A case on behalf of Jesus Christ has come knocking on Kenya's High Court door, lodged by a fervent Christian group that wants his conviction declared null and void and his crucifixion illegal.
read more digg story
Perhaps this is a well-meaning group of people who think that they are somehow doing good in this case, but it is certainly a misplaced idea and disturbs me for many reasons.
1. The Old Testament prophecies predicted that the Messiah would be crucified despite being innocent of the charges. To try and change "history," so to speak, is an attempt to defy the very reason why Jesus Christ came into the world in the first place!
2. There is no forgiveness of sin without the cross! I have referred to the fact that we must Beware the Cross less Gospel many times at this blog. Although this group may mean well in their courtroom efforts to claim Jesus' crucifixion illegal, they are stepping on God's Law and the Prophets by doing so. Also, they are dangerously "messing" with God's will, judgment, holiness and righteousness. It is as though they are claiming that God "made a mistake" to let Jesus be crucified for the sins of the world.
3. The groups' actions may not seem to appear (at first) to be a kind of heresy that leads to apostasy, but in light of #2 above, we can see that it could be deemed a very deceptive way to carry that out!
*******more to come later but feel free to comment*******
I read that story on Christian Daily News. I did not get the feeling that they were seeking to diminish the eternal impact of the cross for any reason, or by any way.
ReplyDeleteI only took away that they wanted a court of law to acknowledge that the trial was illegal. Maybe I overlooked something?
With this concession, wouldn't the formal acknowledgment of Pilate's court and the efforts of the Pharisees being completely wrong actually support the prophetic word of how the messiah would die?
Hi Merwin,
ReplyDeleteIn that case, wouldn't the subject be a moot point afterall?
Other Christians may come along and agree with you, Merwin. We shall see.
But there were additional things that bothered me about the impending "lawsuit." The group was using the ole' "blame the Jews" attitude in order to bring it about:
Excerpt:
"Jesus was lynched by Jewish mobs. That was illegal. It was abuse of office, malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence, judicial misconduct and goes against the principle of natural justice.'"
The fact is, all of mankind put Jesus on that cross at Calvary because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Jesus himself proclaimed that he could have called legions of angels down to "rescue" him from his death at the cross. But if he did, then he would have returned to heaven, alone, and we would not have the Savior as our Mediator between Righteous and Holy God and us, as sinful men and women.
His sacrificial death for sin allows us to escape the punishment that we all surely would have deserved. Upon confession, repentance of our sins and belief in Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, we have the hope of eternal life with Him in heaven.
If you didn't read Beware the Cross-less Gospel yet, some of what I have said here is covered in more detail.
Another "alarm bell" for me about this particular group was this:
Excerpt:
"Little is known about FOJ, which does not proselytise and is reticent about its numbers, saying they cannot be counted in figures but in "the many who are ready to heed the Jesus teaching and be his friend"."
They don't proselytise? Isn't that a secular humanistic term that makes evangelism appear to be a bad thing?
As was stated in the article, the people only seem to be a "seeker-sensitive" type of group which totally ignore the last commandment of Jesus (the Great Commission).
What I gathered from the brief description about them, they appear to be the typical "touchy-feely, relativistic, tolerate anything and everything" type of group that likes the "teachings of Jesus" and "want to be his friend," but want to lessen (and not even share!!) the salvation message of the Cross.
Well, since God intended for it to happen all along, as stated in the OT, then how can it be deemed "illegal?" Whether they intend to or not, they are saying that God did the wrong thing, 'cause He wanted Jesus to be crucified. To say that God was wrong, or illegal, is a bad thing, is it not?
ReplyDeleteThe road to hell is paved with good intentions...isn't that how the saying goes?
Good points, Jaded.
ReplyDeleteThe road to hell is paved with good intentions...isn't that how the saying goes?
When people take their eyes off of the Light of the World, namely, Jesus Christ and His Word, then they are vulnerable to be left in darkness.