(June 24, 2015 at 1:25 am)robvalue Wrote:Why would he think that? There was nothing in the OT or in C1 Judaism which would suggest his death would accomplish anything.(June 23, 2015 at 7:16 pm)popsthebuilder Wrote: Just curious. What did the man Jesus con anyone out of? Of course con being a negative way to trap someone for your own benefit. Even if it was all a trick or illusions why would he do it? What would me personally gain but a death certificate?
He personally gain
Assuming any of it actually happened, Jesus got out of it a bunch of people following him around who kept saying how great he was. He was clearly highly delusional and may have really thought his death would accomplish something.
There were plenty of wannabe Messiahs, with a very clear agenda of national liberation. The new Moses would lead Israel to a great victory over the pagans, and God's Kingdom would be brought in. A dead Messiah was virtually a contradiction in terms, and there was thus no inkling of the idea that the Messiah's death could serve any purpose. These other wannabe Messiahs ended up dead, and the invariable result was the four buzzer end of their audition as Messiah.
The Gospel passages showing the disciples bewilderment when he said he was going to be crucified (Matt 16:21,22) simply emphasise the point.
All of which raises a very important question- why would anyone at all think his death had accomplished anything?
