The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay
down My life in order to take it up again.No one takes it from me, but I lay it
down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it
up again. This command I received from my Father." (John 10:17-18)
A very misleading statement from Jesus. The above saying could not have referred to
Jesus since, the synoptics make no mention of this. To go even deeper the
synoptics were written much earlier than John, and within the synoptics we read
a very interesting saying by Jesus which contradicts what John attributed to
him.
In any case, I must press on today and
tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
(Luke 13:33)
Did you catch the problem? Luke who wrote
much earlier than John tells us, according to the saying of Jesus, "no
prophet can die outside Jerusalem"
We know from the synoptics and John that
Jesus was a prophet. And to make things even worse for John, Jesus was
crucified outside Jerusalem. Which means, John's record of Jesus saying he came to lay down his life was a lie, since Luke tells us "no prophet can die
outside Jerusalem" this would mean Jesus was not crucified or killed. thus, he never laid down his life.
Who are we to trust when two authors
blatantly contradict each other? In fact, Luke goes to say his account are far
more detailed than anyone else.
1Inasmuch as
many have undertaken to draw up a narration concerning the things having been
accomplished among us, 2just as
those from the beginning
having been eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, 3it seemed good also to me, having been
acquainted with all things carefully from the first, to write with method to
you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you
may know the certainty concerning the things which you were instructed. (Luke
1:1-4)
It gets worse. Luke writes in his version of the gospel that
Jesus prayed to God to be saved.
"Father, if you are willing, take this
cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
Wait! John tells us Jesus said he came to lay
down his life. Luke on the other hand writing decades before John tell us,
Jesus prayed to God to be saved? It seems clear John inserted words in the
mouth of Jesus, possibly after reading Luke's account.
If Jesus really came to lay his life as
Christians believe, why then did he run away from the Jews when they were tried
to kill him (throwing stones at him)?
According to Matthew another author who wrote decades before John
records Jesus saying
But go and learn what this means: 'I desire
mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners." (Matthew 9:13)
Here we read, Jesus telling the Jews he
desires mercy not sacrifice. This would mean John's idea of Jesus sacrificing
himself, i.e. laying down his life was a lie and could not have been uttered by
him. Saying that the Jews never believed messiah was to be killed. Here's
another problem with John's account. According to John, Jesus said
"If I testify about myself, my testimony
is not true. (John 5:31)
If Jesus really said this, then John 10:17-18
should be dismissed. Jesus has put a
condition on himself to clarify if he speaks the truth. One way to find out is,
if Jesus testifies anything about himself then this testimony shouldn't be
accepted singularly. Rather if someone else also testifies for Jesus, then that
would be a valid testimony. So, who else testified what Jesus said regarding
laying down his life? Do you see the
problem and dilemma Johns account put Jesus in.
We conclude, Jesus did not say he came to lay
down his life, nor do we find anyone else testifying what Jesus said.
Case dismissed
