POSTSCRIPT

I suppose that’s it. I’d rather have written a more massive volume, but my story is finished for now. Perhaps my wife or daughter will add on an extra chapter to let people know that I died smiling, or fighting to the end, or something. If anything, this little book/blog is too long, stretched out by details of the life of a rude man you don’t know, but will maybe meet in Heaven.

Jesus said that in Heaven we’ll be like angels in the sense that they don’t marry. So how are you going to find me in Heaven? Look up the Goldberg mansion in the Heaven Yellow Pages? Perhaps we’ll have tea in my parlor and you’ll tell me you read my testimony. But now perhaps, assuming it’s say 50 years from now we’ll stroll down a few corridors to Diana’s wing for a little visit and maybe more tea. True, we’re not married anymore, but somehow we wound up in the same building. Diana’s parlor is much larger than mine as she had to put up with my shenanigans in life. Now she’s even got angels attending her, some of which are preparing our children’s 'wings' for when they join us (yes I know we won't really have wings). Then we’ll all watch some 3-D colorized rerun’s of the Nelson’s or the Cleaver’s on HTV. Or maybe our 'mansions' in Heaven are purely metaphorical. Either way, we get to spend eternity in paradise.

The thing that amazes me is that for all our advanced technology we really don’t have any idea, beyond the clues left for us in the Bible by G-d, of what the afterlife will really be like. Dante’s fiction and the flick “It’s A Wonderful Life” have shaped a lot of what we believe as a race. Then there are the so-called 'near-death experiences' that form images in our minds. But since none of those folks actually died, we can’t know if they truly glimpsed Heaven or not. Maybe it was all in their minds. Perhaps you think my own experiences were drug-induced psychoses. How would you know? How much can we truly know for sure about any spiritual things?

Well, we can know a lot actually. The events of the life of Jesus are among the best documented in History. Of course it still takes faith to believe, but not 'blind' faith. There is plenty of evidence available for those with eyes to see. Authors C.S. Lewis and Josh McDowell both tried to disprove the Bible but wound up believers in the process.

Whether or not there are physical mansions or merely clouds, I know that Heaven is going to be great. Jesus is going to be there...

Addendum 

Is Jesus qualified to be the Messiah?

To the Christian, Jesus is obviously the Messiah, having fulfilled all Bible prophesy concerning Him (except of course for Second Coming prophesies as yet unfulfilled). For example He was born in Bethlehem and is a descendant of David. That probably describes quite a few Jewish people. But Jesus’ death is described in the book of Isaiah, dying for the sins of others with not a bone broken, with His appearance marred. That narrows it down quite a bit. There are upwards of 70 Bible prophecies fulfilled by His first coming. It is mathematically impossible that Jesus is not the Messiah, if someone approaches the Bible with an open mind and heart.

Non-believing (in Jesus) Jews approach the Bible with certain pre-conceived beliefs, most notably that Jesus is not and can’t possibly be the Messiah. They can then look at passages such as Isaiah 53 and say that therefore, this can’t possibly be a description of Jesus, but rather must be a description of Israel. But Israel did not die for the sins of others without a bone broken. How often have you read the Word and thought that Jesus is so obviously Messiah, why can’t the Jews see it? I’m sure there are books written on this subject and it’s not my intention to publish a book on theology, nor am I qualified to.

I would, however, like to bring up one Jewish argument, having to do with the genealogies in Matthew and Luke. Matthew’s line includes the accursed Jeconiah (Jeremiah 22:30), so if Joseph was Yeshua’s biological father, it’s true that Jesus would be disqualified. But we know that He is the offspring of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s genealogy in Luke also traces her line back to David but not through Jeconiah. In the books of Samuel and Chronicles, it is written that the Messiah will come through Solomon. Mary’s line is traced through Nathan, not Solomon. Some Christians have said that since Joseph was Yeshua’s legal father, having adopted Him, but not His biological father, that it’s OK to use Joseph’s line which goes through Solomon. But it’s unnecessary to do this and knowledgeable Jews will reject this idea.

The answer is simply that G-d rejected the line of Solomon to bring forth the Messiah as His promise to Solomon was conditional upon his keeping G-d’s statutes and judgments (1 Chronicles 28:5-7), and serving G-d with a perfect heart and not forsaking Him (1 Chron. 28:9). In 1Kings 11:9-13 G-d says that Solomon hasn’t kept His statutes and judgments and that the Kingdom will be taken away from him. The changing of the Kingdom from Solomon’s branch to another branch is prophesied in Jeremiah 23:5-6; “the days are coming when I will raise a righteous branch unto David and a king will reign and prosper”. And so the Messiah came from the line of Nathan. Please see my short bibliography for more information.

Who killed Jesus, the Romans or the Jews?

They both played their parts, but neither is ultimately responsible.

John 10:17-18 “I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down and take it again. I received this command from my Father.”

Isaiah 53:10 “It pleased the L-rd to bruise Him.”

Isaiah 53:12b “He suffered for the sins of many, and interceded for rebels”.

Jesus came to die as G-d’s plan to save you. He loves you that much.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Arnold Fruchtenbaum – Messianic Christology

Arnold Fruchtenbaum – Footsteps of the Messiah

Both available at www.ariel.org

Solomon vs. Nathan, the Jewish perspective: http://www.sullivan-county.com/identity/gen_jesus.htm

Solomon vs. Nathan, the Christian perspective: http://www.bibletoday.com/V5/Study_06.html