By Cohen G. Reckart, Pastor
 |
Some have written and asked
for Biblical proof that the Cross was a symbol of Jewish intolerance and
hate against Jesus and early Christians. The following is written to
help explain that charge.
* * *
But this cometh to pass,
that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They
me without a cause
(John 15:25).
For dogs
(Gentiles) have compassed me: the assembly
(Jews) of the wicked have enclosed
(captured) me: they pierced my hands and my feet (Psalms
22:16)
And I will pour upon the
house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him (at the
crucifixion), as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that
is in bitterness for his firstborn (Zech 12:10).
And again another Scripture
saith, They (the
Jews) shall look on
him whom they pierced.
(John 19:37
showing Zech 12:10 was fulfilled at the crucifixion not at the second coming
of the Lord as Pre and Mid tribs teach the verse).
Behold he cometh with
clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him
(Jews): and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him
(Gentiles). Even so. Amen (Rev 1:7).
The New Testament is the
Messianic historical record concerning the Cross and the Jewish demand of
its use to have Jesus put to death (Mark 15:13).
The cross as we now know
it (the Roman Cross) came into use as a means of capital punishment during
the time of the Roman Empire. The Romans may have learned this method of
killing from the Persians. To our knowledge it was not used by the
Romans as an exclusive weapon against nations because they had funny religions
or against people who practiced their religions with fervency. If so
we would have seen it used against the Jews prior to the killing of Jesus.
The cross was a device to kill hardened criminals and those deemed
to be malefactors or traitors of the empire. It was not a tool to put
religious believers to death, until the Jews in Jerusalem demanded it be
used upon Jesus Messiah. After that, and because of it, many thousands of
Messianic believers were put to death upon crosses in the most inhumane,
cruel, mocking, and hateful manner, shown against such a peaceful non-violent
people at any time in the history of the world. It was a time of the
spirit of Cain revisited upon the earth.
There are symbols in antiquity
like unto the Roman cross figure that have no connection to the Roman use.
Such is the Egyptian ankh in the figure left which was to these ancient rulers
a symbol of life and became a symbol of life and death within
the authority of Pharaoh's hand (a form of a scepter). It was a symbol
denoting blessings from Aton the sun god upon the Pharaohs. The ankh
is in the shape of our modern *T* with a loop attached at the top to wear
around the wrist or to hold in the hand by the staff as seen left. Scholars
believe the ankh may also symbolize the male and female genitalia of
Osiris and Isis as all life was thought to be generated from the union of
the two. |
While there has been great
attempts to associate the Cross of Jesus with the Egyptian ankh and even
the first letter in the name of the Babylonian god Tammuz, such are simply
exaggerations and false. There is no connection. There have been no
crosses found at all in any ancient country that are associated with Tammuz
or the first letter of his name! In fact, his name was not spelled
with a *T* at all in the ancient languages but was written in cuniform style
and in some languages with a *D*!
Criminals and certain captives
were in some cases made to carry the cross piece to the place of death and
there it was fixed upon a pole or tree already at the location. Carrying
this stake, pole, or cross piece on the back-side of the neck with both arms
wrapped under and over toward the front and tied into place, was called carrying
the cross because it was the *cross piece*. The image in one's mind
of such an event gives us a picture of a man carrying the cross piece and
this walking figure forms the out-line of a cross before Jesus was ever crucified
upon one giving us that same figure. The figure of the Cross can invoke
Jesus carrying his Cross or being crucified upon a figure of the same likeness.
In either figure the message is the same, ...the Cross became a symbol of
Jewish hatred of Jesus. Little is to be gained by denying the Cross
was in the shape of the Roman cross. Denying the shape of it is an
exercise in mental gymnastics. True, to worship a Cross as if *it*
contains power where it becomes a crucifix idol, is idolatry. It is
not the Cross but he who died upon the Cross who is to be worshiped! Having
a Cross as a reminder of the sufferings of Jesus and the hatred of the Jewish
nation is not a sin or idolatry.
No greater joy could the
Jews have than for Christians to deny Jesus was crucified upon a Roman Cross
at their demand. The Cross should be emblazoned around the world but
also with the written truth that it came among Christianity as the figure
of Jewish intolerance and hate of Jesus. A plate or inscription of
this fact should accompany it where ever it is erected or displayed.
In regards to the cross of
Jesus *as it relates to Messianic history and prophecy* it was most definitely
a Roman Cross. That Jesus would be *pierced* in his hands and his feet as
described in prophecy gives us the belief that the Cross was a factor in
the many prophecies fulfilled by Christ (we listed a few at the beginning).
The Jews under the Law had no such death devise. Death was by stoning
or strangulation. When Jesus had been tried by the Sanhedrin and it was
determined by the determinate council in counsel that he should die because
he claimed to be the Messiah, the Talmudic Temple Jews first condemned him
to die and then delivered him to Pilate to execute the death penalty they
had already decreed (Matt 26:66, 27:1). Post-facto revision of the Mishna
or the Talmud in an attempt to claim the Sanhedrin could never have done
such a thing as their alleged policies would have prohibited them of condemning
Jesus, is just more plotting and deception by the antichrist in an attempt
to remove any guilt for the crucifixion of their King Messiah.
At that time (a brief window
of time to fulfill prophecy), the Jews had been deprived by Roman law from
executing the death penalty. Later we see when Pilate was gone and Stephen
was killed they could openly stone a person to death without any Roman
interference. But at this precise moment they were required to present
all cases for the death penalty to the procurator who was then Pilate. The
accusations used against Jesus are found in Luke 24:1-2:
"We found this
fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying
that he himself is Christ a
King." So they
wanted him dead on two charges that deal with Roman law and one charge of
their own that he was just some *fellow* perverting their nation. How
nice that they were so concerned about Caesar's taxes and there being another
King. After all, did not Rome recognize several of the Herods as kings?
But this claim of being a *KING* was connected to the emphatic right
of Jesus to be Messiah and heir of David's throne. This throne they did not
want over them and so determined the way to marshal the power of Rome against
Jesus was to claim Jesus was somehow planning to replace Caesar, which was
not at all true. The Messianic hope concerned Israel and no other nation
at that time. Jesus made absolutely no statements against Caesar.
The Sanhedrin was a kangaroo court and until this injustice is repudiated
by all subsequent courts of whatever description and all Bet-Dins, then all
of them are of the same character and spirit of this ancient
Sanhedrin!
When Pilate examined Jesus
he could find no fault in him worthy of death from these charges (Luke 23:15).
But the Jews persisted that he be put to death (Luke 23:18), and then as
a last resort threatened Pilate's future political ambitions by saying they
would report him to Caesar:
"If you let this man
go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against
Caesar (John 19:12)."
The Jews denied Jesus as their King and made an unequivocal confession
and oath of allegiance that the pagan Roman emperor who himself was worshiped
as a god, was the only king over them:
"But they cried
out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them,
Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests
answered,
"
(John 19:15).
Here in plain words the Jews surrendered the soul of Israel to Roman jurisdiction
forever, when they denied Jesus and chose Caesar as their god-king! It
was then that Pilate put his political ambitions above justice, morality,
and human life. He washed his hands in their presence and said they were
witness he was not guilty of his innocent blood. The Jews in response
said: *let his blood be upon us and our children." These Jews
sacrificed Jesus to maintain control of the temple and the national conscience.
Pilate sacrificed him for his future employment and career. These facts
are forever settled and NO MAN can change them!
When Pilate finished his
deliberations he said to the Jews:
"Behold your
king!" It was then
that the Jews themselves determined the death method of Jesus by calling
for his CRUCIFIXION upon a cross,saying
"." They
could have called for him to be stoned! They could have called for
his head to be cut off! The crucifixion was not the only option,
it DID NOT have to happen. God knew it would happen but He played no role
in making the Jews pick this selection. Criminals and alleged malefactors
at that time were also stoned and beheaded under Roman law (see John the
Baptist and James). Also, once the Jews had been given authority to put someone
to death they then chose the method. The Roman government allowed this privilege
to all of its vassal kingdoms.
While it is said that the
Romans put Jesus to death, the Scriptures say that Pilate
DELIVERED Jesus to the Jews to do this deed and it appears
from the Gospels since they chose crucifixion as the method, they then employed
temple soldiers to do the job as the Roman soldiers observed and participated
under the joint death penalty provisions.
"So he delivered Him
to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away"
(John 19:6, 16). The
Cross then became a symbol of Christian murder by the Jews as Jesus was the
first one to be killed using this method. Remember, it was Jesus who with
foreknowledge of the Jewish hatred of himself and his Kingdom, admonished
his followers to *take
up their cross and follow him.*
Thus signifying by
prophecy his manner of death and also the manner in which many of his followers
would suffer (Matt 23:34; read also Acts 2:23, 3:14-15; 1Thes 2:15).
Thus, the Cross as far as
Christians are concerned became a symbol of Jewish hatred against Jesus Messiah
and his Kingdom. It is the symbol of the Sanhedrin kangaroo court. And
within Freemasonary where they *spit* upon a cross and step over it, the
Jewish members of such secret orders do it with glee. The first spitting
of this nature was in the hewn chamber of the Sanhedrin when after condeming
Jesus those present *spit upon him* as a sign of rejection and utter hatred
(Mat 26:67). The Talmud teaches Jewish conformist to mimic this *spitting*
upon Jesus when they see a Cross or a Church where there is a Cross.
And, if someone is around to see this act, they are to slobber upon their
beards or their chest and it is counted the same as if they had spit upon
Jesus and share in the hatred of the Sanhedrin Council in their spitting.
We have no doubt then how and from whence the practice of spitting
upon a cross in the Knights Templer degree of the secret order of Freemasonry
came. These zrealots did not do this abomination before going to Israel
and Jerusalem in the eleventh century during the Crusades. This spitting
continues every week around the world in many Masonic, Rosicrucian, Witchcraft,
and other cult meetings. And, I feel no shame to expose this hatred
for what it is,
...*.* And, it gives me GREAT
PLEASURE to go to the house of God and lift up a holy praise and worship
the name they blaspheme. It gives me GREAT PLEASURE to meet in our
mid-week service and lift up Jesus, knowing all the while in many secret
lodges in the world they are spitting upon a cross and upon a representation
of my Lord, to the ignorance of their ritual and in their stupidity!
The Romans did not choose
the Cross as the device to murder Jesus. Pilate consented to use of the Cross
only because the Jews in their inordinate hate to use it upon Jesus prevailed.
They wanted all the world to know they hated and rejected him. They
wanted his death to be a public spectacle where his body would writhed and
tremble from the excruciating pain and agony while trhey mocked. They wanted
to hear him cry with loud screams because of the torment. And last
of all, they wanted to make God a witness of these events. Men
may say one thing or another in their theologies and in their attempts of
white-washing Jewish hatred concerning the Cross, BUT GOD WAS THE WITNESS
and that will stand when the world is on fire.
As far as Christians are
concerned when the Jews paraded behind Jesus as he carried his Cross to Calvary,
this was a Jewish national shame that would never be cleansed from Israel
if they slaughtered all the red heifers in the world and all the sheep and
goats were sacrificed into extinction! This sin shall never be forgotten
forever and indeed the assembly of Jews guilty of this plot knew this and
said: "let his blood
be upon us and our children."
This was a *forever
curse to be upon thier children and descendants until time shall be no more.*
These who were guilty have brought down upon themselves the entire
crucifixion and the guilt of the Cross as the murder weapon of their hate.
This will never be erased from heaven's book of eternal rememberance. It
was the spirit of Cain. I can hear Abel now: O, Cain that hurts, please
do not do this I am your Brother! O, Cain why are you doing this to
me? Cain my brother why do you hate me, I do not understand? But
the injuries to Abel's head, his back, his chest, his hands, were to
much and there he fell with his blood upon the ground as his life departed.
And the Scriptures say that his blood cried out from the ground in judgment
against his brother. While we cannot see the blood of Jesus today on
Calvary it is still there somewhere as a witness that will never be expunged
from the eternal testimony.
No synagouge, temple, priest,
rabbi, or sacrifice, can atone for this blood of the innocent Messiah. Although
many Jews made boast to have the blood of Jesus upon them and their children
as if Jesus was a reprobate and they would not be held guilty by God, the
opposite is the truth. God does hold them guilty and so did the Apostles
and early Christians. Jesus looked down from the Cross and looked at the
Roman soldiers standing around having been deceived by the Jews. He
looked at the multitude of Jews who had been deceived by the temple cult
and who knew not of the intricate details and purpose of the plot, and upon
these Jesus said:
"Father forgive
them for they know not what they
do." Those who
knew what they were doing received no forgiveness and those Jews down to
this day who consent and agree with the decision of the Sanhedrin and the
temple cult to have Jesus crucified, ...still have no forgiveness! These
are the core of that very *antichrist* that shall arise in the last days
to destroy Jesus, Christians, the New Testament record, and blot them all
out from the earth. This is the very reason why all of Talmudism is
guilty of the death and blood of Jesus Messiah and within its theologies
remain the secret coded ancient hatred against their King, Christians, and
the New Testament.
Now, it is unfair and wrong
to lay this blood curse upon all Jews because that is not true. Many Jews
repudiate the ancient actions of the Sanhedrin and those guilty of the
crucifixion evil and wicked. Many Jews in their hearts do not hate Jesus,
Christians, or the New Testament. This is the Judaism that is not
controlled by congentital hatred found in many Synagouges throughout the
world today. There were many such Jews who saw the wickedness of the
temple and synagouge cults and came over into the Judaism or Israel of Messiah
(referred to as the Kingdom or Church in the New Testament). The blood
curse of the religious cult was not considered to be upon them and they were
NOT personally held guilty of the crucifixion of the Messiah. The curse
itself and the Scriptures seem to indicate that it descends down upon the
families of the Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin Council itself and all associated
Courts and Bet Dins, the families of the false witnesses, the seed of Judas,
the families of the temple priesthood involved, the families of the Scribes
involved, the families of the doctors of the Law involved, others who plotted
with the temple and synagouge cults who carried out the crucifixion, and
upon the subsequent Talmudic system(s) that continued to perpetrate the
antichrist hatred by the highpriests Caiaphas, Annas, John, and Alexander
(Acts 4:6), upon Christianity. It would also subsequently come down
upon anyone (Jew or Gentile) who would agree with the conduct of those involved
and who would agree with the determinate Sanhedrin Council's counsel that
Jesus should have been crucified. Any Jew or Gentile who goes to their
grave who REFUSES to confess that Jesus was the Messiah based upon belieivng
Jewish antichristism, will be equally guilty of the innocent blood of Jesus
Messiah and be lost forever. The greater number in the world joined
to this antichrist cursed group, the greater numner of children, families,
homes, and people who forever damn themselves from the salvation grace of
Jesus Messiah. As these numbers increase because of deception, the
world will fall into great apostasy, lawlessness, hate, and governments including
the United Nations will inact laws that under *discrimination* will prohibit
these facts to be made known abroad. Soon a great purge will take
place against the truth and even this internet web-site will be destroyed.
One day you will log on and we will be no more. Those whom the Lord
leads to these pages must avail themselves of all the truth while they can.
Print out all that you find here and study, study, study. Pray,
pray, pray. Let us lift up Jesus Messiah before our enemies.
So, the Cross becomes an offense
to these antichrist as it testifies of the attitudes and crimes they and
their ancestors committed against Jesus and Christians in the name of God.
There remains great hope for many modern Jews, especially those who
are Messianic and who believe Jesus was the Messiah, if they will separate
from Talmudism, Law observances, and the great apostasy of the antichrist
mother whore completely (Rev 18:4). They MUST come come out from among
her! They must separate! They must also quit believing in the
trinity doctrine of Catholicism, that Jesus is a second god-person and believe
that Jesus was God himself manifested to Israel in the seed of David per
Psalms 132:11. They must fulfill Acts 2:38 completely as did the first
3,000 Jewish converts to New Covenant Messianism, and take the name of Jesus
Messiah upon them in water baptism and REALLY come on over into the Kingdom
of the Messiah (Gal 3:27).
No Jewish person can hold
on to Pharisee Talmudism, old nationalism, practice of the Law,
or traditions of the Law, and also be in the Kingdom of Messiah (Luke 13:28;
Gal 2:21, 3:19, 6:16). Believing in Jesus as a historical Messiah is
not enough, ...Jew and Gentile must follow his doctrine and the teachings
of the Apostles (Mark 16:16, John 14:21, 17:20). Mixing Jesus with
Pharisee Talmudism, old nationalistic Israel images, or the Law, are the
greatest heresies any Jew or Gentile could formulate against the Gospel Truths
of Jesus Messiah, his Kingdom, and the true Israel of God.
Persecution and hatred by
Jews against Christians who believe in Jesus and the New Testament is to
accept the blood curse of the Cross. When Jews and Gentiles begin hatred
and persecution again under the regime of the coming world ruler of antichrist,
they will again be guilty of the blood curse of the Cross. If I had
this upon my mind every time I saw a Cross and was an antichrist Jew
or Gentile, I also would not want a Cross staring me in the face along the
highways where someone died, upon a Church, in a private field or yard, or
God forbid upon government property to remind me of the shame and condemnation
of past history. Second best to this, is that I would want someone to agree
with me as a Jew that the Cross is offensive and should not be publicly displayed
at all and certainly not on government property. I would want antichrist
judges and supreme courts to sanction my hatred of the Cross in the disguise
of separation of Church and state. I would want and love for ignorant
Christians to preach and claim the Cross has no Jewish history and is pagan,
adopted by the Catholic Church, and has no connection to the crucifixion
of Jesus. I would want them to blame the crucifixion upon God because he
knew it would happen and did nothing to assit the Jews to stop them from
doing it so He caused it, pre-ordained it, forced it upon them, or better
yet, ...blame it on the Romans! But Jesus said this to Pilate who represented
the entire Roman Empire and the Gentile
world:"You could have
no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore
the one who delivered
Me to you has the greater sin
(John 19:11)." The
obvious conclusion is that the Jews charged by Jesus as guilty of his innocent
bloodshed are liable through their acceptance of the agency of their temple
rulers to deliver Jesus to Pilate. And this is witnessed in the text at verse
28 where after the Sanhedrin recessed to assemble and reconvene at Pilate's
pagan courthouse, it is
said "Then they led
Jesus from Caiaphas to the
Praetorium." A
multitude joined the temple cult along the way from the temple to the pagan
Gentile courthouse. Gentiles and their courthouses with their unsaved antichrist
judges have no more authority or right to pass laws in regard to Jesus and
the Cross than did Pilate. That they do so makes them accessories after
the fact of hatred against Jesus!
So, Caiaphas as high priest
delivered Jesus by Sanhedrin decree to the members of the Sanhedrin and *THEY*
took him with a great multitude to Pilate. So, as far as Jesus was concerned
the Romans were not the ones to be held guilty for his crucifixion, the GREATER
SIN would be laid to the Temple rulers and that multitude who delivered him
to a pagan courthouse. The Temple rulers by blood oath placed that sin
upon all of their seed. And in connecting this to religious sin, the entire
crucifixion is laid upon the Talmudic descendants of those ancient families.
The Talmud continues this blood curse and within it remains many hundreds
of denigrating references to Jesus, his death, Christians, and the destruction
of them at some later time in history when their antichrist messiah comes
and they rule the world.
A Rabbi speaking to his
congregation at Christmas time said: "Everytime I see a Cross it is a symbol
of Hitler to me and every time I see a manger scene it is the birth of Hitler
to me." This is exactly the hatred taught in the Talmud and that was
used against Jesus, shown by such minds at his trial and at his crucifixion.
Hate and bigotry against Jesus by unbelieving Jews continues today
and it is taught to young Jewish boys and girls from the time they are born.
They are taught to hate Christians, Christian Churches, the Cross,
the New Testament, Ministers and Preachers, and especially Jesus! Jesus
told the Apostles and us:
"If
they
(the
Jews)
hated me they will
hate you" and
"you will be hated
by all nations for my name's
sake." And so
it is today, try to talk to an unbelieving Jew about Jesus and especially
the Cross and they are quick to mouth their hate and disgust against both.
Jesus Messiah, son of David, KING of kings, LORD of lords, reigns from
heaven upon the throne of David forever. Yeshua Messiah, the
GREATEST Jew who ever lived was God manifest in the flesh (Psalms 232:11,
1Tim 3:16, Rev 1:8).
The Cross may have been a
symbol of Jewish intolerance and hate against Jesus and early Christians,
but to us it is the symbol of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who taketh
away the sins of the world by his precious blood. They may deny the
Cross, but the true Christian will confess that it is the power of God to
them that believe (1Cor 1:18).
Ministers preach the Cross,
not as an idol or as symbol of idolatry, but as the Truth that upon it was
crucified the Messiah by his people because of their intolerance and hate.
Believers, do not be ashamed of the Cross of Messiah, but take up your
own cross and follow him. If Jews hate you for your salvation and faith
in Jesus you are carrying your cross. If Gentiles hate you for your
salvation and faith in Jesus you are carrying your cross. If you are
put to death in any manner for your salvation and faith in Jesus, you have
carried your cross all the way home. Do not be ashamed, lift up your
head, be proud, for ye are the real Messianic children and the Israel of
God (Gal 6:16)!
In Jesus Messiah,
Cohen
G. Reckart, Pastor