IF MY PEOPLE

Let his days be few; let another take his office.

Psalm 109:8

“’..put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel 45:9

When did you ever see in your lifetime, in this country, during a campaign, prior to the primaries of a major political party an organized and orchestrated manipulation of children to sing the praises of a “future leader” as though he were some messianic figure upon whom hung the entire fate of this nation and the world with his being elected to office?

When did we ever witness such a thing before?

When and where did you ever see such a thing before, and what did it bring?

And what do you think it has brought to US the last three and a half years?

When have you ever heard a candidate for president advocate a civilian defense militia that is larger, better funded and equipped than our own armed forces?

When did you hear that Barack Obama, as president, had formed a private army of six thousand well armed, well trained, and well equipped private army?

When have you seen such a thing in this country!?

Who are the enemies that we need to have a civilian national security force within our borders?

When will it stop?

Will our own military be used by this president or a future president in our lifetime to enforce that president’s dictates as law?

When did you ever hear of a sitting president unilaterally enforce as policy and law treaties and stipulations without congressional oversight - review or approval/disapproval?

When did Martial Law begin the US? When did you ever hear of cities going broke because they did not have the revenue to cover the costs of their services?

When did you ever hear that states were going broke because they too did not have the revenue to cover their budgets, even with aid from the federal government?

When did you ever hear of a five trillion dollar deficit for a single year of federal expenditures?

When if ever?

And how is it that this administration spend that money without your consent or mine on whatever it pleased – that is, without congressional oversight?

It is estimated that in order for the federal government of the United States to pay just the interest on its debt, it will have to increase federal income taxes to sixty-five percent of the wages of every US wage earner.

When have you ever heard that the government’s taxes on your income would have to be raised to such levels in order to service just the interest on the federal debt?

That’s not counting the debt owed by state and local governments throughout the nation.

If you were to include those within the equation, there would not be enough wage earners across this country to meet the demand of debt repayment even if their wages were to be taxed at the 100 percent level!

When have you ever seen such a thing?

When in your memory were you ever told by your government and press that the country was in a recovery, yet all around you, you witnessed – as we are witnessing today – higher unemployment, more personal bankruptcies, more foreclosures, more shuttered businesses, more bankrupted state and local governments, more tent cities springing up at the outskirts of almost every major city in the country – indeed a Growing movement of squatters in USA...?

Less business volume, decrease in durable goods, decrease in factory inventories and outlays, major decreases in orders, major decreases in sales volume, increases in factory shutdowns across the country, and unprecedented levels of real poverty being experienced, witnessed, and yet see all of these as the great unreported stories of our day?

When did you ever think you’d see the Number of Americans NOT in labor force rise to record 88 million...?

When did you ever think you’d see the growth and explosion of Americans on Food Stamps by a whopping 70%?

And when have you ever seen over seventeen million long term unemployed statistically disregarded by this government as though they ceased to exist with their last extended unemployment check – the so-called 99ers, because they have reached and long passed the ninety-nine week of their unemployment?

When did you ever witness tens of millions of jobs being outsourced without the creation of enough jobs to cover the flight of large companies and corporations overseas?

When did you ever see a president dictate to a private business entity how it must conduct its business, and a stroke of his pen close thousands of car dealerships across the country while granting his favor to a preselected few who it has been discovered were campaign donors of his in those districts?

Why did the Federal Reserve use hundreds of billions of our currency to bankroll the Europeans without the consent of the American electorate?

When did you ever see economist predict that within less than thirty years, at the current rate, America would be a debt of 415 percent of GDP?

And that 60 percent of the world’s economies would be downgraded to “junk” status by 2060?

You doubt this? Look it up yourselves.

When did you ever see the creation and growth a monopoly system that gravitates towards power consolidation that also spawn pockets of wealthy industries and large monopolies that tower over small businesses regardless of utility, where top hedge fund managers “earn” over three hundred million dollars a year for contributing literally nothing?

And they call this Free Market Capitalism?

When could you have ever conceived that there would be something known as a “derivatives market” and that this “market” would increase to over six hundred trillion dollars – far surpassing the entire real wealth of the world, and that this “market” was about to implode, and when it does, it will take the entire planet down a sink hole that even its creators will fall into?

When did you ever consider that this manufactured debt with its derivatives market would take such hold on the human race that it would result in accelerating poverty, austerity measures, chronic long term unemployment and under-employment, schools shutting down, child hunger and malnutrition – I don’t mean ‘cheap’ fast food, and other levels of familial depravation – the result of the elaborate fiction of wealth and debt – a means of manipulating great populations?

When did we ever see a sitting president spend almost his entire first term campaigning and raising money for political causes while the nation suffered deep recession which his mismanagement has turned into a Depression of Global proportions, because it now has hit Europe and the world?

When did you ever hear that only a single percent of the world’s population – the elite – own more than forty percent of the world’s wealth?

And though they hold such wealth, with every passing year, more people die of hunger and disease around the world than at any time in history, even with the so-called “charitable work” these elites conduct yearly, which it has been discovered is nothing but a ponzie scheme to siphon more wealth and consolidate more power unto themselves free of taxation and regulation, which the rest of US must be under?

When did you ever see the outright “loss” of forty billion dollars of private funds by one of this administration’s biggest money bundlers, and yet see this person completely exonerated without even so much as a trial for larceny and criminal misconduct? When did you ever see an administration spend nearly four times the amount of money it “officially” reported?

When? When did you ever witness a presidency that spent the equivalent of $42,054 per household in one year?

When did you ever see a president who partied as hard and as much as this one as tens of millions languished and suffered the crushing economic collapse, and the job loss, loss of income, loss of their homes, loss of their possessions, and unable to find work, because the jobs that were available have all been outsourced to other nations through economic agreements this president set behind closed doors in private boardrooms with the nation’s top executives?

When did you ever see over four hundred thousand people losing their jobs every month, as they have ever since this president took office?

When did you ever think you’d see people chronically unemployed for long and extended periods of time – years – no longer counted by this government as though they never existed?

When did you ever think that the nation would go through the 40th straight deficit month...?

When did you ever see or even think you’d see a sitting US president misuse federal power against the US Constitution to force private institutions attached to religious institutions to observe and enforce policies which run contrary to its religious convictions?

When did you ever see a sitting president involve himself in local matters as this one has when one or more of the protagonists is/are black?

When did you ever think you’d see the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security recalibrate their policy and redefine it to define returning veterans, patriots, conservatives, and others like them as “potential enemies of the state”?

When did you ever think you’d see an administration that sues and arrests state and local officials for upholding the nation’s own immigration laws which this administration is unwilling to observe?

When did you ever think you’d see a US president giving your tax dollars and my tax dollars away to the UN to be used in grants to illegal African immigrants into Israel who are opening businesses there while Israeli are closing their businesses in record levels?

When did you ever think you’d see a sitting incumbent president so desperate to add votes to win reelection for himself that he will redefine by executive order the status of illegal undocumented foreigners within our border to grant them the vote against every law of this land, as this president has?

When did you ever think you’d see an administration remove five hundred billion dollars from Medicare which seniors, the retired, and the disabled need; to fund a so-called healthcare program codified in over two thousand pages of legal documents, voted for behind backroom deals and bribery, and all sorts of persuasion because no thinking elected official would have voted for such a monstrosity into law, because first it was undercutting Medicare by half a trillion dollars, and second, by its very nature, it has nothing to do with true health reform, but control – un-Constitutional federal control over the choice of every citizen?

When did you ever witness an administration that as prices skyrocketed for food and fuel because of rising inflation due to the devaluing dollar; sucker punch the average citizen struggling to pay their electric bill by effectively closing down over forty percent of the nation’s coal fired plants through stifling and unrealistic regulation that he promised he would do years ago during an interview he gave in which he promised to bankrupt the coal industry and shut it down?

When have you ever seen or heard a president blame everyone but himself for the policy failures, misguided or lame brained ideological ideas that have exacerbated the pain of an already suffering nation?

When did you ever witness the media, politicians, and this government turn against the faith and religious convictions of anyone in our nation as they are currently doing today against Tim Tebow’s faith?

When have you ever heard a president use envy to turn one citizen against another in blaming others than himself for the suffering he knows he has caused due to his fiscal and social policies that he has beset on this hapless nation?

When have you ever heard a sitting president ask for more and more money to spend on causes in failed businesses that he was warned prior to about with wanton disregard?

When have you ever seen tent cities spring up across the nation as they have the last three years under this president?

When have you ever witnessed almost all news outlets become nothing more than mouthpieces of an administration in office, where its reporters on queue present the talking points the White House gives them daily to their shame?

When have you ever witnessed such use and manipulation of the news media for political gain?

Remember Germany, the Soviet Union?
Red China?
Cuba?
North Korea?
Viet Nam?
Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela?
Eastern Europe during the height of the Cold War when it lied imprisoned behind the Iron Curtain?
The Arab nations?
The Islamic Republic of Iran?
And every tin pot dictatorship that has marred the human landscape since the dawn of the nation state?

When have you ever seen such corruption in government that the Department of Justice and the nation’s Attorney General and other organs of government under this president have become nothing better than gun runners into Mexico and the power behind the drug cartels south of our borders?

When did you ever see an administration abridge the Constitutional rights of its citizens to own fire arms while illegally conducting a false flag operation to confiscate every fire arm in America from its citizens?

When have you ever seen a sitting president work so hard as this one has to accord foreign terrorists rights that it wishes to remove from its own citizens?

When did you ever see a candidate for president who has never been properly vetted by the press or by government, run for office and win the election for president?

When did you ever see or hear a press so quick to ridicule anyone who demands that this president be vetted like any other?

When did you ever witness civilian arms of our government taking on paramilitary roles with increased frequency, as armed swat teams have invaded businesses and homes, and in some cases, killed those inside in this country?

When in your lives did you ever believe that a sitting president would sign into law the rights of the American electorate as this one did on December 31st, 2011 the NDAA – National Defense Authorization Agreement – which effectively gives carte blanche to the federal government to use the US military and other organs of the growing police state to detain at will any American citizen without trial for as long as it deems fit in the name of “national security”?

When did you ever think you’d see armed drones over US skies which this government has said it would use against its own citizens “if necessary”?

When did you ever hear a sitting Secretary of Defense say to a congressional panel that this administration and the nation’s military do not need congress’ permission to conduct military operations overseas?

That it gets its authority from the United Nations? When did you ever hear that this nation’s presidential elections would be handled by a foreign nation’s voting machinery and supervised by a foreign entity in Spain, as they are going to do this November?

Have you ever seen such things, or heard of such things, or ever witnessed such things, or directly or indirectly been affected in some way by any of what we have discussed and inquired about above?

It doesn’t end there. When have you ever witnessed a sitting US president redefine marriage to mean something other than what it has meant since the dawn of man?

When have you ever seen a leader of a nation that is the leader of nations, declare a redefinition of marriage to mean something other than the union between opposite sexes?

This president has gone beyond the pale – for he has made a public declaration that no leader or ruler of any nation, or empire, or confederation has ever made.

This is the first and only time in the history of the human race that a leader of a leading world power of that period has publicly endorsed an alternative deviant lifestyle to define the union between two people which since the dawn of man, has been between a man and a woman.

When have you ever seen a sitting US president boldly declare that this nation is not a Christian nation?

I can keep asking many more questions along these lines, but you understand what I mean just by the ones I ask.

I never dreamed that I’d ever be asking any of these about a sitting US president, but here I am and it is 2012, and I am asking them.

I have never witnessed such a disregard of our Constitution and of the basic decency of accountability in government by a sitting US president.

No one should be above the law, but this president and those whom he has around him thinks they are.

In fact, there is such lawlessness that in the coming weeks and months the nation will be stunned by the level of corruption and extent of criminal behavior currently happening inside this White House with the tacit approval and direction of this president.

Some of it is on a level so great, involving so many organs of our government, with so many financial institutions, governments, and criminal enterprises across the world that it staggers the imagination. It is literally unspeakable.

The administration that promised to be transparent is full of all manner of subterfuge and misinformation.

Everything this president promised to be, he has become its very opposite, and he is now the emperor, who the nation thought was fully clothed, but upon seeing for the first time in the light of truth; has no clothes.

There is not a single federal, state, or local agency of government that has not been affected by this corruption.

The corruption is so vast and so great and covers so many levels of our government – with so many elected and non-elected officials – involved in some way; that were the American people to know the full extent of it, it would strike fear in their hearts – because it is greater than anything the American people have witnessed before.

And this man has the audacity to run for reelection and expect that with his vast network of trade unions, front groups, political action committees, Super PACs, choke hold on the DNC through bribery of the only rivals powerful enough to unseat him – the Clintons – far left front groups, communist community organizations in every major city, the Hollywood rich and elites, the media elites, the global banking interests of billionaires, and dozens of other groups funded by socialist billionaire George Soros; all of these will secure enough phantom votes in the greatest voter fraud in the history of this country to give this man another four years in the Oval Office?

How far do you have to walk down this road, America, to where you’ve decided you’ve had enough?

At times like these, it is of the upmost importance to open the Holy Book – the Eternal Scriptures – and to allow G-d to speak to US from them to gain understanding and insight, that we may do what is right in His sight and not commit ourselves and this nation to destruction because of our foolish ways.

When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the LORD.

And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen.

And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: the Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.

He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.’”

So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”

When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Plunder Impoverishes Judah So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s palace.

He took everything; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made. Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king’s house.

As often as the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards’ room. And when he humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions were good in Judah.

So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

2Chronicles 12:1-14

If My People America was a powerful nation, America was a proud nation, but America loss both its financial supremacy and its military superiority when it forsook G-d.

It began in to do this when its religious leaders allowed the politicians to dictate to it and to them the terms of their tax exempt status.

They compromised with evil and evil has been removing our liberties piece by piece since that day in 1954 when Senator Lyndon Johnson introduced his legislation and had it pass and signed into law which redefined the IRS Tax Law to remove the tax exempt status of religious institutions if they involved themselves in political/moral matters or endorsed political candidates.

Since the day that legislation became law, we have seen prayer removed from our public schools, the so-called sexual revolution, the so-called women’s movement NOW (a DNC front group), the homosexual, gay-lesbians, transsexual, transgender movements, so-called pro-choice abortion rights movements (DNC front groups), the Supreme Court landmark decision of Roe v. Wade that has resulted in the death of over forty-five million babies by abortion across this land since that decision, skyrocketing crime in our cities, assaults, rapes, stabbings and shootings in our public schools, the explosion of gang activity throughout the country even in neighborhoods where they did not exist before, corruption reach to the highest levels of our government, a president who had to resign and another who was impeached by the US House of Representatives, the rise of personal bankruptcies across the country and with it the collapse of the housing market with the greatest number of foreclosures in our nation’s history – even beyond the levels seen during the Great Depression of the Thirties, the greatest acts of larceny by public officials with private mega bankers where the life savings of millions of people were wiped out overnight and the greatest transfer of wealth in human history took place right under our noses as our elected officials voted to move unprecedented amounts of tax payer money into the private equity firms of the world’s elites, and more and more……

We must turn, we must ask our G-d to grant US the forgiveness we as a nation and as a people do not deserve, that He would to hold back His judgment and remove the godless leadership from our midst.

We must turn, turn away from our wicked, wicked ways and turn to Him and call upon His name.

Who do we think we are that by some sophistry of reason we deem ourselves above humbling ourselves before the Providence of G-d, to ask His forgiveness so that He would help US bring this nation back from the brink of disaster and calamity, and restore to US our nation – indeed restore US to His favor.

G-d has made a promise to His people – to the Christians and Jews of this nation – that if we humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways and turn to Him, He will heal our land, restore our nation to US, and remove His judgment from US:

“My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

2Chronicles 7:14

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Messiah appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

Acts 3:19-21

Do you believe that G-d is speaking to every American? He is not. He is speaking to His people among the American people – the communities and peoples of faith – Jews and Christians – Protestants and Catholics – to repent.

We must. Do not expect the godless and those who do not reverence G-d to humble themselves because to be able to do so entails an acknowledgement of G-d on a very deep and very personal level.

My fellow Americans, I beg you; please do not misunderstand me – I am not calling you to be more religious – but to turn to G-d and call upon His name for our nation, for our leaders, for ourselves, for our families, for our friends, for our communities, and ask Him to heal US, to restore US, to forgive our trespasses and transgressions of His most sacred Laws, and to bring to US a renewal and revival.

If the people of G-d have not moved in this way, what will we see of those who do not believe?

Like the ancient people of Nineveh, we too can avoid judgment and avert disaster. We must. If we fail to do so, countless number of people of faith who have walked with G-d before US will someday rise up and count US unworthy because we were called to an hour such as this and did nothing!

WHAT DID PRE-RABBINIC JUDAISM SAY ABOUT THE MESSIAH?

“WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR MESSAGE? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED

FOR HE GREW UP BEFORE HIM LIKE A TENDER SHOOT, AND LIKE A ROOT OUT OF PARCHED GROUND; HE HAS NO STATELY FORM OR MAJESTY THAT WE SHOULD LOOK UPON HIM, NOR APPEARANCE THAT WE SHOULD BE ATTRACTED TO HIM, HE WAS DESPISED AND FORSAKEN OF MEN, A MAN OF SORROWS AND ACAUAINTED WITH GRIEF; AND LIKE ONE FROM WHOM MEN HIDE THEIR FACE, HE WAS DESPISED, AND WE DID NOT ESTEEM HIM.

SURELY OUR GRIEFS HE HIMSELF BORE, AND OUR SORROWS HE CARRIED; YET WE OURSELVES ESTEEMED HIM STRICKEN, SMITTEN OF GOD, AND AFFLICTED.

BUT HE WAS PIERCED THROUGH FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS CRUSHED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE CHASTENING FOR OUR WELL-BEING FELL UPON HIM, AND BY HIS SCOURGING WE ARE HEALED.

ALL OF US LIKE SHEEP HAVE GONE ASTRAY, EACH OF US HAS TURNED TO HIS OWN WAY; BUT THE LORD HAS CAUSED THE INIQUITY OF US ALL TO FALL ON HIM.

HE WAS OPPRESSED AND HE WAS AFFLICTED, YET HE DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH; LIKE A LAMB THAT IS LED TO SLAUGHTER, AND LIKE A SHEEP THAT IS SILENT BEFORE ITS SHEARERS, SO HE DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

BY OPPRESSION AND JUDGMENT HE WAS TAKEN AWAY; AND AS FOR HIS GENERATION, WHO CONSIDERED THAT HE WAS CUT OFF OUT OF THE LAND OF THE LIVING, FOR THE TRANSGRESSION OF MY PEOPLE TO WHOM THE STROKE WAS DUE?

HIS GRAVE WAS ASSIGNED WITH WICKED MEN, YET HE HAD DONE NO VIOLENCE, NOR WAS THERE ANY DECEIT IN HIS MOUTH.

BUT THE LORD WAS PLEASED TO CRUSH HIM, PUTTING HIM TO GRIEF; IF HE WOULD RENDER HIMSELF AS A GUILT OFFERING, HE WILL SEE HIS OFFSPRING, HE WILL PROLONG HIS DAYS, AND THE GOOD PLEASURE OF THE LORD WILL PROSPER IN HIS HAND.

AS A RESULT OF THE ANGUISH OF HIS SOUL, HE WILL SEE IT AND BE SATISFIED; BY HIS KNOWLEDGE THE RIGHTEOUS ONE, MY SERVANT, WILL JUSTIFY THE MANY, AS HE WILL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES.

THEREFORE, I WILL ALLOT HIM A PORTION WITH THE GREAT, AND HE WILL DIVIDE THE BOOTY WITH THE STRONG; BECAUSE HE POURED OUT HIMSELF TO DEATH, AND WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS; YET HE HIMSELF BORE THE SIN OF MANY, AND INTERCEDED FOR THE TRANSGRESSORS.”

It is not in the scope of this work to expound the above passage from Isaiah, but if the reader wishes to study and explore this theme, the author recommends the following; Christology of the Targums.

The Targums have preserved for us how ancient Israel interpreted the role of the Messiah.

And subsequent writings by the rabbis preserve for us how Judaism viewed these Messianic texts before the advent of Christianity.

It was incomplete, it was imperfect, yet it was much more an accurate portrait of Him than what is said of Him by today’s Judaism.

Take for example, the following Targum with regards to the prophetic Scriptures cited above:

“AND FROM BEFORE THE LORD IT WAS HIS PLEASURE TO PROVE AND PURIFY THE REMNANT OF HIS PEOPLE, IN ORDER TO CLEANSE THEIR SOULS FROM THEIR SINS; THEY SHALL LOOK UPON THE KINGDOM OF THEIR MESSIAH, BOTH SONS AND DAUGHTERS SHALL BE MULTIPLIED, THEY SHALL PROLONG [THEIR] DAYS, AND THE DOERS OF THE LAW OF THE LORD SHALL PROSPER IN HIS GOOD PLEASURE.”

It is interesting to note that the passage of Isaiah’s fifty-third chapter and tenth verse would be related to Messiah, and that the Jewish people’s sufferings would mirror that of Messiah’s suffering as Isaiah so vividly describes in that chapter, and that this suffering would both temper and prepare them for Messiah’s coming, so that when He would appear, they would be of such mind and spirit as to keep and observe the Torah, and enjoy not just a good and long life, but prosperity, growing from a small remnant into a great multitude comprising a righteous nation, and Messiah would usher them into life eternal in His kingdom.

This is both inferred from the above Targum and borne out by Isaiah’s passage when read in its entirety, and interpreted within its proper context, because it is clear that it refers to no other than to King Messiah.

In the Targum Jonathan, we have the following:

“BEHOLD MY SERVANT MESSIAH SHALL PROSPER; HE SHALL BE HIGH, AND INCREASE, AND BE EXCEEDINGLY STRONG; AS THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL LOOKED UPON HIM THROUGH MANY DAYS, BECAUASE THEIR COUNTENANCE WAS DARKENED AMONG THE PEOPLES, AND THEIR COMPLEXION BEYOND THE SONS OF MEN.”

And an incredible passage from Eleazar Ha Kalir from the Machsor, we have this most incredible quote:

“OUR RIGHTEOUS MESSIAH IS DEPARTED FROM US: HORROR HATH SEIZED US, AND WE HAVE NONE TO JUSTIFY US. HE HATH BORNE THE YOKE OF OUR INIQUITIES AND OUR TRANSGRESSION, AND IS WOUNDED BECAUSE OF OUR TRANSGRESSION. HE BEARETH OUR SINS ON HIS SHOULDER, THAT HE MAY FIND PARDON FOR OUR INIQUITIES. WE SHALL BE HEALED BY HIS WOUND, AT THE TIME THAT THE ETERNAL WILL CREATE HIM [THE MESSIAH] AS A NEW CREATURE.”

Several things stand out in the above caption:

I. The Messiah has come and departed from Israel.

II. Horror has seized the nation of Israel, because without Him, there is no justification.

III. Messiah has borne the collective sins of Israel, so that it may find forgiveness for its sins.

IV. Through His suffering and His wounds, Israel will be healed and made whole.

V. The Messiah will return anew in His resurrected state, thus the term “A NEW CREATURE.”

If one did not know it, one would think that what he/she were reading was a Christian pamphlet, and not reading from a non-Christian source.

From the Book of Zohar we read:

“In the hour in which they tell the Messiah about the sufferings of Israel in exile, and about the sinful among them who seek not the knowledge of their Master, the Messiah lifts up his voice and weeps over the sinful among them.
This is what is written: He was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities. Those souls then return to their places. In the Garden of Eden there is a Hall which is called the Hall of the Sons of Illness. The Messiah enters that Hall and summons all the disease and all the pains and all the suffering of Israel that they should come upon him, and all of them come upon him.”

Again, we read that even as late as the fourteenth century, there were rabbis who understood the true meaning of this passage of Isaiah as referring to the Messiah, as Rabbi Moshen Koehn Ibn Crispin of Cordoba, Spain wrote in response to Rashi’s interpretation:

“This passage, the commentators explain, speaks of the captivity of Israel, although the singular number is used in it throughout.

Others have supposed it to mean the just in the present world, who are crushed and oppressed now...but these, too, for the same reason, by altering the number, distort the verses from the natural meaning.

And then it seems to me that...having forsaken the knowledge of our teachers, and inclined "after the stubbornness of their own hearts," and of their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret it, in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis, of King Messiah.”

As late as the 16th century of our common era, there were rabbis who understood this passage of Isaiah to be speaking of non one but King Messiah.

We read the following:

“I may remark, then, that our Rabbis of blessed memory with one voice accept and affirm the opinion that the prophet [Isaiah] is speaking of the King Messiah.”

A good point is made by Jewish educator Herz Homberg in the following statement on Rashi and the rabbis reinterpretation of Isaiah:

“According to the opinion of Rashi and Ibn Ezra, it relates to Israel at the end of their captivity. But if so, what can be the meaning of the passage, "He was wounded for our transgressions"? Who was wounded? Who are the transgressors? Who carried out the sickness and bare the pain? The fact is that it refers to the King Messiah.”

Thus, we see that any other interpretation of Isaiah is of a later time and a reaction to Roman Catholic and Anti-Semitic persecution and the misuse and application of God’s Word with regards to the Jewish people.

We will examine some of the abuses visited upon the Jewish people in future chapters of this study.

Isaiah spoke of only One Person whom history has recorded for us in the writings of the New Testament, faithfully written and transcribed through the centuries by reverent scribes, the number of which surpasses all other ancient manuscripts extant.

This was not by chance, this was by divine Providence.

What’s more, in the Twenty-Second Psalm, King David writes prophetically describing graphically an execution, but was is astonishing is that he writes it in the first person, as if it were happening to him.

Yet historians know that what David describes in the first person did not happen to him or his son Solomon.

Another problem is that the mode of execution he is describing prophetically as happening to him did not come into being until centuries later.

The mode of execution David was writing about was crucifixion, and it was established by the Romans against subjects under their control who were not citizens of Rome.

We follow the text in its entirety:

MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? FOR FROM MY DELIVERANCE ARE THE WORDS OF MY GROANING.

O MY GOD, I CRY BY DAY, BUT THOU DOST NOT ANSWER; AND BY NIGHT, BUT I HAVE NO REST.

According to the historical records, theses words were shouted by Jesus as He hung on the Roman cross.

And when some of those present heard Him, they thought He was calling for the prophet Elijah, because the Aramaic word Eli sounds similar to the name.

BUT I AM A WORM, AND NOT A MAN, A REPROACH OF MEN, AND DESPISED BY THE PEOPLE.

ALL WHO SEE ME SNEER AT ME; THEY SEPARATE WITH THE LIP, THEY WAG THE HEAD, SAYING, “COMMIT YOURSELF TO THE LORD; LET HIM DELIVER HIM; LET HIM RESCUE HIM, BECAUSE HE DELIGHTS IN HIM.”

Again, David writes prophetically of a man who is mistreated and crushed like a worm, reproached by men and despised by the people.

The term is interesting, because in it, David describes this man as despised by his people, Israel.

The Person David describes is One whom the people would despise as He hung on the cross, while those present would hurl abuse at Him, mockingly saying,“Commit yourself to the Lord. Let Him deliver Him. Let Him rescue Him, because He delights in Him!”

This is precisely what occurred to Jesus as He suffered on the cross, and is preserved for us in the Gospel accounts.

What David writes is not a Christian invention, he wrote about it centuries before the events it depicts took place, and it was witnessed by a many people who saw these things for themselves, some of whom wrote about them in the Gospels.

YET THOU ART HE WHO DIDST BRING ME FORTH FROM THE WOMB; THOU DIDST MAKE ME TRUST WHEN UPON MY MOTHER’S BREASTS.

UPON THEE I WAS CAST FROM BIRTH; THOU HAST BEEN MY GOD FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB.

BE NOT FAR FROM ME, FOR TROUBLE IS NEAR; FOR THERE IS NONE TO HELP. MANY BULLS HAVE SURROUNDED ME; STRONG BULLS OF BASHAN HAVE ENCIRCLED ME.

THEY OPEN WIDE THEIR MOUTH AT ME.

AS A RAVENING AND A ROARING LION.

I AM POURED OUT LIKE WATER, AND ALL MY BONES OUT OF JOINT; MY HEART IS LIKE WAX; IT IS MELTED WITHIN ME. MY STRENGTH IS DRIED UP LIKE A POTSHERD.

AND MY TONGUE CLEAVES TO MY JAWS; AND THOU DOST LAY ME IN THE DUST OF DEATH.

FOR DOGS HAVE SURROUNDED ME; A BAND OF EVILDOERS HAS ENCOMPASSED ME; THEY PIERCED MY HANDS AND MY FEET.

I CAN COUNT ALL MY BONES.

THEY LOOK, THEY STARE AT ME; THEY DIVIDE MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM.

AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.

Again, David, writing in the first person, describes graphically a man who is wasted away, exhausted and near death, emaciated, dehydrated, whose life is draining with every drop of blood that He bleeds as He hangs on that cross.

The description is accurate and illustrates for the reader the suffering the Messianic Character would undergo.

The details are described precisely in the Gospel accounts, even down to the fact that lots were casted for Messiah’s garments.

BUT THOU, O LORD, BE NOT FAR OFF; O THOU MY HELP, HASTEN TO MY ASSISTANCE.

DELIVER MY SOUL FROM THE SWORD, MY ONLY LIFE FROM THE POWER OF THE DOG.

SAVE ME FROM THE LION’S MOUTH; AND FROM THE HORNS OF THE WILD OXEN THOU DOST ANSWER ME.

I WILL TELL OF THY NAME TO MY BRETHREN; IN THE MIDST OF THE ASSEMBLY I WILL PRAISE THEE.

YOU WHO FEAR THE LORD, PRAISE HIM; ALL YOU DESCENDANTS OF JACOB, GLORIFY HIM; AND STAND IN AWE OF HIM, ALL YOU DESCENDANTS OF ISRAEL.

FOR HE HAS NOT DESPISED NOR ABHORRED THE AFFLICTION OF THE AFFLICTED; NIETHER HAS HE HIDDEN HIS FACE FROM HIM; BUT WHEN HE CRIED TO HIM FOR HELP, HE HEARD.

FROM THEE COMES MY PRAISE IN THE GREAT ASSEMBLY; I SHALL PAY MY VOWS BEFORE THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.

THE AFFLICTED SHALL EAT AND BE SATISFIED; THOSE WHO SEEK HIM WILL PRAISE THE LORD.

LET YOUR HEART LIVE FOREVER!

ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH WILL REMEMBER AND TURN TO THE LORD, AND ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE NATIONS WILL WORSHIP BEFORE THEE.

FOR THE KINGDOM IS THE LORD’S.

AND HE RULES OVER THE NATIONS. ALL THE PROSPEROUS OF THE EARTH WILL EAT AND WORSHIP, ALL THOSE WHO GO DOWN TO THE DUST WILL BOW BEFORE HIM. EVEN HE WHO CANNOT KEEP HIS SOUL ALIVE.

POSTERITY WILL SERVE HIM; IT WILL BE TOLD OF THE LORD TO THE COMING GENERATION.

THEY WILL COME AND WILL DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO A PEOPLE WHO WILL BE BORN, THAT HE HAS PERFORMED IT.

There is only one Jewish religious figure who has emerged from history who suffered in the exact manner which King David wrote about centuries before.

I is impossible for the Twenty-Second Psalm to have been a Christian invention, since it was written, read, and recited centuries before the events recorded in the Gospel accounts.

As for the Gospel writers inventing these out of thin air, adapting David’s Psalm to fit the events they wrote about, that also is unlikely, because David did not write this Psalm to suit Jewish writers centuries later, nor were these men going to write and distribute accounts of events which didn’t take place as they described them, because the people who witnessed these events and those who partook in them could both be summoned to either corroborate or deny them.

The fact that there is not one recorded instance of any of these being denied by any of its participants in itself is evidence of their veracity and historical integrity.

King David was a prophet, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he composed prophetic Psalms which depicted precisely the execution, suffering, and death of the Messiah as it happened centuries later outside the walls of Jerusalem.

And there was no way that one man or His followers could have manipulated people, events, and everything related to them to fit so precisely the descriptions David writes about, and which came to pass on Nisan 13 in the year of either 33 or 36 of our Common Era.

The more this is studied the more one must conclude the Messiah died a brutal and inhuman death, and this was graphically described in the prophetic Psalm which King David wrote centuries before under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; for without the events which the Gospels record so well for us, the prophetic Psalm composed centuries before by King David would be meaningless by itself, and unfulfilled.

End Game: the Legacy of Obama's Middle East Policy

There is no doubt in most people’s minds that we have the wrong people directing our ship of state, and that the trajectory we have been heading for years now, is the wrong one. It is becoming increasingly evident that if we continue down this road, we will end in disaster. Already across the Middle East, we are seeing disaster after disaster, with Al Qaeda heading the government in Libya, and the Muslim Brotherhood spreading revolution from one nation to the other. Along with Libya, Egypt has fallen, and so has Tunisia, Morocco; with Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and others not far from dropping like overripe fruit. For three years, teams of State Department operatives working in tandem with Soros funded organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Qaeda; have fomented revolution to promote Obama’s brand of “democracy,” which is defined as replacing “friendly” governments like Hosni Mubarak and the House of Saud with more “democratic” governments inclusive of such groups as the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda – after all – the aim is to bring true “democracy” to the Middle East with “true pluralism” that will allow the inclusion of all these groups and bring “diversity” to the region. It is believed by the Obama Administration that this type of “diversity” will bring “stability” to the region, and allow the “peace process” between these nations and Israel to continue to develop unabated. The problem that those with this view are encountering is that this “democracy” that is bringing all of these groups to power in the region is having the opposite effect – the organizations do not want to share power, and their hatred for the Jewish State is so great that nations such as Egypt under Mubarak that enjoyed peaceful bilateral relations with Israel, are now calling for the suspension of the treaties and ties that fostered such relations. Another problem that Obama’s vision is encountering with the Middle East is that rather than promote “democracy” across the region, the opposite is what is occurring. Groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, and others do not want to share power with smaller less organized opposition groups. What’s more, as Islamists continue to cement their control over these governments, minorities such as Christians and Jews, and smaller Muslim groups are being openly persecuted, and blood is flowing in the streets, something that the promoters of Obama’s “democracy and pluralism” were not expecting, though some believe this is precisely what they wanted in order to bring about “fundamental change” to the region. The “fundamental change” is destabilizing country after country, as the new groups of radicals are not bound by treaties and agreements that former governments observed, and in fact are opposed to such arrangements – for example, Post-Mubarak Egypt with Israel. The only certainty that this “democratic pluralism” of Islamic and Islamist groups can bring to the region and adjacent regions that border the Middle East, is destabilization, “fundamental change” from one form of government, “transitioning” to governments more amenable to the establishment of Islamic Sharia Law, Muslim control and hegemony over the region over all other forms of government, “finalizing” in the establishment of a huge Caliphate encompassing all of the nations of the former Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire, the Babylonian Empire; that will spread the sword and the scimitar of radical Islam to the surrounding regions, as it moves to all points on the compass across vast distant lands, over water and into the very heart of Europe and the Americas. What we are seeing is the dream of “hope and change” at work in a Middle East Policy that will prove to be to the Establishment New World Order the most horrific manifestation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein imaginable. The monster that the New World Order has created in Obama’s foreign Middle East Policy Objectives will, once it has established its beachhead along the European continent to the West and along the Chinese Border to the East, and across the vast African Continent to the South; will turn on its Masters and bring untold chaos and bloodshed to the very shores of the North and South American Continents, as it attempts to complete and finalize its centuries-long conquest of the West. We can thank President Obama’s Middle East Policy Objectives for creating, promoting, establishing, and spreading this “transition to real fundamental change” of the “existing order” into the “new world order” of his masters’ making.

THE TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE

It's been some time since my last post, and I apologize to my faithful readers for that, but I have been busy with various projects, one of which were the various previous write-ups on the Resurrection which precede this one. Well, with this post, I promise to pull out all of the stops, because here we are going to examine the economic and fiscal state of our union, and why the winds of change is in the air. We will examine with this post why it is necessary to change course and why this will be the greatest opportunity to truly reform our ship of state since the era of Ronald Reagan. So I welcome you to read the report below, and consider what it says for the good of your family and the good of our nation. While it is about politics, it is not political, because its warnings and recommendations, and reasons for these are based completely upon what's transpired in recent years. While this report contains commentary, it is not an editorial, it is simply a report of facts and figures and how these impact you and your family. So read ahead. You will not be dissappointed. The Pepster Let his days be few; let another take his office. Psalm 109:8 “’..put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,’ declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 45:9 Since taking office in January 20th, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama has been spending more than the reported $1.5 trilliion, to the actual more accurate amount of $2.5trillion a year. That is, $2.5trillion more than the government receives in revenue. That means that his spending alone has accrued a debt of $8trillion additional to the deficit, and the interest on that deficit. Barack Hussein Obama has received $200,000 from the infamous Cardona Brothers – part of the Cardona Mexican Drug Cartel, which his campaign had to return when it was discovered. Barack Hussein Obama major campaign donor Abaki Assongba has been charged with fraud. The economy has stagnated for the last three years with the highest level of growth being just above two percent, whereas the economies of China has grown between 9.908% and higher – with some statistics as high as 13%, India has grown 8.43%, Japan 7.4%, Angola at 8.251%, and other nations’ like Iraq, Mozambique, Timor Leste (East Timor) and Laos have grown around the 7.4 and 7.83% levels; the United States has had a GDP growth of 2.2%. Two percent growth is none growth, because inflation – true inflation has hollowed out that miniscule two percent and brought into the negative in real terms. What’s more, evidence of this is in the Factory output orders which have been at zero for over two and a half years. Real wages have plummeted. Three years ago someone who earned thirty-five dollars an hour now earns fifteen, and if you account for inflation, that same person now is actually earning just seven or eight dollars an hour, when adjusted for inflation and the devaluing dollar. And this has been consistent for the last four years – this is Depression people. Recently, I received the following regarding what we should expect to see in the coming week/s, as the Obama Administration’s scandals come full circle into public view, and the nation learns more of the waste, graft, fraud, and criminal behavior of every member of this presidency from the top down. As Obama’s profligate spending of tax payer money continues to come into public scrutiny and his and his people’s free spending ways and lifestyle at tax payer’s expense becomes more evident, Obama’s Campaign will try to compare themselves with Mitt Romney. It will be a comparison they will regret making, because as one refrain called “A rational thought” has rebutted this erroneous comparison in the following manner: "Apparently, I'm supposed to be more angry about what Mitt Romney does with his money than what Barack Obama and congress does with mine." It’s one thing to criticize someone for misappropriations of public funds with lavish lifestyles and White House parties while the nation’s families suffer through the worst economic period since the Great Depression; It’s quite another for someone who spends other people’s money traveling on Air Force One across the nation campaigning, to criticize anyone for using their own money to do the same. I’d say, fair is fair; If you’ve worked hard for your money and been successful in your business, you are entitled to the fruits of your labor, and no one has the right to criticize what you do with your money and how you spend it, least of all someone who likes to spend lavishly other people’s money. Next time Obama tries to induce US to break the commandment against class envy and covetousness; he should keep from throwing stones at glass houses, since he lives in one himself. Especially because he’s lived off of the rest of US for three years now and has not served a day since he’s come into office; all he’s done is play golf, go on vacations, have lavish parties at the White House, and campaign. Dear Patriot, What’s in store for us this week in the news? Florida is going to make headlines—again--as it looks to review its “Stand Your Ground” law based on the Trayvon Martin situation. Ever since the shooting, the Left has been attempting to eliminate your ability to defend yourself and your home. A 17-member task force is set to hear testimony this week and review the law. This is a direct attack on your Second Amendment rights. There will be more fallout from the GSA conference overspending scandal. Look for more heads to roll and more fun ‘champagne in bathtub,’ type pictures to be added to evidence as Congress continues to peel apart the misconduct of the Government Services Administration. Speaking of scandal and heads rolling, get ready to hear more about the Secret Service prostitution ring. With only a few agents forced out and a couple more under review so far, we have only begun to see the tip of the iceberg of what is to come. Congress wants answers and they are out for blood. Look for the head of the Secret Service to be under fire and his job potentially at risk. In the thick of both the GSA and Secret Service scandals is Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. It was uncovered late last week that Panetta has spent more of your money than the GSA’s ridiculous conference to fly home from DC to California since taking the role. Panetta spends $32,000 on what would cost a normal traveler $600 to make the round trip flight. Why do we know these facts? Because someone wants Panetta out. Panetta also happens to be on top of the Executive Department which heads up the Secret Service. Combine his travel spending with the recent misconduct and you’ve got your perfect scapegoat. Panetta’s days are numbered. Stay informed and be smarter than they think you are, Tim Young Managing Editor I just received a second short report on this scandal, and it follows: Breaking News Update Secret Service Fallout Continues As we predicted earlier this week on Absolute Rights, the fallout has continued from the Secret Service Scandal. As you already know, 12 agents who were on President Obama's advance team in Colombia allegedly hired prostitutes in violation of the code of ethics and morality set forth by the agency. All of the agents involved have been dealt their fates: 6 have resigned, 2 are in the process of being fired, 1 has retired, and 3 have been cleared of serious wrongdoing. President Obama spoke about the incident on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon a few days ago saying, "A couple of knuckleheads shouldn't detract from what (the Secret Service does)…What these guys were thinking, I don't know. That's why they're not there anymore." There has been no word yet on whether or not Mark Sullivan, the current Director of the Secret Service, or Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defense, will lose their jobs over the scandal. Experts say that there is a lot of pressure on both at this point, but that they are expected to retain their positions. Adding to the controversy was Senator Chuck Grassley (R – IA), who has speculated that the prostitutes could have been Russian spies. "We're looking at something that is very, very serious when national security might not be protected properly," said Grassley in an interview with Radio Iowa, "Who knows who might be using prostitutes? The Russians are famous for that to get information out of us." Stay tuned in to Absolute Rights for more details on this story as it develops and... Be smarter than they think you are. Tim Young Managing Editor This chief executive is truly an unmitigated disaster. He is nothing less than a horrible failure, and the economy and everything he has put his hand on has shriveled up or imploded in his hand. The various scandals plaguing his administration is symptomatic of it pathology – a pop cultural pathology – that this administration represents with rap parties and cookouts at the White House, almost monthly vacations at tax payer expense to exotic places and locales, and a continuous fund raising to feed the voracious coffers of its political machinery and campaign for reelection comprised a vast network of far left and radical front groups, organized by George Soros’ own network. But the scandals are what really define this administration over all others. They are enumerable and growing almost every month. In this write-up, I have included them with their respective headlines for the reader to examine for themselves. And they are: DNC FRAUDGATE – MORE DEMS CAUGHT BREAKING LAW GSAGATE – THE GRAFT OF PERSONAL PERSONNEL WASTE HOOKERGATE – THE SECRET SERVICE PROSTITUTE SCANDAL HOLDERGATE – FAST & FURIOUS, NEW BLACK PANTHERS & MORE SOLYNDRAGATE & THE GREEN AGENDA SCANDALS & WASTE TAXGATE – THE OBAMA FAMILY DOESN’T PLAY BY THEIR OWN RULES GOLDENGATE – “PRICY JETTING AROUND” CAMPAIGNING ON TAX PAYER’S DIME WAIVERGATE – UNLAWFUL PRESENCE WAIVERS GRANTED TO ILLEGAL ALIENS KEYSTONEGATE – OBAMA’S REFUSAL TO PIPE OIL INTO US FROM CANADA OBAMAGATE – THE GRAFT, CORRUPTION, & SCANDALS OF THE OBAMANATION PANETTAGATE –MILLIONS IN PERSONAL TRAVELING ON TAXPAYER’S DIME TRAYVONGATE – THE USE OF RACE IN POLITICS POTUS/SCOTUSGATE – OBAMA BREAKS PROTOCOL & TAKES ON SUPREME COURT EMPERORGATE – THE OBAMA POLICE STATE CONTINUES TO GROW ISLAMOGATE – OBAMA TURNED NATIONS INTO “ ISLAMIST DEMOCRACIES” HAS IGNITED A POWDER KEG The current administration appears to be a nightmarish amalgam of the worst elements of the Carter and Clinton Administrations – the ineptness of the Carter years accompanied by the scandals of the Clinton years – only these two are multiplied to the ninth degree with Barack Obama’s Administration, and there is no end to it. This is the Obama legacy. I have never in all my years, seen anything like this. At least fifteen scandals. Fifteen! Richard Nixon in six years looked like a nun in a nunnery compared to the record of Barack Hussein Obama in three years. How much more of this can this nation take?! It is a legacy of radical far Left Marxist Chicago Style crony capitalism and backroom deal type politics in closed and secret councils conducted by the most self-serving and corrupt public officials in this nation’s history. It is a legacy of soft tyranny by non elected bureaucrats within the Obama Administration imposing punitive regulations and fines on small businesses across the nation, causing many of them to close and lay off their workers. It is a legacy of shuttered store fronts, empty malls, and failed businesses across the American landscape. It is the legacy of depressed areas which cross state lines, from one community to the other; of troubled industries to miles and miles of abandoned foreclosed homes in such places as Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio. It is the legacy of failure – Barack Obama’s failure. Another warning shot from the Bob Livingston Newsletter advertisement explains the precarious situation our nation finds itself in at the current moment with regard to its ability to meet its debt obligations, and goes to the heart of the matter in a most direct way and how this will impact every American: Look, it's no secret that our government is bleeding the single greatest gushing of red ink in history. And no institution on earth—not the White House, not Congress... and certainly not the abomination we so politely refer to as the 'Federal Reserve'—has the faintest hope of slowing it—let alone STOPPING it. Despite what the Fat Cats and Bureaucrats try to tell you, the undeniable truth is that Washington has completely LOST CONTROL of the federal budget. And far worse than that, they're oblivious to what this means for you and me—namely, that a nightmarish wave of hyperinflation is set to demolish everything we've EVER worked for. Hyperinflation is Coming—And There's Absolutely No Time to Waste! The definition of hyperinflation is "inflation that is very high or 'out of control', a condition in which prices increase rapidly as a currency loses its value." This happened in Germany after World War I... when hyperinflation caused the inflation rate to swell from 300 to 800 billion percent, or 300,000,000,000% to 800,000,000,000% over a six-month period. The value of German mortgages in 1913 was roughly $10 billion US dollars. At the height of hyperinflation in late 1923, these mortgages were only worth one US penny! Trust me, this was NOT a pretty picture... In fact, hyperinflation was so bad that workers demanded to be paid daily, or even multiple times per day, so that their wages would not be worthless at the end of the day. When they received their pay, workers literally RAN from their jobs to the store in the hopes that their paychecks would still be enough to purchase a meal or some goods. Prices often changed hourly. There are stories of people using wheelbarrows to haul enough money to buy a loaf of bread. Money was sold or traded by weight and creative minds found other uses for the money, including making clothing with it, using it for wallpaper, and stuffing it in clothing and walls for insulation. Some citizens actually BURNED their money just to keep warm! This period of hyperinflation literally destroyed most of the middle and upper classes in Germany. Why Hyperinflation Is Now Dangerously Looming Before I tell you why China's elite and middle classes are preparing for a hyperinflation collapse—let's look at the "other side of the story" that no one is talking about... First off, we know that the dollar IS falling. For example, according to shadowstats.com—a leading producer of real and UNBIASED government statistics—the dollar has lost almost 13% of its international value just in the last 36 months. In other words... it's falling steeply in terms of how much corn, wheat, soybeans, beef, copper, silver and gold it can buy. And it's also falling against the euro, the yen, the pound and the Swiss franc. It's even going down against many third-world currencies! Think about that: For generations now, the United States has been the primary source of capital throughout the world. It was the U.S. that owned big stakes in foreign economies. So we certainly didn't need their capital to sustain us. Yet today, like a third-world country, we depend far too heavily on foreign capital. Every time we run a deficit in our federal budget, our government officials must go, hat in hand, asking for money from central banks and investors in Europe... Asia... and even Latin America. Now, after thousands of such trips, and trillions of such transactions, a significant chunk of America's wealth has literally been sold off or thrown away. And Up Until Now—Because America Was the Only Game in Town—He Had No Choice! This could NOT be said for smaller economic powers, like Brazil for instance. With a country like Brazil, the foreign investor DID have a choice. Whenever he lost faith in Brazil, for whatever reason, he pulled out in a big hurry, along with countless others, sending Brazil's financial market into periodic crashes. This was the biggest difference that separated the U.S. from a country like Brazil—whenever Brazil slacked off or did the wrong thing, it got slapped down, hard! But when the U.S. made similar mistakes, it usually got away with it. And so it was that we merrily ran huge deficits and borrowed to the hilt, as if nothing was wrong. And despite it all, foreign investors continued to pour more and more money into America. In the 1980s it was primarily the cash-rich Japanese who led the way, investing billions into U.S. stocks and bonds, helping to lift the Dow and the Treasury bond market out of their worst slumps of the postwar era. In the 1990s it was mostly Germans who played that role, helping to drive the big tech boom. And for much of this decade it has been India and China, with their exploding industries which thrived on U.S. consumption. But now, after nearly three decades of massive, virtually non-stop capital flows into the U.S. from abroad... some countries are beginning to realize it was NOT such a good idea after all. And in case you hadn't guessed... China Is One of Those Countries! When Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner recently visited China in a rah-rah session for the dollar—their reaction was almost appalling. In fact, while speaking to Chinese university students... he promised them that the dollars owned by their government were "very safe." And their reaction? Simple: They nearly laughed him off the stage! Think about that for a second... in an Asian country—where politeness, inscrutability and "saving face" are paramount—this is shocking, indeed. Then there's the experience of Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. He recently visited China and met with government officials. In an interview afterward, he said he was grilled about the Fed's purchases of Treasury debt. "I must have been asked about that a hundred times in China. I was asked at every single meeting about our purchases of Treasury Notes. That seemed to be the principal preoccupation of those that were invested with their surpluses mostly in the United States." As the British Telegraph noted, this is "a stark reminder that Asia's 'Confucius' culture of right action does not look kindly on the insouciant policy of printing money by Anglo-Saxons." It's clear that the Chinese, along with other foreign dollar holders, are scared about what the U.S. might do to the dollar. Unfortunately, U.S. officials don't seem to be concerned. After all, as the Financial Times explained, China is "caught in a 'dollar trap' and has little choice but to keep pouring the bulk of its growing reserves into the U.S. Treasury, which remains the only market big enough and liquid enough to support its huge purchases." Well... That USED to Be True. But NOT NOW—Not Any More! The People's Bank of China just issued a report that should have sent shock waves through our financial markets. Part of it said: "To avoid the shortcomings of sovereign credit currencies acting as reserve currencies, we need to create an... international reserve currency that can maintain the long-term stability of its value." Which "sovereign credit currencies" was the Bank talking about? The primary one in the world today is the U.S. dollar. In other words, China does NOT want to own dollars anymore! Instead, it wants a new international currency—it's OWN. In fact, the Chinese are proposing that the International Monetary Fund's unit of accounting (the Special Drawing Right, or SDR) replace the dollar as the dominant global reserve currency. And as if to demonstrate its commitment to the idea, China just bought $50 billion of bonds denominated in SDRs. Not only that, China is proposing that the SDR itself be changed. Currently, SDRs are made up of dollars (44%), euros (34%), yen (11%), and sterling (11%). The Chinese want the SDR to be 20% each of dollars, euros, yen, sterling... and yuan. This is the real shocker: China wants the yuan to be a global reserve currency. And that would put it in direct competition with the dollar! On the surface, China is only proposing the yuan as a component of the SDR. Yet the truth is, everybody knows that few SDRs are used as international reserves. The scary part is... if the yuan becomes part of the SDR, it gets instant legitimacy as a global reserve currency... and then it goes head-to-head with the dollar on international markets. Obviously, why all the effort? With so much invested in the U.S. dollar—why go through all this? Question: What Do THEY See that We Don't? Answer: Runaway Out-of-Control Deficits With No End In Sight! I honestly wish I could do something to stop hyperinflation, but at this point in time, I can't, nor can you. The forces aligned against us are simply too massive, too powerful and coming on too soon: Consider this: The recently publicized, cash-based "official" fiscal 2011 (year-ended Sept. 30) federal deficit was $1.3 trillion, Contrast that against the $161.8 billion official deficit in 2007 just before the start of the recession... And that amounts to a Whopping 79% increase in the deficit from just before the economic meltdown to now! However, since 2002 the Treasury has been reporting the government's finances using annual statements prepared using accounting standards similar to those used in corporate America. Those numbers, however, did NOT account for the annual change in the net present value of unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities, except in discussions and footnotes. Not once in the "official" reporting! Counting those changes, as a corporation would for its pension and healthcare liabilities for retirees, the 2008 annual deficit was $4.5 trillion, versus $1.2 trillion in 2007. Which means that total U.S. obligations—gross federal debt outstanding plus the net present value of unfunded liabilities—is at $81 TRILLION: Roughly 6 times the level of reported U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), and GREATER THAN THE TOTAL ESTIMATED GDP! These numbers are truly beyond our conception... spinning out of control... and show that the government is clearly lying about what's really happening. Not to mention that they have been deteriorating severely for fiscal 2009. Still, perhaps you're wondering, "Okay but how do they doom the U.S. dollar to hyperinflation?" Simple: With this level of liability... if anything occurs to reduce demand for U.S. debt (which we see happening with China's actions), it's doomsday for the dollar. Because their solution is always the same: If Washington can't borrow the money it 'needs', it will just print it instead. That's the classic recipe for massive hyperinflation, plunging currency values and a crisis of epic proportions. Any 'market share' the yuan receives will come mostly from the dollar—which will reduce demand for the greenback, and the house of cards will begin its collapse. As China begins to pull away and its currency competes with ours... other foreign investors will also jump as well. And That Means We are Literally a "Sneeze" Away from a Hyperinflation Crisis Beyond What Anyone Has Ever Seen! As the saying goes, "The bigger they are... the harder they fall." Such is the case with the U.S. economy. In other words, our hyperinflation crisis has taken longer to come about—but when it happens, it's almost certain to be many times uglier. No, I can't tell you the exact day it will happen... no one can. But it's obvious that the Bureaucrats and Fat Cats in Washington care too little about the repercussions of their actions—and how their spending spree is risking our savings... our retirement... everything you and I hold dear. Now, when things really get bad—do you think the Bureaucrats in Washington are going to be there for you? Do you think they will make personal sacrifices so that we can live happily ever after? Unfortunately, the answer is no. They WON'T! Therefore, it's up to you to protect yourself—and ensure your family's survival and well being! Of course the rest of the letter is an advertisement for their newsletter, but those who read this, must prepare for what is coming ahead. There is no doubt that one of the things we must do this November is to unseat the current president – to get rid of him at the ballot box – and to elect a proven leader of business and commerce, because this is what the nation needs at this time to turn this Depression around. It has become painfully obvious that the hope and change of three years ago has become the hopeless pain of today. Barack Obama promoted himself as a transitional president, and he has made good on that promise, but entirely in the wrong way. He has transitioned the United States from being the most prosperous and powerful nation on the planet to one which is being outstripped on almost every endeavor – yes I write almost every endeavor, except one – deficit spending. The United States is being used by the Federal Reserve to maintain Europe by inflating the dollar in order to bankroll the EU. After three years of this, it has become painfully evident that Mr. Obama is incapable of leading this nation, and is unwilling to change from his failed policies and adopt fiscal and monetary policies which have deepened the pains of George W. Bush’s Great Recession and has transformed it into Obama’s Greatest Depression. He must be voted out of office by the American electorate this November and sent back to his Chicago district to live the rest of his days in retirement, and the coming president must repeal every onerous and punitive policy Obama has put in place, and overturn every Executive Order he has signed if this nation is to return from the brink of oblivion and tyranny.

THE RESURRECTION - A REEXAMINATION - Part Seven

LESSON SEVEN

WE RETURN TO THE GOSPELS TO LEARN OF JESUS’ FATE AND TO DETERMINE WHAT TRANSFORMED JESUS’ DISCIPLES

We return once more to the Gospels so that we may fully appreciate what changed Jesus’ immediate followers from what had become a scattered, persecuted dispirited, and disbanded group of dejected men and women into a dynamic movement – one that outstripped all the other religious movements of Israel in their day – a movement based on the resurrected and eternal Life of Israel’s Messiah – which became what is known to the world as Christianity and the Christian Faith – but in its infancy and core is true Biblical Judaism in its most complete manifestation.

Again, we are compelled to go to the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and various independent sources of those times. Again we return to the Scriptural sources which have guided us to this last part in our examinations.

The great Evangelical scholar, F.F. Bruce, Rylands professor of biblical criticism and exegesis at the University of Manchester:

“We are thus thrown back on the New Testament writings as our primary documents, and we may congratulate ourselves on having such a well-tested and thoroughly analyzed body of source-material at our disposal.”

Also from the footnote to that page:

“The NT writings were not, of course, designed as historians’ source material, and apart from Luke-Acts are not written in historiographical style; but historians will not be deterred on that account from using them as source-material; nor will they be intimidated by theologians who assure them that their task is impossible and illegitimate.”

We are fortunate to have in our possession many of those works which form the corpus of the Brit Chadashah: the New Covenant, or as is most commonly known among most people – the New Testament. About these writings again, Dr. Bruce writes:

‘Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any material respect, the possible presence of hostile witnesses in the audience would have served as a further corrective.’

Here Professor Bruce tells us that were the writers of the Gospels to deviate from what actually happened, which even many outside of Jesus’ immediate followers were eye witnesses; hostile witnesses among these would rise up to testify differently.

But of the people who actually lived and witnessed these things outside of the immediate followers of Jesus, there are no hostile witnesses with alternative stories to tell.

The earliest stories come centuries later by people who were neither where these things occurred, nor know the places and people attached to them.

It is easy for the cynic, the critic, and the unbelieving to speak disbelievingly about people, places, and events without the slightest knowledge about them; while separated by centuries, great distances, and culturally from the locales, the people, and cultures who saw and experienced them – we’ve learned to expect that – after all, it’s human nature.

But the true student of history and culture, and theology must step back from the prejudices created by religious pretentions and the apprehensions and fear these have caused, and objectively weigh the evidence before them on its own merits.

This is what we have sought to do here; present before those participating examinations of the various evidences and piece these together to arrive at a complete picture of the narrative of events the Gospels present before us.

And- as we have seen – even sources outside of the Gospels who are considered hostile to them such as the Talmud and other historical sources; all confirm that the events surrounding Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were not only extraordinary to some and astonishing to others; but to all who witnessed them, they were supernatural and inexplicable.

The records we have which comprise the corpus of New Testament accounts pertaining to these events were circulated amongst the populace at a time when many if not most of the participants were still alive and available to either confirm or deny them.

Then like Dr. Bruce, we enter boldly and confidently into the world of the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles; penned by Matthew the Jewish Publican and record keeper, Mark, the historian and writer for Peter, Luke the physician and historian, and John the Cohen and Elder; as these set for us the stage upon which the most incredible set of incidents in history are about to unfold before us as we follow the narrative.

We come together in this final chapter of our study to present here a recounting of the events of those days, and reconstruct them from the eye-witness’ sources.

The events they recount are so life changing, so dramatic and amazing in themselves; that in a matter of a little over a month, it turned every one of Jesus’ followers into the boldest group of people in the land, whose exploits we and the entire world are the beneficiaries of to this very day.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL STATE OF JESUS’ FOLLOWERS FOLLOWING THE CRUCIFIXION, DEATH, AND BURIAL OF JESUS

For the disciples of Jesus the monstrous suffering and torture and humiliation that the Master had borne, His execution as a criminal, though no guilt was found in Him, and His resulting death – all of these –struck them with an unbearable mixture of emotions; hopeless grief, humiliation, acute despair, a deep sense of great loss, a gaping emptiness, and a realization of the totality and finality that one feels at the passing of a loved one.

It is in this state of mind that Jesus’ immediate followers had all gone into hiding for fear of their lives. They knew of Jesus’ fate, and understood that it was entirely possible that such a fate awaited them all also were they to be captured.

This unbridled fear and the remorse and deep sorrow these people felt at this time was beyond description.

It is in this state of mind that the irrefutable events which were about to transform them all, would unfold right before their eyes.

We can gauge the level of their fear of capture by the fact that every one of them forgot the words of the Master concerning His suffering which He spoke on many occasions, before His suffering.

In a fragment of the Gospel of Peter, we are provided with such a detail as the situation these followers of Jesus found themselves embroiled in after the crucifixion.

We offer it here, not as Scripture, or on equal ground with the approved texts of the four Gospels, but by way of illustration so that the reader can appreciate the dire situation Jesus’ immediate followers were in at this time.

It has them saying that we were sought for by them as malefactors, and as desiring to burn the temple.

One can appreciate the honesty of the Gospel writers because we see here the unpredictability of human reaction to a single event, and the dichotomy it presents before us between Jesus’ immediate followers and His detractors and enemies and how differently these two groups reacted to the same incident.

While Jesus’ followers forgot His promise to resurrect from the dead, Jesus’ enemies who were not apprised of this directly, are the ones who remember Jesus’ promise to His disciples – from their spies who heard these promises – and it is they who are convinced that they must take swift action to prevent anything remotely resembling a resurrection from taking place.

Herein is the honesty of the written records, they speak volumes, because they could have had the disciples remembering Jesus’ promise and even awaiting it, but alas; either out of fear, or shock; all the believers forgot while most of the unbelievers remembered.

This is just how it happened, and the Gospel writers are honest in not deviating in the slightest from what actually happened.

JESUS FIRST APPEARS, NOT TO HIS MALE DISCIPLES, BUT TO HIS FEMALE DISCIPLES – EVIDENCE OF GOSPEL AUTHENTICITY

We now pick up where we left off previously. Jesus has risen, and He is about to be seen by others, but it is interesting that Jesus chooses to appear first to the women among all of His disciples.

In a society where men have always predominated, and a region of the world where women have always been second class; the Gospels break through convention and report that it is first to women that the Messiah appears.

Had the Gospels been clever and well written stories, chocked full of myths and exaggerations, as some have charged, they would not record women as the first to see the risen Messiah, but men.

They would have been written tailored to be widely accepted by males in a male dominated society and world, but they are not.

Instead, they tell the story as it unfolded, without the slightest alterations; they’re not written to “fit the mold” sort to speak, but instead, they set the trend within the realm of realism, because they tell their stories as they unfolded without the slightest alteration.

Jesus appeared to the women, and to Miriam of Magdala – Mary Magdalene first – then to the others.

The fact that they record Jesus appearing first to women bears witness to their genuineness, authenticity, and reliability. It is the strongest evidence of just how honest the writers are.

The authenticity of the Gospels and Acts are most evident in this, because, as we have said previously, they are forthright and honest in their reporting.

Indeed, the Gospels are written in an almost matter of fact manner – as one would relate point by point events as they happened, even if some of those events appear mythical to the reader, but the one writing them, knowing from experience; remembers that they have in fact happened.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM, AT JOSEPH’S TOMB-

MIRIAM OF MAGDALA RETURNS TO JOSEPH’S TOMB AND …….

We now turn to the actual records and read from them directly the events that transpired over a forty day period. The Gospels do not tell us that Miriam from Magdala had returned to the tomb, after the others had left.

It simply mentions that as she’s weeping outside the grave, visibly upset over the fate of Jesus’ remains (thinking quite naturally that someone has stolen the body, and who knows what vile things they may have done to it?)

Mark’s Gospel that tells us that it is Miriam of Magdala who is the first to see Jesus alive. Yet it is John’s Gospel that provides the details of the actual incident, where we read:

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laying.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

Now consider for a moment that you have buried a loved one, and upon returning to their grave, discover that it has been desecrated. It is the most unsettling experience that anyone can undergo.

The only thing in Miriam’s – Mary’s – mind at this moment is that Jesus’ body is not at the tomb. This fact is inescapable to her, and she is aware of what these beings inside and outside of the tomb has told her.

But in her thinking, He is simply not there. So for her, His body has been taken someplace else, and she wants to know where it is.

We may add parenthetically here that though the women earlier remembered the words of Jesus, when the angel reminded them of Jesus’ promise that He would rise from the dead, Miriam – Mary Magdalene still was not convinced that Jesus was alive and walking about, as the angel claimed.

This is the state of mind and the emotions which Miriam of Magdala experiences at this moment. She has not seen Jesus, and she still believes that someone has stolen His body.

So, at this point, Mary Magdalene – Miriam of Magdala – is very troubled about the whereabouts of Jesus’ body. She is inconsolable. She looks inside Joseph’s tomb where Jesus’ body had lain, and it is not there.

Only the two men she and the other women encountered earlier are still there; men whom John calls “angels.”

Turning to leave, she encounters a Man whom she believes to be the gardener, standing there who also asks her why she is weeping. Miriam – Mary still does not know that it is Jesus who is speaking with her.

She replies with a request that He’d show her the body’s whereabouts so that she can take it away herself, to which Jesus says, “Miriam!” And instantly, she recognizes who He is, and exclaims in her excitement, “Rabboni!”

Miriam – Mary makes an attempt to embrace Him, but Jesus tells her not to do it, because He as yet has not ascended to God where He would commence His duties as High Priest and Intercessor according to the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus instructs her to tell the others that she had seen Him, which she gladly does; but again the news she shares is received with skepticism:

Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
And when they heard that He was alive, and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

After Miriam – Mary has left to tell the others that she has seen Jesus, the other women who had been to the tomb earlier with her return, and also encounter Jesus.

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.”

It is at this point where the Gospels indicate that as the women leave to tell the others that they have seen and touched Jesus, that the Roman soldiers go back to first to the chief priests to report what they have seen and get instructions as to what to do about it when they return to Pilate and have to account for what happened.

Jesus’ detractors among Annas and Caiaphas’ group (and presumably among the Romans) thought that since no one was talking about it to the populace at large at this time; perhaps Jesus’ followers would disappear and Jesus would not be heard from again, but that was about to change, and change it did.

(And after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them, while they were walking along on their way to the country. And they went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.)

THE SYMBOLISM JOHN’S GOSPEL UNIQUELY TAKES NOTE OF IN THE TOMB

We take a moment to reexamine the probable reason why earlier, when the women entered the tomb; having discovered that Jesus’ body was not there, but while in there, they encountered two men in dazzling apparel in whose direction they bowed upon encountering them.

There is good reason for this behavior by these Jewish women, and we examine it here, because it will add to something of immense significance and great symbolism to this study.

The Gospel of John provides us with details which would escape the notice of the other Gospel writers – details that only someone of priestly descent would notice, and appreciate, because at the time of the events he wrote about he served in the temple, and was intimately acquainted with what was contained therein.

He is the one who writes in his Gospel that one of the two “ angelic men” is to the right of where Jesus’ body was laid to rest, and the other to the left of where Jesus’ body is been laid to rest.

The Jewish writer to the Gospel of John who wrote for predominately Jewish readers, did not feel the need to offer his readers an explanation of this, he simply included it in his Gospel because of the relevance it had to John and to his readers.

When the Gospel of John was written, the knowledge of such things and their symbolisms were still fresh in the hearts and minds of the Jewish people on the heels of suffering the most devastating loss in their collective history up until that time – the destruction of the temple and the destruction of Judaism’s most beloved city.

The writer to the Book of the Hebrews tells us that everything that God instructed Moses to build were all shadows of what is in heaven.

In her seminal work on the Jewish origins of Christianity, Shelley Wood Gauld explains beautifully the significance of what Miriam – Mary discovered inside Joseph’s tomb that day:

“In the Scriptures, we are told that God met with the high priest of Israel ‘between the wings of the cherubim.’ It was there that they made atonement for the sins of priesthood and the community of Israel.
“Two angels in the tomb: In the resurrection account in the Gospel of John, we find a picture of two angels in the Messiah’s tomb. This is strikingly similar to the image of the ark with its cherubim and the heavenly throne of God with its winged creatures. Mary Magdalene saw the angels seated at either end of the slab on which Yeshua’s body had lain.:
‘As she cried, she bent down, peered into the tomb, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Yeshua had been, one at the head and one at the feet.’ (John 20:11-12; JNT page 150)
“They framed an empty space that was bursting with significance; that disclosed a staggering reality. Yeshua was alive.”

When God instructed Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, He gave strict instructions as to how it was to be built, along with every other holy relic and the tabernacle itself.

The Mercy Seat above the Ark of the Covenant was empty; the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid to rest is empty, but the two angels were present – one to the head of where Jesus’ body laid, and the other at His feet – covering the place of God’s manifestation of His mercy where Jesus had lain – wherein the Lamb of God was laid to rest.

Such is the place where Jesus presented Himself alive after His suffering, according to the writer who wrote the Book to the Hebrews, and the Book of the Revelation of Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah.

THE ACTUAL RECORDS OF TESTIMONIES OF JESUS’ APPEARANCES DURING THE NEXT FORTY DAYS BETWEEN THE FEASTS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD & SHAVUOT

ON A ROAD TO EMMAUS-

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.
And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.
And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them.
But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad.
And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?”
And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.”
“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”
“But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early this morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive.”
“And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”
And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
“Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
And they approached the village where they were going, and he acted as though He would go farther.
And they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” And He went in to stay with them.

Taking the place of honor as they reclined at table on the floor, Jesus took bread and blessed it, no doubt reciting the old Jewish prayer which is recited even to this day, “Blessed art Thou, Oh Lord, King of the Universe; who hath given us bread from the earth.”

And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.

The narrative tells us that at this point, they recognize Who it is standing in their presence before them; and in an instant, He vanishes into thin air from their midst.

And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.

We can only image how astonished those gathered around the table might have been at seeing the Master who moments before was present, tangible and real; vanish right before their eyes.

Later, they would recall how their hearts burned within them with the Messianic fire as they heard His teaching. Quickly, they made haste for Jerusalem, to report these events to the eleven there. The excitement was spreading, and hearts must have been burning with anticipation. Many must have asked themselves, “Will I see Him also? If I do, what will He say to me? What will we talk about? What will I ask Him?” Unbeknownst to many, He would be seen by hundreds of people in the days which followed.

And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon, Cephas.”
And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

JERUSALEM-THE UPPER ROOM-

A lot was happening on that fateful first day. Reports of sightings and lengthy conversations with the risen Master were reaching Jerusalem from all over. Towards evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem, and stood in their midst. Now the doors had been bolted shut and the windows had been closed tight because at this point these men and women were still cowling in fear of reprisals from the religious and civil authorities.

Miraculously, Jesus bypasses all barriers and gains entry into the home without any hindrance. One can wonder how level of astonishment these people must feel the moment they see Jesus alive again.

Apparently, they cannot believe their eyes. They think that what stands before them is some ghostly apparition. In order to convince them, Jesus has them inspect His wounds. It requires that they touch Him, and they do.

Here is no disembodied spirit, but here in their midst stands a living, breathing corporeal human being of flesh and bones. As if to punctuate this, He asks for food to be given Him; which He gladly enjoys in front of them.

As they watch Jesus eat, their joy becomes immeasurable. He is alive! He has returned to them! The sorrow and emptiness of the previous three days slowly gives way to jubilation, and rejoicing. What would come next?

The Gospels supply the details of this meeting:

When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, while they were telling these things, He Himself, Jesus came, and stood in their midst, to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table; and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
“See My hands and My feet that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side, and His feet; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.
And while they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish; and He took it and at it before them.
The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
“If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

At this point the Holy Spirit entered ten of the eleven remaining apostles. They, as yet had not received the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.” That would come later after the Master’s ascension just prior to Pentecost.

Up until this moment, the Spirit had “abided with them; doing marvelous things through them.” He would later empower them with the boldness needed to speak on Jesus’ behalf as His representatives, but from this day until that day; He would “abide in their spirit.”

During this last appearance, Thomas had been absent. Later, when the others report to him that they have seen the Lord, he reacts with acute skepticism. His exact statement on the matter being:

“Unless I shall see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

He would not be dissuaded, and with good reason. To him, and in his current state of mind, he believes that now was not the time to succumb to some kind of mass hysteria, allegedly brought on by over-zealous wishful thinking.

In his mind, the Master’s body has been stolen, and has to be found. And that is that. Somebody has to be strong, and in control in the midst of this mayhem. Thomas has made up his mind to be the one who would keep a clear and sober mind in the midst of this bedlam.

Here is no zealous religious fanatic given to flights of fancy, but a realist who would have to see for himself the alleged evidence at hand. I believe Thomas has been disparaged and misrepresented by too many preachers; misunderstood, and mischaracterized by them in too many sermons.

Thomas’ unbelief did not stem from not believing in a bodily resurrection – that was a tenet of first century Judaism, and every observant Jew with the exception of the Sadducees; held this belief.

Thomas’ unbelief was in the stories he was hearing, and since up until that day, he had not been a witness to them; out of practicality, he chose not to believe them. He was a practical man, not given to flights of fancy and the impetuous behavior related with this behavior.

A week later, while they are all gathered at John the Priest’s place of residence in Jerusalem, Thomas is with them this time. Again, the doors and windows have been shut tight. But again, Jesus stands in their midst.

Immediately, He addresses the doubting Thomas, and tells him to feel His wounds, and His side for himself. To be believing, and not unbelieving. We are not told if Thomas obliges, but he must have; for his reaction Is immediate.

“My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

BY THE SEA OF TIBERIUS-
The next encounter occurred at Lake Tiberius; commonly known as the Sea of Galilee. It Is early morning, and it Is still dark. Peter has gone fishing with six of the others. The names given are Thomas, Nathaniel, the two sons of Zebedee, and two others who remain nameless in the narrative, but could be young Mark, and the beloved John the Priest. As the day is dawning, and they have not caught a single fish.

From John’s Gospel:

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberius; and He manifested Himself in this way.
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out, and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus therefore said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”
And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you will find a catch.” They cast therefore, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” And so when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.
But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
And so when they got out upon the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid, and fish placed on it, and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.
Jesus came and took the bread, and gave them, and the fish likewise.
This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.

At this time Jesus specifically addresses Himself three times to Peter; telling him to tend, and feed His sheep. Thrusting on him the responsibility of teaching and administrating the fledgling Nazarene Movement that was going to explode into the scene of Jewish history.

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to Him, “Tend My sheep.”

Then He prophesied by what manner Peter would meet his death:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”
Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Legend tells us that this would occur many years later in Rome, just as Jesus had prophesied.

Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”
Peter therefore seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”

Peter is preoccupied with John the beloved Priest’s fate, which he inquires to Jesus about.

Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
This saying therefore went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Jesus’ reply is that if He so wills it, that disciple will remain; and by the way, what bearing would that have on him anyway? Thus, talk had it that this disciple would not die, but the narrative tells us they misunderstood His statement; that is not what the Master had meant.

This is the disciple who bears witness of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his witness is true.
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books which were written.

ON THE MOUNT IN THE GALIL-

Next, the eleven disciples proceed to a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus has designated as a meeting ground. There, they receive what has commonly been called “the Great Commission” to spread the Good News.

These new believers are to be water-immersed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Ruach Ha Kodesh; in the name of Jesus, and to be taught and discipled.

Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Jesus’ disciples literally worship Him there. It is possible that it is at this location where the Paul tells us that He speaks to five hundred followers of His at one time.

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.
And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some were doubtful.
And Jesus came up, and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;” And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
“And these signs will accompany those who have believed; in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover), and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
(And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.)

Jesus next appears to James, His younger stepbrother. James, a skeptic up until this point, became one of Jesus’ most devoted followers, and one of three “pillars” of the Nazarene community in Jerusalem. So conclusive and convincing had this encounter been. In The Gospel According to the Hebrews we have this detail of Jesus’ meeting with James from Jerome, who quotes from it:

“After the resurrection of the Savior, it says, ‘The lord, after he had given the linen cloth to the priests’ slave, went to James and appeared to him. (Now James had sworn not to eat bread from the time that he drank from the lord’s cup until he would see him raised from among those who sleep. Shortly after this, the lord said, ‘Bring a table and some bread.’ And immediately it is added; He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to James the Just and said to him, ‘My brother, eat your bread, for the Son of Adam has been raised from those who sleep.’”

One thing that is quite apparent from the account above; among the Romans keeping watch on the tomb, there were also some of the High Priest’s personnel, one of whom received the linen cloth from Jesus after His resurrection.

Another detail is also apparent; James fasted from the time of Jesus’ execution until His resurrection, probably in mourning, observing Shiva as well as expectation of something happening, because so much extraordinary was connected with Jesus’ death the day that He died.

Two words of explanation I would like to offer here so as avoid confusion by anyone reading the above and other sections of this study.

Whatever material from the Apocrypha or the Pseudepigrapha that is used in this study and in our examination of the evidences; is not in any way an endorsement of the material, or in any way indicative that such material would have equal standing or authority with the canon of Scripture.

Rather its use is only included where such texts shed some light on a detail already within the canon of approved Scripture – in this case – the resurrection narratives, and only used as an illustration of a general theme, such as for example, when the Messiah met Jacob – James after His resurrection – incidents which we cite here, above and the one below which follows.

In The Gospel of Thomas, the disciples inquired as to whom would remain in charge of the Nazarene movement in Jesus’ absence. The Master’s reply was as follows:

“No matter where you are, you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”

Again, I must explain that although this extra-canonical excerpt of the Apocryphal document is inconsistent with the teachings of the Canonical New Testament Scriptures, I cite it here so that we may see that from the very beginning, James would become one of the three pillars of the Nazarenes, and eventually; the preeminent leader of the fledgling Nazarene Messianist Community in Jerusalem and all Judea and beyond, eventually superseding Simon Peter, who was the community leader during the period of its beginning.

After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, to these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

JERUSALEM-

Back in Jerusalem, Jesus appeared one last time to the community of believers. He said to them,

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah should suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
“You are witnesses of these things.”
“And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

BETHANY-

As He was doing this, He was taken up in a cloud. The disciples gazed upward in awe. The narrative tells us that two men clothed in white, probably Essenes; stood beside them and reminded them that Jesus the Master would return in the same manner that He had been taken up. The new community of believers returned to Jerusalem with new hope, faith, and great rejoicing.

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
And it came about that while He was blessing them, He parted from them.
So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away, and were continually in the temple praising God.
And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.
(And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.)

For a period of about forty days, they had been witnesses to the incontrovertible truth of the Messiah’s triumph over death. He had taught them. He had walked with them. He had dined with them. He rejoiced with them in seeing their joy. He shared in their joy, and gave them rock solid hope as He expounded the Scriptures to them and all it said about Him.

These were great days such as the world had never seen nor see again - the greatest in memory to these faithful followers of the Master; perhaps even the greatest days they would ever experience in their collective lives.

All had been as in the days of old; before the tragic events at Golgotha, except now more than ever; they knew; without any doubt that nothing could conquer the power of the God of Israel and His Messiah.

The evidence before them was so incontrovertible and conclusive that their change in spirits after such a tragedy forty-three days before could only be attributed on such a scale to empirical evidences which was beyond denial, as we have examined earlier.

It could not be otherwise, since these people no longer feared for their lives, even knowing that the authorities could conceivably arrest and execute them on the same charge of sedition; the same charge that convicted their Master.

The slightest doubt in any of these people would have caused them to lapse into fear, and soon thereafter, the movement would unravel and disappear. So convinced had these people become of what they had witnessed the past forty days, they no longer feared the wrath of their religious leaders in the Sanhedrin, but even more convincing evidence is in the fact that these people had lost all fear of even Roman wrath, and what this would entail; death by crucifixion.

F. F. Bruce has written concerning this remarkable change in Jesus’ followers, from a frightened, humiliated, and scattered group into a dynamic organization of Messianic propagandists:

“None of the authorities, whether Roman or Jewish, could have reckoned with the event that confounded all their calculations: Jesus’ rising from the dead and appearing to his disciples ‘alive again after his passion.’ Not even the disciples themselves had reckoned with it; it took them quite by surprise. But it transformed them almost on the spot from a crowd of demoralized and frightened people into a band of men with a mission and purpose in life which, without delay, they proceeded to translate into action. This ‘resurrection faith’ of the disciples is a historical fact of prime importance, but to identify it with the resurrection event is to confuse cause with effect. Were it not for the resurrection event there would have been no resurrection faith. But the resurrection faith brought the scattered followers of Jesus together again, and within a few weeks after his death they appear as a coherent, vigorous and self-propagating community in Jerusalem.”

Hugh J. Schonfield, writing as a skeptic in his later years, himself concedes the following:

“The belief that Jesus had risen from the dead and had ascended temporarily to heaven governs the transformation that took place....

“Resurrection means the ‘getting up’ of one who has been lying down as a corpse, the reanimation of a dead body, so that the individual breathes and moves and has all his physical functions restored. It is as the awakening from sleep or coma. Jewish resurrection teaching was quite definite about this, and the Gospels stories of the raising of the dead of the widow of Nain’s son and of Lazarus conform to it.”

But, writing as a believer some forty years earlier, Schonfield expressed the reality of what had occurred with regards to this monumental event:

“It was this belief, and the power of it, that invested the original community of humble persons, fishermen and artisans, with a dignity and confidence of utterance that was electrifying and contagious, and that ran like wildfire through the oppressed classes of the population and particularly attracted the patriots and religious zealots, already stirred and exalted by Messianic visions. This was the ‘good news,’ for which they had been waiting, the great fact born of actual knowledge and experience which anchored indefinite hope to the strong rock of reality.”

It was not some mass hysteria that took hold of over five hundred people. The realization through empirical evidences slowly began to take shape as more and more people saw for themselves the risen Messiah.

If as the Torah states, that all things are to be confirmed on the testimony of at least two eyewitnesses, here before all, stood the testimony of over five hundred men and women; devout Jews, who forty days earlier had abandoned all hope, and had been hiding in fear, and despair, but were soon to become the messengers of a new hope.

The Gospels and Luke’s Acts are what have been preserved for us of their bold and uncompromising accounts. The Messiah had come. He had conquered death and the grave, and was now providing redemption to mankind.

The hostile attempts of a corrupt religious leadership would not silence that testimony. When they carried this message to the masses of Israel (and later, the nations), the bogus stories concocted by the hated and conniving religious leadership would not hold up to the pure and simple testimony of these devout people, whom many among the masses knew personally as honest and unassuming godly people. As Dr. Clifford Wilson attests:

“There had been others who claimed to be the Messiah. Other Jewish aspirants had quickly been exposed, put to death, and their movement had then died with them. Jesus WAS unique, in that though He was put to death His movement did not die. Because He rose from the dead, His movement also rose uniquely. It burst forth into newness and greatness far beyond what the disciples had thought possible in the years they walked Palestine (sic) with that One they believed was their Messiah.”

CONCLUSION: JESUS WAS THE FIRST FRUITS OF GOD TO RISE FROM THE DEAD TO ETERNAL LIFE

There have been so-called resurrection stories among many civilizations, but none of them have affected the human race quite the way this particular one has, perhaps because this one is the only true account of such an occurrence in recorded history handed down to us from eye-witnesses.

On this one tenet – the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah – the entire Christian, Hebrew Christian/Messianic Jewish faith and hope of Israel and Mankind rests. So much so that Paul writes:

Now if Messiah is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Messiah has been raised; and if Messiah has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Messiah, whom He did not raise; if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Messiah has been raised; and if Messiah has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Messiah have perished. If we have hoped in Messiah in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Without a resurrection there is no foundation for faith in Jesus as Messiah. Without a foundation for Jesus as Messiah, then there is no power to His claim of redemption, and by extension; then He holds no power to transform and change lives, because such power originates with His having been resurrected from the dead.

In the 19th century rationalist theologian David Strauss conceded the following regarding the remote possibility that Jesus might have survived the cross to afterwards travel about the long treks between Judea and Galilee, and the various locations, where He met with His disciples, convincing them by His appearances that not only did He defeated death, but that He arose in complete vigor of life:

“It is impossible that a being who had stolen half dead out of the sepulchre, who crept about weak and ill and wanting medical treatment... could have given the disciples the impression that he was a conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of life: an impression that lay at the bottom of their future ministry."

JESUS’ RESURRECTION STANDS UNIQUE IN THE ANNALS OF JEWISH HISTORY

In his Acts of the Apostles, Luke writes with full conviction:

To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Those who had walked and talked with the Master themselves have stated that their testimony is true and based on eyewitness accounts.

They have made these statements, and the records show that wherever they went the message was the same, Jesus had conquered the unconquerable; death and the grave, and repentance and redemption from sin and eternal separation from God was preached in His name for the salvation of all who would believe; beginning with the Jew and then to all others outside of Judaism.

Their message was a powerful one, even outside the people of Israel the message was a powerful one. In the history of the nation of Israel, the Jewish people and those in their periphery had never witnessed anything like this one solitary incident – the resurrection of the dead.

It is unique in the annals of Jewish history, because aside from everything else in that history, it stands as the only incident of its kind, and these are the reasons why:

Every incident where anything close to a raising from death has occurred, the person raised has returned to the grave later in life; Jesus lives forever.

Nothing like it had ever occurred either before or since to anyone in Israel, because even the dead who were also raised when Jesus rose from the dead on that Sunday morning following the end of Shabbat; themselves died later.

THE WITNESSES ARE MANY AND THEIR TESTIMONIES POWERFUL, CONSISTENT, CONVINCING, AND UNDENIABLE: THEY CANNOT BE IGNORED

The people who saw it happen, left for us the only written records by eye-witnesses in existence. From these records we get the following affirmations:

“And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And they also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him on the third day, and granted that he should become visible, not to all people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us, who ate and drank with Him after he arose from the dead.”

At the end to the Book to the Hebrews, the author mentions that the witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection are so great in numbers that he calls them “a cloud of witnesses.”

The Master Himself had told them that as they witnessed His resurrection, they would testify of it and its implications, not only in the city of Jerusalem, but throughout the Judean region, Samaria, and throughout the ends of the earth:

“..and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and even the remotest part of the earth.”

In the Introduction to his Gospel, Luke the historian, and physician writes:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the gospel have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.

And in his forward to his Acts of the Apostles, he writes:

To these He also presented Himself alive, after He had by the Holy Spirit given convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

In his historical work reconstructing the early days of the Nazarenes, Luke writes:

And with great power the apostles were giving witnesses to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

From John the beloved of the Messiah, we have the following testimony;

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may also believe.

And:

This is the disciple who bears witness of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his witness is true.

Also this one:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life-and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested, to us-what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus the Messiah. And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

From Simon Peter, we have the following emboldened and resolute writing; full with absolute assurance of the facts he is writing about:

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”-and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

Peter elsewhere in a public forum, where he could have been debunked arrested, and sentenced to death if convicted of being a false witness, states he and all of the other followers of the Master with him were witnesses to the fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection and victory over death, where he declares:

“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”

Later, speaking to a crowd with elements of those allied to the chief priests who were present at Jesus’ sentencing and execution, who had asked for the robber Bar Abbas, Peter says:

“But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”

And writing to some believers, Peter calls himself a witness to Jesus’ sufferings. And before the Sanhedrin, he and John boldly declare that they were witnesses of these things just as they recount them as happening:

“And we are witnesses of these things...”

One, who at one time was a bitter enemy of the Nazarenes, testified:

“But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.”

And as to the records themselves and how they were compiled, in the Secret Book of James, the author tells us:

“Now the twelve disciples [used to] sit all together at the [same time], remembering what the Savior had said to each one of them, whether secretly or openly, and setting it down in books.”

So-called plots, myths, fictitious accounts and inventions – written decades after the events as some allege – do not produce or instill this type of behavior in people – life transforming experiences do.

And we have before us the written accounts of these to examine for ourselves – the testimonies of a myriad of witnesses whose voices speak loudly to this day.

We are most fortunate that we do have some very detailed accounts of the events surrounding the resurrection of Messiah.

The accounts we have are very faithful and present us with some tantalizing details of events we are about to examine; events so significant that rabbinical authorities sought to debunk it centuries later in what is called Toledoth Yeshu.

Since the day that the chief priests bribed the Romans to keep silent and to misreport what they saw at Joseph’s tomb to anyone inquiring about it, they and those who’ve followed after them within Rabbinical Judaism to this day have denied what happened at the tomb; but whether they’ve believed or misbelieve, they have not been able to ignore it, nor will they ever.

Why? Because the events beginning with Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, the resurrected dead at the time of His resurrection, and His subsequent appearances for the next forty days, remain and will continue to endure until the day of Messiah’s return to earth as actual records of actual incidents in real space and time.

The fact that such events did happen are evident from the reaction it solicited from its detractors and has solicited since for two thousand years.

Surely no one would waste their time and energy trying to debunk a myth! Myths, in and of themselves, are so preposterous that they preclude any intelligent rebuttal.

It is to be argued, as we have previously; that these testimonies are truthful and reliable, because had they been myths, they would have been embellished with the most positive reports of Jesus’ immediate followers, and would have presented them in the most favorable light.

This would be a sure sign of a false witness – self-ingratiation and self-promotion. The accounts would be filled with gratuitous praiseworthy behavior, and near perfect conduct on the part of the participants.

But what we have in the accounts before us are testimonies which do not present Jesus’ immediate followers favorably, but as would be expected of a true account; presented to the student of history without embellishments and attempts at self promotion. In other words, the accounts by reason of the manner in which they are presented, testify of the authors’ moral character and honesty.

During the next forty day period when several people saw Jesus and spoke with Him, some even dined with Him; but they kept this news from outsiders, during which time, the Romans apparently along with the Sanhedrin chose to ignore them, as the stories during this forty day period began to spread only among Jesus’ followers.

RECENT DISCOVERY – ARCHEOLOGY TESTIFIES TO THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION

Additional of this extraordinary event can be found in an archeological discovery which would have gone unnoticed if not for the attention paid to it by M. Rostovtzeff about fifty years after it was brought to Paris in 1878, and stored at the Cabinet des Medailles Rostovtzeff drew F. Cumont’s attention to it, and Cumont published it in the Revue Historique in the year 1939 under the title ‘Un rescrrit imperial sur la violation de sepulcre.’

The historical artifact was an imperial inscription from the time of Claudius in Greek which may have originally been written in Latin, bearing a “Decree of Caesar” proscribing the violation of graves which goes as follows:

“It is my pleasure that sepulchers and tombs, which have been erected as solemn memorials of ancestors or children or relatives, shall remain undisturbed in perpetuity. If it be shown that anyone has either destroyed them or otherwise thrown out the bodies which have been buried there or removed them with malicious intent to another place, thus committing a crime against those buried there, or removed the headstones or other stones, I command that against such person the same sentence be passed in respect of solemn memorials of men as is laid down in respect to the gods. Much rather must one pay respect to those who are buried. Let no one disturb them on any account,. Otherwise it is my will that capital sentence be passed upon such a person for the crime of tomb-spoliation.”

It is said that the inscription had been presumably sent from Nazareth to Paris, and if it had been discovered there, this would indicate that this discovery dates to the first half of the 1st Century of our Common Era, connecting it to the events in the Gospels and the Acts with regards to the resurrection and the message of this resurrection spreading across the Roman World amongst the Jewish Communities scattered across it, where such a message would have taken hold and even created a controversy of considerable magnitude that would compel Caesar himself to take punitive action against “potential grave robbers.”

The message which would have reached him would not be about what the Gospels tell us happened, but the version of it that would have reached Caesar’s ears would have been the “official story” that Matthew tells us the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas made up and bribed the Romans to disseminate amongst themselves as a defense to any inquiry about the matter.

Also, if it is true that this artifact originated in Nazareth, that is that it was discovered there, it indicates precisely the origin of where these “pernicious rumors” began – from followers of Jesus from Galilee, who had taken the original story of a resurrection to Rome itself, where it reached Caesar’s court, and was spreading throughout Rome’s Jewish quarter, causing disputes that were getting more difficult to control.

If indeed Nazareth was its origin, it would corroborate the Gospel accounts as to its primary exponents being “the Nazarenes.” This being the case, we have before us one of the earliest extra-Biblical evidences corroborating the Gospel accounts with a historical artifact from the era.

What’s even more compelling about this discovery is that Caesar would take such action in the first place, because to do so would suggest that there was a basis of fact about this resurrection story, serious enough to force Claudius to conduct an investigation which would later result in the issuance of this decree.

And though the news of it had reached him, albeit, in its expurgated form we know from the Gospels that this s is precisely what the religious and civil authorities concocted in order to blunt the pure message of what really took place that Sunday morning.

In making up their version of the story, and this version reaching Caesar’s ears, Claudius would have been especially compelled to prevent the potential for any more incidents like this one from ever occurring again, especially in light of the Jewish “superstition” of a resurrection of the dead, as reports of Jewish such beliefs reaching him would have contained, and especially in light of the unrest the Jews were bringing to the capital concerning these matters, which early in his reign forced him to prevent Jews from publicly assembling in large numbers, and by A.D. 49-50 would compel him to expel most if not all Jews from Rome. Bruce writes:

“Considering then, that an act of tomb-spoliation had fostered a plague which was now infesting the whole world, he (Claudius) determined to impose specially heavy penalties on any repetition of such a crime, in Palestine at any rate. His order to this effect may have taken the form of a rescript to the procurator of Judaea or the legate of Syria; copies would be set up in those places in Palestine which were closely associated with the gospel story – in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, we may suppose, as well as in Nazareth. There are too many uncertainties about the inscription to justify more than a tentative consideration of the possibility that it might have some bearing on the spread of Christianity in Claudius’s reign, but this interpretation does at least fit in rather suggestively with other hints from ancient writers relating to the same period.”

Under these circumstances, we can understand why Claudius would go to the trouble of passing this decree if the story of Jesus’ resurrection being spread by His Jewish followers had not reached fever pitch, even reaching the capital as early as A.D. 41, the year Claudius first decreed against Jews assembling in large numbers.

If there had not been much to this story, and it had not had the effect that the Acts tell us, it would have gone unnoticed by Claudius, and he would not have taken the actions he took to stem its spread and the unrest it seemed to create everywhere it went amongst the empire’s “unruly” Jewish subjects.

Another possibility which would also help support the Gospel accounts, as a historical sidebar to them, is the death of Pilate. It is said that it was by his own hand. Could Caesar have “ordered” Pilate to take his own life or face execution – the Roman penalty for failure in guarding the tomb?

We don’t know for sure, but knowing that Caesar had decreed capital punishment for “grave robbing” and “spoilage” only to allow Pilate to go “unpunished” for such serious a failure under his watch would have seemed beyond the realm of the probable.

Thus, we are left with the distinct possibility that Pilate’s suicide may have been connected to the above decree and the accounts in the Gospels. These are evidences which corroborate each other, and would be admissible in a court of law.

Regardless of what conclusion one may reach, the evidence is compelling that something extraordinary did occur and that this event rocked the Roman world.

It is regrettable that official Judaism, as it has stood for the past two millennia, has accepted the lies of a power hungry cabal in place of the testimony of these devout Jewish tzaddikim. But this had already been prophesied as having to occur in the tapestry of Judaism’s history.

Anti-Semitic persecution, centuries later at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Catholic Church, and certain sections of Protestant Christianity; claiming the cause of Christ; would crystallize this alienation of official Israel from its Messiah.

The caricature of a Gentile pagan idol displayed as a demigod on a crucifix, and the horrors it would visit on Jesus’ own people centuries later as it was being carried at the head of processions of murderous religious anti-Semites throughout Europe; would forever ingrain in the minds of Jewish children the word pogrom, and its meaning.

Below, I have provided a listing of post-resurrection appearances of the Messiah as it has been documented, and preserved for us in the Gospels, the Acts, and New Testament Apocrypha. In total, they comprise eleven recorded incidents of encounters with the risen Messiah.

These are the ones which have been preserved to us, but we know that there must have been many others, since the Johannine testimony says:

Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books which would be written.

Had not Jesus actually defeated the seemingly undefeatable – physical death itself – and defied the confines of the grave, history would have taken a radically different turn, and these followers of His would have disappeared into the dustbin of history.

They would have been just another small group of Messianists headed by an aspirant to the Messianic mantle, but like all of the rest who had come before Him and those who would follow; He would be just another pretender to the throne of David, another charlatan, another liar.

But, because He did rise from the dead, and did defeat the undefeatable – physical death itself – having overcome and broken the fetters and the confines of the grave, then having appeared over a period of forty days to at least over five hundred persons, the news of which they would carry back to their communities; history would take the turn that it has and Judaism and the world would never be the same because of it.

In itself, this is an undeniable attestation of His attributes and His unique role not just in the religious order of things, but in history itself. There have been many messianic pretenders in the history of Israel, and many false so-called saviors throughout the world, but only the true Messiah and His following would endure through the centuries; and Jesus and His faith has to this day.

Not just endured, but exploded. There has never been anything like it, nor shall there ever be in all of human history. This alone is unique in all of the annals of the history of man, and this alone is unique in the annals of the history of Israel.

Messiah had come, and He had defeated death and the grave never to see its corruption. Because of this Jesus could make the following claim with all of the authority vested upon Him by His Father when He spoke to those who witnessed Him raise another man from the grave who had been dead for several days:

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” But His question to Martha is even more poignant to us down through the centuries, “Do you believe this?”

Because of this we are compelled by undeniable evidences as presented by the historical accounts of these events to reply to Jesus’ question to us in the same manner and fashion as she did when the question was put to her by the Master:

She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

In Martha’s case her reply to Jesus’ question was one based upon her faith in Jesus’ ability to do as He had promised, because Jesus had not yet brought Lazarus back from the dead when the question was put to her.

She believed Jesus’ claims. She affirmed her faith in Him without having to see her brother rise from the grave; whereas we affirm our faith in Jesus after Jesus accomplished these things without having to see them for ourselves, because we believe unquestionably in the reliability of the accounts preserved for us in the documents handed down by faithful followers of Jesus who wrote of these from eye-witness testimonies from those who experienced what we read in the Gospel and Acts narratives.

THE APPEARANCES OF THE RISEN MESSIAH IN THE ORDER WHICH THEY OCCURRED OVER A PERIOD OF FORTY DAYS:

I. To Mary Magdalene Mark 16:9, John 20:11
II. To the Women Matthew 28:1
III. To the Eleven Disciples (Envoys) Mark 16:14, John 20:19
IIII.To Two Disciples Traveling to Emmaus Mark 16:12, Luke 24:13
V. To the Eleven a Week Later John 20:26
VI. To the Envoys in Galilee Mark 16:14, John 21:1
VII.To Simon Peter Luke 24:34, 1Cor. 15:5
VIII.To Five Hundred Disciples in Galilee 1 Corinthians 15:6
IX. To James, the Lord’s Brother 1 Corinthians 15:7,
X. To James, the Lord’s Brother, The Gospel According to the Hebrews as quoted by Jerome, On Famous Men 2
XI. To the Eleven – Commissioning Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:44
XII. To the Eleven Disciples The Gospel of Thomas, Saying 12 ______________________________________
SOURCES CITED:
There is no doubt that Matthew (also called Levi), who had been a tax-collector for the Romans and proficient in record-keeping, kept a meticulous account of Jesus’ every day activities. And it is from these, that he wrote his version of Messiah’s life. It is interesting to note that Eusebius mentions him as having written his original version of the Gospel in Hebrews, which the Nazarenes had a copy of.
F. F. Bruce, New Testament History, page 167, and footnote #19, New York, Doubleday, 1969.
F.F. Bruce, as quoted by an Internet article by Josh McDowell.
Both Jews of the Second Temple Era, Greeks and Romans of that period were among those who witnessed the events for themselves.
All of the New Testament was written within a fifty to fifty-five year period (A.D. 35 – 90) of the First Century of our Common Era, and the Gospels themselves are the earliest part of the New Testament.
Miriam (Mary), Jesus’ mother, was once told by an elderly sage by the name of Simeon, when Jesus was just an infant; that a sword would pierce her heart, such was the grief of a mother for her Son (Luke. 2:35). This elderly sage – Simeon – Shimon in Hebrew – had awaited the coming of the Messiah all of his life, and the records tell us that the Holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2:25). And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. And he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, Thou dost let They bond-servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for my eyes have seen Thy salvation (in Hebrew: Yeshua/in Greek: Iesous, from which we derive the name Jesus) which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Goyim, and the glory of Thy people Israel.” And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him (Jesus). And Simeon blessed them, and said to Miriam (Mary) His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed – and a sword will pierce even your own soul – to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:26-32) And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him (Jesus) to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38)
During that fateful Shabbat following the Messiah’s death
Matthew. 16:21, 17:22, 23, 20:17-19. Luke 9:22, 43, 44, 17:25, 18:31-33. Though we know that time and time again, Jesus spoke to His disciples that He would suffer and die, He also told them that He would rise again from the dead; but in the dizzying unfolding of events and the fear and sorrow that has gripped this small community of followers of His, they have all forgotten the Master’s promise of His resurrection.
Of these writings, Eusebius, fourth century Church Historian (circa A.D. 325), writes the following, and I offer it here as a means of clarification: “Among the disputed writings, [των αντιλεγομένων], which are nevertheless recognized by many, are extant the so-called epistle of James and that of Jude, also the second epistle of Peter, and those that are called the second and third of John, whether they belong to the evangelist or to another person of the same name. Among the rejected writings must be reckoned also the Acts of Paul, and the so-called Shepherd, and the Apocalypse of Peter, and in addition to these the extant epistle of Barnabas, and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles; and besides, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem proper, which some, as I said, reject, but which others class with the accepted books. And among these some have placed also the Gospel according to the Hebrews, with which those of the Hebrews that have accepted Christ are especially delighted. And all these may be reckoned among the disputed books [των αντιλεγομένων].” The quote is cited from Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia at the following URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilegomena and the reader is directed to that site if they wish to read more on this topic.
As quoted by Hugh J. Schonfield, The History of Jewish Christianity from the First to the Twentieth Century, London Duckworth, 1936, pg. 21. This book was once out of print and extremely rare, but is now available for purchase. This writer has both copies of this work – the first printing and the new release – and highly recommends it for those interested in reading the history of Messianic Judaism.
Mark 16:9. Mark here also includes that Jesus had casted seven demons out of Miriam of Magdala.
John 20:11.
John 20:12. These are the two “men” who were at Joseph’s tomb earlier, whom the women bowed to in fear.
John 20:13.
Luke 24:8.
John 20:14.
John 20:15.
John 20:16.
John 20:17.
See Hebrews 5:6-10, 6:19, and 20, 7:11-28, 8:1. An order predating both the Levitical and Aaronic Orders of Priests prescribed in the Torah. An order without origin, and with no end.
John 20:18a.
Mark 16:10b.
John 20:18b.
Mark 16:11.
Matthew 28:9.
Matthew 28:10.
Matthew 28:11-15.
Jesus’ disciples.
Mark 16:12.
Mark 16:13.
John recognizes them as angels, whereas the other Gospel writers call them “men.” See Mark 16:5, Luke 24:4-7.
John 20:12.
Circa A.D. 90.
When this happened on the Hebrew month of Av 9th, in the year 70 A.D., the end of all things came to an abrupt end in the Jewish World; even Judaism as they had come to observe and love had ended; just as Peter warned his Jewish readers was eminent and soon to be upon them (1Peter 4:7). Peter here was not predicting the end of the world, but the end of Second Temple Jewish Life.
Hebrews 8:5, 9:23, 10:1, sees also Exodus 25:40, Colossians 2:17.
Shelley Wood Gauld, Return to the Fountainhead of the Faith, page 172, Pleasantword: a Division of Winepress Publishing, 2003, Revised Edition 2006. This is an excellent work, lovingly and reverently written about the faith.
Hebrews 9:11-12, 23-28, 10:10-14.
Revelation 7:17 says for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Luke 24:13.
Luke 24:14.
Luke 24:15.
Luke 24:16.
Luke 24:17. They were devastated; just three days before, their Master suffered horribly at the hands of the Romans, died a criminal’s death upon a Roman cross, and was dead and buried. Their hopes for a Messianic renaissance had all but been dashed, and their expectations of what they had expected the Messiah to do and accomplish; had been destroyed by the events which transpired. Hopelessness, shame and disappointment, coupled with disbelief and apprehension; mixed with sorrow; filled these disciples as they walked. For them, everything that had given their lives meaning had disappeared with Jesus and His death. Their faith was shattered, and they were inconsolable as they walked down the road to Emmaus.
Luke 24:18.
Luke 24:19.
Luke 24:20.
Luke 24:21.
Luke 24:22.
Luke 24:23.
Luke 24:24.
Luke 24:25.
Luke 24:26.
Luke 24:27.
Luke 24:28.
Luke 24:29.
In Hebrew the prayer is recited in the following manner: “Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, ha'motzi lehem min ha aretz.”
Luke 24:30.
Luke 24:31.
Mark 16:12, 13, Luke, 16:12-13, 24:13-35.
Luke 24:32.
Luke 24:33.
Luke 24:34.
1Cor. 15:5a.
Luke 24:35.
We must recall that there were false reports promulgated by the religious leadership to counter the increasing number of reports of these sightings from all over, as mentioned earlier. Not only that, but at that moment, the civil authorities were probably conducting a search for any followers of the allegedly deceased Nazarene Rabbi.
John 20:19-20.
John 20:19a.
Luke 24:36.
John 20:19b.
Mark 16:14a.
John 20:19c.
Luke 24:38.
Luke 24:39.
John 20:20a.
Luke 24:40b.
Mark 16:14b.
Luke 24:41.
Luke 24:42.
Luke 24:43.
John 20:20b.
John 20:21.
John 20:22.
John 20:23.
In Hebrew: Shavuot.
John 14:16-17. Some translations say, “working with you, and will be in you,” in referring to the role of the Spirit up until this time.
John 14:13-15.
John 21:25.
1 Corinthians 15:56.
John 20:28.
John 20:29.
John 20:30.
John 20:31.
According to John’s Gospel Narrative, this is the third encounter members of some of the twelve disciples and perhaps others, had with the risen Messiah, see John 21:14.
One of them was definitely John the Beloved of the Lord, for the narrative later mentions him as present.
John 21:1.
John 21:2.
John 21:3.
John 21:4.
John 21:5.
John 21:6.
John 21:7.
John 21:8.
John 21:9.
John 21:10.
John 21:11.
John 21:12.
John 21:13.
John 21:14.
John 21:15.
John 21:16.
John 21:17.
John 21:18.
When John wrote this Gospel in A.D. 90 Nero had crucified Peter and his wife in Rome years earlier (A.D. 64-66), Paul was in Rome awaiting execution at the dreaded Mamertine Prison in Rome (A.D. 66-67).
John 21:19.
John 21:20.
John 21:21.
John 21:22.
John 21:23.
The Johannine Gospel narrative tells us that this disciple; John the Priest’s testimony, was the source for the narrative. It also states that Jesus did many other marvelous things which were not recounted in the narrative; but if these were to be included, the world itself would not be able to contain the volume of literature on the subject (John 21:1-25).
John 21:24.
John 21:25.
Matthew 28:16-20. Mark 16:15-18.
1Corinthians 15:6. An interesting note on a seeming contradiction, which in actually is a simple geographical contradistinction. From The Jewish New Testament Commentary, we have this interesting note on Mark 14:28: “‘But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil.’” In The Voice of the Martyrs, Inc. newsletter, November 1993, page 1, Richard Wurmbrand writes,‘ “Galilee” is the name of the northern region of Israel and also of a slope of Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. After His resurrection, Jesus first met some of His disciples in the latter place.’ Luke 24 portrays the risen Yeshua on the Mount of Olives, while Yochanan 21 describes his appearance in the Galil (I. e., in the north). The present text, as well as those at Mk. 16:7 and Mt. 28:10, 16 can be interpreted either way.” David H. Stern, The Jewish New Testament, Clarksville, Maryland, Jewish New Testament Publications, Appendix on pg. 932.
Matthew 28:16.
Matthew 28:17.
Matthew 28:18.
Matthew 28:19.
Matthew 28:20.
Mark 16:15.
Mark 16:16.
Mark 16:17.
Mark 16:18.
Matthew 28:20b.
A few later versions of the manuscripts contain this paragraph following Mark 16:8, others at the end of the chapter.
Jesus and James’ other stepbrothers and stepsisters at one point had even thought of putting Him away (Mark 3:21), because at the time, his own family did not believe in Him (John 7:3-5). His stepbrother’s names were James, Joseph, Simon, and Judah (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3). We are not provided with His stepsister’s names. That these were relatives of His, and not as the Roman Catholic Church teaches; brothers of the faith, is quite evident, see for example John 2:12, and 7:3, where the text makes a distinction between His disciples and His immediate family. See also Matthew 12:46-50, John 2:12. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul lays claim to the right of marriage for the Lord’s servants, and uses as examples Jesus’ own family, as well as the other Apostles and Cephas; who presumably are all married (1Corinthians 9:5b). The Roman Catholic Church teaches the doctrine of Miriam’s (Mary’s) perpetual virginity after giving birth to Jesus. This flies in the face of the Gospel evidence to the contrary.
“Eusebius in his Church History written c. 325 used the term for those Christian scriptures that were "disputed" or literally those works which were "spoken against" in Early Christianity, before the closure of the New Testament canon. This group is distinct from the notha ("spurious" or "rejected writings") and the Homologoumena ("accepted writings" such as the Canonical gospels). These Antilegomena or "disputed writings" were widely read in the Early Church and included the Epistle of James, the Epistle of Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, the Apocalypse of John, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Epistle of Barnabas and the Didache.” From Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia at the following URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrypha.
As quoted by Jerome, On famous Men 2. Robert Miller, Editor, The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, first Harper paperback edition, 1994, pg. 434.
From Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia, offered here for non-Jewish readers: “Shiva (Hebrew: שבעה‎) (literally "seven") is the week-long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, and spouse. The ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva." Immediately after burial, first-degree relatives assume the halakhic status of "avel" (Hebrew: אבל ; "mourner"). This state lasts for seven days, during which family members traditionally gather in one home (preferably the home of the deceased) and receive visitors. At the funeral, mourners traditionally rend an outer garment, a ritual known as keriah. This garment is worn throughout shiva.”

The Gospel of Thomas Saying 12. Robert Miller, Editor, The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, first Harper paperback edition, 1994. We know, of course, that heaven and earth was not brought into being for the sake of Jacob/James, and we see in it the later veneration of the Saints so prevalent among non-Jewish societies which comprised the Church of that period.
Other than Paul’s mention that the Messiah appeared to James in 1Corinthians 15:7, there is no other place within the canon of Scripture, where any other detail of this meeting is given. We cite these because they relate to what a tradition the Gospels do not include, but which was well known by the first Christians, which Paul cites in his own letter to the Corinthians.
1Cor. 15:6, 7.
Acts 1:3.
Luke 24:44.
Luke 24:45.
Luke 24:46.
Luke 24:47.
Luke 24:48.
Luke 24:49.
Acts 1:4.
Acts. 1:5.
Acts 1:6.
Acts 1:7.
Acts 1:8.
Acts 1:9-11.
Luke 24:52-53. Acts 1:12.
Luke 24:50.
Luke 24:51.
Mark 16:19a.
Acts 1:9.
Mark 16:19b.
Mark 16:19c.
Luke 24:52.
Acts 1:12.
Luke 24:53.
Mark 16:20.
This verse does not appear in many earlier mss.
Acts 1:3.
Between one hundred twenty and five hundred followers. As cited earlier, Rabbi Saul Paulus has stated that the five hundred saw and heard the risen Messiah at one time, as I have mentioned previously.
F. F. Bruce, New Testament History, New York, N. Y., Doubleday, pg. 205, 206.
Hugh J. Schonfield, The Jesus Party, New York, N. Y., Macmillan Publishing Company, pg. 94.
Hugh J. Schonfield, The History of Jewish Christianity from the First to the Twentieth Century, London, Duckworth, 1936, pp. 19-20. It wasn’t just a handful of people who were transformed by these events, but an entire community from the region who were still in the area for the Passover. When something as life changing and as revolutionary as this takes place, it cannot be hidden for long.
See Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Matthew 18:16, John 8:17, 2Corinthians 13:1, Hebrews 10:28; scriptural references which allude to the testimony of two or three witnesses in various situations, and the weight it carries.
Dr. Clifford Wilson, The Passover Plot Exposed, pg. 13. Master Books, San Diego, California 1977. This book, though small and short, is extremely well written. Dr. Wilson examines and addresses the outlandish and fanciful theories Hugh Schonfield posits in his Passover Plot. I highly recommend Dr. Wilson’s little book. It is extremely informative and easy to read and understand. Unlike Schonfield, Dr. Wilson sticks to the facts and does not conjecture, but with exact documentation of sources, he presents a concise rebuttal in this little book.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19.
David Strauss, The Life of Jesus for the People, vol. 1, 2nd edition (London: Williams and Norgate, 1879), p. 412.
Acts 1:3.
There are three explicit examples in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) of people being resurrected from the dead:
1.) The prophet Elijah prays and God raises a young boy from death (1 Kings 17:17-24)
2.) Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32-37); this was the very same child whose birth he previously foretold (2 Kings 4:8-16)
3.) A dead man's body that was thrown into the dead Elisha's tomb is resurrected when the body touches Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:21)
Jesus’ resurrection stands apart from all of these not only because of its redemptive quality, but because Jesus did not rise from the dead to die again, but lives forever. Jesus died for our sins and was raised for our justification.
Those who consider the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-23, 35-43, Luke 8:49-56), the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-46), and the raising of the window’s son (Luke 7:11-17) as examples of resurrections; there is one differing component to them – Jesus raised these people from the dead, and they all presumably died of natural causes later in life; whereas in Jesus’ resurrection, He was rose from the dead to eternal life – He lives to this day – He did not die afterwards, nor will He ever. He is the Living One.
Acts 10:39-41.
Hebrews 12:1a. Those who read the passage might ask as to what these people are witnesses to. It should be noted that the passage is referring to those who witnessed the promise of the resurrected Messiah before the events took place, those who were eye-witnesses themselves of the resurrected Messiah when the events took place, and those who for the next two millennia would be and are witnesses of the resurrection power of Messiah through their faith in Him and His resurrection power; their transformed lives bearing witness of this resurrection power – a power that extends through time and history to this very day; a power which is the power of creation itself - not only able to bring into being that which does not exist, but also to transform that which does into something else; something new and alive and fresh. Because of this, Rabbi Saul-Paulus, otherwise known as the Envoy Paul (Apostle Paul), could write: Therefore if any man is in Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come (2Corinthians 5:17). The redeemed throughout history form this great cloud of witnesses to God’s resurrection power in Jesus the Messiah, and how only in Him is this power made evident and effectual in Jew and Gentile. 1Corinthians 4:20 states this truth plainly - For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power. It is this power which triumphed over the most impossible of life’s imponderables; death.
Acts 1:8b.
Luke 1:1-4.
His disciples.
Acts 1:3.
What the first followers of Jesus were called by outsiders.
Acts 4:33.
John 1:14.
John 19:35.
John 21:24.
1John 1:1-4.
2Peter 1:16-18. In Judaism it is called the Bath Kol. God’s voice. Here Simon alludes to Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, to which he and two others were, witnesses. The others were James, not the Jesus’ half-brother, and John the beloved (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36). This alludes to Psalm 2:7, which declares: “I WILL SURELY TELL OF THE DECREE OF THE LORD: HE SAID TO ME, ‘THOU ART MY BEGOTTEN SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE.” On two other occasions, the Bath Kol had been heard: when Jesus submitted to water-emersion (baptism), see Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11. The other occasion was after He had entered Jerusalem, when some God-fearing Greek converts to Judaism came to visit Him (John 12:27-30). Some among the crowd following Him thought that it had thundered, while others believed an angel had spoken to Him.
Acts 2:32.
Acts 3:14, 15.
1Peter 5:1b.
Acts 5:32a.
Acts 13:30-31.
The Secret Book of James 2:1. Robert Miller, Editor, The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, first Harper paperback edition, 1994.
Mark 16:8, Luke 24:9 tells us that the women told the eleven envoys and the rest of Jesus’ followers, but apparently they did not tell anyone outside the group. It will be noted that Jesus’ followers began to incur direct opposition when they began to preach Jesus as the risen Messiah and the movement was beginning to grow and spread outside of the environs of Jerusalem.
As quoted by F.F. Bruce, New Testament History, pg. 301. Doubleday and Company, Garden City, New York, 1971.
.
F.F. Bruce, New Testament History, pg. 302-303. Doubleday and Company, Garden City, New York, 1971.
See F.F. Bruce, New Testament History, page 300, middle of top paragraph. Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book II.7. tells us that Pilate had fallen into such “misfortune under Gaius” that he took his own life. By the time Claudius had ascended to the throne, rumors of this would have been widely known, and if what we surmise above may be the root cause for his taking his life as he did, Claudius would have launched an investigation into this matter and everything pertaining to it, which would have resulted in the actions he took which we cite above – all connected to the spread of the Good News of Messiah’s resurrection.
John 20:30-31.
John 21:25.
John 11:25-26. As witnessed by those who were there when He raised Lazarus from the dead, also later when He defeated death by resurrection Himself, He could make this claim. Not only had He raised others from the grave, but He raised Himself from it as well. To Jesus’ followers throughout time, death and damnation would have no power over them just as it could not overpower Him, therefore the dead who had believed would be very much alive and those who were alive would never drink the bitter cup of eternal separation from the presence of God. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead would be proof of this.
Paul writes to Timothy, one of his disciples, the following admonition as to the preservation of the Gospel accounts and the testimonies: And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 2Timothy 2:2. In other words, it was up to those like Timothy to meticulously guard the Gospel traditions, and safeguard and preserve for posterity the accounts of the eye-witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection and the teachings pertaining to them by Paul and the other envoys.
John 11:27.
In footnote number 8, on page 126 to his work, The Jew of Tarsus, An Unorthodox Portrait of Paul, (MacDonald & Company, LTD., London, 1946) Hugh Schonfield mistakenly claims that Luke’s Gospel and Paul in 1Corinthians 15:5, ignore Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene, when in fact Luke mentions that among the women was Mary Magdalene. Actually, he Luke mentions who these ladies were (Luke 24:10), whereas Paul outlines Jesus’ order of appearances presumably to the male members of the Nazarene community. He is not discounting or ignoring the appearances to Mary Magdalene – he is recounting some, but not all of Jesus’ past resurrection appearances (1Corinthians 15:5-8). Paul is recounting Jesus’ past resurrection appearances to those Nazarenes who were Apostles, for he includes himself in that group as one who is a late comer – as one who is untimely born. The group of five hundred mentioned does not distinguish between genders; it is a general account of the life altering event in the historic timeline of post resurrection appearances.
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