He would over-hear someone discussing a topic one meeting, and then the next meeting he'd be there to hand that someone a study paper he had written - on that same topic. It was his kind way of sharing with you what he believed.
Voy Wilks has fallen asleep in death now, but in the last 17 years I have acquired many of his study papers, most of which cannot be found online. So, I'm setting out to slowly but surely post many of his studies online; studies that have helped me. Many of these studies concern the person of Christ, or answer the question "Who is Yeshua?" Since this has been a topic of utmost interest and concern for me in my journey, Voy's papers have helped tremendously. They bring a complex subject down to the level of simplicity, without being un-intellectual. I like that. No, I don't agree with Voy on everything, but I've yet to meet two people who agree on everything. I hope you enjoy reading "The Wilks Papers." ~ Matthew
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Based upon the text in John 2:19 I have been told many times that Yeshua raised himself from the dead. I take issue with such an interpretation of John 2:19 in light of the overwhelming evidence in the New Testament which teaches that "God" (YHWH) raised Yeshua from the dead.
1. The Greek text does not literally say “I will” but simply uses the Greek word egiro, meaning basically “to raise up." The text could just as easily be translated, "Destroy this temple, and in three days it will be raised." 2. Another understanding (taking the traditional KJV rendering) is that Yeshua had a vital part in his resurrection, seeing he lived perfectly before the Father. Yeshua could guarantee his resurrection by living a sinless life. Thus he says, “I will raise it up." (Compare this to where Peter told Jews “Ye have crucified him” in Acts 5:30. The Romans were actually the ones who crucified Yeshua, but the Jews were the ones who called for or demanded his crucifixion.) 3. Yeshua died. (Mt. 27:50; Lk. 23:46). He could not literally raise himself. In Scripture, death means death; unconsciousness (Ecclesiastes 9:2-6; Psalm 6:4-5; 30:9; 88:10; Isaiah 38:18). If you've lived long enough you've experienced pain. I remember the day when I would play outside, and not a worry would go by. If I got hurt, my mom would come and bandage me. Those are the days, that as adults, have come and gone.
You can browse the Internet and find tons of pictures that talk about how others will let you down. Just about every single one is evidence of the self-righteousness that exists in all of us humans. I saw one that said "F-ck everyone who has let me down." The next one said, "Don't trust everyone else. Believe in yourself." Another read, "Move on from people who let you down." The problem with every one of these is that they describe ALL of us. There's not one of us who has never let down someone. Yes, people will let you down, and I am a PEOPLE. You are a PEOPLE. Yet in our Pharisee-bent-mind it makes us feel better to harp on other people who have let us down, and trick ourself into thinking "I've never disappointed anyone." Better yet we might even believe the self told lie, "That was me when I was younger, but I don't disappoint anyone anymore." Yea right. You and I both know that's a big, fat lie. We are going to let people down. Our kids, our spouse, our boss, our employee, our friends, our family. It's not a good thing. It's a bad thing. It's just that we forget that there is none of us who are good. Life is not about forsaking those who have let you down, it's about learning to show grace, love, and forgiveness to those who let you down. Christ died for you, a sinner. An enemy of the Father. You did not deserve to be died for, that's what grace is all about. When people let us down in life, the most Christ-like thing you could ever do is forgive them. "But..." You know, I can throw out as many buts as you can, but Christ could have to. Yeshua could have said, "But Father, he doesn't deserve this," and he would be right. We don't deserve what's been done for us. Recently, I've kept going back to the parable of the prodigal son. You know, the son that let down his dad (Luke 15). Many sons have let down their dad. Many dads have let down their son. One of the things the parable teaches us though (on top of the fact that Christ doesn't let us down) is this: love loves in spite of what wrong someone does to us. Love keeps on loving when someone else has spit in your face. I typed out "Love is patient" the other day on my computer. I printed it out and hung it on my fridge. I needed the reminder when dealing with my children. The next morning I woke up to find that my wife had written on it in pen: "Love never fails." I've let my wife down many times in the almost 17 years we've been married. She's shown Christ to me. We are all let downs. You can act like you're not if you choose. I'd rather be honest and open about my failures. I'm not Yeshua the unblemished lamb. I'm the cripple 3-legged, one-eyed goat with the runs. Yet he loves me, and he helps me, and he forgives me even though I'm a let down. The sooner you admit that you are a let down too, the sooner you will begin to be healed to any degree. The sooner you realize that Christ loved you in your "let down" state, the sooner you will be ready to love others when they let you down. Love NEVER fails. -MJ I recently had the privilege of listening to two excellent discussions. The first was on the concept of pre-existence in the writings of second temple period Hebrews, and the second was on the nature of pre-existence in the gospel of John (particularly in regards to the person of Christ). Rather than explain it all here, I'll let Dr. Dustin Smith (dustinmartyr.wordpress.com) tell you all about it.
Here is part 1: Pre-Existence in Ancient Jewish Thought Here is part 2: The Pre-Existence of Jesus in the Gospel of John |
AuthorBlog by Matthew Janzen. Lover of Yahweh, Yeshua, my wife and 5 children. All else is commentary. Archives
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