Purpose
When Jesus was warning his disciples about the last days, he said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.”
We are now living at a time when there is an outright explosion of authors and teachers and false prophets who claim to be speaking for Jesus – they literally speak in the first person, just as though it were Christ himself speaking – but what they are saying are things that Jesus would NEVER say. And they are indeed deceiving many.
The best way to recognize a counterfeit is to study the genuine, and that is the purpose of this blog. We want to carefully consider the words of Jesus Christ, within the context of his life and ministry, in order to know him better. The more familiar we become with the words and teachings of Jesus, the better able we will be to recognize the counterfeit words of those who only pretend to speak for him.
Intention
To the best of our ability, we will attempt to examine every word spoken by Jesus as it occurred in chronological order, using whatever clues regarding time and place that exist within the scriptures. We realize that some of our assumptions as to what occurred when will be incorrect. These are matters which have been subject to debate throughout the centuries, and although we may be convinced in our own mind, we are aware that our own conclusions are not exactly conclusive.
Links to Other Websites
Sometimes we will incorporate a link to another website into a post in order to provide some additional background for the subject at hand. This should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any other content that may appear on that linked website.
Framework
These are a few of the “ground rules” for our posts:
Focus – The posts center on the character and nature of Jesus Christ. They are not devotional and no attempts are made for “real life” application.
Red Letters – Words that are spoken by God appear in red.
Capitalization of Divine Pronouns – For the sake of expediency, pronouns (he, him, etc.) that refer to God are not capitalized.
Bible Versions – All Bible quotes are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise specified.
Word Translations – All references to Hebrew and Greek word translations are taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, unless otherwise specified.
Length – The posts are purposefully kept as brief as possible, usually between five to seven paragraphs.