Jewish Atheists, Hypocrites & Believers

The Word “Believe” in the Gospel of John - Part 20:

While reading an article on the internet recently I saw a link that took me to the web publication “Celebrity Tune” dated May 16, 2015 listing 46 celebrities quoted as claiming they are atheists: http://www.celebritytune.com/article/46-celebrities-you-wont-believe-are-atheists-video/1/. Among the avowed atheists are Lance Armstrong, George Carlin, Morgan Freeman and Bill Gates. But noteworthy for the purpose of this study are two quotes: “The Jewish-American comedian Sarah Silverman often uses religion as a punch line, saying she’s glad that the Jews killed Jesus, and she’d do it again in some of her sketches.” And, Paul Giamatti is quoted: “I consider myself an atheist. My wife is Jewish. And I’m fine with my son being raised as a Jew. He’s learning Hebrew and is really into it. I will talk to my own son about my atheism when the time is right. But there’s a great tradition of Jewish atheism, there are no better atheists in the world than the Jews.”

Whether Giamatti’s opinion represents today’s reality or not, it brings to mind that there is nothing specific in the NT identifying Jewish atheists at the time of Christ, when in fact the Jewish “religion,” if it can be called that, represented the only “system” or “way” anyone could have a relationship with God. That “system” or “way” began when God called Abraham out from the Gentile nations and made from him the Nation of Israel; God’s chosen people. Subsequently, through Moses, God gave Israel His Law and the only way anyone could have a relationship with and please God was to be a Jew (or Gentile proselyte) and follow the Law of Moses. The only other “religions” on earth from Abraham to a point in time recorded in the book of Acts were pagan in which people worshipped just about anything but God. During those many years, Gentiles were out in the cold, so to speak, Ephesians 2:1212 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

. Jesus was born a Jew; He followed the Law of Moses to the letter, Matthew 5:17 - 1917 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

, and He came only to the Lost sheep of Israel, Matthew 15:2424 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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During His ministry Jesus Christ validated the responsibility and authority of Israel’s leaders: “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” Matthew 23:1 - 31 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

. Sitting “in Moses’ seat” meant the Scribes and Pharisees were the official administrators of God’s Law. But at the same time, Jesus recognized they were hypocrites, identifying them as such a number of times, Matthew 23:13 - 3313 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

; Mark 7:6 - 96 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

; etc. The Greek word translated hypocrite in the New Testament (NT) is “hupokrites” which means literally “an actor under an assumed character.” It occurs 20 times in Matthew, Mark and Luke but nowhere else in the NT, and... the only person quoted as having uttered the word hypocrite is Jesus Christ Himself. (The Greek “hupokrisis,” which literally means “acting under a feigned part,” and is usually translated with our English word “hypocrisy” is used only 7 times, once each in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Galatians, 1 Timothy, James and 1 Peter.) So the Scribes and Pharisees were not atheists but they were hypocrites; they said one thing and did another. And thus Jesus set the bar above them “ ... That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:2020 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

b.

The word “hypocrite” is not found in the Gospel of John; another indication the Gospel authors were inspired to record and emphasize specific things Jesus did and said, depending on the purpose God had for their particular accounts. Matthew presents Jesus Christ as God’s perfect King, Mark the perfect Servant and Luke the perfect Man and in those roles He is quoted as identifying the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites. On the other hand, the Spirit’s purpose in John’s Gospel was to reveal Jesus Christ as God Himself, John 10:30 - 3330 I and my Father are one.

31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

; 14:6 - 11; 17:21 & 22. And thus we find in John the reason the Scribes and Pharisee’s’ were hypocrites; they didn’t truly believe Jesus was God’s Son, an indication they didn’t truly believe God; “Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.” John 12:44 & 4544 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.

45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.

. This begs the question of how could they not believe, in the true sense of the word, and yet represent God by serving Him in the administration of His law?

God chose Israel as His people, He ordained the Priesthood and God didn’t fail in His responsibilities; His people failed Him. Jesus told them: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matthew 23:25 - 2825 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

. See also Matthew 6:22 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

, 5, 16, etc.

It must be noted that in spite of the failure of Israel as a whole, there were individual Jews who were true believers, John 1:50 & 2:11, etc. However, there is also reference to many Jews who believed on Him but Jesus did not believe them because He knew all and knew what was in their hearts, John 2:23 - 2523 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

(the KJV translates the word normally translated “believe” as “commit” in verse 24). We covered the elements of belief in Volume 3, Numbers 76 & 77 so I’ll just summarize; true belief is more than verbal or mental assent. John’s Gospel identifies true believers in Jesus as having “received” Him and having been born of God, or from above, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:11 & 1211 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

. To truly believe is to “receive,” “take,” “take unto,” “take up,” “take with,” etc. And, they were “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:1313 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

. Jesus explained further: “... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (from above). The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5 - 85 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

.” “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:4444 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

; “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” John 6:63 - 6663 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

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Jesus also told the Scribes and Pharisees who “sat in Moses’ seat” that they didn’t believe Moses. In John 5:1818 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

we read the Jews sought to kill Jesus not only because they said He broke the Sabbath but that he said He was equal with God. Jesus ended His response to them: “How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” John 5:44 - 4744 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

. To understand this we must remember that Moses’ Law required innocent animals be slaughtered and offered as sacrifices for the sins of those who brought them. This was meant to impress upon the person that they had indeed sinned and because of their sin, an innocent animal had to die. Those who took this lesson to heart saw themselves as sinners in need of a Savior. But many didn’t. Instead, they derived self-pride by going through the motions of offering sacrifices and tithes. In essence they were saying, “look at me, I’ve followed the law to the letter,” with the emphasis on “I.” “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:42 & 4342 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

. True believers were those who understood Moses’ Law was a schoolmaster to bring them to realize their need for a Savior, Galatians 3:2424 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

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In Romans 9 - 11 The Apostle Paul explains that Israel, the focus of God’s dealings, was set-aside for a time. That “set-aside time” has been about 2000 years now. And in spite of the teaching of many churches over the last 2000 years there has been and is no formal “religion” or “church” ordained to take Israel’s place as God’s representative. The Apostle Paul advises “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:1313 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1 Timothy 2:55 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

. The Gospel for today is put succinctly: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:11 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

-4. Believing this Gospel today makes us Members of Christ’s Body, Romans 12:55 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

; 1 Corinthians 12:1212 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

, 27; Ephesians 3:66 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

, 4:12, etc., and makes us Saints, Romans 1:6 & 76 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

; 1 Corinthians 1:1 & 21 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:

; Ephesians 1:11 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

, etc., which has nothing to do with being a member of any of the 1000’s of churches and denominations nor being bestowed sainthood by some earthly organization.