Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 9
Chapter One—Passages from the Gospels 9 Was Jesus the Cursed One? Jesus said to his opponents: 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. 1 Again he says: ‘He that believeth not shall be damned. ’ 2 Now the Pharisees believed that they caused Jesus to die an ‘accursed’ death and if this was true—and St. Paul testifies to it—then according to their law they proved conclusively that Jesus was a false prophet and that they were right in rejecting him and, therefore, will not be damned for it. In view of the real meaning of the word ‘cursed’, a cursed man cannot be a prophet and beloved of God, for a man cannot be a cursed one unless his relationship with God is cut and his heart becomes empty of His love and knowledge; unless he is deprived too, of the mercy and grace of God. He must be in error like Satan and at enmity with God; thus, Satan is named the ‘Accursed One’. Of a righteous and holy person like Christ, who claimed to be the light of the world—the beloved of God that God heard his prayers—can we believe that he was cursed of God and had no relationship with Him, and that his heart was overcome by error and disbelief ? Bearing in mind these facts, we must necessarily 1. Matthew 23:13 2. Mark 16:16