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8 VIEWPOINT W O R D F R O M J E R U S A L E M A Passover Foretold An American Rabbi claims to discover the ‘authentic story of Jesus’ by shredding the integrity of the New Testament texts. But, as David Parsons explains, his problem doesn’t lie with the New Testament but the Old... ‘FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD’: Greek Text of John 3:16. Were these words really inserted into the text by the Apostle Paul? Each year, during the Passover season, the reliability of the Gospel accounts concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus come under rigorous assault. A new book by a prominent American rabbi now hitting the best-seller lists has totally called into question the New Testament scriptures concerning the sacrifice of Christ and the manner in which his followers came to revere him as God incarnate. It is important that we “defend the faith” from such antagonistic challenges. Kosher Jesus is the latest work by Rabbi Shmuely Boteach, a popular author, columnist and relationship guru to Hollywood stars who admits to growing up with a typical Jewish “chip” against Jesus. But Boteach says he became curious as a teenager about the central figure of the New Testament and Kosher Jesus is the result of his life-long search for the real story of the man from Galilee. He unflinchingly promises the reader that “in these pages… you will discover the authentic story of Jesus of Nazareth.” By David Parsons “Boteach blames Paul for spearheading an effort to rewrite Christian scriptures in order to sanitise the Roman occupation and demonise the Jews...” Yet by the time Boteach embraces Jesus, he has been radically reduced to just another patriotic Jewish agitator against Roman oppression, an ultra-nationalist rabbi cruelly slain by the enemies of his nation and only later deified by a misguided pseudo-Jew named Paul. Boteach relies heavily on the controversial Jewish historian Hyam Maccoby as well as certain liberal German theologians who developed a novel theory of “Christology”, namely that Jesus never claimed divinity and it was Paul who decades later turned him into a godman under Hellenistic influence. Boteach also blames Paul for spearheading a deliberate effort to rewrite Christian scriptures in order to sanitise the Roman occupation, demonise the Jews, and thereby make the Gospel message more appealing to potential converts from Greco-Roman culture. His assault on the integrity of the New Testament is not the disciplined science of textual criticism, but a wholesale shredding
APRIL 2012 WORD FROM JERUSALEM 9 of these sacred texts. Shockingly, even John 3:16 (pictured left) is deemed Pauline embellishment. In answering this challenge, it first should be noted that although the New Testament has been under relentless academic assault for decades, there is no credible scholarship which should give us pause concerning its authenticity. Even leading Orthodox Jewish experts on the Second Temple era, such as the late Prof. David Flusser of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have defended the Gospels as reliable and among the most important Jewish “sources” from antiquity. Flusser also acknowledged that Jesus himself claimed to be God. We see this, for instance, in his seven great “I AM” statements, in which Jesus invoked the name of God given to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:13-14. Thus, Jesus said “I am the bread of life (John 6:35); “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); “I am the door” (John 10:7-9); “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11); “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25); and “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Finally, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58) Jesus also claimed for himself divine attributes only ascribed to God in Scripture, such as his response to the high priest’s pointed question: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?” “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.” 1 Peter 1:10-12 That is, the same Spirit that was in Christ was in the Hebrew prophets of old foretelling of his suffering and atonement for the sins of the world. In addition, these prophets knew the words they were uttering were meant to minister to us today as we now look back on the Cross. These are incredible thoughts! And it means that if Paul or anyone else wanted to come along and falsify the Gospel accounts concerning what the original Apostles taught about Christ, they also would need to go back and rewrite entire portions of the Old Testament, such as Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and so much more. And this, we know, never happened! David Parsons is an ordained minister and serves as ICEJ Media Director in Jerusalem. Jesus answered, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62) In John 10, he is again asked: “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered “I and My Father are one” – here employing the same Hebrew word that appears in the She’ma: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one.” In truth, Jesus was humble, like Moses, and did not go around boasting about who he was. In fact, he was quite careful to hide it from most people. But he did want his disciples to understand who he was, and it was Simon Peter who first gave voice to this revelation in Matthew 16:16: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Indeed, Peter – rather than Paul – should be rightly credited with first recognising the full divine nature of Jesus. And Peter had two very interesting things to say concerning this revelation in his later epistles. The first has to do with his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. In 2 Peter 1:16-21, he insists that his belief in the divinity of Jesus was not some fable he had made up, but that he heard God confirm it in a loud audible voice from heaven on that holy mountain, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). Secondly, Peter’s earlier letter tells us that the Holy Spirit also spoke to the disciples through the prophetic Scriptures concerning the eternal significance of what they had witnessed in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Page 2 and 3: The International Christian Embassy
Page 4 and 5: 4 ICEJ AID W O R D F R O M J E R U
Page 6 and 7: 6 ALIYAH W O R D F R O M J E R U S
Page 10 and 11: 10 INSIDE THE EMBASSY W O R D F R O
Page 12: ICEJ TV WORD FROM JERUSALEM 12 ICEJ

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