Seeking THE Truth

Finally we are out of the synoptic gospels and hope we have new opportunities to see if the Greek text cross references Tanakh correctly. I believe John has a very high level of Christology and it will be good to review them in context. John the dipper event is similar to the other 3 gospels so I will direct you to the post that already covers this cross reference to Isaiah 40:6 One point to call out is John [church father[s] who wrote this gospel] are very clear and more accurate that John the dipper is the voice of Isaiah 40. They make sure that John the dipper also denies he being Elijah. This does not however solve the issue Matthew & Luke make Jesus insist that John the dipper was indeed Elijah who came to make the way clear for him as it is written  Malachi 3:1 [which by the way is talking about a messenger / angel] Malachi 3:23 [Malachi 4:5 in the Greek text] is where you see G-d saying that Elijah will come before the great and awesome day of G-d not the messiah. While ...

Luke was written by a follower of Paul and never met Jesus. He wrote his gospel based on his efforts talking to people who probably knew Jesus or they heard about Jesus from people who knew Jesus. Scholars believe Luke wrote it around the 80 CE.  All the 4 gospels have this event documented and I believe it was important for the writers to use prophecies in Malachi and Isaiah to say that Jesus is the promised messiah that Israel is waiting for. In Luke's version John the dipper is portrayed as a very authoritative figure that very much aligns with Jewish & Romans historical writings. In fact Luke says that the people thought John the dipper was the messiah. In Luke you do not see any mention of Elijah but that John the dipper was the voice talked about in Isaiah 40. Matthew goofs up by calling John the dipper as Elijah and quoting Isaiah 40 that has nothing to do with Elijah. Mark plays it safe by quoting both Isaiah 40 and Malachi 3 [which is the prophecy about Elijah coming b...

Mark is chronologically the first gospel but for some weird reason the Greek text has canonized it as the second gospel. It was written around 70 CE which would be 35-40 years after Jesus was killed. All the 4 gospels have this event documented and I believe it was important for the writers to use prophecies in Malachi and Isaiah to say that Jesus is the promised messiah that Israel is waiting for.   He starts his gospel with John the dipper preaching in the wilderness. John preaches that the end of days is near and that people should repent so their sins are forgiven. He also has a key message that someone greater then him will come after him and he will baptize the people with the holy spirit. Mark quotes Isaiah 40:1 & Malachi 3:1 as the cross reference to say that John the dipper will come before Jesus comes. Let us see how these two prophecies are yet to be fulfilled and I pray to G-d that if his will be, it should happen in our days. All Images are links to Google Ima...

John the dipper is portrayed very differently in the Greek text than what Josephus and Roman documents say about him. Some historical documents say that people thought he was the messiah and many followed him into the desert. Talmud even refers to John and his teachings. During the 1st century CE a sect of Jews called the Essenes moved away from Jerusalem due to the corruption in the Temple and kept themselves pure and awaited the messiah. It is believed John was influenced by this group and hence he we went about preaching that the kingdom of G-d is at hand and people should repent. Incidentally Jesus also starts his mission with these same words "Repent, the kingdom of G-d is at hand" Tanakh has a reference in Isaiah that talks about a voice in the wilderness that is calling out for the way to be prepared for G-d. Malachi 3 talks about an Angel of G-d coming and purifying the  Levites and making them fit for the sacrifices before the messianic age sacrifices are resumed.  I...