Posted on 04/17/2014 11:35:37 AM PDT by SkyPilot
U2 frontman Bono talks about his faith and answers the question "Who is Jesus?" in the video below. Click play to watch.
Link Here with Video (2 mins 46 secs)
(Excerpt) Read more at charismanews.com ...
Pilate must have been politically astute because he agreed to post a Roman guard at the tomb, at Caiaphas's request.
The name given to Mary for her coming son was Emmanuel, which is to say 'God (the El part) with us.' And with the lesson Jesus gave Philip as recorded in John fourteen, Jesus confirmed to Philip that He was God with them to the limits of their ability to sense The Father Almighty.
The point was, Jesus did nothing to encourage Pilate to convict him.
What do you think was more important to them—truth, or power?
More important to whom?
....”This is simple logic”....
No it’s denial of the written record. Your statements could not be made unless you deny what’s written.
Most understand that Jesus was ‘selective’ ( not avoiding) who and how, and where, He revealed Himself for who he was.... King....and it’s been explained to you why that was so and not a hard thing to understand.
And you’re forgetting that Pilate indeed pronounced his death sentence....even in the face of Jesus continuing to “minister to Pilot” of truth. You are aware that Jesus often endured hardships and threats for his life of various kinds, with and without his diciples for the sake of His message and the people who needed to hear it....why is it so hard for you to understand Jesus was doing likewise with Pilate?
Jesus’s work continued all the way til his last breath...even on the cross he ministered to the dying thief...”today you will be with me in my Kingdom”.....HE gave the care of his weeping mother over to one of his followers...”......
Pilate was a hardened and tough bird....and for a moment he caved ,only to gather himself together and carry on with the trial...But for a moment Jesus got to him...as he does all men...and some continue to go on as Pilate did....others turn and ask further..What is truth?
Jesus says..”I am the way...the truth..and the life...no one can come to the father but by me”
What do you think was more important to the Jewish leaders and to Pilate—truth, or power?
No, I am going by what is written in the gospels. In none of them does Pilate find Jesus guilty of claiming to be the Son of God. Because he doesn't. Not in front of Pilate.
Oh. Well, it's hard to say. I tend to think that the Jewish leaders were more interested in power and Pilate more interested in truth.
Well that would depend on the individual and what they knew or didn't know about him....just as today.
The Jews of that time were under the Roman boots, so many were impoverished and needy...and they blamed Rome for that. Therefore many were “looking” for someone to rescue them as God had done in the past so many times....so it makes sense they would be looking for the "likes" of those who had rescued them before.....but God had other plans.
I suspect some were looking for a prophet type, or Priestly sort of individual....perhaps with the idea of fighting Rome to remove their hardships....so they could appoint him their Kingly Messiah.
It's getting that way in our world even today with all the upheavals etc....people are looking for “the man of the hour” who can fix it all and make things better.
How would you today expect to recognize the Messiah? How would you tell an impostor? Then we could always turn to the religious leaders...who really didn't want to see anyone come on the scene who would take away from them their clout and revenue sources....and just as Jesus did do, I suspect they thought the Messiah would lead the crowds away from them....a few however were willing to consider who this man Jesus was though they kept quiet about recognizing him as their own. I am curious why this question of Identifying the Messiah is so important to you....again what would you look for to identify Him?
Pilate was a politician before anything else.
Pilate’s god was political power. For the Sanhedrin, their god was religious power.
I would say they all saw enough to know factually that Jesus had supernatural power, and possibly enough to know that he was in the son of God.
But worship of their personal gods prevented them from submitting to the Lord Jesus, even in the face of evidence. This is a likely reason why Jesus didn’t appear to them after his resurrection.
It always comes down to choosing between God and any one or more of a multitude of idols. The only reason anyone doesn’t believe in God is they have chosen to love sin, in some form or another, first.
Believers also experience this susceptibility to sin in the form of a spiritual attack, but we have the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of God’s word to protect us (see Ephesians chapter 6).
Therefore Pilate entered 'again' into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him,..
“Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”... Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I?... Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” ..... Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
.. Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
John 18:28-40 NASB New American Standard Bible
I can understand fully why they would use both Testaments to make their point....the New Testament rests on the Old...it is the foundation and lineage of Jesus Christ. There would be no New Testament without the old Testament.
So what did you think of their parallels...or for that matter the prophecy’s they shared?
Pilate had no grievance himself with Jesus...his interaction with Jesus convinced him that the Jesus was no ordinary insurrectionist...so Jesus wasn't there by Pilate's desire to ‘crucify’ him...he was there because the ‘Jewish authorities’ could not sentence anyone to death by crucifixion.....
Thus ...
Pilate had said,.. “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”... “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. (John 18:31 NIV)
Pilate's reluctance to crucify Jesus was itself starting to cause a riot, which was the very thing Pilate was attempting to avoid by not executing Jesus (Matt 27:24). So his primary motivation for keeping Jesus alive, which was maintaining order with the masses of people there for Passover – was no longer valid. Jesus had to die.
....”Why did they follow him? What attributes did he have that convinced them that he was the Messiah? I mean, the Messiah as they originally expected him to be?......
First...Jesus forgave people for things they did that didn’t involve Jesus at all.... This was amazing for that time, and even today.... Only God can truly forgive sins, and Jesus specifically did so on a number of occasions.
Jesus gave no impression he stuggled with sin even asking if anyone can convict Him of sin (John 8:46). The question itself is stunning, but no one answers.... Sinlessness is another attribute of deity.
Also... How could Jesus arrange for his ancestry, or place of birth, or the method of execution, or that soldiers would gamble for his clothing? The list goes on of fulfilled prophecy concerning him....
I suggest you go to this web-site:
http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Page26.htm
It is a web-site that suggests the idea of Christ being the Jewish messiah is nonsense! But it gives you some of the scriptures that a skeptic acknowledges are messianic proof texts in the Old Testament.
THEN you need to read Isaiah. Isaiah, it is agreed by both Jew and Gentile, offers much textual insight into the person of the messiah. And, yes, it talks about the Jewish messiah setting up his earthly kingdom, but it also refers to His sufferings in ch. 53. Many Jewish commentators do not believe this portion to be referring to their messiah, but, rather, to the nation of Israel itself. However, if you look at verse 11 you will see evidence that reveals that this cannot possibly be about the nation:
Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Did you see it? It is the proof text that indicates the Jewish commentators who believed Isaiah 53 somehow references the nation (and not a unique aspect of their messiah) are wrong. Did you see it? You’ll have to discover it for yourself as now YOU must become the Jew of Jesus’s day!
In the book written by one whose name means “Salvation is from the Lord,” the book which refers again and again to Israel’s failure as a kingdom, its turning of its collective back on God, there is unmistakable evidence that there are specific references to: the Messianic miraculous birth (ch. 7), the Messiah’s land (ch. 8-10), the messiah’s millenial kingdom (ch. 11, 12), the messiah’s rejection by Israel (ch 49-57), the messiah as servant (ch. 49), the messiah as true disciple (ch. 50), the messiah as righteous ruler (ch. 51-52), the messiah as sin-bearing sacrifice (ch. 52-53), the messiah as redeemer and restorer (ch. 54), the messiah as evangelist to the world (ch 55-56), the messiah as judge of the wicked (ch. 56-57).
After Christ’s birth, his parents brought Him to the temple for His dedication (Luke 2). There they met a man, Simeon, who had some interesting things to say to the young couple including this:
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
By this, Simeon was acknowledging who the Child would grow up to be and that Mary would suffer anguish as a result of something in the child’s life-experience. Simeon isn’t referring to just any child here, but was no doubt familiar with the suffering messiah of Isaiah 53.
That the Jews of Jesus’s day had the book of Isaiah in its entirety. They had the proof text that messiah would suffer (for sin not His own) but they chose to ignore it This speaks more to the readers’ ability (or, more likely, willingness) to comprehend the text - something you, as an English teacher are, no doubt, all too familiar with.
The real question is why would they make the conscious decision to ignore this aspect of messiah’s credentials? Why would they ignore what Isaiah 53 discusses messiah’s rejection by both man AND God, His death as a sin-offering? You cannot answer these question without looking into your own heart and asking yourself the same questions. Why do you and I and everyone who has ever been born ignore messiah’s “credentials”? Why are we indifferent to (and in some instances, hold in contempt) His sufferings and death? Why do we spend more of our time trying to disprove His claims than trying to prove them?
Your answers to these will give you all the reasons you need to understand what it was the nation of Israel “expected” of their messiah.
The world is a sculptor’s shop and all the people in it are statues. There is a rumor going around that some of those statues are going to come to life some day. CS LEWIS.
John 3:16-17:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
What a lonely_little_girl needs to grasp before she can become A_PERFECTED_LADY....(a child because...”of such is the Kingdom of Heaven”)
Good-Bye!
You seem to have trouble with Number Four:
That Christ is EXACTLY Whom all of us have been trying to explain to you.
Hindsight is usually 20-20.
Why?
Would 'knowing' this enable you to accept Jesus as He is now?
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