Controversial Jericho (by Eric Lyons)

From: Subject: Controversial Jericho (by Eric Lyons) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:34:27 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0080_01C3F60A.C8FEBF30" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0080_01C3F60A.C8FEBF30 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.apologeticspress.org/abdiscr/abdiscr59.html Controversial Jericho (by Eric Lyons)

CONTROVERSIAL JERICHO

Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Although the city of Jericho is mentioned only = seven times=20 in the New Testament, the passages in which the city = is found=20 have been under heavy attack by critics for centuries. = Perhaps=20 the most famous alleged geographical discrepancy = surrounding=20 Jericho is found in Luke 10 where Jesus told His = unforgettable=20 parable about the Good Samaritan. Jesus began the = story=20 saying, =93A certain man went down from = Jerusalem to=20 Jericho=94 (10:30, emp. added). Many through the years = have=20 assumed Jesus was implying that Jericho was south of=20 Jerusalem, since the man =93went down=94 to get there. = However, a=20 quick look at a map of first-century Palestine (which = can be=20 found in the backs of most modern Bibles) shows that = Jericho=20 is several miles northeast of Jerusalem. Without = looking any=20 further into the geographical surroundings, one might = assume=20 that this represents a genuine discrepancy. After all, = how can=20 someone go =93down=94 from point A to point B, if = point B is north=20 of point A?

As always, once all the facts are established, = Jesus=92=20 statement reconciles itself with truth quite easily. = Although=20 Jericho may be several miles north of = Jerusalem, it is=20 more than 3,500 feet lower in altitude. = (Jerusalem is=20 situated at an elevation of 2,550 feet above sea = level,=20 whereas Jericho is about 1,200 feet below sea level.) = There is=20 no way for a man to journey from Jerusalem to Jericho = without=20 going down in elevation. Needless to say, the = argument=20 which suggests that Jesus did not know His geography = has been=20 expelled from most skeptics=92 repertoires in modern = times. I=20 only wish such could be said of the accusations = surrounding=20 the miracle He worked near the city of = Jericho.

The case of the healing of the blind men near = Jericho=20 (recorded in Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52, and Luke = 18:35-43) has been highly criticized by skeptics. = While both=20 Mark and Luke mention the healing of only one = blind=20 man, Matthew records the healing of two men as = Christ=20 made His way to Jerusalem for the final Passover. = Also,=20 Matthew and Mark indicate that the blind men were = healed as=20 Jesus was leaving Jericho whereas Luke suggests = that a=20 blind man was healed as the Lord came near to = the city.=20 Allegedly, these differences surrounding Jesus=92 = miracle in the=20 city of Jericho prove the fallacy of Bible = writers.

In the first place, the fact that two of the Gospel = accounts mention only one blind man, while the other = mentions=20 two, need not concern us. Just because Mark and Luke = speak of=20 only one blind man does not mean that they have at the = same=20 time denied that there were two blind men. Had Mark = and Luke=20 stated that Christ healed only one man, while = Matthew=20 then affirmed that more than one were healed, a = contradiction would be apparent. But such is not the = case. If=20 one says, =93Tim has a son,=94 he is not contradicted = if someone=20 else says, =93Tim has a son and a daughter.=94 His = statement was=20 merely supplemented. [Matthew is the only one who = recorded=20 that Jesus performed this healing by a touch (20:34), = but he=20 does not give us the spoken words Jesus uttered as do = Mark=20 (10:52) and Luke (18:42).] There is no conflict, = therefore,=20 regarding the number of men involved. The accounts = merely=20 supplement one another. [This same reasoning should be = used=20 when dealing with the two demoniacs Matthew = mentions=20 (8:28ff.), compared with the one that Mark = (5:2ff.) and=20 Luke (8:27ff.) mention.]

Moreover, the fact that Mark mentioned by name one = of the=20 blind men (Bartimaeus) and his father (Timaeus, 10:46) = might=20 possibly indicate that Mark was centering on the blind = man=20 that he knew personally. If you lived during the time = of Jesus=20 and witnessed Him healing a number of people (with one = of them=20 being someone you knew), it would be understandable = that when=20 you returned home and spoke to your family you might = speak=20 only of the friend that Jesus healed. In no way is = this being=20 deceitful.

But how shall the second difficulty be resolved? Is = there=20 any logical reason as to why Matthew and Mark indicate = that=20 the blind men were healed as Jesus was leaving = Jericho,=20 while Luke mentions that a blind man was healed as the = Lord=20 came near to the city? Actually, there are at = least two=20 realistic possibilities as to why the accounts are = worded=20 differently. First, it is possible that three = blind men=20 were healed in the vicinity of Jericho on this = occasion. The=20 instance mentioned by Luke as occurring when Jesus = approached=20 the city might have represented a different case than = that=20 recorded by Matthew and Mark. This explanation is = supported by=20 the fact that

Luke refers only to a =93multitude=94 of = people=20 being present as Jesus entered the city (18:36), but = both=20 Matthew (20:29) and Mark (10:46) make a point to say = there=20 was a =93 great multitude=94 of people there by the = time Jesus=20 left the city. If the word spread of the miraculous = healing=20 on the way into the city, this would account for the = swelling of the crowd (Geisler and Howe, 1992, p.=20 353).

Though this suggestion about there being three = blind men is=20 considered by many to be remote, it is at least = possible=97and=20 that is all that is required to negate an = alleged=20 discrepancy.

Another possible way to harmonize these passages is = to=20 understand that at the time of Christ there actually = were two=20 Jerichos. First, there was the Jericho of Old = Testament=20 history (Joshua 6:1ff.; 1 Kings 16:34) that was = located at the=20 sight of Elisha=92s spring. In the first century, = however, that=20 city existed as a small village lying mostly in ruins, = and=20 about two miles south of that site was the new Jericho = built=20 by Herod the Great. The Lord, therefore, traveling = toward=20 Jerusalem, would first pass through the Old = Testament=20 Jericho, and then, some two miles to the = southwest, go=20 through Herodian Jericho. Accordingly, the = references=20 of Matthew and Mark to Jesus leaving Jericho would = allude to=20 old Jericho, whereas Luke=92s observation of Jesus = drawing near=20 to Jericho would refer to the newer city. Hence, the = miracles=20 under consideration may have been performed = between the=20 two Jerichos (Robertson, 1930, 1:163).

When a person studies passages such as these that = critics=20 allege are contradictory, one important fact should be = remembered: If there is any reasonable way of=20 harmonizing these records, no legitimate contradiction = can be=20 charged to the accounts. Unless one can show that the = same=20 thing is under consideration at the same time in the = same=20 sense, then it cannot be considered a legitimate=20 contradiction. A mere difference does not make a=20 contradiction!

REFERENCES

Geisler, Norman L. and Thomas A. Howe (1992), = When=20 Critics Ask (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books).

Robertson, A.T. (1931), Word Pictures in the New = Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman).

We are happy to grant permission for items in the = =93Alleged=20 Bible Discrepancies=94 section to be reproduced in = their=20 entirety, as long as the following stipulations are = observed:=20 (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the = original=20 publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site = URL must be noted; (3) the author=92s = name must=20 remain attached to the materials; (4) any references,=20 footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must = be=20 included with any written reproduction of the article; = (5)=20 alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden (e.g.,=20 photographs, charts, graphics, quotations, etc. must = be=20 reproduced exactly as they appear in the original); = (6)=20 serialization of written material (e.g., running an = article in=20 several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of = the=20 material is made available, without editing, in a = reasonable=20 length of time; (7) articles, in whole or in part, may = not be=20 offered for sale or included in items offered for = sale; and=20 (8) articles may not be reproduced in electronic form = for=20 posting on Web sites (although links to articles on = the=20 Apologetics Press Web site are permitted).

For catalog, samples, or further information, = contact:

Apologetics Press
230 Landmark = Drive
Montgomery,=20 Alabama 36117
U.S.A.
Phone (334)=20 = 272-8558
http://www.apologeticspress.org

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