#RAD
#ATEND G-d (Christ) #IIC714
Please Do Not Lose Sight Of Christ Crucified
Recently
in discussions with some other Christians, one fellow made what I thought was a
brilliant opening statement - "Let's focus on leading more people
correctly to Christ." - [emphasis on the word 'correctly' I learned later
to be very significant]
He
went on to make some rather bold and also, IMHO, difficult to fully
substantiate claims. This fellow stated
emphatically that:
*
Jesus states He will rise on the third day
*
Jesus rose on a Sunday
*
Jesus died on a Friday
* If
Jesus died on a Wednesday, He then rose on the fifth day which would make Jesus
wrong
*
Jesus died in 30 AD at the age of 33
*
Jesus was not born in 0 AD
*
Jesus was actually born in 3 BC at Passover.
* If
Jesus was born in 0 AD Herod could not have been the one to kill the babies
since he was dead by then.
And
he also made some comment about the - "Latest research shows Herod could
have died in 1 BC check Wikipedia for that information." - Check
Wikipedia, really "check Wiki"!?!?
It
is noteworthy to point out, that he did say - "could have" and used a
'check Wiki' reference - and that there remains strong evidence that Herod's
death was in the spring on 3 BC.
So,
are you sure, Christians?
Are
you sure that:
*
Jesus said - "He will rise on the third day"?
*
Jesus rose on a Sunday ?
*
Jesus died on a Friday ?
*
Jesus died in A.D. 30 ?
*
Jesus was actually born in 3 BC ?
Those
are all very strong, very bold absolute claims.
Are
you sure that - "If He died on Wednesday, that He [would have] risen on
the fifth day - ?
First
- did Jesus say - He will rise on the third day?
Thus
we have some hardline statements that do simply say - 'rise on the third day' -
some other softer statements that say - 'after three days' - and yet still
others that say pretty firmly - "three days and three nights". Some will conclude, and argue accordingly,
that these variances equate to contradictions.
But do they?
In
all languages, there are idioms, the Hebrew and Greek languages both have
idioms, as does the English language.
And though I am not a linguistics expert, nor a Hebrew, Greek or even an
English expert, I think it fair to describe 'idioms' as words / phrases which
are not to be taken literally... e.g., in English one might say:
"That
is an 'eye sore'!" - This does not mean it literally makes one's eyes
experience physical pain.
"That
house is 'pretty ugly'." - This does not mean the house is both
"pretty" and "ugly", it simply means (both literally and
figuratively) that the house is VERY ugly.
So
goes it in / with the Hebrew and Greek languages. Ergo, Context, Context, CONTEXT has got to be
King. Otherwise, both a virtual and
literal flood of misinterpretation(s) can and will be applied to passages not
meant to be viewed in a specific way.
Not everything in the Bible is literal.
Though this is, in fact, a great starting point, one needs to look at
the context of the immediately preceding and following (as applicable) one, two
or three verses, look at the chapter and the Book being read, the context of
the subject matter at hand, and the broader context of Scripture in general.
"He
just 'bought the farm'." - is another form of idiom. This does not mean that someone literally
purchased some real estate, rather it means, sadly, that someone has died.
Second
and Third - did Jesus die on a Friday, and Rise on a Sunday?
* 24
hours later, if that day, the day of the Crucifixion, was a Wednesday, we would
have one day and one night - Thursday between three pm six pm (sunset) on the
day after the Crucifixion, one day...
* 24
hours after that we have two days and nights - Friday between three pm six pm
(sunset) on the day after the Crucifixion, two days...
* 24
hours later we have three days and nights - Saturday between three pm six pm
(sunset) on the day after the Crucifixion, three days...
Reading
what we can in the Gospels, beginning with Matthew 12:40, Jesus very expressly
says - "just as .... three days, and three nights..."
Mark 16:1 tells us that the ladies, after the
Sabbath was over, went out shopping for spices, oils and ointments to anoint
the Lord's body. See also Luke 23:56
As a
regular Saturday Sabbath (Seventh Day Shabbat) would have ended at sunset on
Saturday night, the world A - would have been in total darkness, thus B - the ladies, and the event(s) of Mark 16:1 (acquisition of
spices, oils and ointments)
would have required that the ladies,
without male accompaniment, be out shopping in the dark (after sunset) on a Saturday night. BUT...
A
Wednesday Crucifixion, followed by a Special High (Passover) Thursday Shabbat /
Sabbath, would allow the ladies to go shopping on the Friday, gather and
prepare their oils, spices and ointments, and still honour a regular Saturday
Sabbath (Seventh Day Shabbat)!
Let
us not forget, the empty tomb. None of
the Scriptures, not one of the four Gospels actually states - "Jesus was
raised from the dead on Sunday morning (or even 'on the morning of' the First
Day of the week) ...
Luke 24:1 and Matthew 28:1 - 5 say something
very similar - "the tomb was found empty early Sunday morning", not
that "Jesus' Resurrection occurred early on Sunday morning."
Mark
16:9, does say (depending on translation read) that - "Jesus rose early on the First Day of the week"
- but here too folks, Scripture does not say - "Jesus rose early on the
*Morning Of* the First Day of the week" - rather Scripture's simple
phraseology is:
And
based upon the Jewish customs of the day, and to this very day in fact, of each
NEW day beginning with sunset, the phrase - "Jesus rose early on the First
Day of the week" - could, and indeed would, be equally well ascribed to
moments after sunset, on Saturday night as to early Sunday morning.
Fourth
- did Jesus die in A.D. 30?
Well,
to determine reasonable options for a year of death (YOD), one must first look
to the Scriptures, and second look at what history tells us, and also consider
the various implications for possible years of birth (YOB). Scripture tells us that Christ was -
"about 30 years old" - when He began His Earthly Ministry. - Luke
3:23 And based upon the series of events
as denoted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John and in the Book of Acts,
including attending three Passovers it is usually concluded that Jesus' Earthly
Ministry lasted c.~ 3 1/2 years.
Therefore,
30 + 3 1/2 years gives us i.e. 33 years of age for Christ when He was
Crucified. Thus if one works backwards
from the approximate age of 33, and begins with A.D. 33, 32, 31, 30 and so on,
through A.D. 27, one will arrive at possible Birth Years for Jesus the Christ
of:
1 BC
2 BC
3 BC
4 BC
Thru
7 BC
To
digress, for just a moment, while it is a true statement that - "If Jesus
was born in 0 AD [sic], Herod could not have been the one to kill the babies
since he was dead by then." - there remains another problem. Yes, it is true (and this can be said with *absolute*
unwavering certainty) that this creates a problem with Christ's birth being
placed after Herod's death, however that problem persists for years of birth
(YOB) 1 BC, 2 BC, 3 BC and even quite likely for 4 BC - there is, however,
another problem...
*
There is no year ZERO.
The
calendar (which admittedly did not exist in Jesus day) went directly from 1 BC
to A.D. 1, no year 0 at all, so clearly Jesus was not, and indeed could not
have been, born in Year 0!
Fifth
- was Jesus birth in year 3 BC?
Well
as suggested above it would be, to say the least, impossible if Herod died in 4
BC for Christ to have been birthed in A.D. 0.
I would also dare say that, based upon the info in the Scriptures, that
if Herod's YOD was 4 BC, then it is very likely Christ's YOB would have to have
been between two and nearly three years previous.
With
that said some, including the individual noted above, have suggested that Herod
perhaps died in 1 BC. Let's come back to
Herod's YOD, as Point Six later. For
now, let us consider the implications of a 1 BC YOD for Herod, and the
implications on Christ's birth. As
stated above, based upon Scripture one would have to go back between two and
nearly three years farther into history to reasonably accommodate Scripture and
verifiable facts. Thus if Herod's YOD
was 1 BC, Christ's YOB would have to be 3 or possibly 4 BC.
Sixth
- Herod's YOD, and alleged evidence for a 1 BC time frame. I will say only this on this particular
subject - after a couple of hours of researching, I have discovered that there
appears to be about as much evidence in support of moving the date from 4 BC to
8 BC, as there is for moving the date to 1 BC.
Therefore, it is my contention for the time being at least, to leave
(for the purposes of this article) the traditionally accepted date for the YOD
of Herod the Great at 4 BC.
Seventh
and lastly - Herod's 'Massacre of the Innocents' or 'Slaughter of the
Innocents'. Many ask, and understandably
so - "where is / are the historical records?" If fact many ask specifically - "if
someone like Herod really did order the murder of all babies under two years of
age in Jerusalem, why is this not documented?" But apart from the fact that the absence of
third party historical references to Biblical accounts does not bear much
weight, there are also other problems.
The
Bible does not say, - "murder of babies in Jerusalem" - it says -
"murder of babies in Bethlehem" - neither does the bible say -
"babies under two" - it says - "babies,
two years of age and under." -
Bethlehem,
and not Jerusalem, does that really matter though? Well, for starters Bethlehem in Jesus' day
was a very small town, with maybe 500 or possibly 600 people living there. Does that matter? Based upon typical demographics it can be
suggested that in a community with even 600 people, the number of infants and
toddlers (2 years old and under), would be a fairly low number. Likely 20 to 30 babies, possibly 40 on the
outside. Now this is not to imply that
even one life was meaningless, at least not to me.
Herod
was well noted for his commission of horrific, heinous, and vulgar crimes
against humanity [1]. Thus to the
Romans and even historians of the day, the peoples, and indeed the children, of
insignificant little Bethlehem were indeed meaningless and inconsequential.
///
NAME REDACTED - "Let's focus on leading more people correctly to Christ.
Jesus states He will rise on the third day. He rose on Sunday died on Fri.. If
He died on Wed. He rose on the fifth day which makes Jesus wrong. Hmmmm. As for
the geologists wrong, Jesus died in 30 AD at the age of 33. He was not born in
0 AD but actually in 3 BC at Passover. Latest research shows Herod could have
died in 1 BC check Wikipedia for that information. If Jesus was born in 0 AD
Herod could not have been the one to kill the babies since he was dead by then.
So much for geologists.[sic]" ///
I
believe there are many solid and sound reasons to view a Wednesday through
Saturday Crucifixion and Resurrection process.
Yet,
at the end of the day, what Paul had to say in I Corinthians 13:12 & 2:2,
should be a good guide post.
The
Gospels do not tell us plainly, blatantly or expressly "Friday" or
"Wednesday"... neither did the New Testament writers waste time
admonishing folk about adherence to Fridays or Wednesdays...
Paul
merely preached "Christ crucified"!
I
happen to be an ardent supporter of, and even believer in, the Wednesday
through Saturday presentation. And I am
so inclined, based upon a host of points based upon what I see in Scripture. Yet, I fear that this just becomes one more
point that many of us (yes, myself included) engage in heated discussions
over. And we all too often lose sight of
the simple fact of - "Christ Crucified".
I
find the subject matter both fascinating and even invigorating. I have learned much because someone said -
"Scripture in BCV says..., do you not think that must mean "A",
"B" and / or "C"!"
Sometimes
Scriptures like Genesis Chapter One, and Exodus 20:11 & 31:17 spell things out very, very bluntly and
blatantly - G-d (Christ) created everything (the Heavens and the Earth) in Six
Days...
But
on many other subject lines...
While
we do read:
We
do not read His birth day was "X"
While
we do read:
We
do not read His Crucifixion day was "X"
While
we do read:
We
do not read His Day of return will be "X"
Please Do Not Lose Sight Of Christ Crucified
“No
Jesus, NO peace” and yet, “Know Jesus, KNOW peace”
How
does one get to “know” Jesus? Simple,
invite Him into your heart, as Jesus says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with
him, and he with me.” [Revelation
3:20 NIV] How can be assured that this Jesus stuff
means anything? Well because the Bible
tells us so, as the Apostle Paul wrote:
“If
you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess
your faith and are saved.” [Romans
10:9-10 NIV]
And
for those of you who say to me, I can’t be bothered reading the Bible, “it’s
confusing” or “it’s a waste of my time”, may I draw your attention to what the
Bible says about wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and
knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” [Proverbs 9:10 NIV]
John
3:16 says: “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.”
And
John 14:6 says: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.”
Well
that’s it, that’s Da Bauz’s take on the question, “Please do not lose sight of Christ
Crucified”, this 21st day of May, 2016 © 2016, All Rights Reserved.
wr (Da Bauz, Christian Zionist “creationist” too!)
Just
sayin’...
What is
#RAD? #RAD is:
R epent
of rejecting Christ
A ccept
Christ as your Lord
D
evelop your relationship with G-d
#RAD
your relationship with the Living Almighty God Himself as your personal Lord
and Saviour depends on it!
What is
#ATEND G-d (Christ)? Ask me!
#IIC714
II 2nd
C
hronicles
7:14
John
3:16, Revelation 3:20, Romans 10:9 -10, Revelation 21:27, II Corinthians 5:21
and I John 5:13 / John 20:31!
Shalom!
Cited or consulted sources and resources
[1] - “Walvoord,
John F., and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois:
Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985. ”
http://bit.ly/1MzWhEQ - “Bible.org
