76
You are exactly right. The conclusion you have drawn is based on a commonly made premise. Far too many Christians do not even realize the non sequitur on which they based their understanding of Jesus's time on earth. It is however, a false premise. I hope I can explain why.
For someone with the power and strength that we claim Jesus commanded, the actual ...
55
There is comparatively little evidence in the NT for the shape of the object. There is not much etymological help from the Greek words σταυρός or ξύλον, which do not clearly indicate either shape.
Some of the textual hints we do have are:
But [Thomas] said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put ...
32
The idea that Jesus died on a Wednesday is a fabrication. It is nothing more than an attempt to force a modernistic interpretation onto Matthew 12:40. In the early church the common understanding of "three days and three nights" did not require "three full days and also three full nights".
Fourth century scholar/priest St. Jerome explains in his Commentary ...
26
As Ray asserted, the crown was mockingly placed on Him because Jesus was charged with the crime of being "the King of the Jews", while the Jews already had a king, at least according to the Romans.
There is, however, an important symbolism that is also present in this.
In Genesis 3, thorns and thistles are part of the curse of the first sin.
And to Adam ...
23
That Christ's hands were nailed to the cross is firmly established by Scripture. Following the Resurrection, the Apostle Thomas doubted that Christ was alive:
So he [Thomas] said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (John 20:25, NKJV)
...
22
It's something you probably don't think about much, but we have reason to believe that Jesus really wasn't all that distinctive in his appearance.
John 8:58-59
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going ...
21
Yes, he did.
The Romans were experts at this and knew exactly what it took to kill someone and what it took to make that process slow. Crucifixion was designed to drag the act of dying out over a long period of time.
As you note in the John passage, Jesus died more quickly than they expected. The trial and execution had been rushed into an abnormal ...
19
God is Holy
God is Just
God is Merciful
The combination of these attributes is the answer to your question.
His Holiness demands that He be obeyed, unequivocally.
His justice demands that He deal with disobedience, mercilessly.
His mercy demands that He forgive, lovingly.
How does one strike a balance in a meaningful manner? The answer is that He who knew ...
19
Jesus' main purpose in coming to earth was to die on the cross in order to redeem mankind from their sins.
He attests to this in a number of places in the Bible, and other writers of scripture also say this.
Therefore to have Michael or any other archangel rescue Jesus would be to go against the wishes of God the Father - which Jesus, in his obedience, did ...
17
First, understanding that this is not a site to learn about Truth, but rather to learn about Christianity - what the various teachings are from an academic perspective, the question "Which is true" is off-topic. However, we could take a couple of approaches that would be within the bounds of the site:
Answering what various denominations believe about ...
17
He most likely was crucified naked - this is consistent with the biblical narrative of the guards casting lots for his garment and with standard historical practice.
In the paintings, the artists wanted to preserve some of the dignity and not turn the Lord's body into something that puerile youngsters might be titilated by. It is a condescension to the ...
17
From the Orthodox POV, the answer is unequivocally yes.
The Orthodox understand John 1:14 literally:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (NKJV) [Emphasis mine]
The Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, became flesh. Not had flesh. Not ...
16
The biggest reason the death of Christ is so significant is because he absolutely did not deserve to die. If the first Adam had remained free of sin, he also would not have died, but by sinning he allowed death into our world.
When Jesus came into our world as fully human, he still remained sin free (despite temptations). There was no reason for him to ...
15
It's the Cup of God's Wrath
Isaiah 51:17+ NIV
The Cup of the LORD’s Wrath
17 Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the
hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to
its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not
with ...
answered Sep 10 '11 at 0:26
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14
I think his resurrection is a lot more important than the mere fact that he died.
Death proved his humanity.
Resurrection proved his divinity.
14
The answer is that the theory that Christ died on a Wednesday is only about 300 years old, whereas the Good Friday tradition is nearly 2000 years old. So at the time Good Friday was established as tradition, the Wednesday crucification theory hadn't been considered yet.
The Wednesday crucifixion theory seems to have originated in the early 1700s, and was ...
14
Jesus makes the same point when he is being arrested. He certainly could have been seized anytime without Judas's help.
Mark 14:48-49 (ESV)
48 And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be ...
14
There seems to be two interpretations of the meaning of the skull at the base of the cross, the first is more symbolic and the second is more historical:
The skull represents Adam, the first man, along with original sin. Jesus was sent to Earth to absolve us of our sins through His death. Jesus' blood is washing away our sins by flowing across the skull of ...
14
There are two basic theories here. The first is that the crowd misheard Jesus. The second is that they purposefully twisted his words to mock him. Commentators are fairly evenly split on which option is more probable.
Misheard
In the first view, the crowd was at a significant enough distance that they could not hear Jesus clearly. Additionally, those in ...
14
Survey of Roman law
A now deleted (near) duplicate of this question asked if a claim that the Roman law forbid the crucifixion of thieves, so I'll start with that question, which is highly relevant to our exegesis of the Gospel accounts.
There are a lot of claims on the Internet and in popular-level books about Roman crucifixion. Some common claims ...
14
This is where the doctrine of the hypostatic union is essential. Jesus the Son of God is one person, but he has two natures: the divine nature, and a human nature. The two natures cannot be divided, but neither are they mixed in the union to become hybrid natures.
The divine nature cannot die, but the human nature can. Jesus died completely in his human ...
13
The story is found in the Apocryphal Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour:
(23) And turning away from this place, they came to a desert; and hearing that it was infested by robbers, Joseph and the Lady Mary resolved to cross this region by night. But as they go along, behold, they see two robbers lying in the way, and along with them a great number ...
13
Piotr Ashwin-Siejkowski in his book, The Apostles's Creed: and its Early Christian Context, argues that Pilate was specifically mentioned primarily in order to argue for and defend the humanity and real death of Jesus.
He first emphasizes the historical importance of Pilate to Christianity:
Certainly the Scriptural detail that Jesus of Nazareth was ...
12
He was quoting David in Psalm 22. But nevertheless, Jesus must have felt these words Himself. What it was like for the Son of God to experience "Hell", or separation from God, we can not begin to imagine.
We can only speculate that Jesus, when He uttered those words, felt God had abandoned Him in a real way, not a symbolic way. Jesus truly felt separated ...
12
We do not know that the third hour was exactly 9:00 AM - that is an estimation for the purpose of providing an understandable translation.
The Jewish day started at dawn and ended at dusk. There were 12 hours, which were each 1/12th of the stretch between dawn and dusk. (More info.)
For simplicity, if we consider dawn to be roughly 6:00 AM, that would ...
11
Hyssop represents common faith. Hyssop was a weed that grew practically anywhere. The blood is applied by common faith in God's word.
EXODUS 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the
blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side
posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go
out at the ...
11
Here are links to official material published by Jehovah's Witnesses which you can read online about this topic:
Why True Christians Do Not Use the Cross in Worship
Reasoning from the Scriptures: Cross
Insight on the Scriptures: Torture Stake
I recommend reading some of these for a more in depth, and rounded out answer with references to back up their ...
11
Let's start with your question title. For the sake of argument let's turn it around and ask "Why would God not be allowed for forgive us?" The problem lies in God's idea of justice. We could spend a lot of time one this one, but let's keep it it simple:
Isaiah 61:8 (ESV)
For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong [...]
In order for Him to ...
11
I do not think that one reading the Gospel account could say that Jesus was wondering of the plan of God at this point in the salvation history. Here is how Jesus present himself in the good shepherd discourse :
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the ...
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