Contrast #07: a very different courage … (10/09/18)
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 through1 the midst of them” instead (a la Luke 4:29-30 – see also John 10:39-402) – 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 same3 (“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).
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1This 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.
2To 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).
3If 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
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