Jesus, The Resuscitator Of The Dead Jews Pray To, Whether They Know It Or Not, Whether They Admit It Or Not

During various Leviticus 23 Holiday Services of Worship, the Jews verbally and ritually affirm the ministry and person of Jesus Christ so vividly, it is amazing that they would largely remain in any state of unbelief…except that prophecy would require such a remnant to NOT be raptured so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 

Shemoneh Esrei – Amidah  has a worship that states:

“Blessed are You, YHVeH our GOD, and GOD of our forefathers. 

  GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, and GOD of Jacob … Who recalls the kindnesses of the Patriarchs and brings a Redeemer to their children’s children, for His Name’s sake, with love.

O King, Helper, Savior, and Shield.

Blessed are You,  YHVeH, Shield of Abraham.

You are eternally mighty, my Lord / my Master, the Resuscitator of the dead are You; abundantly able to save; Who sustains the living, the fallen, heals the sick, releases the confined, and maintains His faith to those asleep in the dust.

Who is like You, O Master of mighty deeds, and who is comparable to You, O King Who …restores life and makes salvation sprout!  And You are faithful to resuscitate the dead!  Blessed are You, YHVeH, Who resuscitates the dead!”

Before many witnesses, Jesus raised the dead son of the widow of Nain to life (Luke 7:11-17) ; 
Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Matthew 9:23; Mark 5:23; Luke 8:41); 
and Jesus raised the 4 day dead and rotting corpse of Lazarus back from the grave (John 11:43-45), again before many witnesses. 

"O King, Helper, Savior, and Shield.

Blessed are You,  YHVeH, Shield of Abraham.

You are eternally mighty, my Lord / my Master, the Resuscitator of the dead ...Who …restores life and makes salvation sprout!  And You are faithful to resuscitate the dead!  Blessed are You, YHVeH, Who resuscitates the dead!”

You are eternally mighty, my Lord / my Master, the Resuscitator of the dead are You; abundantly able to save; Who sustains the living, the fallen, heals the sick, releases the confined, 

Jesus healed leprosy, whether singly as in Matthew 8:2, Mark 5:1, Luke 8:26;  or in a group of as many as 10 Lepers at once, as in Luke 17:11-19.  

Jesus healed a paralyzed man in Matthew 9:2, Mark 3:1, Luke 6:6; Jesus in Matthew 8:5 and Luke 7:1 by a spoken acknowledgement of His Authority only, and at a distance of perhaps hundreds of yards away, also cured  with "the palsy", likely having suffered a stroke and was muscularly incapacitated, even though that man was likely a Gentile while in the service of a Gentile Roman Centurion master.   

In Matthew 9:27-31   Jesus healed 2 blind men;

Jesus healed another blind man in Mark 8:22-26;

Jesus also healed a man who was born blind in John 9:1-7;

Jesus healed a blind and dumb (i.e., speechless)  demon-possessed man in Matthew 12:22 and Luke 11:14;

and Jesus also cured 2 blind men in Matthew 20:30, Mark 10:46, Luke 18:35.

In Matthew 9:32-33 Jesus cured a dumb man, one who was unable to speak  -- (which type Scripture infers is as a severe mental retardation, and NOT  one of those who are in a form of hysterical emotional or hysterical psychological shock, but in some cases demon possessed) --

in this case, a demon spirit causing the dumbness was cast out by Jesus under his own personal authority, an authority reserved to GOD.  The miracle was an event NEVER done before nor ever heard of, which implies someone who was severely retarded was made into a fully functional and normal intelligent interacting person.  The miracle was affirmed by a healing of an even more severe case that included blindness as well as dumbness (the inability to speak) when Jesus healed a blind and dumb (i.e., speechless)  demon-possessed man in Matthew 12:22 and Luke 11:14 (the same blind man mentioned earlier as one of the 7 mentioned blind Jesus healed)  as our examples.  

Jesus was able to walk on the waters of the stormy inland Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:25; Mark 6:48-51; John 6:19-21); and Jesus was able to immediately rebuke stormy winds and waves to an instant calm with just a spoken word of command (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:37-39; Luke 8:24) and in the two separate historical accounts of Matthew 8:23-27 and  John 6:19-21, Jesus fulfills Psalm 107:28-30 as YHVeH to whom they cry out to.  There are many even in our day who fail to realize that the prophecy, which affirms Jesus as YHVeH when He fulfilled it,  actually begins in verse 23 of Psalm 107, and this explains the purpose of the miracle and how it came about…by a both an unspoken word and will of command as well as spoken word and will of command that both involve a before state (unseen) and an after state (a state of being seen)…even as those who believe into GOD will believe and trust into the unseen Almighty and one day with joy see Him.  

In Colossians 1:15, the Apostle Paul refers to Christ as the "prototokos pases ktiseos" -- "(the) One who is pre-eminent above and over all Creation and its Creatures."

If we compare this to Revelation 3:14's "he arche tes ktiseos", we see that Jesus as the Logos is the Source or First-Cause of creation, the Intelligent Reason issued forth from GOD the Father taking on personhood.

En arche een ho Logos,

kai Logos een pros ton Theon, 

kai Theos een ho Logos. (John 1:1 in Greek transliteration)

as the Logos, simultaneously both the Intelligence and Word

Christ is "pros" / "up alongside with" GOD [the Father], and GOD [the Father in Oneness and Substance in distinction both apart and with Christ] was the WORD.

And that is why Christ, who is revealed as YHVEh from YHVeH has pre-eminence: because - "in Him, life was; and the Life was the Light of men. All things were made by Him. And without Him, was not made any (thing) that was made." (John 1:4,3).

The article (ho) is on the Logos in John 1:1c, in order to highlight that the WORD was GOD, and had the fullness of GOD in Him, but was not in any way in and of Himself alone the completeness of GOD alone in personhood and as one alone and only alone as one  or as a yachid person, because GOD is outside the box of a single human, and is to be understood as One in an ehad or "complex and united oneness unity"as the invisible One who is understood after the personality of Father and Mother and Son.  The Church in Unity is to viewed spiritually after a fashion as if  in Universal Unity spanned across the ages of time from Adam to the last human believer into Christ Jesus and what He did at the Cross (et cetera) as being viewed in that Universal Unity in the spiritual sense as the adopted daughter or daughter in law by faith, the bride of the Son / the bride of Christ the groom.  No unbelievers can be part of the Church, only those who believe rightly before, during, after the Cross on which Jesus was crucified in 30 A.D.  That means billions are excluding themselves by unbelief, and most quite willingly in vain imaginations, self-puffing, the intentional pursuance as that which clearly errs and misses the mark of what GOD has ordained and shown as acceptable.

In John 1:3, using the word "ginomai" (the Greek verb which means "to become"), we are informed that it is through the Logos (of John 1:1) that: "all things through Him CAME INTO BEING (egeneto) and without Him CAME INTO BEING (egeneto) not even one (thing) that CAME INTO BEING (gegonen)."

Ginomai in the aorist is egeneto...referring back in Time to a point when the "beginning" or "New State" was occurring or still unfolding into existence. That is, it had now been made manifest as that creatio ex nihilo (that which was created from nothing), yet made sure and called "good"; but was still being made "complete". You might liken it to watching a green plant blade breaking ground, and growing and growing; then budding, and finally blooming as the flower opens to its fullness and beauty.

After the aorist, we move from egeneto to gegone...the perfect tense of ginomai.          Gegone speaks of the continuing existence of this Beginning is dependent upon the Logos of John 1:1. That is, "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." (Job 26:7)

The hanging of the earth and all existence is continually upheld by the Logos of GOD the Father -- His Intelligent Word, whom is Christ Jesus-- and the power of His will, the same will as that of the Father. Hence Jesus and the Father are One (united in Complex Unity) / ehad (John 10:30).

"By the WORD of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." (Psalm 33:6)

In Colossians 1:15-17, it is Christ Jesus  

"...Who is the image of GOD the invisible before-the-birth of all Creation because in Him were created all the things in the heavens and those upon the Earth, those invisible and those invisible: whether thrones, whether lord-ships, whether (first)rulers, whether authorities - ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM HAVE BEEN CREATED, and He is prior to all things, and all things in Him *stand*together*with*(Him)* / *stand*because*of*(His power)."
   

-- Translation mine.

Christ is not just He who came in or as a spark of power into the womb of a virgin by which she conceived with the same kind of sliver of power  He as YHVeH in person breathed into the nostrils of Adam in Genesis 2:7  and was so born in 5 B.C. to a virgin 4000 years after he breathed lives and intelligence and reason into Adam, the spark or sliver of power of His own Being, but Christ Jesus is He in His inner and eternal substance is that One  Who is existing prior to all things, and all things finding their existence / birth / origin in Him: all Creation is upheld or cast down for HIS glory, and by HIS power. 

To better understand the concept, one must better understand Jesus and His Divinity as YHVeH, who teaches Nicodemus and us, 

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of GOD.  (John 3:5)

 The virgin birth is the original GOD spark to which science now searches to duplicate, and in ignorance fails to properly fathom or grasp.  

Psalm 104:4 (in the light of Job 38:7 and John 3:8) points the way

"Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire"

By the invisible wind, the power and manifestation of the Spirit, which also is a representation and means of the creative manifestation of angels, who are creations of the wind; and by the invisible power and spark or flame of GOD that lights every man who believes, the invisible spark or invisible flame being the creative manifestation of the cherubim; all this inside a womb of water, where by water and the Spirit (and by that means)  Christ was formed in the womb of his virgin mother.   

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  (John 1:1-14)

One word I have translated in Colossians 1:15, which  is correctly done but it is a little differently than you might be used to seeing in the many English Translations, is "prototokos".   Translated as First-born in the KJV, in Colossians and Revelation 1, it is Proto ("before") and tokos (from 'tikto' - meaning "to bear or bring forth"). In these two passages (Colossians 1:15, and Revelation 1:5, especially -- the more correct Greek to English usage is "before the birth".)

Hence, exercising His right of inheritance to all things from His Father as He who is legally - a First-born as He existing "before the birth" of all Creation and all things created that were created (hence Christ Jesus in spiritual substance is the Uncreated GOD in GOD made manifest for the benefit of mankind as well as for Himself).

Jesus says in Revelation 1:8 -   I AM -- the Alpha and the Omega, (the) Beginning and (the) End, says the LORD: The BEING, and who was, and who is returning (as) the ALMIGHTY

and again in Revelation 1:11  -  I AM -- the Alpha and the Omega -- the FIRST [He before all] and the LAST [the most extreme end, to the end of forever].
 (Direct Greek to English translation)

Hebrews 11:3 - Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of GOD, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

When John uses the word prototokos in Revelation 1:5, he does NOT "just" explain Christ as being the first one born back from the dead...but instead, reaches down, and digs deeper into its meaning.

Christ is not only "before the birth of all Creation", but:

"He (is) before the birth out of the dead (ones), and the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth." (Revelation 1:5)   Not only does Christ resuscitate the dead, he resurrects the dead, and as the FIRST who leads the way, He demonstrates to us His power to conquer death in the form of a man so that we may believe He has the desire and will, not just the power, to keep His word -- be found always trustworthy -- and for us to have full knowledge and assurance that He indeed will resurrect mankind also from the dead, and that this was a known plan to Him from even before He Created Those Things That are: the Heavens and the Earth, the sea and the land and all that naturally in them is.   

It is a complex UNITY as One Being revealed in three persons, The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and of the relationship of power and Unity and the right of Judgement being His, given Him from the Father, Christ the Son explains:

19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of GOD: and they that hear shall live.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.


30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.      (John 5:19-30)

This insight of co-eternal relationship also relates to His Messianic lineage, and His origins in eternity, as stated in Micah 5:2 ...He shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.38.3 explains in part as to the ONE Triune GODhead:

"...the uncreated GOD --

the Father planning;

the Son carrying these into execution and performing the work of creating;

and the [Holy] Spirit nourishing and increasing...."

Jesus is begotten, not made, homousios   (Hebrews 1:3)  with the Father...as John 1:1 tells us in the Greek, though containing the fullness of GOD, He was not the totality of GOD...which is why He was "pros" (up, alongside, and with). And this is why the article in 1:1c did not rest on Theos (kai Theos een HO Logos) but on Logos.       
      Hence it did NOT read "and (the) GOD was the Word", as to infer fullness or totality in the person of the Word, but rather was "and the Word was GOD"...inferring fullness, co-equality of substance and image and personhood,  but not totality.

In I Corinthians 13:12,   Paul uses the term prosopon pros prosopon to describe what the English translate "face to face".

Jesus is pros, up alongside and with, pros ton Theon, up alongside and with GOD in John 1:1.   He as the ikone (2 Corinthians 4:4) or direct face to face unbegotten person in the image or reflection of GOD the Father, who also stands or sits next to the Father, even as Moses stood next to the Angel of YHVeH and spoke as one would speak "face to face" in the Torah, though Moses and later the children of Israel would at best see GOD only by a sapphire mirroring / a dark mirror reflection (Exodus 24:10).

 (Cf. the dark mirror wording in I Corinthians 13:12, and think sapphire mirror image of the ground turned as glass looking like the clear dark blue skies of the Heavens without clouds in its clearness, the the reflection of the very face of He who is a being of light (I John 1:5), whose face is clearly visible enough for the full facial outlines of the face -- including nose, mouth,, eyes of pure light, hair and beard, in whose image that man was made. )  

Prosopon also incorporates "ops" as its root word (think "optical"), that which is seen with the eye. It can mean just about anything, and usually translated to mean a surface or face of something.

As "prosopo", as used in 2 Corinthians 2:10, it has been translated as "presence" (RSV)/ "person" (KJV) in the sense that Paul, the apostle of Jesus, represents the presumption of the gathering of two or three persons required for Christ to be in their midst.

Hence, when Jesus is pros ton Theon, He is beside something more than just the person of Himself, He is beside the separate person of the Father...but He is One in and with the Father and the Holy Spirit as GOD (Matthew 28:19).  And it is He, who is  the King, Helper, Savior, and Shield of Abraham; YHVeH, the Resuscitator of the dead who is abundantly able to save; Who sustains the living, the fallen, heals the sick, releases the confined, and maintains His faith to those asleep in the dust.  Amen.  

Why Did Nero Blame The Christians For The Fires Of Rome?

Clement, the 3^rd bishop of Rome:  who, in 62 A.D., following the Fire of Rome and the subsequent persecutions and massacres of the Christians in Rome by Nero, wrote to one of his former parishes in Corinth.  The Christians of Corinth had sponsored the evangelization of Asia, and the founding of the Churches there. They had also sent Clement and others from Corinth to evangelize and found the Churches of Rome in late 53 A.D., and were active participants with the Roman Church while Peter and Paul were evangelizing Rome from May 55 A.D. until their deaths on June 29, 57 A.D.  Even during these two years, Linus and Anencletus (each while in office serving as Bishop over the Christian synagogues or Christian Churches in Rome)  died in office, both having been ordained by Peter and Paul.  Sometime prior to their deaths, they ordained Clement, possibly March/April 57 A.D.  

Because of the relationship between the two cities, Corinth and Rome, in missions and in the co-founding of both cities Churches by Peter and Paul, when news reached Rome about the huge dissension that had flared up in Corinth, only 5 years from the death of the Apostles, Clement then wrote his letter to the Corinthians, as Irenaeus explains:

           “In the time of this Clement, no small dissention having occurred among

             the brethren at Corinth, the Church in Rome dispatched a most powerful

             letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their

             Faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from

           

             The Apostles, proclaiming the One GOD, omnipotent, the Maker of Heaven

             And Earth, the Creator of man, who…set forth the Law, sent forth the

             Prophets, and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels.

             From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He,

             The Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches, and

             May also understand the apostolical tradition of the Church,

             since this Epistle is of older date

             than these men who are now propagating Falsehood,

             and who conjure into existence another GOD beyond the Creator

             and Maker of all existing things.”

                                                            (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.3.)

Irenaeus makes it clear, that Clement did not “Lord” himself over the Corinthians, or any other Church (or group of Churches).  Rather, Clement wrote a powerful letter that simply exhorted the Corinthians to follow that tradition and teaching that they themselves had been handed down from the Apostles (some 11 to 13 years earlier).  

Further, says Irenaeus in that 3.3.3. of Against Heresies, Clement wrote at a time when “there were still many remaining who had received instructions from the Apostles.”  And in fact, there were still those alive who had been eyewitnesses and disciples of Christ, though not among the original 12.  And in 62 A.D., when Clement’s letter to the Corinthians was written, under what conditions was that letter written?  

Let’s look to the historical record, as the Carthaginian and Roman lawyer and Church elder Tertullian would say:

                       “Consult your histories, you will there find that

                         Nero was the first who assailed with the Imperial

                         Sword – the Christian sect – making progress

                          especially then at Rome.”

                                                (Apology, .5)

So what happened “especially then at Rome”, when Nero persecuted the Christian sect?  Recorded in the Annals of Tacitus, a Roman historian of the period, Tacitus writes:

                            “Nero, in order to stifle the rumor –

                                [that he personally ordered Rome set on fire to make

                                     way for his ambitious rebuilding and development

                                     project, which the Senate had recently rejected]

     

    ascribed [the fire] to those people who were

     hated for their [rumored] wicked practices, and

     called by the vulgar [literally, ‘Common’],

     Christians;  these he punished exquisitely.  The

     author of this name was Christ, who in the reign

     of Tiberius was brought to punishment by Pontius

     Pilate, the procurator. 

     For the present, this pernicious superstition w

    was in part suppressed; but it broke out again

    not only over Judea, whence this mischief first

    sprang, but in the city of Rome also, whither

   [they] do run from every quarter and make a noise,

   [of] all the flagrant and shameful enormities.

  At first, therefore, those who were seized

  [allegedly] confessed; afterward a vast multitude

   were detected by them, and were convicted, not so

 much as really guilty of setting the city on fire,

 but as hating all mankind; nay, they made a mock of 

 them as they perished, and destroyed them by putting

 them into the skins of wild beasts, and setting dogs

 on them to tear them to pieces:  some were nailed to

 crosses, and others flamed to death:  they were also

 used in the night-time instead of torches for illumination.

     Nero had offered his own gardens for this spectacle.

 He also gave them Circension Games, and dressed himself

 like the driver of a chariot, sometimes appearing among

 the common people, sometimes in the Circle itself;

 whence a commiseration arose, though the punishments

 were leveled at guilty persons, and such deserved to be

 made the most flagrant examples, as if these people

 were to be destroyed, -- not for the public advantage,

 but to satisfy the barbarous humor of one man.”

                       Tacitus, Annals, Book 15.

In these times which we are now presently in, Christians once again are being persecuted by those in power...not locally in a city having an excess of one million population in antiquity, but certainly growing to a worldwide international experience in ways like those which haven't been seen so severely worldwide everywhere in several centuries, at least.  

In the Roman period, it was common for the uneducated masses to single out those whom they thought the most educated among them, and to follow their lead.  Such was the way Greeks centuries before even this period so reasoned during the Peloponnesian War.  In the case of Ancient Greece, Thucydides tells how Plataea elected two principal men among them and followed their lead to surrender to the Lacedaemonians (the Spartans), only to be destroyed by being delivered into the hands of their “master race” enemies, the “Axis powers” out of Thebes, who had previously sided with the Persians against their own homeland, and the Spartans themselves. (Thucydides, the Peloponnesian War: 2.2-6; 3.52-59).  In our own day, such is the way of the illiterate Muslim terrorist; and in the days of Rome, such was one of the reasons that education was so highly valued among the upper classes.

          In 62 A.D.,when Nero ordered the city of Rome set fire and then falsely blamed the innocent Christians, to which EVERYONE KNEW his allegation to be a lie,  let us remember that Nero is only around 25 years of age, and too immature and wicked for any position of authority, let alone Emperor of the vast Roman Empire.

  Nero as a boy, had admired Festus, the procurator of Judea who succeeded Felix, and had called him friend.  Nero was a raging deviant and vicious homosexual who engaged not only in the most lewd homosexual sex orgies with those near his age, above and below by perhaps 10 years his age, but he was also known to think it sport to throw stones of weights up to 5 and 10 pounds off rooftops onto the heads of random people below and murder them and laugh by himself or with his friends that watching their heads get smashed or explode was "sport", or words to that effect.  He was a wickedness so unique and despised by his own people, words cannot adequately convey through time and space how he was truly both simultaneously hated and feared within the city of Rome, the only location where his power to do any crime was just short absolute (the Senate and certain families having exemption and protection, even from the Caesars)...and only within those borders, within that city, according to their Empire's laws.  

It was Nero, who at the age of 16 or 17, appointed Festus to replace Felix in Judea, now being Emperor in place of Claudius – to which the Senate allowed through egregious error.  It appears that Festus may have been dispatched as early as March 54 A.D.  This is significant in that the change of governors or procurators most always fell upon June 1^st of any given year.  Sailing by ship in the Mediterranean from Alexandria to the Tiber generally took 10 days if the winds were good, slightly longer (perhaps 15 days) by oar.  In effect, in about 17 days or less, the military replacements and their entourage (a legion of soldiers and almost as many civilians of  hired carpenters and others) would have been in Caesarea in Israel, gathering for assembly and inventorying their logistics.  When we see Festus and Felix together with the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts, we know that it is in May of 54 A.D., following Pentecost, and the documented campaign of Festus in the countryside, in which Festus and his Legion tracked down (in full strength) a band of 4,000 Sicarii zealots, and slew them in hand to hand combat, even as the chief captain did not get the events straight, being shut up in Jerusalem, and saying to Paul:

          “Are you not that Egyptian, which before these days made

             an uproar, and led out into the Wilderness 4,000 men

             that were murderers?”  

            (Acts 22:38)

This would have been Nero’s perspective, and the advance report he would have received of Paul by the officer, who with 9 other soldiers escorting Paul --(as 10 Roman soldiers did escort Ignatius to Rome some 52 years later); and who was not present for the events in question, being more likely under Festus’ direct chain of command (i.e., one of the incoming Legion’s officers).

 So what is the real history of the events in Judea, that the officers had not clearly relayed to Nero, invoking his wrath against Paul in A.D. 57 -- and eventually all Christians under his dominion, outside the protection of the Senate in A.D. 62?  Let’s now look to Josephus, who lived during in the period in question, in the land of Israel, and wrote of the events some 30 and 35 years later for Caesar’s libraries.

“Now when Porcius Festus was sent as successor to Felix by Nero,

 the principal of the Jewish inhabitants at Caesarea went up to

 Rome to accuse Felix; and he had certainly been brought to

 Punishment, unless Nero had yielded to the importunate

 Solicitations of his brother Pallas, who was at that time had in

 The greatest honor by him.

      Two of the principal Syrians in Caesarea persuaded Burrhus,

 Who was Nero’s tutor, and secretary for his Greek letters, by

 giving him a great sum of money,
 to disannul that equality of  the Jewish privileges of citizens 

  which they had hitherto enjoyed.

 So Burrhus, by his solicitations, obtained leave of the Emperor,

 That a letter should be written to that purpose.  This letter

 Became the occasion of the following miseries that befell our

 Nation; for when the Jews of Caesarea were informed of the

 Contents of this letter to the Syrians, they were more disorderly

 Than before, [and continued to be] until the war was kindled.”

                   (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 20.8.9)

The Syrians, in the mind of the young emperor, had the greater authority of words.  The reason was that the President of Syria, whom the Romans had appointed, was de facto the Overseer of the Procurators and Kings of the region of the Middle East.  By example, Josephus in Wars of the Jews, 2.12.5-6 cites the example of Ummidius Quadratus (also known as Numidius and Vinidius Quadratus), the President of Syria, in which he orders Cumanus – Procurator of Judea – to Rome because he allowed the escalation of violence between Jews and Samaritans to spiral out of control by his inactions.  This most probably in 48, but no later than 49 A.D.   The fact that Jerusalem on at least 3 holidays a year swelled in population presence to over 3,000,000 people, such as on the Passover (Josephus, Wars of the Jews 2.14.3), apparently was not informed Nero – or he just didn’t care.  In the mind of the Emperor, it was Syria that deserved Rome’s respect as holder of the third greatest city of the Empire, Antioch, to which past and future Roman Emperors and generals did on occasion visit.  
The greatest cities were:   
      1) Rome

      2) Alexandria, Egypt

      3) Antioch of Syria

Further, by their own admission, the Jews of Caesarea lived side by side with the Syrians peacefully after a Grecian culture and lifestyle in a city that their king (Herod) had dedicated to the Caesars.  And Nero, by birth, was L. Domitius Aenobarbus – but by adoption, became Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, the nephew of Claudius through Caesar’s brother.  Claudius married his widowed sister-in-law after a long space, and was poisoned by that sister-in-law turned wife after she had Claudius prefer Nero over his own son Brittanicus. (Antiquities of the Jews, 20.8.1)  Upon becoming emperor, Nero deeply resented it; and so much so, that soon after killed his own mother and wife (his cousin, and legitimate daughter of Claudius), soon became lost in the riches and authority of his power and estate (Antiquities of the Jews 20.8.2. and Wars of the Jews 2.13.1).

Taking all this into account, we can better understand the reaction and misinterpretations that were to come on the part of the Romans.

In 54 A.D., Felix finally caught one of the arch-robbers of the country, whose bands had ravished Israel by night for some 20 years, and his many that were with him, and sent them alive to Rome.  But many thousands Felix had crucified for their crimes.  These were immediately replaced by zealots who robbed and murdered in the daytime, concealing themselves in the Festival Crowds at Jerusalem, and were often men of the upper class.  Their first victim was no less than the Temple’s high priest, Jonathan. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 2.13.2-3). 

Then came the false prophets, who prophesied of a change in government away from Rome, and empowerment back to the Jews.  These deluded 4,000 men to go to the wilderness with them, where they would receive a sign from GOD as to how to overthrow the Romans in Jerusalem.  (Wars of the Jews, 2.13.4.).  This is where the first half of the Roman’s statement to Paul in Acts 22:38 comes from.  To which, erroneously, these deluded people who went out in numbers of over 4,000, were confused with being the Sicarii zealots.  And Felix, seizing the moment, sent his troops and slew them by the Jordan.

The second part of the Roman’s statement came from his current understanding of this following history left us by Josephus:

“But there was an Egyptian false prophet that did the Jews

            more mischief than [the false prophets who were slain with

            the 4,000] (did); for he was a cheat, and pretended to be

      a prophet also, and got together 30,000 men that were deluded

      by him;
      these he led round about from the wilderness to the Mount,

      which is called the Mount of Olives,

           and was ready to break into Jerusalem by force from that

      place; and if he could but once conquer the Roman garrison and

      the people, he intended to domineer over them by the assistance

      of those guards of his who were to break into the city with him;

           but Felix prevented his attempt, and met him with his Roman

            soldiers, while all the people assisted him in his attack upon

      [the Egyptian and his 30,000], insomuch, that when it came to a

      battle, the Egyptian ran away with a few others, while the

            greatest part of those that were with him 
     were destroyed or taken alive; 
      but the rest of the multitude were dispersed – every one

      of them to their own homes, and there concealed themselves.”

                 (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 2.13.5)

This was further compounded by the death of Porcius Festus, soon after his relieving Felix of his 5 year assignment as Roman Procurator of Judea.  It is quite probable that Festus died at the hands of the Sicarii, who were the blame for most all insurrections, gang pillages, and popular discontent with the Roman government in general.  For indeed, Festus did arrive early, and by Josephus’ own historical accounts, though arriving perhaps months before his June 1 taking of office in A.D. 54; Porcius Festus died prior to the following Passover in A.D. 55, at which time Paul would be in Rome, and James the bishop of Jerusalem’s Christians was slain on the Temple Mount by the zealots. Thus, Acts 22:38 is set in May 54 A.D., when Nero is 17, and his hearing of the death of Caesar’s own hand-picked representative, and perhaps honored friend of the family (as it were), not to mention someone he may have had homosexual feelings and desires for (based on his psychological profile), that Festus  the man whom Nero perhaps especially had a crush on was killed by what to Nero was conveyed to him "a bunch of savages" when he was 18, was perhaps confused and mixed with the Christian sect, to which Paul was a leading part of.

          Therefore, we have the most likely scenario of what really happened in the mind of Nero, and perhaps some of the emotional hatred that spurred his savagery against the Christians in particular about a decade later in Rome when by the many tens of thousands he

 "...destroyed them by putting

 them into the skins of wild beasts, and setting dogs

 on them to tear them to pieces:  some were nailed to

 crosses, and others flamed to death:  they were also

 used in the night-time instead of torches for illumination.

...not for the public advantage
 but to satisfy the barbarous humor of one man.”

                           Tacitus, Annals, Book 15.

Reflection: Sunday Sermons with Charles Stanley

Recollections of A Western Deputy: 1894 - Exposed And Lantern Out

July 27, 1894

       On June 2^nd, I finished up serving two weeks as a personal protection guard to Judge Williams after a shootout the U.S. marshal and four other deputy marshals had with the Halder gang, who tried to fulfill their threat in killin’ the Federal Judge over at Capitol City.  Despite my hand to hand brawl with Regis Halder in Judge Williams home in a 28 minute death match in which neither of us for 22 minutes could get the upper hand until I finally began prevailin', the locals there took all the dang credit in the outhouse news journal for the city, but Judge Williams made sure I got the 600 dollars reward and another 1000 besides in savin’ him and his Mrs.  All the furniture in the parlor, the hallway and kitchen was no more...and we went through walls no less than 8 times and put holes in 5 more besides.  Even so, the Judge and his Mrs. were grateful, as calls for help went unheeded at the first cry of 1:32 am in the mornin', perhaps because of the heavy winds outside drownin' them out and knocks at the doors and windows of neighbors also were ignored and unanswered.  It was only because of an old rival -- whom I once fought and never knew he had a condition where his great brute strength came because he had no physical sensation of pain and lived in walking numbness in his 6'7" 320 lb muscular frame -- it was only because of him hat any help came at all, as he and several men of his company were riding by back to the Calvary Post when the Judge was able to direct them to where I was.  But by then, what was left of Regis Halder was in custody and tied secure, and I was in shock passin' out and tryin' to not lose my insides as my body shook uncontrollably from whatever was goin' on, as my left arm cramped tight, a numbness came over my heart, and I went temporarily blind.  

For the rest of that day and the next, I was mostly bed ridden with high fever except for trips to the outhouse, and under Mrs. Williams constant care and on a chicken broth and soup regimen.  I finally was up and about on the third mornin', and took my horse Lightning with me to the Train Station, and went home on the 9:40 am train.  I chose to stay with my horse in the animal car, and swept it out real well on the way back home to help pass the time.  

As soon as I arrived home, my Mrs., hearin’ about the event over the telegraph and takin’ things for granted, bought some new fangled cast iron bath tub and shower outfit, new clothes for the kids and all her relatives, and a whole list of I don't know what, and met me at the Train Station with 9 bill collectors in tow.  I didn’t even get to greet her afore she spoke up and told me to pitchfork over 1,574 dollars.  When I found out what it was for, I said “No!  Give it all back!”  and then she drew down on me, pointin’ a .45 right at my belly and demanded, “Kolica-shista. Give me the damn money, bitte.”

I replied to the wife within hearing of the general public for the first time I can remember in cultured rhetoric, 
“You do know you’re surreptitiously drawing down on and holding up a Federal Officer and committing at least 5 felonies that I can charge you with, do you not?”

To which the small crowd gasped, 
“Deputy B. is speaking like an educated man.  He’s been fooling us all these years with a dumb yokel lingo as an act!”  --    And words to this effect.

The wife almost growled in agreement, saying,  
“He always speaks a clear and concise English and German at home, though his Dutch is sometimes as bad as his yokel.  He only speaks like a moron to keep an upper hand like a card sharp not letting a fool  know he already knows the game forward and backwards, and strings them along like a carrot on a long stick dangled before a horse drawing a cart.”

To which I replied to her, 

“Put up your gun.  The play acting is over.  Here’s the entire amount minus twenty dollars, all in this almost good for nothin' paper money.   You charged for it, you pay them yourself."

I then turned to two of my boys, who accompanied their mother to the station to greet me.

  "Winston, Henry, you take care of your mom and see she comes home safe.  I'm holding you two responsible. "

    

With that I pulled a 4 inch thick stack of bills wrapped in paper and tied with twine from my inner jacket pocket, and gave it to the wife.  

 So with that statement to the boys said, I guided my daughters Hallie and  Charlotte, who were also on hand there with their mother and brothers, to get aboard the buckboard that was waiting for me, and then brought them home  while their mother paid the bill collectors off.  

The girls then happily took me on a tour of some of the things their mother bought, and even got me to stand in a cast iron bathtub and look up as I yanked a chain.  They frightfully scurried off as I got soaking wet from some kind of overhead pan punched through with lots of little holes, and I hollered out their names  followed with a “Damn it” for good measure. Apparently, they were not aware that someone had as yet filled the upper gravity basin full of water.  It was cold, and it went into some cuts under my hair that I didn't know were there until they were hit by the cold water, and this gave me a terrible headache at the time.  

Over the next three weeks, at the back corner of the property, by the Creek, I built a 15 foot deep block house as an explosive workhouse.  I even put up a 2 foot by 4 foot sign in which I wood chiseled and painted that read, "Deputy B.'s Tree and Stump Enterprise", as if it were really something.  The thought of it still to this day makes me want to hang and shake my head in embarrassment.   

I only got to use this building for one experiment.  While working for the Governor on an assignment, a United States Army explosives engineer showed me how to make nitro glycerin from the basic elements, but failed to inform me that besides temperature and motion, there were some other danger signs to be aware of.  I made a batch of  what I reckon was by then about 24 gallons in total at full potency, of which perhaps 8 of these gallons were reduced down into one pint bottles, which I figured to use for blasting stumps and earning an extra income at this if I became proficient enough. I had not yet tested the potency of the nitro, and if I had, I would have realized that 2 ounces to perhaps 4 at most,  rather than 16 were more than enough for most stumps that I would have contended with.

Unfortunately, I noticed that it was a bit humid and hotter in this cellar than I thought.  Water was seeping through the walls, and I realized that I should have made the cellar like Noah's ark, and put a heavy layer of black pitch under the base and up the outside blocks and sealed it tight enough to float.  At some point, I noticed that all of a sudden, a lot of the nitro not only was sweating outside their bottles, dripping wet, but some of them began to smoke.  Fortunately the family was all to the other side of the property, and I mounted Lightning and sunk spur out of there.  A little over a half mile away, I spotted the wife walking towards me with a basket of food, intending us to have a meal together.  I jumped off the horse, and picked her up intending to put her on Lightning and ride out of there.  As soon as I whisked her up, she began struggling and fighting me, and as she did so, the blockhouse blew up.

Folks for more than 20 miles saw and heard that explosion.  Some of the boys from the Confederacy in town reckoned the debris went mostly straight up no less than more than 900 feet in the air.  My sign ended up on one of my brother-in-laws roofs some two and a half miles away, and I figure me and the wife had about three to six inches of dirt sprayed down upon us, but fortunately no rock or wood debris, which mostly went north across the Creek into unoccupied open lands.  

Before the waters of the Creek rushed in, a couple of local engineers who later looked at the damage, figured an original crater more than 90 feet deep on one end, and the other dimensions were 137 feet by near 91 feet 7 inches.  The entire town rushed out by horse, mule, and by foot, and watched in shock as the wife beat and kicked and chased me from one end of the property to the other end and back again, before I made it back to the house and barricaded myself inside.  She demanded I unbar the door, and I yelled through the window for her to go home to her mother.  She snapped back that I was embarrassing her in front of the whole  town and to please let her in.  Having a soft spot of compassion for her, I removed the 6' by 8' by 6' barricade beam and let her in.  Then I made a mistake.  I forgot there was an iron skillet by the front door and I turned by back on her to walk into the kitchen -- in Danish the wife calls the kitchen as the "kjokken" --  where I could sit down at a eating and visiting table with her and let her let me have it.  As soon as my back was turned, she must have been running, because I don't think I walked two steps  toward the kitchen table to her more than 10 and for the next two weeks, it was lantern out.  

To this day, as an exclusive requirement of our reconciliation,  she won't let me near even a stick of dynamite at Beth's general store, nor to have or handle on the property.  If there are any stumps to be blown up, either Winston or Henry, who were both trained in the proper use by Beth and some of the boys from the Sons of the Confederacy would do the job themselves.  

Deputy B. - Retired    June 10, 1902 
Exclusive for The Law and Order Weekly
Recollections Not Shared In The Book