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You may wish to begin with Did Jesus Lie which discusses a fundamental issue with one instance of Jesus' ministry as portrayed in the Gospels.

• The Sabbath was made for Man – Apparently no, man was made for the Sabbath.

add some commentary here, maybe rewrite or summarize

We submit that Jesus broke the laws of Love and Brotherhood; specifically

• Dogs and Crumbs – Why did Jesus say this?

comment/expand this section maybe

One aspect in how Jesus would have had to fulfill the Jewish law is in the sense where he would have had to fulfill every Messianic prophecy – in order to be – the Messiah. Yet we see that there are several cases where there are Unfulfilled Messianic prophecies.

Also, if Jesus made some statement which contradicted himself, or the Old Testament, or any other facet of Christian Doctrine, such as issuing a prophecy that never came true or accidentally overstepping the bounds of the Torah (or not fulfilling the Torah) then we would say that he lied in the sense that if we say he claimed to be the Messiah (or even only that he laid claim to it by his actions, rightfully or not, intended or not) – then he would have impeached himself from making such a claim.

A common defense I have heard (to some of what I am about to present) is that since Jesus would be presumed to be God, then he would have the authorization to make a change to God's word. This is not a logical claim. First, we reject it because it is a highly visible failure of the test of who is and is not from God – a test which God gave us specifically to test the viability of any such prophet or Messiah. Secondly, because of why it would fail the test – as we take the axiom that God is perfect, would not lie to us about his plan, and that he can predict the future (he created time and exists outside of it's bounds). It is not logical to assume he would make one statement and then later contradict himself in such a manner. Therefore we can only conclude that Jesus is not God in such a case, which would then amount to a lie (since Jesus claimed or laid claim to it).

This became a topic of the week with a better write-up here: Jesus and the laws of Lashon Hara.

In Matthew 23, Jesus issues lashon hara against the pharisees.

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.Matthew 23:1-7 (NIV)

However, Jewish people are forbidden from speaking ill of other people;

• Psalm 34:14
  • 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
  • 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Further, as a religious person, Jesus would have been aware of the prohibitions against such speech as a teacher,

By repeatedly communicating so, lashon hara became an integral part of this person, and his/her sins are far more severe, because this person regularly creates a chillul Hashem, a “desecration of the name of HaShem” (Leviticus 22:32).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lashon_hara

Over and above the normal laws on Lashon hara, there are specific prohibitions in the law against cursing judges or rulers:

• Exodus 22:27
  • h.כז אֱלֹהִים, לֹא תְקַלֵּל; וְנָשִׂיא בְעַמְּךָ, לֹא תָאֹר.
  • Thou shalt not revile God, nor curse a ruler of thy people.

This is referred to in two specific laws, No. 69 and No. 70 in Canonical (Maimonides) order, namely:

• 69. Ex. 22:27 — Not to curse judges
• 70. Ex. 22:27 — Not to curse the head of state or leader of the Sanhedrin

Let's be very specific here: these are the same people of which Jesus said ““The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, …”” (Matthew 23:2-3a ESV)

So if the question is, did Jesus fulfil the laws of Lashon Hara, the answer is no. If the question is, did Jesus break the laws of Lashon Hara, the answer is yes.

Really? Sanhedrin 66a shows,

The baraita elaborates: The defining characteristic of a judge is not like the defining characteristic of a king, as with regard to a judge, you are commanded with regard to obeying his halakhic ruling.Sanhedrin 66a Sefaria.org

Therefore it should be obvious that Jesus was in full knowledge of the sin he was committing by going against the Chazal and cursing the judges; he was specicific; “they sit in the seat of moses”.

In Matthew 23, Jesus says that no one among his followers should be called 'Rabbi', violating the commandment to follow the judges;

• Matthew 23:8
  • “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

In Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 7 and John 12, a sinful woman pours some very expensive incense (or perfume) on Jesus' feet, and the disciples complain because Jesus seems to be breaking the laws of Charity:

8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and xgiven to the poor.” 10 But yJesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For zyou always have the poor with you, but ayou will not always have me. Matthew 26:8-11 (ESV)

4 Some of the people there became angry. They said to one another, “Why waste this perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s pay. The money could have been given to poor people.” So they found fault with the woman.

6 “Leave her alone,” Jesus said. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 You will always have poor people with you. You can help them any time you want to. But you will not always have me.Mark 14:4-7 (NIRV)

In Luke, Jesus deflects the scorn by assigning charity to the woman's actions, in contrast to those around him:

44 Then he turned toward the woman. He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water to wash my feet. But she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss. But this woman has not stopped kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You did not put any olive oil on my head. But she has poured this perfume on my feet. 47 So I tell you this. Her many sins have been forgiven. She has shown that she understands this by her great acts of love. But whoever has been forgiven only a little loves only a little.”Luke 7:44-47 (NIRV)

In John we see another incredible turn in the story, although the central point remains the same:

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”John 12:1-8 (NRSV)

(Note: No reason for choosing different translations, just what I found on the internet). First there are some discrepancies; in Luke it was Lazarus who complained, in John it was Judas. In the original (Mark) it was “some people there”, and in Matthew it was “the disciples”. Discrepancies aside, (and the deflection to Simon aside), what is going on here is interesting because Jesus is giving a different conclusion to what the Torah says on Charity given the same situation.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 is clear in this regard; even using the same turn of phrase as Jesus did. Why then did Jesus not agree with (whoever complained), but instead justified the use of very expensive perfume, especially since the time of is sacrifice was nearing (paralleled in Deuteronomy by the sabbatical year)?

7 If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. 8 You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. 9 Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, “The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,” and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. 10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (ESV)

Using the saying that the 'poor will always be with you' is an undeniable reference to this passage. It is not possible that if Jesus was the messiah he would be unfamiliar with these words in the torah. For him to act in a completely different manner and advise others to act contrary to the torah message is something Christians will find very difficult to justify.

1. “Thou shalt be fruitful and multiply”; Jesus did not have children. But this aside, Jesus said:

18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.Luke 16:18 ESV

But the bible clearly teaches,

24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.Deuteronomy 24:1-4 ESV

What is the context of this? Deuteronomy 11:31-12:1 states:

31 For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it,

32 you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.

12:1 “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.“Deuteronomy 11:31-12:1 ESV

Moved to Issue of the Week #3 Jesus cleanses the temple?.

As a hammerfall blow, we will close this particular article for now with a strong statement; even if all of the above could somehow be explained, we doubt the following could be explained.

Jesus certainly broke the torah by refusing to give a Sign as mandated by God and instead by – on multiple occasions – attempting to give a sign as expressly forbidden by God.

It is a matter of Law that a statement by God on how the Jewish people are to interact with other people becomes Law itself.

Therefore we question the reason why Jesus rejected giving a sign as mandated by God, and why he instead attempted (on multiple occasions!) to give a sign as expressly forbidden!

What does the Law say you need to do to test a prophet?

1. No Prophet may ever claim to be God. If a prophet was God he would need to be recognized as such by all Jewish people. This is shown in Deuteronomy 4:10-20, Deuteronomy 13:1-5, and other places.

2. Prophets shall be tested by the people to determine if they are authentic. Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

For the sake of convenience let us just combine these two as one for now, because in many of the Christian scriptures we see a dual approach; to use the Christian scriptures to show that Jesus is God, and also that he fulfilled the law according to Prophets.

The answer here seems to be no. This may be surprising to many Christians. However, in any capacity if Jesus did claim to be God he would have obviously broken the Torah. Instead, in every passage which Christians use to show Jesus is God, it turns out to mean the exact opposite.

• Christians use John 10:30 to say Jesus claimed to be God. But Jesus spends the rest of that section explaining why he's not God (like the Judges, merely a 'Son of God' – a vessel of the Lord's service – i.e. a messiah).
• Christians use John 8:48-59 to say that Jesus claimed to be God. This is however a stunning error; Jesus had just explained to them how he was not God. However I don't have the explaination for this on hand and will have to search for it later it is something to do with quoting the hebrew in greek and then taking a different meaning of the greek words in translation into english. Jesus may have been quoting a psalm.

The issue at hand is the phrase “I am” in verse 58. The Jehovah's Witnesses have “translated” the Greek present tense (“I am”) into the English perfect tense (“I have been”) which is more consistent with their theological position that Jesus is not God in flesh. In the Greek, the words are “ego eimi.” Literally, this is “I am.” “Ego eimi” is the present active indicative first person singular (I am) and not the perfect active indicative first person singular (I have been). It would seem that the natural and correct translation into the English is “I am,” but the NWT does not translate this into the present tense. Why? I am firmly convinced it is because translating John 8:58 as “I am” would be too close to God identifying Himself as the “I am” in Exodus 3:14. Therefore, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has opted for a different rendering.

  "And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:14).

But the issue is not settled so easily. Does the Bible ever legitimately translate the present tense 'ego eimi' into the English perfect tense “I have been”? Yes, it does. In John 14:8-9 it says, “Philip said to Him, 'Lord show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' 9Jesus said to him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father?'” Where Jesus says, “I have been” is in the Greek present tense, 'ego eimi'. Literally, again, this is “I am.” Here we have an example of the Greek present tense being translated into the English perfect tense. This is the very same thing the Watchtower organization claims is legitimate in John 8:58. Why is this translated into “I have been?” Quite simply because if we did not do this, then the English would say, “I am with you so long . . . ” That is awkward in the English, so translators translate it as “Have I been so long with you . . . ” It is legitimate to do this in some instances where it is warranted in order to make the English more readable and clear. But is it necessary to do this in John 8:58? I don't believe so unless your underlying presupposition is that Jesus is not God in flesh.

So let me try and explain it this way. We aren't interested in a proof where Jesus claims to be God because it would instantly invalidate him from being God. Instead we are confident enough to simply ignore this issue and deal with A2, which conclusively counters these claims even as a separate issue.

We see that in every case Jesus was asked to provide a sign according to the Torah, he blatantly refuses to do so:

30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”John 6 (RSV)

Here, the people ask Jesus for a sign and he does not give them one; he merely restates the miracle of the mana in the desert. Further, the implication of this passage is that they should have believed him because of the miracles he had done (ex. John 6:26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”) And, later in John 6, Jesus tries to ask them if they would believe his teaching if he showed them yet another miracle (John 6:62).

This is not a good start; Jesus does not give a proper sign as required by the Torah, but instead asks people (twice) to believe in him merely because of the miracles he does. This is an inversion of the Torah law!

Jesus gives signs that make no sense (and are miracle-based anyway).

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears the Temple Courts

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

…

19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[c] went out of the city.

20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[d] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:12-14,19-25

In the above, Jesus makes an issue of cursing a Fig tree which was out of season (v. 13., ”..because it was not the season for figs.“). This makes no sense. The tree was never supposed to have produced fruit at that time. The irony of this sign is driven home by v.25. “25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Jesus essentially cursed a fig tree which did nothing wrong, how the moreso then is this supposed to show that we must forgive people who do in fact cause us wrong?

But the real problem with this passage is that Jesus gives what amounts to a false prophecy in v. 23, 24. It is certainly not true that God will grant you every prayer merely because you are faithful. There are issues with this passage. But again this is part of a series of signs and prophecies which together show a consistant pattern; Jesus ultimately breaks the Torah by refusing to give proper signs and instead requiring belief in miracles.

In John 4:46-52 Jesus notes that the man will not believe unless he performs a miracle; he then heals his sick and dying child. The man later confirms the child was healed at the same time Jesus said he would live. In this passage Jesus is basically asking him to believe because he performed a miracle, which is against the Torah.

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nin′eveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.Matthew 12:38-42 (RSV)

It is strange that Jesus speaks against the Torah here, and diminishes it, and acts against it (all thus breaking the Torah). Instead, he says he will give the sign of Jonah. So you may be wondering why this section is about Jesus refusing to give a sign. That's because he does refuse – as he never appears to those scribes and Pharisees, the “Sign of Jonah” is a broken promise – and not a sign at all. A sign was never given. How could they be evil and adulterous for requesting a Sign as required by the Torah in multiple places?

In a separate instance Jesus again refuses to give a sign, as required by the Torah.

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.” 13 And he left them, and getting into the boat again he departed to the other side.Mark 8:11-13 (RSV)

Jesus did many miracles. For now let us just assume this is a given without mentioning any specific miracle;

• “And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23).
• “And wherever he entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and entreating him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured” (Mark 6:56).
• “And all the multitude were trying to touch him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all” (Luke 6:19).
• “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30).

However, the reason Jesus performed these miracles is because this is the means by which he intended to garner belief. This is the problem. All such claims via miracle are invalid due to them being expressly denied as proof in Deuteronomy 13; instead the requirement is of prophecy (in Deuteronomy 18).

• The Miracles Were Of A Sufficient Variety
• The Miracles Covered All Possible Areas Of Authority (including authority over life and death)
  • Jesus Is The Lord Of Nature (ex. Matthew 8:25-27)
  • He Is Lord Of The Supernatural Realm (ex. Matthew 8:29)
  • Jesus Had Authority Over The Forgiveness Of Sins (ex. Matthew 9:1-8)
  • Jesus Had Authority Over The Natural And The Supernatural At The Same Time (Matthew 9:32-34)
• Jesus Healed Incurable Disease
• Jesus Healed From A Distance
• The Miracles Were Done Publicly
• They Were Done In A Strategic Location
• They Were Performed Before Large Crowds
• There Was No Special Time Of Day When They Were Done
• They Were Performed Before Gentiles
• They Were Done Without Props
• The Miracles Were Done With Restraint
• Jesus Did Only Beneficial Miracles
• They Were Not Done For His Own Advantage
• They Met Real Needs
• They Are In Contrast To The Miracles In Apocryphal Gospels
• They Were Done With Great Ease
• They Were Recorded By Eyewitnesses
• The Reaction To His Miracles Is Exactly What We Would Expect
• The Disciples Were The First Unbelievers Of The Resurrection
• They Had Never Seen This Sort Of Thing Before
• The Miracles Of Jesus Were Never Denied
• Everyone Was Aware Of His Miracles
• All Early Reports Of Jesus Agree That He Performed Miracles

Is that a sufficient list of rationale?

The problem is that none of these claims mean anything if ultimately the vehicle used to prove Jesus' authority was a miracle! In fact some of the above, such as Jesus' miracles being different from the kind given in the Old Testament, are actually disproofs of his authority, not proofs! And even so, many other such claims above are false. For example not all of Jesus' miracles were beneficial; he cursed a fig tree for no reason.

So did Jesus require belief in miracles? The definitive answer is yes:

• “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.” –John 2:23
• ”…Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.“ –John 4:48 (ESV)
• ”…though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.“ –John 10:37-38 (KJV)
• “Believe me … or else believe on account of the works themselves.” –John 14:11 (ESV)
• ”…Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.“ –John 6:26
• “Jesus performed many other signs…but these are written that you may believe…” –John 20:30-31 (NIV)

Thus, Jesus broke the torah prohibition on requiring miracles alone for proof (Deuteronomy 13) and for refusing to give a proper sign on at least three different occasions (Deuteronomy 18).

Matthew 24:1-2

See: the_second_temple_will_be_destroyed

these sections need to be merged into their own article and reorganized here.

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; 31 and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.Matthew 24:29-34 (RSV)

This prophecy can never come true because it did not come true during the life of the apostles.

See: Did Jesus ask for forgiveness