There are four specific Scripture texts Matthew 27:37 ; John 20:25 ; 21:18-19
1. “Also, they posted above
his head the charge against him, in writing: “This is Jesus the King of the
Jews” –Matthew 27:37, NWT. Since the Watchtower teaches that the Lord Jesus
was crucified on an upright stake, then why did Matthew write that the charge
against Christ was “posted above his
head?” Noted Bible teacher and author, John MacArthur writes this
interesting observation: “The fact that the placard was placed “above His head” suggests that this
cross was in the familiar shape with an upright protruding above the transom,
and not the T-shaped cross that was also sometimes used.”[1] If
he were crucified on a stake, then the charge would have been posted above his
hands, and not his head. Even more interesting is the fact that the above verse
taken from the New World Translation supports the truth of Christ being
crucified on a Cross instead of an upright stake as the Watchtower would have
us falsely believe.
2. “Unless I see in
his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the
print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will certainly not
believe” –John 20:25, NWT. Here is another verse that further points out the truth that
the Lord Jesus was crucified on a Cross. The disciple, Thomas [sometimes
referred to as doubting Thomas] made this skeptical statement about the risen
Christ as seen in the verse above. Notice that even though the cross or upright
stake is not mentioned in the above verse, yet it is alluded to by Thomas to be
a Cross that his Lord was crucified on. What’s the evidence for this you might
ask? The word “nails” [plural] in the
above Scripture text makes it abundantly clear that it was indeed a Cross that
Jesus was crucified on. If it were a stake, then there would only be a need for
one large nail to be driven through Christ’s two hands.
3. “Most truly I say
to you, When you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk about where
you wanted. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and
another [man] will gird you and bear you where you do not wish. This he said
to signify by what sort of death he would glorify God. So, when he had said
this, he said to him: “Continue following me.” –John 21:18-19, NWT. Here in
these two verses we have the Lord Jesus Christ prophetically foretelling
Peter’s eventual death. Again, the Watchtower translators were kind enough to
keep the truth, “you will stretch out
your hands” in the New World Translation. Though these verses do not
mention the manner in which Jesus was crucified, still the truth is conveyed
that the standard form of execution used was crucifixion on a cross, not an
upright stake. According to various traditional accounts that survived, Peter
was “Reportedly he spent horrific months in the infamous Mamertine Prison, a
place where incarceration was often itself a death sentence. Though manacled
and mistreated, Peter survived the tortures and apparently communicated the
gospel effectively to his guards. Eventually he was hauled out of the dungeon,
taken to Nero’s Circus, and there crucified upside down because Peter did not
consider himself worthy to be crucified with his head upward, like Christ.”[2] Perhaps
some would still question the manner in which Peter was martyred. It is clear
from the above verses in John 21, particularly the phrase, “you will stretch out your hands” (v.18) that the Lord Jesus was
referring to Peter’s hands being stretched out on the cross beam part of the
cross. The statement, “This he said to
signify by what sort of death he would glorify God,” (v.19) further
confirms the manner in which Peter was put to death.
So as we briefly examined the above Scriptures, it is clear
that the correct form of crucifixion was by a cross, not an upright stake as
the Watchtower falsely teaches. Christians need to be aware of such false
teaching by being faithful students of the Word of God. There is nothing better
than a good daily dose of God’s Word to wash away the dirt of deception.
No comments:
Post a Comment