The Text:
1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
The Muslim Challenge:
If disciples knew Jesus is God or he wanted to die for their sin, why they all fled when Roman soldiers came to arrest (Matthew 26:56) Jesus? How someone 2000 years later know Jesus better than those who had years of eyewitness knowledge?
My Response:
Take time to read the account given in the New Testament carefully.
The disciples fled the scene because Jesus asked that they be allowed to do so:
John 18:8
8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:
King James Version
Post Author Replied:
Why they fled if they believe Jesus is God?
My Answer:
I hope you are able to read and carefully consider my answers to your questions and challenges. Thank you for reading my answers. Thank you for asking very good questions.
Satan challenged Jesus to jump off the top of the Temple in Jerusalem. Satan even quoted some verses from the Psalms which said angels would protect Jesus from injury.
Jesus answered Satan with Scripture which said we are not to tempt the Lord our God.
The Bible offers some good advice in Proverbs 22:3,
Pro 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. (KJV)
Pro 22:3 Sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later. (GNB, Good News Bible)
When Judas betrayed Jesus and brought a large group of Temple police to arrest Jesus, they did not come to arrest the whole group of disciples. Jesus, therefore, asked that his disciples be allowed to leave the scene for their safety, and the disciples were allowed to do so.
Notice that at all times Jesus was in control of the situation.
Joh 18:8 “I have already told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “If, then, you are looking for me, let these others go.” (GNB)
Jesus did what He did in order to do the will of God and fulfill Bible prophecy.
Post Author Asked:
If Jesus wants to forgive you by killing himself, why Satan is needed?
My Answer:
Satan is a great deceiver and an absolute liar (John 8:44). Satan deceived Eve by getting her to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden when Adam was not immediately present.
Adam made the choice to also eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree when Eve brought the fruit to him. He did not want to be separated from Eve. Adam had been lonely until God created her.
Adam failed the test by failing to obey God’s one commandment no matter what. Jesus passed the test by keeping God’s commandments perfectly and by not giving in to any of Satan’s temptations.
When Adam made this choice, he lost the position of dominion over the earth and was excluded with his wife Eve from the garden. But before Adam and Eve were sent out from the garden, God clothed them with the skins of animals. God, in effect, made this animal sacrifice to clothe them as a picture of the fact that sin can only be forgiven on the basis of a blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22).
Adam also in effect gave up the privileged position he had (Genesis 1:26, dominion) and his privileged position was given to Satan (Luke 4:6).
Jesus is called the Second Man (1 Corinthians 15:47) in the New Testament. He successfully lived a perfect and sinless life (John 8:46. Hebrews 4:15). Unlike the first Adam, Jesus passed the tests when Jesus was tempted by Satan. Jesus now has all authority on earth and in heaven (Matthew 28:18).
It was necessary for Jesus to die as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. This He did by His death on the cross.
The sacrifices for the sins of the people in Old Testament times were offered annually on the Day of Atonement mentioned in detail in Leviticus chapter 16. On the Day of Atonement two goats were involved. One goat was killed and became a burnt offering for the sins of the people and its blood was sprinkled on the altar in the Holy of Holies.
Then the high priest placed his hands on the head of the other goat and the high priest confessed all the sins of the people. This live goat was then taken and released into the wilderness.
This annual ceremony of the Day of Atonement required two goats to depict what Jesus would do for us when He died as an atoning sacrifice for all of us. Jesus was both the priest and the offering (1 John 2:2) in His atonement sacrifice for us by which He took our sins (John 1:29). His death is the provision made for all people. The benefit of this provision is conditional–we must believe He is the Son of God who died for our sins and that He rose again from the dead. The proof that God accepted this atoning sacrifice is that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead on the third day as He Himself predicted (Matthew 17:23).
Another Participant:
Posted a link to an Instagram video titled “Christian Scholar, Bart Ehrman, exposes the Bible.”
I Replied:
I am quite familiar with the claims and writings of Bart Ehrman. Dr. Ehrman is a great Greek scholar. Unfortunately, if I understand his testimony correctly, he lost his faith when he learned there are many variations in the manuscript texts of the New Testament as they have been preserved for us.
It is very likely that I have been studying such issues for many more years than he has been studying them. I have not lost my faith at all as a result of learning about manuscript variations.
Dr. Ehrman sensationalizes some of these issues when he writes for public consumption. He is more reserved and careful when he writes for a more academic and scholarly audience.
I have exposed Dr. Ehrman on my website and I show that there are sometimes some very good reasons to disagree with what he claims about the Bible.