Burnishing Bigotry - 3rd edition

Lucy #278: Thereafter you make the bold (& biblically inaccurate) assertion that, ―Jesus
was God as the laws were handed down through Moses to Israel, and eventually to the whole
world‖ … Lucy my dear, this statement truly is flagrantly flawed, and fully misrepresents the
Jesus we find when we actually read the Gospels. As proof of the same, please consider the
following massive – and quite important (at least for those who wish to truly honor the Bible, truly
respect Jesus Christ, and truly follow his ministry) – proof thereof … Initially, please note the
following dramatic general contrasts between the Old Testament texts & the teachings of Jesus:
*Contrast #01) The Old Testament portrays God as a supporter of war (see Exodus 15:3,
Exodus 23:27 & Psalm 137:7-9), while Jesus tells us both that ―Blessed are the Peacemakers‖ (see
Matthew 5:9) and that we are to Love our enemies, ―for [his heavenly Father] makes the sun rise
on both the evil and the good, and sends rain both to the righteous and the unrighteous‖ (Matthew
5:44-47 – see also Luke 6:35-36).
* Contrast #02) In the Old Testament, God advocates the use of the death penalty (see
Exodus 21:12-20 & Exodus 24:16 et al), allows for the robbing (Exodus 12:35-36) and the pillaging
(Numbers 31:9-15) of those defeated in battle, and appears to have effectuated a viciously bloody
pogrom during the original Passover (see Exodus 11:4-6) – while Jesus states very clearly that
―God judges no one‖ (see John 5:22 – see also John 8:15, as well as Jesus' Peace-full Passover
statements in Matthew 26:26-28) and that we are to forgive all those who trespass against us (see
Luke 17:3-4 & John 8:7 et al).
* Contrast #03) In addition, the Old Testament God seems to support the adulteries of
Abraham (see Genesis 20:1-18) & Isaac (in Genesis 26:6-11), as well as Moses' lies to the Pharaoh
(see Exodus 5:1 & Exodus 9:27) – while Jesus succinctly and simply champions both monogamy
(Matthew 19:6) & speaking to others with flagrant honesty (see Matthew 5:37, along with his many
denouncements of hypocrisy throughout the Gospels).
These basic discrepancies (and others like them) have tempted many readers to assume that
the two biblical Testaments simply contradict one another in a few instances. Even Paul seemed
to have succumbed to such hasty thinking (―Jesus is the end of the Law‖ ~ Romans 10:4) … And yet
an in-depth analysis of both the statements & the actions of Jesus Christ in the Gospels (in the
examples from the Gospel of Matthew illuminated on the next few pages) shows a significantly
different reality; namely that Jesus' theology consistently and purposefully completed – or
―honed‖, or ―perfected‖, or ―cleansed‖, or ―FULL-filled‖ (more accurate definitions of plerosai; the
―fulfilled of Matthew 5:17-18 – see Strong‘s #4137) the spiritual potency of the traditional teachings
of Judaism found in the Old Testament – and that he did so in three distinctive ways …
First, Jesus ―pruned‖ (& in effect discarded) non-functioning Old Testament laws & regulations
(by either negating them verbally or violating them actively) …
Please consider the following proofs thereof:
*In Matthew 5:40 Jesus alludes to violating the Old Testament law against keeping another's
cloak overnight (see Exodus 22:26-27 & Deuteronomy 24:12-13), as well as the literal reading of the Old
Testament law against denuding one of close kin (seeLeviticus 18:6).
*In Matthew 6:16-18 (suffering silently) Jesus seemingly negates the Old Testament law
commanding a Jew to cry out to God when in need (see Numbers 10:9).
*In Matthew 6:25-26 & Matthew 26:31-33 Jesus seems to make irrelevant the Old Testament
regulations regarding food (see Leviticus chapter 11 & Deuteronomy chapter 14).
421