Just some questions for the Christian Populace..

Thinkfaest said:

1. Why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch him (John 20:17) , yet later commanded Thomas to touch him (John 20:27)? What was accomplished in the time in between, what did it mean, and why was it necessary?

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Between the time Christ spoke to Mary and the time He spoke to Thomas, He ascended into the Temple in Heaven (the Holiest Place) with His own blood (Heb 9:8,23-24).

2. Does Yahweh break his Covenants?

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Psalms 89:34

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My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

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The Old Covenant was conditional, and when Israel violated the Covenant, God broke His covenant with them (Deut 4:23-27).

3. Does Yahweh detest human sacrifice?

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Didn’t he ask Abraham to sacrifice his Isaac? Some might even say Yashua on the tree was “Child” sacrifice? Is not our faith based on a sacrifice?

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The offering up of Isaac was a test. Proof? Abraham told Isaac that God would provide Himself a Lamb (Gen 22:8), referring to both the ram in the thicket as well as Christ the Lamb of God. So Christ was not a human sacrifice but the Divinely appointed Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29).

4. If God loved the world so much he was willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son, why is it wrong for us to even befriend the world?

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In Scripture the word "world" has two senses: (1) the world of humanity, which God loves (and therefore we should love) and (2) all the systems of the world opposed to God and controlled by "the god of this world" (Satan), which we are to hate.

5. Jesus stated that he spoke openly and in public places for all to hear, yet did he not also speak in parables to confound some?

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Jesus spoke openly and clearly until He was deliberately rejected, from which time He spoke in parables to His enemies, but taught their meaning to His disciples.

6. Who has seen the Father?

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No man has seen God the Father. However, Jesus Himself is the exact replica of the Father (Heb 1:3), therefore those who have seen Him have virtually seen the Father

Thinkfaest said:

I consider myself a Christian, and I just wanted to get feedback from others who might be more versed than me on these questions...So if you have an opinion on any number of these feel free to shoot.

1. Why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch him (John 20:17) , yet later commanded Thomas to touch him (John 20:27)? What was accomplished in the time in between, what did it mean, and why was it necessary?

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I have just enough time to respond to the first one. Mary bearhugged Jesus and wouldn't let go making it an issue whether or not Jesus would be the first resurrected person to be smothered and in need of re-resurrection. Thomas was much more reserved.

chevyontheriver said:

I have just enough time to respond to the first one. Mary bearhugged Jesus and wouldn't let go making it an issue whether or not Jesus would be the first resurrected person to be smothered and in need of re-resurrection. Thomas was much more reserved.

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Jesus had to have 8 days of purification before He could be touched. As written:

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace [be] unto you.

Thinkfaest said:

I consider myself a Christian, and I just wanted to get feedback from others who might be more versed than me on these questions...So if you have an opinion on any number of these feel free to shoot.

1. Why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch him (John 20:17) , yet later commanded Thomas to touch him (John 20:27)? What was accomplished in the time in between, what did it mean, and why was it necessary?

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Jesus didn't want her to. His exact motivations were not revealed. It may have had to do with her faith and how that worked within her, vs. Thomas's. It may have been something else.

Thinkfaest said:

2. Does Yahweh break his Covenants?

Psalms 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

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God had somewhat of an "out" clause built into the Law in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. The overall message in the Prophets is that God has been faithful, yet Israel has been unfaithful. When Israel didn't keep their end of the covenant, God was perfectly within his rights to withdraw his protection, blessing, and tenderness with Israel.

Thinkfaest said:

3. Does Yahweh detest human sacrifice? Didn’t he ask Abraham to sacrifice his Isaac? Some might even say Yashua on the tree was “Child” sacrifice? Is not our faith based on a sacrifice?

Against Human/child Sacrifice:
Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 20:1-5, Deuteronomy 18:9-12, 2 Kings 21:1-6, Psalms 106:37-40,

Pro Human/child Sacrifice:
Genesis 22:1-2, Exodus 22:29-30

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Exodus 22:29-30 does not call for or condone a human sacrifice. The firstborn being conscecrated to the Lord, for example, is what Jesus went through at the temple when he was eight days old (Luke 2:21-24). In the case of Issac, God told Abraham to not harm the boy.

Thinkfaest said:

4. If God loved the world so much he was willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son, why is it wrong for us to even befriend the world?

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

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John 3:16 means the people in the world. James was referring not to the people in the world in that sense, but "the world" itself - "the world" being the realm of sin. God loves those who have not yet been liberated from it. But once we have been liberated, we should no longer continue to live as prisoners or slaves to it.

Thinkfaest said:

5. Jesus stated that he spoke openly and in public places for all to hear, yet did he not also speak in parables to confound some?

John 18:20:23 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

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Some things he could say plainly, others not so much. Besides, Matt. 13:13 is a characterization of Israel, see Isaiah 6:9-13. That as I see it is a sarcastic rebuke, since God gave them and was continuing to give them chances to repent, first through prophets, and then in those days through Christ. But as they had always been, there were many who did not believe.

Thinkfaest said:

6. Who has seen the Father?

John 6:46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

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The first is in a literal sense, the second in a more figurative sense.

zippy2 said:

Jesus had to have 8 days of purification before He could be touched. As written:

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace [be] unto you.

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That answer isn't any fun even if it might be right.

chevyontheriver said:

That answer isn't any fun even if it might be right.

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LOL why isn't it 'any fun'? Everyone there was Jewish and they followed purification laws.

Thinkfaest said:

I consider myself a Christian, and I just wanted to get feedback from others who might be more versed than me on these questions...So if you have an opinion on any number of these feel free to shoot.

1. Why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch him (John 20:17) , yet later commanded Thomas to touch him (John 20:27)? What was accomplished in the time in between, what did it mean, and why was it necessary?

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He doesn't tell Mary not to touch Him, but tells her not to cling to Him.

"λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Μή μου ἅπτου"
"Jesus said to her, 'Don't cling to Me'"

We aren't told all that transpired in the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension, but Jesus does talk to and teach His followers, He appears to them, etc. But Jesus wasn't going to be around, here on earth, for much longer He was going to ascend to the Father and take His seat at the Father's right side. So He tells Mary not to cling to Him.

He doesn't tell Thomas not to cling to Him, but rather to take his finger and feel the wound marks of crucifixion so Thomas would no longer doubt.

"εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ Φέρε τὸν δάκτυλόν σου ὧδε καὶ ἴδε τὰς χεῖράς μου"
"Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger and see My hands'"

2. Does Yahweh break his Covenants?

Click to expand...

Psalms 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

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Psalm 89: God will not violate His promises which He made to the Israelite nation.
Zechariah 11: God will not endure the continued disobedience and wretchedness of His people, so He will break the symbolic shepherd staffs and let His people be taken by foreign powers for their continued mistreatment of the poor and their wretched behavior.

Zechariah was one of the last of the prophets, and so is not speaking of the Babylonian Captivity, but of the conquests that would follow: Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, and the Romans.

God is not turning against His people, nor breaking the promises He made to them in the Covenant at Sinai; but is rather saying, "Whatever happens, happens".

For Christians, of course, we believe that God sent His Messiah, our Lord Jesus, to rescue captive Israel, and to rescue all people from sin. Which is the ultimate fulfillment of the promises of the Covenant God made at Sinai, indeed the fulfillment of all God's promises from times past.

3. Does Yahweh detest human sacrifice?

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Didn’t he ask Abraham to sacrifice his Isaac? Some might even say Yashua on the tree was “Child” sacrifice? Is not our faith based on a sacrifice?

Against Human/child Sacrifice:
Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 20:1-5, Deuteronomy 18:9-12, 2 Kings 21:1-6, Psalms 106:37-40,

Pro Human/child Sacrifice:
Genesis 22:1-2, Exodus 22:29-30

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God never intended for Isaac to be sacrificed. So, no, God does not accept nor approve of human sacrifices.

4. If God loved the world so much he was willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son, why is it wrong for us to even befriend the world?

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John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

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Two different uses and meanings of the word kosmos ("world").

Tracing the word kosmos back in usage among the Greeks, it simply means "order" or "arrangement". It came to be applied to the natural world or universe in the pre-Socratic philosophers who wanted to understand how all the things were ordered; they called the natural order kosmos. Some said everything was water, some said everything was air; for Heraclitus everything was Change, for Parmenides everything was Same. And so on.

So by the time of the New Testament the word kosmos had a lot of different meanings depending on context. In one sense it could refer to the natural order of things, such as the earth and the heavens. In another sense it could refer to the arrangement of peoples or the inhabitants of the oikoumene (the inhabited world). It can refer to the arrangement or the order, such as a government. Etc.

In James the word is used in the sense of the present arrangement of order of things, the order of the present age dominated and ruled by violence, sin, and death. A Christian can't have an attachment to the present way things are because we look forward to and hope for a better way, the way made known in Christ and coming at the Eschaton when God renews and restores all things, makes all things whole.

In John the love of God is for all people, for you, for me, for sinners everywhere. Christ came to save sinners, to rescue the world, not just you, me, and everyone else in the world but God intends to save this world, the natural world, all creation.

Two different senses of the word, different contexts.

5. Jesus stated that he spoke openly and in public places for all to hear, yet did he not also speak in parables to confound some?

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John 18:20:23 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

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Jesus wasn't keeping anything a secret. But He used parables to "confound the wise" as it were.

6. Who has seen the Father?

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John 6:46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

Thanks for reading.

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Nobody has seen God the Father, because nobody can. Indeed, in Exodus God tells Moses "No man can see Me and live." However, if we have seen the Incarnate Son and Word, then we have seen the Father, because we have seen His Image; Christ is the image--the Icon--of God.

-CryptoLutheran

Thinkfaest said:

5. Jesus stated that he spoke openly and in public places for all to hear, yet did he not also speak in parables to confound some?

John 18:20:23 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

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It was only last week that I asked someone about this, as though to find out whether there was deceit on Jesus' part, to be hiding the truths this way. But what I found is that rather than Jesus being the one who is lying by using parables, actually the truth contained in the parable is very plain and easy to see if someone is willing to acknowledge it. So therefore, there is no deceit in the parables. But rather, the one who states they do not see the truth that the parable contains is the one who must lie, because they choose to claim that the parable hides the truth when really it states the truth. This is always God's way with faith, to enable people to freely confess their own belief and disbelief.