Decisive answers to Christian missionaries

Paul's autobiographical writtings as found in the New Testament advocated deceiving and lying to make converts. It was: The end justifies the means philosophy. Missionaries understand his mindset very well, and try to emulate him, the best they can.

They seek out Jews, even though there are billions of other non-believers in Jesus because only we can validate their faith. To explain: Jesus was Jewish, born and raised in Israel to a Jewish mother. He and his family were known to their neighbors, friends, schoolmates and teachers etc. The New Testament, Christians and Christianity originated long after Jesus died. The Jews were the only contemporary eyewitnesses to what really occurred during his lifetime.

The Rabbis and secular leaders who stood facing Jesus had solid reasons to reject his claims. It was not as if he was an unknown person who suddenly appeared, and revealed himself as the long awaited Messiah, and in the rush of the hour he was ignored. Jesus was living among them for 30 years (Luke 3:23).

Mark 6, the earliest of the gospels, remarkably left little for us to imagine what his neighbors and relatives thought of him. He related what happened when Jesus returned to his hometown. It must have been widely known for Mark to have included it. Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. From the reaction of the people who were there, we learn that this Jesus was not the same person whom they knew so well. "Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him." Luke 4 has the people trying to kill Jesus because he was hinting that he was the Messiah!

Being the village carpenter, they had personal contact with Jesus. Yet to them, he was nothing exceptional, and questioned where he got "this wisdom and ability to do mighty works". Because they did not believe in Jesus, nor were they in awe of him, as long as he was there, his ability to heal weakened. "He could not do a miracle there, except he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them." This was another sign that Jesus was a faith healer using magic. "He wondered at their disbelief."

That we rejected him as our Messiah has always been an embarrassment and obstacle for missionaries. Especially, since the Jewish nation was then living under Roman rule, which eventually led to war, the destruction of the Second Temple and exile. We were desperately awaiting the Messiah to initiate the Messianic Era. Therefore, anyone who claimed to be him would have been given serious consideration. Unfortunately, it was not the time.