Tag: John the Baptist

The Main Reason Jesus Had to Die on the Cross Was the Failure of John the Baptist

Matthew 23

23 The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So that same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus and said:

24 Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.

Richard: Having children (when you are married!) is very important.

Psalm 115

12 The Lord will not forget
    to give us his blessing;
    he will bless all of Israel
    and the family of Aaron.
13 All who worship the Lord,
no matter who they are,
    will receive his blessing.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

THE SECOND COMING OF ELIJAH AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

 The prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah would come again: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” Jesus testified that the prophesied coming of Elijah was realized in none other than John the Baptist: “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. . . .” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. —Matt. 17:12-13

2.1 THE JEWISH BELIEF IN THE RETURN OF ELIJAH

Since the disciples already believed that Jesus was the Messiah, they willingly accepted his testimony that John the Baptist was Elijah. Yet how could others who did not know Jesus accept this controversial claim?

2.2 THE DIRECTION THE JEWISH PEOPLE WOULD CHOOSE

Jesus made it plain that John the Baptist was the very Elijah whom the people were so anxiously awaiting, while on the contrary, John the Baptist himself flatly negated this claim. Whose words were the Jewish people to believe? This matter obviously depended on which of the two, Jesus or John, appeared more credible and respectable in the eyes of the people of that time.

When the Jewish people of Jesus’ day compared Jesus and John the Baptist, who appeared more credible to them? Without a doubt, John’s words had more credibility. Therefore, they naturally believed John the Baptist when he denied being Elijah more than they believed Jesus’ testimony that John was Elijah. Since the people believed John, they considered Jesus’ words to be a fabrication concocted to support his dubious claim to be the Messiah. Consequently, Jesus was condemned as an impostor.

2.3 THE FAITHLESSNESS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

 Many among the Jewish leadership and people of Jesus’ day had the highest respect for John the Baptist; some even thought of him as the Messiah. Had John the Baptist announced that he was Elijah, as Jesus had testified, those who were eagerly waiting for the Messiah would have readily believed John’s testimony and flocked to Jesus. Instead, John’s ignorance of God’s providence, which led him to insist that he was not Elijah, became the principal reason why the Jewish people did not come to Jesus. Here we have come to understand that the main reason why Jesus had to die on the cross was the failure of John the Baptist.

2.4 THE SENSE IN WHICH JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS ELIJAH

 We have stated previously that John the Baptist was to inherit and complete the mission which Elijah had left unfinished on earth. As recorded in the Bible, he was born with the mission to go before the Lord, “in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Hence, in terms of his mission, John was the second coming of Elijah.

2.5 OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE BIBLE

We have been reading the Bible based on the unquestioned belief that John the Baptist was a great prophet. Our new insight into John the Baptist teaches us that we should dispense with the conservative attitude of faith which makes us afraid to question conventional beliefs and traditional doctrines.

View slides 33 to 53 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-4-The-Messiah-_revised-4-28-2014

John the Baptist Did Not Follow Jesus

Watch the latest Richard Urban Show:  Do You Believe Only In Jesus or in What Father Is Saying In This New Age?:  https://youtu.be/gjy1QPJpd04.

Daniel 7

In the first year of King Belshazzar[a] of Babylonia, I had some dreams and visions while I was asleep one night, and I wrote them down.

Richard:  God can speak to us through our dreams.

1 Kings 17

22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer, and the boy started breathing again. 23 Elijah picked him up and carried him downstairs. He gave the boy to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive.”

Richard:  God can work miracles.

The Path of Faith Which Should be Examined Carefully

Sun Myung Moon
April 12, 1959

Matthew 11: 1-30

Prayer

We have learned from the word how painful a sorrow is that has left a nail hole in the heart. As we read the word, we feel ashamed and yearn for the anxious image of Jesus. Allow us to be able to sympathize with the sad life of Jesus, who did not even have one friend who could cry with him. We know that no one has experienced the heart of Jesus as he looked upon the humanistic disciples and the tragic reality of the human world.

Father, what was the hope of John the Baptist as he practiced asceticism in the wilderness, surviving on grasshoppers and wild honey? His entire hope and the center of his heart were to receive the coming Messiah. After witnessing to the Messiah, he received the heavenly mandate to become one with him. John the Baptist should have said, “He is in my heart and I am in him; his heart is my heart, and his life is my life.” In other words, they should have become one, with Jesus wholly reflected in the heart of John the Baptist.

John did not succeed in this, however. From the misery of prison, John the Baptist sent his disciples to the Messiah and asked, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3) even after having witnessed to him as the son of Heaven with his hands uplifted before the multitude. This was a historical tragedy and a sorrowful scene God could not forget. Continue reading “John the Baptist Did Not Follow Jesus”

Examine Your Attitude Toward the Messiah

John 7

30 Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he surely won’t perform more miracles than this man has done!”

Joel 2

Sound the trumpet on Zion,
    the Lord’s sacred hill.
Warn everyone to tremble!
The judgment day of the Lord
    is coming soon.
2 It will be dark and gloomy
    with storm clouds overhead.
Troops will cover the mountains
    like thunderclouds.
No army this powerful
has ever been gathered before
    or will ever be again.

The Path of Faith Which Should be Examined Carefully

Sun Myung Moon
April 12, 1959

Matthew 11: 1-30

11 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he left and began teaching and preaching in the towns.

2 John was in prison when he heard what Christ was doing. So John sent some of his followers 3 to ask Jesus, “Are you the one we should be looking for? Or must we wait for someone else?”

4 Jesus answered, “Go and tell John what you have heard and seen. 5 The blind are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People with leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. 6 God will bless everyone who doesn’t reject me because of what I do.”

7 As John’s followers were going away, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John:

What sort of person did you go out into the desert to see? Was he like tall grass blown about by the wind? 8 What kind of man did you go out to see? Was he someone dressed in fine clothes? People who dress like that live in the king’s palace. 9 What did you really go out to see? Was he a prophet? He certainly was. I tell you that he was more than a prophet. 10 In the Scriptures God says about him, “I am sending my messenger ahead of you to get things ready for you.” 11 I tell you that no one ever born on this earth is greater than John the Baptist. But whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.

12 From the time of John the Baptist until now, violent people have been trying to take over the kingdom of heaven by force. 13 All the Books of the Prophets and the Law of Moses told what was going to happen up to the time of John. 14 And if you believe them, John is Elijah, the prophet you are waiting for. 15 If you have ears, pay attention!

16 You people are like children sitting in the market and shouting to each other,

17 “We played the flute,
    but you would not dance!
We sang a funeral song,
    but you would not mourn!”

18 John the Baptist did not go around eating and drinking, and you said, “That man has a demon in him!” 19 But the Son of Man goes around eating and drinking, and you say, “That man eats and drinks too much! He is even a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.

20 In the towns where Jesus had worked most of his miracles, the people refused to turn to God. So Jesus was upset with them and said:

21 You people of Chorazin are in for trouble! You people of Bethsaida are in for trouble too! If the miracles that took place in your towns had happened in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have turned to God long ago. They would have dressed in sackcloth and put ashes on their heads.[e] 22 I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Tyre and Sidon will get off easier than you will.

23 People of Capernaum, do you think you will be honored in heaven? You will go down to hell! If the miracles that took place in your town had happened in Sodom, that town would still be standing. 24 So I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Sodom will get off easier than you.

25 At that moment Jesus said:

My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. 26 Yes, Father, that is what pleased you.

27 My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who truly knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.

28 If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. 29 Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. 30 This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.

Prayer

Although we are unworthy, we have missed Your holy image and have come back to You and prostrated our minds and bodies. Please accept us with the grace of sympathy. You have loved hundreds of thousands of times and have endured endlessly. Father, You who have never abandoned us and never ceased to guide us with love! Although we are not satisfactory for the will and Your standard, please treat us with a sympathetic heart. Since we still have a fervent desire to turn away from the troublesome world and go to Your world of Shim Jung, we eagerly hope and desire that upon seeing such a heart in us, You will give us sympathetic love; You will bear with us and come to us.

The place where we receive Your love is the place for which all creation longs, the place for which innumerable people yearned in the past, and the place that the people of the present and future should desire. Please guide us to think about this. Please guide us to feel at this time that the more we try to be embraced in Your loving heart, the more attention we will receive from all things. Father, we ardently hope and desire this.

Give us now the heart to call You “our Father” and to see that You have toiled for us and are in sorrow because of us. Allow us to appear as zealous sons and daughters who can be moved by such a heart and embrace You, calling You “Father.”

We know that the one who seeks You with an ardent heart and who worries about Your situation will not be forsaken by You. Please allow our hearts to run toward You and our bodies to rush into Your embrace. Father, we sincerely hope and desire that You fill our bodies and minds so that we can rise above the sinful history of anger, sorrow and lamentation. Spur us on in body and mind. Continue reading “Examine Your Attitude Toward the Messiah”

Representing the Prophets, Saints and Jesus, Fight Against Satan

My latest written blog: http://blog.visionroot.org/2016/10/24/is-hillary-clinton-really-a-woman-of-integrity-and-the-lesser-of-two-evils/

My latest video blog:

WATCHED

10:15

Is Hillary Clinton Really a Woman of Integrity and the “Lesser of Two Evils?

God is substantially calling us to be Kingdom Builders: The Kingdom is not built on lies and deception, such as the Hillary Clinton Campaign: Watch Pastor Hyung Jin Moon’s sermon, Kingdom Elect: https://vimeo.com/188574525

Ezra 2

64The whole company numbered 42,360, 65besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 200 male and female singers. 66They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 67435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.

68When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. 69According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 daricsb of gold, 5,000 minasc of silver and 100 priestly garments.

Psalm 86

2Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;

save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God;

Let Us Become the Citizens Who Take Possession of the Kingdom of Heaven

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
June 2, 1957

The Kingdom of Heaven that God wants is not the kingdom built only in the spirit world. The Kingdom of Heaven that God wants is the kingdom built on earth first and then built again in the spirit world. Because, after human beings die, the spirit world that their spirits form and the earthly world cannot be separated, in order for you to develop a victorious substantial body and embody the ideology of the kingdom of heaven, you must be able to stand before the Heavenly principles and stand before humanity and demonstrate the ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven through your sphere of life so that you can be connected to the heavenly laws and human ethics. Furthermore, that ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven must become the individual ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven, and simultaneously, it must become the ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven on the family, society, nation, world and universal level. You should be able to manifest this ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven through yourselves.

The Israelite people could not materialize the ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven because they, not only could not understand, but also did not even listen to the words of John the Baptist, though he cried out in the wilderness, “Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” If today, in this era, there appears a person who announces the ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven, just like the Israelites, you will not be able to hear his words. Not only that, you will stand in the same position as the Israelite people who could not accept the new blessed words of the Kingdom of Heaven of Jesus Christ, who shouted out to the masses as he was being chased from this mountain to that mountain during the three years of public life.

Thus, I repeat that if you cannot experience the historical situation of heaven, which can introduce the ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven to all people through the heavenly nature and can announce the new, John-the- Baptist-type ideology through countless denominations, and if you do not become people who can pull the ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven into your sphere of life and live and act according to those words, then you will never be able to realize the hopeful ideology of the Kingdom of Heaven, which God seeks and desires.

The Kingdom of Heaven that human beings have known until now is not the Kingdom of Heaven of the ideals of creation that God has sought and wanted. When we trace back and examine the course of restoration centered on Jesus for the 2,000 years from Jesus, until today, during which the work was done to build the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven, what Jesus could construct was not the Kingdom of Heaven but Paradise.

So, the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven that people believe in Jesus hope for also is Paradise. Therefore, the ideals of the Kingdom of Heaven which human beings have today are not the ideal, original Kingdom of Heaven that God and human beings can both accept, but the conditional Kingdom of Heaven while moving toward the construction of the Kingdom of Heaven of God. Therefore, the noun Paradise came into being.

Therefore, if you have truly received the calling as the elite troops of heaven who are to fulfill Jesus’ ideals of the Kingdom of Heaven, then you are not to let Jesus merely remain as the master of Paradise, but by combining all the spirits of the spirit world and all people who live on earth and by opening the door to Paradise, you are to make it possible for Jesus Christ to also be the master of the Kingdom of Heaven. Similarly, the responsibility to elevate Jesus as the master of the Kingdom of Heaven does not rest on God, or on Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, but on all people of the earth. However, unfortunately, human beings are not aware of this fact.

When we think about this, for the people who are walking the course of restoration, the path that they are walking is far away and difficult. Even if there are other sorrowful paths that human beings are walking on, none of them can be as sad. The reason is that this path is the road of restoration on which we must repeat the course of the conflict of the prophets and sages while we experience their sorrow as our own. Unless we live to cross over all the difficult courses that the countless prophets and sages walked, even if they are perilously high and steep mountains or the path of cross or of Golgotha that they climbed over after they came to the earth, we cannot follow the footsteps of Jesus.

The road that you are traveling, your life of faith, is not easy. This is because your life cannot be only for your own sake. You live for the sake of the spirits who are dwelling in Paradise, and furthermore, you have the mission to accomplish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Though you might have suffered many sorrows and have made many pledges for the sake of your own life, if it was only for your own living, then you can never achieve even your personal will.

This earth will never leave uninterrupted the road that you are walking alone. The reason is that this earth became a land dominated by Satan due to the fall. So, Satan who has been confronting God for 6,000 years is blocking your path.

Richard:  In the last days we should not be among the foolish ones  to ultimately reject God’s calling to follow Jesus and his representative on earth at the Second Coming.  Rev. Sun Myung Moon has taught us about the true heart of Jesus, and his son, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon is continueing that tradition, representing his father.