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Truth from the high priest
lareli:
If the high priest who was of his father the devil, can prophesy (not of himself) then is there anyone who can’t?
Can today’s pope, for example?
ZekeSr:
Sometimes we run the risk of overthinking things. We are all vessels of clay in the Potters hand, and He will use that vessel as He sees fit. Consider how Satan was allowed to enter poor Judas in order to complete the task. I see the high priest's unwitting prophesy as making use of the vessel as was planned, including a useful lesson for us today.
Mike
lareli:
--- Quote from: ZekeSr on November 29, 2017, 09:30:09 AM ---Sometimes we run the risk of overthinking things.
--- End quote ---
I’m not sure what this means..
What is risky about it?
ZekeSr:
Hello Largeli,
In the context of this thread, my use of the term “run the risk” is referring to the possibility of losing track of the true meaning by overthinking what is written.
While some things require time, study and meditation, other things do not.
By overthinking, we sometimes take something that is simple and direct and turn it into something far more complex than it really is. And thus we become confused. My wife tells me I do it all the time at home :-\ I believe this to be the case in this particular instance. The words are very simple and direct:
Joh 11:46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
Joh 11:47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled a sanhedrin, and said, What are we doing, for this man does many miraculous signs?
Joh 11:48 If we let Him alone this way, all will believe into Him, and the Romans will come and will take away from us both the place and the nation.
Joh 11:49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas being high priest of that year, said to them, You know nothing,
Joh 11:50 nor consider that it is profitable for us that one man die for the people, and not all the nation to perish.
Joh 11:51 But he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was about to die on behalf of the nation,
Joh 11:52 and not only on behalf of the nation, but that He also might gather into one the children of God who had been scattered.
Joh 11:53 Then from that day, they took counsel that they might kill Him.
Yes, Caiaphas was the high priest that year. And I believe it is safe to assume that his status is the reason why he was the one chosen to speak those words. And yes, Jesus did refer to these men as children of the devil:
Joh 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
But this is a metaphor—symbolic of what was in their hearts (another metaphor). I have no doubt that you do not believe Caiaphas was actually fathered by the devil. Yet, you appear to be thinking literally as though the man could not speak a word of truth because of that metaphor. Caiaphas was a man like any other man, able to speak lies or truth. And he was speaking the truth on two levels—from his own carnal point of view and from the level of a prophesy to which he had no idea that he was doing it. You could say (here comes another metaphor and I hope it’s appropriate and not offensive to anyone) the joke was on Caiaphas.
Yes, the pope and anyone else can prophesize if they are so designated. I hope this helps.
Mike
lareli:
ZekeSr, thanks for expanding on that thought, I see what you’re saying now.
We have reached the same conclusion, I just like to overthink things as a way of testing my spiritual house. If I reach a conclusion on a matter I have to hit it with a hammer from all angles to make sure it stands. Overthinking, pondering, constantly questioning and even doubting is how I test it because I alone will be held accountable for how my spiritual house is built.
I like this forum because I can get others to bang on the walls of my house as well. Sometimes others can find a weakness in my house that I cannot due to perspective.
Thanks!
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