Search For Jesus

Carol Forsloff asked:


Hijacking Jesus



By Carol Forsloff

 

Want a job, get out of jail free, become part of the “in” group, have a platform for politics, be able to say one thing and do another, and cover up corruption? All you need to do is use the name of Jesus and you can get away with almost anything. You can acquire power, become important and admired and manipulate people, events and information. You can plant Jesus’ name on a billboard someplace or on a tee shirt like so much media advertising, so that no one will know you have him or not. You can excuse whatever you do, have done, or will do by just using his name enough. Hijacking Jesus in all of these ways, however, sullies his name and defames his teachings of love and simplicity. It has created deep divisions among individuals, religious groups, political parties, social organizations and nations. Those divisions are no more obvious than they are now. It comes down to this: is Jesus a loving influence or an influence for selfish, personal power?

 

An example of how Jesus has become identified with power has been demonstrated in the past 20 years by those who sought to infuse a specific set of notions into the social and political system of the United States. Many people were innocently led to political, often inconsistent and hypocritical beliefs related to gun control, abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, gambling, divorce, pornography, contraceptives, prayer in the schools, war and social welfare programs, without investigating whether or not there was consistency among these beliefs and whether they were coherent with Jesus’ message and the behavior of those espousing it. This has damaged relationships on every level and the reputation of Jesus as well. One group or another may also refer to itself as being more “Christian” than another, ignoring the core issues that truly bind believers.

 

According to the Pew Research Institute and the Graduate School of the City of New York most people in the United States, or between 75 and 86%, say they believe in Jesus and identify themselves as Christian. Yet the conversations that take place among us often don’t include Jesus’ principles of love and compassion but instead contain personal judgments at decibels far beyond the peacemakers’ pitch Jesus spoke about. In fact it has become a game among people to out-Jesus each other in the corridors of powers, in neighborhoods and communities, with each side trying to maneuver the other from full possession of Jesus as one would with football.

The hijack has not only happened with Jesus but with other important symbols and honored ideals including the flag, patriotism, family values, and love of country. It has sometimes been planned and carried out with mischief by leaders of various stripes who use slogans and slander rather than reason and respect. At times it has involved contrived, fragmented or fallacious excerpts from legitimate sources to include honored religious texts and government references in such a way that good folks no longer know who or what to believe.

Hijackers talk about love of God and country, as if they are of equal importance. Are folks to love country as much as they love God? Doesn’t loving all men as brothers mean loving everyone without exception since that is supposed to be how God loves? When thousands die in other parts of the world, shouldn’t we mourn their loss as we would our own family, friends and neighbors? Should we excuse aggressive war in a fashion that isn’t faithful to loving our brother as ourselves and condemn those who protest it as unpatriotic?

Many folks who celebrate life with their advocacy in one area deny it in another. For example, those who favor life in relationship to abortion sometimes resist helping poor and disadvantaged mothers care for unwanted babies, condemn the “sins” and refuse to consider social programs designed to provide important care for those who can’t care for themselves. Those who protest war and capital punishment also reaffirm life. Yet there are those who advocate one issue that affirms life but not others. Should we continue to segment our beliefs so inconsistently that we inhibit conversation and understanding?

Jesus spoke of “the least of these” as those we should care about most. Yet why are the poor, the disadvantaged, the dislocated and the disabled so lacking and treated so badly by those who are rich or aspire to be? Indeed hijackers fear, but don’t favor, the poor. They worry about giving too much when indeed they give too little as the gap between rich and poor in this country clearly shows.

There are many people who believe that Jesus had a great name and reputation and want all of this to stop. He belongs to everyone, not just the Pharisee-like few he wouldn’t want to be around much anyway. He said so himself. So folks should quit dividing him up, taking him over and making him something he isn’t and wasn’t. Let’s set him free and put our priorities back to the principle He considered most important:  Love one another first.

 



Erica

GX Magazine asked:


Have you ever received or forwarded one of those emails where, when you scroll down to the bottom, you find these words, “If you love Jesus please forward to 10 people. He did something for you so the least you could do is do something for Him,”? If you have, like me, you’ve probably wondered, “So, if I don’t forward this email, does it mean I don’t love Him or that I don’t want to do anything for Him?”

John, also known as the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23; 21:20), wrote in John 3:18 that we should “…not love in word or tongue, but in deed and truth.” Would Jesus see our act of sending these religious forwards as a display of our love in deed and truth or does He expect something else?

In the book of John, chapter 14, verse 15 (Amplified Bible), it reads, “If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever.” Reading this, a couple things jump out at me: The first thing I see is Jesus equates true love with obedience; not just for obedience’s sake but to the obedience of God’s commands. If we follow John’s example of love being displayed in deed and truth, then the only way I believe you can show true love to Jesus is by being obedient to the Word of God. The second thing I see is that we, as Christians, have access to a Comforter and Helper who will remain with us forever and assist us in showing that love by being obedient. The word of God says “…the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and recall to us everything that Jesus has said and will guide us into all truth.” (John 14:26; 16:13). This leads me to think we cannot fully operate in the kind of love Jesus requires unless we are obedient and unless the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Now, let’s put some closure to this issue by concluding that as a result of our obeying God’s word and following the teachings of Jesus, the Father will love us, and they (the Father and the Son) will also come and not only make a home with, but also have a constant and intimate fellowship with us. Jesus goes on to say the words we hear or are being made aware of when we are in church, in our own study, or at any time we come in contact with God’s word, does not come from Jesus, it comes from the Father who sent Jesus.

Think about it, how much do the words “I love you” mean to you in any relationship when there aren’t any corresponding actions reinforcing what the person just said? Ultimately, I believe the act of sending or forwarding these types of “If You Love Jesus” emails are perfectly fine because they encourage, bring joy and almost always raise our awareness to how much we really need Jesus Christ in our lives. However, the best way to let the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son, know we love them with absolute certainty is to let the actions and the deeds in our lives serve as a reflection of God’s Word.



Linda

Prof.dr. Ibrahim Khalil asked:


This is a new series (1-11) of Verse No. in the Bible versus the Quran.

In verse No. 11 in the Old Testament, God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.

Verse No. 11 in the New Testament says that, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon..

Verse No. 11 in the Noble Quran says: who believe in that which has been sent down to you (prophet Muhammad) and what has been sent down before you (to prophets Jesus and Moses) and firmly believe in the everlasting life.   

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The verse No. 11 in the Old Testament is Genesis 1:11

The verse continues talking about the creation of the heavens and the earth, it says: Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.

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The verse No. 11 in the New Testament is Matthew 1:11

The verse continues talking about the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, and Matthew lists Jesus’ ancestors, the verse says: and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

Here again, we have the intricacy in writing the names of the persons in the different four versions of the Bible studied.

Fundamentally, the names of the people have no translation, they have to be written as they are pronounced.

How come that a person’s name in one version of the Bible is Jeconiah and in another version of the Bible he is Jechoniah  and in a third version of the Bible, he is Jechonias?

Also, it is noteworthy the Babylon is written as it is pronounced in the four versions studied.

On the other hand, the Bible mentioned many names of Jesus’ ancestors without saying “and his brothers” e.g. Abraham Isaac, Jacob, Perez, Hezron, Ram etc. But when it came to  Judah, the Bible says “Judah and his brothers”. Is Judah a unique among Jesus’ ancestors?  The same is true with Jechoniah (or Jeconiah  or Jechonias), is he distinctive?

Furthermore, it should be emphasized that some women are mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy as wives of Jesus’ ancestors. They are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah.

Nevertheless, Tamar and the wife of Uriah have committed adultery, Tamar was willing to do it and the wife of Uriah was abused by King David as the Bible claim!

However, None of the Muslims believes in that story about King David!.

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Verse No. 11 in the Noble Quran is Chapter 2:1, Surah Surah AL-BAQARA (THE COW), 2:4

In the previous article (10), verse 2:3, determines who are the believers, it says:

Those who believe in the unseen, that which is hidden from them such as the Angels, Paradise, hell, the Bridge over hell, the Scale, the Resurrection, the Reckoning, the Eternal Fire etc. It is also said that this means: that they believe in the unseen which is revealed in the Quran and also in that which is not revealed therein.

It is also said that the unseen is Allah Himself.

And establish worship, they perform to completion the five prescribed prayers, including the ablution that precedes them, the bowing and prostrations which are parts of them and also what is obligated in these prayers in terms of appointed timing.

And spend of that Allah has bestowed upon them, and of that which Allah has given them of wealth they give to charity. It is also said that this means: they give the poor-due from their wealth.

Verse 2:4, continues the determination of who are the believers, it says:

And those who believe in:

1)      that which is revealed unto thee (Muhammad) of the Quran and

2)      that which was revealed before you of scriptures i.e.  in the Torah, the Gospel and other scriptures given to all the prophets,  and

3)      the Hereafter, they believe in resurrection after death and are certain of the bliss of Paradise; they know it is real.

It follows that Muslims believe in the Quran, Torah and Gospel in addition to the scriptures given to all the prophets e.g. Abraham, David etc.

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Verse No. 11 in the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Noble Quran in Four different Translation

Verse No. 11 in the Old Testament

Genesis 1:11

New International Version:

11] Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.

New American Standard Version:

11] Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. English Standard Version:

11] And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.

King James Version:

11] And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.————————

Verse No. 11 in the New Testament

Matthew 1:11

New International Version:

and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

New American Standard Version:

Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

English Standard Version:

and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

King James Version:

And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

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Verse No. 11 in the Noble Quran

Chapter 2: 4

Surah AL-BAQARA (THE COW)

QARIB: who believe in that which has been sent down to you (prophet Muhammad) and what has been sent down before you (to prophets Jesus and Moses) and firmly believe in the everlasting life.

SHAKIR: and who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter

PICKTHAL: and who believe in that which is revealed unto thee (Muhammad) and that which was revealed before thee, and are certain of the hereafter.

YUSUFALI: and who believe in the revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the hereafter.

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It is very premature to ask this question:

Is the Quran quoted from the Bible?

Wait and you will see.



Tyrone

Ernie Fitzpatrick asked:


For way too much of my life, I gave tacit assent to the fact that Jesus was a human being while really seeing him as more divine. After all with the virgin story and what the church was teaching me, how could I think anything else? Jesus was a god, the God, and therefore different than me. Even if he was all divine and all human, have you considered the implications of His HUMANITY?

Since Jesus was HUMAN, He had to DIE! Can you grasp that?

Ponder that one outside of any religious glasses if possible. God didn’t kill Jesus, humanity did, and more specifically the religious crowd who simply could not handle GRACE! Hey, we still can’t handle GRACE. It’s just too big, too immense, too unbelievable to embrace. Grace is scandalous.

How could a loving Father (even if God) kill His own Son?

How could that which God asks of us (unlimited forgiveness) not ask of Himself? How could God tell us not to kill a son (Abraham), or anyone, and then He do it Himself. Come on, think RATIONALLY here, not religiously. You don’t have to depart from sane thinking to accept that God created the world and loves ALL the world. Why would He create that which He was going to destroy?

In Jesus, human nature came to it’s ultimate potential which means that you and I now have a model, we have a pattern, and have someone to truly FOLLOW! Yes, Jesus was divine, a divine human and that’s your calling and mine as well. Will we be more responsive than we have?

So, let’s quit putting off until tomorrow that which we should be doing today- living as divine humans!



Eugene

Ernie Fitzpatrick asked:


Pope Leo put it this way, “It is as dangerous an evil to deny the truth of the human nature in Jesus as to refuse to believe that His glory is equal to that of the Father.” And then John Knox would add, “Unless it is agreed that Jesus as truly man, it does not greatly matter what else can be said of Him.” In other words, it is better to over emphasize His humanity than it is His deity, which is what the church has done.

like God at least says something, and something important. To say that Jesus was not man, but like man is to condemn his entire life as a charade.”

Are you getting the drift here?

It’s nonsense to say that Jesus was fully human unless we interpret His life as though He were (are you ready?) fully human!. I like Marcion in many ways, but his docetism was way off the charts for me. In Christianity, Docetism (from the Greek- to seem) is the belief that Jesus’ physical body was an illusion- the opposite of the point I’m stressing. (http://www.lrchouston.com)

Justin Martyr put it this way, “Jesus had the body, soul, and spirit of a man. All the parts are found, and the specimen is judged to be a fair representative of the species in question. ”

Bottom line, while Jesus rose from Son of man to Son of God, he came as no cosmic visitor, but rather as one of us! And therein we have HOPE!



Shannon