The other day, I was hopping around different links on YouTube, and stopped across a video entitled, “Jesus Is Imaginary”. I thought it may be very interesting, so I clicked on it, curious to hear their argument.
Honestly, I thought it may bring up some intellectual points which may use history, geography, or some documents to their alleged advantage. Let’s be real, the video boasted an approximate 1 million hits. So, it must present some substantial, note-worthy ideas, right?
No. And wow. I would encourage everyone to watch this video, particularly so that you may become sickeningly aware of how gullible and immature people have become in their critical thinking skills. And sadly, as a result, close to 1 million viewers are believing this junk, and automatically shutting their minds to the possibility that Christianity may even present an argument worth thinking about. Check it out – just type into Youtube “Jesus Is Imaginary”- the video was made by a youtube user called, ‘GIIvideo’. I hope you take the time to watch it. If not, you’re in luck, because you’ll still be able to make sense of the rest of this blog.
For those who watched the video, or have already seen the video, you would know that the narrator used the passage Matthew 18:19-20 as his foundational premise to prove that Jesus is imaginary. To recap, the narrator reads from these verses that “when 2 or 3 gather in Jesus’ name, then He will be there with them”. Then, the narrator uses the other half of those verses, which say, (along the lines of) “God will do whatever you ask”. Therefore, this guy’s argument consists of the following:
“If you gather with people in the ‘name of Jesus’ and ask God for Jesus to come down in his physical presence, then Jesus should show up beside you (this is following what the Bible says, right?). Therefore, if Jesus does not show up, then we can prove that the Bible is false, and that God and Jesus are merely imaginary.”
Alright, alright. You’re probably thinking that the people who believe this are numbskulls since the Bible obviously means that Jesus will show up in his spiritual sense and will make his spiritual presence, comfort, love, etc, be felt among you when you’re gathered with other believers in His name. Granted, many times when I am gathered with other Christians in an encouraging atmosphere where our hearts and minds are set on the goal of the Gospel, I do feel God’s presence – or as if Jesus was present with us spiritually speaking…..
But this is not what the Bible is saying! This is probably one of the most misinterpreted verses of the Bible, especially in today’s church. If we take the time to read Matthew 18:19-20 in context – and not out of context – we would realize that Jesus is talking about the premise of justice – not his physical or spiritual presence. [Besides… we know where Jesus is: at the right hand of the throne of the God (Heb 1:3; 12:2); and Jesus’ spiritual presence is essentially manifested as the Holy Spirit (John 14)].
Even more so, the section in which Jesus says this statement is entitled, ‘If Your Brother Sins Against You’, which essentially puts Jesus’ statement within the context of legal matters. In fact, when Jesus quoted, “when two or three gather in my name, there also will I be”, he was actually alluding to Deut 19:15, which states, “only on the evidence of two to three witnesses shall a charge be established”. In essence, Jesus’s quote in Matt 18 is referring to the principle of justice, how to carry it out in society, and how He is the purest manifestation of justice.
***Here is the logic behind Jesus’ statement in Matthew 18:
Two to three witnesses must be present to verify the truth behind a situation involving the law. Jesus says, “I will be there”; Jesus claims to be God, and God is just and justice and truth. And where witnesses gather on the premise to uphold truth, justice will reside. Thereby, when Jesus says that he will be present, he means that justice in its purest form (his character) will reside when two or three witnesses truthfully testify to a legal charge upon the goal of justice.
I realize this was a long post, but I hope that you took the time to read it despite its length. I just feel as if this verse in particular gets largely misinterpreted by both the secular world and the church – and its consequences are dire: atheists viewers of the video come away with fallacious intellectual rationale, and the church does not understand what Jesus is saying.
“God desires that we be wise in His Word and wise in the world” -JD Greear
