THE MAN-GOD SPEAKS Strikes at the Heart of "the Gospel of God . . . concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1-2 NKJV) Denies the Prophecies of Jesus Christ as Prophet and Coming King Denies the Date of Jesus Christ's Birth Predicted to "Seal up the vision" AND Conclusively Establish His Role as the Promised Messiah in Accordance With the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, and "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Dan. 9:24 (KJV); John 1:29 NKJV) On the Coming of the Son of Man Pope: Jesus does not describe the "end of the world," he is the centre of the present and the future From the Zenit report (first above): On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, Jesus’ discourse about the end times (in technical terms, his “eschatological” discourse) is proclaimed at Mass (cf. Mark 13:24-32). This discourse is also found, with some variations, in Matthew and Luke, and it is probably the most difficult text in the Gospels. This difficulty derives both from the content and the language: Jesus speaks of a future that is beyond our categories, and because of this Jesus uses images and words taken from the Old Testament, but, importantly, he inserts a new center, namely, himself, the mystery of his person and his death and resurrection. Today’s passage too opens with some cosmic images of an apocalyptic nature: “The sun will be darkened, the moon will no longer give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the skies will be shaken” (Mark 13:24-25); but this element is relativized by what follows: “Then the Son of Man will come upon the clouds in the sky with great power and glory” (13:26). The “Son of Man” is Jesus himself, who links the present with the future; the ancient words of the prophets have finally found a center in the person of the Messiah of Nazareth: he is the central event that, in the midst of the troubles of the world, remains the firm and stable point. Another passage from today’s Gospel confirms. Jesus says: “The sky and the earth will pass away but my words will not pass away” (13:31). In fact, we know that in the Bible the word of God is at the origin of creation: all creatures, starting with the cosmic elements – sun, moon, sky – obey God’s Word, they exist insofar as they are “called” by it. This creative power of the divine Word (“Parola”) is concentrated in Jesus Christ, the Word (“Verbo”) made flesh, and also passes through his human words, which are the true “sky” that orients the thought and path of man on earth. For this reason Jesus does not describe the end of the world and when he uses apocalyptic images he does not conduct himself like a “visionary.” (Underscored emphasis added.) From AsiaNews (second above): "Jesus does describe the end of the world. When he uses apocalyptic images, he is not acting as a 'seer'. On the contrary, he wants to rescue his disciples in every age from the curiosity about dates and soothsaying, and give them instead an essential key to understand especially the right path to follow, today and tomorrow, for entering eternal life." In saying these words today, before the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square, Benedict XVI "demythologised" false images about the end of the world based on false interpretations of Biblical passages. (Underscored emphasis added.) THE WORDS SPOKEN BY JESUS CHRIST CONCERNING HIMSELF AND CONTRADICTED BY THE POPE Role as a Prophet/Seer: Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. John 13:19 (NKJV) Moses prophesied of THIS PROPHET: The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken (Deuteronomy 18:15 . . . the prophet here promised was preeminently the Messiah, for He alone was “like unto Moses in His mediatorial character; in the peculiar excellence of His ministry; in the number, variety, and magnitude of His miracles; in His close and familiar communion with God; and in His being the author of a new dispensation of religion.” This prediction was fulfilled 1,500 years afterwards, and was expressly applied to Christ by Peter (Acts 3:22, 23) and by Stephen (Acts 7:37) (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown, A Commentary.)) Jesus prophesies of His Second Coming: For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Matthew 16:27 For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Matthew 23:39 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:27 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Matthew 24:30 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:36-39 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:42-44 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Mathew 26:64 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. Mark 13:26-27 Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:62 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. Luke 9:26 And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. Luke 21:25-28 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3 (All texts quoted above from the NKJV) As Wm. H. Grotheer states in his Bible Study Guide, "Christ, Our Coming King," "This is the greatest unfulfilled promise and prophecy in all the Bible. The return of Jesus has been the hope and expectation of the church in all ages. This wonderful promise is based on only one condition - 'If I go - I will come again.' If He went, then He is sure to return." P. 49 Note. Words denying the "greatest unfulfilled promise and prophecy in all the Bible" must surely rank among the "great words" of Dan. 7:11, "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." The end is fast approaching. Jesus was born years earlier than thought, claims Pope The Christian calendar is wrong, Jesus was born years earlier: Pope Benedict XVI From The Telegraph report (first above): "The calculation of the beginning of our calendar – based on the birth of Jesus – was made by Dionysius Exiguus, who made a mistake in his calculations by several years," the Pope writes in the book, which went on sale around the world with an initial print run of a million copies. "The actual date of Jesus's birth was several years before." The assertion that the Christian calendar is based on a false premise is not new – many historians believe that Christ was born sometime between 7BC and 2BC. But the fact that doubts over one of the keystones of Christian tradition have been raised by the leader of the world's one billion Catholics is striking. The date of Jesus Christ's birth is as much at the heart of the gospel of God as the promise of His Second Coming. The dates of the beginning of His ministry, of His crucifixion and resurrection and, of critical importance to our present generation, of the commencement of the Judgment as depicted in Dan. 7:9-10 and predicted in Dan. 8:14, all hinge on the date of Jesus' birth. The Pope's words about that crucial date therefore strike at the heart of the gospel, as does his denial of the Second Coming. This audio sermon The Certainty of Our Faith is an exposition of the great prophecy of Dan. 8:14 which verifies from the historical record the critical importance of the established date of Jesus Christ's birth. |