1] Acts 8:1 The [Jews] were scattered ."… EXCEPT THE APOSTLES."
2] Of course the “kingdom” that was promised to Israel is “not of this world.” It is from God and it WILL BE SET UP ON EARTH!
3] In Luke 9 our Lord Jesus Christ sent the 12 to “preach the kingdom of God.” In vs 6 we read that “they went … preaching the gospel…” What was the content of this “gospel?”
4] In Luke 18:31-34 we have the account of the Lord Jesus Christ telling the 12 that He must go to Jerusalem to be put to death [as foretold by the O.T. prophets] and rise again the 3rd day. The death, burial and resurrection! [See 1 Cor 15:1-4 where Paul says that this is THE gospel “by which ye are saved.”] When our Lord finished His discourse on the death, burial and resurrection, we read that “…they UNDERSTOOD NONE OF THESE THINGS AND THIS SAYING WAS HIDDEN FROM THEM…”
5] After His resurrection the 11 did not know that He was to be resurrected - Note John 20:9 “FOR AS YET, THEY KNEW NOT THE SCRIPTURE THAT HE MUST RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD.”
6] Until it was revealed to Paul by the risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ, the GOOD NEWS OF THE CROSS WAS NOT PREACHED!!! Where, on the day of Pentecost, did Peter preach that “Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures, and He was buried and rose again the 3rd day according to the Scriptures?” Paul writes in 1 Tim. 2:6 that our Lord Jesus Christ “Gave Himself as a ransom for all to be TESTIFIED IN DUE TIME!” When was the “DUE TIME?” When Paul comes upon the scene.
Rather than “attack me” for “rightly dividing the Word of truth,” perhaps you should learn that Biblical revelation is progressive and that you can’t anticipate Paul’s revelations and bring them into the 4 gospels that were written for the Jews!
Quickcat,
your argument is not compelling because it is contradicted by the same scriptures on which you rely for insight.
All of the Apostles preached that Christ died for our sins and that he was buried and rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures. Why do you think otherwise? In fact, I showed you that in the Pentecost account from Acts 2, Peter made these very statements:
22 You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
23 This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
24 But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says of him: ‘I saw the Lord ever before me, with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
26 Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
27 because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
30 But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption.
32 God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.
33 Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you (both) see and hear.
34 For David did not go up into heaven, but he himself said: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
36 Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?”
38 Peter (said) to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.”
And the fact that the four Gospels were writtten for the Jews alone is simply not true.
- Matthew did indeed write his gospel for the Jews, explaining throughly from the OT scriptures how Jesus fullfilled the prophesies. It was probably written in Aramaic initially.
- Luke, a companion of St. Paul, however, wrote his gospel for the Gentiles they were preaching to. In his gospel, he takes the time to explain Jewish customs to his audience, which would of course be unnecessary if the Jews were his intended audience
- Mark, the companion of Peter, combined these two works and added insight form Peter himself. This work was described by Eusebius as having been written in Rome.
- John wrote after all the others, filling in the blanks that were not answered by the other works. He was residing in Ephesus at the time and clearly was not written for the Jews alone, who had already dispersed from Jerusalem when it was destroyed.
Oh, and by the way, virtually all biblical scholars believe that with the possible exception of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Pauls letters are the earliest new testament writings. To say that his revelations weren’t available to the others is simply not understanding history. In fact, since Peter references Paul’s writiings in 2Peter3, it is very obvious that he had access to them.
