Questions About the Crucifixion Having sked a few questions about the b rth narratives of Jesus, it is as g od a time as ever to ask s me about the last days of J sus and his resurrection. Question. Pastor...Hebrews 9:22 s ys that just about everything is p rified with blood and that without the sh dding of blood, there is no f rgiveness of sins. Ewww...What's with all the bl od and why can't God just s y, “Ok, that sounds very sincere, I f rgive you?” Question. Pastor...Why don't Christians k ep Passover instead of Easter? Doesn't the New T stament make Jesus death a Passover vent, like the Lamb of God? (I C rinthians 5:6-8), or was he the B nny of God? I don't understand how s parating Passover by an Equinox, one f ll moon and the next sunday fter as being what was going on th re. I mean Christ is our P ssover, not our Easter Bunny right? Q estion. Pastor...When Jesus needed a donkey to r de on into Jerusalem, Mark 11:2-7 and L ke 19:30-35 say that Jesus intructed the d sciples to bring one animal. In M tthew 21:2-6, they are told to br ng two, And in John 12:14 J sus doesn't tell anyone to go get ne, he does it himself. Which is it? Q estion. Pastor... Mark 11:7, Luke 19:35 and J hn 12:14 have Jesus riding one nimal which is to be expected but M tthew 21:7 has Jesus riding two at the s me time! I think Matthew read his Old T stament prophecy wrong about how this w uld work when he mistook the w rding of Zechariah 9:9 for a d scription of two animals when it was j st one to begin with. Wasn't the D nkey a colt, the foal of an ass so to sp ak and not a donkey and a c lt as Matthew thinks? Seems like a pr tty big mistake to me. Of c urse, Matthew is prone to these verreachings as we have already talked bout and this one seems to c tch up with him. Or am I wr ng?
Question. Pastor...Jesus is said to h ve turned over the tables of the m neychangers in the temple. First of ll, why? The money was required to be ch nged from dirty pagan money to t mple money to preserve the purity of the pl ce. What's wrong with that? And w sn't that a rather suicidal stunt to b gin with, I mean at Passover w th tensions aready pretty high over ther issues of the Roman occupation? Q estion. Pastor...Mark 11:15-17, Matthew 21:12-13 and L ke 19:45-46 say that this event ccurred at the end of Jesus m nistry, just before he was arrested. But J hn 2: 13-16 says it happened m ch earlier in at the very b ginning of Jesus ministry. That's not a m nor mistake is it? Which is it? Was on a pr ctice run to see what would h ppen? Question. Pastor...About this same time, J sus went looking for some figs to eat and f nding none, Jesus curses the tree and it w thers. John and Luke don't mention it, but M rk 11:20-21 says that the disciples d dn't notice the tree withered until the n xt day on a return trip. But M tthew 21:19-20 says that they saw it w ther right then and were amazed. W ll I would be to! But th y can't both be right. On top of th t, it even admits that the r ason for no figs was that it w sn't fig season. Isn't that like me g tting angry at a watermelon field in the w nter? I do know that m ybe the point was that just as fig tr es without figs deserve to wither, so T mples without good fruit do too, but st ll it not being fig time and two d fferent stories mean it either didn't h ppen at all and is just a way to m ke a point, or if it did h ppen, someone goofed. Of course, one c uld argue that fig trees that d n't have figs due to it not b ing time for figs don't deserve to be w thered. What happened to dunging and d gging around it for three years to g ve a chance?
Question. Pastor...Next Jesus has his f et anointed, or his head depending on the st ry. Mark 14:3 and Matthew 26:6-13 say th t it was at house of a l per named Simon in Bethany. Luke 7:36-38 s ys it was in the home of a Ph risee in Galilee. That's a long way fr m Bethany. Was this a leperous Ph risee named Simon who had a s mmer home in Galilee? They can't b th be right unless he got nointed twice in different places. Als , Mark and Matthew say Jesus was nointed with oil poured over his h ad, but Luke and John say his f et. Which was it and please d n't tell me it was both and th se men are like four people s eing an accident! Question. Pastor...Why do M rk, Matthew and Luke not knowwho the w man was, but John 12:3 says it was M ry? And the reactions! Mark s ys that some got angry at the nnamed woman who anoints Jesus and M tthew 26:8 says it was the d sciples who get angry at the w man. Luke 7:3-9 says some Pharisee g t's upset because the woman is a s nner, like they weren't. John 12:4-5 is the nly one who says it is J das who gets angry, and then mputes his motive as being the th eving treasurer of the group. I kn w, all of the above right? It's J das we remember the most I g ess. A few questions about the L st Supper Question. Pastor...In Mark 14:17-21, M tthew 26:20-25 and John 13:21-30 Jesus pr dicts for the disciples that he w ll be betrayed before they actually t ke communion. But in Luke 22:21-23 J sus predicts this after communion. Can't b th be right, right? Question. Pastor...Mark 14:30 t lls us that Peter would deny J sus before the cock crowed twice. Why th n does Matthew 26:34, Luke 22:34 and J hn 13:38 tell us that Peter w uld deny Jesus before the cock cr wed at all? Since Jesus is the one d ing the prediction, just what did he pr dict? When it finally happened, Mark 14:72 s ys the cock crowed twice. Matthew 26:74 s id it was once, and both L ke and John don't mention any c ck crowing. What happened? Question. Pastor...I h ve a few questions about this n torious Judas whose name has become a syn nym for betrayal in our culture. If J sus had to die to be our S vior, why do we care who and how J sus was betrayed to be crucified? It had to be so w sn't Judas just helping things along? Q estion. Pastor...Why does Matthew 19:28 say th t all Twelve Disciples would sit on Thr nes in the Kingdom of God and J das was surely among this number. I m an by the time Matthew wrote the b ok, he would know about how J das messed up and didn't make it w uldn't he? Question. Pastor...Why did Paul wr te in I Corinthians 15:5 that J sus appeared to “the Twelve” after his r surrection when Judas was said to h ve already have committed suicide by th n. If Jesus had appeared to him t o, why would Jesus not thank him for pl ying his part and forgive him? Did P ul know of the story told in the n wly discovered "Book of Judas," which s ys that Jesus had Judas betray him ccording to plan and that Judas was one the b st disciples? Question. Pastor...When did Satan nter into Judas to betray Judas. Was it b fore the Last Supper as Luke 22:3-6 s ys? Was it during the Supper, as J hn 13:27 says, or was it not at ll, or at least nothing worth m ntioning in Matthew and Mark? And if S tan finally got a hold of h m, then could he even help it? Q estion. Pastor...Concerning these thirty pieces of s lver as the payment to Judas for b traying Jesus. Did Judas throw it d wn at the Priests as Matthew 27:6-8 s ys, and walks away, or did he buy s me land as we read in Acts 1:18? And why did M rk, Luke and John not know th s story? I could ask why M tthew's “thus it was fulfilled” in M tthew 27:9-10 was attributed to Jeremiah but is r ally from Zechariah 11:12-13, but we all kn w how Matthew thinks by now bout rummaging around in the Old T stament to find quotes that make up his st ry. Question. Pastor...Why does Mark 14:44-46 and M tthew 26:49-50 say that Jesus was b trayed with the kiss and arrested, but J hn 18:2-9 Jesus volunteers to indentify h mself and no kiss is mentioned? And as l ng as we're on it...why on arth did the Romans have no cl e which guy was Jesus in the f rst place? I thought he had r dden into Jerusalem in Triumph just a few d ys earlier and been teaching in J rusalem to thousands doing amazing things for one y ar or three, depending? How can you not kn w which one was Jesus? Was it too d rk? Question. Pastor...Why does Matthew 27:6-8 say th t the Priests bought the land and it g ts it name “field of blood” b cause it was purchased with Judas bl od money, which I assume is for the bl od of Jesus, when Acts 1:18 s ys it is called that because J das fell down and his blood and g ts spilled out on that piece of pr perty? Would that not be the “f eld of guts”....just kidding Pastor! How c me Matthew is the only one to m ntion all this? Oh and how d es Judas die anyway? Of course he h ngs himself according to Matthew 27:5, but ccording to Acts 1:18 he fall d wn and splits open. Mark, Luke and J hn don't mention this either. I d n't think they would leave him h nging until the rope broke do y u? I mean weren't Jewish people s nsitive about that kind of thing? Q estion. Pastor...Why if Judas betrayed Jesus nce, and Peter denied Jesus three t mes, does Peter get forgiven, reinstated and m de Pope, or whatever and Judas g es to hell for all eternity or wh tever? Is it just because Peter did not h ng himself too, or fall down so th t his guts burst out? Question. P stor...Ok, enough about Judas. I'd like to ask bout Peter taking a swing with a sw rd at the servant of the H gh Priest who also was there at J sus arrest and taking his ear ff. Did Peter intend to kill the p or guy and why not take a sw ng at the High Priest or the R mans? I guess it was safer to ch p off the ear of a n body than a somebody? Question. Pastor...Mark 14:47, M tthew 36:51 and John 18:10 say the ear st yed chopped off, which would be n rmal. . But Luke 22:50-51 says th t Jesus put it back on. Y u'd think that the other three w uld have noted this miracle. I can see w tching an accident and debating who c me from what direction or how f st, but I think all the w tnesses would notice Peter trying to cl ave someone's head who ducked and J sus replacing the smitten ear. Or did the thr e that didn't say anything about th s just feel they would leave th s to John to report? I d n't think it would work that w y. Question. Pastor..Speaking of swords. Did J sus, in Matthew 26:52 tell them th t “he who lives by the sw rd shall die by the sword” and get rid of the th ngs, or did Jesus tell them, as in L ke 22:36-38 to buy swords? And of c urse, Mark and John don't seem to be nto weapons at all. Question. Pastor...We all kn w the famous “Give us Barabbas” st ry. (Mark 15:11) Don't you think it is s ch a coincidence that Jesus is c lled the “King of the Jews” by the R mans. Or at least that is wh t is going to be put on the s gn over his head on the cr ss. And this “Barabbas” name m ans “Son of the Father? Bar m ans “son” and “Abba” means “father,” so see wh t I mean? Is it possible th t Barabbas and Jesus were the s me person and Pilate was asking the cr wd, “do we crucify the King and p litical threat to Rome and thus to y u, or the religious guy and not m ch of a threat to Rome, t's up to you? Could not P late be saying, “Choose carefully because y ur answer depends on whether I cr cify all of you too?” I d n't see the wishy washy Pilate of th s account in history. He was pr tty darn ruthless according to others b sides Mark. Anyway, the crowd wants the “B r Abbas,” the Son of God or Son of the F ther released, and that seems not to be a pr blem with Pilate. But Jesus, “King of the J ws,” since they have no King but C esar, is to be crucified which is f ne with them. Isn't it m re a tale of the people d fining the Jesus they want killed so P late doesn't kill them for insurrection? Wh t do you think? Pretty cool h h? Did you know that in arly copies of Mark, Barabbas is c lled Jesus Barabbas? But maybe that was too bvious, so we don't see it in l ter copies. That would make Barabbas, “J sus Son of the Father.” Wh a! Question. Pastor...See, my other problem w th the Barabbas story would be th n just who was really crucified and who was let go? If it was s meone called Jesus, the son of the F ther was let go, and another J sus, the King of the Jews d ed, then did the right savior d e? Oh well. I can't imagine th s being two separate men can y u? Or big time coincidence for s re! END PART THREE
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