The Cult of Paul

Contrast #07: how they dealt with threats of violence …
It is also interesting to witness how differently the two men handled situations involving
physical adversity, especially ones dealing with threats of violence from their adversaries. On the
one hand, Paul is regularly seen fleeing in fear from such encounters – most often in furtive fashion;
often with the direct assistance of his followers (see Acts 9:23-25, Acts 9:28-30, Acts 14:5-6, Acts 14:19-
20, Acts 17:14-15, & Acts 19:28-30), and twice even with the help of Roman soldiers (see Acts 21:35 &
Acts 23:12-31) … On the other hand, whenever Jesus is seen encountering similar mobs posing
similar threats to his physical well-being, “no one laid hands on him” (John 7:30) and he is repeatedly
seen to calmly “pass through 7 the midst of them” instead (a la Luke 4:29-30 – see also John 10:39-40 8 ) –
almost as though he were gently “shaking the dust from his feet” as he departed (see Matthew 10:12-
14). Even more intriguing is the fact that, while Paul almost always allowed his friends to keep him
from coming into harm's path, Jesus sternly rebuked his disciples for attempting to do the same 9
(“From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great
suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, be crucified, and then on the third day be
raised. And when Peter took him aside and began to chastise him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This must
never happen to you,' Jesus turned to Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me;
for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.'” ~ Matthew 16:21-23).
Contrast #08: how they dealt with accusations of wrongdoing …
It is equally interesting to note the stark contrast in which Paul and Jesus dealt with the local
political authorities whenever accused of any wrongdoing. On the one hand, Paul defended himself
passionately & vehemently whenever charged with any legal offense, using whatever means he could to
escape punishment – including purposefully inciting religious dissension (Acts 23:1-7), blatantly lying
about his support of the Jewish Law (Acts 24:10-14), openly calling upon and appealing to his Roman
citizenship (Acts 22:25), and even once going so far as to appeal directly to the mercy of the Roman
Emperor (Acts 25:8-11) … Jesus, on the other hand, either answered curtly & cryptically (see Matthew
26:63-64, Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2 10 & Mark 14:61-62, & John 18:6 11 ) or remained completely silent (see
Matthew 26:62, Matthew 27:12-14, Mark 15:3-5, Luke 23:9, & John 19:9) whenever similarly accused.
7 This interpretation is made even more convincing when we realize that the Greek word translated as “passing through”
here (dierchoma – Strong's #1330) also means “to share” or “to relay”, as in to report to others or to disseminate
information. In addition, the argument being made here takes on even more meaning when we look to some of the
other places this term is used in the New Testament – “passing though” the eye of the needle in Matthew 19:24,
“passing over to the other side” in Mark 4:35, the sword “passing through” the Soul in Luke 2:35, and Jesus' disciples
“passing through” various villages in Luke 9:6.
8 To be fair, there is one instance where Jesus “hid himself” before “passing through” his enemies (John 8:59), and yet
the argument can be readily made that he did so in this instance not out of fear, bur rather to preserve the intricate
timeline of his pre-planned crucifixion (see Note 9 hereafter).
9 If one reads the New Testament texts carefully, it is easy to see that Jesus “[knew] all that was to happen to him” (John
18:4) – namely, that he in all probability pre-planned his own crucifixion. He repeatedly told his disciples ahead of
time that he was going to be “handed over to the chief priests” to then “rise again after three days” (Matthew 20:17-19
– see also Mark 9:30-32, Luke 9:22, Luke 9:44, John 12:27 et al), he regularly showed that he had pre-arranged the
event (see Matthew 21:1-9, Matthew 21:17, Matthew 26:18, Mark 11:11, Luke 9:52, Luke 10:1, Luke 19:5, John 7:10
et al), and he frequently noted that he was doing everything purposefully “so that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (see
Matthew 26:54-56, Luke 24:44, John 12:23-34, John 17:12, & John 18:11 et al) … For a plethora of additional proof
for this theory, see Part 2 (beginning at page 35) of my book Exhuming Easter, readable online at the following link:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/55687577/exhuming-easter-complete-3rd-edition
10 “You say so” is a subtly important answer here, if for no other reason than – when combined with the words of John
6:15 – it becomes Jesus' way of coyly saying “No, I am not” (or “No, not you” – as in Matthew 26:25).
11 Quite importantly, Jesus does not say eimi in the Greek texts – which could indeed have been translated as “Yes, I am.”
Instead, the texts show him saying ego eimi, a phrase which literally means “I, Iam” – and which contextually means
“I am the essence of I Am” or “I am an embodiment of the Child of God within.” (see John 14:12 & John 14:20)
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