Jesus promised his followers in no uncertain terms that he would soon return in glory and vindication. He vowed to redeem their suffering and to establish the Kingdom of God* on earth.. To heighten their expectations he assured his followers that most of them would live to see all of this come to pass. His failure to do so places Christians on the horns of a serious dilemma by exposing him as a false prophet. Jesus’ hollow promises work to seriously undermine his credibility. If the credibility of Jesus is undermined, so is that of the church. If, on the other hand, it is argued that the gospels and Paul reported incorrectly, does that not seriously undermine the credibility of the New Testament? Even if one were to argue that God knowingly inspired the contradictions, errors and broken promises in the New Testament, as have some, why should anyone believe any of its teachings if so much of it could be false? In Matthew 7:15, the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns his listeners to, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.†A "false prophet" is defined in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 where it reads: "And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him". Did Jesus ever predict something which didn't happen? The answer is a resounding yes. He in fact told several bald-faced lies. For a listing of them, see, Did Jesus Lie? on this web site. In Matthew 7:19 we read, “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire". Here Jesus condemns false prophets to hell. Since he himself qualifies as a false prophet isn't he saying that he should go to hell? The following quotes confirm that Jesus deliberately lied to his followers thereby leading them into false expectations. Matthew 7:7-8 - Jesus tells the crowd "Ask, and it shall be given you;... for everyone that asketh receiveth;..." This amounts to a false promise if there ever was one. Matthew 10:23 - When giving instructions to his apostles as to just how they are to go about spreading his message Jesus says,." . . . for truly I say unto you, you shall not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes." Matthew 16:28 - Jesus says to his disciples, "There are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Matthew 24:33-34 - After prophesying a wide assortment of events including the second coming, Jesus said to his disciples, " . . . when you shall see all these things, know that it (the 2nd coming) is near, even at the door. This generation shall not pass till these things be fulfilled." He was obviously referring to the contemporary generation. Matthew 26:64 - When brought before Caiaphas, the Chief Priest, Jesus said to him, "I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man . . . coming on the clouds of heaven." According to this the second coming was to happen during Caiaphas' lifetime. Mark 9:1 - Jesus said to the people and to his disciples, â€Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. Luke 13:3, 5 ~ Here Jesus issues what can only be described as a dire warning, �I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish . . . I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish�. He is so certain of it that he repeats it for emphases. However, this is contradicted a few verses later in the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7) where he says, �I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance�. Luke 21:27-28 -Jesus said to the congregation, “And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.†Luke 21:32 - Jesus said, again to the congregation, “This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.†John 5:47 - Jesus says, "If you do not believe his [Moses'] writings, how will you believe my words?" To Christians Moses' writings are the five books of the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In them is given the law of Moses which includes, among other things, the hallowed Ten Commandments. Jesus either ignored or actually broke many of them as we have seen. John 10:30 - Jesus says, "I and my Father are one." Here Jesus claims to be God. John 14:13-14 - Jesus outdoes the false promise he made in the sermon on the mount (see Matthew 7:7-8 above) when he said, "And whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." John 18:20 - When being questioned by the high priest, Jesus answered, "I spake openly to the world; I have ever** taught in the synagogues and in the temple, and in secret have I said nothing." Here he told two lies. For example, the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps his most famous sermon was delivered neither in a synagogue nor in the temple but on a mountain top (Matthew 5:1.) In Matthew 16:20 he warns his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. In other words, Keep it a secret. Revelation 22:7, 12, 20 - Jesus says, "Behold, I come quickly." Almost two thousand years have passed, all those who knew him are long dead, yet Jesus’ promise of a quick return remains unfulfilled. I think it’s time to acknowledge that either the New Testament Gospels are fiction or that Jesus flat-out lied***. According to Deuteronomy 13:1-5 if an aspiring prophet's words do not come to pass, and if he seeks to turn people from the true God and to another, namely himself, and claims to be equal with God, then he is a false prophet and should be put to death. Therefore, in light of the above didn�t Jesus deserve the death sentence? ________________________________________________________. *The Kingdom of God is a euphemism for an independent Israel free from Roman occupation. ** In NSRV "ever" is translated as "always" thereby including all occasions at all times. Source: http://www.inu.net/skeptic/lie.html hey, i hope you will not behead me for this thread
In Matthew 24 the events he is talking about clearly have a dual meaning - the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70 and also in a larger sense Jesus uses it as a prophecy about the end of the world. In every one's life Jesus' second coming is soon - normally within 80 years - i.e. they die - the very next thing they will know is meeting their maker. Second Paul in his letters makes it clear that certain things must happen before Christ's return - Particularly in the books Thessalonians in which the early church is dealing with just this problem you highlight - the promised soon return of Jesus. You must also read the whole of the New Testament to get a clearer understanding of Jesus' teaching. For example where He says "There are some here who will live to see the son of man revealed in his glory" - some might think that this refers to his return - but clearly this comment was addressed to Peter, James and John who saw him at the transfiguration with both Moses and Elijah ministering to him. Also in the Bible is the mention of the firstfruits - those who were taken to heaven as a small example of Christ's second coming. There are previous examples of people like this before in the Bible - Enoch (and God took him), Moses (who had to die first), Elijah (taken up to heaven in a flaming chariot). Finally remember to God time does not have the same meaning as to man - to us a couple of thousand years is a long time - to God who has been around forever - it is as nothing in time.
I think he's into dropshipping/Ecommerce. I'm more of an affiliate marketing kind of guy so I haven't paid too much attention to his IM blog.
P.S. - when I asked "God help me" when hooked onto a live caravan - I instantly was released and dropped to the ground saving my life - I had been held for a period of time (admittedly when your having 240 volts through your arm and legs it seems like forever, but is was probably about 20 seconds) - but is wasn't until I appealed to my maker that I was instantly released? Call it co-incidence, a break in the electricities cycle - I will claim this promise of Jesus - it was never a false promise - it has proved very real to me.
Seeing the message is still going throughout the 'cities of Israel' and the rest of the world and yet to go to Saudi Arabia and others how true this prophecy is.
. He said nothing about this happening in Caiaphas lifetime - his promise was that Caiaphas and others there would see his coming at some time in the future - what a surprise for Caiaphas to be raised from the dead only to see the man he condemn to death coming in his full glory and power - I can only think of the terror he will feel!
You are quoting out of context - he is obviously telling the high priest and those gathered that he had preach openly about these things but they didn't arrest him them, but waited until the cover of darkness and held a show trial in the early hours of the morning. Jesus preached in homes, on mountains, hill, from a boat, in fact all over the place - he's asking why when he spoke this openly they accuse him now. - Some on Jesus' prophecies of Jesus that have already come true - destroy this temple and in 3 days I will rebuilt it (they thought he was talking about the real temple - but he was talking about himself) - the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem - not one stone will lay upon another - the temple mount has been wiped bare and rebuilt over - the 'wailing wall' that the Jews pray at is not a 'wall of the temple' it is the retaining wall of the temple mount - Jesus prophecy that John would die a natural death while inferring the rest of the disciples would die for their faith - all the 11 others were martyred - put to death for spreading the gospel. I could go on - but it would probably be a waste of time - you either have faith or your don't.