Stories only fools would believe in. the authors of the gospels probably
had a good laugh when they wrote such absurd stories knowing the common “gullible”
Christian would believe in. It’s nothing surprising when you open the Bible
and find stories which are beyond a joke. I mean take for example the story of
Jesus when he was approached by the roman soldiers in the “Garden of Gethsemane”.
This dramatic story which leads to the “supposed”
crucifixion of Jesus, has its flaws.
Judas then, having received a
band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither
with lanterns and torches and weapons. (John18:3)
During
the arrest of Jesus John tells us 600 soldiers came to arrest Jesus,
seriously!. It would not have been common for 600 soldiers to come arrest one
man. The Greek word translated as "cohort" in this
scripture is σπεῖραν - "spira" or "speira". These
soldiers were from the chief priests and the temple guard. John in his book
uses the Greek word speria which means
an army division of 600 men. The other three gospels say a multitude or a great
multitude with swords and clubs. Let’s not forget to include the Jewish
rabbis and their followers.
Nelsons New Illustrated Dictionary and found this on Cohort/Regiment:
"One of ten divisions of ancient Roman Legion. The traditional
Roman legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers. A regiment or cohort, consisted of
about 600 men, although this number varied. The Book of Acts mentions the
Italian Regiment (Acts 10:1; band, KJV; cohort, NRSV, REB, NASB) and the
Augustan Regiment (Acts 27:1; band, KJV; Imperial Regiment, NIV)"
speira
speira
band (of soldiers),
cohort
1) anything rolled
into a circle or ball, anything wound, rolled up, folded together
2) a military cohort
2a) the tenth part of
legion
2a1) about 600 men,
i.e. legionaries
(Ball, Mark David, 1996, 'I Am' in John's Gospel. Continuum
International Ball, p 143-145)
John 18:3. ὁ οὖν Ἰούδας λαβών τὴν σπεῖραν
καὶ … ὑπηρέτας. σπεῖρα (Spira,
anything rolled up or folded together), a Roman cohort (Polyb., xi. 23, 1) or
tenth part of a legion, and therefore containing about 600 men.
Unbelievable,
are you saying the council of Sanhedrin sent 600 soldiers to arrest one man? Can you imagine a
man who was unknown to the Romans, a man who posed no threat had 600 fully equipped
soldiers to arrest him? Saying that, the
Garden of Gethsemane is tiny to hold 600+ solders alongside the members of Sanhedrin.
They would have been cramped in such a small Garden. This over exaggeration of
soldiers only shows the inconsistencies within the gospels. It’s totally absurd to think such a great
number of roman soldiers would come to arrest one man who is unknown to the higher
authorities (Pilate, Herod)
It doesn’t stop
here, we also have another problem to deal with which is closely related to the
same story. As we read from the same episode, whilst Jesus was being arrested Peter
took a knife (sword) and slit the ear of the high priest’s servant.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) (John 18:10)
How could Peter in front of a crowd of 600 soldiers take
out a sharp object (knife/sword) and use it by slitting the ear of the HIGH
PRIEST’S SERVANT and not get arrested? It makes no sense. It also makes no
difference whether Jesus healed the victim’s ear or not, the fact Peter was filled
with such rage and committed a violent act should have been sufficient for the
soldiers to arrest him. Are not the soldiers there to maintain law and order? Doesn’t
this show, this story could not be factual rather was made up by the author.
Its highly unlikely that a man could attack the servant of
the HIGH PRIEST and get away scot-free.
Why didn’t the rabbis who were present bring this up during
the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus, why were they silent. Even if the high priest
alongside council members asked for evidence, the rabbis could of easily
produced 600+ witnesses. It’s fascinating how they accused Jesus for everything
else, but left behind a violent episode which they witnessed with their own two
eyes. what’s ironic is even the victims relative didn’t even bring it up, even
when he met Peter face to face after the incident (John 18:26) Saying that the servant
who’s right ear was cut off was also a priest. "Malchus" is the
Greek version of the man's Hebrew name "Melek" (http://biblehub.com/topical/m/malchus.htm). This word actually means "counselor" and
"king"! the high priest would always keep a rabbi as his
follower/servant.
We can conclude the entire story of Jesus’s arrest and Peter
cutting the ear of the High Priest’s servant, was all made up. It’s unhistorical you expect the servant to become a believer there
and them and support Jesus in from of the council of Sanhedrin. It’s funny how nothing
was heard of the servant after Jesus’s arrest.
