A fact of history that has stumped historians, psychologists, and skeptics alike is the disciples’ behavior after Jesus’ death. That these eleven former cowards were suddenly willing to suffer humiliation, torture, and death is a dramatic turnaround. All but one of Jesus’ disciples were slain as martyrs. Would they have done so much for a lie, knowing they had taken the body? [Read more…]
Is Jesus Jehovah?
Jesus Christ made some earth-shaking statements that stunned the Jewish religious leaders. Once, after Jesus blurted out to them, “I am the light of the world”[1], the Pharisees challenged his authority in making such a claim. Jesus answered by telling them he was sent by God, whom he called his Father. Furthermore, Jesus told them that the patriarch, Abraham, looked forward to seeing him (Jesus).[2]
What a shocking claim! In their eyes, Jesus was an uneducated carpenter who should stay out of their exclusive world of interpreting the Scriptures and preaching about God. Yet here he was, not only speaking intimately about God as his Father, but claiming to be the object of Abraham’s adoration.
Incredulous, the Jewish leaders rebuked him, “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”[3] What Jesus said next not only shocked the Pharisees; it infuriated them. Jesus boldly told them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”[4] [Read more…]