Did you know that Jesus Celebrated Thanksgiving?

Matthew 15:36 Jesus took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Hoping God blesses the multitudes with you at Thanksgiving also,

Dr. J. Clontz, Aidan University – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament

Did you know that Jesus’ transfiguration was prophesied by Isaiah?

When Jesus was transfigured his face shone like the sun - Matthew 17:1-21.

At the time, he was at the top of the highest mountain in the area, Mt. Tabor. The mountain is situated on the ancient tribal border between Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali. Mt. Tabor was an ancient signal mountain since a fire ignited on top of the mountain was visible throughout the entire region. The light emanating from Jesus was visible throughout Zebulun and Naphtali which fulfilled the prophecy in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:1 “Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.”

Dr. J. Clontz, Aidan University – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament

Did you know that Old Testament prophets such as Zechariah are buried on the Mount of Olives?

The Mount of Olives is an extremely large cemetery that contains more than one hundred thousand graves.

When the dead rise from their graves at the resurrection the site will be crowded with multitudes of people. Shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus picked the Mount of Olives as the setting for the discussion with his disciples about the end of the age - because he plans to meet a great many people who were buried there when he returns!

Matthew 24:03 “…as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

1Thessalonians 4:15 “For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, cannot precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Dr. J. Clontz, Aidan University – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament

Did an Earthquake hit Jerusalem when Jesus Died?

The Bible, ancient historians and the Geological Society of America all indicate that an earthquake hit Jerusalem when Jesus died.

According to the Gospel of Matthew an earthquake hit Jerusalem when Jesus died and produced damage in the temple area:

Matthew 27:50 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook. And the rocks were split.”

The earthquake at Jesus’ Crucifixion is potentially confirmed in the Jewish Talmud. According to the Talmud[Shabbat 15a], the Sanhedrin was exiled or banished from the subterranean chamber in the temple complex 40 years before the temple was destroyed. The passage in the Talmud also indicates this coincided with the Sanhedrin no longer adjudicating capital cases. The gospels indicate that the Jewish leadership was involved with the capital case against Jesus that occurred approximately 40 years before the temple destruction was completed. So according to the Talmud, Jesus’ trial may have been the last or one of the last capital cases involving the Sanhedrin. The subterranean structure where the Sanhedrin met was abandoned afterwards possibly due to earthquake damage that sealed it off from access or made it unsafe.

The Jewish Talmud[Yoma 39B] provides a second clue pointing toward earthquake damage in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ death. The temple doors began opening by themselves 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple. This indicates that something happened to the architectural supports for the temple doors at the time of Jesus’ death. An earthquake could’ve damaged the angularity of the door supports so that they began opening on their own.

There are non-Jewish sources that also indicate an earthquake hit the region near Jerusalem at approximately the time of Jesus’ death:

“Phlegon stated that in the 19th year of Tiberius (as Eustathius Antiochus noted in Hexaemeron) and the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (that is 33 AD), the following events took place... 'There was the largest and most famous eclipse that had ever occurred. The day was so turned into night at the sixth hour (noon), that the stars were seen. Also, an earthquake in Bithynia destroyed many houses in the city of Nicaea” (James Ussher, Annals of the World 6503).

“[t]he largest earthquake happened in the principate of Tiberius Caesar when twelve cities in Asia Minor were razed to the ground in one night” (Pliny's Natural History 38).

The Geological Society of America Jerusalem earthquake of 33 A.D.: Evidence within laminated mud of the dead sea, Israel (Austin, Steven A.) - Two thousand years ago the Dead Sea Basin was shaken by two earthquakes that left two widespread seismites within laminated Dead Sea sediment. The first earthquake (spring 31 B.C., Jericho fault, M~7.2) transformed adjacent Dead Sea laminated mud and aragonite into a persistent and distinctive intraclast breccia seismite in places greater than 1 m thick. The 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus described the 31 B.C. earthquake as a significant social and economic event during King Herod's reign. A second seismite occurs within laminated mud and aragonite at 10 to 85 cm above the 31 B.C. seismite. Varve counting above the 31 B.C. datum indicates the second seismite can be assigned to 31 A.D. (+/- 5 years), but history specifies as 33 A.D. Superb mud laminae exposures are provided in two gullies at the southwest corner of the Dead Sea at Wadi Ze'elim fan delta where the 33 A.D. seismite outcrops 55 to 85 cm above the 31 B.C. intraclast breccia. The 33 A.D. seismite at Ze'elim is intraformationally folded, 8-cm-thick, sometimes brecciated, silicate mud and aragonite/gypsum laminae. Seismite facies progress from "linear waves" to "asymmetric billows" to "breccia" expressing transition to Kelvin-Helmholtz turbulence within the uppermost shearing laminae during shaking. Recumbent folds and imbricate faults are consistent with gravity collapse upon a broad arch structure during shaking. Folded seismite transitions northward within fan deltas to thicker intraclast breccia, suggesting an epicenter nearer Jerusalem. Matthew, the 1st-century synoptic Gospel author, reported two earthquakes in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. These are the Jerusalem earthquakes of April 3 at the crucifixion of Christ (Matt. 27:51), and April 5 at the resurrection of Christ (Matt. 28:2). Luke, a first century physician and historian, reported a smaller earthquake in the summer at the gathered assembly (Acts 4:31). The persistent 33 A.D. seismite indicates the biggest 33 A.D. earthquake was M~6.0. This biggest earthquake was likely April 3, 33 A.D. that startled city residents and caused moderate damage, especially to the western side of Temple Mount. Pivots of two, 20-m-high, metal doors of the Temple appear to have been damaged, and the 20-m-high curtain in front of the doors was torn, likely by displacement of the lintel of the Temple during the earthquake.

If an earthquake damaged the temple in Jerusalem at the time that Jesus died, the population of that city would’ve viewed this as a portent with supernatural overtones. This would explain why the Sanhedrin stopped adjudicating capital cases after the crucifixion of Jesus.

Dr. J. Clontz, Aidan University – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament

Shabbat 15a – “Forty years before the Temple was destroyed, the Sanhedrin was exiled from the Chamber of Hewn Stones and sat in the stores on the Temple Mount. With regard to the last statement, the Gemara asks: What are the halakhic ramifications of this statement? Rabbi Yitzḥak bar Avdimi said: To say that they no longer judged cases of fines. The Gemara wonders: Does it enter your mind that they no longer judged cases of fines? Even several generations after the Temple was destroyed they continued to judge cases of fines in Eretz Yisrael. Rather, emend and say: That they no longer judged capital cases. The authority to impose the death penalty was stripped from the Sanhedrin, and therefore they willingly left the Chamber of Hewn Stone. Since the Sanhedrin no longer convenes in its designated place, the halakha is that it no longer has the authority to judge capital cases (Tosafot).”

Yoma 39B – “The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually. And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, until Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai scolded them. He said to the Sanctuary: Sanctuary, Sanctuary, why do you frighten yourself with these signs? I know about you that you will ultimately be destroyed, and Zechariah, son of Ido, has already prophesied concerning you: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars” (Zechariah 11:1), Lebanon being an appellation for the Temple.”

How do we tell which gospel accounts are valid and which are not?

According to the Gospel of Luke there were many people who wrote about Jesus:

Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been fulfilled among us…

So how do we tell which gospel accounts are valid and which are not?

One way of course is through the church that Jesus created for us. Jesus didn’t leave a book - he left a church that he entrusted to the apostles and their successors to assist us. Many of the earliest Christian church leaders such as Papias (AD 125) and Irenaeus (AD 180) wrote about the gospels and their authorship. They not only tell us about the gospels that are valid but also those that are not. The writings of both Papias [Fragments 3:15, 16, 6:1, 19:1, 20:1]¹ and Irenaeus [Against Heresies Book III.1.1, 10.5, 11.8, 16.3]² name Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as valid gospels. Furthermore, Irenaeus lists a variety of gospels that aren’t valid and tells us about their authorship and the agendas of those who created spurious accounts.

Do we have any other way to tell which gospel accounts are valid? Potentially we do. The Old Testament foreshadows the New Testament. So where in the Old Testament are the four gospels foreshadowed? According to one of the early church leaders, St. Augustine, the four gospels are foreshadowed in the story of the garden of Eden³. Foreshadowing is merely where the outline of a story in the Old Testament parallels the outline of events in the New Testament. The allegorical parallels between the four rives and the four gospels are:

The first river, Pishon, which compasses the whole land of Havilah symbolizes the gospel of Matthew. Traditionally, Matthew left Judea for the area of Havilah (Arabia) where he preached until he died. According to some of the early church leaders, Matthew’s gospel was written first. It is also interesting to note that the first river in Genesis is noted for having gold and the Gospel of Matthew is the only gospel with the story of the visit of the wise men bringing gifts including gold.

The second river, Gihon, flows from Ethiopia to the Nile in Egypt and symbolizes the gospel of Mark. Traditionally, Mark eventually reached Egypt and became the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt and lived there until he died. According to some of the early church leaders, Mark’s gospel was written second.

The third river, Tigris, symbolizes the gospel of Luke. The Tigris formed the central portion of the Assyrian Empire. Luke the Evangelist is believed by many to have been from Antioch, Syria which had once been part of the Assyrian Empire. According to some of the early church leaders, Luke’s gospel was written third.

The fourth river, Euphrates, symbolizes the gospel of John. The Euphrates originates in Asia Minor (Turkey) which was the area where the apostle John lived after leaving Judea until he died. According to some of the early church leaders, John’s gospel was written fourth.

The foreshadowing of the four gospels by the four rivers coming from Eden match the traditional chronological order of authorship of the four gospels based on the writings of the early church fathers. Also, the geographic regions associated with each of the four rivers match the geographic regions traditionally associated with each of the authors of the four gospels. Furthermore, information unique to the first river includes information unique to the first gospel, Matthew.

Now I’m going to point something out to skeptics. Why do you think that the author of Genesis listed the rivers in a specific order of one through four? It serves no literary purpose. The author of Genesis could have numbered the four rivers in any order or more appropriately not numbered them at all. It is also odd that he numbers them in the order that he did. Geographically, Gihon is the furthest west and the furthest south while Tigris is the furthest north and east. So if he were to number the rivers in a geographic direction either Gihon or Tigris should have been first or fourth but they aren’t. Also if he were ordering from proximity to the center of Eden, then Tigris should have been fourth since it is the furthest from the center of Eden, but it is third. Since there is no literary or geographic reason to give the first to fourth order for the four rivers, then there must have been another reason. That reason was prophetic. It is not a coincidence that the four rivers listed in their specific order of one to four matches the traditional chronological order of authorship of the four gospels and the associated geographic regions for their authors.

References

1. The Comprehensive New Testament pp. 436, 567, 684

2. Ibid p. 567, 604, 684

3. Augustine civ 13.21 “The Garden is the church itself, as we can see from the Canticle of Canticles [4:12]; the four rivers are the four gospels; the fruit bearing trees are the saints.”

Dr. J. Clontz, Aidan University

Joseph of Arimathea is foreshadowed by Joseph the Patriarch