WHY did they KILL JESUS ?



( A letter responding to a question my GRANDSON asked me -- when he was nine years-old.
How would you answer this inquisitive youngster? )



A tablet from the on-going INTERNET BOOK, "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets"
( http://www.terrific-tabs.com )
by
John N. Todd III, M. D. (link)

The web-link to this "tablet" is: http://www.terrific-tabs.com/print_kill_jesus.htm
To send a "live" link to a friend, copy and paste this web-link in an email message.

This "tablet" interrelates with Why God came into the world... as JESUS (link)
AND:
WHY do JEWS vote the way they do? (link)
AND:
Rigid Doctrinism (link);
AND:
CIRCUMVENTING and restricting GOD (link);
AND:
"ISRAELITES"... by God's promise (link)

7/01; 8/01; 12/01; 2/02; 8/02; 9/02; 12/02; 3/03; 2/04; 3/04; 4/04; 5/04; 8/04; 7/06; 12/06; 1/16/07

CLICK HERE to go to the "FRONT PAGE" of "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets"
CLICK HERE for ALPHABETICAL INDEX of this entire WEBSITE
CLICK HERE to EMAIL your thoughts to the author




Author's note: I realize that there are many "reasons" and explanations.... from various "religions", and from innumerable individuals.... as to who killed Jesus.... and "Why they killed Jesus". In this letter to my grandson, I am offering my heartfelt understanding -- my personal beliefs -- to a young person who is very dear to me, and very important to my family and me.

As I have stated in several other places, in this Internet book.... I have no interest in "proselytizing" on any religious subject.... and I am not attempting to persuade anyone to accept this "explanation" -- my response to my (then) 9-year-old grandson's fascinating question.

To the reader.... if what I say in this letter is at variance with your beliefs.... or with the teachings of your particular "church".... then someone else (perhaps God) will have to decide which of us is correct.... in God's eyes. There is no human-being on this earth -- and no church or "doctrine", in this world -- that is qualified or divinely "authorized" to judge or to decide which of us, individually, is "right".... and who is "wrong".... in his or her spiritual understanding.

James 4: 12 (NRSV) There is one Lawgiver and Judge -- who is able to save, and to destroy. So then.... who are you to judge your neighbor?

So, what do you say, in response to the question: "Why did they kill Jesus?".



Dear Tandy,

Not very long ago, one night, when you were nine years old, you and I were returning home after a college basketball game, riding along in my car. We happened to hear a "gospel" song on the radio.... "When He was on the cross, I was on His mind". You and I started talking about that song, and about the crucifixion of Jesus -- and then we began to think-out-loud about God, and "the church", and "spiritual" matters. You then asked me this very important question: "Why did they kill Jesus?".

I told you then that before trying to understand why Jesus was "killed", one must first understand "why"
God sent Jesus to the World (link).... or, more accurately, why God decided to come into our world, Himself, as "God-Incarnate" -- "God in the flesh" -- the "Messiah" -- the Christ. I explained to you that there are many reasons -- and many suppositions, opinions, and guesses -- about "why" Jesus came into the World. I stated that we humans have been allowed to understand some of the "reasons" why God decided to "embody" Himself in Jesus, and come into the World.... but that many of God's reasons remain largely hidden.... and that we human-beings can only "accept" the basic FACT.... that Jesus (God-the-Son) did come into our World -- for the purposes established by God-the-Father, Himself. (See link Jesus is God; God is Jesus.)

See what the Bible says about the attempts of human-beings to understand God's purposes and "reasons". Read these out loud, so that you may "hear" God's words:

Daniel 2: 20 (NRSV) Daniel said: "Blessed be the name of God, from age to age -- for wisdom and power are His. 21 He changes times and seasons; deposes kings; and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise -- and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He REVEALS deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness..... and light dwells with Him.

Deuteronomy 29: 29: "There are things hidden, and they belong to God -- and there are things revealed.... and they belong to us, and to our children, forever."

Job 32: 9 (NRSV) It is not the old that are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right; but truly it is the Spirit in a mortal -- the breath of the Almighty -- that makes for understanding.

Isaiah 55: 8 (NRSV) God speaking through Isaiah: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways -- and my thoughts than your thoughts.



In this letter, Tandy. I will first review with you my understanding of some of the reasons why Jesus (God-Incarnate) came into our world; and then I will give you a number of Biblical references that will be the basis of my "explanation" to your question, "Why did they kill Jesus". Later, along the way, you and I will ponder an adjacent question: "Why did God allow Jesus to be crucified".

Parenthetically, Tandy, I must state the following about my frequent references to the Bible: if we humans do not "believe" the Bible, and accept its underlying spiritual value and "truth".... then we are left to invent our own "god", and to design our "religion" -- with no guideline.... except history-books and the musings of philosophers -- and our own fantasies, concoctions, wonderings, and imagination. As for me -- I believe the Bible.... and I consider the Bible to have been "dictated" by God, through the hearts and hands of God's selected individuals. (See link:
The Bible, the Gold Standard of Spiritual Truth.)

Also, Tandy, there is a fundamental Biblical and theological truth.... in my understanding.... that needs to be emphasized, here at the outset. That "truth" is this: Jesus is God; and God is Jesus. ("Things equal to the same thing, are equal to each other.") I would like for you to see and consider, now, before reading any further on this page, my chapter on the subject:
Jesus is God; God is Jesus (link) -- a reference that is as close as a "link-click" away. That chapter, will give Biblical "verification" to substantiate my belief of this spiritual truth.... that Jesus is God -- and God is Jesus.



I shall now assume that you have reviewed the above-linked chapter "Jesus is God; God is Jesus".

At this point, I will "insert" a few Biblical references about WHY Jesus was SENT to the World.... that is, why
God came into the world, as Jesus (link). First of all, I will quote some of Jesus's own statements about "WHY".

Read these Bible quotations out loud.... so that you may hear the words of God-Incarnate, while you "see" His message:

Luke 4: 43 (KJV and NASV) Jesus speaking: "I must preach the
Kingdom of God (link) -- for I was SENT for this purpose."

Same (Amplified Bible) 43 Jesus speaking: I must preach the good news, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God ...... for I was SENT for this purpose.

Mark 1: 14 (NEB) After John had been arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the
Gospel of God (see link): "The time has come; the Kingdom of God is upon you. Repent, and believe the Gospel".

Same (RSV) .... Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel."

Same (KJV) Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, 15 And saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel."

Matthew 4: 23 (KJV) And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom (same RSV and NEB), and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.

Matthew 9: 35 (KJV) And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom (same in RSV).



Now, two additional quotations from "Godsword" (the Bible).... revealing other "explanations" and "prophecies" about why Jesus was "sent" to the World:

Matthew 5: 17 (NEB ) Jesus speaking: Do not suppose that I have come (to the world) to abolish the "Law and the prophets" [of the Jewish scriptures]. I have come not to abolish.... but to COMPLETE. 18 I tell you this.... so long as Heaven and earth endure, not a letter -- not a stroke -- will disappear from the Law, until ALL that MUST HAPPEN.... has happened.

Luke 4: 14 (KJV) And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias (Isaiah). And when He (Jesus) had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, 18 (quoting Isaiah 61: 1-2) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He [God] hath anointed me to
PREACH the GOSPEL (see link: The Gospel of God) to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives.... and recovering of sight to the blind.... to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 20 And He {Jesus) closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. 21 And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture FULFILLED in your ears.

(See link God the Holy Spirit.)



Tandy, I want you pay special attention to the two links shown above, concerning "The Kingdom of God".... and the "Gospel of God". "Click" on those links, and read the Bible quotations that are included in those chapters.

It is critically important to understand that, according to God-Incarnate's own words, He was SENT to preach the "Gospel of God". That is, Jesus was "sent" by God into our World, to preach and teach God's own "gospel".... God's message of God's truth.... God's "doctrine".... for God's own people. (See link God's People.)

(Jesus was NOT sent into the world to preach a "gospel" about His own life, death, and resurrection.)

And.... Jesus was "sent" to explain that the "Kingdom of God" supercedes the "kingdom of human-beings".... the "kingdom of mortals". This will be discussed additionally, below.

I consider Jesus to have been sent to the World as a "teacher", and as a "reformer" -- to instruct and awaken God's people.... and to "correct" some of the "religious" errors, and humanistic and legalistic misinterpretations that had grown and festered in the rules, regulations, requirements, and concoctions of the Jewish "spiritual" and "political" leaders of the time (the "chief priests", the "Scribes", and the "Pharisees").

Tandy, the "Gospel of God" (which God sent Jesus "to preach") is NOT the "gospel" about Jesus that some churches later (and now) promulgate as "the good news that Jesus died on the cross, for the redemption of the sins of mankind". The Biblical "Gospel of God", for which Jesus was "sent" to the world, is much different than that.... and much more complex, and fascinating. (I explain in detail my understanding of this subject in the "
Gospel of God" [linked here again]. Be sure to click on this link.... and concentrate on what is being said.

Also, my "decipherings" and my beliefs about the "Kingdom of God" are detailed in my separate chapter on that subject -- linked above. I do want to "paste" here, now, my own definition of the "Kingdom of God"; so that you, Tandy, will share my understanding of this huge subject -- (for later reference):

The Kingdom of God is the "spiritual dwelling-place" of God and God's people, where God's accepted individuals unite with God, and with each other, to carry out the plans and purposes of God. The "Kingdom of God" exists both now, in this life on Earth; and in the life-to-come, for Godspeople (God's people linked).... those individuals whom God has decided to include in His Kingdom. Admission to the "Kingdom of God" is not predicated on humanly effort or "decision", or upon "good works", or upon the recitation of a creed.... and "admission" is not dependent upon one's "church" membership, or upon the approval of any human-being.... or any group of humans.



Now, after all that preliminary "stuff", I will now move to the "meat" of the question: "Why did they kill Jesus?"

Tandy, Almighty God chose to come into the World as a man (Jesus) -- to teach us human-beings about God Himself; and to show us.... by the teachings and actions of Jesus, and by the words that God spoke through Jesus.... everything that we (we who "sense" and "feel" that we are "God's people") need to learn about God.... and what we should "believe" about God.

It is important to know, and to remember, that when Jesus was on earth, even though He was God-Incarnate, He was considered by most human-beings to be "just a man", not unlike other human-beings. Many people, in Jesus's day, much like now, did not understand (or acknowldege, or "accept") that Jesus was indeed God -- "God Incarnate"..... God in the flesh.... God in human-form.... even though Jesus had told His disciples, and many others, that He was indeed the "Messiah", "the Christ".

In Jesus's day, the "religious" leaders of the Jewish "church", were also the "political" (the governing) leaders of the Jewish people. These "leaders" based their "religious" and "secular" beliefs on concepts that had been passed down to them by their "Torah" (now a part of the Bible's "Old Testament"), and passed on to them for literally hundreds of years, from ancient writings, and from long-standing tradition -- by religious "prophets" of old; and by priests.... and by the "Scribes" and "Pharisees", and other groups. There were intensely strong "religious" beliefs, among these leaders, and among their "religious" followers.

In Jesus's day, there were mainly two groups of "Jewish" religious leaders which Jesus frequently referred to, and which He frequently belittled and disparaged -- the "Scribes" and the "Pharisees". These, along with the "chief priests", were the religious "insiders", and rule-makers, for the Jewish people.... and for the Jewish "church" (synagogue).

The Scribes and the Pharisees felt very, very strongly about their spiritual beliefs, and about their understanding of God. The Scribes and Pharisees held their beliefs so strongly, that they would not allow their followers to "accept" any beliefs except what the Scribes and Pharisees specified and approved -- and what they declared to be the only correct "beliefs". In fact, if an "Israelite" were found to have other beliefs, or non-"Jewish" ideas, or unacceptable "religious" practices -- that is, other ideas and beliefs than those endorsed by the Scribes and Pharisees.... that person could be expelled from the synagogue.... or put in jail, or even executed.... for denying, or not practicing, what the Scribes and Pharisees specified to be the only "truth" about "religion", and about the Jewish "beliefs".

When Jesus, the adult man, began to teach and preach, and to spread His message from God, one of the first things He said, "Now is the time for the Kingdom of God" -- that is, not the "kingdom of the Jews", nor the "kingdom of mortals", nor the "kingdom" of selected individuals approved by the "Scribes", or by the "Pharisees"; or by any other self-accredited group of human-beings.

Daniel 4: 25 (NRSV) (Daniel re: Nebuchadnezzar's vision) "You shall be driven away from human society, and your dwelling shall be with the wild animals. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen. You shall be bathed with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you.... until you have learned that the MOST HIGH has sovereignty over the KINGDOM of MORTALS -- and GIVES IT to WHOM HE WILL."

What Jesus meant by saying, "Now is the time for the Kingdom of God" was that the "religion" of the Jews -- the man-mandated "religion" of laws, rules and regulations -- prescribed by the Scribes and Pharisees.... need no longer be accepted as what God wanted and expected His people to believe, and to understand, and to practice. Jesus explained and taught and "preached" that the religion of the "Scribes and Pharisees" was mainly a list of man-made religious "laws". Note the following reference:
Mark 7: 6 (NIV) He (Jesus) replied (to "the Pharisees and teachers of the Law" -- quoting Isaiah 29:13): Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain. Their teachings are but RULES -- taught by MEN." 8 You have let go of the COMMANDS of God, and are holding on to the TRADTIONS of men. 9 And He (Jesus) said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God.... in order to observe your own traditions!"

Acts 17: 24 (NRSV) The God who made the world and everything in it, He who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in SHRINES made by HUMAN hands, 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything -- since He Himself gives to all mortals life and breath, and all things. 26 From one ancestor He made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and HE ALLOTTED the times of their existence, and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God, and perhaps grope for Him, and FIND Him -- though indeed He is not far from each one of us.
(See link
The HOLY NATION of God's people.)
Jesus -- Jesus the "reformer" -- felt that the Scribes and Pharisees had altered the true intention of God, by building-up all kinds of "legalistic" barriers, so that literally no one could ever "spiritually" satisfy God.... whereas, in reality, it was God Himself who was the only One who had to be "satisfied" with an individual.... and that it was not a group of men, or a "church" or synagogue, that had to "approve" those whom God Himself could "accept" ("save"). Jesus taught that it was inappropriate for "Scribes and Pharisees" to arrogate to themselves the right to speak for God, and to judge who was -- and who was not -- acceptable to God.
(See link
"SALVATION" is God's decision.)

Or, stating it in a slightly different way, when Jesus began His "ministry", He said, "Now is the time for the Kingdom of God", meaning that from now on (paraphrasing) -- "I will make it a point to teach and show and state, that the Kingdom of God is not just the Jew's "kingdom", and not just for those who are born Jewish, or for those who have been "circumcised".... but for all those who are "called" by God -- those who are
chosen (link), and accepted; and included by God.... those whom God considers His "sons", His "sheep", the children of God (link).... those who "hear" God's voice.... those who understand His "language". (See link The Language of God.)



In the next few paragraphs, I want to show Biblical quotations which reveal the build-up of animosity between Jesus, and the "Scribes and Pharisees". These references indicate Jesus's disdain of the Jewish authorities, and His scorn for their "religious" claims -- claims that the Scribes and Pharisees attributed to God -- but which, Jesus said, were only man-made laws, rules, and regulations.... which the Jewish leaders wanted to impose on their Jewish followers, and others. The Jewish leaders maintained "political" power and prestige, as well as "religious" dominance.... and they did not want to yield their position of authority and prominence, to anyone. So, when Jesus came, preaching a "spiritual" understanding which was distinctly different than the traditional Jewish "views".... an understanding which was inimical to the Scribes and Pharisees, and to their beliefs.... they obviously wanted to stop Jesus, and to quieten Him.... and to repudiate Jesus's message about what God Himself wants God's people to believe, and to follow. Jesus became more and more determined in His teaching, and more antagonistic toward the Jewish leaders.... to the point that they finally decided to try to have Jesus KILLED.... by Roman authorities. Note the following quotations from God's Bible, pointing out the progressive antagonism between Jesus, and the Jewish leaders:

John 5: 16-18 (NRSV) Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because He was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working." For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to KILL Him.... because He was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God His own Father.... thereby making Himself equal to God.

John 5: 40-44 (NRSV) (Jesus speaking) Yet you (Jews) refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human-beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me.... How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another.... and do not seek the glory that comes from the ONE who ALONE is GOD?

John 6: 41-42 (NRSV) Then the Jews began to complain about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

John 7: 12-18 (NRSV) And there was considerable complaining about Him (Jesus) among the crowds. While some were saying, "He is a good man," others were saying, "No, He is deceiving the crowd." Yet no one would speak openly about Him, for FEAR of the JEWS. About the middle of the festival, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished at it, saying, "How does this man have such learning, when He has never been taught?" Then Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but His who SENT me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God.... or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own, SEEK THEIR OWN GLORY.

John 7: 31-32 Yet many in the crowd believed in Him, and were saying, "When the Messiah comes, will He do more signs than this man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about Him.... and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent TEMPLE POLICE to ARREST Him.

John 8: 37 Jesus speaking: I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to KILL ME.... because there is NO place in you for MY WORD.

John 8: 40-44 (NRSV) Jesus speaking to Scribes and Pharisees: But now you are trying to KILL ME.... a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.... 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come on my own.... but HE SENT ME. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from YOUR FATHER -- the DEVIL..... and you choose to do your father's desires.

John 8: 47 (NRSV) Jesus speaking to Scribes and Pharisees -- "Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that YOU are not from God."

John 9: 18 (NRSV) The Jews did not believe that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were AFRAID of the JEWS; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be PUT OUT of the synagogue.

John 10: 26-31 (NRSV) Jesus speaking to Pharisees. But you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else -- and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." The Jews took up stones again -- to STONE HIM.

John 12: 42-45 (NRSV) Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in Him. But because of the PHARISEES, they did not confess it, for FEAR that they would be put out of the synagogue.... for THEY LOVED HUMAN GLORY more than the GLORY that comes from GOD.

John 19: 12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are no friend of the EMPEROR. Everyone who claims to be a king, sets himself against the emperor."

Luke 11:43-48 (NRSV) Jesus speaking: Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it." One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too." And He (Jesus) said, "Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear -- and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.

Luke 11: 52-54 (NRSV) Jesus speaking: Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering." When He (Jesus) went outside, the Scribes and the Pharisees began to be VERY HOSTILE toward Him, and to cross-examine Him about many things.... LYING IN WAIT for Him.... to CATCH HIM in something He might say.

Matthew 15: 6 (NRSV) Jesus speaking: So, for the sake of your tradition, you make VOID the word of God. 7 You hypocrites.... Isaiah prophesied rightly about you, when he said: 8 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9
In vain do they worship me -- teaching HUMAN PRECEPTS as doctrines.'

Luke 16: 15 (NRSV) So He (Jesus) said to them (the Parisees), "You are those who JUSTIFY yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts -- for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.

AND SEE: ALL of Matthew 23, to see more Jesus remarks, viciously attacking "Scribes and Pharisees", the "hypocrits".



Tandy, there are many other Biblical references about "why 'they' killed Jesus". By studying the Biblical quotations, above, you can readily see "why" the Jewish "authorities" became eager to eliminate Jesus.... for Jesus was contradicting the age-old doctrine of the JEWS.... and Jesus was revealing God's Truth (link) -- the "Gospel of God" to ALL the people.... Jews and non-Jews alike.

What Jesus told both the Gentiles and the Jews "made sense" to many of them.... and led some of them to abandon the restrictive doctrine, and the exclusionary religious mandates, and cabalistic notions of the Jews.... who were in political and "religious" authority and control in Israel. Thus, many "hearers" of Jesus's words "accepted" the message from Jesus about God, and about the
Kingdom of God (link).... and many abandoned the Jewish "religion" -- and became "Christians".

Now, Tandy, beyond "why" Jesus was "sent", and why the JEWS "killed" Jesus, there are other questions, like "why did God permit Jesus to be crucified" and "why did God allow Jesus to die". And, of course, all of us must ponder, and try to learn -- to our own spiritual satisfaction -- why God chose to ordain and allow the resurrection of Jesus.

Also, in a later part of our discussion, I want to discuss and emphasize that the Jewish authorities were responsible for not only the crucifixion of Jesus.... but also for the execution of 10 of the 12 disciples of Jesus.

And, of course, the Jews condemned Paul ("Saul of Tarsus"; the "apostle to the Gentiles"), and put him on trial, and imprisoned him.... then (in AD 67) executed (beheaded) him.... because he had abandoned the traditional Jewish religious beliefs, and had become a follower of the
faith of Jesus (link).

(Before his "conversion" to Christianity, on "the road to Damascus".... Paul had persecuted "Christians". Paul was born a Jew.... and, before his conversion, had felt that Christians were heretics.... and that their beliefs dishonored God.... and that Christians should therefore be exterminated.)

(Tandy.... it is interesting to review, and to recall, how the Jews have traditionally dealt with those who diasgree with them.... those who resist them. One might even consider the actions of the Jews, today.... in "modern" history.)

Tandy, I will discuss my understanding of these other "spiritual" subjects with you, in a later "tablet" in this Internet book. Then, you and I can talk-about all of these fascinating matters.... and both of us will grow in our knowledge and understanding of God-the-Father. and God-Incarnate, and
God-the-Holy-Spirit (link).



12/20/02 --- Parenthetically, Tandy, there is another fascinating point that I would like to suggest to you, and others -- and I will say more about this, later. That "point" is best portrayed in my "tablet" ISRAELITES, by God' promise (linked). Read that essay.... and try to grasp what I am saying about the question of whether-or-not all so-called Israelites are indeed Jews -- and, contrariwise, whether all Jews are "spiritual" Israelites.

I consider the term "Israelite" to be another of many metaphoric terms for
God's people (see link).

Consider here, now.... two Biblical references from my chapter on "Israelites" (linked above). These Biblical words indicate the basis of my question.... and my assertion. I hope you will see and read the entire "tablet" about "Israelites".

Romans 2: 28 (NRSV) For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly -- nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one INWARDLY.... and real circumcision is a matter of the HEART. It is SPIRITUAL.... and NOT LITERAL. (NIV says "not by the written code"). Such a person receives praise not from others.... but from God.

Galatians 3: 29 "If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's offspring, and heirs.... according to the promise."



Now, again, to you, the reader: What do you say? "Why did they kill Jesus?"

12/22/06; 1/16/07