Grace Seeker
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OK. Gotcha.
Do christians worship God (not Jesus)?
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This is my first post on these forums, so I say hi to all. 
English is not my native language. Just excuse me if I do grammar mistakes.
I'll cite some clear verses from the the Bible bearing witness that Jesus is the Son of God. These are from the Gospel of Matthew alone.
Matthew 3
[16] And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
[17] And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
God himself bears witness of his beloved Son. There are many like passages in the Gospels.
Matthew 8
[29] And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
There were people possessed with demons. When they saw Jesus coming, the demons acknowledged him to be the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Matthew 11
[27] All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Matthew 14
[33] Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
You can read about what great miracle Jesus did and see the whole context here (verses 22-33):
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV2&byte=4441493
Matthew 16
[13] When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
[14] And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
[15] He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
[16] And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
[17] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 21
[9] And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
When Jesus came to Jerusalem, the people celebrated him as the Messiah God had promised to send to his people through the Old testament prophets. They praised him as they praise God.
Matthew 22
[41] While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
[42] Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
[43] He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
[44] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
[45] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
[46] And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Matthew 26
[63] But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
[64] Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Jesus before the jewish Sanhedrin the night before his crucifixion. He confessed to be the Son of God; because of that they crucified him accused of being a blasphemer.
Matthew 27
[40] ...If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
...
[43] He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
This is how the people mocked Him when he was hanging on the cross.
English is not my native language. Just excuse me if I do grammar mistakes.
I'll cite some clear verses from the the Bible bearing witness that Jesus is the Son of God. These are from the Gospel of Matthew alone.
Matthew 3
[16] And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
[17] And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
God himself bears witness of his beloved Son. There are many like passages in the Gospels.
Matthew 8
[29] And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
There were people possessed with demons. When they saw Jesus coming, the demons acknowledged him to be the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Matthew 11
[27] All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Matthew 14
[33] Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
You can read about what great miracle Jesus did and see the whole context here (verses 22-33):
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV2&byte=4441493
Matthew 16
[13] When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
[14] And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
[15] He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
[16] And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
[17] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 21
[9] And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
When Jesus came to Jerusalem, the people celebrated him as the Messiah God had promised to send to his people through the Old testament prophets. They praised him as they praise God.
Matthew 22
[41] While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
[42] Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
[43] He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
[44] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
[45] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
[46] And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Matthew 26
[63] But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
[64] Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Jesus before the jewish Sanhedrin the night before his crucifixion. He confessed to be the Son of God; because of that they crucified him accused of being a blasphemer.
Matthew 27
[40] ...If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
...
[43] He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
This is how the people mocked Him when he was hanging on the cross.
No, because it was God's will that Jesus die for the sins of the world. Jesus was doing the will of the Father.
When Adam and Eve trespassed the commandment of God in the paradise, sin entered the world. They and all their descendants (that is, us) became sinful. We all have a tendency to sin and we commit sin everyday. We can't save ourselves from the power of sin, neither can we atone for our sins. Sin separates everyone from God. But God is love, and it was his plan since eternity to send his Son into the world, to live a holy and perfect life and to finally die on the cross for our sins. Don't think it was some accident, that was the very reason he became a human and came to our world. When he died, he fulfilled God's plan of love towards us. If we believe in him and accept his work of the cross and his forgiveness, all our sins will be totally forgiven and God shall never punish us for them. We will also receive a new life and a new heart and we shall be set free from slavehood to sin. Whom the Son sets free, he is free indeed.
Grace Seeker
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Really? This is a new suggestion. I've heard plenty of times that no where in the Bible do we see that Jesus claimed to be God (though I think we can see that other people understood him to have done just that in more than one instance), but I find it interesting that I haven't heard anyone make the claim that you have just made previously, that Jesus never is recorded as saying "I am the son of God" either. I will grant you that it is true we don't find those words on Jesus' lips any more than we find that Jesus is recorded as having said, "I am God." However, just as we can see that others understood him to have made such as claim by desiring to stone him for blasphemy, so we can see from the responses of others, that he did in fact say such things:
But of course your argument is that these were corruptions, add by the church later. But here is a question for you then: If Jesus never said these things, then why would the early church have desired to attribute such knowingly false statements to him. I believe the book of John was written by Jesus' disciple John. I believe this on the testimony of those who were John's disciples, who had set at his feet and learn about Jesus from him and who testify that he had written it. (I think such testimony is as strong as any hadith of the prophet you have in Islam.) And that being so we have John himself declaring that the reason he wrote his gospel was so that "you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). Why would John, or any other disicple of Jesus, fabricate such a claim, if it wasn't something they themselves learned from their time with Jesus?
I hear people say "corruption", "fabrication", "addition" all the time, but I have yet to hear a compelling argument as to any motivation for recording what Jesus did but turning it into a work of fiction and then knowing that it was all fiction putting their lives on the line for it just the same.
Keltoi
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That is something that never made any sense to me either. These people, meaning the early Christian church, were willing to lay down their lives for their faith. What possible logic would there be in fabricating such a claim in order to be persecuted?
Peace Keltoi,
continuing on this line of logic:
Hirohito MUST be god! the Japanese said he was AND they were willing, especially kamikaze pilots, to die for him!
3 million [arounds] died in a "police action", does that make "Uncle" Ho Chi Minn god?
Jim Jones had 900 people, who thought he was god, commit suicide. using YOUR logic, then SURELY he is god, eh?
so the fact that people are willing to die on bad info means *drum roll* ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
get it?
Keltoi
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Peace Keltoi,
continuing on this line of logic:
Hirohito MUST be god! the Japanese said he was AND they were willing, especially kamikaze pilots, to die for him!
3 million [arounds] died in a "police action", does that make "Uncle" Ho Chi Minn god?
Jim Jones had 900 people, who thought he was god, commit suicide. using YOUR logic, then SURELY he is god, eh?
so the fact that people are willing to die on bad info means *drum roll* ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
get it?
I think you missed the point entirely. The issue was the idea that the early Christian church knowingly and intentionally fabricated the Gospel of Christ, which is what is claimed by those who consider the New Testament to be "corrupted".
The question would then be why? What would Paul, who is usually the "villain" of this theory, gain by doing this? Make no mistake, it wasn't the "followers" who were in the most danger, but those who actively preached this message on the street. Many of them met a bad end, Paul being one of them.
Grace Seeker
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To add to what Keltoi said, those who did these things actually believed that the one they were laying down their lives for was worthy of worship. Muslims say that the early Christians knew that Jesus was just a man, a prophet of God, but no more. Given that knowledge, why would they lay down their lives for the opportunity to testify that he was God.
Hard as it is to identify with why the Japanese or Jones's followers might have done what they did, I can understand it because they believe it to be true. But early Christians, if we accept the teaching of Isalm, knew their testimony to NOT be true, and yet were willing to die defending a something they knew to be a lie. When to live, all they had to do was admit to what Islam would have us believe was the truth. So, according to Islam, they preferred to die for something they did not believe in, than tell the truth with regard to what they did actually know and believe and thereby live. I can't make any sense out of that type logic.
Hard as it is to identify with why the Japanese or Jones's followers might have done what they did, I can understand it because they believe it to be true. But early Christians, if we accept the teaching of Isalm, knew their testimony to NOT be true, and yet were willing to die defending a something they knew to be a lie. When to live, all they had to do was admit to what Islam would have us believe was the truth. So, according to Islam, they preferred to die for something they did not believe in, than tell the truth with regard to what they did actually know and believe and thereby live. I can't make any sense out of that type logic.
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Peace Keltoi & Gene,
that's a problem with a forum such as this, NONE of the Muslims here are alims, experts in ANYTHING Islamic, be it Seerah, Qur'an, Tafseer or just plain history. for those seeking EXPERT opinions, one should look to the experts in the field, in thisa case MAYBE Yusuf Estes a former chaplain or maybe someone like Bilal Philips.
my own opinion of the forum is starting to be that if it can't be moderated properly then certain sections should be closed or restricted because although we mean well, we give own opinion instead of what may be correct! me, i mainly read Sister Ambrosia's post and snakelegs posts for interest as well as a few of the moderators who have excellent manners and much knowledge [so Woodrow/ Abdullah is tops of the list.]
as for:
IF we say it we're wrong, if YOU deduce it your wrong! plain and simple. what really happen and how did it happen, Allah knows best. i would point out however, that if there were such a document explaining such it would lessen the folks value of the truth in this respect. faith is "belief" in the unseen, if you have ABSOLUTE proof, then no "faith" is required!
keep in mind when Moses[pbuh] was the RasoolAllah, the Hebrews witnessed Allah's miracles on a daily basis [food and drink], as well as the defeat of Pharoah and the mysterious guiding lights both in front and behind of the marching tribes AND the heard Allah speak to them personally!!!!!
YET, shortly after experiencing all this [and of course this is all "according to the Torah as we have it today] the fell to idol worship! NOT ONLY THAT BUT of the 6 thousand or 60 thousand or 600 thousand or 3 million Hebrews that left Egypt following Moses[pbuh] ONLY TWO made it to the Holy Land! TWO!
JUST TWO! did they all fail "intentionally?", i doubt it! i once quoted a Jewish scholar who said something like "where evil [shaytan] is in fear of extinction, it fights all the more harder to win!
we ask Allah in Surah al-Fatiha to guide us to the straight path of those who have earned His Grace, NOT that of those who,have earned His Anger [the Jews] or those whom have gone astray [the Christians]. i was watching a Bila Philips lecture [available at his official website for free; it's an 18 hour course on the Fundamentals of Islam. i recommend it]; he said thew Jews have earned Allah's anger because they HAD the Torah, yet they changed it and didn't follow it! [see R. E. Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible, 2nd edition]
the Christians have gone astray why? NO KNOWLEDGE! they did not preserve the Injeel, they have an Injeel ABOUT Jesus[pbuh], but NOT his Injeel! seems petty to some of non Muslim brethen in humanity, but NOT to us with a PRESERVED MESSAGE!
sorry, i'm out of time...
Keltoi
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Peace Keltoi & Gene,
that's a problem with a forum such as this, NONE of the Muslims here are alims, experts in ANYTHING Islamic, be it Seerah, Qur'an, Tafseer or just plain history. for those seeking EXPERT opinions, one should look to the experts in the field, in thisa case MAYBE Yusuf Estes a former chaplain or maybe someone like Bilal Philips.
my own opinion of the forum is starting to be that if it can't be moderated properly then certain sections should be closed or restricted because although we mean well, we give own opinion instead of what may be correct! me, i mainly read Sister Ambrosia's post and snakelegs posts for interest as well as a few of the moderators who have excellent manners and much knowledge [so Woodrow/ Abdullah is tops of the list.]
as for:
IF we say it we're wrong, if YOU deduce it your wrong! plain and simple. what really happen and how did it happen, Allah knows best. i would point out however, that if there were such a document explaining such it would lessen the folks value of the truth in this respect. faith is "belief" in the unseen, if you have ABSOLUTE proof, then no "faith" is required!
keep in mind when Moses[pbuh] was the RasoolAllah, the Hebrews witnessed Allah's miracles on a daily basis [food and drink], as well as the defeat of Pharoah and the mysterious guiding lights both in front and behind of the marching tribes AND the heard Allah speak to them personally!!!!!
YET, shortly after experiencing all this [and of course this is all "according to the Torah as we have it today] the fell to idol worship! NOT ONLY THAT BUT of the 6 thousand or 60 thousand or 600 thousand or 3 million Hebrews that left Egypt following Moses[pbuh] ONLY TWO made it to the Holy Land! TWO!
JUST TWO! did they all fail "intentionally?", i doubt it! i once quoted a Jewish scholar who said something like "where evil [shaytan] is in fear of extinction, it fights all the more harder to win!
we ask Allah in Surah al-Fatiha to guide us to the straight path of those who have earned His Grace, NOT that of those who,have earned His Anger [the Jews] or those whom have gone astray [the Christians]. i was watching a Bila Philips lecture [available at his official website for free; it's an 18 hour course on the Fundamentals of Islam. i recommend it]; he said thew Jews have earned Allah's anger because they HAD the Torah, yet they changed it and didn't follow it! [see R. E. Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible, 2nd edition]
the Christians have gone astray why? NO KNOWLEDGE! they did not preserve the Injeel, they have an Injeel ABOUT Jesus[pbuh], but NOT his Injeel! seems petty to some of non Muslim brethen in humanity, but NOT to us with a PRESERVED MESSAGE!
sorry, i'm out of time...
That is the problem, there is no evidence that Christ ever wrote or dictated anything to be written. What we have is the Gospel, which is an account of his teachings and eventual death and resurrection. I understand Islam has a different view, but a view that isn't based on more "proof" than what is contained within the New Testament. Muslims can say Christians went astray, and Christians can say Muslims have gone astray. In the end, it is based on religious faith and not "proof".
A document could survive 5,000 years describing a pumpkin god who passed on exciting gardening tips....however that doesn't equate to truth. In the end we believe what we believe.
Grace Seeker
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Disagreeing a little with my brother Keltoi. The Gospel is NOT "an account of his [Jesus'] teachings and eventual death and resurrection." What Jesus taught about was the Kingdom. The Kingdom -- its ethics, its patterns, its standards, and its behaviors -- were Jesus' message to the folks of his day. But we could have all of that verbatim and we would not have the Gospel. The Gospel is nothing more and nothing less than a proclamation of God's Good News (not Jesus' teachings about God or his kingdom) that he has acted to redeem the world and individual persons within it in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have the total of all the things that Jesus ever said perfectly preserved and miss telling the story about what he did and you have not a corrupted Gospel but no Gospel whatsoever.
For this reason, the only Injil that I would ever recognize as truly being Gospel would in fact be one not by Jesus, but rather about Jesus. Contrary to Muslim understandings of Jesus' mission, the Christian view is not that he came to deliver a message on behalf of God, but to make a payment for sin on behalf of humanity -- the act, not the message, is the Injil.
I agree with you that the "Gospel" can be summarized in what I have put in bold. This clearly distinguishes the Gospel from the Injeel which Muslims believe is the revelation from Allah that Jesus (as) brought and taught to the disciples. Plausible examples, include the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer and various parables apparently spoken by Jesus (as) as quoted in the Bible.
BTW Do you have any verses from the Bible where Jesus said something to the effect of, "The Gospel is that I am God in the flesh and my life, death, and resurrection was for the redemption of mankind to a sinless state.", or was it put forth by others, most notably Paul? Could the Gospel you speak of actually refer to the "revelation" to Paul that he speaks of in Galatians?????
No, the definition for Injeel is the revelation/message that Jesus (as) taught, just as the Qur'an is the revelation from Allah that Muhammad passed on.
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Matthew 28:16-20(NIV)
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 26:26-30(NKJV)
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new[c] covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 26:26-30(NKJV)
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new[c] covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Grace Seeker
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OK. Then I stand corrected. And given that difference it is important that neither Christian nor Muslim confuse the terms. I don't know about Arabic, but in the Turkish language we have the term "Incil" (prnounced Injil) which means:
And for the word "Gospel", the only translation offered is "Incil". Thus, apparently in the predominately Muslim country of Turkey the Incil isn't the same as your understanding of the Injeel. (Which I think is a wonderful way of defining the difference between it and the Gospel.) So, it makes it rather hard to keep the distinction that we've spoken of here.
As for what Jesus declared regarding the Gospel. He obviously never said anything such as you asked about, for as you already know, we don't have it recorded that he ever directly said, "I am God." That would make it a little hard to say the sentence you proffered.
What we do have is Matthew 26:13, posted in context as follows:
Note that the antecedent for "this gospel" is Jesus' statement that "Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified" (verse 2).
Beyond that, I would agree that Paul became the big interpreter of Jesus' death as THE significant event in human history. But, given his experience of meeting the risen Christ, I don't suppose we can blame him.
Yes, there is confusion between the terms Gospel and Injeel, but yet they are clearly distinct and not synonymous as the Gospel understood by Christians is not the same as the Injeel understood by Muslims.
http://www.islamic-dictionary.com/index.php?word=Injeel&x=0&y=0
Meaning of...
Word: InjeelMeaning: The Injeel is the holy book, or Gospel, that Allah gave to Prophet Jesus (PBUH). In today's world this book does not exist, but there are parts and influences from it found in the New Testament and other Gospels that did not make it into the Canon of the New Testament but these parts are not easy to point out. The Injeel IS NOT the New Testament because the NT was written after Jesus and by 4 main writers (amongst many) - Peter (sic), Mark, Luke & John. There is no 'Gospel of Jesus'.
True Form: انجيل
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injil#Difference_from_the_Gospels
The word Injil is used in the Qur'an, the Hadith and early Muslim documents to refer specifically to the revelations made by God to Isa, and is used by both Muslims and some Arabic-speaking Christians today.
I can see how you came to this conclusion. However, given the importance of the message, "The Gospel is that I (Jesus) am God in the flesh and my life, death, and resurrection was for the redemption of mankind to a sinless state" to Christianity, it seems that Jesus (as) would have made it crystal clear before leaving earth if in fact it was "the Gospel" he spoke of. The thing that Jesus (as) made clear immediately before his departure was what John316 quoted, "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you", yet this is not the Gospel as we know it today.
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Grace Seeker
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I might suggest that this source that you quoted is actually perpetuating the problem. First it ignores Paul completely, who wrote 13 out of the 27 NT books. Second it appears to perhaps be confusing the writings of the 4 Gospels for the entirely of the New Testament. Third, if that is what it is doing, then it doesn't even give the correct names for those authors -- as you noted by having to (sic) to the citing of Peter. Given those glaring mistakes, it shows sufficient lack of knowledge about the Christian writings that it looses credibility in any discussion about the Christian Gospel, yet sadly it is probably referenced by many Muslims who would not be as aware as you are of its failings.
So, when it says that "in today's world this book does not exist." It implies that there such a book once did exist. I find such a statement misleading. I suspect no "Gospel according to Jesus" ever existed, that Jesus never authored anything himself. If he had, it is hard to imagine that his followers would not have treasured it.
As to Jesus' purpose, he did tell us what it was:
"the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10).
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full", other translations say "abundantly" (John 10:10).
"I came into the world, to testify to the truth" (John 18:37).
"38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:38-40).
"17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again." (John 10:17-18).
And Jesus even predicted his coming death: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour." (John 12:24-27).
"Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." (Matthew 16:21. with parallel passage in Mark 8:31).
What many people fail to realize is that the accounts of Jesus' life recorded by the 4 Evangelists found in the New Testament are NOT meant as either biography nor a record of Jesus' teachings. Jesus lived 30-33 years. He taught for about 3 years, and while the accounts provided by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell some of that part of Jesus' life and ministry, the focus of each of them (enough so that it is roughly a full third of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and over half of John) is on the final week. On Jesus' passion consisting of his entry into Jerusalem, his conflict with the Jewish leaders, his betrayal, the final passover meal with the institution of the new covenant at it, his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and ultimate resurrection. Take that part of the story out of the Gospels so that all you have left is his teachings, and you really have next to nothing. And the reason is because that is not their focus in telling the story. It isn't just Paul, it is the entire early Christian community that is focused on this singular event, not the life and teachings of Jesus. That is something people have become interested in since, but that is not what the early church was focused on.
And, as I read the Gospel accounts, while Jesus spent his time teaching about the Kingdom of God, I don't think that was his ultimate focus either. Read the accounts, and the moment that the disciples come to a realization of who he is, the moment you get an act of confession like Peter's -- "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16, parallel in Mark 8:29) -- you see Jesus change from a focus on ministry to the masses, to a ministry generally more limited to his select disciples for "as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51).
Keltoi
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I actually agree with you. The bulk of the Gospel account is dedicated to the last week before the crucifixion. I was on a different line of thought there and probably should have been more careful as to how I worded it.