The Cult of Paul

Contrast #08: how they dealt with accusations of wrongdoing...

It is equally interesting to note the stark contrast in which Paul and Jesus dealt with the local political authorities whenever accused of any wrongdoing. On the one hand, Paul defended himself passionately and vehemently whenever charged with any legal offense, using whatever means he could to escape punishment - including purposefully inciting religious dissension,^{(Acts 23:1-7.)} blatantly lying about his support of the Jewish Law,^{(Acts 24:10-14.)} openly calling upon and appealing to his Roman citizenship,^{(Acts 22:25.)} and even once going so far as to appeal directly to the mercy of the Roman Emperor.^{(Acts 25:8-11.)} Jesus, on the other hand, either answered curtly and cryptically^{(Matthew 26:63-64, 27:11, Mark 15:2,6 14:61-62, John 18:6.7)} or remained completely silent.^{(Matthew 26:62, 27:12-14, Mark 15:3-5, Luke 23:9, John 19:9.)} whenever similarly accused.

6: You say so is a subtly important answer here, if for no other reason than - when combined with the words of John 6: 15 - it becomes Jesus' way of coyly saying "No, I am not."^{(or "No, not you" - as in Matthew 26:25.)}

7: Quite importantly, Jesus does not say eimi in the Greek texts - which could indeed have been translated as "Yes, I am." Instead, the texts show him saying ego eimi, a phrase which literally means "I, I am" - and which contextually means "I am the essence of I Am" or "I am an embodiment of the Child of God within."^{(John 14:12, 20.)}