Gifts of Heaven · Volume 3 · Chapter 514

Explanation of difficult written Scriptures

17th March 1864

I. Matthew 1:25 "And knew her not until she bare her firstborn son, and called his name Jesus. Luke 2,7. Matthew 13:55. "Is he not the son of a carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers Jacob and Joses and Simon and Judas? Luke 4:22. Matthew 13:56. "And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where does all this come from?" These passages gave reason to believe that Mary had several children. (See Explanation I: The Evangelist Matthew)

II. Matthew 12:42: "The queen of noon will appear at the Last Judgment with this generation and will condemn it…". Matthew 13:49. "So it will be at the end of the world…" Matthew 16:27, "For it shall come to pass that the Son of Man shall come in the glory of the Father with his angels…" Matthew 19:28. "And Jesus said unto them..: You also shall sit upon the twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthew 25:30-34. These passages gave rise to the assumption of the Last Day and Judgment. (See Explanation II: From the Last judgement)

III. Matthew 4:1 "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Mark 1,2-11; Mark 1,12.13; Luke 4,2-13 (See Explanation III: Jesus' forty days in the desert)

IV. Matthew 5:39: "But I say unto you, that ye shall not resist evil: but if any man strike thee on thy right cheek, offer him the other also. Verse 40: "And if any man will come to judgment with thee, and take away thy coat, let him also have thy cloak. Luke 6:29. Matthew 10:34 "Do not think that I have come to send peace to the earth. I have not come to send peace, but the sword. Verse 35: "For I have come to stir up man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the cord against her brothers-in-law. Verse 36, "And man's enemies will be his own household." Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be prudent as serpents, and without deceit as doves. Verse 17: "But beware of men…" Luke 12:51-53 These are contradictions in the literal sense, and not applicable in human life in this way; for this would on the one hand sanction the violence of the strong, the inferior to

the slave, the arrogant to the slave, the haughty to the presumptuous, and give every injustice the broadest basis. On the other hand, however, again the fight is given and again the sheep's defenselessness against it's enemies. (See Explanation IV: Smite on the cheek – The mantle)

V. Matthew 12:40. Therefore the Son of Man (like Jonah in the belly of the whale) will be three days and three nights in the midst of the earth. Matthew 17:23. and on the third day he will rise again…" Matth.20:19; Luke13:32; Matth.26:61; John 2:19,21. Matthew 27:63. "I will rise again after three days. Matthew 28:1 "On the evening of the Sabbath, which is the first day of the week after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Mark16:1,2; Luke 24:1,6; John 20:1. Matthew 28:2 "And behold, there was a great earthquake…" Matthew 28:6: "He is not here…" Mark 10:34, "He is not here… and the third day he will rise again." Mark 16:6, "He is risen, and is not here." Luke 23:44,45,46 – these verses quoted in relation to the hour of death versus the time of resurrection – and John 19:31. taking down the cross. How does the time of death correspond here with the resurrection according to the various verses? – Did the body of the Lord lie in the tomb for three days, as is often assumed, or, if the burial took place on Friday after our assumption, did the Resurrection take place on Sunday morning, that is, on the third day? (See Explanation V: About My resurrection)

VI. Matthew 12:40. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale. What kind of fish was this – or is the fish only a spiritual equivalent expression? Matthew 22, 11.12. "Then the king went in to see the guests, and there the king saw a man there who was not wearing a wedding dress…". Mark 14:51, "And there followed him a certain young man clothed in linen, upon his bare skin; and the young men laid hold of him. Verse 52 "And he caused the linen to pass away, and fled from them only. Who is the young man, and why does Mark alone mention him? (See Explanation VI: More explanations of Scriptures)