THE RESURRECTED ONE HIMSELF DENIED HE WOULD RISE!
If Jesus himself said that he would not rise from the dead that would be damning for Christianity.
Some feel that when Jesus told a thief on the day they
were dying that they would be in Paradise that day and how he said he would not
drink wine again in this world and even refused bad wine on the cross to make
the point that he was clearly thinking he was going out of this world for good.
The resurrection appearances could actually have been holograms or images rather
than real appearances of Jesus.
The sign of Jonah can be read as a hint. There Jesus says like Jonah who was three days and nights in a fish so he will be in the earth. But the story does not say Jonah died.
There is actually a clue in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus never intended to be crucified or rise from the dead at all. He left a simple test for working out who was a false prophet. He said false prophets act like sheep but are wolves in disguise and he said you can tell that they are fakes by their bad works, their bad fruits. So basically if they do or say anything that cannot be provably excused they are fakes. This is a very simple test and that was what Jesus intended it to be. Therefore tales about the prophet only seeming to be evil for there is a higher purpose for what he does which only he can fathom are out for they make the criterion useless. Jesus did a lot of terrible things like dragging around apostles after him while he put their lives at risk and his by claiming to be the Messiah.
He insulted a demonised girl to her mother. He failed his
own test. But his ideal was to look good and his ideal proves that he never
intended to be crucified and rise again for if he did then he would have
blatantly failed his test.
He said that heaven and earth would pass away and his
word would not. Christians say he meant the sky not the abode of God which is a lie
for in those days the sky was thought to be just that, where God lived as in a
sort of house.
Jesus here denied that he would ascend to Heaven to live forever or rise in an immortal body for where is he going to go when Heaven is destroyed? His word would last beyond these meaning that his message that they would pass away would still be true then. Even if he meant the New Testament scriptures by his word, who needs them in Heaven? What would be the point of rising from the dead and going to Heaven if he still had a mortal body?
He also stated that the Devil is a burglar and ties up
the strong man before raiding his house meaning that the Devil only does things
that look good. He never gave any philosophical proof that his resurrection
could not be the work of the Devil and it is worthless without that
philosophical exploration. Evil is unreasonable so it follows that this lack
proves that the resurrection was satanically powered and engineered.
The disciples of Jesus did not fast and those John the
Baptist had did. Jesus
explained that he would not let his own do that for they had him with them
meaning that it was a time for rejoicing (Mark 2). He remarked that you do not
put patches from new things unto old. And he said that his own disciples should
wait until he was out of the world before fasting. Fasting was done to
discipline the body. Jesus is forbidding his apostles to do that. Perhaps he
thought that fasting was not about discipline but about pain for the sake of
pain. If it was party-time, as he said, then after his death should be a bigger
party for he is now with God and better at helping us than ever. When Jesus said
that now was the time for celebrating he had no intention of surviving death or
rising from the dead at that time. He did not even believe in life after death.
In John 2, Jesus causes trouble in the Temple and claims
authority to put the buyers and sellers and their animals and stock out. The
Jews asked him where he got this authority and what evidence he had to show he
had it. He replied that they should destroy this Temple and in three days he
will raise it up. He didn't say what he meant by that. John says he meant the
temple of his body which would die and be raised up again three days later. The
Jews assumed he meant he would demolish the Temple and rebuild it in three days.
From this they concluded that he was mad. Jesus is declaring that the
resurrection is his big proof that he is the Messiah, Son of God and whatever
else he claims to be. Would Jesus have misled them that way and made them think
he wished to demolish the Temple? What other interpretation could they take of
him? Maybe that is what he meant. Especially when he was attacking the Temple
physically. It is tempting to think that the resurrection story could have
started with a missing tomb. Then the apostles remembering the prophecy about
the Temple decided it was his body he meant not the real Temple and decided they
had enough to go on to proclaim a resurrection. In any case, Jesus was claiming
the right to meddle even violently in Temple affairs without giving any evidence
that he had authority to do so. He needed that evidence before he could act. But
he didn't let that stop him. John puts this episode at the start of Jesus'
ministry when he hadn't even started his ministry with its alleged miracles
which worsens it all. He was not to be trusted.
Jesus said in Mark's Gospel that false Christs would
appear before the destruction of the Temple. He warned his own apostles to be
very careful that these Christs would not lead them astray. The Temple was
destroyed in 70 AD. The gospel was written about that time. But where were the
Christs who were so plausible that even the apostles had to watch out in case
they were taken in? Mark's gospel ends with angels saying that Jesus rose from
the dead and was going to meet his apostles in Galilee. Then it stops. The rest
of the chapter is a forgery. Putting two and two together, Jesus possibly was
only seen during one apparition in Galilee. But was he a ghost or a vision
caused by remote viewing? Whatever. If we are right then the other
appearances of the risen Christ were either the work of demons or men pretending
to be Jesus. The false Christs were all the appearances of somebody pretending
to be Jesus. Is that why Mark stopped the gospel there? Was it because though it
was thought Jesus rose, that only one of the appearances could be trusted?
The resurrection failed to be his big proof for nobody saw him rising. That can be taken as support for a literal interpretation of his Temple prophecy.
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