ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
Tomorrow is Maundy
Thursday, the day Christ ate the Passover and instituted Holy Communion
as his last will and testament for us sinners. Martin Luther said, "So
in this matter, you must above else take heed to your heart, that you
believe the words of Christ, and admit their truth, when He says to you
and to all, 'This is my blood, a new testament, by which I bequeath to
you forgiveness of all sins and eternal life.'" (Martin Luther, LW, Vol
35, pg. 88) I believe this with all my heart.
That
little word 'testament' is most precious for me. Martin Luther said,
"That little word 'testament' is a short summary of all God's wonder and
grace fulfilled for us in Christ." (Martin Luther, LW, Vol. 35, pg. 84)
Now
imagine you are in the African bush at night listening to the haunting
yells of hyenas on a kill. LCMS, WELS, ELCA are just like the African
bush at night. Many of their pastors are hyenas of hell seeking to
change Christ's Last Will and Testament into a Calvinistic covenant.
To
my knowledge LCMS is the only synod that retains the word 'testament'
in the liturgy for the Lord's Supper. An extremely mangy and noisy hyena
of hell at Ft. Wayne seminary works relentlessly to get rid of that
little word 'testament' in Holy Communion. He and others have created so
much doubt and uncertainty in the word of God in Holy Communion.
Martin
Chemnitz, the second Luther, has sharp words of rebuke for all you
mangy hyenas of hell throughout LCMS, WELS, ELCA. Martin Chemnitz says,
"For since Christ instituted His supper in the form of a testament, it
is also not allowed at another time to distort even a man's covenant, if
it is confirmed, by adding or subtracting. How much greater sin it is
therefore, to change or mutilate the testament of the Son of God."
(Martin Chemnitz, Ministry, Word, and Sacrament; CPH, 1981, pg. 122)
God's
Word must be taken as a whole. Creating doubt in one part destroys a
true understanding of any of God's Word. For example Holy Communion ties
into Hebrews 9:15-17 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are
called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a
testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the
testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it
is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." So Christ puts his
last will and testament into force for us by His death.
Hyenas
of hell in LCMS, WELS ,ELCA are vile popes exalting themselves above
Luther, Chemnitz and Christ himself. Professor Nils Dahl, PhD, will
have none of this nonsense when he asserted, " The text! The text! We
have the text!" (See pg. 189, King James Version, Gregory L Jackson,
PhD, ISBN 9798429093451). Yes we have the text: King James Bible,
Luther's Bible and their foundation the TEXTUS RECEPTUS. Do you really
want to speak a word against the Holy Ghost who has chosen these Bibles
for the reformation and especially now? Remember God the Holy Ghost
REJECTED Vaticanus and all corrupt translations from it during the
reformation.
***
GJ - Tom's post, above, reminded me that the Chicago Interfaith Trolley is rolling today. People will visit various religions, and ELCA's seminary in Chicago - soon to move to a Catholic campus - is sponsoring and promoting it.
The apostate Lutherans love every religion but their own, every denomination but their own. WELS is especially affectionate toward the Calvinists while the LCMS loves Rome and the Calvinists. Their only dislikes are the KJV, the Apostolic Text (Textus Receptus), and Luther.
Lutheranlibrary.org - without paid ads - consistently dominates the CPH on Google. CPH has become a vanity press operation for faculty seeking tenure and positions on the Roman/Calvinist doctrinal review board.
Satan's
lies always weaken the certainty of what God has said. God told Adam
not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil "for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely (most certainly) die."
(Gen. 2:17)
Satan lied to Eve when he attacked the certainty of God's
word when he said, "Ye shall not surely (most certainly) die." What
better way for Satan to teach lies and false doctrine than by attacking
the text of God's Word itself and replacing it with a "more accurate"
but fraudulent text (See pg. 176, The King James Version, Gregory L.
Jackson, PhD, ISBN 9798429093451) full of errors, omissions, and false
doctrine.
Satan has created so much uncertainty and doubt in the pure
reformation text (Greek TEXTUS RECEPTUS) that uncertainty and doubt, and
unbelief prevail especially among Lutheran pastors, vice presidents and
presidents and seminary professors. "We do NOT have the original
autographs", they wail in unbelief. By this they mean to promote the
ultimate uncertainty and doubt: Uncertainty and doubt in the pure
reformation text (TEXTUS RECEPTUS, King James Bible).
Professor Nils
Dahl, PhD, would have none of this uncertainty, and doubt in God's Word.
"The text! The text! We have the text! he confidently asserted (See pg.
189, The King James Version. Gregory L. Jackson, PhD)
Every true Christian
believes professor Nils Dahl's assertion is most certainly true. God
has most certainly promised to perfectly preserve and publish every
word He inspired his holy prophets and Apostles to write.
"The words of
the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified
seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them
from this generation for ever." (Psalm 12:6,7)
"Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35; Mark
13:31; Luke 21:33) He has magnified his words above all his name.
"...for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psalm 138:2)
His word is forever settled in heaven. "For ever, O LORD, thy word is
settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89)
Tom Fisher
Their 150 year old fraudulent Greek New Testament, secretly promoted for 10 years, with no footnotes to indicate their fake sources, is the basis for the Evil Four (RSV, NRSV, ESV, NIV) plus One (Beck Bible, the Christian News Cash Cow).
Even the most dense can agree that ELCA is the fool's gold standard of Lutherdom today. That merger of mergers has gathered the LCMS-WELS-ELS under his/her/its wings and laid down the rules for enjoying Thrivent money and programs.
ELCA is the bellweather in declaring that everyone is born forgiven because of God's grace. That comes from two sources - the Pietists and the rationalists.
Rambach was the Halle University hymn writer (see The Lutheran Hymnal, #298) who wrote these words, treasured by Jay Webber, among others. Stephan studied at Halle and was a Pietist.
Walther was a Pietist and his friends followed one Pietist guru, then Stephan after their earlier leader moved away and died. Walther was thrilled with the letter Stephan wrote him and never drifted from that dogma. After losing their earlier guru, they followed Stephan all the way to America, after he was convicted of consorting with young women and misuse of church funds.
Later, Walther was thrilled with the double justification terms used by the Calvinist translator of Knapp, another Halle University theologian, one much admired in America and translated into English, a standard work for over 90 years.
The Reformed-Lutheran union movement enjoyed the peaceful physical and doctrinal merger of the two schools of thought. The Woods translation fostered the use of Objective Justification and Subjective Justification, with OJ dominating.
Rationalism, born at Halle and other places, gravitated toward God's grace acting without means (Word and Sacrament) and saving the entire world back to Adam and Eve.
"Is it possible to come back from the point of no return??
Your
interpretation of the clear Greek to promote your narrative is
moronic. Hoi polloi is used twice. It means the same group of people.
If that group of people was made sinners through Adam, then it is all
people. You know this. The Greek says these same people are made
righteous by the One Man Jesus. A person either believes this or not.
Part Two - Alleged Scripture Support for Objective (Faithless) Justification
"Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25; that therefore not for the sake of their good works, but without the works of the Law, by grace, for Christ's sake, He justifies, that is, accounts as righteous, all those who believe, accept, and rely on, the fact that for Christ's sake their sins are forgiven." (LCMS Brief Statement, 1932)
In the first part I noted how fatuous the LCMS claim was - and is - that Romans 4:25 teaches Objective (Faithless) Justification when the complete sentence, Romans chapter 4 itself, and Romans teaches Justification by Faith.
KJV Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
There is nothing faithless about this verse, unless one decides that "many" means "all" - a foolish and lame strategy promoted by WELS and other sectarians. That is a foolish gesture on their part, because "all" puts them in the category of Universalism - all are saved - and ELCA, their ministry partner.
Word and Witness Audio Tape - GRACE!
The Lutheran Church in America had a Word and Witness program designed to be a modernized version of another one. They offered audio tapes too - remember them - and one defined the LCA quite well. The narrator said with venomous anger in his voice, "The media evangelists have one great problem in their work. They have no concept of GRACE!" He meant that forgiveness from Christ could not be connected to faith, because "all forgiven" meant "all received by grace, without faith."
Various toxic dogmas have erased the Means of Grace from the thoughts of modernistic, paganistic Lutherans. Simply put, the Word is invisible - teaching and preaching - and also visible - Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. The term "means" is also taught as "instruments." The Gospel Word is the instrument by which faith in Christ is planted in our hearts and strengthened in our worship and studies. Because the Holy Spirit always works with the Word and never apart from the Word, we know that no one can legitimately make claims which are not found or proclaimed in the Scriptures.
KJV 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
KJV 2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The Objective (Faithless) Justification fanatics do not use the above quotation with the pivotal Romans passage which summarizes chapter 4. Romans 5:1-2 is really a summary of Romans 4, as shown by the transition - therefore -
KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Paul does not mean or even imply that Christ taking on the sins of the world equals the entire world being forgiven and saved (even back to Adam) as a result. Yet the chowder-heads of Church Growth, Objective (Faithless) Justification, and other maladies demand that their slogans be accepted as Biblical truths.
Often added to this group of citations is 1 Timothy 3:16, an unlikely candidate but still enrolled in the cavalcade of Biblical blunders.
KJV 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
received up into glory.
The Pietists, who tried and failed to blend Lutheran doctrine with Calvinism, used "justified in the Spirit" as the world being absolved of sin the moment Christ rose from the grave. But the justification of Jesus Christ was different from Justification by Faith by mortal men. The resurrection of the Son of God proved He had committed no sin, because death is the mark of Adam. Turning the resurrection into world absolution may be marvelous remedy for the Law-oriented ELCA Enthusiasts and the Walther worshiping Midwestern Pietists, but the inerrant Word does not allow Universalist carpet-baggers.
The serious side of medicine (bottom row) - "Try this. Maybe it will work. Kickbacks from Big Pharma? You reading Ichabod or something?"
What they are thinking (top row) - "Nyuk, yuk, yuk! We are going to Vegas on the profits!"
Hello Pastor Jackson
On your blog, you've written about how eating walnuts may
reduce one's cholesterol numbers. I would like to relate my experience
with this.
I have a routine physical exam each year. Over the years, my
cholesterol numbers have increased. In 2022, my total cholesterol number
was 221. "High" cholesterol begins at 200. My doctor said that if my
cholesterol number remained at this level or increased, I would need to
start taking statin drugs to reduce it.
In January as part of my New Year's Resolutions I added
walnuts to my diet. Each week I bought a 14 oz can of shelled walnuts. I
ate some walnuts with each meal and I ate walnuts in between meals as a
snack.
I had lab blood work done at the end of March. It showed a
total cholesterol number of 157. This represents a reduction of 28% from
2022 and it puts my cholesterol number into the "optimal" range. I
didn't change my lifestyle or take any cholesterol lowering drugs, so
the reduction in total cholesterol can be attributed only to adding
walnuts to my diet.
***
GJ - A member sent me two pounds of walnuts because his doctor said, "Eat walnuts for your heart." I began eating them... on ice cream. My cholesterol dropped to normal because the good side of walnuts (heavy oil) drags the bad kind out (the light,sticky jamming the veins cholesterol). The ice cream was not helping, so I moved to beans, greens, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. My blood sugar became normal, I lost 35 pounds, and my blood pressure decreased.
Very few medicines cure. At best they usually can only have some effect on the symptoms.
I was trying to figure out which is the worst Lutheran discussion site. I realized how bad they were in their own unique, boring, cowardly ways.
ALPBODB
ELCA Pastor Steve Tibbets had 10,000 posts published on ALPBODB before his arrest.
The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau Online Discussion Board has to be the worst in its own special way, starting with its name, long enough to be a government agency. If they do not want to discuss something significant, they bury it in a sudden burst of posts about nothing in particular. Avoidance is their true nature. When a member of the group, with 10,000 posts, was arrested and jailed, no one thought to mention it. However, I have seen them reach 30 pages about nothing in particular. No matter what the topic, they drift off in many directions at once. Rolf Preus loves to argue with people and keeps the boredom at peak levels.
LutherQuest
Do not look now, but Dr. Robert Preus quoted this in Justification and Rome, and his sons failed to comprehend this repudiation of Objective (Faithless) Justification.
LutherQuest, still looking for Luther and not finding him, also hosts Rolf Preus. He protects the family name and self-publishing business. The Preus inter-synodical team members are the only clan with their own private publishing company, perhaps merely to keep all their cousins' names straight. One or two LQ members actually post interesting, factual, referenced material. However, several anonymous sources yak endlessly. If they keep practicing their self-involvement, they could move up to ALPB Online Discussion Board debates, perfect for inducing deep sleep and mild nightmares.
Christian News, aka Calvinist News, has a unique place in yellow journalism. Herman and Grace Otten played both sides of many debates, eager to keep everyone buying the tabloid. Some realize the utter hypocrisy of LCMS politics, starting with Jack Preus (Rolf's uncle). CN was perfect for running for synod president but became hemlock each time the CN lover was elected to that office -
Jack Preus,
Ralph Bohlmann,
Al Barry,
Gerald Kieschnick,
Matt the Fatt Harrison.
I was threatened by WELS for writing hundreds of CN articles, but WELS liked to send their own articles and get them published in CN. The CLC had the same policy, Menton screaming at me for publishing in CN, but sending bunches there - written by himself. CLC pastors did the same without the shouting. The former CLC president is now a regular writer for Hale's CN, a great example of highly polished hypocrisy. The CLC is one big, miserable, inbred family. Their college game is (seriously, folks) - "How am I related to you?" Not "Am I" but "How am I?"
Pastor Hair-Gel has a blog, but no one reads it. His Facebook rants were so bad, he erased them seconds later (but I copied them even faster).
BedFast Steadfast Lutherans
This horrible waste of repeat-after-me dogmatics includes Rolf Preus and some of his relatives too. I scanned the list of authors and found an endless number of Objective (Faithless) Justification fans listed. When one of the baby Preus kids published a series of blurbs about faithless Justification, the mob indulged in the normal combination of personal attacks and resistance to Justification and Rome, written by Robert Preus and edited - but no longer quoted - by Rolf and Dan Preus. Blacklisting one's father must be a lowpoint in the Preus family inter-synodical accomplishments.
The only requirements for publishing in CN are 1) Promoting Fuller Seminary nonsense and Objective (Faithless) Justification.
PS - Intrepid Lutherans
This was a typical WELS operation, where people were gathered to discuss the issues and scattered by Chief Two-Face. The last post was in 2016, and the blog is still online.
The WELS Church Growth sorority has been quietly retiring for years. Their goals of total apostasy and servile blasphemy have been met - Management by Objectives - guided by their Father Below.
Jay Webber passed along the ELS nickname for Mordor - The Sausage Factory - where identical pork sausage is ground out annually.
Representatives from WELS, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) met in Jacksonville, Fla., last week for the eighth in a series of annual informal doctrinal discussions. These are “informal” doctrinal discussions, an indication that we recognize that a restoration of fellowship is not anticipated in the near future. Rather, these meetings are intended to provide a forum that increases mutual understanding of each synod’s doctrine and practice and to establish good lines of communication between the synods. The discussions have been helpful in identifying where the synods agree and where differences remain.
Topics for this year’s discussions included the doctrine of justification (with a focus on objective justification), an area in which the three synods are in complete agreement. Also discussed were the doctrines of the ministry and prayer fellowship, where some differences remain.
New participants this year included Rev. Peter Lange, the newly elected first vice president of the LCMS, and Rev. Paul Prange, the newly appointed administrator for the WELS Commission on Inter-Church Relations.
Another meeting is planned for next year and will include continuing discussion of the topics of prayer fellowship and the ministry, as well as a discussion of the WELS statement on the roles of man and woman, “Male and Female in God’s World.”
Be not Thou far from me, O Lord: O my Strength, haste Thee to help me.
Save me from the lion’s mouth: and deliver me from the horns of the unicorns.
Psalm. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me?
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation
The Collect p. 19
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast sent Thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon Him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross that all mankind should follow the example of His great humility, mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of His patience and also be made partakers of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
Thou hast holden me by my right hand: Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory.
V. Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart: but as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped; for I was grieved at the ungodly.
Tract. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
V. Why art Thou so far from helping Me: and from the words of My roaring?
V. I am a worm and no man: a reproach of men and despised of the people.
V. Be not Thou far from Me, O Lord; O My Strength, haste Thee to help Me.
V. I will declare Thy name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.
V. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born: that He hath done this.
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord! Praise be to Thee, O Christ! The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Preface p. 24 The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 The Hymn #341Crown Him with Many Crowns
Prayers and Announcements
Medical care - Dr. Lito Cruz's wife Lyne, surgery; Dr. Kermit and Dr. Maria Way; Pastor James Shrader and Chris Shrader, Callie and her mother Peggy, C.
Maundy Thursday Holy Communion, 7 PM Central Daylight Time.
Good Friday Vespers, 7 PM.
Easter Sunday Holy Communion. 10 AM.
KJV Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Palm Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast caused Thy beloved Son to take our nature upon Himself, that He might give all mankind the example of humility and suffer death upon the cross for our sins: Mercifully grant us a believing knowledge of this, and that, following the example of His patience, we may be made partakers of the benefits of His sacred passion and death, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Divine Plan
KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
Palm Sunday is very important because Jesus knew the future, and no one else did. The raising of His friend Lazarus was pivotal in causing the great commotion upon His entrance to this tremendously fortified city high up on a small mountain. As the Gospel of John teaches us, Jesus was arriving as the divine Son of God, having raised a prominent citizen from death and brought Lazarus with Him. The Roman authorities and the Jewish leaders (subordinate to Rome) both had reason (so they thought) to kill Him.
The entry was electrifying, truly Messianic, and more so because their well known citizen, previously dead, was there with Jesus. Jesus shuddered at the tomb of Lazarus because He knew what was being unleashed with the command to rise from the dead (another example of the efficacy of the Word - what God commands, happens).
I was talking with a member about the effect of major change, such as a university picking up and moving across the country. People ask, "What will happen to me?" On a discussion board, one person said, "I don't know if I will have a job next month." After 20 years, I was ahead of the game and already refused to teach there anymore, even if they landed in Arkansas.
Jesus entered Jerusalem knowing what the others did not. Lenski wrote that Jesus knew the owner of the beasts of burden that Jesus used. That was a strange lapse, because rationalism can pop up in odd ways. The Son of God needed a reservation? That is like the Calvinist painting where the angels are opening Jesus' own tomb.
O Love, how strong Thou art to save! Thou beddest Him within the grave Whose Word the mountains rendeth.
The detailed gathering of the animals remind us that even the most trivial action during Holy Week was divinely organized and fitting the calendar that was first revealed when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden while being promised the Savior.
Then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
There is only one way to view these details - Jesus commanding the disciples to present their Master as the conquering Messiah, long promised. That is exactly what happened, which polarized the crowds, the religious, and the Roman leaders. Jesus knowingly provoked the events which followed, fulfilling the hundreds of Promises from the Old Testament, especially Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
The Bible interprets the Bible, so we are wise if we look for the answers when "scholars are divided." Repeatedly in the Gospels, Jesus had to do things according to the calendar from the Old Testament - Zechariah 9:9 and Isaiah 62:11. The will of the Father and Son were in complete harmony, as explained many times in the Gospels.
The verse itself reminds us of the Two Natures, divine and human. The Messiah would come as a King, and also meek. Great kings throughout history led the battle with their military might and weapons. In Byzantine history, the Emperor had to face battle on his war horse, not riding in a chariot limousine, which caused immediate loss of credibility.
The hope of the crowds meant terror for the leaders. The more the crowds cheered, the more the leaders plotted.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
The disciples then were like us today. We know many things, but not the future. I tell Old Testament students the bare outlines of personal disasters my wife and I faced over the decades, which turned into great blessings.
having no place in "normal" higher education, but finding one in radical online schools;
my first "big" book, accepted and scheduled for publication, then rejected, then promoted and sold by those who rejected it, leading to cost-free publishing online;
failing to buy 3 different houses and finding a perfect rental that provided a spare room for a multi-national church.
having a congregation that outlasted the 3 parishes managed by ecclesiastical professionals.
Every detail in the saga of -
Jesus the Son of God,
born of the Virgin Mary,
miracle worker and teacher, atoning for our sins,
rising from death, and ascending to Heaven -
is revealed for our faith in Him, in the Three Persons of the One True God. We need those details in our hearts and minds, because our trust wavers so easily. The least little problem is not too trivial for God to address and solve, in His time, in His way. We cannot look ahead and know the future, but we can look back and be thankful for the many miracles, small and large, that God showered upon us.
When we come across a puzzling or seemingly opaque detail in the Scriptures, we can dwell upon it until the brightness of God's glory shines in it.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Judas Maccabeus enjoyed this kind of a welcome, when Israel was free for a short time. That collapsed into Roman rule, Roman taxes, Roman tax collectors, and Roman soldiers. Later a false Messiah came - after Jesus - and brought even more destruction upon the remains of Jerusalem. There are many false Messiahs but only one true Savior.
Is the Bible one unified truth? Where are the palms? They are in the Gospel of John.
KJV John 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Where is the key to the turmoil and arrest of Jesus? John's Gospel.
KJV John 12:9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
What does the Holy Spirit condemn? what is the foundational sin?
KJV John 16:8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;
Faith in Jesus Christ is access to His grace, and those who oppose it are condemned by God. This is such a little pair of verses, and yet it gathers and sorts everything in the Bible.
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