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| During the second century A.D., in one of his ancient works, a Greek writer by the name of Lucian makes reference to Jesus. And although Lucian was a man who opposed Christ, and that is evident in his writing, he does acknowledge that Jesus was crucified, that Christians worship Him as God, that they do so based on faith alone, and believe that they have eternal life through Him. |
| Lucian writes: "As you are aware, the Christians worship the man to this very day - He being well known for establishing their unusual form of worship, and for that reason he was crucified . . . . You see, these men begin with the notion that they will be immortal for all eternity, which explains why they do not fear death and is why they give themselves over to his worship; and it was also taught by this lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the very second that they begin to follow him, and they turn their backs on the gods in Greece, and worship this crucified prophet, and live according to his commands. They believe all this purely by faith alone. As a result, worldly goods mean nothing to them and they treat it as property to be used among themselves for the common good.” |
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| MOSES FIRST WROTE CONCERNING |
| THIS PROPHET: |
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| "And the LORD said to me: 'What they have spoken is good. 'I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 'And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” |
| Deuteronomy 18:17-19 (NKJV) |
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| THE GREATEST WORDS SPOKEN |
| BY THIS PROPHET: |
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| On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. |
| Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." |
| John 7:37-41 (NKJV) |
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| THE GREATEST PROPHECY GIVEN ABOUT THIS CRUCIFIED PROPHET: |
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| Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? |
| For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. |
| He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. |
| 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; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. |
| All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. |
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| He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. |
| He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. |
| And they made His grave with the wicked; But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. |
| Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. |
| He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. |
| Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors. |
| Isaiah 53:1-12 (NKJV) |
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| This article is a chapter from our 3 volume book series "Bible Believer's Archaeology" which can be downloaded for your ebook reader or mobile device by visiting our resource download page by Clicking Here. |
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| Sources: |
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| The Holy Bible, Author: The Lord God |
| Scripture taken from the New King James Version unless noted. |
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| Lucian, The Death of Peregrine, 11–13, in The Works of Lucian of Samosata, translated by F.G. Fowler and H.W. Fowler, 4 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949), vol. 4. |
| (The historical text used for this newsletter was retranslated by the author, John Argubright) |
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| Art: Pen and ink illustration of "The Christ," a sculpture by Francois Rude from the ‘Encyclopedia of Art-Vol. 1&2 (1937) |
| Author: Davidson and Gerry |
| Publisher: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc. |
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