Jesus

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

Editorial: Do You Know the Facts about COVID and the COVID Vaccines?

Exodus 18

⁷When they arrived, Moses went out and bowed down in front of Jethro, then kissed him. After they had greeted each other, they went into the tent, ⁸where Moses told him everything the Lord had done to protect Israel against the Egyptians and their king. He also told him how the Lord had helped them in all of their troubles.

2 Kings 19

19 As soon as Hezekiah heard the news, he tore off his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he went into the temple of the Lord. ²He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell the prophet Isaiah:

³These are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it’s time for her baby to be born. ⁴Please pray for those of us who are left alive. The king of Assyria sent his army commander to insult the living God. Perhaps the Lord heard what he said and will do something, if you will pray.

⁵When these leaders went to Isaiah, ⁶he told them that the Lord had this message for Hezekiah:

I am the Lord. Don’t worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. ⁷I will upset him with rumors about what’s happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death.

15. Jesus’ Resurrection

I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
John 11.25-26

If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15.14-22

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

That very day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread.

As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Then he led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Luke 24.1-53

We Would Have Also Crucified Jesus

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2089

I have given you the title of messiah, tribal messiah! Then what should you do? What should you do as the messiah? I have prepared everything that you might need to become the national messiah, the world messiah, and the cosmic messiah. I have prepared treasures the size of a mountain for you. You will inherit all this mountain of treasures once you become messiahs. It will all be passed down to you like water flowing through water pipes. (189-247, 1989.4.9)

Richard: We become Tribal Messiah’s through our work in Home Church.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 990

Now, we three – God, True Parents and you – must become one. We have to act in concert. Since this is a decisive question of life and death, all three must unite at the point where they come together. The realm of resurrection is at that very point. It is the connecting point where oneness comes, where True Parents and you become one and unite together. There, the unification into one heart takes place. Therefore, you must lead a life of oneness with His will. (31-321, 1970.6.7)

Jesus

14. The Tragedy of Jesus’ Rejection

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
Matthew 23.37

And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19.41-44

None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2.8

“Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Matthew 21.33-41

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Today it is easy to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, because for nearly 2,000 years Christianity has been glorifying him. But if you had lived in the days when Jesus was being pushed around and ridiculed, would you have believed? The scribes and priests of those days longed to see the Messiah, yet they did not recognize him. Do you really think that the Jewish people of that era were inferior to Christians today? In fact, we would probably have compounded their mistakes if we had lived in the days of Jesus of Nazareth. (69:100, October 21, 1973)

Jesus came with the lonely heart of Heaven to a people who were collapsing and dying, and taking compassion upon them, he came to them without holding back even his own life. But the people of Israel, who called themselves the chosen people, did as they pleased to the Messiah whom Heaven had sent and to John the Baptist whom Heaven had prepared…

Today let us know: It was not because the people of Israel at that time were inferior to us, that they betrayed Heaven, nor was it because their desire to live for the sake of Heaven was not as great as ours, that they forgot Heaven.

Let us understand: They had a concept about the Messiah, thinking that the Lord to come would appear as a great man, but because in reality the Messiah who appeared was haggard, pitiful and unimpressively small, they rejected him.

Let us consider our position now: Today we commonly speak ill of the historical people of Israel, and like to criticize how they handled the situation at that time, but please let us understand: between the situation now and the situation then there is no difference. May we have the mind to admit: if we had been alive at that time, we would have done the same as they. (5:284-85, February 22, 1959)

After preparing humanity for four thousand years to receive the Messiah, his death was not in God’s original plan. Satan was the one who dragged Jesus to the cross and killed him. The crucifixion was a total loss. Everything was lost: Israel, Judaism, John the Baptist, the twelve disciples who betrayed Jesus… No one remained on the side of Jesus or Heaven.

There is no Christianity at the place of Jesus’ cross. Christianity began on the Day of Pentecost. You must know that the cross was the victory of Satan, not of God. God’s victory came with the resurrection by the power of the Spirit.46 (73:220-21, September 18, 1974)

Jesus Came Before the People in Meekness and Humility

Judges 18

^30-31Even though the place of worship was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Micah had made. They worshiped the idol, and the Levite was their priest. His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses.^[i] His descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan, until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.

Richard: Here we see some of the Israelites worshipping idols. Yet they also claimed they were worshipping God. Yet Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” And in Matthew 6:31-33 “³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Idols can be money, power or authority; anything that takes us away from the focus on putting the work of God toward building His Kingdom first.

Jeremiah 25

⁴The Lord has sent prophets to you time after time, but you refused to listen. ⁵They told you that the Lord had said:

Change your ways! If you stop doing evil, I will let you stay forever in this land that I gave your ancestors. ⁶I don’t want to harm you. So don’t make me angry by worshiping idols and other gods.

Richard: Again God warns against seeking Idols before seeking and doing His will. See the reading above.

Jesus

13. Jesus Bore Our Sins on the Cross

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Jesus accepted his destiny, taking on his shoulders the whole responsibility for the future of Israel, giving all his strength. His disciples scattered in all directions; they abandoned Jesus, concerned only to protect their own lives. Meanwhile, Jesus did not think about his own life at all. With utmost sincerity, taking more responsibility than any other person who lived for God in history, and eager to accomplish God’s purpose, he went the way of the cross. He walked that path with God. (35:23, September 27, 1970)

Suppose Adam and Eve had a brother, and he had not fallen. If that brother went to Satan and tried to bring Adam and Eve back, Satan would by no means let them go without a price. Satan would want something more valuable than what he would lose by giving up those fallen siblings. Therefore, the unfallen brother would have to sacrifice himself in place of his fallen siblings; only on that condition could he liberate them. That sacrificial brother is Christ, the second Adam. (52:50, December 14, 1971)

An offering must shed blood. God does not like bloodshed, but He cannot save a person unless he sets a condition of dying and being reborn. Offering sacrificial animals and having them shed blood has served as a condition for this throughout the ages.

Thus, in the Old Testament Age, God raised the people of Israel by having them set this indemnity condition, forgiving their sins based on their offerings of animals. On that foundation, God planned to send the Messiah to open the New Testament Age and lead Israel to build the nation of God’s victory.45 However, when the people failed to believe in the Messiah, the Messiah died by offering his own self.

Animal sacrifices represent the people who offer them. Based on their accumulated offerings of animals, all Israel at the time of Jesus stood as the fruit of the Old Testament Age; this fruit was supposed to unite with Jesus. However, when it did not happen, Jesus had to offer his own self as the sacrifice. That is how Jesus came to die on the cross. (54:252-53, March 25, 1972)

The basic nature of Satan is arrogance and fury. In contrast, Jesus came before the people of the world in meekness and humility.

Jesus did not show meekness and humility because he was incapable and unworthy. He deserved to be higher and enjoy more glory than anyone else, but Jesus forsook all that and lowered himself. Satan confronted Jesus and tried to draw him into a fight, but Jesus knew that if he remained meek and humble to the end, Satan would be bound by a condition in the Principle to submit to God. Therefore Jesus maintained his humility, doing what Satan with his arrogant and wrathful nature cannot do. Then Satan, who also knew Heaven’s law, realized that he would have no choice but to recognize Jesus.

In other words, if you move forward in meekness and humility, then even the satanic world will naturally submit. Jesus understood this principle, and he took a position of meekness and humility of which Satan was utterly incapable. Similarly, you can pioneer the new path to God only when you place yourself in a position of meekness and humility. (3:187-88, October 27, 1957)

Do you know Jesus’ heart when he subjugated Satan? It was a heart full of compassion for God, compassion for all humanity, and compassion for all creation: “How pitiful is God, who lost His sons and daughters! How pitiful is creation, which lost its owners! How pitiful are human beings, who lost their value, purpose, and position!” Because Jesus’ heart exploded with such pity, Satan retreated. (9:181, May 8, 1960)

Jesus Humbled Himself and Became Obedient unto Death

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2280

Then who is Christ at the Second Advent? As the True Father and True Mother were lost in Eden, he is the one to come upon the earth as the True Father. He will become as one with God in heart, lineage and flesh, establish the position of True Mother, and form a family centered on this oneness. The Messiah’s family will be the first to live with and serve God. The Messiah solidifies the position of the perfected Adam. The Kingdom of Heaven will be established only after the perfected Adam and Eve marry, live on earth serving God, have sons and daughters centered upon Him, bring forth His clan and live on earth together with them, and then, finally, move on into the heavenly world together with God. (282-51, 1997.3.10)

Richard: This is a good summary of the Role of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and of Mrs. Moon.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1059

Sunday is the day to offer to the other members what you have planned and saved during the week that can bring them joy. On Sundays, you can share some specially prepared food and everyone should praise their spouses. (21-88, 1968.11.3)

Jesus

13. Jesus Bore Our Sins on the Cross

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us
whole,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the l ord has laid on him the iniquity of
us all.
Isaiah 53.3-6

Under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9.22-26

Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. 44
Philippians 2.6-11

Can You Fathom the Agony in God’s Heart When Jesus Was Dying on the Cross?

2 Kings 22

¹¹When Josiah heard what was in The Book of God’s Law, he tore his clothes in sorrow. ¹²At once he called together Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, and his own servant Asaiah. He said, ¹³“The Lord must be furious with me and everyone else in Judah, because our ancestors did not obey the laws written in this book. Go find out what the Lord wants us to do.”

Richard: This is a very interesting verse. The Jews had forgotten about God’s Law. This is the same as forgetting about the Eight Sacred Textbooks, which has actually happened in the current Unification movement.

1 Kings 2

³⁶Solomon sent for Shimei and said, “Build a house here in Jerusalem and live in it. But whatever you do, don’t leave the city! ³⁷If you ever cross Kidron Valley and leave Jerusalem, you will be killed. And it will be your own fault.”

Richard: Later, Shimeie leaves Jerusalem and is killed. See the above comment by me. These two verses go together.

Jesus

12. The Agony of Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When Jesus fell exhausted while carrying the cross to Golgotha, none among his disciples offered to shoulder the cross in his place. Neither did anyone from among the chosen people of Israel. Rather it was Simon of Cyrene, a Gentile, who shouldered the cross and participated in Jesus’ tribulation. For this reason, Christianity flourished among the Gentiles, not the Jews…

How must Jesus have felt when he looked at Simon of Cyrene? His disciples, with whom he had shared all his joys and sorrows, had all disappeared, leaving this Gentile to suffer on his behalf. Jesus must have felt deeply embarrassed and sorrowful.

If any man among the twelve disciples had stood up to shoulder the cross in his place, then by looking at him, Jesus could have forgotten the hardships of death. He would have overcome his own agony by feeling compassion for his disciple. When this did not happen, Jesus felt even greater sorrow. (2:275, June 16, 1957)

Although the Roman soldiers nailed him to a cross and pierced him with a spear, Jesus asked God’s forgiveness for them. He endured his pain with the attitude, “I am dying on their behalf. I am willing to be sacrificed on their behalf.” From that moment a new realm opened; a new world was born that had never before existed in history.

Before Jesus’ time the rule was to take revenge on your enemy, based on the law, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” No one before Jesus had ever taught that we should love our enemies. Jesus demonstrated something totally new to the world when he loved his enemies on the cross. This was something amazingly great. From that single event sprouted a new era, a new world of God’s desire. (130:232-33, January 29, 1984)

Can you fathom the agony in God’s heart when Jesus was dying on the cross? Here, the children of the enemy were killing His only begotten Son, and yet God could not treat them as enemies. Can you imagine how difficult it was for God to swallow His pain and maintain a loving heart towards them? Jesus understood God’s painful situation; he knew that God had to maintain unconditional love even for the enemy Satan; therefore he loved the enemy soldiers who were killing him and prayed that God would forgive their sin.

Because Jesus passed this test, Satan could be separated. Because Jesus kept God’s tradition of unconditional love even for Satan, Satan had no grounds to accuse either Jesus or God. This was the condition to make a division between good and evil, to lift up Christianity beyond Satan’s grasp.

God’s providence can progress only on the condition of loving Satan and the individuals and families under Satan’s dominion. Even in the place of death, we should love and pray for them, as God does. Otherwise there can be no restoration. For this reason, Christian martyrs throughout the world have followed Jesus’ example and prayed for their persecutors, “Heavenly Father, please save them.”

This goes back to the principle that Satan was originally an archangel, who was to receive love from God, Adam and Eve. Although he fell to become Satan, we should not change our love for him. By following this principle, we can be fully restored and be qualified to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (244:154-55, February 1, 1993)

Why did Jesus appeal to Heaven, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27.46) The first human beings abandoned God, and Jesus had the mission to restore their betrayal through indemnity. That is why God forsook him.

Nevertheless, although abandoned, Jesus kept a grateful heart. He prayed, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” (Matt. 26.39) Because Jesus wanted to become one with God and digest death and whatever hardships confronted him, no enemy could dominate him. Because Jesus did not change even in death, even when God and humankind turned their backs on him, he opened the door to resurrection.

Likewise, even if God were to turn away from you, you must be determined to cling to the Father and attend Him to the end. That is the only way you enter the blessed realm of resurrection that Jesus Christ opened for us. (4:144-45, March 30, 1958)