The Text:
John 11:54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. (KJV)
The Challenge Re-affirmed:
all of which you have presented is out of context to the verse which is in the post.
In john 11:54 your god is fleeing from the jews. The jews have power in the city and see your god as a enemy. So your god left out of fear. Thats the context. Stop try’na explain it with wayward of the track explanations.
And stop sending all these non relevant verse’s. Thats not how a civilised dialogue unfolds. These digressions of yours are obvious to us.
My Response:
It is obvious to me that you do not know how to properly interpret the Bible. To careful readers, what I have submitted by way of my citation of related Scripture would be most informative.
It is generally well recognized that Scripture interprets Scripture.
Your misunderstanding and misreading of John 11:54 demonstrates you do not understand this principle of Bible interpretation.
You ought to understand this principle by now for I have exhibited it repeatedly in my comments here.
You arbitrarily reject the fact that in John 11:54 Jesus acted out of prudence (Proverbs 22:3), not fear.
You arbitrarily reject the fact that the wider context of the New Testament establishes that Jesus acted without fear but rather acted in accordance with the will of the Father who sent Him. The fact that Jesus always acted according to the will of His Father Who sent Him is repeatedly affirmed in Scripture:
King James Version
King James Version
King James Version
King James Version
I demonstrated by specific reference to Scripture as given at Matthew 26:53, 54, 55, 56 and John 18:6, 8, 9 that Jesus was not afraid but in perfect control of the situation He and His disciples faced at the moment of His betrayal by Judas Iscariot.
Muslim Response:
he acted out on prudence due to fear of harm. Of course thats a wise decision for any man to make. But you say this man is God. Jesus made a wise decision to run away. If he didn’t he would have probably get a beating.
My Reply:
Thank you for peacefully and respectfully continuing this discussion.
You make an interesting observation in your last comment when you say:
“But you say this man is God.”
In my last comment I posted this verse:
King James Version
If Jesus were merely a man, how could He make the claim “For I came down from heaven”?
Jesus refers to this fact in John 17:5,
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
You may recall that John the Baptist was about six months older than Jesus. Yet John the Baptist states:
King James Version
King James Version
What John the Baptist states provides incidental confirmation of what Jesus said. Jesus claimed that He came down from heaven. Therefore, Jesus must have existed as a person before He took on human nature when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary as announced by the angel Gabriel recorded in Luke 1:26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33.
The angel Gabriel states that Mary’s child would be called “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32), an expression equivalent to His being called “the Son of God.” As the Son of God, Jesus in His person has always existed, which is why Jesus could say that He came down from heaven, and John could say that Jesus “was before me” (John 1:15).
There is absolutely NO basis for suggesting Jesus “ran away.” The King James Version translates the underlying Greek word ἀπέρχομαι by the English word “went” in John 11:54. It is never translated “run away.”