An Easter Myth by Troy Salinger

 

[Around the time of Passover ...] Christians all across the world celebrate the greatest event in human history — the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from among the dead. The age-long desire of man to somehow escape death and live on in immortality finds it’s only hope of fulfillment in this one incomprehensible event.

Yet within the world of Christendom there is a persistent and prevailing myth that mars the wonder and beauty of that glorious event. In the realm of orthodox, catholic Christianity, there is the belief that Jesus is God himself. As a corollary to this belief is the notion that Jesus actually raised himself from the dead. Then the supposed fact that Jesus raised himself from the dead is used as proof of his Deity. This is clearly circular reasoning. But is this really what Scripture tells us about the resurrection of Messiah? Let’s examine the Scriptures together to see if this is indeed a biblical truth or a mere myth.

The Scriptural evidence is overwhelming with respect to the fact that Jesus did not raise himself from the dead but was raised by another, i.e. God , the Father. The following list of verses show this to be the case (please look up each of these passages for yourselves): Acts 2:24, 31-32; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39-40; [13:29-31, 34-37;] 17:30-31; Romans 4:24; 6:4; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Cor. 6:14; 15:15; 2 Cor. 4:14; 13:4; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:19-20; Colossians 2:12; 1Thess. 1:10; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 1:21.

Besides these verses, which explicitly state the fact that Jesus was raised by another person, namely God, there are at least 28 verses in the NT which state that Jesus would be or has been raised from the dead. In each of those 28 verses the Greek word egeiro, in one form or another, is used in the passive voice, implying that Jesus was a passive participant in his resurrection i.e. he was raised by another.

With such formidable testimony, from multiple witnesses, how is it that the myth of Jesus raising himself from the dead ever came to be so prevalent in the thinking of Christians? Beside the already mentioned fact of orthodoxy’s belief in the essential deity of Jesus, the only line of evidence in favor of this notion are two passages of Scripture from the gospel of John. The first one I will deal with is John 10:17-18 which reads:

17.) Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18.) No one taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father.  ASV

I chose the American Standard Version to illustrate the tendency of translators to lead the reader in a certain direction. First, the word “power,” used twice in verse 18, is from the Greek exousia, which does not refer to raw power, i.e. the ability or strength to act, but to the authority or right to act; jurisdiction, privilege or liberty. The following verses confirm these meanings:

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right (exousia) to become children of God. John 1:12 NIV

Because he taught as one who has authority (exousia), and not as their teachers of the law.  Matt. 7:29  NIV

… the chief priests and elders of the people came to (Jesus). “By what authority (exousia) are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority (exousia).  Matt. 21:23  NIV

But take care that this right (exousia) of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
  1 Cor. 8:9  ESV

Do we not have the right (exousia) to eat and drink? Do we not have the right (exousia) to take along a believing wife … Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right (exousia) to refrain from working for a living. 
 1 Cor. 9:4-6  ESV

Jesus was not saying that he had the sheer, raw power to take his life again, but that he had the authority or right or privilege to do so, this being given him by the Father. The second thing to see in our passage are the words “take it,” which appear three times. Again, the English misleads us here. The second use of “take it” is the Greek word airo, which in this context means ‘to take by force.’ The first and third use are from the Greek word lambano, which can mean to ‘take’ but also and often to ‘receive’. What is not apparent in the English is that the word lambano appears again in our text, “This commandment I received (lambano) from my Father.” So the word lambano appears three times, each time in the aorist tense, active voice. I offer this translation:

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life, in order that I might receive it back again. No one takes it from me by force, but I lay it down of myself. I have the privilege to lay it down and the privilege to receive it again. This command I received from my Father.

This certainly takes away from the passage any idea of Jesus raising himself by his own power, thus harmonizing it perfectly with the preponderance of testimony that Jesus was raised by another – the Father.

The second and only other passage that appears to give credence to this myth is John 2:19:

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it.”

Orthodox Christian apologists see this as a clear declaration by Jesus that he would raise himself from the dead, thus proving himself to be God. But can this one verse cancel out the overwhelming testimony of the NT authors. Peter was no doubt present when Jesus said this, but as we find in his recorded messages in the book of Acts, he surely did not take Jesus’ words to mean that he raised himself. Peter’s testimony, again and again, is ” 

• “… but God raised him from the dead … ” Acts 2:24;
• “ God raised this Jesus to life … ” Acts 2:32;
• “You killed the prince of life, but God raised him from the dead.” Acts 3:15;
• … Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead … ”
  Acts 4:10; 
• “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead … ” Acts 5:30; 
• “They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead … ”
  Acts 10:39-40; 
• “Through him (Jesus) you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him … .”
  1 Peter 1:21.

Even the very context of our passage throws doubt on the ‘orthodox’ interpretation. In verse 22 we read, “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.” 
The word  for ‘raised‘ is a passive voice verb, implying that Jesus was passive in his resurrection. Note, John did not write “after he raised himself from the dead … .” The apostle is commenting on the words of Jesus and does not say what the apologists say. How odd! So what did Jesus mean if not that he would raise himself? I stress again, we want to avoid interpreting Jesus’ words here in such a way that they are in contradiction to the clear teaching of the rest of the NT. There are, at least, two possible solutions, and perhaps even others that I haven’t thought about.

Solution 1

The first solution is to take Jesus’ words here in the same sense as we saw at John 10:17-18, so that he is simply saying, under the analogy of the temple, “Kill me and in three days, upon receiving my life back again, I will raise my body up.” The word for ‘raise‘ is often used in the gospels of someone going from a lying down position to a standing position. When Jesus was buried he was placed inside a tomb cut out of the side of a mountain. In the tomb there would have been a stone slab upon which his body was laid. When he was brought back to life and made immortal, by the power of God, his Father, he would have still at that moment been lying down on the stone slab. It was then under his own power that he stood up. So Jesus, in this view, would not be saying that he would bring himself from a state of death to a state of life again, but merely that, having received his life back, he would raise his body up from a lying down position to a standing position. This would provide the proof of his authority that the Jews demanded, not proof of his deity, but of his messiahship.

Solution 2

In the NT we are told that Jesus was not only the Messiah, but also a prophet
{Acts 4:22-26; Matt. 13:57; 21:11; Luke 7:16; 13:33; John 4:19}. 
This is an overlooked aspect of Jesus’ ministry, because the belief that Jesus is God so dominates the thinking of Christians, so that he is seen as speaking and acting as if he were God himself rather than as one speaking and acting for God. Now the prophets of the OT would often speak as God, in the first person, and even without first saying “thus says the LORD.” There are many examples of this in the Scripture, e.g.  throughout Hosea chapters 5-10, the prophet is switching back and forth between speaking about God in the third person, and speaking in the first person as God. He does not announce this switch with the customary “This is what the LORD says.” Many passages in Isaiah do this same thing, e.g. 3:1-4; 10:1-12; 22:17-24; 27:1-5; 29:1-6; 54:5-8; 61:7-10. This same phenomena is found in some of the Psalms, e.g. 50:4-7; 82:5-8; 95:7-11; 132:13-18. Since Jesus was a prophet, is it not reasonable to suppose that there were times when he spoke in the first person, not as himself, but as God? Not only that, but in John’s gospel itself we have Jesus saying,

“For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself, who sent me, has given me a commandment to say everything I have said … so the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”  John 12:49-50  CSB

“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God …”   John 3:34

“ … I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.” 
John 8:28  ESV

“The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.”  
John 14:24  HCS

I believe it is reasonable to propose that when Jesus said “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” he was speaking as God, in the first person, not as himself. Other examples of Jesus speaking in a prophetic role as God may be Luke 11:29-32, 42-52; 13:34-35; 17:22-36; Matt. 11:20-24; 21:43-44; 23:13-39. Or should we just assume that Jesus never spoke in this unique way as a prophet.

Conclusion

We must avoid the error of the apologists of orthodox Christology at this point. They are guilty of pitting their literal interpretation of one verse against the unanimous and unambiguous testimony of the whole NT, resulting in a contradiction between Jesus and the apostles whom he chose. I have offered here two solutions which avoid this error. If anyone has an alternative solution I am interested in hearing it. ...

The above was taken from

An Easter Myth
Some editing has been done.

The Messiah’s New World Order by Nigel Page-Jones, England

Satan counterfeits everything, even when it comes to wanting to rule the earth one day. He promises a new one-world government which brings humanity together under one umbrella and solves all the world’s problems. Meanwhile, moral and social collapse are widespread. Wickedness has infiltrated every sector of society and seeks to remove all godliness in the name of the common good. Any attempt to protest is derided as old-fashioned or even right-wing. People think truth is relative and no longer absolute. A form of collectivism has conquered the world, and yet its underlying values are rotten to the core. Good is called evil and evil is called good (see Prov. 17:15; 24:24; Mal. 2:17).

Satan is rallying his worshippers today, especially those in positions of influence. He is determined to complete this programme of world dominion, this New World Order. Most Christians and the public at large are unaware of the true extent of Satan’s activities and influence. He has structures and fraternities in place at the highest levels of society which make his current rule both unassailable and hidden. He controls government, entertainment, medicine, science, education, and most surprisingly the church. Presidents are hand-picked from an early age, Hollywood stars must take the oath, teachers must teach the curriculum and pastors must teach respectable theology. Livelihoods suffer for all those who dissent.

In Psalm 2, we are warned against the rulers of the earth who conspire against the LORD (YAHWEH) and His anointed. Nimrod is an example of one such ruler who “reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah and they were all under his power and counsel” (Book of Jasher, ch. 7). Nimrod is also associated with the building of the Tower of Babel in the attempt to reach heaven and overthrow God. The attempt failed and God took action against this common intent by confusing their languages.

In the same way, we should be vigilant today about any professed common intent to govern the world especially when its agenda is in direct opposition to God and having only a form of godliness (2 Tim. 3:5). The world is deceived and incapable of ruling itself righteously. Satan is its god (2 Cor. 4:4). The world desperately needs God’s intervention.

Satan’s attempt at a New World Order is a mere counterfeit which is destined to fail in due course. The Bible speaks of a genuine new world government (the Kingdom of God) which will be established here on earth when Jesus returns. The world will not carry on forever in darkness under the grip of sin and Satan. 

A New Garden of Eden

Everything was perfect in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were blissfully happy and fulfilled. They enjoyed a unique relationship with God as He communed with them and took care of all their needs. They were destined to live forever. Adam had been given authority to rule over all the earth including animals, fish and birds. (Gen. 1:26). It was the first Kingdom of God established on earth and governed by Adam with an authority from God Himself. Alas, we all know that it was not to last. 

The Bible is an account of how a second Kingdom of God will be established on earth one day in the future. Corruption, poverty and injustice will be problems of the past. The Garden of Eden will be restored, but this time on an even grander scale with the whole earth perfected and renewed. Man will be restored to properly reflect the image of God and to have dominion over the earth as was God’s original intention. Where man has failed with his various political systems, even so-called democracies, God will now succeed. The future Kingdom on earth will be a theocracy, a dictatorship governed by Jesus Christ, and co-ruled with the saints (Dan. 7:18, 22, 27). When Jesus said in the Beatitudes that the meek will inherit the earth this is precisely what he meant. Jesus the Messiah understood the Kingdom of God to be this theocratic reign under his own headship which would come to earth in a real and political sense. It would be without end: 

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan. 2:44). 

The briefest of glances at the first three gospels confirms that Jesus was consumed with this message of a future Kingdom on earth. Whilst Jewish listeners would have understood its significance immediately, this language is largely lost to Western ears today. Jesus was talking of the great Jewish hope promised to Abraham. The Gospel preached by Jesus was not primarily one of the cross, but rather one of a new one-world government here on earth replacing all previous earthly kingdoms. The cross is essential for our salvation, but to believe that this was Jesus’ primary message is to miss the Gospel that Jesus believed and taught. 

Unfortunately, the church continues to preach a gospel limited to the cross and points to heaven as our dwelling place whilst using vague language such as “inviting Jesus into our hearts.” It fails to properly portray Jesus as a Jewish prophet announcing, as his Gospel, a future Kingdom of God on earth which he would rule over as Messiah. This dominated Jesus’ teaching and yet the church is silent on the issue, preferring instead to focus on Paul’s teaching to the exclusion of the Kingdom. We need to elevate Jesus’ words to the highest authority, as did Paul.

The Gospel According to Jesus

The Jesus in the first three gospels can be a little difficult for us to relate to sometimes. He seemed strangely unconcerned with the world’s problems and made no effort to improve social justice despite his large following and influence. Certainly, he challenged the hearts of individuals as to their attitude towards the poor and marginalised, but he never attempted to instigate a programme of social reform against the Roman tyranny or issues such as slavery. Perhaps Jesus knew that things were not going to improve whilst men governed the political systems.

God had a similar mistrust in man’s ability to govern himself when he warned Israel in 1 Samuel 8 that by installing a king, it would suffer hardships such as conscription to war, seizure of their crops and high levels of taxation. Every human king or government is destined to fail despite its various promises, reform programmes and even apparent good intentions. It is against this backdrop that Jesus found himself, but his time to rule as Messiah had not yet come, and is still a future event.

From the very beginning of his ministry Jesus passed quickly from village to village telling everyone to repent because the Kingdom of God was coming. We sense his urgency when he tells his disciples to shake off the dust from their feet and move on if people were not interested. This message of the coming Kingdom consumed Jesus. 

Even from the very beginning of Mark in chapter 1:14-15 we are introduced to a Jesus who preaches predominantly about the Kingdom: 

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching God’s gospel and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.’” 

Here the Gospel is defined for us if we are still unsure; it is the message that the Kingdom of God is coming. By believing this and repenting of our sins, we are gifted with immortality and the privilege of sharing in the Messiah’s inheritance and rule in this Kingdom by the grace of God.
Mark 1:1 speaks of the beginning of the Gospel. 

References to the Kingdom of God can be found a total of 36 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark and 32 times in Luke. In Matthew it is normally referred to as the “Kingdom of Heaven,” but this is simply another term for the same concept, heaven being the origin of this Kingdom on earth. Both terms speak of a Kingdom from God which will come to earth at a single, future event and last forever. 

Indeed, this is the very event that Jesus encourages us to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer when he said, “May Your Kingdom come.” Its location is on earth, for the next line is “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In the Day of the Lord the earth will be transformed, dead believers will be raised with resurrection bodies and the Kingdom of God will be established here on earth. 

Let us consider some passages which show Jesus’ preoccupation with the Gospel of the Kingdom. It should be evident that this is not only the Gospel that Jesus preached but also the one that he commanded his disciples to preach. 

• “And it came about soon afterwards, that he began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the Kingdom of God; and the twelve were with him”
  (Luke 8:1). 
• “And he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God, and to perform healing”
  (Luke 9:2). 
• “But he said to him, ‘Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the Kingdom of God’”
  (Luke 9:60).
• “When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road”
  (Matt. 13:19). 

The last verse is clear that there are consequences for those who hear the word of the Kingdom of God but do not understand it.

Jesus believed in the same Jewish hope as his forefathers and identified himself as the Messiah who would restore the nation. He preached that this hope was now at hand, that the Kingdom of God was coming. The word “preach” means to “herald” much like a town crier would announce important news in days gone by. Nobody seemed in any doubt what this Kingdom was; in fact one almost has the impression that Jesus could have equally have just said, “It’s coming, quick, repent, it’s coming!” and conveyed the same message with equal success.

This is quite different from the gospel preached by the church today which has downgraded Jesus’ central message to one of simply believing that he died for our sins, essential as that is. According to Matthew, Jesus does not even mention his death until chapter 16, so clearly the cross did not have the same prominence for Jesus as it does for us. Christianity has lost its core message as preached by Jesus. Instead of preaching of God’s reign coming down from heaven to earth, it has preached a message of us going from earth to heaven. 

The Depoliticised Jesus

Although Jesus did not initiate social reform programmes, he was absolutely a political figure when it came to power and government. It was the reason that the Romans agreed to have him put to death. Any man who claimed that he would rule the whole earth one day and seemed to have God on his side was a threat to the empire’s future stability. 

When Jesus establishes his Kingdom on earth it will not be with the same latest initiatives found in Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church. Instead, Jesus will establish his Kingdom with force and by killing his enemies. He will be the greatest military commander and political leader that the world has even seen. Those who refuse to submit to his authority will be killed in his presence as we read in Luke 19:27: 

“But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” 

The end of Revelation 19 describes this same scene of Jesus returning to earth and slaying its rulers and armies who make war against him. 

Many Christians struggle with this side of Jesus. Instead they reduce Jesus to a wise teacher who went about doing good things as an example of how we should live. They are more at home with this meek and mild Jesus who stays out of politics, but for Jesus, the Gospel and government were inseparable. Indeed, Jesus’ Gospel was entirely connected to governing the world one day. The Bible is unashamedly a political book, but sadly this has been lost on many today who are taught instead that Jesus had no interest in politics or power.

The reformer Martin Luther was instrumental in promoting this separation of religion and state in his “Doctrine of the two kingdoms” where he described a “left” and “right” kingdom. The left kingdom concerns itself with the physical realm, and the right kingdom with the spiritual realm. Luther proposed that the church (right kingdom) should not impose its authority on the state (left kingdom) because the two realms were distinct. According to Luther, however, the spiritual kingdom would ultimately triumph over the earthly kingdom as the church remained faithful in spiritual matters. This doctrine is still prevalent today.

Some of the rationale behind Luther’s thinking was Jesus’ response to Pilate in John 18:36 when Jesus announced that his Kingdom was not of this realm. Luther understands this other realm as a spiritual one and so concludes that Jesus’ Kingdom is spiritual. Luther misses the point entirely. Jesus is explaining that the source of his authority of this future Kingdom on earth is from another realm (God). Until that day arrives, Jesus will not attempt to establish the Kingdom in his own strength.

Luther was mistaken to believe that Jesus’ Kingdom was spiritual and that it was the church’s mandate to establish it on earth today through human endeavour and spiritual effort. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Today’s levels of corruption, injustice and discontent all confirm that Jesus is no more King of the earth today than he was 2000 years ago.

The church, having successfully been infiltrated by pagan and secular beliefs, is still under state control today. It has replaced its God-given discernment with a misplaced confidence in the state, or even worse, an idolatrous worship of the state. The church now endorses the state in all aspects except for perhaps the peripheral LGBT issues which are mere (but still wicked, in God’s eyes) distractions from the main agenda. In the meantime, the perks for charity-based status help to keep all dissent from churches at bay.

Another way in which the future Kingdom on earth is mistakenly viewed is to claim that this Kingdom is in our hearts. The verse used to support this view is Luke 17:21 which in the King James Bible reads, “the kingdom of God is within you.” Context is important, so let us first note that Jesus is talking to Pharisees. It is inconceivable that Jesus was suggesting that these hostile Pharisees had the Kingdom “within them.” Besides, the Kingdom of God cannot dwell in a person. Other translations render this verse as “the Kingdom of God is in your midst,” which is more in keeping with Jesus’ original intention. Jesus was replying to a question about his future Kingdom on earth.
The Kingdom will be unmissable when it arrives; present everywhere and in the midst of everyone. 

We must view Jesus through the lens of the culture in which he was operating. Part of our misunderstanding about Jesus stems from the fact that we live in a culture orientated towards the individual. We thus view Jesus as an individual separated from his social and cultural surroundings, whereas Jesus identified himself very much as part of something bigger than himself. Jesus found his identity in his role as the Messiah in God’s great plan to bring restoration to the nation of Israel, a plan which Gentiles are now also invited to participate in. As well as viewing Jesus as an individual, we also view ourselves as individuals. We incorrectly understand the Gospel primarily to be a matter of personal salvation. There is indeed truth in this, but the overarching invitation from God is that we can now be part of His great plan in the form of a future Kingdom on earth ruled over by Messiah and made possible through his blood! 

The above was taken from
here.
Some editing has been done.