Chapter 4
Summary of Positive Evidence
Other than in a brief reference in the Preface, we have restricted ourselves to responding to quotes which represent the assertions of those who teach that MML&J are OT, were nailed to the cross, or that they do not contain any of Jesus’ teachings for us today. In this chapter, we wish to summarize the evidence, the full elaboration of which can only be obtained by reading the entirety of the New Testament. However, there are some excerpts that are very definitive. The following sections present a summary of this evidence.
4.1 Historical Evidence
As stated in the preface, the most compelling evidence is plain old common sense. Would Jesus have come to this earth and spent three years to do nothing but have his every word nailed to the cross? Would all of his teachings become irrelevant in (on average) 18 months from the time that they were spoken?
Without getting into speculation as to the exact time of their writing, all agree that they were written decades after the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (as recorded in Acts 2). Note the following promise given to the apostles (John 14:26):
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
Now think about this carefully: when John wrote these words, was this not one case of fulfillment of Jesus’ promise? Was the Holy Spirit not guiding John to remember exactly what Jesus said to him on this occasion? Of course. So this was one of the teachings that Jesus would bring to John’s memory. But this teaching was before the cross!
Some rationalize that the promise in the scripture refers only to the 40-day period when Jesus was “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). We agree that Jesus spoke to them at this time, but it is a perversion and twisting of scripture to restrict John 14:26 to that described in Acts 1:3. Read it again above: “… whatsoever I have said unto you.” Would you, if you were John, think that Jesus was talking about something that Jesus was going to say to him in the future? Does the word “whatsoever” restrict it from three years to 40 days? Should we not rather believe what Peter said when Jesus asked him if he was going to depart like the others were departing from Jesus (John 6:68):
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
According to our friends, Peter was wrong as well – Jesus would not have these words until after the cross.
So is it reasonable that four books inspired by the Holy Spirit, written decades after the Old Testament was fulfilled and nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14), would themselves contain only Old Testament doctrines that were also to be nailed to the cross before the words were even written?
