"give tribute to Caesar, or not?" - Tax to Pay to God

Venus and Mt. Fuji

Crimson Foliage

Christmas Tree, around Tokyo

Tax to Pay to God

Some enemies of Christ Jesus came to Him.

They thought they were smart to find a way to trap Christ.  Christ never respected the Roman authority.  He would like to forbid Israelites to pay tax to the Roman emperor.  But Christ must be wiser.  He would try to avoid a danger of challenging the Roman rule of Judea and Jerusalem.  But if Christ agreed to pay a tax to the Roman authority in Jerusalem, those enemies could laugh at Christ for His submission to the worldly power while He was acting like a holy man.

Indeed Christ Jesus told them to pay a tax to the Roman emperor but also pay their lives to God, namely give up lives to God by dying.   In other word, the Roman emperor takes your money but the God takes your lives.  It implies that the enemies of Christ should be killed by God if they challenged Him.  So, the enemies must have felt fear.

"Render unto Caesar" is the beginning of a phrase attributed to Jesus in the synoptic gospels, which reads in full, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." 

This phrase has become a widely quoted summary of the relationship between Christianity and secular authority. The original message, coming in response to a question of whether it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar, gives rise to multiple possible interpretations about the circumstances under which it is desirable for the Christian to submit to earthly authority. 

At his trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus was accused of promoting resistance to Caesar's tax. 

Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ/Messiah, a king." (Luke 23:1-4) 

The passage has been much discussed in the modern context of Christianity and politics, especially on the questions of separation of church and state and tax resistance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_unto_Caesar

Therefore, there is no general rule concerning tax in this world in teachings by Christ Jesus.  Once Christ said to sell all the assets, get a toll, and give all the money to the poor before following Him.

A pious man would honestly pay tax and give his money to the poor.  Accordingly, a pious man cannot help but become poor for himself.

The point at issue is not Caesar, the Roman authority or any government.  But what is more important is for a man to be poor by giving him money to the poor, but he is not forbidden to pay tax as a duty so that taxation imposed on the poor would be rather light and small.

Another important thing is that our lives belong to God but not to ourselves, since we did not create them but God did.

And the last thing we have to ponder is what it is: tax to God.

However, Christ Jesus benevolently told that we can accumulate wealth in Heaven.  So then, our tax must be subtracted from our wealth accumulated in Heaven.  We will surely see the bottom lines of our accounts in Heaven.  If we don't have enough assets in Heaven to meet a tax request by God, something terrible should happen.  We will lose a right to enter Heaven and receive an eternal life.

Do you have a coin on which the face of God is inscribed?

All the coins in Heaven must bear the image of Christ Jesus for this episode called "Render unto Caesar."

Render unto God!

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Mar 12:14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
Mar 12:15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
Mar 12:16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
Mar 12:17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.

"Master, speak to my brothe"

Tokyo Bay






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Luk 12:11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
Luk 12:12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
Luk 12:13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
Luk 12:14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

"Jesus was coming to Jerusalem" - How to Drive Out the Devil

The Only One Tramcar Line in Tokyo

How to Drive Out the Devil

The most important mission for followers of Christ Jesus is to drive out the Devil from minds of people.

But not all the people possessed by the Devil act strangely or dangerously.  Even in the mind of the calmest priest or layman the Devil penetrates.

Today the Pope seems to be able to handle the easiest case.

The nature of exorcism was the topic at last week's annual meeting of French Catholic exorcists according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris. The Paris Archdiocesan Service told Rome's Zenet news agency that more than 30% of the people who request exorcisms have engaged in activities such as witchcraft.
During the meeting, the archdiocese outlined the profile of people who request the ritual. 

Among individuals who request exorcism, 31% engage in witchcraft, spiritualism or related activities, and 23% suffer pathological problems such as delirium, hallucinations, obsessions, anxiety crises, suicide attempts or visions. 

Eighteen percent suffer from family problems such as divorce or sexual abuse; 15% suffer from depression linked to loneliness, abortion, chronic unemployment, false guilt feelings, death tendencies or similar trends. Eighteen percent have religious problems such as possessions, pacts with the devil, curses and diabolical apparitions. Father Henri Caffart, the exorcist of France's Arras Diocese, told the SIR Catholic agency that more and more individuals come to ask for his help, "after having asked for help from sorcerers, gurus and visionaries," Zenet reported. 

And Father Maurice Bellot, exorcist of the Paris Archdiocese said "the more pagan the mentality, the greater the requests for exorcisms. They often ask me to exorcise them by telephone, or at least at home."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/631597/posts


Dear Jane: It's true that J. P. II performed at least 2 exorcisms during his pontificate, that information is taken from a very serious french publication called "L'actualite religieuse dans le monde", that could be "Religious actualitty in the world"; on 1.984 that publication said that an exorcism was performed by his holyness on 1.982 and the other one on 1.984. This very same information is taken by a french journalist "Francois Dunois canette" in his book: "Les pretres exorcistes", 1.993, Editions Robert Laffont, S.A., Paris. That must be "The exorcist priests"
In Codibus Jesu et Mariae
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=003uk1


The young woman was brought to one of the Polish pontiff's weekly audiences in St Peter's Square in 2000 and started screaming, writhing on the floor and drooling.
The encounter is described in a new book by Father Gabriele Amorth, the exorcist for the diocese of Rome. 

As soon as she entered St Peter's Square, in front of the Vatican, her behaviour became bizarre. 

"When John Paul appeared, she began to wail. Ten people had to hold her down. She wanted to fling herself at the Pope. Her face was full of hate. She was drooling, uttering blasphemies. 

"Her body trembled. She was like a beast ready to attack," Father Amorth wrote in his book, The Last Exorcist – My Fight Against Satan, which was released on Tuesday. 

After the audience was over, the Pope reportedly asked to be taken to see the woman in his Popemobile. 

"Sabrina was in a trance. Her eyes were two white orbs. She was drooling and throwing her head backwards. As soon as she was brought close to the Pope she started yelling 'No, leave me alone!' The pope carried out an exorcism on the spot. He blessed her several times. And then he left," wrote Father Amorth, the founder and president of the International Association of Exorcists. 

But the exorcism did not work – when Sabrina was brought to see Father Amorth later that day, she was still possessed, according to Father Amorth. 

"She was very agitated. I started to exorcise her. But the Devil wanted to show that he was still in command. I started to pray and said 'Get out, foul spirit.' It replied 'You get out, priest'. I said 'Why are you in this woman? Answer in the name of Christ'. The spirit answered 'You must all worship me because I am the strongest. I am God.'"
Father Amorth claimed that the young woman then got up from her chair and proceeded to walk up the wall behind him "as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She walked against every law of gravity." 

It eventually took many sessions to cleanse her entirely of her demons, he said. "But I'm convinced that in some way the exorcism carried out by JPII left a trace in her."
The Pope had more success with an exorcism in the Vatican in March, 1982, when a young girl named Francesca Fabrizi was brought to him by the Bishop of Spoleto in Umbria. 

"She was writhing around on the floor, crying out. She became calm when the Pope said 'Tomorrow I will say mass for you'," Father Amorth wrote. She went on to live a normal life, getting married and having children. 

In his book, he also claimed the current Pope, Benedict XVI, performed an exorcism on two men possessed by the Devil at one of his weekly audiences in St Peter's Square in May 2009.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9066773/Pope-John-Paul-II-could-not-cure-drooling-trembling-woman-during-Vatican-exorcism.html

In contrast, Japanese people traditionally have seen spirits in various living things,  nonliving matters, and even in movement of a man, an animal, etc.

Even in one tiny stone some Japanese can feel existence of a spirit.  So, actually a mountain itself can be a holy spirit himself to some pious Japanese following shintoism.  There are some mountains in Japan which are shrines themselves.  As an example, for some faction of shinto religion, Mt. Fuji itself is a big shrine.  And these spirits are good spirits, though they can get angry at people for their wrongdoing.

But there is of course a concept of being possessed by an evil spirit in Japan.  To drive out such a harmful spirit, people once relied on shinto priests or Buddhist monks.  But nowadays, those poor people possessed by ill spirits are forcibly sent to mental hospitals.

Modern psychiatry could hold patients in a hospital or have them attend a hospital to prevent them from harming others or themselves.  But their method relying on medicine cannot cure those patients 100%, since the real root of the illness must be rooted in the spiritual sphere.

Without love, no complete therapy can be expected.




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Joh 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Joh 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

"This was the Lord's doing" - 37 Miracles of Christ Jesus

Imperial Palace Plaza (old Edo Castle of Samurai Shogun)

37 Miracles of Christ Jesus

The miracles Christ Jesus performed are listed below:

The Miracles of Jesus

37 Miracles of Jesus
#	Miracle	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
1	Jesus Turns Water into Wine				2:1-11
2	Jesus Heals an Official's Son				4:43-54
3	Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit		1:21-27	4:31-36
4	Jesus Heals Peter's Mother-in-Law	8:14-15	1:29-31	4:38-39
5	Jesus Heals Many Sick at Evening	8:16-17	1:32-34	4:40-41
6	First Miraculous Catch of Fish			5:1-11
7	Jesus Cleanses a Man With Leprosy	8:1-4	1:40-45	5:12-14
8	Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant	8:5-13		7:1-10
9	Jesus Heals a Paralytic	9:1-8	2:1-12	5:17-26
10	Jesus Heals a Man's Withered Hand	12:9-14	3:1-6	6:6-11
11	Jesus Raises a Widow's Son in Nain			7:11-17
12	Jesus Calms a Storm	8:23-27	4:35-41	8:22-25
13	Jesus Casts Demons into a Herd of Pigs	8:28-33	5:1-20	8:26-39
14	Jesus Heals a Woman in the Crowd	9:20-22	5:25-34	8:42-48
15	Jesus Raises Jairus' Daughter to Life	9:18, 23-26	5:21-24, 35-43	8:40-42, 49-56
16	Jesus Heals Two Blind Men	9:27-31
17	Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak	9:32-34
18	Jesus Heals an Invalid at Bethesda				5:1-15
19	Jesus Feeds 5,000	14:13-21	6:30-44	9:10-17	6:1-15
20	Jesus Walks on Water	14:22-33	6:45-52		6:16-21
21	Jesus Heals Many Sick in Gennesaret	14:34-36	6:53-56
22	Jesus Heals a Gentile Woman's Demon-Possessed Daughter	15:21-28	7:24-30
23	Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man		7:31-37
24	Jesus Feeds 4,000	15:32-39	8:1-13
25	Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida		8:22-26
26	Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind				9:1-12
27	Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon	17:14-20	9:14-29	9:37-43
28	Miraculous Temple Tax in a Fish's Mouth	17:24-27
29	Jesus Heals a Blind, Mute Demoniac	12:22-23		11:14-23
30	Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman			13:10-17
31	Jesus Heals a Man With Dropsy on the Sabbath			14:1-6
32	Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers			17:11-19
33	Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead				11:1-45
34	Jesus Restores Sight to Bartimaeus	20:29-34	10:46-52	18:35-43
35	Jesus Withers the Fig Tree	21:18:22	11:12-14
36	Jesus Heals a Servant's Severed Ear			22:50-51
37	Second Miraculous Catch of Fish				21:4-11

http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/a/Miracles-Of-Jesus.htm

However, Christ Jesus preached just for a few years.

A chronology of Jesus typically has the date of the start of his ministry estimated at around 27-29 AD/CE and the end in the range 30-36 AD/CE.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Jesus 

Suppose that there is another Jesus today.  He is accompanied by some followers.  If They traveled, say, from Washington DC to New York in three years, They will meet so many people per day.  In this case, Christ has to perform one miracle at least every hour.  Then, 12 miracles per day for three years can total more than 13,000 miracles.

Of course, 2000 years ago not so many people lived between Galilee and Jerusalem.    

Tacitus declares that Jerusalem at its fall contained 600,000 persons; Josephus, that there were as many as 1,100,000 slain in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, along with 97,000 who were sold as slaves.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jewish_population_comparisons

However, we may assume that Christ Jesus performed one miracle at least every week.  Then in three years, he must have done 140 or so miracles.  The number of miracles listed in the above table is just 37.  It is almost one miracle per month, though the Bible said that there were many other miracles the Bible could not contain.

Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. 

But the Four Gospels present Jesus' miracles in an overlapping way. Why could not they report very different miracles if the authors of the Gospels had chosen miracles to report independent of one another?

The answer might be that Christ Jesus had at least 11 close followers each of whom remembered miracles they saw and loved.  So, when one follower wrote down what Christ Jesus did for his own reference, he would surely choose miracles he had observed closely and he had been moved so much.  If all the sources of the Four Gospels had been one, it would be very reasonable that total only 37 miracles are mentioned in the Four Gospels in a strong overlapping manner.

But as there were 11 Disciples, we may assume that at least total 400 or so miracles Christ worked (11 x 37 = 407).   There may be still double counting.  So we can assume that the real number was one third of 400.  It is very roughly 140.  Then Christ Jesus performed miracles at least every week, four in months, 48 in a year, and 140 in three years of His mission.

Anyway, it seems to be sure that there was only one source for the Four Gospels, since the total number of Jesus' miracles reported there was just 37.  

But why one per week?  Was the band of Christ Jesus 2000 years ago mostly walking through desolate wilderness or paths?  It seems so, indeed.  But how could they feed themselves?  A mystery still remains.

By the way, there is a theory that the number 37 means a hexagram, God, and greatness.  Can this be a minor miracle?




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Mar 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:
Mar 12:11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

"shall be denied before the angels of God" - Many, Many Holy Prophecies

Around Parliament Bldg., Tokyo

Many, Many Holy Prophecies

As Christ Jesus was God, His birth even as a human being must have been a super big event not only in this universe but also in the spiritual sphere.

Something extraordinary must have happened prior His birth.  For example, dinosaurs should have gone extinct if they had still survived 2000 years ago.  Mt. Everest should have emerged, if it had not been existent 2000 years ago.  Or otherwise the moon must have created, if it had not been formed 2000 years ago.  But such spectacles never happened 2000 years ago.

Instead, the God used the Old Testament to provide glory adequately needed for His first coming to the human world as Jesus the Nazareth.  And it is proved in terms of probability.

There are many characteristics and distinctive features ancient Hebrews specified in the Old Testament as evidence with which to identify a man, to be born in future, as the Messiah.  To meet all these conditions is very difficult for any one.  Mathematically, it is almost impossible.  But there came a man who crossed the extremely high hurdle.  It is Christ Jesus Himself that finally fulfilled the holy promise described through many, many prophecies in the Bible of ancient Judaists.  

Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ

How true, then, it must be that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, if he had 456 identifying characteristics well in advance, and fulfilled them all! In fact, what does the science of probability make of this? 

The science of probability attempts to determine the chance that a given event will occur. The value and accuracy of the science of probability has been well established beyond doubt - for example, insurance rates are fixed according to statistical probabilities. 

Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students. 

The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students. 

However Professor Stoner then took their estimates, and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4). 

For example, concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, Stoner and his students determined the average population of BETHLEHEM from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. 

They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000, (or one in 2.8 x 10^5 - rounded), 

After examining only eight different prophecies (Idem, 106), they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17. 

To illustrate how large the number 10^17 IS (a figure with 17 zeros), Stoner gave this illustration : 

If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They'll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would've had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107). 

In financial terms, is there anyone who would not invest in a financial venture if the chance of failure were only one in 10^17? This is the kind of sure investment we're offered by god for faith in His Messiah. 

From these figures, Professor Stoner, concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies (Idem, 107) - the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10^17! 

Another way of saying this is that any person who minimizes or ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs concerning the Messiah would be foolish. 

But, of course, there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies (Idem, 109) (even though he could have used Edersheim's 456), and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. In fact, if anybody can find someone, living or dead, other than Jesus, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning the Messiah given in the book "Messiah in Both Testaments" by Fred J. Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company is ready to give a ONE thousand dollar reward! As apologist Josh McDowell says, "There are a lot of men in the universities that could use some extra cash!" (Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 175). 

How large is the number one in 10^157? 10^157 contains 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They're smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op. cit, 109). 

With this introduction, let's go back to our chance of one in 10^157. Let's suppose that we're taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume. 

This is the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies. Obviously, the probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly smaller. According to Emile Borel, once one goes past one chance in 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur (Ankerberg et. al., op. cit., 21). 

As Stoner concludes, 'Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world (Stoner, op. cit., 112).'   

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/radio034.htm

Of course, the probability that you were born as such a human being with such features in this era might be also almost zero, though we don't know where you were prophesied.

Maybe in some book in Heaven your birth must have been prophesied.  But it is unknown if it is a book for eternal life or for the hell.

A Statute of Christ of Broken Church in Kobe City Surviving the 1995 Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in Western Japan
http://roteki.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/suisai/christ.html





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Luk 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Luk 12:9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
Luk 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.