Why does God
Allow Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does
God Allow Evil 0908.htm
Should God’s
existence be proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should the
Bible and God Be Proven Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does the Bible teach blind faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
Why Would Have the First Disciples Have Believed in Jesus? What Are the Meanings of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5? When Did Jesus’ Ministry Begin and John the Baptist’s End?
Why
did the earliest apostles believed in Jesus despite He wasn’t famous or had
done any public miracles when they first committed themselves to Him? There are several possible answers to this
question. A number of the early leading
disciples were possibly relatives of Jesus or friends of His relatives. For example, James and John may have been
Jesus’ cousins if their mother was Salome and she in turn was the wife of
Zebedee, the fisherman. In turn, John
very likely was the unnamed companion of Andrew, who was Peter’s brother, and
who introduced Peter to Jesus (see John 2:35-42). Another factor was that Jesus had an impressive bearing and
command of Scripture even when He was young, since He impressed learned Jewish
teachers of the law in the temple even when he was only 12 years old (Luke
2:46-47). He grew in favor with both
God and men as He increased in age and wisdom.
So discerning people who knew Jesus from when He young could have seen
how He was different compared to other men even before He launched His public
ministry and did miracles. Furthermore,
Jesus could be given miraculous insights that weren’t noticed publicly, but
still could still impress His listeners.
Consider the interesting case in which Jesus saw by vision the skeptical
Nathanael under the fig tree with Philip, which so impressed Nathanael that he
immediately was convinced that Philip was right about Jesus’ being the Messiah
(see John 1:45-51). In addition, as the
narrative in John 1 shows, John the Baptist gave a public witness that Jesus
was the Lamb of God who came to take away the world’s sins, which in turn lead
two disciples (one of them clearly Andrew, and the other almost surely the
Apostle John) to follow Jesus (John 1:29-39).
So the earliest disciples who later became apostles responded to His
character and knowledge being different compared to other men’s, John the
Baptist’s public witness, and their being relatives or friends of His relatives
who had known Him for many years.
Now
let’s turn to another question you asked, which concerned the meaning of each
of the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12). The
famous Bible commentator Matthew Henry states a few useful generalizations
about them. He notes that each of these
blessings has two purposes. First, they
each state who will truly be happy and what their characters will be composed
of. Second, they state what true
happiness consists of. They promise
that people who follow these principles will become happy ultimately as they
perform them. At times, they are
paradoxical. For example, the first
Beatitude says those who mourn (i.e., are unhappy about something) will be
comforted (i.e., made happy). In this
case, one needs to be unhappy about the right things. If one has sinned, and wishes to repent and to change one’s life,
one will be much happier in the long term, even in this life, let alone the
next. The gentle or meek will inherit the earth after Jesus’ return and their
resurrection or translation into God’s ruling kingdom. By being kind in character, God will reward
them ultimately physically and spiritually even if they end up being mistreated
or oppressed during this life. Those
who really strongly wish to be righteous ultimately will be satisfied, since
obeying God’s way of life makes for the most happiness long term, especially
when eternal life is counted in the calculations. The merciful will receive mercy, which in principle correlates
strongly with Jesus’ frequent teachings that people can’t be forgiven unless
they forgive others (Matthew 6:12, 14-15; Mark 11:25-27; Matthew
18:21-35). To constantly demand
justice, revenge, and/or punishment against others in this life who hurt us is
often counter-productive spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically, especially
when we have no power to punish them (such as when they live far away, are
dead, or hold major power over us, such as bosses, landlords, politicians,
government officials, etc.) The pure in
heart will be motivated to be reconciled to God so that one day they will see
Him and even live with Him in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-3). People who try to solve conflicts (not just
merely avoid them) among others (including themselves) are aiming to build the
kind of peace that God wants among His children. He wants all His children to get along with each other well
ultimately if the are going to live forever together in His kingdom. Finally, we are ultimately blessed if we
suffer from persecution from other people since God will reward us for our
sufferings. This Beatitude is particularly
paradoxical, but we need to remember that we don’t just live this physical life
for the sake of this life, but also for the next life: We may suffer now when relatives,
co-workers, friends, and others reject us for upholding the name of Jesus and
for serving Him, but then God will reward us down the road later. But that takes faith, doesn’t it? Do we really believe that there will be a
future eternal life with God that will right all the wrongs and reward us for
all our pains in this life for serving Him?
If we don’t, then we won’t have the motivation to live the way of life
illustrated by Jesus’ Beatitudes.
You
also asked why Matthew wrote (Matt. 4:17):
“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.’” From what time
did Jesus’ ministry begin? Notice verse
12 above: “Now when He heard that John
had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee.” Jesus’ public ministry mainly began after
John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod and put into prison, although it’s
true that for a time both Jesus and John were baptizing disciples
simultaneously (John 3:22-26).
So
I hope that these answers to your questions about Jesus’ teachings and the
beginnings of His ministry have been helpful to you. Please feel free to email me back if you have more questions on
these subjects.
Sincerely,
Eric
V. Snow
Click here to access essays that defend Christianity: /apologetics.html
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teachings: /doctrinal.html
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Why does God
Allow Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why
Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians
work on Saturdays? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should
Christians obey the Old Testament law? /doctrinalhtml/Does
the New Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an
immortal soul? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here
and Hereafter.htm
Does the
ministry have authority? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
There an Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United
States the Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are
We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should you give
10% of your income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does
the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God?
Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
Jesus God.htm
Will there be a
third resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will
There Be a Third Resurrection.htm
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