Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Matthew, chapter 28

1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
Compare this to the other 3 accounts. Very interesting ... and contradicting.
2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
So when angels come down from heaven that'll cause earthquakes? Why? Dramatic effect? And what's an appearance like lightning? This verse also contradicts its counterparts in the other Gospels.
5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
That's a quite well informed angel, isn't it?
7 "Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
Going? Can't he just teleport or something?
8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Eh, weren't they supposed to meet him in Galilee?
10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."
So the Brethren were not the disciples? Or did Jesus appear to the women only, when they were still running?
12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, "You are to say, 'His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.'
Clever tactic. Trying to discredit the argument before it can be used ... Or rather, since the argument was used at the time the Gospel were written, this was to 'prove' that Scripture knew this future accusation already from the beginning ...
15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.
As if reasonable people wouldn't come to this conclusion by their own ...
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.
Didn't they meet him already in verse 8? And why did they doubt? Didn't the resurrected Jesus look like the Jesus they knew?
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
Given from the Father, I guess. That Trinity concept just doesn't hold up.
9 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
And from that day on Christians are ringing on doors and annoying people ... Thank you, J!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This commentary seems cursory at best. Given the language used and the terseness of the translated word, it is easy to see that there is a lot of ambiguity and contradiction throughout the bible. However, it seems that you are misunderstanding some of the less complex portions of Matthew. For instance, Chapter 28, vv 8 and 10 - could the author be talking about the women rather than the disciples? v17 most likely is referring to Thomas ('Doubting Thomas') who asked to touch the wounds so that he might know; it seems odd that you (as someone who is skeptical) would find it unusual that someone would have trouble believing in the resurrection.

Most of this commentary seems similar seems like typical arguments that you see on the internet - those that often degenerate into attacks on the style of what someone says rather than the substance. Might I suggest taking a deeper look at what you are reading before undertaking a project of this size? Consider at least reading some type of concordance in conjunction with the bible. As you well know, the bible is complex, full of apparently contradictory statements and difficult to understand due to the nonlinear manner in which many of the books are written. Delving a little deeper might make this a more enriching experience - and this goes for those who proclaim belief as well as those who don't but still wish to understand.