|
|
|
|
Joe: Last week I brought up two very strong reasons why Jesus couldn't have been raised in human form. If Jesus was a resurrected man, how could he have walked through walls?
Chris: Joe, who told you that Jesus walked through walls?
Joe: Well, he did...the Bible says so.
Chris: Where does the Bible say that?
Joe: In John chapter 20 verse 19 the disciples were in a locked room and Jesus appeared in their midst.
Chris: So, where does it say that he walked through walls?
Joe: Well... it doesn't really say that he walked through walls, but we know that he had to. How else did he get in there?
Chris: So, because Jesus appeared in a room, you assume that he walked through the wall to get there?
Joe: There is no other way to get in.
Chris: What if the Bible says that something similar happened to a man years later?
Joe: I've never seen that in the Bible.
Chris: Do you remember the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch?
Joe: Sure. Jehovah God sent Philip to explain the scriptures to him.
Chris: That's right. But do you know what happened to Philip after his conversation with the eunuch?
Joe: I don't remember.
Chris: In Acts chapter 8 verse 39 it says that after Philip baptized the eunuch, the spirit caught Philip away. In verse 40 it says that Philip was found at Azotus. Philip was transported from the Gaza road to Azotus, miles away. Certainly Philip was a man and not a spirit when he was transported from one place to another.
Joe: I never knew that a person could be transported from one place to another.
Chris: We know that it is true because the Bible says that it happened to Philip. Supernatural things can happen to humans. What about when Jesus walked on water? That was a supernatural act, but he was still a man. No matter how this supernatural event happened in that room, it certainly didn't mean that Jesus had to be a spirit to do it.
Joe: But what about 1 Cor. 15:45 that says that the last Adam, Jesus, became a life-giving spirit?
Chris: Joe, in this verse it compares Adam becoming a living soul with Jesus becoming a life-giving spirit. When did Adam become a living soul? Was it at his resurrection?
Joe: Of course not. He has not been resurrected. It was at his creation.
Chris: Then this verse isn't talking about Adam's or Christ's resurrection. It says Adam became a living soul, that's his creation. Also Jesus became a life-giving spirit. What does life-giving spirit mean? Have a look at the very next verse, verse 46 tells us that this is talking about spiritual life. In John 5:26 Jesus says that he has life in himself and in verse 21 he says that he gives this life to anyone that he wants to.
Joe: But it is impossible for Jesus to be a resurrected man because the Watchtower tells us that if he was raised in the flesh that he would have been taking back his sacrifice. If someone pays a debt for something and then takes back the price, then the debt is not paid at all.
Chris: It was Jesus' death that paid for our sins not his giving up his human body. The only way that Jesus could have taken back that price is to not have died at all. His resurrection in the body did not take back that price.
Joe: Of course it would have. Jesus had to sacrifice his body forever as payment for Adam's sin.
Chris: But that contradicts scripture, Joe. Look at John 10:17 & 18. It says "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." What is the "it" that Jesus lays down?
Joe: It is his physical life.
Chris: Well, then, Jesus said that he lays down his physical life in order to take it (his physical life) again. Jesus said that he had the power to lay it (his physical life) down and to take it (his physical life) back again and he said that the Father gave him the command to do this. Can you show me a verse that says that Jesus couldn't have taken his physical life back again?
Joe: I don't have a verse to show you, I only know what the Watchtower has told me.
Chris: Joe, maybe you have let the organization do the thinking for you instead of the Bible. The death of Jesus and his resurrection is really the most important doctrine in the Bible according to 1 Corinthians 15:3 and 4. Maybe we can talk again sometime about the second most important doctrine of the Bible.
Joe: I'll have to think about that.