. What the viewer sees beyond the vacuum of space, in the world, is light reflected off particles, both microscopic and large. Otherwise, light can only be seen when it is directed at you.

So, it is with the Word. So long as you do not stop to consider it; the Light — the Word — is fleeting. Only when you stop to consider it, does it strike you. Consider the word that stopped dead still and hit me squarely this morning: 

Verily I say unto you, “If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;’ it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. (Mat 21:21-22)

 Jesus had just withered the fig tree because it provided no fruit. Not only that, but Jesus would soon move a mighty mountain! When Jesus died, “The earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose…” (Mat 27:51:52)

Jesus had no doubt. He knew that He was the Son of God without question. He withered the fig tree and moved a mighty mountain, because He had no doubts at all.

Paul wrote about faith and Christians lacking in perfect faith: 

Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your Face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. (1 Thes 3:10-11)

 Paul wrote that Jesus Christ is the Father. He is the ‘Director’ of our Way. He knows the Way to eternal life and would direct you nowhere else but to Paradise in heaven. We are to pray that we see the Face of God. Why so? Because so many fail to see that Jesus is indeed the very Face of God Himself. Many even believe that Jesus was separate from the Father; that He and God were not one and the same. The objective of praying is to perfect what is lacking in our faith.

There it is — Christians do not know that they know that they know, ad infinitum. Christians are lacking in their faith. Why pray? Because your faith is lacking vitality, as is mine!

Jesus withered the fig tree. Your dog has probably withered more trees that you have! Have you moved mighty mountains? Only Jesus has done that! Are you God? Jesus was and remains so.

That you know that you know that you know implies that you are God! Step outside and pray; pray for even that small hill to be moved and it shall not be moved. You are thusly, lacking in your faith or it would be done.

Jesus said, “If you have faith, and doubt not,” There is a relationship between faith and doubt. Jesus knew who He was and said so. Knowing that He was God, Jesus withered the fig tree, moved the mountain, and along the way healed the sick, not like a doctor, but instantly. He could do that because He was sure of Himself. We cannot do that because we are not certain that He is God.

That thesis will be tested at some point to prove ourselves if we are alive during the Great Tribulation. Those who remain alive after the coming of Jesus will be tested and if they pass, John saw the outcome, to wit: “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev 20:4).

I will not be so arrogant to think that I know who those souls are, but Christians of all ages have always been tested. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs reveals many who were crucified, beheaded, or burned alive because of their strong faith in Jesus. All Christians are tested in some manner and most of us are tested easily; are we sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ? If not, then would you pass the test. In my recent commentary, I called that CINO — Christians In Name Only.

Our persecution is mild compared to theirs, yet most Christians fail.

Jesus, knowing that He was God, pointed out what was lacking in their faith. The faith of God is knowing full well. He knows that He knows that He knows… from alpha to omega; ad infinitum. He has full assurance and without a doubt that He is God. The question is, do you believe that strongly that Jesus is God? When the executioner stands there with his ax raised would you hold fast to that belief?

Faith is trusting that God is who He says He is. That was the crucial test at the crucifixion.

Pilate believed that and verified that he believed Jesus, “said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, ‘I find no fault in this man’” (Luke 23:4). Understand that Pilate, the acting Caesar, lost his position and name perhaps because of his belief in Christ (Letters have been preserved from Pilate to Caesar attesting to the veracity of the godhood of Jesus.) Pilate could have been crucified from judging Jesus because in those days, Caesar was the supreme judge.

And don’t forget the mob of Jews. Pilate broke their Law: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod 20:3). And there was Jesus, the very Image of God that was forbidden. The penalty for that was, “Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed” (Exod 22:20). The rabid Jews knew that Law, and Pilate essentially broke that Law by trusting Jesus was who He said He was. Could you have done that knowing full well that both Caesar and the mob had a reason to kill you? I don’t think so!

Pilate passed the test in the face of eminent danger. Few there that day believed Jesus. Would you have been a Jesus denier, a Jesus doubter, or a Jesus trustee? The crowd, excepting Pilate, his wife, the repentant thief, and the centurion who pierced Jesus; were the faithful few. All the rest either did not believe or had enough doubt that even the apostles stood silently by out of fear for their flesh.

Saying, “I know that I know that I know,” is just asking for that to be tested! It tempts Jesus to test your arrogance; that you are more certain than the apostles. All thirteen of them were tested and all twelve of the thirteen — minus Judas — passed the test. All, but one, were killed for the Name, Jesus, leaving John to be boiled in oil alive. Have you that much faith?

Faith is essentially trusting Jesus for the duration, “You shall be hated of all men for my Name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mark 13:13). Christians must endure to the end even if it means death! Salvation comes at the end of the test. It is not endurance that day, that week, that month, or even the rest of the church service; it is enduring the world until death do you part.

Each temptation is a test for the Christians. Would they do what Jesus did — resist temptation — or do what they want to do?

Sin reveals a lack of faith. You either doubt that He is God or that He will not judge you in the end. Sin in the life of the Christian is a test of their faith. Do they truly know that they know that they know or are they lying about the intensity of their belief? Whether they yield to temptation, or not, reveals what they really believe!

Absolute trust all the time is knowing Jesus. You cannot just trust Him part of the time and just for some things. Failure to trust God in all things are sins of omission. They are just as wrong as sins of commission. Claiming that extreme degree of certainty is tested and you can be certain that you will be tempted!

Faith can be operationalized by trust over time. If it was written in algebraic terms, it would be F (faith) = T (trust) / t (time), where time is from born again to the end of life. Trust is the variable that is measured over time.

D = C – F where C is certainty, D is doubt and F remains Faith. You can see, everyone but Jesus had some degree of doubt, but you testify that you never doubt.

Your faith varies. The variable reveals itself when temptation leads to sin. Anytime you sin, your faith lessens, and doubt raises its ugly head.

Now consider the claim, “I believe without a shadow of a doubt that I am saved.” Firstly. ‘shadow’ in that claim is irrational. Doubts are not objects and thus have no shadow. How could you believe something that doesn’t even make sense?

Tell me what ‘salvation’ is. Is it your soul, your flesh, your will, your power (vitality) or what?

When is the time of salvation and what is saved?

Paul wrote to Peter, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet 1:9). So, salvation is not your flesh, but your soul and it is saved at the end of your faith. That is not when you quit believing (apostasy) but when you are dead and can no longer believe. In other words, salvation is at your death when your soul goes to Paradise right then, just like the repentant thief who trusted Jesus.

So, what is faith? Trusting Jesus all the way to your death. Stopping short of death leaves room for apostasy.

Some do not believe in apostasy. However, Paul wrote to Timothy, “The Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith” (1 Tim 4:1).

Departing from the faith is shunning God — aphistemi in the Greek. And to be more direct they will fall away; “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away (apostasia) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition… (2 Thes 2:6).

Apostasy (apostasia) is “defection” from Jesus (Strong 2006). So, salvation is contingent on whether Christians have affection for Jesus or defect from loving Him. Love (agape) is not an emotional feeling, but having “goodwill” for God (ibid).

Therefore, you do not know that you know that you know, but trust that Jesus is who He says He is. That trust wavers each time you sin, and if you sin without ever repenting, then that is apostasy.

That doubt that you claim that you don’t have; that makes you the ‘god’ for only god’s are without a doubt, and in the case of the true God, then that is Jesus Himself. Are you Jesus, the Messiah? Caan you wither fig trees and move mountains by merely exercising your virtue? No, you cannot!

Paul wrote for you to be not deceived, but Calvinist Doctrine is deceptive. You are not saved until you die, so the question is are you even safe?

If you think you are already saved, then you would need not be vigilant about your soul. Paul wrote to the elders of the Church, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). The elders were the most faithful of the faithful. Then Paul applied it to the other Christians, “Whom (the elders) resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Pet 5:9).

Paul was saying that it applies to you and your brothers — other Christians. Why watch out for the Devil if you have already been saved? Paul would be confused, would he not? and he was even inspired by Jesus from Paradise.

Let no man deceive you by any means to watch out for wrong doctrines and the doctrine of eternal security from the moment of belief is wrong!

Indeed, once you are dead, you are secure because once in heaven always in heaven. It is not that the doctrine of eternal security is heretical, but when security begins. I submit that is when your soul is saved at death, and sin, death, hell, and Satan no longer has a hold on you.

What was Paul talking about when he said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). His gain was salvation. It was the moment that Paul gave up the ghost — his invisible soul and was glorified!

With that said, reformed Christians may still be Christians, but they may be jeopardizing their faith, as Calvinism guarantees grace rather than God. It is God who is sovereign, not Calvin, and all the while, they make Calvin the sovereign. Jesus is not the Grantor; they are. Why even spread the Good News if it was decided before the foundation of the world?

Luther correcting false doctrine

 

 

 

 

 

 

A TREE WITHOUT FRUIT

Why wither the fig tree? It did nothing, but perhaps nothing was the problem!

Jesus was human. He became hungry (Mat 21:18). As the ‘Last Adam’ he was a ‘quickening Spirit’ (1 Cor 15:45). Jesus came to a fig tree; although it had leaves, it bore no fruit. Jesus wanted fruit to lessen His hunger. He had made the fig tree to bear fig fruit, yet it did not. That one fig tree was different than what it was meant to be.

Jesus could have ‘quickened’ it — made it fruitful. Right then, that tree could have produced, even without waiting its time. Quickening is overcoming the world and its constraints.

On the other hand, what did Jesus do?

“Presently the fig tree withered away. and when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How soon is the fig tree withered away!’” (Mat 21:19-20).

“Presently,” it is written; parachrema — immediately! Some varieties of fig trees can produce the first year but others much longer (3-4 years), depending in the variety.  

For some reason, Jesus had expected that tree to have fruit before He got there. He surely thought it had had enough time, so rather than quickening the fruit to produce right then, which He could have done, he withered it away.

 The problem could have been many; it could have been grown on poor soil, it could have failed to pollinate if it was of that variety, the growing season could have been cut short, the tree could have been too young, the tree could have been diseased, have insects, and so forth.

The most likely case is one of the latter because Jesus had expected it to have fruit. However, there is another possibility; without modern plant husbandry that tree had mutated; rather than produce fruit, it was fruitless because of its genome. The tree may have gradually changed its genetics over time due to the world. Without intervention, just like iron can rust given exposure to corrosive things, organisms can be changed by exposure to the elements of the world.

Take for instance fish; they adapt to their habitat. A fish that lives on the bottom have certain characteristics that reveal they are bottom dwellers. They are flat in shape, dark on top, and white on the bottom. Generally, they lack bright colors because they have not been exposed to the Sun’s rays.

Fig trees gradually go dormant. Not only a tree too young may not produce fruit, but one that is too old. They have adapted to the world. Say they went too many seasons without producing; after so many years, their nature is not to produce.

Jesus may have seen that this fig tree was too used to the world. It had become acclimated to its environment and existed there, perhaps for several years, without producing fruit.

Compare that to humans. Many have become so acclimated to the world, that they just can no longer produce any fruit of the Spirit: 

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Gal 5:22:25)

 Figs represent both good and evil; the tree of that same name, as revealed by the fiber of the aprons of Adam and Eve, was not an apple tree, but a fig tree. The Book of Adam and Eve confirms that.

Good fruit are love, joy, peace, etc. Not just one of them, but all twelve. (The Latin Vulgate lists all twelve kinds of fruit.)

Jesus, perhaps, not only expected fruit on that barren tree, but good fruit. If it had been wormy fruit or bitter fruit, it would have been more disgusting but it least it would have done what it should do. However, that tree bear no fruit.

Jesus expected the fig tree to grow fruit. He expected it to do something other than just stand there like a rotten tree, but either some fruit, good or bad! If it had bad fruit, He would let it wither on its own. Jesus perished the fig tree because it just failed to produce anything!

Christians are the same way. Most ‘Christians’ are Christians in name only (CINO). For some reason that cognomen appeared in my mind early this morning, but I never expected it to appear in my scheduled Bible study. That is no coincidence for God does such things!

Christians are known by their fruit, so says Jesus, “Every tree is known by his own fruit” (Luke 6:44).

Throughout the Bible people are symbolized by trees. For instance, Jesus is represented by the Tree of Life and Satan by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Each produced their own fruit; the Tree of Life produces twelve manner of fruit (Rev 22:2), but this particular fig tree produced no manner of fruit. It was as worthless as the Forbidden Tree in the Garden whose fruit was many (Gal 5:19-21).

The point that Jesus was surely making was that trees that are expected to grow fruit should bear some type of fruit; be it good or bad. This one fig tree just stood there, so it was not doing what it was created to do. Rather than force it to produce, and rather than wait for it to die on its own, Jesus essentially destroyed it immediately because it was useless. It was a fig tree in name only!

Even if it had produced one fruit, then it would have remained. Jesus would have seen its potential to produce more fruit. He would have quickened it, rather than perish it.

Babes in Christ are Christians who bear some fruit, but not all twelve. Jesus sees the potential in young Christians. If Jesus sees potential in new Christians, He quickens them. He overcomes time and makes them fruitful.

Think what a good husbandman might do today. I usually use Miracle Grow® to quicken young plants that I want to make it in my garden.

Jesus uses Virtue to quicken young Christians. Virtue comes from the Greek word, ‘dynamis.’ In English that is literally ‘dynamics” and is the Power of God that overcomes the world to heal, provide longevity, and produce Christlike fruit.

The quickening of death is the humane way of putting something to death. Of course, the fig tree had no soul, but Jesus was metaphorically making a point; that a Christian that bears no fruit cannot produce other Christians, in the same manner as God produced Adam and Adam the woman.

Adam came from the Spirit of God losing Virtue to the man, then the man shared his Virtue to make a woman. Adam was the fruit of God and so was the woman because Adam was to dress and keep the Garden (Gen 2:15), and both Adam and his mate were the first human ‘plants.’

Both Adam and the woman failed to produce in the Garden because of interference from outside (The Serpent). Adam failed to produce any good fruit in the world and Eve as the mother of all living, produced evil fruit in the manner of the Wicked One.

That Adam was made a ‘living soul’ means that it was not intended for him to die, and as the ‘Last Adam’ it was the role of Jesus to dress and keep the Garden of living souls — Adam and his kind.

Jesus dressed the Garden of the Lord (Israel) by pruning that one tree in His time. Jesus did not mess around with His role as ‘Husbandman’ whereas the First Adam did. Jesus may have withered that tree to make room for a fruitful tree just as any husbandman might do, and as I have done with my own trees that would not grow.

This sounds cruel, but I gave up on one of my children. Because he was bearing no fruit, I cut him off. I did not reward him for producing nothing. However, since I am not God, I did not cut him off; I prayed for him, and I believe he is now beginning to bear some of the better fruit. I have hope because he has potential. Many parents endure the same experience, and perhaps my dad did it with all his sons, and for certain God does that with all of us unless it is evident that we are reprobate. 

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. (Tit 1:15-16)

 That fig tree did no work; it did not do what fig trees were meant to do. Even as Jesus stood before it, that tree was lifeless. Jesus knew it had no potential. It was still a fig tree but did not identify itself as such by its fruit.

The same goes for Christians; they can follow Christ yet bear no fruit. In spiritual terminology, that fig tree was reprobate from any good work such as bearing fruit of some sort.

 

 

 

 

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.

TWO TRIUMPHAL ENTRIES

The Roman custom was for the dictator, the leader of the military council, and later the Caesar to enter Rome after defeating the enemies. When Titus defeated the Jews, three authorities entered Rome in Victory.

Josephus wrote of the Roman Triumph over the Jews. By the time of the Caesars, rather than a republican triumph it had become a reception wherein, “only the emperor would be accorded such a supreme honour, as he was the supreme Imperator.” (Wikipedia 2023).

For the first and only time in the history of the Romans; Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian were honored in the Roman Triumphal. As I wrote in an earlier commentary, the Triumphal entry of the Flavians was much different than ever before:

 

But what made the most splendid appearance in Titus's opinion was, when his father met him, and received him; but still the multitude of the citizens conceived the greatest joy when they saw them all three together (Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian), as they did at this time; nor were many days overpast when they determined to have but one triumph, that should be common to both of them, on account of the glorious exploits they had performed, although the senate had decreed each of them a separate triumph by himself. (Josephus, The War of the Jews, Book VII, chapter V, paragraph 3)

 That was the plan but as it turned out, somebody was missing: 

Vespasian and Titus came out crowned with laurel, and clothed in those ancient purple habits which were proper to their family, and then went as far as Octavian's Walks; for there it was that the senate, and the principal rulers, and those that had been recorded as of the equestrian order, waited for them. Now a tribunal had been erected before the cloisters, and ivory chairs had been set upon it, when they came and sat down upon them. Whereupon the soldiery made an acclamation of joy to them immediately, and all gave them attestations of their valor; while they were themselves without their arms, and only in their silken garments, and crowned with laurel: then Vespasian accepted of these shouts of theirs; but while they were still disposed to go on in such acclamations, he gave them a signal of silence. And when every body entirely held their peace, he stood up, and covering the greatest part of his head with his cloak, he put up the accustomed solemn prayers; the like prayers did Titus put up also; after which prayers Vespasian made a short speech to all the people, and then sent away the soldiers to a dinner prepared for them by the emperors. (ibid; chapter 5 para 4)

 

The reason for the Roman Triumphal march was to honor Vespasian — the Caesar. In the paragraphs before the event is related, but what follows is why:

 

And since they had experienced the want of skill, and want of courage in other commanders, they were very desirous to be freed from that great shame they had undergone by their means; and heartily wished to receive such a prince, as might be a security and an ornament to them. And as this good will to Vespasian was universal, those that enjoyed any remarkable dignities could not have patience enough to stay in Rome, but made haste to meet him at a very great distance from it. Nay indeed, none of the rest could endure the delay of seeing him; but did all pour out of the city in such crowds, and were so universally possessed with the opinion that it was easier and better for them to go out than to stay there, that this was the very first time that the city joyfully perceived itself almost empty of its citizens. For those that stayed within were fewer than those that went out. But as soon as the news was come that he was hard by, and those that had met him at first related with what good humour he received every one that came to him; then it was that the whole multitude that had remained in the city, with their wives and children, came into the road, and waited for him there. And for those whom he passed by they made all sorts of acclamations, on account of the joy they had to see him, and the pleasantness of his countenance; and styled him their benefactor, and saviour; and the only person who was worthy to be ruler of the city of Rome. And now the city was like a temple, full of garlands, and sweet odors. Nor was it easy for him to come to the royal palace, for the multitude of the people that stood about him, where yet at last he performed his sacrifices of thanksgiving to his household gods, for his safe return to the city. The multitude did also betake themselves to feasting. Which feasts, and drink-offerings they celebrated by their tribes, and their families, and their neighbourhoods; and still prayed God to grant, that Vespasian, his sons, and all their posterity might continue in the Roman government for a very long time: and that his dominion might be preserved from all opposition. And this was the manner in which Rome so joyfully received Vespasian; and thence grew immediately into a state of great prosperity. (ibid; chapter 4 para 1; underlines mine)

Vespasian was the one real Caesar, but Josephus in all his writings continually referred to Titus and Domitian as Caesars as well because each of the sons of Vespasian, in the absence of the father, had the authority of the father. That very well defines the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Especially since Domitian was active but not present in Jerusalem during the wars with the Jews. And one by one, each of them became Caesars consecutively.

Ironically, before that three previous Caesar’s, I’ll call them, the ‘inglorious three,’ there were three Caesars that endeavored to make a name for themselves but failed: Galba, Otho, and Vitellius whose time came and went in a little over a year. Those three would be the akin to the ‘Unholy Trinity’ of Judas, Satan in him, and the Spirit of the Antichrist; not to suggest that Vespasian and his sons were for Christ, but God patterned them after the Holy Trinity for some reason, perhaps to make the Godhead understandable.

I have underlined the reason for the Caesars to be honored: “On account of the joy they had to see him, and the pleasantness of his countenance; and styled him their benefactor, and saviour; and the only person who was worthy to be ruler of the city of Rome; that Vespasian, his sons, and all their posterity might continue in the Roman government for a very long time: and that his dominion might be preserved from all opposition; (and) this was the manner in which Rome so joyfully received Vespasian; and thence grew immediately into a state of great prosperity.”

I submit these are the same set of reasons why the Triumphal Entry of Jesus.

Like the Caesars who were each ‘king of kings’ and ‘lord of lords’ at different times, the same applies to the Godhead of the Holy Trinity, and for the same reasons the Caesars were glorified.

The intention was that the House of Flavian would be Caesar’s forever and on the order of the Julian family.

When history stopped for Rome, suddenly the House of Julii was replaced with the House of Flavius. The Julian’s were indeed cruel punishers, but although not Christians, the Flavians were considerate of the Jews to the extent that they tried to save the Temple and the government of the Jews, as the Jews essentially tore down their own Temple for non-deserved power. The Jews who destroyed Jews valued their newly established empire over the realm of God.

In the process of time, the dynamics of the Romans stopped; first Vespasian was seen as the Caesar, then his son Titus who in the vernacular of the day, was the ‘right hand’ of Caesar and would soon be the Caesar, leaving Domitian to sit to the right hand of his father as time went by. The House of Flavian was the ‘godhead’ of the Romans, despite them having a pantheon of invisible gods.

Now compare the Roman Triumphal Entry to the Godly Triumphal Entry. You would think that humble Jesus would have less pageantry because His entry was to serve not rule, as was the Caesars. Just as I had to edit two chapters to provide the setting for the Roman Triumph, scripture provides four ‘depositions’ for the Triumphal Entry from Jericho to Bethphage as He entered Jerusalem.

The story of the Triumphal entry of Jesus began at Bethphage — ‘The House of Unripe Figs.’ Compare that to the House of Flavius which means ‘golden haired,’ obviously implying ripened, compared to unripen figs.

“House’ when describing royalty is used for genetic dynasties. Thus, Jesus would be of Bethphage (The House of Green Figs) whereas the Caesars were of the House of Flavius. Hopefully, the readers can see the similes.

The ’godhead’ of the House of Flavius was the father, the son, and the lesser known and last son, a man of little distinction. The Godhead of the House of God was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — the lesser known ‘Ghost’ of the Son, or the ‘Son’ of another glorious substance.

God seemed to have copied the House of Flavian after the House of God — Bethphage.

Josephus recorded the Roman Triumphal Entry in detail, and historians consider Josephus to be a reliable source.

Four reliable sources, reliable enough to face great tribulation for the truth, left each their own deposition. Still, few believe the Triumphal Entry of Jesus because history does not record it! Why would that be? Jesus was not seeking glory nor was he trying to make a Name for Himself. His Name was Jesus, and that Name was above all other names already (Phil 2:9).

The Flavians were called ‘Caesars’ not because they were true Caesars (Julians) but because they each made a name for himself and themselves. On the other hand, God the Father called His Son, ‘Jesus,” and He was rightfully of the House of David, unlike the Flavians who were not truly Caesars from the House of Julii. 

The Flavian Caesars reigned one after another from 69 to 96 AD, replacing the House of Julii and even the ‘antichrist,’ Nero.  One might consider the three preceding Caesars to be of the House of Satan, as the gods of the Flavians were not the God of the Christians. However, at least, the Flavian rule was civil compared to the Julians.

Many coincidences surely imply one truth. My proposition is that the House of Flavius and Bethphage, the House of God, having the same manner of royalty, is God’s way of doing things. He established His House in much the same manner as Flavius would do his.

It is not a coincidence that the Triumphal entry of Jesus was not like the Julians but more so the Flavians, the former having one man in Triumph and the latter three men marching into the Triumphal Entry into Rome.

Now, if you choose, reread the entry above that Josephus described. Josephus never wrote of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for he was Jewish, at least when he started writing Jewish history. Perhaps it was not to offend the Romans who allowed him to write the history. However, Flavius Josephus, his adopted name, was a wise man; could it be that he was thinking of the Christ when he wrote of the Flavians?

Now consider the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem; to provide the complete history of that entry, I have provided the depositions, in parts, from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: 

And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this” And the multitude said, “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” (Mat 21:8-11)

 Hosanna literally means, “Open, we pray” (Strong 2006). Could it be “Save us; we pray,” as so many say? It could imply to open the House of David, we pray and that it glorifies the Name, ‘Jesus’ as the highest.

Could it be that the people, without the decree of the Roman senate, as was required for the Roman Triumph, were essentially plebeians? They were commoners and certainly not patricians.

Throughout Roman history there had been feuds over who should run the government; should it be dictators, imperators, republicans, the senate, tribunes, triumvirs, or plebeians?

Perhaps Jesus settled the rule of law; that the Kingdom of God would not be chaotic like the Romans, but a Caesar (king of kings; and lord of lords) in the manner of the Flavians — the fair-haired men among the Romans. There would be no need for a senate, a tribunal, nor a court because Jesus would be the ‘Head’ of the Godhead and commoners His Court.

The Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was the beginning of a new realm; where the plebeians would be the royalty in the manner that the commoners of Rome had struggled to have some power in the manner of the patricians.

Remembering that Rome had its College of Pontiffs with Caesar as the Pontifex Maximus, now the Invisible Empire of God, had a new government imposed by grace on the common people, to wit: 

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1 Pet 2:9-10)

 Get that? A peculiar people, perhaps plebes that had been made royalty as Jesus came to free the bondsmen from their bonds as Christ the King of kings, with the power of Lord of lords. He  could make for them an holy nation, “agios ethnos” in the Greek. Christ would change their genetics and make commoners into royalty, at least in His Kingdom to come.

Commoners and royalty, plebeians and patricians, had for centuries been born that way. For those who were born again (John 3:7), they would be engendered from above — by “the highest” — to be of very different ethnicity and power. Power from God to the People would have been their motto!

It is important to see that just as the Flavian Dynasty was established on December 26, AD 69; that the Kingdom of God preceded that on Palm Sunday, 33 AD. The Roman Empire failed but the Kingdom of God is eternal, and on Palm Sunday, God established that Kingdom to come in a few short days. The Crucifixion was the Throning of God, just as the Flavian Dynasty unwittingly copied what Jesus had already accomplished in Jerusalem.

What was the Triumphal Entry of Jesus all about? “Blessed be the Kingdom of our father David, that comes in the Name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest” (Mark 11:10). It was about reestablishment of the Kingdom of David, not here on Earth but in Paradise in heaven. 

And when He was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, “Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” (Luke 19:37-38)

 Luke confirmed Matthew. The glorious entry of Jesus into Jerusalem established the Kingdom of the Cosmos, since Jerusalem — Zion — was the ‘navel of the world’ and the celestial ‘axis.’ The multitude — the plebeians from many nations of many ethnicities — declared Jesus King in Heaven; no wonder Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). 

(The people) took branches from palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. (John 12:13)… These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when Jesus was Glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things unto him. The people therefore that was with Him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met Him, for that they heard that He had done this miracle.” (John 12:13,16-18)

 Just as the Romans thought that the bravery of the Flavians was reason enough to glorify them, Jesus would be glorified on Calvary where He was enthroned on the Cross and proclaimed to be a ‘Caesar” by Pontius Pilate who posted the sign, “King of the Jews. Because Jesus propitiated His blood that day, the nations were made whole; it was very democratically for a change. The citizens of the Kingdom of God finally, unlike the Romans, had a choice in the matter. Just as the Caesars were ‘kings of wars,’ Jesus was ‘King of Peace.’

The day that Jesus died, the plebeian on His right became royalty in Paradise that day, and the plebeian on His left remained a plebeian in Hell that same day.

Plebeians had always been born plebeians and would always be plebeians unless they performed gallantly, and then the Romans would elevate them. Some plebes, but very few, became much like patricians.

In the Realm of God, any commoner can become royalty! It is Jesus who changes how they were born into new creatures!

There was an insurrection when the Flavians marched into Rome. The plebes decided that Caesar in all three persons would be honored as one. The Flavians overthrew the last of the three Julian Cesars by public acclaim, beginning with the common military soldiers.

Likewise, it was during the Triumphal Entry of Jesus with His Invisible Father on the ass. That was not just a foal, but a ‘huisos’ in the Greek, the son of an ass. And the ass need not be a female but neuter — a beast of burden. Likely, the ass’s gender was not important, but the foal was a male.

The Father is not male nor female but Patrician — It is Him that is the ‘Father’ Figure, but an invisible one.

Where was the Holy Ghost? Like Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, he was there but nobody much noticed. Jesus showed the crowd that the Holy Ghost had been with Him all along in Spirit. Many saw the Spirit of God leave Jesus as He gave up the Holy Ghost (Mark 15:37) to reveal the entire Godhead just as the Flavian Caesars would do a 33 more years later.

What should the reader get out of this commentary? That God works in mysterious ways.

Josephus revealed, maybe unwittingly, how God could be three ‘Persons’ in One with each having the Authority of God.

Also revealed was the meaning of Palm Sunday; that it was the Triumphal Entry in the style of the Romans and that the crucifixion was the enthronement of God in three persons — the Glorification of Jesus, just as Titus’s War with the Jews, glorified Vespasian who was not even there.

Neither did Domitian fight the Jews but he was all over tending to the business of Vespasian. Domitian became Caesar and was always considered to be Caesar in power. That all three persons of the Flavian Dynasty were glorified on their Triumphal Entry to Rome gives significance to the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In both cases —the Flavian and the Godly — both sets of the Father-Son-Spirit trio would be ‘Caesars’ or ‘King of kings’ and Lord of lords.’