Jesus from the perspective of a Pharisee

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He was an insignificant, homely man. Rather ugly, not much to look at, not very impressive to the eye. A meek, plain, humble person. Simple, honest, no pretense, a plain-speaking person. He went about teaching people about the things of God; telling people how to live life, speaking of sin and its consequences and a need for personal repentance before God; about personal reform and right living. He had some kind of amazing supernatural power. As he went about he healed people of various ailments. With just a word or touch of his hand he was healing the blind, the deaf, the lame, etc. He even raised people from the dead. There is no doubt that he was doing astounding supernatural feats and multitudes of people were following him in hope of being healed, seeing others healed, or just hearing what he had to say. However, he was also telling people he was God! He had the idea he was God. Can you imagine that! What audacity and blasphemy for a man to claim to be God! And he even told a person their sins were forgiven! How can any man forgive another man’s sin? Who but God can forgive sin? What nerve!

He was a Jew but he was always transgressing our law. Our law forbids working on the Sabbath and he was forever healing people on the Sabbath - an obvious violation of our law. He couldn’t have been of God because if he were he would not have violated our law and customs. In addition, he was always denouncing us (the Pharisees) for our ways, telling us we were hypocrites, telling us we were of the Devil and going to hell. By denouncing us it is obvious he was of the Devil and the source of the power for all the supernatural feats he was doing must have been the Devil.

He also claimed to be the promised Jewish messiah. But it is not possible that he could be the messiah. The promised messiah will come with power and present himself as a king, not as some homely, humble peasant. Moreover, the scripture says the messiah will be from Bethlehem and this man was from Nazareth.

To make oneself equal to God is the most grave sin in our law, a sin requiring the death penalty. He received what he deserved. We crucified him.

Prophesy of the Jewish Messiah from the Book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 53: 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

If we study the scripture we find that one of the things God hates most is pride. God is strongly biased against pride. He loves humility. One of the most pronounced personal traits of Jesus was his humility. Jesus was God come down to earth for the purpose of being the supreme sacrifice for sin. Jesus was God and Jesus was meek and humble.

I Cor 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised , hath God chosen , yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are : 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence

Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Psa 138:6

He forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Psa 9:1

The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. Psa 25:9

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Psa 37:11

June 2012