Contradictions in the Bible? Part 3

The Bible, all 66 books, is a continuing saga of God’s relationship with man. The New Covenant is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus says: not one jot or tittle would pass away from the Law until all is fulfilled. The second the New Covenant became available was, as stated in John 19:30, Jesus said “It is Finished”. Because Jesus didn’t do away with the Old Covenant; under the New Covenant you are given a choice – to be under the Old Covenant law or to have a personal relationship with Christ and be forgiven for the sinning done against the Old Covenant laws.

What was the color of the robe placed on Jesus during his trial? This is an excellent example of the trivia pointed to by those trying to discredit the Word of God. One biblical writer may have seen the robes as scarlet and another may have seen them as purple: both being used in royal robes. In the Book of Revelation, the scarlet beast and the great prostitute were dressed in purple and scarlet; as a symbol of royalty, luxury and position. We do know that when this happened it was dark or getting dark. The light and the shadows may have played with the witnesses. There also may have been a combination of colors in the robes. (Matthew 27:29 scarlet robe, Matthew 27:31 what color was His own robe, Mark 15:17 purple, John 19:2 purple robe, John 19:5 purple robe)

The Trinity makes no sense. The word Elohim is the plural of El, which is the name meaning God; although in Genesis it is used as a singular tense. Thus we can see that Elohim means that the triune God is One. God consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Over the years, many have tried to explain the trinity in different ways. Water, steam, and ice are all the same substance. God is like a man who is a son, a husband and a father. None of man’s explanations suffice because it is a true mystery. The closest I can come is explaining that we are also triune beings. We have a body, a soul and a spirit. Right now we can’t separate our selves like God can, HOWEVER, when we die our body will go into the grave while our soul and spirit will go to Heaven (or the other place). Jews also call God Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), the Hebrew for "my lords". Boruck Hashim, Adoni, Eloheinu; meaning blessed are You, LORD, our Lords, the King of the universe.

Joseph and Mary would never have made the 80 to 90 mile trip to Bethlehem, to be taxed. The theory is that the journey would never have been demanded, by the Romans, because of the difficulties of travel in those days. In reality we find that the 80 to 90 mile trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem was made every year by Jesus’ family, for the Passover celebration (Luke 2:42).

Did Jesus say He was God? The concise answer is yes. If someone asked you if you were John Doe (and you were John Doe) your answer might be yup, yes, I am or another derivation of the same answer. This is what Jesus did on multiple occasions. “I don’t have to say the exact words, ‘I am married’ to indicate that I’m married. I can say ‘I’m her husband,’ or ‘this is my wife,’ or ‘It’s our 12th wedding anniversary’.” (http://www.apologeticsguy.com/2012/01/did-jesus-say-he-was-god/)

When Peter said He was the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus told Peter that he didn’t come by that knowledge by himself, but that the Father had let him know (Matthew 16:15-17). Statements such as: 1. “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58), 2. “I and the Father are one”: (John 10:33), 3. “I Am” (Mark 14:60-64), Mark 14:62 “I am”, Luke 23: 70-71, John 10:30 “I and My Father are One”, John 10:36-38 “Son of God” When asked by the High Priest if He was the Christ, Jesus told him “I am”. The Jews certainly understood that Jesus was claiming to be God, and they sought to kill Him because of it. Jesus said: “Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, I am God's Son"? Jesus also said: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21). Did Jesus say that He was God? Yes!

How many apostles were in office between the resurrection and ascension? Why this is a stumbling stone I don’t know. Judas died and there was no one in his position until, in Acts, the remaining eleven elected Matthias, by lot after prayer, to fill the position. Therefore, there were eleven Apostles in office between the resurrection and the ascension.

Does the Old Testament talk about Jesus? In a quick study, I found over 100 prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled, by Jesus, in the New Testament. Not many Jews will acknowledge Isaiah 53, because it so vividly described Jesus. Jesus’ name was not revealed in the Old Testament. He was described by what and who He would be, but His name wasn’t revealed until the New Testament.

Was Jesus born in a house or a manger? Luke 2:7 says: Jesus was born in a manger. Matthew 2:11 says: The Wise Men came to the house and saw the child with His mother. What most people fail to realize is that the shepherds visit in the manger and the Wise Men’s visit at the house were approximately two years apart. That is why the king wanted all young boys, from babies to two years old, killed. Jesus was born in a manger. This also answers another question: were they visited by Shepherd’s or wise men?

How many angels were at the tomb? Matthew 28:2-6 says: “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come; see the place where the Lord lay.” John 20:10-12 says: “Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, and seeing two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” If these two quotes were written consecutively there would be no doubt that they were two different periods of time. We also can see that the countenance of the angel was so great that the guards fainted. Matthew 28:11-15 says: “Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” These were the same guards that took bribes to say the disciples stole the body. The punishment for dereliction of duty while on guard duty was death. The other part of the bribes was that the Pharacies would see that they would not be punished.



As with all of my writings, everything must be compared to the Bible, for verification.