Acts 3:13-15, NKJV — “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” [Some versions use “the Author of Life” over “the Prince of Life” or “Pioneer of Life” when referring to Jesus.]
Peter recalls in the ears of the men of Israel (who witnessed the healing of a crippled beggar) how they MURDERED Jesus out of both hatred and ignorance. They had KILLED the Holy and Righteous One, preferring a murderer, Barabbas, over Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior.
Luke 23:34, NKJV — “Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Are we to believe that the men of Israel, more specifically, the High Priest, scribes, Pharisees, and others, were ignorant of who Jesus the Christ was?
Jesus showed in Luke 23:34 that they were ignorant. Peter said it too, in Acts 3:17 – “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.”
“Ignorance”: Greek, agnoia, from agnoeo = “not to know (thru lack of info. or intel); to ignore; (thru disinclination) be ignorant.”
“Ignorance” explains the people’s involvement (and the leaders’ involvement) in the crucifixion of Jesus. Understanding their ignorance, the disciples in Acts could continue to appeal to these Jews in Jerusalem, crying out for them to believe in Jesus – the One whom they MURDERED in their ignorance, being unaware of His Messianic Dignity.
The Jewish people accused Jesus of being possessed of the devil: “The people answered and said, You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?” (John 7:20). Jesus later on had this to say to the scribes and Pharisees: “…If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to KILL Me, a Man who has told you the truth…” (John 8:39-40). Just before He spoke these words, He said in verse 37, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” Going back further, Jesus contended with the Jews by saying, “Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to KILL Me?” (John 7:19). And even further back, Jesus enraged the Pharisees by healing a man’s hand in a synagogue, and the Scriptures record, “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might DESTROY Him” (Matthew 12:14; see Mark 3:6).
To the “religious” Jews, Jesus was marked for DESTRUCTION! They were quite IGNORANT of who and what He was: He was their long-awaited Messiah! They HATED HIM for His cutting Words and supernatural power which threatened their “authority.” Religious jealousy!
Psalm 2:2 – “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed (lit. “Christ, Commissioned One,” the Hebrew Messiah)…”
You see, even before Christ came to earth as a human (equally God/human), His Spirit had revealed Psalm 2 as a Messianic passage, a message on the establishment of the New Ekklesia (see Acts 4:25-27; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5).
“Anointed”: In Hebrew, mashiah, i.e., “anointed,” “Messiah”; in Greek, Christos, or (English) “Christ.” In ancient Israel, the kings (Judges 9:8; 1 Samuel 9:16; 16:12-13) and the high priests (Leviticus 8:12; Numbers 3:3) received the power of their office through “anointing.”
But the more modern rulers of Israel were devoid of any anointing (read Matthew 23: “Woe to scribes and Pharisees…” whose house was left DESOLATE since they rejected their King and Messiah (Matthew 23:38).
While the religious Jews plotted to MURDER Jesus, this plot was going to backfire on them, for in A.D. 70, God took away the Jew’s house – left DESOLATE! – and the priesthood/Temple was DESTROYED … and remains so TO THIS DAY!!!
Pharisaic Judaism DESTROYED!
The Jews, that is, the Sanhedrin, who were supposed to administer justice, sought testimony against Jesus to PUT HIM TO DEATH! Interestingly, the Jewish authorities had lost to Rome the right to pronounce a DEATH sentence. And because no real witness could testify to any grounds for Jesus’ death, a false witness was heard (see Mark 14:53-59).
Once a year, the Roman officials would set free one prisoner to the Jews. The crowds could pick who would be released back into society. Pilate offered to release Jesus. However, the people chose Barabbas, a murderer. Jesus was to be TORTUROUSLY EXECUTED on the Cross. “Give us Barabbas!” cried the Jews.
Barabbas was one of the sicarii, meaning “dagger men,” who were “cloak-and-dagger” Jewish assassins that targeted Roman officials and sympathizers in the vain hope of driving them out of Palestine. He had been arrested for insurrection and murder (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). These sicarii were crucified if caught.
Combine…
- the hateful conspiracy against Jesus by the political maneuvering of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time…
- with the plotting of King Herod…
- with Pilate’s capitulation (Luke 23:6-12)…
- with the custom of releasing a prisoner during the feast of the Passover (Mark 15:6)…
- with the people’s INSANITY, which was driven by DEMONS and DEMON-INSPIRED LEADERSHIP…
- and you end up with an open way for Barabbas, a CRIMINAL, to go FREE…
- while the Holy, Just, Perfect, Sinless King of Earth is sent to be MURDERED! (John 18:40).
The Jews shouted, “We have no king but Caesar!”
The irony of all this is that the Jews who DEMANDED the Romans to murder Jesus … are the same Jews who were MURDERERD by the Romans in 70 AD!
Yes, those who demanded Jesus’ death did so out of ignorance – they did not recognize Him as their King, Messiah, Savior. Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He was interceding for His executioners. Stephen is the first recorded martyr after Pentecost. It says of him, as he was being stoned to death, “Then he [Stephen] fell on his knees and cried out in a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this SIN against them…” (Acts 7:60).
Jesus denounced the religious. The denunciation of Pharisaic Judaism ends with Christ’s lament over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39). Jesus said He would have gathered the people together, like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but finishes with, “But YOU were unwilling” (v.. 37). [Note: For imagery similar to this, turn to the following: Psalm 17:8 – “…hide me in the shadow of your wings”; 91:4 – “He will shelter you with His pinions, and under His wings you may take refuge; His faithfulness is a protecting shield.”]
We find Words like “hiding place,” “the shade of the Almighty” (see Psalm 27:5; 31:21; 61:5; 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 63:8; Psalm 91:4 – all these make clear that the “shadow” is an image of “the safety afforded by the outstretched wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies”; that is, we are safe as we are CLOSE to God).
Commanded to Love
Concerning Christ’s command to love one another, Jesus puts forth two commandments: “The first (foremost) of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart … your soul … your mind … your strength…” (Mark 12:29:30). This was taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and is a foundational Scriptural fact, the celebrated “Shema.”
Jesus continues, “And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (v. 31). This verse is derived from Leviticus 19:18. (See also Romans 13:9.)
For more on this issue, read the Prophetic Word of the Lord, given by my wife, which follows this article – providing wisdom, understanding and knowledge, given to us directly by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:8).
Consider
At the Lord’s supper, in Mark 14, Jesus makes his remarkable statement: “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with me will betray me” (v. 18). And in John’s account, we read, “Did I not choose you, the 12, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70, referring to Judas Iscariot).
My point is, Jesus knew the Scriptures, He knew they spoke about Him and His betrayer, Judas. Jesus knew beforehand what His future was to be: CRUCIFIXION! He knew the one who would betray him.
Luke 22 records the events of the Lord’s Supper, aka, the Passover. Jesus told His disciples, “With fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (22:15). He further revealed, “My betrayer is with me on the table. And truly, the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” (vv. 21-22).
JESUS WAS NOT IGNORANT, as some believe, of what must transpire. He knew His future. Jesus quoted Isaiah 53:12 when He told His disciples, “…for I say to you that this, which is written, must still be accomplished (literally, fulfilled prophetically) in Me. ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end” (Luke 22:37). Jesus’ death fulfilled Isaiah’s prediction. (See also Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:28.)
With this said, I still have one more text to go to, and we’ll get a little detailed here:
After Jesus gives His teaching on the true Vine and branches, He gives His COMMAND, “You love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Verses 12 and 17 are COMMANDS to love one another. Can we really always do this? I admit, I’ve failed many times. Note what Jesus said and did at that famous Passover meal: “The Son of man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). We might ask, “Where is the love for Judas?”
Matthew does not record Judas leaving. It does record Jesus saying to Judas, “You have said it” in reference to Judas asking, “Rabbi, is it I?” (v. 25). Mark only records Jesus’ comment about “One of you who eats with me will betray me” (14:18). Luke 22 records, “but behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me on the table” (22:21).
Luke 22:2 tells us that the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him. Verse 3 says, “Then satan entered Judas, who was numbered among the 12.”
Apropos
John 13 records something interesting at the foot washing event:
Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (v. 21). Jesus continues: “It is he who I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it” (v. 26). We know it was Judas whom Jesus referred to in verse 26. “Now, after the piece of bread, satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly.”
Here is the INTERESTING FACT: The command to “love one another” (John 13:34 – The New Commandment) wasn’t given until AFTER Judas, the devil, had left the room. “Having received a piece of bread, he (Judas) then went out immediately. And it was night” (v. 30) … then Jesus gave the “New Commandment.” So the New Commandment, in context, is clearly a commandment for Christian Brethren, not the fakes, not the world. We are to love our TRUE brethren in this way, and this is how the world will know that we are from God: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another [i.e, the REAL AND TRUE CHRISTIAN BRETHREN]” (John 13:35).
What do you think?
Jesus did not tell his faithful disciples the New Commandment to “Love one another” while Judas was with them. How do we interpret “Love your enemies”?
— Gen. Jim, POW
Prophetic Words of the Spirit:
COMMANDED TO LOVE!
Given by Prophet General Deborah Green, April 23, 2023
I speak unto you this day and I say that you are commanded to love one another by My Son Jesus and that commandment stands true and valid even until now. I do not want you to be in a state of confusion and distress, I want you to continue steadfastly believing in Me as the One you are meant to obey and serve each day.
Do not hinder My purpose and plan by setting it up in your hearts that you hate your brothers and sisters in Me and find them repulsive. When you take on such a mindset, you are taking on darkness and playing into the devil’s hands. You are not commanded to hate your brothers and sisters, you are commanded to love one another and by the same to fulfill the commandment that Jesus gave to His disciples.
The more that you come into understanding of your relationship with other parts of the Body of Christ the more you will realize that I do intend My United Believers to be encouraging one another in these times of hatred, unrest, and violence. Truly the more that you allow My Holy Spirit to exercise you in Love for others above yourselves the more that you will desire to fulfill Me in and thru the same. It is a privilege to be found abiding in Me and by that abiding knowing the Higher Love Way that I intend.
My Son, Jesus Christ did not advocate yielding to hatred for the ones who put Him to death, in fact He prayed that I would forgive them for they did not know what they were doing. In reality they were doing exactly what they were motivated to do by the demonic powers that controlled them. He did not push the agenda of hatred and more violence, He prayed for Me to forgive them because they didn’t know fully what they were doing.
Consider that it has been My intention that men, women and children would walk in the Love that makes them truly members of My Kingdom. Jesus also declared that His disciples would keep His commandments and thereby display their love for Him. This means essentially that His disciples would love Him and they would love one another.
However the command to love did not stop there for He also displayed the Love that I have for the lost and dying in sending My Only Begotten Son down to earth to complete the mission that I had for Him. Jesus did exactly as I had intended and obeyed Me in every point. He could have easily turned aside and refused to display the Love towards others that I wanted Him to display. He did not turn from His mission, He fulfilled the same with gladness and rejoicing not turning to His own devices but completing His course in Love and obeying every command given to Him thru the Holy Spirit during His earthly journey. Because He did what I wanted of Him, He gained all that was intended in defeating the power of death over humanity. He took full dominion over death, hell, and the grave. He also, by coming to earth as a man proved that all who so desired to walk in obedience could do so by following the commandment to Love and completing the course that He left as a pattern.
When you hear people who declare that they cannot love, why is it so? It is because they are not in obedience, and are wanting to hold onto anger, hatred, jealousy, envy, division and strife. All of these emotions are of the old carnal nature and came to be because of the curses that came upon humanity as the consequence of the sins of Adam and Eve. When any one is born again of incorruptible seed, they are given the power to overcome sin and to walk in the Way that I ordain, the Way that is purity and uprightness.
In order to accomplish victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, those who are United Believers will have to move in obedience and allegiance to the commandments that were given by Jesus. There is no way that believers can follow their carnal minds and expect to gain the Higher Way and walk in the Higher Love that they are meant to achieve. Be thankful this day that you are not obligated to go after the vanity and the vexation of this present world and to be swept up in the agenda of wickedness that is ever present. As you are single in your vision you are enabled to believe, to obey, and to pursue the course that I have put before you and to know that by the same you are given the opportunity to be uplifted in the power of Love. This does not mean as some have been deceived to believe that you are to love the devil and his demons and to welcome them into the fold.
No, this means that you are loving the Lord Jesus enough to rebuke and refute the sins and the demons that are motivating people to commit those sins. Be aware of how important it is that you choose to follow in the steps of Jesus because He is the pattern and the Holy Spirit guides you in the same. In a time when hatred is rampant and violence and murder are commonplace and in some places accepted and approved, be thankful that you do not have to be destroyed by such motivating forces of evil. Rather you can serve each day in the attitude of gratitude because thru Me you are given My Light on your path and shown the mercies that are prepared for you. Those who are true disciples as United Believers will show forth by their Love that they are following and in allegiance with their Master, Jesus who is both Lord and Christ. Rejoice that His Way is the Way of My Kingdom and you can know that Kingdom here on earth by believing in, obeying and choosing to be Commanded to Love.