Soul Trap. Wayne Sr. Stewart
queues up, right? Well… It would seem that life does indeed, go on. And what it is, as mentioned earlier, is more of the same. See St. John 21:20, albeit for edification, where it’s written, [“As they followed,] Peter turned about, and seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, said, ‘Lord, what about this man that betrayed you, who follows us?’ Jesus said to him: ‘If it is my will that he remains with us, what is that to you?’”
I ask you: what happened to their relationship while working together, and fishing from the same boat? Seems Peter was fine with Judas hanging around then. In fact, it was only after realizing that Jesus was once more walking among the living, did Peter try to play politics with it. And Jesus, recognizing this for what it was, put him in his place for it. This is that point in life where the apostle Simon Peter fell victim to the very first Easter egg hunt, if only because he had so much of it on his face. As for Peter doing what he did in this situation, I would have you see Matthew 18:21. “Then Peter [came to Jesus, asking,] ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?’ 22 Jesus replied, saying: “I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.”
I guess some spiritual lessons are just slower to take than others: even for the apostles.
Another long held truth here is that, either Judas Iscariot committed suicide by hanging because of his burden of guilt regarding the death of Jesus, or he did not. And just as it was for our discovery concerning night and day in heaven, or those discrepancies found with the crucifixion and or resurrection take your pick, it cannot be both. I mean, if there were nothing to hide, why use such laborious sentence structure, in order to obscure his identity? Again, I ask you: would not the ride have been made patently smoother and more secure, even over and above “what I will,” had the Bible simply logged it as ‘Judas Iscariot,’ instead of “the disciple whom Jesus loved that leaned on his breast at supper who was also that other disciple who did outrun Peter to the sepulcher?”
You would think so.
Concerning this then, that the Bible is deceptive when it comes to prospering its agenda of religion, I give you I Corinthians 15:12. “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection, of the dead? 13 And, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen. 14 And if Christ has not risen, then your faith is in vain….”
Again, this is to say that if one part of the Bible is proven suspect, as with the manner of death concerning Judas Iscariot or the place of crucifixion not to mention the resurrection itself, then other parts will also prove themselves suspect. Otherwise, our only other option is to pick and choose scripture where rarely, if ever, do two people agree on anything. All of which, would only lead to confusion. Which; and in turn; would lead to many different breakaway religious philosophies secretly harboring detestation for one another, if only because those poor bastards are misguided.
Hey! Wait a minute…
By the way: this book harbors a message for anyone who has ever looked to the heavens out of desperation, and expected an answer. Believe me when I tell you that you will know it when you see it: a truth so palpable, as to be spiritual Braille.
As an example, I would redirect you to all those verses that say Judas Iscariot is the disciple whom Jesus loved. Why? Because of the verse that binds, is why. See again St. John 6:70, albeit for edification. “Jesus said: ‘Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon [Zelotes:] for it was he that would betray him as one of the twelve.”
I ask you: can you hear what the affronted Jesus, is telling you?
Shhh…
He is saying that, by way of his affections for Judas Iscariot as a betraying imp—someone is not who or what he says he is! And, it matters not, if it was only a “figure of speech” as delivered by Jesus during a fleeting moment of passion. Why? Because of those infamous words of his, is why. You would better know them as, “what I will.” Then there is the verse that binds. See Matthew 5:29 where Jesus went and said of it: “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is better to enter the kingdom of heaven blind in one eye, than to have the whole body cast into hell. 30 And, if thy right hand offends thee, then cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is better to enter the kingdom of heaven lame, than to have the whole body cast into hell.”
Um, excuse me. But did Jesus just say that when we cut and cast off those parts of our body that offend us, that we enter into the kingdom of heaven minus those parts and pieces, if not blind and lame too? However you care to sum it up; and or dice on it with your biblical Ginsu; the truth here is that he did. See Revelation 21:4 where it says of it, “God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither will there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Now, as for the former things said to have passed away, once we get to heaven? To a biblical truth; and just as confessed by Jesus in Matthew 5:29 and 30; you can add things like fingers and toes, hands and feet, arms and legs, and yes, even ears and eyes. Better yet, a pile of human waste that the Bible would label to its benefit, as: “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.” Then they would post a sign over our remains as a public warning, saying: “It is written that man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4.
Yet; and as ugly as it might be to suggest; this is the total cost of the tradeoff that the Bible says heaven has in store for us? Gwad help us. And I know you know the price of the transaction for which I speak. Well, at least you are beginning to appreciate it. It’s where we find that the human soul, according to God and or Jesus take your pick, has the same worth as those body parts we cast from ourselves in disgust. (See again, that truth found lying in wait below the conscious reading level as penned in Matthew 5:29, and juxtaposed in Matthew 5:30. Now that just got scary as hell didn’t it. In fact; and to an immutable truth; it’s beginning to sound more like something you would find in hell itself.)
Even so; and be that as it may; not one person I know of, or have ever heard of for that matter, ever took to dismembering themselves over something like this in protest as suggested by Jesus. In fact, not one person in all of recorded history ever came forth volunteering themselves in this manner. And because everyone is offended by something at some point in life, means that a lot of otherwise healthy people are going to burn in hell, to include Christians, if not apostles, rather than spend all of eternity in heaven minus those appendages that have been cleaved off as some form of entry fee. But then, only God knows why he would charge a fee over something as egregious as this. Right? (Wait until you learn about the apostle John and what, specifically, he failed to “cleave off” as his price for admission to the big show. Trust me, it’s a bulls-eye.)
And here I thought heaven was all that.
Yes. Too bad all those radicalized Muslims that are terrorists who blow themselves up in the name of Allah don’t realize that when they get to this place called heaven, and into the waiting arms of all those double-D debutants, their newfound afterlife will be all show and no go (what I call gilded around the edges,) if but for the blanks they shoot as a result of said missing appendages. But then, better to have at least fired a shot off in the dark, than to have never gone bang in the night. Right?
But then, talk about a self-imposed hell of your own making, and for all eternity—my gwad people!
To a truth, I show you this about our Lord and Savior because, besides being keen on kicking around weighty philosophies, he would have you do unto yourself something he would never do. We know this to be true because; and even despite all the anguish that Judas wrought upon his warm and tender sensibilities; he never once took to dismembering himself in protest. No. Despite it all, he still loved him even knowing that he was, wait for it: an egregious work of the devil bent on plotting his demise.
Matthew 19:28 further tells us that Judas the betrayer was appointed as one of the supreme judges over the twelve tribes of Israel. Not only that, but for all eternity. To excuse it any other way would be to suggest that the Bible is but an allegory with some truths thrown