Commentaries and Podcasts

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23 Part 2 - 12-28-2012

Last week at the end of the first part of this presentation of Luke chapter 23, we addressed what was seen as two ages-old Christian Identity heresies, both of which are unnecessary innovations. The first belongs, so far as I know, to Wesley Swift, who told a fantastic story about Barabbas called The Blue Tunic Army Of Christ, a story which is not substantiated in history and which is refuted by the words of the Gospel writers alone. Barabbas was a mere robber, and not the great leader of an army for God. The second is the misconception concerning Luke 23:34, where some perhaps well-meaning but poorly studied individuals like to claim that the first sentence of that verse should be read in part “Father forgive them not, for they know what they do.” Yet the Greek sentence in question is correctly translated as it is found in the King James Version, where it reads “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The Greek grammar proves that the King James Version translation of the sentence is correct, where in all of Luke's writing wherever a verb is accompanied with a negative particle, forming a negative verb, the negative particle precedes the verb which it negates, and never follows it.

However concerning this passage, in truth the earliest manuscripts are divided, and it is not found in the majority of them. Therefore it is most likely that the passage is an interpolation, and for that reason it is not found in the Christogenea New Testament. Many Identity Christians who have not known this have wondered how Christ could forgive his murderers. However even the context is obvious, that the verse saying “And casting lots they divided His garments” refers to the Roman soldiers, and not at all to the Judaeans who brought Christ before Pilate. Therefore if the statement concerning forgiveness is admitted into the narrative it can only refer to the Roman soldiers, and not to the Judaeans. The Judaeans knew what they were doing, as even Pilate knew they wanted Christ executed out of envy (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:19), and the Roman soldiers were truly ignorant of the entire situation and were only following orders. Christ Himself told Pilate “You do not have any authority over Me if it was not given to you from above. For this reason he who delivered Me to you has greater fault”, fully indicating that the jews alone were primarily responsible for His execution.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23 - 12-21-2012

We saw Luke chapter 22 end with the mock trial of Yahshua Christ in the court of the high priests. That trial was not a real trial, but probably only served so that the Judaeans could draw up the charges which they would present to Pilate, since in Judaea at the time only the Roman authority had the lawful power to try capital offenses. The first Herod had that power, when Judaea was a kingdom. However under Herod Archelaus Judaea was reduced to the status of an imperial province and the local rulers lost that authority.

All four gospels offer quite different perspectives on the mock trial of Yahshua before the high priests. It must be noted that the four quite different perspectives of the events of both trials and the crucifixion of Christ was probably the result of the disciples being scattered after Christ was seized in the garden, which is seen at Mark 14:50. One thing that is apparent in all four gospels, however, is that there were really no charges of substance worthy of a capital or even a minor offense which could have been brought, except that the high priests and scribes cared not for justice but for expediency, so they merely invented charges. As Mark wrote in his version of the account, “56...many had testified falsely against Him, and the testimonies were not the same. 57 And some arising gave false testimony against Him saying 58 that: “We heard Him saying that ‘I shall destroy this temple made by hand and after three days I shall build another not made by hand!’” 59 Yet not even thusly was their testimony the same.” Matthew said “59 Then the high priests and the entire council sought false testimony against Yahshua, that they may kill Him, 60 yet they found not many false witnesses coming forth. But later two having come forth 61 said 'He said this: ‘I am able to destroy the temple of Yahweh and in three days I will build it!’” While on the surface the accounts seem to conflict because of the differing perspectives, in many ways they compliment and corroborate one another. Luke did not record the matters concerning the temple, but all three gospels generally agree where Luke records the high priests as having asked “67 'If You are the Christ, tell us!' And He said to them: 'If I should tell you, you shall not believe it, 68 and if I shall ask, by no means will you answer. 69 But from this time the Son of Man shall be sitting at the right hand of the power of Yahweh.'” The apostle John in his gospel did not record any of the charges which the high priests and their followers had contrived before bringing Yahshua before Pilate.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 22, Part 2 - 12-07-2012

Satan is not in heaven. In his mailing this month, Clifton Emahiser sent out my reply to the assertions of Don Spears which had been presented here as a foreword with the presentation of Luke chapter 8 last July 7th. Since Don is a former Baptist preacher, his opinions on the issue generally reflect those which are held by Baptists on this matter. Unfortunately a very few people understand that once one comes to the truths of Christian Identity, one cannot put the new wine of these truths into old skins. Rather, one must put the new wine into new bottles, in order that the truth be maintained.

With this dispute in mind, we will begin our presentation of the second part of Luke chapter 22 with some of that which we had left off last week, with Luke 22:31 and the admonishment of Peter by Christ.

31 “Simon, Simon, behold! The Adversary demanded you, for which to winnow you as grain! 32 But I made supplication concerning you, that your faith would not fail. And when you have turned about, you must strengthen your brethren.”

The Baptists would insist that the Adversary, or Satan, of Luke 22:31 is a spirit demon, however that is not necessarily the case. The precedent Scripture with which to understand just what Peter was prevented from is found in the story of Job in the Old Testament. Yet the Baptists would insist that the Satan of Job was a spirit demon, and not an bodily one. They would then claim that this Satan had access to both heaven and earth, and reference the story of Jacob's Ladder in order to justify that claim.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 22, Part 1 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 12-07-2012

Last week, in presenting the second half of Luke chapter 21, we saw that the so-called diaspora of the jews, which in reality did not occur for the most part until after the Bar Kokhba Rebellion against Rome circa 136 AD, was really the diaspora of the enemies of God and Christ. We saw that in the language used not only by Christ Himself in Luke chapter 21, but where the same language was used of all those people of Judah who were to be given over to the “bad figs” described in Jeremiah chapters 24 and 29, the remnant of Judah in Jerusalem which was not taken away earlier by the Assyrians, but had been taken later by the Babylonians. These people who were to be given over to the bad figs are, ostensibly, those people of Judah who later race-mixed with the Kenites and Canaanites and Edomites who were the bad figs which had infiltrated the Kingdom from the earliest times. The Jews are not the people of God, they are the enemies of God. For this same reason the apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 9, distinguished between the true Israelites in Israel and those which were not of Israel, between the Israelites who are the vessels of mercy, and the Edomites who are the vessels of destruction. 

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21 part 2 - 11-30-2012

20 “But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you know that her desolation has come near. 21 Then those in Judaea must flee into the mountains, and those in her midst must leave the land, and those in the countryside must not enter into her!

Two weeks ago, in our presentation of the first half of Luke chapter 21, we saw how these words recorded by Luke were perfectly fulfilled in history just as they were recorded. Jerusalem was surrounded by armies during the siege of Cestius Gallus in 66 AD, and then Cestius withdrew from the city for no apparent reason. A couple of years later the Roman armies under Titus besieged and destroyed the city. In the interim, as Josephus attests, many of the better people fled the city for good. Josephus also attests to the vile nature of all those who remained behind, who were for the most part destroyed by Titus' armies. Now we shall present the second half of Luke chapter 21, where we left off discussing verses 22 through 24 and had introduced the parable of the good and the bad figs from Jeremiah chapter 24.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 21 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-16-2012

1 Then looking up He saw those casting the gifts of their riches into the treasury. 2 And He saw a certain needy widow casting two lepta there.

Lepta (singular λεπτόν, 3016) are very small coins. The Codex Bezae (D) inserts the explanatory phrase “which is a quadrans” (κοδράντης, 2835) into this verse. That manuscript also substituted κοδράντης for λεπτόν at Luke 12:59, where we see an example of a liberality taken in the copying of manuscripts in order to satisfy a difference in the vernacular, whether of the region or period. Evidently another copyist of the scrolls which led to the Codex Bezae meant to clarify lepton here by adding a note rather than changing the word. Marginal notes have often been known to eventually find their way into the texts, and here that process is evident.

3 And He said “Truthfully I say to you that this poor widow has cast more than all! 4 For all of them from their abundance have cast in the gifts, but she from her want has cast in all the substance she had!”

The Codices Alexandrinus (A), Bezae (D), Washingtonensis (W), and the Majority Text have “the gifts of God”; the text of the Christogenea New Testament follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א) and Vaticanus (B).

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 20 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 11-09-2012

1 And it came to pass on one of the days of His teaching the people in the temple and announcing the good message, there appeared the high priests and the scribes with the elders 2 and they spoke, saying to Him “Tell us, by what sort of authority do You do these things? Or who is it who has given to You that authority?”

The Codices Alexandrinus (A), Washingtonensis (W) and the Majority Text have merely priests, rather than high priests. The text follows the Codices Sinaiticus (>א), Vaticanus (B), Ephraemi Syri (C) and Bezae (D).

3 But replying He said to them “I also shall ask you a question, and you must tell Me:

The word λόγος (3056) is rendered as question here, but it most literally means a word.

4 The immersion of Iohannes, was it from of heaven or from of men?”

The Pharisees had not gone to John because they thought of being baptized by him. They really went to see what he was doing, and why he thought he had such license to baptize. In Luke chapter 7, after Christ explains to the people that John was indeed a prophet, we see these words: “29 And all the people heard, and the tax-collectors deemed Yahweh just, being immersed in the immersion of Iohannes. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of Yahweh in regard to themselves, not being immersed by him.” Here Christ challenges them concerning this, which is also recorded in Matthew chapter 21and Mark chapter 11. From here we can also see that it is not improper to answer a question with a question in return, a rhetorical device eschewed by many today.