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Tax Collectors were barred from worshiping in synagogues or the temple.
Matthew 9:9
In Talmud om Nedarim 3:4, it declares rabbis are to excommunicate anyone who becomes a tax collector.
As soon as Jesus called Matthew to follow him, he dropped everything and went. This was remarkable faith since Matthew had never met Jesus in person before.
Matthew 9:9 – Matthew 4:13 – Matthew 9:1
No! Jesus’s “own city” was Capernaum. Archaeologists and ancient historians tell us that import-export business between India & China to the east, Africa & Egypt to the south, and Europe to the north was done in Capernaum. Matthew had his booth set up in Capernaum. Archaeologists believe Capernaum had a population of 1000-1500. Everyone knew everyone else. Jesus and Matthew knew each other before.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches. Annnnd…
Jesus was a mind reader.
Matthew 9:4 – Mark 2:8 – Luke 5:22
I think I would be a little nervous if I was around him all the time as his twelve apostles were. On the other hand, I would not have to try to explain deep feeling I have about certain things. He would just know. So it could be hide-and-seek or comfort.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches. Annnnd…
The Apostle Peter was not married. Therefore, priests and popes should not marry.
Matthew 8:14-15 – I Corinthians 9:5
No! If Peter did not marry, where did his mother-in-law come from who Jesus healed? And whose wife did Peter take along with him on his missionary trips?
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches. Annnnd…
We are still to follow the law of Moses and its examples in the Old Testament (sometimes just called “the law” or “law” when referred to in the New Testament).
Matthew 5:18 – John 19:28-30 – Book of Leviticus – Galatians 5:3 – Colossians 2:14 – Hebrews chap. 8-9 – Hebrews 14:16 – James 2:10
No! There were 600 commandments in the Law of Moses, not just the famous 10.
This old covenant required stoning people to death for adultery, donating 1/3 of their income to God, having a separate priesthood, keeping the 7th day of the week holy, offering blood sacrifices, etc., etc. Try plowing through the tedious book of Leviticus (Levi-ticus) – third book of the Bible.
Paul explained that, if we keep one part of the law, we are obligated to keep it all. James said that, if we break just one of the laws, we are guilty of breaking them all.
Jesus nailed them to the cross. Jesus said not one dot of the Law of Moses would end until all was fulfilled, all finished. Jesus fulfilled them all. How? He actually kept the Law of Moses perfectly and never sinned. No one in the history of the world had ever accomplished that. And he fulfilled every prophecy about him in the Old Testament.
Jesus said not one jot or tittle of the old Law of Moses would pass away until all had been fulfilled, all finished. On the cross, seeing everything had been fulfilled, he asked for a drink, said, “It is fulfilled/finished” and died.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches. Annnnd…
Demon possession has always existed and is as common today as it was during Bible times.
Matthew 4:24 – Matthew 9:32 – Matthew 10:1 – Matthew 12:22 – Matthew 17:18 – Mark 5:1-20 – Luke 4:33-36 – Luke 10:17 – Acts 6:16-18
No! Examine the Bible. God allowed demons to reveal themselves only during the lifetime of Jesus and his apostles. Demons having access to our world ceased when Jesus finished proving to the world his power over them.
Notice, he did not do exorcisms and beg them to come out. They were afraid of him. He ordered them. He commanded them. He never begged them.
There is no mention of demon possession in the Christian writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries – “Apostolic Fathers” or “Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History.”
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches. Annnnd…
Everyone has to walk through the valley of the shadow of death upon their death.
Psalm 23:4 – Matthew 4:16
No! For the Christian, light has come to the shadow of death! It is neither shadow nor death.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches. Annnnd…
During Jesus early days preaching, he was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and saw Peter and Andrew, who he had only met briefly where John the Baptist preached. But. when he told them to follow him, it was amazing that they dropped everything and did.
Matthew 4:13 and 18-20 – John 1:44 – Luke 5:10
No! Peter and Andrew lived in Bethsaida, just two miles from Capernaum.. By then, Jesus had moved from Nazareth to Capernaum. James and John (who were related to Jesus) were Peter’s and Andrew’s fishing partners. Jesus had probably already known Peter and Andrew for years.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches.
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John the Baptist just announced one day that he was a prophet and, since he was a pretty good preacher, everyone believed him.
Matthew 3:1-6 – Malachi 4:5-6 – II Kings 1:8
No! It was much more than that. First, he dressed in the common dress of prophets at that time – fur and leather. Second, that kind of dress originated with Elijah, and Malachi (around 400 BC) had predicted “Elijah” would introduce the Messiah to the world.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself. Do word searches.
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Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Nazareth because it had been predicted he would be a Nazarite.
Matthew 2:23 –
Numbers 6 – Jeremiah 23:5 – Isaiah 4:2 – Isaiah 1:1-5 – Jeremiah 33:15-16 – Zechariah 3:8 – Zechariah 6:12-13
No! It had been prophesied that he would be a Nazarene, not a Nazarite. Nazarites could not drink wine, cut their hair, or go near a dead body. Sometimes, someone was a Nazarite for just a week or sometimes an entire lifetime. Jesus did at least 2 of those things forbidden to Nazarites. He turned water into wine for his first miracle. Later miracles involved raising someone back to life after they died. We do not know what his hair looked like.
On the other hand,
The name Nazarene just means someone who lives in Nazareth. It IS significant that Jesus was raised in Nazareth because the root meaning of that village’s name is Nezar, meaning branch. Jesus was to be a HOLY BRANCH from the family tree of King David.
And by the way, Nazareth still exists today. I have friends who live there.
You’re smart. Read the Bible for yourself. Find out for yourself.
