“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” (Mt. 1:18)
From the words “before they came together” it seems that Joseph was not impotent because of age, as some (notably Catholics) suppose. The Bible makes this plain in other passages and even goes on to say that Mary had other children.
“And didn’t know her sexually until she had brought forth her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.” (Mt. 1:25)
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? Aren’t all of his sisters with us?…” (Mt. 13:55-56)
“Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us? …” (Mrk. 6:3)
“For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.” (Jn. 7:5)
“… brothers of the Lord…” (1Cor. 9:5)
“… except James, the Lord’s brother.” (Gal. 1:19)
“… an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:20-21)
See also Mt. 12:13, 19, 22. Thus prophetic dreams really exist and are not a human fantasy. However, I don't believe in books that talk about specific methods for interpreting individual objects in dreams.
“In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’” (Mt. 3:1, 2)
“From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, ‘Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’” (Mt. 4:17)
“As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’” (Mt. 10:7)
It sounds quite awesome in modern language: “The Space Empire has come!”
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!” (Mt. 23:37)
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused.” (Luk. 13:34)
The “wings” of Christ are His spaceships, He wants to gather us with His spaceships.
“Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will give his angels charge concerning you.” and, “On their hands they will bear you up, So that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”” (Mt. 4:5-7)
A similar passage is found in Luke 4:9-12. This means that we should not ignore natural laws such as the laws of physics, biology, or social processes when we set our hope on God; otherwise Jesus would have ignored the law of gravity and jump.
“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” (Mt. 5:4)
Compare these verses from the Old Testament.
“A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” (Ecc. 7:1-4)
“Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.” (Jam. 4:9)
Thus these churches which spend all their time rejoicing in their meetings are not following the best way.
“Blessed are the gentle, For they shall inherit the earth.” (Mt. 5:5)
Saved people will inherit plots in the heavens. However those who are gentle will receive a special blessing (among the heavenly blessings), plots of land on Earth.
“Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.” (Mt. 5:42)
“Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again.” (Luk. 6:30)
Apparently, this means that you should give away whatever someone asks for. But a more careful reading of this verse means that you shall give only to someone who asks you. This means that you should give to somebody anything they ask, only if they understand who you are, what kind of person you are, what you believe in, etc.
“That you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Mt. 5:45)
Note that the sun belongs to God and is His property. Why then do some preachers say that the sun is controlled by the Devil?
“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most assuredly I tell you, they have received their reward.” (Mt. 6:16)
Note that Christ doesn’t say “don't be hypocrites” but “don’t be like the hypocrites.” This means that not only should we not be hypocrites, we should strive to not even be like hypocrites. Note what hypocrites do and do otherwise.
“Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.” (Mt. 6:34)
Jesus isn't saying not to do long-term planning or not to plan your next day. He is just saying we should not to be anxious for tomorrow. As I understand, the word “anxious” here means to worry about small things (such as food, drink, etc.) but instead engage in long-term planning of the important things.
“Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Mt. 7:12)
This golden rule is the main principle of the Old Testament. Anything in the Old Testament are special cases of this principle. Note that the principle of the New Testament is something else.
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” (Mt. 22:37-40)
“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Gal. 5:14)
“Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, ‘Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, ‘I want to. Be made clean.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Mt. 8:2-3)
“There came to him a leper, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, ‘If you want to, you can make me clean.’ Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, ‘I want to. Be made clean.’ When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.” (Mrk. 1:40-42)
Note that in the Old Testament it was a sin to even touch leprous people, but for Jesus there was an exception because His touching cured (and so when He touched the man he was no more leprous).
“… for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known” (Mt. 10:26)
“For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light.” (Luk. 8:17)
“But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known.” (Luk. 12:2)
For many years it seemed that some things were lost forever such as ships that sunk in the deepest part of the Ocean. But now we have new technologies and are able to raise things from the bottom of the sea, do a DNA analysis and so on, revealing previously lost things. Just like in the Kingdom of Heaven, anything covered will be revealed.
“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Mt. 11:25)
“Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.’” (Mt. 28:18)
“For ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.’” (1Cor. 10:26)
This means that not only the heavens but the Earth is all God's possession, in spite of the sins of the people.
“Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt. 20:28)
“For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mrk. 10:45)
This does mean that the reason Christ came was not so that we would serve Him in our Sunday church meetings. His reason was another: to serve us.
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.” (Mt. 24:6)
“Rumors of war” means rumors in the sense of a psychological weapon. In modern language this is called an “informational war.” See also Mrk. 13:7.
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mrk. 1:1)
It seems from this verse that the Gospel of Matthew is placed in the beginning of the New Testament by mistake, it should be the Gospel of Mark instead.
Wasn't man created to serve the Lord as in Sunday (or Saturday, dependently on your denomination)? No: “He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” (Mrk. 2:27)
About Mary, the mother of Jesus:
“Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luk. 2:35)
This suggests that Mary possessed the gift of telepathy, so that through her the thoughts of people were revealed. St. Paul also had this gift:
“For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” (Col. 2:5)
“The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” (Luk. 4:5) This shows that the devil is a very powerful computer, as he can show a great deal of information so quickly.
“… But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Luk. 7:47)
I suppose that angels, which are almost righteous and for whom little is therefore forgiven, don't love much. This is the reason that saints who are repented sinners will be above angels in the world to come.
“Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you.” (Luk. 10:19)
Some living things (serpents, scorpions, and so on) were created by Devil.
“then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful” (Luk. 12:46)
This may mean that as a form of punishment the Lord will split the personality of bad servants into two parts (probably splitting into the left and right hemispheres of the brain similar to a lobotomy, or into the conscious or unconscious parts).
“A certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered, ‘Let me at least do this’—and he touched his ear, and healed him.” (Luk. 22:50-51)
Does this mean that Jesus caused his ear to grow again or did he just heal the wound? I don't know.
“It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.” (Jn. 6:63)
We are flesh not spirit. We should be astonished to hear that there is nothing of value in our lives. But Jesus immediately follows this up by saying that His words are spirit. So, despite our being flesh, there is something useful inside of us, His words, which we hear. So we are not entirely useless.
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.” (Jn. 10:16)
Traditionally this verse is explained as referring to gentiles who will become one flock with the Jews. But is Christ talking about aliens from other planets? (or maybe some spirits in the heaven, which would be made one flock with us?)
“… The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.” (Jn. 14:10)
“… The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.” (Jn. 14:24)
Jesus spoke not what He desired to say, but by a prepared pattern. See my book “End of Gospel”.
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!” They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, ‘What does this mean?” (Act. 2:4-12)
I think this means that they all simultaneously spoke in several languages at once. By the great wisdom of the Holy Spirit the grammar of the languages was arranged in such a way that one phrase was meaningful in several languages at once.
“As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’” (Act. 9:3-6)
It seems that after having heard the words “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” that Saul guessed it was Jesus speaking to him. This was the reason he asked “Who are you, Lord?”
“Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.” (Rom. 13:1-2)
This is also about spiritual authorities. We should not make war with ruling spirits.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13)
I translate it as dream rather than hope. So we should “abound in dreams” and dream much in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is able to fulfill our dreams.
“each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.” (1Cor. 3:13-15)
I think, “fire” refers to the comet which will fall upon the Earth (see chapter Chapter 11 ). If your works remain after the comet sets the Earth on fire, you will receive a reward. If it burns, you will lose your reward.
Some people thought: Why not destroy our own bodies (be it with suicide or sinful living), since only the spiritual ones are important. God has an answer to this. “Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.” (1Cor. 3:16-17)
The very reason the Holy Spirit entered into us is to cure us because we are sinners. Since a member of the Trinity is living inside of us that means we are His holy temple; and no one has the right to destroy or harm God’s holy temple.
“For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1Cor. 4:20)
It is natural to imagine that the heavenly Kingdom of God consists of knowing mysteries (“words”), but it is instead having more energy.
“are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1Cor. 5:5)
“of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme.” (1Tim. 1:20)
So the task of Satan is not just directly opposite of the task of God and our task. Satan destroys the body, not spirit as we might think.
It is natural to suppose that different spiritual services are done with different spirits. But this is wrong: See 1Cor. 12:5-11.
“… Do all speak with various languages?…” (1Cor. 12:30)
From this verse I conclude that the Pentecostal teaching that everybody baptized by the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues is wrong.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore since all these things are thus to be destroyed, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” (2Pet. 3:10-12)
Once the Universe is burned, what remains of it?
“But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three…” (1Cor. 13:13)
These are the non-flammable things. It is what remains of us when we die. Our faith, hope, and love continue to exist after our death. Thus we continue in eternal life.
We are sinners, able to do almost nothing, but in us there is the Spirit. One task which we nevertheless are able to do in our flesh is to travel to some location. It is enough for the Spirit to do a work through us.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.” (2Cor. 10:3-6)
“But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and minister to my need.” (Phil. 2:25)
Note that the apostle Epaphroditus was not one of the twelve and neither was Paul. So there are more apostles than just the original twelve and Paul.
“I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession.” (1Tim. 6:13)
How can giving life to all things and testifying a good confession before Pontius Pilate be compared? The answer is that testifying a good confession before Pontius Pilate is comparably as difficult as giving life to all things. It is very hard to say something sensible when you are before the unjust court of such an evil man.
“which in its own times he will show, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.” (1Tim. 6:15-16)
He has immortality, we rent immortality from Him.
It is a wrong teaching that if somebody is an apostle then he cannot be also a teacher (or a pastor, or whatever).
“… I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.” (2Tim. 1:11)
St. Paul was both an apostle and a teacher.
Note that Jesus himself is also called an apostle:
“… consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus.” (Heb. 3:1)
“For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God.” (2Pet. 3:5)
I suspect that here the word water should mean hydrogen (one of the components of water). Astronomy and astrophysics confirm that this world was made out of hydrogen.
“… Freely you received, so freely give.” (Mt. 10:8) These words of Jesus were fulfilled by Richard Stallman (even though he is an atheist), who developed GPL (GNU General Public License), the license of software where every modification to freely received software should also be free. It is a commandment of Jesus to use licenses such as GPL. Examples of software with this license include Linux. Jesus wants us to become Linux users.
“The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind.” (Rev. 6:13)
Certainly stars cannot fall onto the Earth. I understand this verse as referring to the spirits of stars who fall onto the Earth.
“… God, who gives life to all things.” (1Tim. 6:13)
“All things” includes stones, wooden beams, and furniture. When God is near, everything becomes alive.
How to reconcile the Christian doctrine of the soul and the scientific fact that a human thinks with his brain? My resolution is the following: A human thinks with his brain but the soul is a warranty for the body and a backup for the brain. This is a quite natural theory: God created people as agricultural robots “… a man to till the ground” (Gen. 2:5) and created us with an eternal warranty and backup.
The Bible says that branding the head with a hot iron can damage the conscious.
“through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron.” (1Tim. 4:2) Thus a man is ruled by the brain according to the Bible.
The Apocalypse confirms that the souls of people have a mind and conscience even after death:
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.” (Rev. 6:9-11)
Seeming contradictions in Gospel
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king…” (Mt. 2:1)
Note that there were several kings with the name Herod. Thus the “contradictions” in Gospel proposed by some Gospel critics about Herod are the result of a misunderstanding.
“…, for most assuredly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.” (Mt. 10:23)
This statement of Jesus seems erroneous. A possible explanation is Mt. 17:1-3 (see below).
Those such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses who don't believe in the divinity of Christ have no biblical arguments to support their belief except two verses where Jesus says that He does not know something:
“But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Mt. 24:36)
“But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mrk. 13:32)
These verses are a very strong argument against the supreme divinity of Christ, but I will try to interpret it in such a way that brings it into agreement with other verses that proclaim the divinity of Christ.
“All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.” (Mt. 11:27)
Note that as no one knows the Son except the Father, the Son does not know himself. This means that (ahead of time) Christ does not know which decisions He himself will make. Since Christ will decide the day of His coming, He does not know His own decision ahead of time. Christ knows everything, but does not know himself.
“Most assuredly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Mt. 16:28)
This seems false, as the twelve apostles died before the second coming of Christ. But you will understand this if you read the next chapter of Gospel:
“After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.” (Mt. 17:1-3)
So they saw the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. The same thing is recorded in the Gospel of Mark.
“He said to them, ‘Most assuredly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste death until they see the Kingdom of God come with power.’ After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.” (Mrk. 9:1-4)
The Gospel of Luke confirms these events.
“’But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here, who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Kingdom of God.’ It happened about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling. Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.” (Luk. 9:27-31)
Regarding Saul's meeting with Jesus Christ in glory:
“The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one.” (Act. 9:7)
“Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who spoke to me.” (Act. 22:9)
This seems to be a contradiction in Gospel, but it is not. In Acts 22:9 it is said to sound like the words of a man (Paul) and it is not said that he was prophesying or filled with Holy Spirit. He was