Rabbi Says the Crucifixion Makes NO SENSE?! | Pastor Reacts
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Rabbi Tovia Singer strikes again! This time he claims that Jesus contradicts Himself on the cross. Why did Jesus cry out that God had forsaken Him? Is there any merit to the rabbi's claims? Let's get into it :)
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- 00:00
- This is ridiculous. It's hard to take this rabbi seriously because he makes so many videos about Christians and attacks
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- Christianity. It seems like he's trolling us. This is a horrifically shallow understanding of the crucifixion.
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- This is a huge L on his part. This is a really awful understanding of Jesus' death on the cross.
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- Honestly, I would expect this from an internet atheist or a woke TikToker, but not from a rabbi.
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- Was Jesus confused on the cross? Did Jesus actually contradict the
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- Bible when he cried out some of his final words before he died? That's what Rabbi Tovia Singer claims in today's video.
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- Rabbi Singer is a man who makes videos against Christians and Christianity on a daily basis over at his channel.
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- If you saw the previous reaction that I made, he claimed that we're going to stop being Christians after watching his videos, and now he's at it again, only this time he says
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- Jesus' crucifixion makes absolutely no sense. So let's get into it. If you're brand new here, welcome.
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- My name is Nate, and this is Wise Disciple, where I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you are meant to be. Don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel.
- 01:12
- Many of you who watch my videos have not subscribed yet, so I want to make sure and say that. And if this video blesses you at all, would you do me a favor and share it with someone else?
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- Let's all get on the same page when it comes to engaging the culture for Christ. Amen? Okay, William and Rabbi, I've been reading these passages for quite some time.
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- I have to let Rabbi know that those books he wrote is amazing. It's even more amazing that Christianity still has a leg to stand on.
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- That's fine. Very true. A lot of things in those books, I mean, you wouldn't see firsthand, but he does expose them for a lot of fraud in those books.
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- I'm just surprised that Christianity still has a leg to stand on. And there's links to those books also in the video description area below.
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- Get them there. It'll still help me a little bit, so. All right. It was a wonderful job, those books, Rabbi. Wonderful. Thank you. I love it.
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- Thank you. Okay, so my question is, I'm reading these Gospels. It seems like Jesus seems to know everything leading up to his crucifix.
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- But once he gets up there, he says these words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What went wrong at that point, which will cause him to say that?
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- That's a great question. Right. Okay, Daniel, go ahead and hang him down underneath there. Rabbi, do you want to keep him on at all? No, let's get rid of him.
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- I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Daniel, go ahead and hang him now, brother, and tune in for your answer. Thank you, Rabbi. So that's called the cry of dereliction, where Jesus screams out, my
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- God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And it is a quote from the book of Psalms chapter 22.
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- The author of the second Gospel is seeking to show that Psalm 22 is a prophecy about Jesus.
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- Now, of course, it isn't. Psalm 22 was authored by King David. We know it because we're told that.
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- And King David is groaning in his own anguish.
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- He really does feel forsaken. And I really implore people to read
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- Psalm 22 from verse one. And the author, David, asks the question.
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- He says, I don't hear you. Maybe some of us can relate to that, where we pray to God, and we're just wondering, is there someone listening to me right now?
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- David Amelech asks the question, you know, when my ancestors asked you questions and supplicated to you, you responded, but I'm not hearing anything.
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- David had very serious problems in his life. If you think you have problems, David had enemies all about him that wanted to destroy him, and he cries about this.
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- He uses the metaphor of wild animals. He doesn't start here, but he starts chapters earlier in describing his various enemies and how he felt completely abandoned.
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- The beautiful feature of these psalms is it explodes. What makes a great song fabulous?
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- A great song—why do some songs are spectacular? So a great song draws you in.
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- So what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to let him unpack his comments, you know, and see if there's some kind of an argument here before I step in.
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- And only delivers at the end, delivers that incredible solo, really.
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- The great music sort of draws you in. I'm not a musician, but this is how it works. The great songs draw you in, and you're anticipating something is coming.
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- You want it so desperately, and you know it's going to come. And then it just delivers that—it delivers that relief at the very end.
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- It just explodes. And all the great music does this, and Tanakh does it as well. So all these chapters,
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- Psalm 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22—David and Melchizedek is crying out to God. So you know it's coming.
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- You know the great solo is coming. And that's Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd.
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- I don't want, even though I'm walking in the valley of your staff and your rod, comfort me.
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- And that's the great psalm that everyone knows. Why? L 'chavdu el -afi avdol. It's like a beautiful piece of music.
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- It's the resolution. It's like the resolution of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the fourth movement.
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- It's all music. So there's no resolution in Psalm 22, though. It delivers that crazy solo that just goes nuts.
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- All the great psalms of this, and all— Are there no resolutions individually in each psalm? Either.
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- This is an interesting take on the psalms. I'll let him finish. Tanakh is like this.
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- We're drawing you in. It has nothing to do with the future Messiah. It has to do with David. And David is saying that ultimately, you prepare my enemies before me.
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- You are my source of comfort. What does the Christian Bible do? It takes these—
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- Well, no, hold on a second. So, Rabbi Singer says David wrote
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- Psalm 22, so Psalm 22 is about David, okay? Well, let's take a look at Psalm 22.
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- My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?
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- O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
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- In you are fathers trusted. They trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued. In you they trusted and were not put to shame.
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- But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me.
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- They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him.
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- Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust you in my mother's breasts.
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- On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been, my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
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- So far, this sounds like David. I'm with Rabbi Singer. But wait a second, it's not done.
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- Many bulls, verse 12, encompass me. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion.
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- I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax.
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- It is melted within my breast. Wait a second. Is David dying? Is that what's going on here?
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- It sounds like somebody's dying. Verse 15, look at this. My strength is dried up like a pot's herd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws.
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- You lay me in the dust of death. Who is gonna die?
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- Is David dying? Is somebody dying? I don't know. We're gonna come back to this.
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- You lay me in the dust of death, verse 16, for dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me.
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- They have pierced my hands and feet. Hmm. Wait.
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- So is that what's... David somehow is being pierced?
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- Is that what's going on here? Now, a lot of Jews are gonna point out that when you get to verse 16, verse 17 in their translation, that it says this.
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- Verse 17, for dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me like a lion, my hands and feet.
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- Okay, but wait a second. That reads awkwardly, does it not? What do hands and feet have to do with a lion circling?
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- It's as if the hands and feet are inserted here for no reason, except when you take a look at the Masoretic text, which is an ancient 10th century
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- Hebrew translation of Tanakh, a translation which, by the way, aligns perfectly with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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- Okay, we mentioned this in other videos, right? You'll notice that the Masoretic text has the same verse but one different letter, and that one different letter actually changes the word lion into a word that means to bore a hole through or to pierce.
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- Now, you tell me, does that make better sense of what's going on with this person's hands and feet, that they had a hole bored through their hands and feet, that they can look at the verse right after that?
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- I can count all my bones? They can count their bones through the hole? I think that makes better sense of the text, but wait a second.
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- Okay, again, does this sound like David? Did anything like this happen to David? Like, anything like this sound anything near to what happened, really, to him in his life, or does this sound like somebody else?
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- So what's interesting is there's a medieval Jewish midrash of this psalm, Psalm 22, and it's known as the
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- Great Sections, and it looks at the phrase, you lay me in the dust of death, right, verse 15 there, and it sees the
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- Messiah, the son of David. It doesn't see David. What's even more fascinating is there is a well -known, well -regarded
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- Jewish rabbi who wrote commentaries for the entire Tanakh, for the Talmud. He is revered in the
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- Jewish community. His name is Rashi. He was a French rabbi in the 11th century. Rashi doesn't even think that this psalm is all about David.
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- Take a look at this. So if you look at his commentary on verse 2, right, my God, my
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- God, why have you forsaken me? By the way, that's what Jesus cried out on the cross. This is what
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- Rashi says. Why have you forsaken me? It's because this is about Israel destined to go into exile, and David recited this prayer for the future.
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- So clearly, Rashi doesn't see David in view in David's own psalm. But check this out.
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- As the psalm progresses, right, to its conclusion, what begins as sorrow and crying turns out to end in victory and accomplishment.
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- Verse 21, Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation.
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- I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him and stand in awe of him.
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- All you offspring of Israel, for he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him but has heard when he cried to him.
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- From you comes my praise in the great congregation. My vows I will perform before those who fear him.
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- The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise the
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- Lord. May your hearts live forever. Take a look at how Rashi interprets verse 26.
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- So again, the Jewish Bible, it's actually verse 27, but listen to this. The humble shall eat and be sated or satisfied.
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- This is what Rashi said. This is at the time of our redemption in the days of our Messiah. Even Rashi knows this is about the
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- Messiah, the son of David. See, I don't want to sound all conspiratorial here, and none of my degrees are in psychology, so I'm not going to get into motive.
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- I just find it hard to believe that Rabbi Singer is not aware of the Jewish on this and of Rashi's own commentary that does not square with his own claims.
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- He has to know that people within his own camp disagree with what he just said, but for the video here, he's going to go on and tell people, like a bunch of people, oh, it's just about David, guys.
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- That's really all it's about. I don't think so, actually, and I'm not the only one. Apparently, rabbis in the
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- Jewish community don't think so either. Hey, real quick, I'm so grateful that you're watching. If I've earned the right to get your sub,
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- I'd love it if you would just click the like and subscribe button. It would really help me to get the video out to more and more people.
- 12:56
- I really do appreciate you. What does the Christian Bible do? It takes these texts, with David on Malachi speaking,
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- King David speaking in the first person, about his own particular—would you want to have your best friends betray you, your wife curse you, your son wants to kill you, your father -in -law wants to kill you?
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- You think you've got problems? You ain't got problems. King David had problems.
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- King David has struggled, but ultimately, both your staff and your rod, both are my source of comfort.
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- What does that mean? Both the staff that holds me up and the rod that beats me, they both are my source of comfort.
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- So in the cry of dereliction of 15, verse 34, the author doesn't care that it doesn't make sense.
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- It just feels good there because Mark, the author of the first gospel, is portraying
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- Jesus as completely helpless on his way to the cross. And it doesn't matter if it contradicts something else.
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- It just has to feel good then. It just has to give you the feel good at that moment.
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- And if it contradicts everything else, if it contradicts that we are told that Jesus says that I'm going to have to suffer and die in many things and rise on the third—it doesn't matter.
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- It just has to deliver the high there, and it has to feel good.
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- I don't know what he's talking about at all. Do you? Are any of you tracking this?
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- I'm not following this. It sounds like he said that Jesus cried out and quoted Psalm 22 on the way to the cross.
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- Is that what he just said? Mark, chapter 15, verse 24, and they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide what each should take.
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- So by the time that we get to Mark, chapter 15, verse 24, Jesus is already on the cross and crucified, and it's like, what is this, 10 verses later that he cries out and quotes from Psalm 22 right here?
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- So I hate to be a stickler, but if you're going to challenge Christians' own understanding of the
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- Bible, you should probably make sure you understand what it actually teaches about Jesus' death. One of the last acts of Jesus before he gives up his spirit and dies for the sins of mankind is to cry out and quote from Psalm 22, which again forces us to wrestle with not only the sorrow at the beginning, but the victory described at the end of that Psalm as well.
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- Why? When you listen to the testimonials of Christians who explain why they became Christians, they'll tell you that it feels good, it changed my life, and I don't do drugs anymore because they traded in one kind of drug for another kind of drug.
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- And you're right, in the cry of dereliction, in verse 34 of chapter 15 of Mark, my
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- God, my God, you can only imagine Jesus is there on the cross, why he feels alone. But what do you mean, why?
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- Of course that's why I'm here, because, and in fact, this portrayal of Jesus in Mark's passion narrative, while it shares many features with the other synoptic
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- Gospels in particular, it differs sharply from Luke as an example, where you don't have this, because in Luke's Gospel, Jesus is much more strident, very much in control, and he knows exactly why he's there, and he's not screaming this kind of stuff on the cross at all.
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- In fact, he's having nice conversations with the ladies as he's being taken off to be crucified, they're crying, it's a totally different Jesus, they're crying for him, and he's saying to them, what are you weeping for me?
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- Weep for yourself, you know what's about to happen to you? It's a totally different story. So this is Mark's story, his passion narrative, and his passion narrative really has passion, this pathos here, and that's attractive, because the
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- Christian could connect with that Jesus. Ah, it contradicts everything,
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- I don't matter, it feels good now, do you follow? Seinfeld. I don't follow. Do you follow?
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- Are any of you following this? What contradicts? I don't get what he's talking about.
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- If Jesus is saying different things in Luke, and it appears that he's more in control of himself, and then in Mark, he cries out in order to quote from the psalm, what's the contradiction?
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- I'm not—I didn't get that. I'm going to need a little bit more than the claim that it contradicts.
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- Don't you think that when someone cries out, if they were really out of control, right?
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- They're just out of their minds, they're beside themselves, right? Do you think that they would actually quote from the
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- Old Testament in their scream? Perhaps Jesus is still teaching like a good rabbi, even through his own death, which again, if Jesus gives a remez, and that leads a disciple back to Psalm 22, and they actually know the whole psalm, especially the victorious ending, then what do you think
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- Jesus was actually communicating on the cross when he cried out? Was it a cry of despair, of craziness, of desperation, or was it a reminder that victory was right around the corner?
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- This is a horrifically shallow understanding of the crucifixion. Honestly, I would expect this from like an internet atheist or like a woke
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- TikToker, but not from a rabbi. I mean, like, there are a number of rabbinic and Hebrew literary elements that Rabbi Singer either is ignorant of, or he outright ignores it in order to say what he's saying right now, and that's a problem, because a lot of people probably watch his videos, and they walk away thinking, yeah,
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- Christianity doesn't make sense. That Jesus guy contradicted himself, and they have no idea what he was really saying or what he was really doing and accomplishing on the cross.
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- It's a shame. Tom Scott The main character in the sitcom in his name he was asked in one interview, it was a very successful show and everything, but the stories really don't make any sense at all.
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- And Jerry responded, he said, we didn't care if it made sense. It just had to be funny.
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- It had to ignite a comedy, and the fact that no two stories in an episode made any sense at all, and it was so ridiculous, it didn't make a difference.
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- And that show was a very successful show, because people suspended, all right, so the story is ridiculous.
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- It just didn't make sense. It didn't follow. It doesn't make a difference. It just is supposed to be funny at the moment.
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- Mark's interest is showing that Jesus was a pathetic character who had really nothing to say when he was standing in front of Chipotle's pilot.
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- When he's asked about all these charges of him, he doesn't have this lucid conversation explaining.
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- He said, you say it's sullege. He's quiet the whole way. He doesn't understand why this is happening to him.
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- He's beside himself. It's really very different. And a question that you can,
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- I don't necessarily recommend unless there's a theological reason for it, but a question that I've asked
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- Christians at the right time is, is this question, it's called the cry of dereliction, was this a sincere question or not?
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- It's a very important question. So when Jesus asks the question, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
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- Did he mean it? Was he looking for, was it a sincere question or not? Christians don't know what to say to that.
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- They'll give you all kinds of speeches, but if you ask, did he mean it? Did he not know why, or did he know why? Christians are going to have a lot of trouble answering that question.
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- Why? Why are they going to have trouble answering the question? I think I just did, right?
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- What's the trouble? Maybe if you find a Christian who, you know, they're just getting started out in their studies of the scripture, they haven't gotten very far, maybe that Christian will have some trouble.
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- But if you ask those of us who have wrestled with Jesus' teaching, especially on the cross, we do have an answer.
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- Works there. Why? Because Jesus died for my sins. Look at this poor guy on the cross, dying, abandoned.
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- This is why Christianity works. This is why it delivers. It delivers because I felt that way.
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- I felt where my husband didn't care about me, where my father never cared about me.
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- He always thought my older sister was prettier and better and so on. You know, where my wife thinks
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- I'm this. My friends in school, no one respected me. People ignored me. I was invisible at a party or a gathering, right?
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- So that's the part that people connect to there. It doesn't matter that Jesus explains, we are told, exactly what's going to happen to him.
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- Moreover, I would just say this, if he knew that he was going to suffer and die and then remain in paradise for the weekend.
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- I mean, look at Luke. As I told you, Luke has no passion in it. Luke even has a lucid conversation with one of the criminals and says to him, you're going to be with paradise with me today and reassures him and says to God, you know, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing.
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- You would never find that in Mark, you know. This man has no concept of literary style or authorial intent.
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- He knows nothing of an author writing with a particular purpose in mind and highlighting certain events to align to his thematic undercurrents and to communicate to specific audiences.
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- Of course, when the same thing happens in the Tanakh, so for example, in 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Samuel, they're written about the same things that happen in 1 and 2
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- Chronicles, okay? But wait a second. The Chronicles don't include King David having an adulterous affair with another man's wife.
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- They don't include Solomon's being led astray by his many wives. Oh, this must be a contradiction, guys.
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- According to Rabbi Singer, when it happens in the New Testament, it's a contradiction. When it happens in the Old Testament, oh, don't worry about that.
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- This is ridiculous. It's hard to take this rabbi seriously because he makes so many videos about Christians and attacks
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- Christianity. It seems like he's trolling us, and if you ask him, he probably thinks he's doing the right thing.
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- But boy, this is a huge L on his part. Like, this is a really awful understanding of Jesus' death on the cross.
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- I encourage anyone who's just getting into the story of Christianity, take a look at the Gospels for yourself.
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- You'll find another rabbi, not Rabbi Singer, a rabbi who was also the
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- Messiah, the Son of God, who came to earth and died on the cross so that he can restore right relationship between us and God once again.
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- Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. Even when he cried out, he knew what he was doing.
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- He was teaching. Surely, as Isaiah 53 points out, Jesus has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
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- He was crushed for our iniquities, and by his wounds we are healed. Amen? All right, well, it's your turn.
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- Has this rabbi convinced you that Jesus' death makes no sense? Let me know in the comments below. Hey, congratulations! You made it all the way to the end of the video.
- 24:14
- You should join my Patreon community, even just to read the Bible with me. It's totally for free. You can jump over there, or you can support me financially and also get access to videos like this before they make it on YouTube.
- 24:26
- You can join me for exclusive live streams. You can ask me anything you want. The link for all of that is in the notes below. I'm going to return soon.
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- My voice is about to give out, but I'll be back in better for more later, and in the meantime,