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First it must be said that if Jesus had come to keep and fulfil
the law (Matt 5v17) (in fact the Khaboris manuscript
has " and to add to it" possibly
in the sense of a rabbi adding the exposition of the depth of meaning)
then what he said must be in line with the Old Testament
A system of different texts will be used so that the same verse
can be easily compared with the other versions, this
is not to say that any one is thought to be the closest to the
original: we do not know exactly what the original said
The verses from Young's literal translation have been chosen as
a base for the New Testament (and coded Y) : you
may like to have open the version you use for comparison
The Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) being the basis for
the Jewish faith and the plumb line to test the others will be
in bold type (and coded HS.) and will be taken from the Jerusalem
Bible published by Jews in Jerusalem.(Which has both Hebrew and
English and the books arranged in the Hebrew order
The Aramaic of the Assyrian Church of
the East will be in bold italic (and coded AS)
The Aramaic from the Khaboris manuscript
will be in italic (and coded AK)
The Hebrew gospel of Matthew will be in Ariel (and coded HG) This
is taken from the translation of the Hebrew by George Howard of
a Jewish polemic against Christianity contained in the work "Even Bohan" (touch stone) by Shem Tov ben Shaprut,
a medieval Spanish Jew; who was a theologian and apologist. There
is a link on this site giving all the differences in this version
In the gospel of Matthew
At the temptation in the wilderness Jesus' reply to the adversary
is from Deuteronomy chapter 8v3,ch.6v16 and ch .6v13 which read
(HS).".man does not live by bread only, but by every word
that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live."
"Do not tempt the Lord your God..."
"Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God,
and serve Him, and shalt swear by His
name."
(AS)"It is not by bread alone that a man lives, except by
every word that issues out of the mouth of God"
"You shall not tempt the Lord your God."
"Your Lord God you shall worship, and for Him alone you shall
work."
(AK).."not by bread alone does a
man have perfect life, but by every word that issues forth from
the mouth of God."
.."put not the Lord your God to
a test."
.."you shall worship the Lord your
God and Him alone shall you serve"
(HG).."not by bread alone that a
man lives, but by every word that issues out of the mouth of God"
"You shall not tempt the Lord your God."
"I will pray to the Lord and Him only will you serve."
(Y) " Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every
word coming forth out of the mouth of God"
"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God."
"The Lord thy God thou shalt bow
to, and Him only shalt thou serve."
* Here is the only remarkable difference in all these. Even this
is understandable if in reality Jesus was in a battle with his
inner self as the adversary; as comes across in some of these versions.
(see The Adversary
This passage is not in Mark, or John
In Luke the sayings are virtually the same, but are in a different
order. The one striking difference is in the Aramaic (AS) v4 "It
is written it is not alone that a human being lives, but by whatever
God decides."
The passage commonly known as "the beatitudes"
The parallels with this are in psalm 37 (HS) v 11 "The meek
shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance
of peace" v 22 " Such as are blessed of Him shall inherit
the earth.." and Job 29 v25 .."mourners shall
be comforted" (also Isaiah 61) and psalm 24."who goes
up to stand in the holy place but he who has a pure heart, and
psalm 73 v1 "truly, God is good to Israel;
to such as are clean of heart."" Isaiah 30v18..end "happy
are they that wait for Him" : other than that there is nothing
directly in line. "The kingdom of heaven" is not mentioned
in the Old Testament, neither "peacemakers"
In Matthew 5
(AS) 5v2-12 "Blessed are the humble, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven, Blessed are the mourners for
they shall be consoled. Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit
the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness
for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they
shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall
see God. Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called
sons of God. Blessed are they who are rejected for their righteousness
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they
criticise you and reject you and tell you every wicked saying because
of me, in falsehood. Be glad and rejoice for great is your reward
in heaven. For this is how they rejected the prophets before you."
(AK) v3-12 "A heavenly attitude* is theirs whose home is
in rukha(the spirit): theirs is a heavenly state .A heavenly attitude
is theirs; those mourning their wrongs: they shall be comforted.
A heavenly attitude is theirs; those with humility: they will gain
the earth. A heavenly attitude is theirs, those who hunger and
thirst for justness: they shall attain it. A heavenly attitude
is theirs; those whose love is without conditions; they will therefore
receive unconditional love. A heavenly attitude is theirs; those
without fault in their minds; they will see God. A heavenly attitude
is theirs; those serving the peace of God; they shall be called
the children of God. A heavenly attitude is theirs; those being
scorned for their justness; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. A
heavenly attitude is yours when they harass you and scorn you and
deceitfully speak against you every evil word because of being
with me. Rejoice, be happy be joyful at the increase of your reward
in heaven, for in such manner were harassed the prophets before
you."
(HG) v 3-12 " Blessed are the humble
of spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are those who wait for they shall be comforted. Blessed
are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the
innocent of heart for they shall see God. Blessed are those who
pursue peace for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they persecute and revile
you and say against you all kinds of evil, for my sake, but speak
falsely. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is very great in heaven,
for thus they persecuted the prophets
(Y)v3-12 " Happy are the poor in
spirit - for theirs is the reign of the heavens. Happy the mourning
for they shall be comforted. Happy the meek for they shall inherit
the land. Happy those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, because they
shall be filled. Happy the kind, because
they shall find kindness. Happy the clean
in heart, because they shall see God. Happy
the peace makers because they shall be called Sons of God. Happy
those persecuted for righteousness sake - because theirs is the
reign of the heavens. Happy are you whenever they reproach you,
and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely,
for my sake-, rejoice ye and be glad, for great is your reward
in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were
before you."
*The Khaboris manuscript has this noticeable
difference of a heavenly attitude instead of blessed or happy.
If the idea of blessing is to bend the knee toward (see "Blessing
and Cursing") is right, this actually makes more sense. Otherwise
it is hard to see how you can be happy or blessed if you are mourning,
even if it is bewailing the spiritual state of yourself, or the
times! The Old Testament speaks of blessings now, in this world,
not a promise for the next, after misery here. Most of these statements
in Matthew 5 refer to the future - did Jesus expect the Messianic
age very soon to bring these in? What Christianity has said is
that they are rewards in the next world
Luke's version of the beatitudes is different in the Aramaic version
6v20 -23 (AS) "Blessed are you poor that yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are those that hunger now who will be satisfied. Blessed
are those who cry now who will laugh. Blessed are you who are hated
by humanity and discriminated against and scandalised and your
name is projected as evil on behalf of the Son of man; rejoice
in that day and celebrate, for your recompense is great in heaven.
For this is what their forefathers did to the prophets."
(Y)"Happy the poor because yours is the reign of God. Happy
those hungering now- you shall be filled. Happy
those weeping now- because you shall laugh. Happy are you
when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and
shall reproach you, and shall caste forth your name as evil; for
the Son of man's sake, rejoice in that day, and leap, for, lo,
your reward is great in heaven, for according to these things were
their fathers doing to the prophets."
The next passage is where Jesus takes some of the ten commandments
and goes further with them into the realm of more love towards
your neighbour : it is anger that causes murder; so do not be angry
for no cause, it is lust that causes adultery: so do not lust,
love your enemies as well as your friends etc. The Khaboris manuscript
has "unconditional love" sums up the law
The next words to examine are those of "the lord's prayer" in
Matthew 6
(AS) "Our Heavenly Father hallowed is your Name. Your kingdom
is come, your will is done, as in heaven, so also on earth. Give
us the bread of our daily need. And leave us serene, just as we
also allowed others serenity. And do not pass us through the trial,
except separate us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom,
the power and the glory to the end of the universe, of all the
universes. Amen
(AK) "Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be thy Name;
Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.
Provide us daily our needed bread. Forgive us our wrongs as we
forgive wrongs. And let us yield not to temptation, but deliver
us from evil; for thine is the true kingdom
and the power and the glory, for ever and ever
(HG) " Our Father, may your Name
be sanctified; may your kingdom be blessed; may your will be done
in heaven and on earth. Give our bread continually. Forgive our
sins as we forgive those who sin against us, and do not let us
be led into temptation but keep us from all evil. Ame
(Y) "our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy reign come: thy will be done as it is in heaven also on the
earth. Our appointed bread give us today.
And forgive us our debts as also we forgive our debtors. And mayest thou
not lead us into temptation, but deliver
us from the evil, because thine is the
reign, and the power, and the glory, to the ages. Amen
The noticeable differences are to do with the kingdom: is it come
or not?, and whether we need forgiving
sins or debts. These are important because the establishment of
the kingdom as before with the law of the Torah, which had rules
ensuring the care of the poor and destitute, and the cancelling
of debt every fifty years would mean their debts would be forgiven
i.e. wiped out
Whether Jesus was talking of the reign of God and His Torah, or
a king like David practising the Torah,their poverty
would be reduced. In other words Jesus is teaching them to pray
a practical prayer for the return of social justice, and the dawn
of a Messianic age. Again this has been spiritualised away into
a spiritual kingdom by Christians. The kingdom of God or of heaven
is not mentioned in the Old Testament
In Samuel it is made clear God prefers them to have a theocracy
with the priests administering the welfare and justice of the people.
Moses had warned of what an earthly king would do. If Jesus was
a man of God wishing to restore true Torah this would be what he
would say. So the other sayings (supposedly) about the kingdom
of heaven must be tested in this light. When they are it becomes
clear that some editing and additions have taken place for the
sake of doctrine
This brings us to other teachings of Jesus' which are not in line
with the Old Testament as we have it and is the canon of scripture
for the Jews today
There is nothing to use in the OT as a plumb line for doctrine
on the afterlife, judgement after death, hell fire, demons and satan as an evil being. These are
ideas that came in during the inter- testament
period from the period of exile in Babylon
They begin to appear in the Dead Sea scrolls
and are in the Book of Jubilees (available on the net). The latter
was written about 150BC by a Pharisee and is another version of
Genesis and the first part of Exodus. In it are mentions of demons
who are led by Mastema, which is not a Hebrew word (and who is presumably satan)
The word used in the Hebrew gospel to translate "devils" or "demons" is "shadim" which
really means "idol, oppressor, destroyer, power, or strength." The
latter comes in "el shaddai" -
God of strength. In the (HG) Jesus demands the "evil host" to
come out of the demoniac and the Hebrew here is "raah" i.e.
bad, as used in the tree of knowledge of good and bad
The term " unclean spirit" occurs
only rarely in the OT and is sent by God to achieve His purposes
e.g. Judges 9v32 " ruach raah" a bad spirit between people. Also in Zechariah
13v2, where an unclean spirit is sent through the land
: a "ruach tomah",
which is a ritually unclean, or immoral spirit
The idea of possession by spirits is not there. Surely if such
a thing happened Moses would have received instruction in the Torah
as to how to cleanse such a person
So the big question is : if Jesus was
restoring the pure original Torah why does he so obviously believe
in demon possession and act accordingly? It seems he was a man
of his times and believed and practised much of the beliefs of
the day INCLUDING the additions picked up in Babylon
These beliefs were incorporated into Christianity as they fitted
in with a saviour who saved from the work of the evil one and his
demons and if you did not believe in such a saviour you were going
to hell
The same applies to hell and judgement after death. Considering
how obsessed the Egyptians were with death and the afterlife and
judgement, it is odd that no instruction is given to the Israelites
on these subjects on the Exodus, except that a dead body is unclean
and makes any touching it unclean.
Looking at the Aramaic versions does not help to solve this either
- the Aramaic Syriac is the same as our
versions in this matter, except in Matthew 22 v 13 where the offender
is sent into a dark desert
As for the Khaboris version : unfortunately the relevant verses are almost all
missing (just mention of demons, in 9 v 3-5, and 12v27, and in
8v12 the sons of the kingdom will be left in outer darkness.
The even bigger question now is: if Jesus was just a Pharisee
who disagreed with other Pharisees (what's new?) and the religious
authorities (the Sadducees), and was killed for political reasons
WHY do we have the religion we have today and not just another
sect of Judaism? IT MUST HAVE BEEN DUE TO PAUL, who wrote before
the gospels, and the persons who put together and edited the gospels
and those who said what should be in our Bibles. Many original
writings were destroyed
Jesus' method of teaching by parables is typically Pharisaic
His teaching on divorce is compared in the different versions
below
(HS) Genesis 1v27 and 2v24 and Deuteronomy 24 v1 ."male and
female he created them." "That is why a man leaves his
father and mother, and cleaves to his wife, and they become one
flesh." "When a man has taken a wife and married her,
and it comes to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes because
he has found some unseemliness in her; then let him write her a
bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his
house. And when she has departed out of his house she may go and
be another man's wife."
(AS) Matt. 19 v4 -12 "Did you not read
that he made them at the beginning of creation male and female,
did he not? And its said, because of this a man leaves
his father and mother, and clings to his wife, and they become
one flesh, From then on they are one not two, except one body.
What God has thus united, a human being does not separate. They
told him - why then did Moses order that a divorce letter be
given and divorcing her.? He told them- Moses, in response to
the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your women,
however, it was not so at the beginning of creation. However,
I am telling you, whoever leaves his wife without a husband,
and takes another, commits adultery, and whoever takes on a divorced
woman, commits adultery." His disciples said to him - if
there is such commitment between husband and wife, we should
not get married. He told them - this manifestation does not go
down well for everyone, except for the one that it applies. For
there are celibates born from their mother's wombs like this,
and there are celibates who became celibates from humanity, and
there are celibates who became so of their own free will for
the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can do without it,
let them be without it."
(AK) ""Have you not read that he who created them from
the very beginning created them male and female. Because
of this man will leave his father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife. The two shall be one flesh.. No
longer are they two, but one life. Therefore, that which God has
created by combination, man shall not set aside
They said to him- why then did Moses decree that there be given
a letter of divorce and separation? He said to them - Moses, in
keeping with the rigidity of your minds, authorised you to divorce
your wives, but from the very beginning this was not so.. I
say to you; whoever leaves his wife without a husband, and takes
another, commits adultery, and he who takes the woman so left commits
adultery. His disciples said to him- if it be thus between a man
and his wife, it is not wise to accept a wife in marriage. Then
he said to them - not every man is capable within himself of this
commanded action except him to whom it is given. For there are
the faithful who from the womb of their mother were born so, and
there are the faithful who from men were given fidelity, and there
are the faithful who made themselves faithful for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven. Let him who can endure, endure it."
(HG) "Have you not read that he who made them of old, male
and female he created them. Therefore a man shall leave his father
and mother and cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh.
If so, they are not two but one flesh, and whatever the creator
has joined together man is unable to separate. They said to him-
If so, why did Moses command to give her a bill of divorce and
send her away from his house? He said to them- Moses, because of
the obstinacy of your heart, said for you to leave your wives.
But from eternity it was not so
I say to you, everyone who leaves his wife and takes another,
if not for adultery, commits adultery, and he who takes her who
has been divorced commits adultery
Then the disciples said to him- if the matter of a man and his
wife is so it is better not to take her. He said to them - the
matter is not for everyone, but for those to whom it has been given.
Because there are eunuchs from their birth, these are those who
have not sinned, there are eunuchs made by men, and there are self-made
eunuchs who have subdued their desire for the sake of the kingdom
of heaven; these are those who enter into great prominence. Who
ever is able to understand; let him understand."
(Y) "Did you not read that he who made them from the beginning
a male and a female made them and said - for this cause shall a
man leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they shall
be, the two,one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh;
what, therefore, that God did join together, let no man put asunder
They said to him - why then did Moses command to give a roll of
divorce, and to put her away? He said to them- Moses for your stiffness
of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning
it hath not been so. And I say to you that whoever may put away
his wife, if not for whoredom, and may marry another, doth commit
adultery; and he who did marry her that has been put away, doth
commit adultery. His disciples said to him- if the case of a man
with a woman is so it is better not to marry. He said to them -
all do not receive this word, but those to whom it hath been given.;
for there are eunuchs who from the mother's womb were born so,
and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are
eunuchs who kept themselves eunuchs because of the reign of the
heavens; who is able to receive it let him receive it."
There are substantial differences between these versions, but
several points are important that they show overall
Jesus is adding to the Torah: 1. It is
good to be celibate if you can. Where does it say that in the Hebrew scriptures? It sounds more like the idea of the Essenes that came in during the inter-
testament period. The original plan was for a man to have a wife
2. He is adding that the only reason for divorce is adultery;
but it does not say that in Deut. 24. As death was the punishment
for those caught in the act, then the guilty part was removed and
the other free to remarry anyway. So what was Moses saying could
be grounds for divorce? It could not be only adultery
3. He says she cannot be another mans wife, which contradicts
Deut.24 " and when she has departed
she may go and be another man's wife."
Also from these other versions comes " those who God has
joined man CANNOT separate."
As the teaching on divorce is not in Luke and there is only an
Aramaic church of the east text of Mark available; it will be compared
with Young's and the Matthew versions
(AS) Mark 10 v2 " The Pharisees drew near, testing him, asking:
If it lawful for a man to leave his wife? He told them - what did
Moses command you? They said Moses gave us permission to write
a divorce letter and dissolve the marriage. Jesus replied and told
them- Against the hardness of your hearts Moses gave you this commandment.
From the beginning of creation, however God made them male and
female. Because of this a man leaves his father and mother and
holds onto his wife. And they become both one flesh. Therefore
they are no longer two, except one flesh
What God has thus united, the human being cannot separate. And
the disciples asked him about this at home. And he told them- whoever
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.
And if a woman divorces through an excuse and becomes a wife for
another, she commits adultery."
(Y) is substantially the same except, as in Matthew, it is.."let man not put asunder"
Also the phrase in the last line ".through an excuse" is
missing
It is interesting that the passage about celibacy is missing in
Mark - could this be a later addition in Matthew
Here we have another addition to the Hebrew scriptures in that he says a woman could divorce her husband
- not so in Jewish law
That the Jews were getting away from the original law comes up
several times; e.g. Matthew ch.15 v 8-9 where Jesus is seemingly
quoting Isaiah 29 v13, which in the Masoretic text
we have says: "Since these people draw near, and with their
mouth and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their
heart from me, and their fear toward me is a commandment of men
learned by rote, behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work
amongst this people. the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the understanding of their prudent men be hid."
But what he is recorded as saying is actually the Septuagint version,
which is acknowledged to be a very poor translation from the Hebrew
into Greek, (question: would he have used it in reality?
(AS) Matt.15 v8-9 "These people honour me with their lips,
though their hearts are very far from me, And through ignorance
(or emptily or vainly) they fear me, while teaching the knowledge
of human commandments."
The khaboris is not available, again,
for these verses
(HG) .." because this
people has come near me with their mouth, and has honoured me with
their lips, but their heart is far from me, and their reverence
towards me, which is taught, is the commandments of men."
(Y) "these people draw nigh me with
their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but their heart
is far off from me, and in vain do they worship me, teaching teachings
- the commands of men."
It is notable that the Hebrew Gospel does not have the addition
of " in vain they worship me" which
is from the Septuagint, but that the Aramaic version is part way
between. Also the NT versions do not complete the quote to say
that the wisdom of men will perish! Mark's version does continue
with (Mark 7 v7-8 (AS)." they fear me through their vanity,
as they teach the knowledge of humanity. For you have discarded
the commandments of God and held onto the rituals of humanity"..
(Y) . "For having put away the command of God, ye hold the
tradition of men.."
Next we come to the words said at the communion, or Last Supper.
Comments have been made in "Questions around the Communion" and
in the study of the "Life of Jesus" as to whether this
was taking place at the Passover meal and whether Jesus was saying
his death was a substitution sacrifice
The only direct cross reference with the Hebrew scriptures in
what he says in Matt.26 v20-35 is in v31 where he says "it
is written (HS)-I will
smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered
abroad" which is from Zechariah 13v7. In Luke's version we
have the addition of ch22 v21 where Jesus quotes Psalm 41v9 " Behold,
the hand of him who betrays me is on the table." The exact
words being (HS) " Even my own familiar friend, in whom I
trusted, who did eat of my bread, had lifted up his heel against
me."
John's account does not have the communion or Last Supper - there
are other words spoken at a meal
(AS) Matt.26 v20-31 " As evening
came he dined with the twelve disciples. As they ate he said -
one of you will betray me. And they became very sad, saying each
one of them " is it me Lord?" the he replied " the one
who dips his hand simultaneously in the bowl, he will betray me." And
the son of man goes to where it is written about him, however,
woe to the man who betrays the son of man. He would be better off
if he had never been born. Judas the betrayer replied and said " Why,
is it me, my Lord? "Jesus told him " you said
it"
As they ate Jesus took the bread and blessed it and broke it and
gave it to his disciples, and he said " Consume it,
this is my body." And he took the cup and made the covenant
and gave it to them and said "Drink in fulfilment of it, all
of you. This is my blood of the new covenant that will be spilled
on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I am telling you
that henceforth I will not drink of this fruit of the vine, until
the day in which I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."
And they glorified and went out to the mount of
Olives
Then Jesus told them " You will
all be dismayed by me this night, for it is written - I will strike
the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered."
The Khaboris manuscript that is available
does not go past chapter 25
(HG) It came to pass at the time of evening he was sitting at
table with his twelve disciples
As they were eating he said to them " I tell
you that one of you will inform against me." They were very
sad and spoke each one of them to him saying "Lord, is it
I?" he answered them saying - he who dips his hand in the
dish will sell me. All of them were eating from one dish. Therefore
they did not recognise him; because if they had recognised him,
they would have destroyed him
Jesus said to them -" truly the son of man goes as it is
written concerning him, woe to the man for whose sake the son of
man is betrayed. Good would it have been for that man not to have
been born."
Judas, who sold him,answered,and said
to him "Rabbi am I this one?" He said "You have
spoken."
They were eating and Jesus took bread and blessed, divided it,
gave it to his disciples and said " take and eat, this is
my body." He took the cup, gave praise to his Father, gave
it to them, and said " Drink from this all of you. This is
my blood of the new covenant which will be poured out for many
for the atonement of sins. I say to you that I will not drink henceforth
of the fruit of this vine until that day when I drink it new with
you in the kingdom of heaven."
They returned and went out to the mount of
Olives. Then Jesus said " Come all of you, be grieved because
of me tonight because it is written : Smite
the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered."
(Y) And evening having come he was reclining (at meat) with the
twelve, and while they were eating, he said "Verily I say
to you, one of you will deliver me up." And being grieved
exceedingly, they began to say to him, each of them "Is it
I, Sir.?"
And he answering said," he who did dip the hand in the dish,
he will deliver me up; the son of man doth indeed go as it hath
been written concerning him, but woe to that man through whom the
son of man is delivered up! Good it were for
him if that man had never been born."
And Judas - he who delivered him up - answering said, "Is
it I Rabbi?" He said to him "Thou hast said"
And while they were eating, Jesus having taken the bread, and
having blessed did break, and was giving to the disciples, and
said " Take, eat, this is my body;" and having taken
the cup, and having given thanks, he gave it to them saying, "Drink
ye of it-all; for this is my blood of the new covenant, that for
many is being poured out- to remission of sins; and I say to you
that I may not drink henceforth on this produce of the vine, till
that day when I may drink it with you in the reign of my Father."
And having sung a hymn, they went forth to the mount of the Olives;
then said Jesus to them "All ye shall be stumbled at me this
night, for it has been written, I will smite the shepherd, and
the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."
(AS) Mark 14 v 17: And when evening came he came with his twelve.
And as they ate Jesus said - "I am telling you that one of
you who eats with me will betray me." Then they began to feel
depressed, and said to him, one by one," Why, is it I?" he
told them however -" one of the twelve that dipped his finger
in the bowl . And the son goes where it
is written he will. Woe, however, to the man by whose hand the
son of man is delivered. That man is better off if he had not been
born"
And as they ate Jesus consecrated the bread, and blessed it, and
he broke it, and gave it to them, and said "be nourished,
this is my body." And he consecrated the cup, and declared
the covenant, and blessed it and gave it to them, and they drank
of it. And he told them "This is my blood of the new covenant
that will be shed for the redemption of many. Amen, I am telling
you that I will not drink again from the vine's fruit, until that
day in which we drink anew in the kingdom of God."
And they glorified and went out to the mount of
Olives. And Jesus told them " you will
denounce me tonight, for it is written - strike the shepherd and
his rams will scatter."
(Y) Young's version is similar in Mark 14 except for a few differences
in v22-26 which read: And as they were eating, Jesus having taken
bread blessed it, brake, and gave it to them, and said, "Take,
eat, this is my body." And having taken the cup and having
given thanks, he said, "This is my blood of the new covenant,
which for many is being poured out. Verily I say unto you that
I may no more drink of the produce of the vine until that day come
when I drink it anew in the reign of God." And having sung
a hymn they went forth to the mount of
Olives
These accounts are very similar. What is not said is significant
though. Jesus is not recorded as saying that he was the Passover
lamb, or that his death was a substitute sacrifice. As said else where : in "The life of Jesus"; the Passover lamb
had nothing to do with a sin sacrifice: its blood marked the difference
between Israel and
the Egyptian gentiles. In that sense only did it save from death
It was the goat sent away into the wilderness - a LIVE goat that
took away the sins of Israel on
the day of Atonement. The blood of the
dead goat cleansed the tabernacle or temple(see
Leviticus 16)
Jesus' teaching on the resurrection is like that of the Pharisees
Mark 12 at the end of the debate with the Sadducees (who did not
believe in resurrection) about the woman given to seven successive
brothers in Leverite marriages as to
whose wife she was in the afterlife Jesus replies (v24 onwards)
(Y) " Do ye not go astray, not knowing the writings, nor the
power of God? For they which may rise out of the dead, they neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the messengers(angels) who are in the heavens. And concerning
the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses
(at the bush), how God spake to him,
saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob; he is not the God of dead men, but a God of living
men, ye then do greatly go astray."
(AS) "And Jesus told them - Is this not why you are at a
loss, that you neither understand scriptures, nor the power of
God? For when they rise from the dead, no one marries women, neither
do women take on husbands, except they become like the angels of
heaven. As for the dead that rise, have you not read in the book
of Moses, where God told him, "I am the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And he was not the
God of the dead, except of the living: you are truly lost."
And in John ch5 v28 and 29 " Wonder not at this for there
doth come an hour in which all those in the tombs shall hear his
voice, and they shall come forth, those who did good things to
a rising again of life, and those who practised the evil things
to a rising again of judgement
This is a reflection of (HS) Daniel 12 v 1-3 " And at that
time shall Mikha'el stand up, the great
chief angel, who stands for the children of thy people: and there
shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a
nation till that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one who shall be found written in the book. And
many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some
to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
And they who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament,
and they who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever
and ever."
It is interesting that in John the stars have become angels -
a connection that comes again in the book of Revelation
It should also be said that the book of Daniel is not put with
the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, but demoted to the "Writings";
which means it does not carry as much weight. It is also from the
time around the inter testament period when new ideas were coming
into Judaism including more "angelology"and the
idea of resurrection
As we have shown in the study from the book of Job, the ancients
did not express a belief in resurrection, and despite all understood
and practised in Egypt,
there is nothing in the books of Moses about it either
There are some puzzling statements in Matthew chapter 12 where
Jesus says he is greater than the temple, and Jonah, and Solomon
When challenged about the action of eating (with the disciples)
from the corn fields on the Shabbat Jesus refers to the event described
in 1Samuel 21 v1-6. Where out of necessity David
his men ate of the shewbread in the tabernacle
when desperately hungry. This bread was only for the priests,
who also had to work in the tabernacle or temple on the Shabbat
he points out
(AS) Matt.12v 3-8 "he told them "Did you not read what
David did when he became hungry, and those with him? How he entered
the house of God and ate the Lord's bread of offering, that which
was neither lawful for him to eat, nor for
those who were with him? Or did you nor
read in scriptures, that the high priests in the temple absolve
the Sabbath, and they are not cheating? However, I am telling you
that there is someone here greater than the temple.. Or if you knew what it meant "Mercy I desire, not
sacrifice," you would not have held accountable those who
were not cheating. For the son of man is lord of the Sabbath."
(HS) Hosea 6v6 "For I desire loyal love, and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."
These verses are not available in the Khaboris manuscript
(HG) the Hebrew gospel is virtually the same, except for verse
5 -" Also in the Torah have you not read that the priests
in the temple sometimes profane the Sabbaths and are without sin?" and
verse 6 says " truly I say to you the temple is greater than
this." So in this version he does not say he is greater than
the temple. Mercy IS better than sacrifice; and what the temple
is really about
Here Jesus is giving a typical Judaic teaching that the saving
of life overrides the Shabbat laws and that the Shabbat was made
for man, not man for the Shabbat. But in verse v13 he goes further
than that and heals a man, saying ."it is lawful on the Sabbaths
to do good." This was, he argued, because it was lawful to
rescue a sheep out of a pit and a man is better than a sheep. This
teaching is worth remembering when reading the story of the good Samaritan
- there was no reason why the Levite or the priest should not have
helped the man in law - it was that they lacked mercy
So it is possible Jesus did not say HE was greater than the temple,
but the spirit of mercy was
Why did he say he was greater than Jonah? (Matt 12 v38-41
He refers to (HS) Jonah 1v17 (or 2v1) and 3v5, and 10 Now the
Lord had appointed a great fish to swallow up Yona And Yona was
in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.. The People
of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them to the least of them. And God saw their
deeds and that they turned from their evil way, and God repented
of the evil, which he said He would do to them, and He did not
do it
When Jesus wants to shame them into repenting he brings gentiles
in - like the widow of Zerephath blessed
by Elijah, and Naaman the Syrian leper
cleansed by Elisha
He is saying his resurrection after three days and nights would
be the sign that he was a greater prophet than Jonah and the gentiles
listened to Jonah, but they, the Jews were not listening to him
All the versions are the same (but once again these verses are
not available in the Khaboris manuscript.
In this chapter he also says he is greater than Solomon: in the
respect of wisdom
The queen of Sheba came
all the way to hear the wisdom of Solomon
and went home greatly impressed. She too will stand up at the judgement
and condemn that generation of Jews for not hearing the wisdom
of Jesus ; which is greater. (verse 42
Again the versions agree but the verses are not available in the Khaboris manuscript
All we have attributed to the wisdom of
Solomon in our bibles is Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon.
Presumably Jesus is saying that his teaching is better than that
of Solomon from the spiritual point of view
In Matthew 21v 42-44, having told the parable of the workers in
the vineyard, he says that the kingdom will be taken from them
and given to others who will produce its fruit. They have rejected
his teaching. They will either be broken by the stone of true Judaism
and reform, or else they will be crushed totally. This is paralleled
in the OT by (HS) Psalm118v22. Isaiah 8 v13-15, Is. 28 v16 and
Daniel 2 v 34-35 "The stone the builders rejected has become
the head stone of the corner".. "Sanctify the Lord of
hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and
for a rock of offence to both the house of Yisrael,
for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
And many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and
snared and be taken."
"Behold I lay in Zion for
a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation: he that believes shall not make haste."
"As thou didst look, a stone cut without hands, which smote
the image upon its feet, which were of iron and clay, and broke
them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver
and gold, broken pieces together, and became like chaff of the
summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that
no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image
became a great mountain that filled the whole earth."
He is warning them that there would be devastation and exile for
the same reasons as before, but the sending away throughout the
earth meant that the stone (Judaism) filled the earth. They would
be crushed as a nation, and scattered, but their numbers would
increase enormously, and Judaism would reach all parts of the world
(AS)v42 Matt21. Jesus told them " have you never read in the book, that the stone rejected
by the builders, became the chief cornerstone, it was thus the
will of the Lord and a miracle for our eyes to behold. Because
of this I am telling you that the kingdom of God will
be taken from you, and given to the nation that will produce fruits.
And what ever comes against this stone will be torn asunder, and
who ever it falls on will be shattered."
Again these verses are not available in the Khaboris manuscript
(HG) is the same except for v 44 " he who falls on this stone
will be caste down; he who falls upon it will be broken apart
(Y) "Did you never read in the writings, a stone that the
builders disallowed, it became head of a corner, from the Lord
hath this come to pass, and it is wonderful in our eyes. Because
of this I say to you, that the reign of God shall be taken from
you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit; and he who
is falling upon this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it
may fall it will crush him to pieces."
In this same chapter is recorded that Jesus became angry with
what went on in the temple quoting from Isaiah 56v7 and Jeremiah
7 v 11 " Even them I will bring to my holy mountain - to my
house of prayer.." (speaking of the
sons of strangers i.e. gentiles)
Is this house which is called by my name become as a den of robbers
in your eyes? Behold I myself have seen it, says the Lord
(AS) Matt.21 v12 And Jesus entered the temple of God, and he ejected
all those who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned
plates of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves,
and he told them, it is written that, My house shall be called
the house of prayer, you however have made it into a robber's cave
Khaboris manuscript does not have these
verses available
(HG) Jesus entered the house of the Lord and found there those
who buy and sell. He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those selling doves. He said to them " It is
written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the
nations, but you have made it a cave of violent men."
What was happening in the temple and the priesthood was offensive
to many Jews at that time; especially the Essenes,
who would not participate at all in the temple, or the festivals
Jesus prophesied, apparently, that the temple would be destroyed
and that terrible things would happen in Jerusalem.
He warned his followers to escape when these things began
Because of the length of the passages where Jesus speaks of this only selected verses that show a difference from the
version we are used to in our Christian bibles are shown
(AS) Matt.24 v 5 For many will come in
my name saying that I am the Messiah, and many will be misled
This is an amazing statement because here he seems to be denying
he is messiah and that those who say he is are misleading others
Again these verses are not available in the Khaboris manuscript
(HG) because many will come in my name saying I am the Messiah,
and they will lead you astray
(Y) For many shall come in my name saying, I am the Christ, and
they shall lead many astray. He does not say they are false Messiahs
or antichrists
(AS) v12-15 And because of the great
abomination the love of many will be blown away. Whoever maintains
hope until the end shall live. And this hope of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the universe, as a testimony for all nations, and then
the end shall come. When you see the signs of corrupting desolation,
that was spoken off by the prophet Daniel, standing in the
holy place, let the reader learn
(HG) When wickedness multiplies, the love of many will grow faint.
Whoever waits until the end will be saved. And this gospel, that
is, evungili, will be preached in all the earth for a witness
concerning me to all the nations and then the end will come. This
is the Anti- Christ and this is the abomination which desolates
which was spoken of by Daniel as standing in the holy place. Let
the one who reads understand
(Y) And because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love
of many shall become cold, but he who did endure to the end shall
be saved; and the good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all
the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then
the end shall arrive. Whenever, therefore, you may see the abomination
of the desolation that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe)
These three passages show very well a progression from the idea
of a very Jewish Messianic hope taken in exile to the nations after
a desolation because of corruption in the holy place (a corrupt
High Priesthood?), through a middle stage of a gospel preached
in all the earth as a witness to Jesus which has become an Anti
Christ and an abomination putting a man in the place of God (?),
ending with the understanding Christians have today
The relevant Hebrew scriptures are (HS) Daniel ch. 9 v v26 And after 62 weeks an anointed one shall be cut
off, and none will be left to him, and the people of a prince that
shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and his end
shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are
decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one
week: and during half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice
and the offering to cease: and upon the wing of abominations shall
come one who makes desolate, until the decreed destruction is poured
out on the desolator
Daniel 12 v 11 speaks of a time after the removal of the sacrifice
and the abomination that makes desolate being set up as 1290 days;
which was the period at the time of Antiochus Epiphanes'
desecration of the temple in 166 BC
These are difficult passages, but an in depth study of the end
of Daniel is on this site, and the comment has to be made: if Jesus
is referring to Daniel 9 being a prophecy to his death and to him
being Messiah why does he not say so, or any of the gospel writers?
Yet it is passage much used today in that way
The way Jesus uses Daniel is to say the reason for the desolation
of the temple and the city is the same as it was in Daniel's time
:- corruption of the holy place
Mark' version is similar, but Luke's is quite different: there
is no reference to Daniel
(AS) Luke 21 v 20 When you see Jerusalem surrounded
by power, know then that its desolation is near. Those in Judea will
run to the mountain and those within her will flee and those from
the villages will not enter her. These are the days of destiny,
so as everything that has been written be fulfilled...there
will be great persecution on the earth and wrath against this nation
And they shall fall in harm's way and be taken captive to every
country. And Jerusalem shall
be trampled by nations until the days of world
empire come to an end
Jesus goes on to speak of events to come after terrible time for Jerusalem
Matt.24v27-31 and 40
(AS) Then when lightening strikes from the east, and is seen in
the west, thus will be the coming of the son of man. Where
the body is, however, there will gather the eagles. At once,
then, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened
and the moon will not shine, and the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of heaven shall move. Then the symbol of the son
of man will be seen in heaven
then, all the generations of the earth shall writhe and will see
the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, together with great
power and glory. And he will send his angels with a great trumpet
call and they will gather his chosen from the four spirits (winds),
from the heads of heaven until their heads
Thus will be the coming of the son of man. Then two will be in
the village, one will be fetched and the other left
These verses are not available in the Khaboris manuscript
(HG) As the lightening comes from the east and is seen in the
west, so will be the coming of the son of man. Wherever
the body is, there will gather the vultures. At that time,
after the tribulation of those days, the sun will grow dark, and
the moon will not give forth its light, the stars will fall from
heaven, and the host of heaven will be shaken
Then will appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and all
the families of the earth will weep and will see the son of man
on the clouds of heaven with a great host and with dreadful appearance
He will send his angels with a trumpet and with a great shout
to gather his chosen from the four winds of heaven, from one end
of heaven to the other
.So will be the coming of the son of man. If there be two ploughing
in a field, the one righteous and the other evil,* the one will
be taken and the other left
V41 Two women will be grinding at a mill; one will be taken and
the other left. This because the angels at the end of the world
will remove the stumbling blocks from the world and will separate
the good from the evil.
Note the additions in this version. It is the misunderstanding
of who goes first and why that has led to the doctrine of the "rapture" But
in (HG) it is plain it is the evil who are
taken: which fits with what Jesus says about the days of Noah and Lot.
It also fits with the parables in Matthew 13, (possibly having
been imported from 13 to where the angels gather the tares for
burning: v40-41 (Y) "And then the darnel is gathered up and
is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age,
the son of man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall
gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those
doing the unlawlessness, and shall cast
them into the furnace of the fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth."
For as the lightening doth come forth from the east, and doth
appear unto the west, so shall be the presence of the son of man.
For wherever the carcase may be, there shall the eagles be gathered
together. And immediately after the tribulation of those days,
the sun will be darkened and the moon not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the son of man
in the heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth smite
the breast, and they shall see the son of man coming upon the clouds
of the heaven, with power and much glory; and he shall send his
messengers with a great shout of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his chosen, from the four winds, and from the ends of
the heavens unto the ends thereof
So shall be the presence of the son of man. Then two men shall
be in the field, one shall be received, and the one is left, two
women shall be grinding at the mill, one is received, and one is
left
In these passages Jesus seems to be quoting two OT prophets i.e.
Isaiah 13v10-13 and Daniel 7 v13-14:" behold the day of the
Lord comes, a day of cruelty, wrath and fierce anger, to lay the
land desolate: and he shall destroy its sinners out of it For the
stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light:
the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall
not shed her light. I will punish the world for their evil, and
the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of
the proud to cease and will lay low the haughtiness of tyrants.
I will make men more rare than fine gold,
and mankind than the pure gold of Ofir.
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall move out
of her place, by the wrath of the Lord of hosts on the day of his
fierce anger."
"And I saw in the night visions, one like the son of man,
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days,
and they brought him near before him. And there was given to him
dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all
peoples, nations and tongues, should serve him. His dominion is
an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom one that will not be destroyed."
It should be noted that Jesus never said any of this referred
to him: he just keeps speaking of the" son of man." This
was how he referred to himself; BUT was also used of Ezekiel. He
is talking about the coming of the Messiah
He goes on in Matthew 25 to tell several parables about being
ready for the Master when he comes. In all the gospels the impression
given is that he expected either to return soon himself, or that
the Messiah would come soon; but that his followers would not know
the exact time, but were to wait expectantly, and not to be misled
by false Messiahs, or false prophets, or even, it seems, by those
who said HE was the Messiah
It is plain from the many times Jesus warned the disciples that he knew he would die in Jerusalem He was also
sure he would be resurrected. Yet his cry on the cross recorded
in Matthew is " My God, my God; why have you forsaken me?" which
is the first line of Psalm 22." And why art thou so far from
helping me. I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men and despised
of the people; all that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out
the lip, they shake the head, saying, he trusts in the Lord that
he will deliver him.. Many bulls have encompassed me.. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of
joint.they seize my hands and feet like a lion, they look and stare
at me, they part my garments among them, lots they caste for my
vesture".
So appropriate to his situation
In Luke we have the cry " Father into thy hands I commend
my spirit" which is from Psalm 31 v5 " Pull me out of
the net that they have hidden for me; for thou art my stronghold;
into thy hand I commit my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me Oh Lord
God of truth." And in John: "It is finished"
Had he expected to be rescued at the last minute? Did he think
he had failed? Or was he still sure that he would be resuscitated
and continue the mission
Jesus' final instructions to the disciples:
(AS) All power in heaven and earth has been given to me, and where
my Father sent me, I too send you. Go therefore and teach all the
nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the son
and the holy spirit. And teach them to observe all that I commanded
you, and behold I am with you all the
days, until the end of the universe, Amen
These verses are not available in the Khaboris Manuscript
(HG) To me has been given all power in heaven and earth. Go and
teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you
forever.
(Y) Given to me was all authority in heaven and earth; having
gone then, disciple all the nations,(baptising them- to the name
of the Father, the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe
all, whatever I did command you) and, lo, I am with you all the
days- till the full end of the age
It is noticeable that the Hebrew gospel does not have the passage
about baptising in the name of the Father, son and holy
spirit
In Mark ch16 v15-20:
(AS) Go to all people and preach my faith in all creation, whoever
believes, and declares it, shall live. And whoever does not believe, shall be held accountable
Signs then to those that believe, they who adhere to us: in my
name they will caste out demons, and they will speak in new languages,
and they will handle snakes, and if deadly poison they will drink,
it will not affect them. And they will lay their hands on the sick
and they will be restored
Jesus, then, the Lord, went up into heaven, and sat from the right
of God
They then went out, and preached every place, and the Lord helped
them and began filling them with signs that they performed
(Y) having gone into all the world, proclaim
the good news to all creation; he who hath believed and is baptised
shall be saved. And he who hath not believed shall be condemned.
And signs shall accompany those believing these things: in my name
demons they shall caste out, with new tongues they shall speak,, serpents
they shall take up, and if any deadly thing they may drink, it
shall not hurt them, on the ailing they shall lay hands, and they
shall be well. The lord then after speaking with them was received
up to the heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they having
gone forth did preach everywhere, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word through signs following
Many believe these last verses of mark to be a later addition
Luke's gospel contains much of the same material with the same
references to the OT, but with a few notable additions. For example
that of his reading out of Isaiah 61 at the beginning of his ministry
and saying this was now fulfilled
(HS) Is.61 v1-3 "The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because
the Lord has anointed me to announce good tidings to the meek;
he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound; to proclaim an acceptable year of the Lord, and a day of
vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn; to appoint to
those that mourn in Zion, to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise in stead
of a spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified."
(AS) The spirit of the Lord is upon me; and because of this He
anointed me to be the hope of the poor and sent me to heal the
broken hearted, and to preach about the glowing paths, and to give
the blinded sight, and to confirm the broken in spirit, and to
proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord
(Y) The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he did anoint me;
to proclaim good news to the poor, sent me to heal the broken in
heart, to proclaim to captives deliverance, and to blind receiving
of sight. To send away the bruised with deliverance, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord.
It is possible that it is Luke who stops short to save the space
of quoting the whole; but it was an interesting place to stop before
the day of vengeance, BUT to "give the blind sight" is
an addition not in Isaiah at all. This could be that Luke is quoting
the Septuagint, but the Aramaic has "glowing paths" which
has some connection with seeing the way instead of being blind
and these two phrases have replaced " liberty to captives" and "opening the prison." This
is another good example of the progression of ideas. Surely if
Jesus was a man of God he would do as they have always done and
used the Hebrew version. So the matter raises doubts about Luke's
record, or Jesus himself. Either way : what
use is this confusion to us now
When John sends to find out " Are you the one who was to
come?" in Luke 7 v22: the answer is:."Report to John
what you have seen and heard- that the blind men do see again,
the lame do walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf do hear, dead are raised,
poor have good news proclaimed, and happy is he who may not be
stumbled in me."
This refers to (HS) Isaiah 35 v3-6" Strengthen the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of fearful heart,
be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with fearful vengeance,
even with divine recompense, He will come
and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the
ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame leap as a hart,
and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in the desert."
This passage is in a context of the messianic change of circumstances
after a time of vengeance by God upon their enemies. Again the
vengeance aspect is missing in Luke and we have a different kind
of Messiah than the Jews would expect from their own scriptures.
No wonder people like Judas were disappointed! Except for the ones
who had been healed NOTHING CHANGED!. In
the passage in Isaiah the miracles seem to happen with the surge
of joy after being saved from the oppressor
Luke has a number of parables not in the other gospels and a few
significant sayings not in the others: e.g. Luke 22 v 29-30
(AS) And I dedicate you, as my Father dedicated me the kingdom,
so you may eat and drink of the offerings of my kingdom, and sit
upon the thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel
(Y) And I appoint to you, as my Father did appoint to me, a kingdom,
that ye may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom, and may sit
on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel
This sounds like a very literal, earthly kingdom that relates
only to Israel.
It is in line with the messianic expectations of the Jews. This
elaborated upon in Luke 14 in the conversation with the Pharisees
and the accompanying parable of the great banquet, where the resurrected
righteous attend. This idea of a messianic feast of the victorious
appears in the Dead Sea scrolls
This idea of the good having a kingdom is there in Matthew 25,
as a reward for good deeds to the poor, and after the judgement
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 connects with
the remark on the cross to the other man dying on a cross " Today you will be with me in paradise."
In the parable of Lazarus we have the idea that the place of the
dead is divided by a chasm and the wicked are suffering on one
side and the good are comforted from the suffering they had in
life, and are with Abraham. This idea has no parallel in the O
The verse in Mark ch9 v48 where Jesus speaks of "Worm not
dying" is not proof of hell in the OT: it comes from Is. 66
v24 which says: (HS) "And they shall go forth and look on
the carcasses of men who rebelled against me: for their worm shall
not die, neither their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence
to all flesh." This is so clearly on earth and viewed by those
in the flesh - i.e. alive
The Greek word Hades, or Hell, have a different meaning from the
only word in Hebrew which is "sheol," which
means a place of dark silence
(AS) uses "sheol" as it is
Aramaic and similar to Hebrew, but that does not alter the fact
that the doctrine in this parable is not that of the OT
Again it is similar to the teaching in Matthew 25 of rewards and
a kingdom for those who have been good to the poor, and
punishment for those who have not in everlasting fire
THE QUESTION IS DID JESUS REALLY TEACH THESE THINGS? If he did
then he was not calling the Jews back to the original pure law
of Moses, which he said he came to fulfil, but was a man of his
day; who had taken on board all the doctrines that grew out of
the exile in Babylon during the inter testament period
The only way to justify this would be to say there has been a
progressive revelation of truth. Then one has to ask the question:
Why did not God tell everything Israel needed
to know to Moses at the beginning? Surely what happens after death
is a very big question! But perhaps one we have never been given
the answer to because we have to trust God about it. Judaism is
about how to live in this world; and a great contrast in that respect
to the Egyptian philosophy
John's gospel is so different from the other three and as one
would expect there are other OT quotes to look at. But, as in Luke,
there are long passages of teaching with little reference to the
OT. : particularly that of ch.13-16 at the last meal
One that comes up several times in this gospel is from Deut .18v18
which appears four times, but only in John ch 12
v49 is it clear Jesus used it, in reference to himself
(HS) Deut18v18-22, " I will raise them up a prophet from
among their bretheren like thee and will
put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that
I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that, whoever will
not harken to my words which he shall
speak in My Name, I will require it of
him. But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in My Name,
which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in
the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if thou say
in thy heart, how shall we know the word which God has not spoken?
Know that when a prophet speaks in the Name of the Lord, if the
thing follow not,, nor come to pass, that
is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, but the prophet has
spoken out of presumption ; thou shalt not
be afraid of him."
(AS) John 12 48-v49 "Whoever persecutes me and does not accept
my teachings, there will be someone who judges them. The manifestation
that I represent will judge them on the last day. That
which of my own self did not utter, except the Father who sent
me did. He gave me the power; what to say and what to speak."
(Y)". he who is rejecting me and not receiving my sayings,
hath one who is judging him, the word that I spake,
that will judge him in the last day, because I spake not
from myself, but the Father who sent me, he did give me a command,
what I may say and what I may speak."
and ch.17 v8 is similar.." because the sayings thou hast
given me, I have given to them, and they themselves received, and
have known truly, that from thee I came forth, and they did believe
that thou didst send me."
Now the BIG QUESTION is: where does this leave both, Jesus, and
John the Baptist; who both died violent deaths? Did they speak
the words of God? Did what they said come to pass? Surely the thing
must begin to come to pass in the life times of those hearing the
prophecy; or how can they be expected to judge it, or the prophet
Some of the sayings of Jesus, especially in the gospel of John,
are very questionable using the very yardstick of Deut. 18 that
he likes to quote
For instance ch.14 v12, (Y) " Verily, verily, I say to you,
he who is believing in me, the works that I do - that one also
shall do, and greater than these he shall do, because I go to my
Father, and whatever ye shall ask in my name, I will do; that the
Father may be glorified in the son; if ye ask anything in my name
I will do it
The Aramaic is the same wording
Many people have believed deeply in Jesus and have not been able
to do what he did, let alone greater things. Many have prayed fervently
in his name and not been answered
Next is to look at the teachings in John chapter three
There is only one reference to the OT in this chapter attributable
to Jesus; in verse 14 recalling Numbers 21 v 9: (HS) And Moshe
made a serpent of brass, and put it on a pole, and it came to pass,
that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived
(AS) John 3 v14 And just as Moses lifted the darkness by the light
of life, this how you should glorify the son of man, so that every
human being who believes in him does not go to oblivion, except
that they may have life everlasting. For this is how much God loved
humanity, that He gave forth His only begotten son, that whoever
believes in him does not perish, except that they may have life
everlasting
(Y) And as Moses did lift the serpent in the wilderness, so it behoveth the
son of man to be lifted up., that everyone believing in him may
not perish, but have life age enduring, for God so loved the world,
that His son, the only begotten, He gave, that everyone who is
believing in him may not perish, but may have life age enduring.
Why would people have a life saving cure of snake bites by looking
at a snake on a pole? It sounds like sympathetic magic! It certainly
needed faith to do it. Perhaps it is a reference to looking to
the serpent god of healing, like the Greek god Aescelpius used
on signs for medicine and healing today
The analogy Jesus seems to be making is that people will be cured
of death by faith, too, by looking at him on the cross, which we
patently are not - we all still die. This makes Jesus the snake
that bites or a god of healing. This is the idea that he became
sin for us nailed to the cross. It would be more accurate if it
was Satan, or a symbol of sin and rebellion on that cross: curing
like with like. But a look at Genesis 3 on this site will show
that physical death did not come by obeying the serpent instead
of God, but disobeying God did prevent access to the tree of life
eternal
Many doubt whether all the words in John 3 are Jesus speaking;
but really are John' doctrine
The striking difference in the Aramaic version shows this could
be the case. How Moses lifted the darkness by the light of life
was by giving the Torah "the teaching" on how to live
in this world, and to trust God, that, having followed it to the
best of ones ability; and asking for God's merciful forgiveness
when falling short; one had eternal life. Perhaps what Jesus really
said was if people looked to his teaching; and his death would
bring it to their attention, they would follow the true Torah halakhah and so have eternal life. If this was always the
way to attain eternal life why do we now need to believe in Jesus
on the cross as the sin offering dying in our place? Has God moved
the goal posts
Another important teaching in John chapter 3 is that of being
born again, but both Aramaic and Young's literal translation have " born from above". Jesus often spoke of his coming
from above and returning there : perhaps
he meant it in the same spiritual sense and not the literal as
Christian have made it i.e. that he was God incarnate
John chapter 6 is probably the most difficult chapter in the gospels
to reconcile with the Jewishness of Jesus.
There are two reference to the OT in verses 31 (Ps. 78v24) and
45 (Is. 54 v13), which could be the key to what he really was saying
(HS) psalm 78 v22-25 . anger came up against Israel; because they
believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation; though He
commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven,
and rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn
of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; He sent them provision
to the full
Isaiah 54v 13 And all thy children shall
be taught of the Lord
This is, again, a passage about the wonderful days to come in
the Messianic era
(AS) John 6 v 26-35 I am telling you that you want me, not because
you saw miracles, except you may eat your fill of bread. Do not
work for food that perishes, except for the food that destines
you for eternal life. The hand of the son of man will give it to
you. For upon this has the Father placed the seal of God.
And they said to him : what shall one
do to do God's work?
Jesus replied telling them: You do God's work when you believe
in whom He sends
They said to him: what miracles do you do that we might see and
believe in you? What can you make? Our ancestors ate manna in the
desert, as it is written" bread from heaven he gave them to
eat." Jesus said to them :Amen, amen,
I am telling you, it was not Moses who was giving you bread from
heaven, except it was my Father who gave you the bread of blessing
from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from
heaven and gives life to the universe
They said : Our lord, give us this bread
always
Jesus told them: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall
not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not hunger to the
end of the universe
(Y) This version is almost exactly the same, but for two points:
It says it was "true" bread from heaven that the Father
gave (not "bread of blessing"), and: work for food..
Which the son of man gives; for HIM did the father seal, even God
(not "this"
(AS) John 6 v47-58 I am telling you that whoever believes in me
has life to the end of the universe. I am the bread of life. Your
ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and died. For this is the
bread that comes down from heaven that a human being eats and does
not die I am the living bread that came down from heaven. And if
a human being eats of this bread they shall live to the end of
the universe. But the bread that I offer is my body, that on behalf
of the lives of all the people I give..
The Jews argued one with another, saying,: How
can he give us his body to eat? And Jesus said to the: Amen, Amen;
I am telling you that if you do not eat the body of the son of
man, and drink his blood, you cannot receive the triune essences
of a living human being*. Whoever eats of my body and drinks my
blood, shall receive life to the end of the universe, and I will
surely raise them on the last day
For my body becomes food, and my blood drinkable.*
Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood is strengthened in me
and I in them
Whoever the Living Father has sent me, and I am alive because
of the Father, and whoever eats of me, they also live eternally
because of me
This is the bread that comes down from heaven. It is not like
the manna that your ancestors ate and died. Whoever eats of this
bread lives to the end of the universe
V63 It is the spirit that gives life. The flesh does nothing.
The words that I speak with you are of the spirit and the life
(Y) has : you have no life in your selves.
(Y) has: for my flesh is truly food and
my blood is truly drink
This is all so confusing. What is Jesus talking about (if these
are the words he spoke?)? The Aramaic version, this time, adds
more confusion
It does make sense if Jesus was the word of God incarnate and
eating and drinking of the word of God gave eternal life: which
is what the Jews have always believed of the Torah (the teaching
or law in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures)
Certainly the gospel of John is based on this idea. But the disturbing
factor is that it is not unique to Christianity
: bread and wine was taken at pagan rituals, especially
that of Mithraism, which was growing in popularity then. The attributes
of the god were then ingested, making the participants godlike,
with eternal life as the god had. If he was a
true Jew Jesus could not have been saying this because the ingesting
of the Torah gave life and was the true bread of heaven.
In John ch. 10v 31-37 the Jews want
to stone Jesus for blasphemy because they think he is making himself
as God, and he asks " for what good
work do you stone me? Is it not having been written in your law:
I said ye are gods?* If he did not call them gods unto whom the
word of God came (and the writing is not able to be broken), of
whom the Father did sanctify and send into the world, ye do say "thou speakest evil," because
I said son of god* I am? If I do not do the works of my Father
do not believe me."
remember there are no capital letters
in Hebrew, or Aramaic, or Greek
quoting (HS) Psalm 82 v 6 " I had
said you are angels all of you sons of the most High; Nevertheless
you shall die like a man."
(AS) verse 35 " If God said thus of them, for indeed God's
manifestation was among them, and no book can defy that."
The Aramaic equates the word of God with His manifestation; and
so God manifested Himself to those to whom He gave His word, and
this was not an incarnation
Jesus could have been saying taking in the word of God and living
it (internalising it) makes them god-like and gives eternal life: " look, what I am teaching you and demonstrating to you
is true Torah halakhah (walk of life),
and should be, and must be, meat and drink to you. And if not you
are lost: you do not have eternal life.." To
say to a Jew he had to eat flesh with blood in or drink blood of
an animal let alone a human, was an abomination and totally forbidden
in the Torah. In verse 63 Jesus says the flesh does nothing and
the words are life giving; so he cannot have been speaking literally.
Neither is he when, in this gospel, he says he is the light, the
door, the way, the truth, the life, the true vine (producing true
fruit)
Do we have to look at him on the cross with faith, or do we have
to ingest him to partake of life eternal? Is he the fruit of the
tree of life as the word of God
The ideas here are so confused that it must be that what has been
recorded is not what Jesus actually said, but is the doctrine of
the writer of this gospel which is very different from the others
or even a collection from other sources on this subject. The other
three gospels do not have anything like this idea of eating and
drinking him
It is in John 14 that Jesus says the Holy Spirit will remind them
of everything he said: so why so many discrepancies and so much
confusion within one gospel and all the gospels? It must mean there
have been additions and editing later (Question of Q on this site
John ch. 8 has some difficult sayings:
Verse 17 " It is written in your law that the testimony of
two men is true."
This is a reference to Deuteronomy 19 v15: (HS) One witness shall
not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in
any sin he may commit; at the mouth of two witnesses shall the
matter be established
Verse 18 "I am the one who is testifying of my self, and
the Father who sent me doth testify to me."
Elsewhere in chapter 5 v 31-37 (Y) "If I testify concerning
myself, my testimony is not true; another there is who is testifying
concerning me, and I have known that the testimony he doth testify
concerning me is true, ye have sent unto John, and he hath testified
to the truth, but I do not receive testimony from man.. But I have
the testimony greater than John's, for the works the Father gave
me . they testify concerning me, that the Father sent me. And the
Father himself hath testified concerning me".here he says
that John the Baptist was also a witness to him ; but that still
does not make two men to testify; surely you cannot count yourself
But was Moses not also like this - who but Joshua could testify
to the giving of the law, and was he close enough at the time to
be a witness? In Deuteronomy, the second giving of the law, it
is Moses testifying to himself. There
were usually two prophets giving the same message about the same
time in Israel's
history. If this is what Jesus meant, i.e. that he and John had
the same message, then this would be alright
The above passages in ch.5 and 8 are much the same in the Aramaic
(AS) v39 "Your entire hope is in the scriptures, thinking
you have achieved eternal life, and yet the scriptures testify
about me. By hope of scriptures you anticipate, that life to the
end of the universe you may have, and these testify concerning
me .v40 And you are not pleased to come
to me that you may have eternal life
.v46 For if you had believed in Moses,
you would also have believed in me, for it was about me that Moses
wrote. V47 And if ye do not believe in
his books, how will you believe my words
(Y) v39 ye search the writings, because
ye think in them you have life age enduring, and these are they
that testify concerning me. V40 And ye
do not will to come unto me, that ye may have lif
v46 if ye were believing in Moses ye
would be believing me, for he wrote concerning me; v47 but if his
writings ye believe not, how will ye believe my sayings
The question is : where did Moses write
concerning Jesus, or the Messiah? Unless he means he is the prophet
like Moses who was to come (Deut 18v18). He could also mean that
he is the word that Moses spoke and wrote from God
John 8v32-45. (AS) "You shall know
the truth and the truth shall set you free". The Jews said
to him: we are the offspring of Abraham and we never perform work
for any human being. How can you say we shall become free? Jesus
told them: "Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. The slave
is forever unable to hold onto his home, but the son establishes
you to eternity. For thus the son shall make you free, that truly
you shall be sons of the free. I know you are the offspring of
Abraham, except you want to have me killed, since you do not accept
my manifestation. I speak of the thing I saw with my Father and
you speak of what you saw with your father." They replied:
Our father was Abraham. Jesus replied " If you were the children of Abraham you would perform
the work Abraham did
V42 If God were your father you would love me, for I have graced
you with my divine presence* and it was not from mine own self
that I came, except He sent me. Why do you not abide by my manifestation?
It is because of your inability to recognise it. You came from
your father the devil, and in the service of your father you are
content to be enslaved by him who is the killer of mankind from
the beginning, who never upholds the truth, for truth does not
abide in him, and when he speaks he lies, he speaks of his own
genesis, for he is a liar like his own father also. But since I
speak the truth you do not believe me
This phrase is not in the other versions
(Y) is the same, except for the above
phrase and verse 44 : ye are of a father - the devil, and the desire
of your father ye will do. He was a manslayer from the beginning,
and the truth he hath not stood, because there is no truth in him,
when one may speak falsehood, of his own he speaketh,
because he is a liar, as is his father
Jesus seems to be saying they are sons of the devil because they
want to believe a lie, whereas he is the son of God because he
speaks the truth This is not to say God
is his father in the sense Christians say any more than those Jews
were fathered by the devil. They were no more the devil incarnate
than he was God incarnate
John 8 v55b (AS) Except I do know him and guard and protect His
manifestation
Abraham, your father was satisfied to see my day and he saw it
and was delighted. The Jews said to him: you are not even 50 years
old and yet you say you have seen Abraham. Jesus told them
: Amen I am telling you if Abraham had never been born*,
I am the one who comes, the Omnipresent God* And they took up stones
to stone him. And Jesus became invisible and emerged out of the
temple, and he passed through them and went away
*(Y) has here " before Abraham's
coming - I am"
the phrase "I am the one who comes
- the Omnipresent God" is not in our versions
These ideas are linked, yet confused, and may have added to the
idea that Jesus existed before he came to earth
This passage only makes sense if Jesus believed he was, and spoke
the word of God, which is the theme of this gospel of John, but
does not appear so in the other three
The word of God came to Abraham, but it was Moses who seems to
have written it down for all to have. So perhaps this is what Jesus
meant in that Abraham rejoiced to know the word of God was coming
for all, and would in that sense be the
Omnipresent God? He would also be pleased to know one had come
to defend it
This does not explain all the differences in the Aramaic. It could
be Jesus was saying "even if Abraham had never been, (and
therefore the promises never giv | 