Christians believe that God exists as a Trinity, that is, he is one God who exists as three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Some people question this, insisting that Jesus was not the second person of a Triune Godhead and was, in fact, not divine at all. While it is true that Christ did not state outright that he was God, he revealed it in a number of ways, including through his multiple “I Am” statements.

The Original I AM Declaration

In the third chapter of the Old Testament Book of Exodus, God appears as a burning bush and commissions Moses to go to Egypt to petition the Pharaoh to release the Israelites who are enslaved by him.

The reluctant Moses says to him, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Ex. 3:13). God responds, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you” (Ex. 3:14).

From this point forward, Jews saw “I AM” as referring to God, and when Jesus used the title, they understood that he was identifying himself as God.

The phrase God uses of himself is, in Hebrew, “ehyeh asher ehyeh.” The word “ehyeh,” translated as “I am,” is not remarkable when used to describe an activity or relationship. For example, Moses, as a shepherd, might have used it to say, “I am watching my sheep.” He might also have used it to state, “I am Zipporah’s husband.”

However, when the two words are used on their own, it is a statement that describes the self-existence and self-sufficiency of the bearer. It also speaks to God’s eternality as it means that he existed in the past and exists in the present, and will exist in the future forever. And it accounts for the name “Yahweh,” which is used to refer to God as “I AM”— it contains the Hebrew consonants y-h-w-h. The Hebrew language contains no vowels. They were added later to make the word pronounceable.

Jesus Calls Himself I AM

In the eighth chapter of John’s Gospel, the Pharisees demand that Jesus identify himself. He does so by saying, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” It is an audacious claim that might have sounded ludicrous to some bystanders. After all, how could Jesus be older than Abraham, who had lived some 2,000 years before? However, the Pharisees knew exactly what he was saying. By using the name by which God called himself, Christ makes it clear that he is God, a statement considered blasphemous by the Jews. We know this is how the Jewish religious leaders understood it because they reached for rocks with which to stone him to death—the penalty for blasphemy.

Also of note is the fact that, in the Greek language, simply stating “I AM” (ego eimi) is, as scholars have noted, a particularly intense way of referring to oneself. It is as if Jesus had said, “I myself, and only I, am.” Since God said that of himself and Jesus said it of himself, then it follows that Jesus was declaring himself to be God.

Jesus used this title to describe himself later in John’s gospel. In the eighteenth chapter of it, Judas, various Pharisees, and Roman soldiers went to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest him. When they asked him if he was Jesus of Nazareth, he replied, “I AM.” Some English translations add the word “he” to the end of his statement. This lessens the impact of the statement, a statement that made those in his presence involuntarily draw back and fall to the ground.

The Seven I Am Statements of Jesus

John records seven times when Jesus used “I am” followed by a predicate. All of them point to Christ’s divinity as they hark back to Old Testament descriptions of Yahweh. It is noteworthy that they are often linked to events that back up his assertion, as Jesus does not simply make statements about his deity; he demonstrates it.

It is also noteworthy that these declarations only appear in the Gospel of John and not in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. While they offer biographies of Jesus in the Graeco-Roman style of the day, John does not. He states his purpose in writing his gospel in the 20th chapter, verses 30 and 31, saying, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

In other words, John is not interested in portraying all the events of Christ’s time on Earth. He is focused on explaining who Jesus is, expounding on the opening statement of his gospel, which states that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’’ (John 1:1). The I am statements all refer back to and support that assertion.

I Am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)

Jesus makes this statement following the feeding of 5,000 people, in which he took five small loaves of bread and two fish and multiplied them. Now a huge crowd follows him. Jesus knows full well that they are looking for more free food. However, his concern for people extends beyond the physical to the spiritual. “I am the bread of life,” he tells them, “and whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He encourages them to seek the food that will give them eternal life. In other words, they were to seek him.

The Jews then recall the days of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt when God sent manna from Heaven to feed them during their 40-year trek in the desert. Jesus contrasts himself with that bread, saying that he is the bread from heaven, as essential to life as the manna that sustained their ancestors. This metaphor speaks to his divinity as God Incarnate, the Savior come to rescue them from sin.

I Am the Light of the World (John 8:12)

Jesus made this statement when the Jews were celebrating the Festival of Tabernacles. The festival included a lighting ceremony in which the Israelites lit a huge candelabra to remind them of God lighting the path of their ancestors during their journey through the wilderness in the aftermath of their freedom from the Egyptians. Here, Jesus attempts to make them understand that he himself is the light that will guide them safely out of a different kind of wilderness, that is, the wilderness of sin and its darkness.

In doing this, Christ alludes to verses in the Book of Isaiah which speak of Yahweh being the light of the world (Isaiah 2:5; 60:1,19,20). Alec Motyer, in his commentary on Isaiah, notes that the word doesn’t just mean that they were bathed in light, but that they were “irradiated, inwardly charged with new outshining life.” Furthermore, the passage promises that not only would Jews experience this, but so, too, would Gentiles. Ultimately, for Jesus to declare that he is the light of the world is tantamount to his asserting that he is God.

I Am the Door (John 10:7)

Shepherds of Christ’s era often enclosed their sheep during long winter nights to protect them from predators such as wolves and lions. They would even sleep in front of the door to these pens for added protection. The shepherd would look at each and every sheep that went into the pen, checking them for injuries of any kind, treating any cut or wound that might become infected.

Jesus refers to himself as the door to the sheep pen just after he has healed a blind man who sees Christ for who he is, unlike the Pharisees, whose spiritual blindness caused them to pick up stones with which to kill Christ, as they know full well that he is calling himself God yet again.

In several passages in the Bible, Yahweh is referred to as the good shepherd, the most well-known being the opening line of the 23rd psalm, which reads, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” When Jesus calls himself the gate to the sheep pen, he is indicating that he is a shepherd to the people, just as God was to the Israelites back in the day. In other words, he is claiming to be divine. When he says it is the one and only door by which people can enter, he means that he is the one and only door to eternal life in Heaven, a gift that only God can provide.

I Am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14)

Jesus elaborates on his role as the shepherd tending his sheep by stating that he is the good shepherd, which, as noted above, is a statement that describes God. In Ezekiel 34:11-17, we read the Lord’s promise to search for his sheep and look after them, rescuing them from harm, and providing the best grass on which they can be healthy and thrive—as any good shepherd would.

Sheep are particularly vulnerable and helpless and, therefore, are dependent on the shepherd. Jesus points out that a hired hand is unlikely to care for sheep as well as their owner. Christ’s followers are his sheep. They belong to him. Once again, he claims a title, that of the Good Shepherd, which is used of God. And once again, we see from the reaction of the Pharisees that they understood this fact as they picked up rocks with which to stone him.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

Jesus declares that he is the resurrection and the life just after raising Lazarus from the dead. He was in Bethabara, a day’s journey away from Bethany, when his good friend died. When a messenger brings him the sad news of the man’s death, he comments that Lazarus is just sleeping and tarries for three days before heading to Bethany.

He is met by one of Lazarus’ sisters, Martha, who says she knows that her brother would not have died if he had been there. Such was her faith in his powers of healing. Jesus assures her that Lazarus will rise again. Again, showing her faith, she replies that she knows that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day. This is when Jesus states, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He tells the crowd gathered in mourning for Lazarus, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

At this point, Jesus approaches the tomb where Martha’s brother, dead for four days, lies. He calls, “Lazarus, come forth!” And Lazarus does just that. In this manner, Jesus demonstrates the truth of what he has said about being the resurrection and the life. His declaration reflects the verse found in Isaiah 26:19 in which states that, thanks to Yahweh, the bodies of the Israelites, though dead, will rise and live again. In John’s gospel, it is Christ, as God Incarnate, who performs such a resurrection, with the promise of raising more, both Jew and Gentile.

I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)

On the night before his betrayal and subsequent crucifixion, Jesus tries to prepare his followers for what is to come as they share their Passover meal. He warns them that he will only be with them for a short time longer, telling them that, where he is going, they cannot follow—at least, not immediately. Peter, having no idea what he is talking about, insists that, wherever Christ goes, he will surely go, too. Jesus then starts to talk about Heaven, about how he will prepare a place for them there, that some day they will be able to join him, that they will know the way. Thomas, confused, protests, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” At this point, Jesus responds with “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

It is noteworthy that Jesus does not say that he is A way, but THE way, that is, the only way—the only way to Heaven, to eternal life, to God the Father. Nor does he say he knows a truth or that he represents a truth. He says that he IS the truth, again meaning that he is the one and only truth.

In Psalm 119:142, it states that God’s Law is the truth. Jesus noted, as recorded in Matthew 5:17-20, that he was the fulfillment of the Law, meaning that he met its requirements perfectly, something sinful human beings could not do, and who, therefore, would have been sentenced to spend eternity apart from God, if Christ had not done so on their behalf. In essence, here, Jesus equates himself with the Law, that is, the truth.

Last of all, Jesus states that he is the life. He has just told his disciples that he is going to lay down his life for his sheep, but he assures them that he will take it back again because, as God Incarnate, he has power over life and death. It was through his life that they, too, could and would have life, as he says, “Because I live, you also will live.”

I Am the True Vine (John 15:1)

Christ’s final I am proclamation is part of his encouragement to his disciples following their shock and dismay at the knowledge that he would soon be leaving them. In stating that he is the true vine, he is referring to a passage in the Book of Isaiah where we can see the symbolic importance of the vineyard imagery. In its fifth chapter, we read that the vineyard is Israel and God is the keeper who has planted it, tended it, and protected it with love. However, the Israelites rebel against him and, therefore, the fruit that they bear is wild, corrupt, and useless.

In contrast, Christ’s followers were to stay connected to him, the true vine, to be able to bear good fruit. They are to do so through the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promises to send to them (Acts 2).

Conclusion

John begins his gospel with a statement about the deity of Jesus Christ. He writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The I Am declarations of Jesus, sprinkled through his book, attest to that fact as they point to his divinity time and time again.

Various pagan mystery religions offer gods who, having died, do not stay dead. While most scholars differentiate their “rebirths” from the resurrection of Jesus, the belief that Christ’s return to life is borrowed from mythology remains popular on the Internet. However, when examined, we can see that they differ both in kind and purpose.

Jesus as a Historical Figure

While historians may disagree over Christ’s identity as the Second Person of the Triune Godhead and his divinity, the majority of them agree that Jesus was a real person who existed in the 1st century AD. However, the same cannot be said of the various gods from the many pagan religions practiced at that time. Whether it’s the Egyptian Osiris, the Phoenician Melqart, or the Greek Adonis, there is no evidence that such characters actually existed.

In fact, while the gospels give us a clear picture of who Jesus was and what he did during his life on Earth, information about pagan religions is scarce and confusing. Historians have to cobble bits and pieces of material together to arrive at uncertain conclusions.

One reason for the lack of solid information about pagan deities lies in the fact that, as mystery religions, their adherents kept their practices secret, allowing only members of each cult to engage in them with the proviso that they kept their rituals to themselves.

The Golden Bough

In 1896, J.G. Frazer published The Golden Bough, which was one of the first attempts to seriously compare Christ and the dying and rising gods of pagan mystery religions. He surmised that, at the center of every religion, was the idea of a god who was killed and then rose to reign again, a cycle repeated over and over again with the change of seasons. These gods were, therefore, tied in with agriculture. While they spent the winter in a dead state, they would supposedly arise in the spring as grain, for example. Such gods include the Egyptian Osiris and Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility and winemaking. However, their rebirths differ greatly from the resurrection of Jesus, who died only once and rose only once, to atone for the sins of humanity, and not in the form of an agricultural crop.

While pagan gods were mourned because of their demise, there is only triumph in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Pagan gods did not choose to die, unlike Christ, who made a point of stating that nobody took his life. Rather, he chose to give it as recorded in John 10:18: “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”

Definition of Resurrection

When Christians speak of resurrection, they refer to a physical body that dies and is then transformed into a glorified one. It is the same body, but it is raised to be, as the apostle Paul put it in the 15th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, “imperishable” and “incorruptible.” In other words, this new body will never get sick, never age, and never die again, as the mortal flesh has become immortal.

Paul explains that it is the same kind of body that the resurrected Christ had, a body that is not merely spiritual, as some suggest, but corporeal. We know this from Jesus’s appearance to the disciples in the Upper Room as he says to them, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).

The purpose of Christ’s death and resurrection is unique in that he died to atone for the sins of humanity and rose from the dead to defeat death itself and provide eternal life for all who accept it in faith, making Christianity a universal religion. None of the localized pagan gods claims anything similar.

Additionally, upon examination, it is clear that Christianity did not borrow its dying and rising god from other religions, as much of the information we have about them dates well after the first century AD. In fact, when we take a look at what the Bible has to say about the uniqueness of Jesus, we see it in the reaction of the philosophers with whom Paul speaks at the marketplace in Athens.

When he tells them about the death and resurrection of Christ, they remark on the “new teaching” that he had presented to them and wanted to know who this “foreign” god about whom he preached was, saying, “You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean” (Acts 17:20).

Definition of Reincarnation

Reincarnation, also called rebirth, is not the same as resurrection. To be reincarnated is to be reborn in a new, different body, and not necessarily a human one. A person can, supposedly, return to life as an animal or even an insect. Whether one achieves a better life or a poorer one upon being reincarnated depends on how well one has conducted one’s life. The belief in it stems from Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Reincarnation offers a seemingly never-ending cycle of birth and reincarnation, birth and reincarnation, birth and reincarnation, over and over and over again.

Definition of Resuscitation

Resuscitation can also be called reanimation or revivification. It involves raising a person into life in the old body that had died. This body would still be prone to sickness, would age, and, ultimately, would die again at some point. We see examples of this in the case of Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead (John 11:41-44). Other instances include the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:14, 15) and Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:52-55), both brought back to life by Jesus.

Adonis the Beautiful Youth

Like most myths, the story of Adonis appears in several versions. In one, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, had the young man killed by a wild boar. Aphrodite (known as Venus by the Romans), the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation, pleaded with the great god Zeus to bring him back to life. Zeus apparently did, although we are not told how, and Adonis then spent half the year in the Underworld and half with Aphrodite.

As with so many pagan gods, Adonis was tied in with the cycle of the season, dying in winter, but coming back to life in the spring. His followers held festivals in his name to encourage his blessing of plenty of rain and successful crops.

Apis and the Cycle of the Bull

Depicted as a bull with a solar disc and a serpent between its horns, Apis was supposedly the incarnation of the god Ptah, and was highly venerated in Egypt. Priests selected a bull for worship based on its physical markings. It had to be black with a white triangular marking on its forehead as well as a white marking on its back that looked like the wings of a hawk, a white crescent on its side, and a lump under its tongue that resembled a scarab.

If, after 25 years, the bull was still alive, the priests would kill it. The followers of Apis believed that, in death, the animal merged with Osiris, the god of the Underworld, and rebirth, becoming Osirapis. The priests would find a new calf with the requisite markings as the next incarnation of Ptah, in which the eternal spirit of the previous bull would live on.

For the Egyptians, the death of the bull and the rebirth of the spirit in another bovine symbolized their own death and renewal as they saw the afterlife as a continuation of existence, only on a different plane.

Attis, God of Vegetation

Attis was a vegetation god, a product of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was, apparently, comely in appearance. Agdistis, originally a hermaphrodite who accidentally castrated himself, became Cybele and fell in love with Attis. At the wedding of Attis to the daughter of a king, Cybele appeared and, somehow, in the midst of it all, Attis went mad, castrated himself, and bled to death under a pine tree.

There are multiple versions of Attis’s life and death, but all include the element of castration and, somehow, out of all of it, came the idea that Attis was resurrected at springtime, thereby symbolizing the return of life to the Earth. Worship of him was supposedly to ensure good crops for his followers. While Attis is considered a dying and rising god, information about just how his rebirth came about is unclear.

Dionysus, God of Fertility, Wine, and Much More

There are multiple versions of how Dionysus, the god of wine, winemaking, grape cultivation, fertility, ritual madness, theater, and religious ecstasy, came to die and was resurrected. One story has the Titans killing him and ripping him apart as an infant. His heart is saved, and Semele makes a potion of it and drinks it. Then one of her lovers begets Dionysus, to whom she gives birth.

A second version of the tale suggests that Semele is incinerated in the presence of Zeus, who saved Dionysus by ripping him from her womb before she burned to ashes. He then sewed the baby into his thigh, where he grew to manhood, at which point Zeus “gave birth” to him.

Another version suggests that Zeus swallowed the beating heart of the infant upon his dismemberment by the Titans and then gave birth to the baby through his thigh. And yet another telling of the myth suggests that Zeus put the full-grown Dionysus back together again, rather like Humpty Dumpty, only with greater success, following a battle in which Dionysus was hacked to pieces.

Melqart, God of Tyre

Melqart was particularly popular in the Phoenician city of Tyre, where he was called the King of Tyre. The Greeks referred to him as Herakles or Hercules. As with other pagan deities, there are many versions of his life, death, and rebirth. In the Roman version, he set himself on fire to burn away the human parts of him, but died in the process. Another version says the monster Typhon killed him.

As to his rising from the dead, we have no information about the process, but his followers held an awakening festival each spring to re-enact his supposed rebirth. They made sacrifices of both animals and humans to him. As with the other pagan dying and rising gods, he was tied to the people’s agricultural activities, and his death and rebirth were cyclical according to the seasons.

Osiris, God of the Underworld

According to one version of this myth, Set (also called Seth), the brother of Osiris, kills and dismembers him, flinging the various parts throughout Egypt. His wife, Isis, gathers the bits of him and puts them back together magically.

Another variation suggests that Isis buried all the pieces of him except his phallus, the saving of which supposedly represents his rebirth. Either way, Osiris could not return to life on Earth, but became the king of the Underworld. While he was the god of the dead, he also represented a life-giving fertility god, linked with the cycle of the seasonal “rebirths and deaths.”

Persephone, Queen of the Underworld

Hades, king of the Underworld, kidnapped Persephone while she was picking flowers and took her to his domain. Because her mother, Demeter, became distraught over the loss of her daughter, she neglected her role as a goddess of vegetation, and a drought ensued. In response, Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother.

If someone ate or drank anything in the netherworld, that person could not return to life. Unfortunately, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds, which precluded her from returning to her mother full-time. She could only spend six months with Demeter and had to return to Hades for six months of the year—the winter months, of course, when the earth lay dormant. Once again, we see the “dying and rising” of a god connected to the changes of season and planting, and harvesting.

Conclusion

While pagan myths offer dying and rising gods, it is clear that their so-called rebirths are not the same as the resurrection of Jesus. Any resemblance is superficial while the differences are profound.

Thomism (the philosophical system founded by Thomas Aquinas) is intended to be an interrelated web of complementary concepts and arguments, akin to overlapping layers of a flower’s petals, which can only be appreciated by contemplating all its imbricated structures. Asking the question “Does God know evil?” occasions asking what evil is, what its cause is, what reasons God has for permitting it, what role it plays in providence, and what its consequences are.

Here, the first question is addressed.

Evil as Privation

How does Thomas Aquinas conceive of evil? He holds that evil is not a “thing”— a doctrine known as privatio boni (Latin for “privation of the good”), which dates back at least to Augustine of Hippo. All created essences possess being and contain, qua essences, no defect, and are good in that they bear a likeness to the being of God. In this way, the order of beings excludes evil from its essential nature. Put differently, God doesn’t directly create any evil thing. 

However, God has morally sufficient reasons for permitting corruption and privation in that created order (reasons we cannot detail here) through the agency of secondary causes—those creatures endowed by the Creator with the capacity to be their own causes, whether through natural laws or through the powers of voluntary action. The first grouping corresponds to the world of the physical sciences; the second refers to the spheres of moral interaction that we will into existence. 

Thomas Aquinas generally defines evil as “the privation of that which is connatural and due to a thing” (Book III, Ch. 7, Summa contra Gentiles). It consists either in a defect in the apprehension of good, in the case of moral evil, or in a deficient cause within the physical order of things, pertaining to one or more of the four Aristotelian causes. For example, a person limps, Aquinas says, only on account of some defect or “crookedness in the tibia” that hinders their power to walk (Book III, Ch. 10, Summa contra Gentiles). Moral evil, having to do with a failing in our powers to act, arises due to a misperception of the ends towards which we ought to be directed, whether misguided by our will or reason. 

In this way, evil always parasitizes what is good—it lives by living on what is good. It exists exploitatively, through some mal-achievement or some misconception. 

How God Knows Evil Exists Without Creating It

Some might think that God cannot know evil, since He knows only Himself, who is the sovereign good; and further, can neither tolerate the company of evil nor turn away from His own essence. Similarly, one might think that it would be beneath Him to contemplate ignoble things, such as the forms of mud, filth, or hair, let alone think eternally about every seemingly trivial detail or fact, such as an infinite number of tautologies or logical equivalences, or sets of endless and meaningless combinations of letters or words. 

One rebuttal Aquinas issues in response is that God must know even those things we might consider lowly since the order of the universe is nobler than any of its parts, which follows if the parts are directed toward the good of the whole. Thus, if God knew only the parts we consider dignified to the exclusion of the rest, it would render His knowledge less noble, not more so. Further, God knows all these things because he pours Himself out into all things as their Creator and First Cause.

Thomas Aquinas maintains that God knows evil things by virtue of His omniscience. He also knows particular evils in the world, and how they work to providentially fulfill His plan. However, only the first aspect will be discussed below. 

• That evil is evil and opposed to good is true, which an omniscient God would know to be true, implying that God knows evil. 
• God perfectly knows the form, that is, the perfection due to every created thing. Evil is the lack or absence of perfection due to a thing. To know the form of a thing perfectly is to know what it would look like if that form were somehow lacking in it. Thus, by knowing the form of things, or by knowing the complete reality of the good in things, he knows evil; 
• God creates both form and matter. Matter can actualize either toward what is not (privation) or toward what is (form), and God perfectly knows every possible state in the universe pertaining to material potentiality, being its Creator. As already said, Aquinas understands natural evil to arise when privation occurs within material potentiality. So, God would know evil;   
• In fashioning the universe, God arranged every part to work together for the perfection of the whole. This would require knowing how the parts would ward off specific types of harm. God thus possessed knowledge of evils in the context of how certain things were designed to remove them. 

These arguments are only part of the larger story of Thomism, and here we have barely begun to investigate a single petal of the flower mentioned earlier. Many questions remain unresolved, but perhaps that is not why they are important. His arguments unceasingly prompt further reflection on the divine nature, and his works are in that regard nearly unparalleled.

The number seven has great significance in scripture. It speaks of completion, as when God created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. We see it in the Lord’s order to Joshua and the Israelites to march around the walls of Jericho once a day for seven days. On the last day, he commanded them to march around the city seven times more, at which point seven priests blew seven trumpets, and the walls of the city fell. In light of this, scholars suggest that the seven sayings of Jesus Christ represent a divine completion of sorts.

The History of Crucifixion

While scholars believe that the ancient Assyrians initiated the practice by impaling their enemies, the first historical record of a crucifixion dates to the 6th century BC, when King Darius I of Persia crucified 3,000 rebels. Other nationalities, including the Carthaginians, Seleucids, and, of course, the Romans, employed it as a means of capital punishment. The practice only ended when Constantine the Great abolished it in the 4th century AD.

Crucifixion represented the worst torture that could be inflicted on a human being. It began with a severe beating of the victim, almost to the point of death. Then the culprit was forced to carry the large wooden crossbeam to the site of the crucifixion in front of crowds of people who vilified him as he struggled along.

Criminals were stripped naked. Their executioners nailed them to the cross, arms outstretched, using spikes hammered through their wrists to cause excruciating pain. The soldiers would then hoist the crossbeam up to a post that remained in place between executions. At this point, they would drive nails through the middle and arch of each foot of the victim.

With the arms stretched out, it was hard for the sufferer to breathe. He had to push himself up with his feet, gasping for air, only to slump down again. When the victim was no longer able to repeat this action, he would die of asphyxiation. Dehydration and blood loss also played a role in the deaths of those crucified.

The Theological Significance of Christ’s Crucifixion

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world, and humankind became estranged from God. To atone for their sins, people sacrificed animals. However, these sacrifices had to be repeated and did not remove sin, only covered it.

It would take a sinless man to atone for the sins of humanity, but human beings were born with sinful natures that they could not eradicate themselves. It would take the human counterpart of an unblemished lamb to atone for humanity’s sins. That was Jesus who, being God, was sinless, and being man, could pay the debt on our behalf.

Where Was Christ Crucified?

All of the Gospel writers tell us that Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, an Aramaic word that means “the place of the skull” (Matthew 27:39; Mark 15:22; Luke 23:33; John 19:17), suggesting that the hill on which the cross was placed was shaped like a head. Scholars are not sure exactly where that location is today. Certainly, it was outside of the gates of the ancient city of Jerusalem for the simple reason that Jews would not allow any impurity within its walls because it was God’s Holy City. John tells us in his gospel that it was “near the city” (John 19:20) while Mark states that you could see the location “from a distance” (15:40). Matthew and Mark both tell us that the spot was accessible to passers-by (Matthew 27:39; Mark 15:29).

The Romans purposely placed the crosses at sites that could easily be seen and where people could gather to watch men suffer and die. They hoped to deter people from breaking their laws or fomenting rebellion by showing them just how brutal Roman punishment could be.

Today, visitors to Jerusalem can explore two possible sites for the Crucifixion. One is within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is located in the Christian Quarter of the ancient city. Historian Eusebius, writing in the 4th century AD, places it there. While it is within the city today, the site was probably outside its walls at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion. Some scholars believe that it is the site of Christ’s burial tomb as well.

In the late 19th century, British Major-General Charles Gordon trumpeted another site, a skull-shaped hill outside the north wall of Jerusalem, near the Garden Tomb, which he believed to be the location of the burial site of Jesus. The place now bears his name, being called Gordon’s Calvary. However, no one can be totally sure that either place was the location of the crucifixion simply because Jerusalem has changed greatly over the centuries.

Father, Forgive Them, For They Don’t Know What They Are Doing (Luke 23:34)

The Pharisees wanted to get rid of Jesus for a variety of reasons. They regarded his claim to be God blasphemous (Matthew 9:3; John 10:30-33). He socialized with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:10, 11; Mark 2:15, 16). He challenged their teaching that righteousness came to those Jews who kept the Law (Matthew 5:20). And many people were following him rather than them, which jeopardized their positions, their power, and even their place in Roman society (John 11:48).

A man being crucified was expected to confess his wrongdoings. Here, Jesus confesses the wrongdoings of those responsible for his death, from the soldiers who whipped him, spat on him, and pounded the nails into his wrists to the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders who conspired to have him executed. He notes that they have no idea that they are killing the Son of God and, for this reason, he does not want God to hold their actions against them. He came to Earth preaching forgiveness, and he lives out that message as he is dying, thinking of others even as he is suffering and in great pain.

Truly, Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43)

Some scholars suggest that there may have been more than three crosses on Golgotha, but the Gospels only speak of Jesus and two criminals, one hanging on each side of him. One of them speaks derisively of him, joining in the taunting of the soldiers, the Jewish leaders, and various other observers. All of them hurl insults at him and mock him, saying, “If you’re the king of the Jews, if you’re the Messiah, then save yourself.”

But the thief on the other cross rebukes his fellow criminal. “Don’t you fear God,” he says, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40, 41).

The repentant thief then asks Jesus to remember him when Christ “comes into his kingdom” (Luke 23:42), to which Jesus responds, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Even from the cross, Jesus is telling people how they might be saved, through sincere confession, repentance, and faith in his ability to give them eternal life.

Woman, Here is Your Son (John 19:26)

Some paintings depict Jesus high up on a cross. However, records show that the corpses were left on the crosses for wild animals to eat. This suggests that they were fairly close to the ground. Christ was certainly within speaking range as he called out to his mother, Mary, and his disciple, John.

It is likely that Mary’s husband, Joseph, who was somewhat older than she, had passed away by this time. A dying son had the responsibility of finding someone to look after his mother. Therefore, it is not surprising that Jesus made arrangements, even from the cross, to ensure that his mother would be taken care of. To her, he said, “Woman, here is your son,” and to his disciple, John, he said, “Here is your mother.” We read that John took Mary into his home from that day on.

Some may question why Jesus did not leave his mother in the care of one of his half-brothers. However, at that point, none of them believed that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, and God Incarnate. Only after Christ’s resurrection did they realize it, at which point his brother James became a key member in the early Church and authored the New Testament book that bears his name. And historians suspect that John was actually Jesus’s cousin, his mother, Mary, being the sister of John’s mother, Salome. However, whether a blood relative or not, he was a spiritual brother to Jesus.

Of note here is the way Jesus addresses his mother as “woman.” He does so in the story of the wedding in Cana as well, when she suggests he do something about the shortage of wine. To modern readers, it may sound abrupt and even harsh. However, it was a term of respect and affection in that culture. The New Living Translation of the Bible translates it as “dear woman” to reflect this.

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46)

Jesus uttered what theologians call his “cry of dereliction” at the ninth hour, that is, at three o’clock in the afternoon, which was the hour of prayer designated by the Jews (Acts 3:1). This statement is just one of the many references to Christ’s crucifixion found in Psalm 22, a messianic text that scholars believe predicted the event. In fact, the psalm has been nicknamed the fifth gospel account of the crucifixion. The words, “My, God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are found in its first verse.

Did God really abandon Jesus, or did he just feel as if his heavenly father did? The reality is that God did indeed desert him. Two verses from two of Paul’s letters explain why:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole’” (Ga. 3:13).

In other words, Christ, who was sinless, took all of the sins of humanity upon himself on the cross. Sin separates the sinner from God, and so, momentarily, Jesus was cut off from his heavenly Father.

I Am Thirsty (John 19:28)

Jesus, knowing that the end is near, requests a drink. It is unlikely that he had had fluids of any kind since the Last Supper that he shared with his disciples some 18 hours before. Therefore, he was probably dehydrated and, anticipating that he was about to declare the end of his ordeal, he needed moisture to lubricate his throat and tongue.

The statement fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 69:21 which reads, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst” as well as verse 15 of Psalm 22, that states, “My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death” which John mentions earlier in this chapter.

In response to Christ’s request for something to quench his thirst, a soldier in attendance soaked a sponge in cheap wine vinegar, put it on a stalk of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’s lips.

Notably, hyssop branches were used to mark the houses of the enslaved Israelites with the blood of a sacrificed lamb in Egypt when the angel of death came to destroy all firstborn sons of their captors. Here, on the cross, Jesus represents that lamb, whose shed blood would ensure that the angel of death did not come near his followers, then and now.

It Is Finished (John 19:30)

In Greek, the sentence “it is finished” is encapsulated in one word—tetelestai. It is an accounting term that literally means “paid in full.” It refers to the fact that Christ’s death paid the sin debt that humanity owed to the God who had created them and against whom they had rebelled. The apostle Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, explains it this way:

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

The verb tense is perfect, which means that, while it states an event in the past, it focuses on the present consequence of the activity. In other words, Jesus’s life and ministry on Earth had come to an end, but the effects of his work on the cross go far beyond that.

Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit (Luke 23:46)

Noticeably, Jesus calls God “Father,” as he did in his first words on the cross. The separation between them is over. The intimacy has returned. Once again, we look to a psalm for its original expression. In this case, it’s Psalm 31, verse 5. It’s a plea for deliverance from one’s foes in the face of death. The phrase “hands of God” denotes the incomparable omnipotence of God. Jesus voluntarily commits his soul to hands that will, ultimately, deliver him from death itself.

It is interesting to note that the gospel-writers do not use the word “die” when referring to Christ’s demise. Scholars suggest the word is too pedestrian to describe the event. Luke and Mark say that he breathed his last (Luke 23:46 b; Mark 37, 39), with some translations using “expired” to note his passing. However, Matthew and John emphasize the fact that Jesus chose the moment to let go of life, saying that he yielded or gave up his spirit, an action of his own accord.

The Symbol of the Cross

For the Christian, the cross symbolizes the victory that Christ had over sin and death as he atoned for the iniquities of humanity. As such, it became a popular subject of art down through the centuries, in paintings and sculptures, and also in the form of jewelry. Interestingly, the Roman Catholic Church often presents crucifixes with the figure of Christ on them as its adherents recall the agony he went through to give people eternal life with God, while Protestants prefer an empty cross as it speaks to his glorious resurrection and conquest of death.

Few literary works have stirred as much fascination as the biblical Book of Revelation. Written by John on the Isle of Patmos in the late 1st century AD, it combines vivid visions, cosmic imagery, and cryptic metaphors. Though often read as a prediction, Revelation also functions as a literary and theological masterpiece of apocalyptic imagination. It speaks to believers under persecution, offering both warning and hope. Understanding its genre, structure, and symbols reveals how Revelation transcends a single moment to become a timeless meditation on evil, hope, and divine justice.

The World of the Book of Revelation

It is impossible to begin to understand the Book of Revelation without knowing who wrote it and under what conditions. The author of Revelation was supposedly the John who is often called “the Beloved Disciple.” He was one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, along with his brother James. Tradition has it that he was the youngest disciple and the only one to die of natural causes, outliving the others. It is likely that when he wrote Revelation, the last New Testament book, he was the only apostle left alive.

According to tradition, John wrote Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. John was banished there by the Roman authorities during the persecutions under Emperor Domitian. John says he was exiled “for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial Period for a number of offenses, such as prophecy and preaching, which the Romans viewed as a political threat.

So, the context of Revelation was one of crisis in which early Christians faced suspicion and sometimes violence as they lived under Roman rule. The empire demanded loyalty, but their faith demanded defiance, since they placed King Jesus above any emperor. Revelation used coded language to give believers hope without agitating open rebellion or further persecution. It gave comforting words to the sufferers, promising that empires rise and fall, but their truth would triumph forever.

The Meaning of Apocalypse in the Ancient World

When we hear the word apocalypse, we tend to think of the end of the world, or at least, of some terrible disaster. But in the ancient world, an apocalypse wasn’t about destruction at all. The literal meaning of the Greek word apokalypsis is unveiling or revealing. It refers to a literary genre that flourished between 200 BCE and 200 CE, in periods of Jewish and Christian persecution. Apocalyptic literature, such as Daniel, 1 Enoch, and 2 Esdras, interpreted history through divine visions.

Jewish and early Christian writers used vivid images to reveal hidden, spiritual realities that gave them hope under oppression. For example:

• Fire, mountains, and stars symbolized powers beyond human control
• Beasts, horns, and Babylon symbolized imperial oppression

Apocalyptic writing didn’t predict exact events. Rather, it provided coded protest and hope by dramatizing the cosmic struggle between good and evil. So, for readers in the 1st century, who were enduring exile and martyrdom, Revelation wasn’t a horror story. It was the apocalyptic genre reworked through Christian theology to give them reassurance. It told them that history had meaning, angels were for them, and their faith would survive when the world seemed lost.

The Structure and Symbols of Revelation

The structure of Revelation is not as random or chaotic as it might first appear. It is a carefully composed story about the world’s moral order. The book is built around a series of cyclical visions rather than a single, linear timeline. Each cycle presents a different symbolic perspective on the same event: the conflict between divine and demonic powers. Repetition and layering are used to retell this same end-time conflict from new angles. Each conflict is preceded by a vision of divine order, followed by rebellion. After the conflict comes a judgment, which brings resolution and restoration.

The structure of Revelation is mirrored in its dense use of symbols that operate on multiple levels. Revelation frequently uses symbols in numerical patterns of sevens, fours, and twelves to amplify their significance and create expectation. The dragon (Satan), beasts (empires), and lamb (Christ) function as theological archetypes. Other symbols, such as the Four Horsemen, have created archetypes. This symbolism transforms a historical event into a cosmic drama with spiritual and moral implications that transcend the limits of authorial context.

The Theology of Revelation

Revelation’s theology centers on divine justice. Judgment scenes, such as the opening of the seals or the pouring of the bowls, symbolize the moral consequences of human rebellion. Yet it is not a judgment without redemption, and after punishment comes renewal. The “New Jerusalem” (Rev 21) embodies reconciliation between God and humanity. Theologically, Revelation unites justice with mercy, so that evil has limits and suffering has meaning within divine providence, offering hope to the faithful.

Another way to divide the theology of Revelation is between God’s sovereignty in Heaven and moral conflict in human history. This twofold message mirrors Revelation’s rhythm between a heavenly vision and an earthly struggle:

• Theocentric themes on the vertical dimension. The heavenly order of who God is and the victory Christ has accomplished.
• Anthropological themes on the horizontal dimension. The earthly drama of who we will serve and how we will respond.

Revelation unites these two planes to show that what happens as earthly history participates in heavenly triumph. However, some Christian thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas later interpreted Revelation as a cosmic allegory of the soul’s journey toward God.

Interpreting Revelation Through the Centuries

Revelation has never had only one meaning. The book’s symbolism has left it open to multiple interpretations and misinterpretations. One common tendency is for readers to interpret it in terms of their own times. Early Christians saw it as a promise of deliverance from Rome. Reformers linked the beast and the antichrist to the Papacy. Modern movements link it to global politics and environmental disaster. Another tendency is to seek in its pages a secret code to predict the future.

Here are four of the main interpretative frameworks that scholars have used to approach Revelation.

• Preterist interpretation— This is a past-focused approach that believes Revelation is describing events that were happening or soon to happen in the first century, particularly in relation to the Roman Empire and early Christian persecution.
• Futurist interpretation— This is a future-focused view that thinks Revelation predicts events that will occur at the end of all human history, including the rise of the Antichrist, the rapture and tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, and the final judgment.
• Historicist interpretation— This sees Revelation as applying to all of Church history in a continuous sense, from John’s time until the end times, using symbols that represent successive historical events, empires, or religious movements.
• Idealist interpretation— This gives a spiritual or moral reading of Revelation, with symbols that are timeless, illustrating the ongoing struggle between good and evil, faithfulness and rebellion in a way that is not tied to specific events.

Revelation as Songbook

Revelation is more than a book to read and interpret. Hymns and doxologies appear throughout it, and worship frames almost every section. “Holy, holy, holy” (Rev 4:8) and “Worthy is the Lamb” (Rev 5:12) echo liturgical worship. These passages draw from temple ritual, the Book of Psalms, and prophetic poetry. This means the book itself functions partly as a heavenly hymnal, merging prophecy and worship. In contrast to the false worship demanded by the Beast, heavenly worship reveals the true order of reality. According to Revelation, to worship God alone is to see reality rightly. Worship is both resistance and revelation.

Early Christian worship adopted Revelation’s imagery, influencing chants and hymns. Ambrose of Milan (4th century) drew on Revelation’s imagery in hymn-writing, creating metrical hymns emphasizing the victory of Christ (e.g., Veni Redemptor Gentium). Medieval mystery plays and Gregorian chants were influenced by Revelation. Later musical works like Handel’s Messiah or Bach’s cantatas and chorales draw directly from the Revelation’s words. Revelation became both text and template for Christian doxology.

Revelation’s Legacy Today

Today, Revelation shapes pop culture as much as it does theology. Films, novels, and music borrow their imagery from the Four Horsemen to the Battle of Armageddon. The language of apocalypse defines how we picture global crisis and renewal. Films with end-times themes (The Omen, The Day After Tomorrow, and Left Behind) as well as horror themes (The Exorcist, Constantine), draw heavily from Revelation, as do novels like The Stand and Good Omens.

Modern readers can easily forget its ancient purpose. It wasn’t written to terrify, entertain, or prognosticate. It was written by a man in a definite situation and context, but to strengthen others who were experiencing the same suffering. Revelation’s final words, “Come, Lord Jesus,” remain a call to hope. Beyond beasts and horsemen, it’s a story of faith enduring through fear, light through darkness, and the belief that endings are also new beginnings.

The Bible has been the best-selling and most widely distributed book in the world for centuries. Therefore, it is no surprise that so many of its sayings have entered the English language. However, many people are unaware of their origins in scripture. Here are twelve of the most common sayings from the Bible:

1. Going the Extra Mile (Matthew 5:41)

We understand that, when we do something beyond what we need to do, we are going the extra mile. The phrase comes from Matthew’s Gospel, in verse 41 of his fifth chapter. Jesus states, “If someone forces you to go a mile, go with them two miles.”

At that time, if a Roman soldier encountered a Jewish man while walking, he could force the fellow to put down his own belongings and carry those of the soldier in whatever direction the military man was going. However, the law dictated that this could only be for one mile, at which time the Jew would be relieved of the burden and could go his own way.

Christ’s words must have seemed unbelievable and even laughable to his listeners, as they could not imagine going another mile when they did not have to. On the soldier’s part, if he was caught with a Jew carrying his gear more than a mile, he would be penalized. Basically, the instruction called for the Jewish man to take the high road, an idiom that does not come from the Bible!

2. You’re Putting Words in My Mouth (Isaiah 51:16)

When someone misinterprets and misrepresents what we have said, we accuse them of putting words in our mouths, words we never uttered and never meant. The phrase is found in several Old Testament passages:

In Deuteronomy 18:18, God promises to raise a prophet and “put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”

In Isaiah 59:21, God states, “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth.”

In Jeremiah, we read, “Then the LORD reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me: ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.'”

The job of a prophet was to deliver the messages of God to the Israelites. Putting words in their mouths was a poetic way of saying that the LORD told them what to say. Therefore, from the Bible’s perspective, this was a good thing. However, today, we see it as bad because it implies dishonesty and deceit on the part of the one who has altered what we said.

3. A Leopard Never Changes Its Spots (Jeremiah 13:23)

We use this phrase to indicate that a person will never change, that his or her character will remain fixed. Therefore, if a man is a liar, he will always be a liar. If a woman is a cheat, she will always be a cheat. The statement comes from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. In it, the prophet Jeremiah states that an evil person will stay evil forever. ‘“Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots?” he says. “Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil”’ (Jeremiah 13:23). He is talking about those Israelites who constantly disobeyed God and refused to follow his will, which led to his judgment of them through exile and hardship in Babylonia.

4. She’s the Apple of His Eye (Deuteronomy 32:10 and Psalm 17:8)

This phrase is found in Deuteronomy 32:10 and Psalm 17:8. In the former, God declared that the nation of Israel was the apple of his eye, meaning that he cherished the Israelites and would take care of them and protect them. David, who God chose to be king of Israel, used the phrase in his psalm as he petitioned his heavenly father for safety and protection in the face of his enemies. “Keep me as the apple of your eye,” he says.

As to how and why the phrase arose, the Hebrew word translated as “apple” is actually the word for the pupil of the eye, and some versions of the Bible, such as the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and the New English Translation (NET), translate it as such. However, older translations such as the King James Version (KJV) retain the idiom. It refers to the tiny reflection of oneself that can be seen in another person’s eye. In other words, God, looking at the people he created and loved, could see his own reflection in them as they were made in his image.

5. We All Have Our Cross to Bear (Luke 14:27)

The Romans sentenced Christ to death by crucifixion. Criminals were made to carry their own crosses to the site of their execution, and all four of the Gospels relate that Jesus did this. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, however, record that the Roman soldiers coerced a man in the crowd, Simon from Cyrene, to help Jesus when he stumbled and could not go on.

Today, people use the phrase to describe a burden with which they are saddled. It could be anything from a chronic illness to a difficult relationship or loss of a loved one to ongoing financial or job-related woes.

However, looking at the statement from a Biblical perspective, the cross that Christians have to bear is the challenge of following the Lord in obedience. They do this in imitation of Jesus, who obeyed God in going to the cross to atone for the sins of humanity. Just as Christ said to God the Father, “Your will, not mine,” so must Christians say that as well. The all-importance of this is summed up by Jesus, who said, “Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27).

6. The Blind Leading the Blind (Matthew 15:14)

We use the statement today to describe someone who is foolish, ignorant, or incompetent, leading other people who are also foolish, ignorant, and incompetent. And this is what the Biblical passage meant as well. It is found in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

The context is this: the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking their law regarding the Sabbath when his disciples fail to wash their hands before they eat. This law did not come from God, but was one that the Pharisees concocted. They believed that Jews must keep it to be righteous. Christ remarks on their hypocrisy as they fail to honor God in their lives in many ways. He states that they are blind guides who lead the blind, with everyone eventually falling into a pit (Matthew 15:14). The statement speaks to an eternal consequence, as keeping the Pharisees’ laws would not earn them a place in Heaven, but only lead them to spend eternity separated from God for their failure to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

7. I Wash My Hands of the Matter (Matthew 27:24)

The person who is fed up and wants nothing more to do with somebody or something might utter this phrase, which originates from Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, who, finding no fault with Jesus, would gladly have released him. But the crowd wanted Jesus crucified, and the people shouted at Pilate to issue the order. Finally, the official gave in. He stood before them and washed his hands, saying that he was innocent of Christ’s blood and that the responsibility for his death lay with them (Matthew 27:24). The phrase is used today in the same manner. To wash one’s hands of a matter or a person is to have nothing more to do with them.

8. Turn the Other Cheek (Matthew 5:39)

In his Sermon on the Mount, found in chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells his listeners that, if someone strikes them, they are to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). This is not a call for Christians to be doormats, standing there, allowing someone to beat them up physically or abuse them verbally. Rather, it means that they are not to retaliate or respond in kind. They have the choice to walk away or answer with courtesy and compassion. Ultimately, they are to let God take care of the matter and deal justly with the person who has caused offense (Romans 12:19).

9. It’s a Labor of Love (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

The Apostle Paul uses this phrase in the first letter that he wrote to the church in Thessalonica in northern Greece. He opens it with a commendation to the Thessalonians for the good work that they have done, work that stemmed from their faith in Christ. This work he calls “a labor of love,” done, not out of duty or for any kind of reward, but out of pure affection. We have retained the meaning of this phrase today, still using it to refer to actions that are performed just for the joy of it, without any compulsion or promise of remuneration or prize.

10. Seeing the Writing on the Wall (Daniel 5:5,6)

This idiom suggests that the future can be seen… and it’s not good! It describes the knowledge that something horrible is going to happen. For example, an employee might see that her company is going to close in the near future and, accordingly, leaves that business and finds a new job before the inevitable occurs.

The phrase comes from the 5th chapter of the Book of Daniel. In the passage, the Babylonian King Belshazzar holds a feast with thousands in attendance. He has insulted God by using sacred vessels from the temple for his drunken banquet. In response, God writes a message on the wall before him: “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin,” which means “numbered, weighed, divided.” This indicated that Belshazaar’s days as king and the “days of his kingdom were numbered” (v. 26). Being weighed, he was “found wanting” (v. 27) and, in result, his nation would fall and be “given to the Persians and the Medes” (v. 28). The king died that night and his kingdom did, indeed, go to the Persians.

11. Let Me Catch My Breath (Job 9:18)

Satan has taken everything from Job: his children, his home, his livestock, even his health. Job thinks that God has caused these calamities and, looking skyward, he pleads for the LORD to give him a minute in which to catch his breath as he is overwhelmed. The meaning has, of course, stayed the same throughout time, whether it is spoken by the athlete who just ran a race, a parent who is busy with little ones, or an emergency room doctor with a waiting room full of patients.

12. Am I My Brother’s Keeper (Genesis 4:9)?

To say that I am not my brother’s keeper is to say that I am not responsible for some other person. This is the answer that Cain gave to God when the LORD asked him where his brother, Abel, was. God knew that Cain had killed Abel and wanted him to confess. God had commended Abel’s gift of a lamb, given in honest faith, but he rejected Cain’s gift of grain because he knew that Cain’s heart was wicked. This made Cain angry. Enraged, he killed his brother out of jealousy. Today, the phrase still carries a negative connotation, implying that someone is shirking responsibility regarding another person for whom he or she should care.

The disciples dropped everything to follow Jesus. This is particularly evident when Jesus calls the fishermen, and they leave their nets. For these men, letting go of their nets meant letting go of familiarity, their livelihoods, and their safety. The call was not simple, but the disciples knew exactly what they were saying “yes” to.

The Cultural Significance of the Rabbinic Call

When Jesus called the fishermen and other disciples to follow Him, they left everything behind and obeyed Him immediately. Why is this? 

In simple terms: These Jewish men grew up learning the Scriptures, and only the very best would advance to “high school,” where they could choose a rabbi to follow. Being a disciple was an honor reserved for a select few. 

When you were a disciple of a rabbi, you were their student and protégé, but you would learn from them not only in a typical classroom setting. Disciples followed rabbis around and lived with them to see how theory becomes praxis. As the famous saying went, “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.” 

How Jesus Reversed the Traditional Discipleship Model

Jesus disrupted the status quo by calling those who had already “failed out” of the formal religious education system and returned to their trades. The fishermen were in the boat with their father, yet they left him and the family business behind.

Standing on the shore, Jesus must have spoken with the authority of God to call these men to follow Him and have them leave everything immediately. It was probably a combination of this and the fact that he was calling humble and ordinary men to something great. 

Jesus had many disciples. The Twelve were closest to him. The larger crowd of 70 who followed him also included women. Beyond that, large crowds of thousands (including women and children) followed him and learned from him. 

The Economic Cost of Abandoning the Family Business

Saying that the fishermen were humble and ordinary does not necessarily mean they were poor. The family fishing businesses meant long hours and hard work, but it was likely considered “good, honest work” at the time.

Other disciples also left behind their success to follow Jesus, such as Matthew, a tax collector, and Luke, a doctor.

The significance of Christ’s call to discipleship is also evident in other passages where we see people who were called but who hesitated. In one account, someone asks if they can first go bury their father who recently died, to which Jesus responds: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59-62).

The rich young ruler is another account of someone who was close to becoming a disciple, but whose possessions and love of money held him back (Matthew 19:16-30).

Understanding What it Meant to Fish for Men

“They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.” 

— Matthew 4:18-20, NIV

Despite being God incarnate, Jesus often chose to speak to people in ways they could understand. He used parables to teach, and spoke in metaphors that applied to each listener’s unique context. His teachings have a timeless effect on them, as the words used often still carry weight today.

Jesus gave the disciples a glimpse of what their job description would be as his disciples— he was saying: “Instead of fishing for fish, follow Me and I will show you how you can fish for people.” He translated their physical skills into a spiritual mission.

Being a disciple of Jesus meant that you participated in the Great Commission, where all disciples were tasked to take on the role of making more disciples (fishing for men).

Political and Spiritual Unrest in First-Century Judea

Stepping out of the boat with the disciples, let’s consider for a moment the socio-cultural context around them. What were they following Jesus into?

As Jews, these men were in anticipation of God’s promised Messiah coming to save them from oppression and suffering. They knew the prophecies about a coming King, and they hoped he’d overthrow the Roman Empire and give them freedom. 

In later years, the Jews were genuinely disappointed when they discovered Jesus came as a humble, servant-hearted leader. They were hoping for vindication, vengeance, and war— someone like Alexander the Great. But they got a donkey-riding teacher who dined with sinners.

The Call to Discipleship is Radical

Discipleship is a call to “pick up one’s cross and follow Him”— It is based on dying to oneself and living for Him. Galatians 2:20 explains this well when Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

The term “disciple” is becoming something of a buzzword nowadays among Christians again. More and more believers are returning to this perspective of truly “counting the cost” and following Him wholeheartedly— leaving behind careers, security, dreams, and other forms of identity.

“Our discipleship to Jesus Christ costs us nothing less than everything.” — Richard Foster

The Book of Enoch, an ancient text that is not part of the Hebrew bible, expands Genesis 6:1–4 into a structured indictment of corruption, lust, and forbidden knowledge. Its core section, The Book of the Watchers, narrates the descent of the Watchers (angels) and their secret oath. Enoch, great‑grandfather of Noah, records their fall and its aftermath. They revealed forbidden arts and hidden sciences, exploited humanity, and accelerated cosmic collapse. Their offspring, the Nephilim (often called Giants), were violent hybrids born of mortal women. Their legacy reverberates through apocalyptic texts, demonology, and angelic lore. Why does the Nephilim myth still haunt us?

The Books of 1 Enoch and Genesis 6: The Lore Begins

Genesis 6:1–4 recounts how the “sons of God” took wives from among humans. It is an unsettling episode that offers no further explanation for their identity or its consequences. The Book of Enoch, written between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, expands this fragment into the story of a celestial rebellion.

According to 1 Enoch 6–7, the Watchers were angels tasked with observing humanity from above. Captivated by the beauty of mortal women, they resolved to take them as wives. Led by Semjaza (also called Semijaza in some translations), 199 companions gathered atop Mount Hermon in the Anti-Lebanon range near modern Syria and Lebanon. Fearing God’s wrath, Semjaza bound them by oath before their descent. Their pact sealed their deliberate revolt.

On Earth, these fallen angels violated sacred boundaries by imparting sorcery and forbidden, supernatural knowledge to humankind that God had withheld to preserve their innocence. The fallen angels taught them these secrets reserved for the heavenly realms, without equipping them with the natural guardrails to prevent excessive indulgence and potential dangers. They blurred the line between divinity and humanity, thus deepening the desecration of God’s sacred and orderly creation.

This narrative marks the first rebellion of arrogant angels who challenged God’s supremacy. It set the stage for a primordial battle between good and evil, light and darkness, and the eventual triumph of justice over wickedness.

The Broken Covenant and the Rise of the Nephilim

Azazel, a chief ally of Semjaza, taught humans how to forge blades, shields, and armor, turning survival into warfare. Before they came to Earth, this knowledge had been deliberately withheld. In Enoch, God forbade these teachings because they governed the universal order. Humanity lacked the discipline to wield them without ruin.

Tribes began to conquer rather than coexist. Other Watchers revealed astrology, enchantments, and sacred calendars, showing people how to read the stars, cast spells, and measure time. What had been arcane wisdom became a means of control. Once unleashed, these disciplines unraveled the perfect order of civilization.

In this fractured world, the Nephilim emerged as the hybrid offspring of the heavenly beings and their human wives. Their rise was catastrophic. According to 1 Enoch 7:2, they reached heights of 300 cubits (roughly 450 feet). Their scale was monstrous, their appetites insatiable. They plundered crops, drained rivers, devoured livestock, and eventually turned to cannibalism when human flesh became their final resource. Their dominance shattered ecosystems and social order.

In Enoch, sacred knowledge turned illicit is not enlightenment. It is a rupture. The Nephilim stand as monuments to a corrupted population reshaped by angelic rebellion.

The Great Restoration and the Fall of the Nephilim

The Book of Enoch presents elemental reparation against the Nephilim (giants) as swift and structured. God sends four archangels to deal with the situation: Raphael binds Azazel; Michael imprisons Semjaza and the other Watchers; Gabriel incites the Nephilim to destroy one another; Uriel warns Noah to preserve life.

The Watchers are cast into the abyss, denied light and voice, their sentence irreversible. The Nephilim turn on each other, and the flood erases them from the Earth. It mirrors Mesopotamian flood traditions, such as the one related in the Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100 BC), an Akkadian poem of a divine retribution by Mesopotamian gods against the humans who had become too noisy, and Noah’s counterpart, Atrahasis, the sole survivor in the Babylonian creation‑and‑flood myth. Together, these parallels situate Enoch’s vision within the wider ancient Near Eastern world.

In Enoch, the flood is not just a disaster but a reset. Water cleanses, and fire punishes Azazel, confined in Dudael beneath jagged stones (1 Enoch 10:4–8). Dudael, a barren ravine east of Jerusalem, becomes his prison, a desert of burning sand and shadow. Its name signifies “place of confinement.” It mirrors the ancient scapegoat ritual in Leviticus 16, where a goat bearing the community’s sins was sent into the wilderness “to Azazel.” These elements symbolize restoration. The goal is not vengeance, but repair.

Genesis offers a different tone, introducing the “sons of God” and the Nephilim. They are called “heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4). The focus shifts to human wickedness: “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become… and his heart was deeply troubled.” “So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created… for I regret that I have made them.’” (Genesis 6:5–7).

The text omits punishment for heavenly agents, leaving the Watchers unnamed and absent. It presents the flood as a response to human sin.

This contrast is central. Enoch builds a myth where angels fall, the giants rise, and humanity suffers as collateral. The Watchers act with free will. Their oath binds them together in defiance. God does not intervene beforehand, implying that even angels possess agency. Their punishment is permanent. Holy law, once broken, demands atonement.

Even God’s titles shift. In Genesis, He is “God” or “the Lord,” emphasizing covenant. In Enoch, He is “the Lord of Spirits,” “the Holy Great One,” and “the Eternal God.” These names elevate Him as cosmic ruler, sovereign over all powers. In both texts, humans have souls. Souls are spirits. Eternal mandate governs bodies and eternal essence.

Enoch reframes justice as cosmic maintenance. The Nephilim are not heroes. They are warnings. Their story becomes a template for apocalyptic tradition, a myth that explains why divine boundaries exist and what happens when they are crossed.

Did the Nephilim Survive the Flood?

The Book of Enoch claims the Nephilim did not survive physically, but their spirits endured. After the flood, their souls became restless, malicious entities or demons, forever barred from heaven. Enoch 15:8–10 describes them as “evil spirits” who afflict humanity, stirring violence and spiritual decay.

Genesis offers a puzzling clue. Genesis 6:4 states: “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward.” This phrase has kept people wondering for centuries. If the flood purged them, how could they appear again? Numbers 13:33 records their presence. Israelite spies report seeing giants in Canaan: “We saw the Nephilim there… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.” The text implies a lingering fear of giants.

Og of Bashan deepens the mystery. Deuteronomy 3:11 describes his bed as over 13 feet long. He is called the last of the Rephaim, a race often linked to Nephilim lineage. In rabbinic Midrash, a post‑biblical tradition within the religious frame, it is suggested that Og survived the flood by clinging to the ark or standing above the waters. These accounts are symbolic interpretations of scripture, not new texts.

In later traditions and cultures, the myth expanded beyond its biblical roots. The Merovingians, a Frankish dynasty (5th–8th centuries AD), were said to descend from Merovech, a semi-mythical figure with supernatural origins.

This theory was popularized in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982), where Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln advanced claims such as Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and founding a sacred bloodline. No biblical or Enochic text supports these ideas.

Nimrod, described in Genesis 10:8–9 as a “mighty hunter before the Lord,” is occasionally linked to giant ancestry in medieval interpretation. But neither Genesis nor Enoch connects him to the Nephilim.

Göbekli Tepe (c. 9600 BC, Turkey) and Stonehenge (c. 3000–2000 BC, England) frequently appear in fringe theories. Their scale and astronomical precision invite speculation about pre-flood knowledge or giant builders. Archaeology does not support these claims, but the myth persists.

Across traditions, the Nephilim linger; not fully gone, yet never fully explained.

Why the Book of Enoch Still Haunts Us

Fragments of Enochic tradition survive in the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves near Qumran. Among them is The Book of Giants (c. 200–100 BC), written in Aramaic and set before the flood, but it does not form part of the Books of Enoch. It describes how the giants were plagued by dreams of destruction. It highlights the brothers Ohyah and Hahyah, whose visions include beasts and floods.

Terrified of ultimate condemnation, the giants sought answers. They sent fellow giant Mahway as their messenger to journey to Enoch carrying the burden of these visions. And the request that he intercedes for them. Mahway’s plea was for clarity on their fate. Enoch’s reply left no room for hope: the dreams indeed foretold the flood and the end of their dominion.

The Book of Jubilees (c. 160–140 BC), also found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, reinterprets the myth through angelic commentary. It condemns the Watchers and introduces a 364-day solar calendar. This calendar reflects astral mechanics, contrasting with lunar systems taught by the fallen angels. Jubilees blends Enochic themes with priestly law. It emphasizes human responsibility and reclaims sacred knowledge eclipsed by forbidden ascent.

Jewish mysticism produced 3 Enoch (c. 1st–6th century AD), written in Hebrew. It transforms Enoch into Metatron (an exalted scribe and highest angel). This version does not retell the Watchers myth directly. It preserves Enoch’s role as guardian of ancient insight and cosmic order. Enoch becomes a symbol of spiritual stature and authority.

In Islamic tradition, Harut and Marut appear in Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow, the second chapter) 2:102 of the Qur’an (revealed c. AD 610–615 in Mecca). They teach heavenly mysteries in Babylon and are punished. Islamic scholars describe them as being buried upside down, suspended between Heaven and Earth in a state between grace and exile. Their story mirrors Enoch’s arc: transgression and moral reprisal. They are not called Watchers, but their role is unmistakably parallel. The Qur’an does not name Enoch, but the myth’s structure persists.

Ethiopia preserved The Book of Enoch in full. It remains canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (established c. 4th century AD). The word Tewahedo means “being made one” in Ge’ez, an ancient Semitic liturgical language. Surviving Ge’ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch date to at least the 6th century AD. In Ethiopian theology, Enoch is a prophet whose visions shape beliefs in angelic hierarchy and spiritual warfare.

The Book of Enoch reframes evil as angelic insurrection; wisdom undone by desire. The Nephilim were not just giants. They were consequences. Fire, water, stone, and silence become tools of repair. Genesis’s silence becomes a purifying correction. The myth still haunts us because it speaks to every age that seeks infinite wisdom and pays the price for touching the edge of the unknown.

God called on Elijah to proclaim that a great drought would come over the land of Israel. He instructed the prophet to reside by the Brook Cherith during that time. God sustained Elijah by sending ravens to supply him with bread and meat daily. It is the only instance in the Bible where animals regularly brought food to a person. There are several other examples of God providing food (and sometimes animals) to his people.

The Narrative of Ravens Feeding Elijah

Idolatry ran rampant in Israel during the reign of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. God instructed the prophet Elijah to proclaim judgment on the land, which came in the form of a drought. Inevitably, the prolonged drought would lead to famine, affecting the prophet as well. Nevertheless, Elijah obeyed when God said: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the Brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” His obedience reflected the trust he had in God’s provision for several reasons.

First, relying on a brook for water after having proclaimed that a drought would follow is counterintuitive. Surely, the brook would dry up, and Elijah would be in a predicament from a human perspective. Secondly, ravens are an unlikely choice to provide food to the prophet. Leviticus 11:15 designated them as unclean, and ancient cultures viewed them as bad omens. As scavengers, they tend to feed on carrion, and, in a drought, ravens would be even less prone to sharing food or providing for others. Their provision shows the sovereignty of God over nature by commanding one of the most unlikely of birds to do his bidding.

The ravens provided food daily, with a morning-evening rhythm. It reflects the provision of manna during Israel’s desert sojourn, which we will consider soon. The text does not specify the source of the food the ravens provided, but considering the famine, it is unlikely that it came from human settlements. Considering other instances where God provided food by supernatural means, it is possible that it occurred in this case as well, but the text itself cannot sustain such a claim.

Other Instances of Supernatural Provision

Several narratives in the Bible show how God provided in times of need. These examples differ greatly in scale and method. In some, the food seems to have come from nothing. In others, it was either the manipulation of nature to provide food via animals or a supernatural increase of food quantity to meet or exceed the needs of the people.

Manna and Quail in the Desert

The manna and quail the Israelites collected daily, except on Sabbaths, in the desert for 40 years, was the largest-scale provision of food recorded in the Bible. It started raining manna on the 15th day of the second month of the Jewish calendar, exactly a month after they left Egypt (Exodus 16:14).

It is unclear what the manna was. It was a white, flake-like substance that was fine like frost and resembled coriander seeds, which tasted like wafers with honey (Exodus 16:14, 31). The manna could be baked into breadcakes or boiled to make a porridge-like meal (Numbers 11:8, Exodus 16:23). Since the Bible refers to it as bread, the baked version was likely the most common way the Israelites consumed it.

Numbers 20 recorded that the Israelites complained during their sojourn in the desert, even though they experienced many daily miracles showing how God looked after them. These miracles included the manna and the pillars of cloud and fire, among others. They desired meat, dissatisfied with the manna, so God provided quails for them, but it would come with a consequence:

“You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’” (Numbers 11:19-20).

Some Israelites died from the quail shortly after. “While the meat was yet between their teeth before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague” (Numbers 11:33).

God gave manna in the mornings and quail in the evening (Exodus 16:8). The manna ceased to fall daily once the Israelites ate from the produce of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10-11). Views on how long God provided quail and when that provision ended differ.

Angelic provision

After defeating and killing the priests of Baal, Elijah fled the wrath of Jezebel. God provided for his prophet by sending an angel to feed him a cake of bread and water, twice (1 Kings 19:5-8).

Provision by multiplication

The Old and New Testaments record instances when what little food was available was multiplied to provide for people. In the Old Testament, God sent Elijah to a widow and her son when the Brook Cherith dried up.

She had only enough flour and oil to prepare a last meal for her and her son. Elijah instructed the widow to first make him some bread from her rations before making some for herself and her son. He assured her that she would not run out of flour or oil until the drought had passed. Her flour and oil lasted throughout the drought (1 Kings 17:16).

Jesus feeding the multitudes

In the New Testament, Jesus fed large groups of people with the little supplies available on two occasions. Jesus fed a multitude of people with five loaves of bread and two fish in Bethsaida near Galilee. It was the only food available at that moment, and the text claims 5,000 men were there, making the crowd much larger when calculating women and children as well. The fragments of leftovers were twelve baskets in all (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-14).

On another occasion, Jesus fed a crowd of 4,000 men, excluding women and children, with seven loaves and a few small fish. According to the text, everyone ate to their satisfaction, and seven baskets of broken pieces of the food remained (Matthew 15:32-39, Mark 8:1-10).

Provision of Food in Apocalyptic Context

Many theologians believe Isaiah 33:15-16 is a prophetic text that describes apocalyptic events that will occur sometime in the future. It says:

“He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.”

This wording reminds the reader of the narrative of Elijah, when God sent him to live in the vicinity of the Brook Cherith, and ravens provided food to him. The echo from Elijah’s time assures the reader that, should they experience such events, God can provide as he has done before. The additional references to “heights” and “fortresses” show God’s commitment to provision beyond just sustenance and how it extends to all the basic needs of his people.

Depending on the approach employed to interpret the prophecies of Revelation, some consider Revelation 12:6 and 14 to refer to past events, while others believe it will happen sometime in the future. The two verses are different renderings of the same event, which serve as bookends to the description of heavenly events in verses 7-13. These two verses record the provision of a place of safety and nourishment for God’s people as the dragon (Satan) seeks their destruction.

The Bible records several instances of God’s provision of food to his people in various ways. In some, God provides from an unspecified source using animals, as he provided for Elijah using the ravens. In others, a miracle of multiplication occurs to ensure there is enough for those in need and then some. The provision of manna and quail in the desert was not without some controversy. Though the provision of quail did result in some deaths, it was attributable to their complaints about what God had provided and their longing for the meat they ate in Egypt.

The manna served as a type of Christ, the spiritual nourishment that sustains the life of every believer. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51). It shows the provision of God for physical and spiritual needs.

It was dark in the olive grove, the disciples asleep, while Jesus was in fervent prayer. This calm before the storm was so silent that one could not have anticipated the mob arriving with torches and weapons to arrest Jesus, or that they would be led by the disciple Judas Iscariot. No one would have guessed that a single friendly kiss would be the final act of Jesus as a free man.

The Cultural Weight of a Kiss in the Second Temple Period

A kiss has and always will be an intimate act— sometimes done in love and often a sign of kinship, respect, or loyalty. Yet Judas Iscariot made it a sign of betrayal. He led the mob right up to Jesus, identifying him in the dark with a signal he communicated beforehand, saying: “The One I kiss, He’s the One; arrest Him!” (Matthew 26:48). 

Judas pretended to walk up to Jesus as a friend (he was one of the twelve disciples), saying “Greetings, Rabbi!” and then he kissed him. This seemingly friendly greeting was how Judas preserved his self-image and, at the same time, gave Jesus over into the hands of his killers.  “Friend,” Jesus asked Judas, “why have you come?” 

Identifying the Target Through a Perversion of Intimacy

Before photographs, the mob would not know how to identify Jesus if they hadn’t seen him before. And if they did know what he looked like before man-made light, they might not have been able to recognize him in the dark garden of Gethsemane, with olive trees surrounding them and at least ten other men around.

That is perhaps why Judas Iscariot felt it necessary to identify Jesus in this way. He walked right up to the rabbi, past the disciples, because he was one of them and didn’t seem to pose a threat. 

Did Judas Act Out of Character or Surprise Jesus?

Yet when we read the whole of the Gospels, this act of betrayal from Judas is not that surprising. Throughout the story, Judas is described as a money-hungry, obsessive zealot. He steals from the disciples’ money bag and is generally painted in an ugly light. Judas took the payment of 30 pieces of silver for leading them straight to Jesus. 

Judas did not surprise Jesus with the betrayal; Jesus had already predicted that Judas would turn on Him during the Last Supper, earlier that night. 

Interestingly, the Gospel of John does not include the kiss:

“Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to Him, went out and said to them, “Who is it you’re looking for?” “Jesus the Nazarene,” they answered. “I am He,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed Him, was also standing with them.” — John 18:4-5

Cognitive Dissonance and the Traitor’s Internal Conflict

In modern psychological frameworks, cognitive dissonance is experienced when one’s beliefs, values, and circumstances are in conflict. 

Judas Iscariot likely experienced disappointment when Jesus was not the violent warlord the Jews wanted. He devoted years of his life to the Messiah only to realize he didn’t agree with his methods. He might have even seen Jesus as a dangerous leader who distracted people from the Temple’s teachings. Yet, Judas was in with them, likely leading to serious inner turmoil. 

It is highly probable that Judas sought “confirmation bias” by going to the religious leaders to validate what he felt. He actively sought out those who already openly shared his view of Jesus. The kiss offered a confused Judas the perfect solution: He could be a disciple and an informant simultaneously. 

Was Judas Trying to Get Jesus to Fight?

There’s another theory stating that Judas kissed Jesus and brought the mob to him in an attempt to force Jesus’ hand into starting a rebellion. Finally, the violent prophecies would be fulfilled where God saved His people and overthrew their oppressors (the Roman Empire). The other disciples were certainly ready for a fight. A bizarre detail in the middle of Jesus’ arrest states that one of them immediately cut off the ear of a member of the mob, which Jesus swiftly heals before he is led away into the dark night. 

Another theory states that the kiss was an attempt to trigger a divine intervention that Judas believed was overdue. He might have hoped that God would step in, send down His angelic armies, and conquer all who were against them.

The Aftermath of the Kiss

In Matthew 27:3, it is written that Judas was filled with remorse when he saw Jesus being arrested. He commits suicide, and his story ends tragically, because he does not live to witness the resurrection of Jesus or see the risen Christ. Judas did not get a chance to restore his relationship with Jesus or recognize his mistake, unlike Peter, who was restored to Christ in John 21. 

The “kiss of Judas” or even just the name “Judas” has become a permanent metaphor for betrayal in Western literature and politics. He is always painted in yellow to indicate his treacherous ways.