I don't understand this "claim to be God" business. Anyone can claim to be God. So what?
What impressed Jesus' contemporaries was that he spoke with authority. It was his special spiritual insignt into mysteries that impressed, not his claim to be this or that.
Ha. Lazarus didn't claim to be God, but Caesar did.
By the way, you're talking to a Christian, one who thinks he is grafted in; a son of Abraham. One who thinks the gospel is the proclamation that the King has established his Kingdom and returned his people from exile into covenantal fellowship with God forever. In other words, Jesus fulfilled Jewish eschatology. I think Jesus did *that* for Israel.
Hi StormTrek, so if Lazarus would have claimed to be God, would that have made him God? I agree Jesus should be seen in a very Jewish Context, but I don't see that he accomplished much for the Jews qua Jews or for the Jewish Nation.
Did Lazarus or the centurion's daughter claim diety?
We're talking about a guy who made claims to place himself in a specific context and then followed through in action.
Jesus was a guy standing in a Jewish nation. A nation looking for God to save them from Roman rule and deliver them from "Babylonian exile". His testimony, the testimony Christians believe, is Jewish through and through. He attached himself to the Jewish God through word and then followed through in action.
(cont, to jack) these two had the same "evidence" given to them, but the 2nd person had an experience which went light-years beyond what the first person did. Take your case jack--anybody who is as charasmatic as you are could take a job selling BMW's to rich people and be making $250k a year. If you let "empirical evidence" drive what you were doing you wouldn't have dedicated your life to ministry. But this doesn't mean you are being irrational or unreasonable at all.
(cont, to Jack) Suppose a pastor one sunday preaches on the Sermon on the mount. Afterwords, to people come up to the pastor. The first says "ah, your sermon was so wonderful, I put an extra $20 in the offering plate to help our soup kitchen." The second says "wow, your sermon was so great, it convinced me to sell everything I have and give it to the poor" and from then on the person forsakes all worldly gain and lives only for others. (cont)
meow
thepeacecat 3 years ago
"Anyone can claim to be God. So what?"
Right. Caesar did.
The difference is that Jesus backed up his claim.
StormTrek 3 years ago
It means that he gave answers that people at the time thought were edifying, and were not the same tripe they were getting from other exegetes.
Socrates did the same thing in the dialogues. You can read them and decide for yoursef if there is anything there which appeals to your spirit.
Trollschool 3 years ago
"...he spoke with authority..."
What does that mean? Loud volume?
indignant99 3 years ago
I don't understand this "claim to be God" business. Anyone can claim to be God. So what?
What impressed Jesus' contemporaries was that he spoke with authority. It was his special spiritual insignt into mysteries that impressed, not his claim to be this or that.
Trollschool 3 years ago
Ha. Lazarus didn't claim to be God, but Caesar did.
By the way, you're talking to a Christian, one who thinks he is grafted in; a son of Abraham. One who thinks the gospel is the proclamation that the King has established his Kingdom and returned his people from exile into covenantal fellowship with God forever. In other words, Jesus fulfilled Jewish eschatology. I think Jesus did *that* for Israel.
StormTrek 3 years ago
Hi StormTrek, so if Lazarus would have claimed to be God, would that have made him God? I agree Jesus should be seen in a very Jewish Context, but I don't see that he accomplished much for the Jews qua Jews or for the Jewish Nation.
randyhelzerman 3 years ago
Did Lazarus or the centurion's daughter claim diety?
We're talking about a guy who made claims to place himself in a specific context and then followed through in action.
Jesus was a guy standing in a Jewish nation. A nation looking for God to save them from Roman rule and deliver them from "Babylonian exile". His testimony, the testimony Christians believe, is Jewish through and through. He attached himself to the Jewish God through word and then followed through in action.
StormTrek 3 years ago
(cont, to jack) these two had the same "evidence" given to them, but the 2nd person had an experience which went light-years beyond what the first person did. Take your case jack--anybody who is as charasmatic as you are could take a job selling BMW's to rich people and be making $250k a year. If you let "empirical evidence" drive what you were doing you wouldn't have dedicated your life to ministry. But this doesn't mean you are being irrational or unreasonable at all.
randyhelzerman 3 years ago
(cont, to Jack) Suppose a pastor one sunday preaches on the Sermon on the mount. Afterwords, to people come up to the pastor. The first says "ah, your sermon was so wonderful, I put an extra $20 in the offering plate to help our soup kitchen." The second says "wow, your sermon was so great, it convinced me to sell everything I have and give it to the poor" and from then on the person forsakes all worldly gain and lives only for others. (cont)
randyhelzerman 3 years ago