Knowing where Jesus comes from

“Not to know me argues yourselves unknown”-
Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV, l830

Anyone who claims to speak for God must come from God, in one sense or another.

That is why the Jewish authorities, in John’s gospel, complained about Jesus;
“We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from” (ch9 v29).
They meant they had no awareness that he had come from God. They thought this gave them a reason for doubting that he had come from God.

The people of Jerusalem thought they DID know where Jesus came from, but that was because they were defining “come from” in other ways.
They said (ch7 v27) “Yet we know where this man comes from”. Here they were using “come from” in a purely geographical sense. They meant that they knew he came from Galilee.

Then they added “When the Christ appears, no man will know where he comes from.” That is also true, as long as it is taken to mean “No man will know that he has come from God”. The prediction was being fulfilled in the case of Jesus, because the general public, at least, did not understand that he had come from God.

The people were setting the two statements against each other, and trying to use the apparent conflict as an argument against Jesus being the Christ. But it was a false argument, based on understanding both statements in a geographical sense. They seem to think that the birthplace of the true Christ would be unknown. Though another party, later in the chapter, points out the scripture indicating that Christ would be born in Bethlehem, which also appears to conflict with “comes from Galilee”.

Jesus responds immediately with an observation which the RSV treats as a challenging question;
“You know me and you know where I come from?”
Then he explains what “come from” really means in reference to a Christ;
“But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, because I come from him, and he sent me.”

Jesus really had been sent by God just as Moses had been sent by God, and he spoke with at least as much authority. This theme is prominent in John’s gospel;
“The Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me” (ch5 v37).
“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God” (ch3 v34).
“My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (ch7 v14).
“We must work the works of him who sent me” (ch9 v1).

But there is a much deeper sense in which Jesus had “come from God”, something which the people around him were not yet ready to understand.

He had “come from God” in the sense of having his origin from God. “He comes from Galilee” was only half the story.

As readers of the gospel, we know about this from the first chapter. We know that “the Word was with God” and “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.
We know from his words to Nicodemus (ch3 v13, v17) that the Son of man has “descended from heaven”, because “God sent the Son into the world”.

Jesus means this deeper sense when he says to the people “I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not know whence I come or whither I am going” (ch8 v14). This is as close as he can get to telling them about the Incarnation and the Ascension.

In other words; “It is true that you do not know where I come from, but that is a judgement against you, not a judgement against me”.

a reply to: DISRAELI

And I guess the message is
“You will know them by their fruits”
The works or deeds that a person does in their lives
God is love and Jesus was love, His actions were love, the Pharisees didn’t want to see their authority, arrogance, their power corrupted by a man who showed love and compassion

If the average Christian was loving, forgiving and as compassionate as Jesus, could we change anything, even one life?
Seems the world wasn’t/isn’t ready, seems neither is the church

a reply to: DISRAELI

Knowing where Jesus comes from

Hay, I know that one. It is a mistranslation. It means literally 'Son of Zeus". Do you worship ancient Greek gods?

Jesus being the Christ

OK, now you are really getting things mixed up. The 'Son of Zeus' is Greek, 'Horus' is Egyptain. Christ comes from Christos which is the Latin name of the Egyptain god Horus, son of Isis.

You say a lot about where an individual comes from without knowing where the words you speek of are from. Look to the origins of the words and works you read and you will be enlightened or frightened. Stop relying on the traing wheels on your man made religon.

Hosua of Nazerith may be the individual you are trying to reference. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way disputing whether he was the true Son of God. I am only trying to point out how man has messed the whole thing up to where little truth of the original writings is left.

a reply to: beyondknowledge
"Jesus" is the English version of the Greek version [IESOUS] of a Hebrew/Aramaic name. ("Joshua" is the more direct Englsih version of the same name).

"Christ" is the English version of the Greek word CHRISTOS, which means "anointed" (derived from the verb CHRUO, meaning "to rub on"), and is the Greek version of a Hebrew word meaning "anointed".

For heaven's sake, don't get information about ancient languages from the internet. The internet makes up all sorts of nonsense which the gullible soak up because they have no means of detecting the difference.
Learn everything you need from printed books first.

P.S. And be aware that I always refuse to go off-topic on these threads, so there's no point in engaging in the standard trolling tactics.

a reply to: DISRAELI

So you say printed books are more reliable. I say the books they use as references are wrong because they were already corrupted by the church. All organized religons are man made and therefore fallable. In fact their main use is to control the masses.

a reply to: beyondknowledge
You are now going off the topic of the thread, so you will receive no further replies.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

“Christos” is a Greek adjective, from the verb “chiro” which means “anoint or anointing”. When used with the definite article “hu” (the) it means “the Anointed (one)”. It’s the word the Koine Greek authors used to describe the Hebrew word “Mashiach” (Messiah).

Whatever blog you got this “Christ is Latin for Horus” nonsense is absurd and they don’t know anything about Koine Greek.

originally posted by: beyondknowledge
a reply to: DISRAELI

So you say printed books are more reliable. I say the books they use as references are wrong because they were already corrupted by the church. All organized religons are man made and therefore fallable. In fact their main use is to control the masses.

Dude, Koine Greek predates the church by several centuries. The Septuagint (LXX) for example was completed three centuries before Jesus was born and uses “Christos” for the Hebrew “Mashiach” (Anointed).