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Difficulties in the Bible, Part 1: Three Passages That Aren't in the Earliest Manuscripts · The Bible in 3D

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Greetings. Welcome to the Bible in three d. This is your host, Andrew. We are in a series entitled Hot Topics. Just finished doing, several episodes on is the bible reliable.
• 0:24
  And so now we're going to naturally flow into a smaller subset called Difficulties in the Bible. Today we're going to look at three portions of scripture that were clearly added to the New Testament, not put in by the original authors. The oldest manuscripts do not include these, so why are they there? Our second episode, we will look at the Old Testament and what is called the Jeremiah problem. And then the third episode, we're going to look at the Apocrypha or as our Roman Catholic friends say the Deuterocanical books.
• 1:07
  There's about seven extra books that are in say a Roman Catholic bible and some Protestant bibles that are not included in many of the evangelical Protestant Bibles. So those are three things we're gonna look at. Again, are difficulties in scripture. The first one is very very famous. Know, after John three sixteen, I think the statement out of this story, the woman caught in adultery.
• 1:40
  This is in the gospel of John chapter seven verse 53 through chapter eight verse 11.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: And, again, most people in the world
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: have heard of John three sixteen, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Well, I think this verse that we find in a woman caught in adultery is probably second in notoriety. And Jesus said to the crowd, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. Whoever is without sin, let him be the first one to throw the stone at the woman caught in adultery. This is a great moving story and it's very long, but it is not in the original or the early transcripts.
• 2:35
  So the Alexandrian text type, we we don't see this story at all. Why is it included later? That is the question. So I'm going to read this now starting chapter seven verse 53. They each went to his own house but Jesus went to the Mount Of Olives.
• 2:56
  Early in the morning he came to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst, they said to him, Jesus, teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law of Moses, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what say you?
• 3:22
  This they did to test him that they might have some charge against him. And Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone. And once more he bent down and rode on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one beginning with the older ones.
• 3:52
  And Jesus was left alone with a woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, no one Lord. Jesus said, neither do I condemn you.
• 4:07
  Go and from now on sin no more. Very powerful story. Clearly this was a setup. They wanted Jesus to show that he was woke and kind and gracious and not judgmental and say, oh no, let's not stone her. But then that would be a violation of the law Moses and that could be a charge against him.
• 4:30
  And so he answers very well by saying, okay, you wanna stone her, stone her but let the one without sin cast the first stone and of course they were all sinners. It says, and they left, the older ones leaving earlier because they knew they were sinners. There is so much speculation over the years as to what Jesus wrote on the ground. Was he writing their names? Was he writing their names and the sins they had committed?
• 5:04
  Who knows what he was doing? The answer is we don't know. And speculating probably is not helpful here. It is a great story and it's a long one. But it's not in the Alexandrian manuscripts, which are the earliest manuscripts.
• 5:22
  It only appears later. Well, somebody make it up. I was reading one scholar and I thought he's obviously comes from a tradition, didn't think of this by himself, but comes from some some thought on this issue. This actually happened. It was true.
• 5:46
  It's that nobody put it into the gospels. But it was such a story and, you know, let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone. Boy, that sticks with you and people who are not Christians know that. And so the thought was even though it was not in the original that the apostle John wrote, it was a true story, and it was so well known and had been carried along for so many years that somebody made the decision. Let's put her in.
• 6:21
  I do believe this is part of inspired scripture. I do believe it really happened. I think though it was put in because it was so well known and it had such an impact on people that some copyists somewhere said, yeah, I've gotta put it in.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: You know, that doesn't happen. I mean, that's very unique in all of
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: the New Testament that we have something like this completely different story. I'm good with it. I hope you are that this actually did happen. Jesus did say those words and that, you know, these are instructive for us. Let's go now to the second incident.
• 7:01
  This is John five verses two through nine. This is where Jesus heals a lame man at the Pool Of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate. The Pool Of Bethesda that were Bethesda, we have Bethesda hospitals now, the idea people getting healed. What is the Sheep gate? So you had various gates going into Jerusalem.
• 7:24
  The Sheep gate is where they would bring the sheep into the city, realize that shepherds did not own the sheep, they were just hired men. Some wealthy person actually owned all the sheep and he paid these guys a few shekels to, you know, to hang out, take care of sheep. It was a pretty low paying job. But when it came time for the three major festivals where everybody who every male, if it was able, was supposed to come to Jerusalem in the temple, there was at least three of them. People came more often, of course.
• 8:00
  The people who owned the sheep would have the shepherds bring the sheep into the city through this one gate, the Sheep Gate. And the Pool Of Bethesda is where they would water the sheep, you know, get a drink little lambie poo because pretty soon you're gonna get your throat cut. Anyway, that's what was going on. These sheep were brought in for sacrifice and that's why it was called the Sheep Gate. The shepherds outside of Bethlehem when Jesus was born would have been hired men who were watching sheep and then when the when the boss, the owner says okay, take them in, they would take them in.
• 8:42
  They would sell them to the Levites who in turn would take them to the temple and then as the worshipers came in, they would sell the sheep to the worshiper who would then in turn turn it back over to the Levite who would give it to the priest who would then sacrifice it. That's the background. Now let's read it and I'm going to read the King James version. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool which is called in Hebrew tongue Bethesda. It has five porches.
• 9:15
  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk of blind halt withered waiting for the moving of the water. Alright. That's verses two and three. Now we're gonna read verse four. Okay.
• 9:30
  Verse four is in the later Byzantine transcripts so that's why it's in the King James. The text is receptus is where King James drew this from which is based on the Byzantine text types. But in the Byzantine text type, there is verse four which appears in none of the other trans the manuscripts like say the Alexandrian. So let us read. Four.
• 10:01
  So everybody's waiting for the water to move. Verse four, for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had. Well, that's a great story. That's all it is is a story.
• 10:26
  Why was this put in? That's a very good question. Now after I've actually been to the Pool Of Bethesda. There's not much left to it, still there. There was still a little water in it when I went the first time.
• 10:40
  The second time they're doing major reconstruction. I'm not sure what it looked like then. It was a mess.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: But this was a tradition apparently,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: where people would to sit around the pool, you know, this is where the sheep drink, when they came in, which is not often, but the rest of the time these people who were ailing would sit around and they believed that somehow an angel, which they couldn't see, would come down, disturb the water, so now water is holy or something medicinal. And if you could get there first, then you would be healed. Alright. Let's read the rest of the story. And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
• 11:29
  For thirty eight years. Alright? When Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, Jesus said unto him, wilt, don't you just love Elizabethan English, wilt thou be made whole? Now the impotent meaning ailing sick man. Today we'd use impotent for a different word.
• 11:50
  Again, this goes back to, you know, sixteenth century English. The impotent man answered, sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me in the pool, but while I'm coming another step is down before me. So when the water is troubled and he sees it like everybody else does, he's scrambling and he has to crawl to get there and of course somebody who's better able to walk gets there ahead of him, gets in first. Verse eight, Jesus said unto him rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, took up his bed and walked and on the same day was the Sabbath.
• 12:36
  Obviously, there's a whole another issue here about healing on the Sabbath and people the Pharisees didn't like that. That he healed on the Sabbath. They thought that was working. That was violating the 10 commandments. Alright.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: That aside now. All the
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: earlier translations, earlier manuscripts that are in Greek do not include this verse
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: four which deals with an angel. Why did they put it in?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Don't know. But it's only, you know, one verse and you kinda sense that maybe the people back then did believe this.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: But it was not in
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the original that John wrote. Did they put it in because they thought it was important to explain what was going on and everybody kinda knew what the facts were? I don't know. Now, let's talk about fast forward to today. We got a pool of water, there are several pools of water in the city and they are fed by springs.
• 13:52
  The Pool Of Bethesda was fed by a spring but the water flow was inconsistent. Sometimes, depending on the season, you had more water up on the hill and so there was more water in the spring and that caused more turbulence. And that turbulence rise to the surface during that time of the year, you know, when the water is flowing. And that was actually the physical thing that was going on and perhaps superstitious. People decided it was an angel and some later copyists thought it was important to put it in to explain.
• 14:34
  It's presented as an
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: angel did go down. I think more to suggest to
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: you it was simply a superstition that the people believed back then during the time of Jesus and for some reason the community thought it was important to put it in. But it's not in the original. However, if you take verse four out, it is a great story. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He can heal on the Sabbath.
• 15:03
  He heals a man that has had an infirmity for thirty eight years. John in his gospel, it is exquisitely written. I mean they're all greatly written but John is just exquisite. And he has seven great signs to show that Jesus is God come in the flesh. And so, his first great miracle or sign, he never says miracle or says sign, John, was turning water into wine.
• 15:32
  That was important to my dad. He didn't drink wine, but he did drink and so well, if Jesus turned water into wine, I guess I can have a beer. Being a little facetious here, keep your interest going, but Jesus send us six more signs and they get greater in power and show his power over more and more things until you get to the last, the seventh sign, which is the greatest other than his own resurrection. But the seventh sign is he raises a man who has been dead for four days, that's Lazarus, from the dead. And then his sister Mary said, Jesus, he's lying there moldering in the grave, he's gonna smell, you can't open up the crypt.
• 16:17
  And Jesus says,
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: open it up. This
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: is one of those seven signs. You know, Jesus could heal people born blind. He could heal people who couldn't walk for thirty eight years. And it goes on and on. So this is an important miracle.
• 16:39
  It's there because John uses it as one of his seven. It's just
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Verse four. A little sketchy.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Again, I think this was simply the superstition of the time and some people later on decided to enter it. It does nothing to conflict with teaching propaganda, you know. We have so few places in the New Testament where something is added. This is the second one. Alright.
• 17:07
  Let's go now to the third. This is gonna take a little bit of time. We're gonna look
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: at Mark. The last chapter of Mark is chapter 16 and I will read one through eight. That's at the end
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: of eight is where John Mark ended his gospel because that is how it is reported in the earliest manuscripts. At some later time someone added 12 verses and that is chapter sixteen nine through 20. I'll read that second. Alright. Let us read now how John ends excuse me, John Mark ends his gospel.
• 17:55
  When the Sabbath was passed, this is now crucifixion has happened. So Sabbath has passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they might go and anoint him, Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb and they were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? And looking up they saw the stone had been rolled back, it was very large. And entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side dressed in a white robe and they were alarmed.
• 18:32
  He said to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen. And all God's people said, he has risen indeed. This is obviously an angel and he said he has risen, he is not here.
• 18:47
  See the place where they laid him, laid the body. But go tell the disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee, there you will see him just as he told you. And they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment has seized them and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. All the earliest manuscripts, that's where the gospel ends. Gospel of Mark.
• 19:12
  Now the guy's name was John Mark, but, you know, we had an apostle John, so the church chose to identify him as Mark, his middle name, not to confuse him with the apostle John. So but his name was John Mark. John Mark, I believe, and I think most conservative reasonable scholars would agree, is the first gospel to be written. It is very short.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: It is very abrupt. Now
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Matthew was not the first gospel but we have it as the first book in the New Testament because it's the pivot that transitions from the Old Testament to the New Testament and shows how all of the prophecies in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus Christ in the New Testament and that's why it's there. Matthew borrows about 75% of the gospel of Mark and he puts it in his gospel. Now he rearranges things, but he he uses almost word for word. Luke, is the only Gentile we have, writer of any book in the Bible, very learned man, physician, and he writes excellent Greek and his gospel he takes about 72% of the gospel of Mark and he presents it again uses almost verbatim in many places but he presents it in a different way than either of the other two. What is unique?
• 20:48
  Well, many unique things about John Mark. Jesus does very little teaching. We know who Jesus is and why he's here by what he does. This compares to Matthew. In Matthew, Jesus is always teaching and the sermons gone forever.
• 21:10
  And we know who Jesus is because of what Jesus tells us, and we read these long, and they're called five, the five great dissertations in Matthew. Sermon on the mount being the first, of course. John Mark has Jesus constantly in motion, and he uses a word over and over when he makes a transition from one event to the next. So all these things happen. They finish the first word of the next sentence, a new paragraph, and immediately Jesus gets up and goes here and and then we start a new story and a new event.
• 21:47
  He uses the word immediately, I don't know, almost 20 times and it gets a little monotonous when you when you notice it. Again, Matthew is writing to people who can read. He is writing to Jews in the diaspora outside of Israel to say, we know how the Old Testament ends and how it is fulfilled. It is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. And they can fact check this because they're all literate.
• 22:17
  Mark, it is said, was written for people in Rome. I don't believe that and here's why. John Mark ends up working as a protege for the apostle Peter. Peter is in Rome. Now what what kind of people were in the church in Rome?
• 22:41
  Well, have a clue in Paul's letter to the Romans. At the end of the letter he greets many of the people in the church in Rome. And a majority of the names are slave names. Slaves are illiterate. I believe that Mark was written to be memorized and I've done some other episodes on that and I won't repeat it today but it was written so that you could memorize these stories.
• 23:12
  In fact, the first chapter of Mark gives you the gospel and it gives you three proofs that Jesus is God come in the flesh. So very very well done. You say well how could slaves read it if they were illiterate? Well, they couldn't, but somebody in the church could read. And so this would be read out loud and they would memorize it.
• 23:38
  So that is kind of what's going on. That's why it's very abrupt and it's just one story after another and people memorize stories very easily. It's very hard to recite the Sermon on the Mount, but you know we can go back and recite the woman caught in adultery. We can recite because of stories and we're wired to do that. Now let's look at some more interesting things about this.
• 24:07
  There is no appearance of the resurrected Jesus in this. None. It just ends with they go into the tomb and the angel said he's not here.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Okay, he's risen. He's risen indeed. Why does not Mark include those things? We know that apostles were martyred very quickly
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: by the time Peter to sixty AD, so thirty some thirty years or so after the resurrection. Peter's aging out and very soon he's going to be murdered as well in the Colosseum. Thank you, Earl. Or thank you, Emperor Nero. And they realized Peter's aging out and they realized that the other apostles are they're losing them.
• 24:54
  They're all been murdered before Peter. And so they want to get Peter's testimony written down. And so according to church history, the church leaders go to John Mark who was sort of the, you know, he was a sound guy, the aid, the driver for Peter. And he had listened to all Peter's sermons ad nauseam, so he had them all memorized and so the story goes, John Mark wrote this gospel based on the sermons that Peter gave. That's a great story.
• 25:32
  I always have to tell this part of the story. There is one little vignette in Mark that is not anywhere else in scripture.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: It's about a young boy who's in
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: the Garden Of Gethsemane and he's he's spying on the sleeping disciples. We know he was there because we are told that in Mark that when they came to arrest Jesus they're trying to grab all the disciples. The disciples are running and the only person they're able to get other than Jesus is this young boy who's in the bit in the bushes, you know, spying on the disciples and Jesus. So they they try to grab him and he's only wearing a linen cloth. This would be his jammies.
• 26:23
  Okay? And they sees the linen garment that he has on and he's able to pull out of it and he runs away naked into the night. Now who would know that? Only the young boy who ran away naked. This is John Mark putting himself into the story and that was him.
• 26:52
  And I've got to tell you this story for me just hits a lot of things. I always wondered how do we know what Jesus said in the Garden Of Gethsemane when he's off by himself praying? Because the disciples were all sleeping.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: By the way, they had
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: the Passover meal and there is this is true now. There are four cups of wine in the Passover meal. So they've had four cups of wine, this is after midnight, they're they're sleeping and the scripture tells us this. They didn't hear Jesus praying but we hear his prayers.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: How do we know? Because this young boy heard them.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Now why was this young boy there? Well we know that the early church met in the house of John Mark's mother and that she was wealthy. And I believe it's her brother who was Barnabas and he had some property somewhere. So these are people with money and that works that this would be her son because he's wearing linen and only people of money can afford linen. He goes on the first missionary journey with Paul and it made sense.
• 28:09
  He would have seen Jesus before the resurrection and he may very well have been in that group of 500 men and other people who saw the resurrected Lord. So he would have been a good choice to go on the first missionary journey, but they were getting beat up and it was getting violent and he just said, hey, I didn't sign up for this. And so he goes home. And Paul, being the alpha that he is, just got bent out of shape about John Mark. Now eventually, years later, they're reconciled.
• 28:41
  We see that in the the letters of Paul where he's reconciled with John Mark. Isn't it interesting? I mean, over the years we support, we still do support a lot of missionaries. And they're all good. Everyone's good folks.
• 28:57
  Now if they got beat up or stoned, would any of my modern day missionaries stay on the mission field? Yeah. There are probably some that are, but I suspect most would come home. So I personally don't get too upset about John Mark. Went out and then later, you know, he he does some good things.
• 29:21
  Also note, and I've talked about this before, but it bears saying again. Peter was a man who made many mistakes. He this is the theological word now. He screwed up. But he was always forgiven and he was always given mercy.
• 29:37
  And isn't it interesting that he is the one who takes John Mark in and shows him mercy? Alright. Now, that is how he ends. And it's again, the whole book is fast paced action stories, you know, Batman, you know, all all those kind of things. Fast and furious.
• 29:58
  But it ends abruptly and we don't seek the risen Christ. Later, later manuscripts add these 12 verses. Let me read them. Now when he arose early on the first day, this is Jesus, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons. And we see that reported in the other gospels.
• 30:22
  She went and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. But when they heard he was alive and that it had had been seen by her, they would not believe it. Why? Because she was a woman and that's not a reliable witness back in those days. Verse 12, after these things he appeared in another form to two of them as they were walking into the country and of course Luke reports that story.
• 30:49
  And the two went back and told the rest, the disciples, not to be apostles, but they didn't believe these two guys either. Afterward Jesus appeared to the 11 themselves as they were reclining at table And he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, go into all the world proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe.
• 31:27
  In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. So when the Lord Jesus after he had spoken to them was taken into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God and they went out, meaning the 11, and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: Well, that's
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: that's a great story. And, you know, makes all the Pentecostals happy, makes all those people who handle steaks and drink poison in places like Appalachia or wherever, you know, West Texas, I don't know. I'm not making fun of anybody, but it's a fact. So the only place in scripture which suggests that these things are normative behavior are here. John did not write them.
• 32:29
  It is not in his style, it's very different, but clearly somebody later in time was concerned that John Mark's gospel ended abruptly. And so they wanted to kind of finish it out, show the resurrected Jesus, and then cite these other times that the other gospels had reported where he was seen. And then just throw in some I guess you call them sign gifts, like talking in tongues, being able to pick up serpents and drink poison, and then laying hands on and healing people. It's not in the original folks. John did John Mark did not write this.
• 33:14
  Does that mean it shouldn't be here? No. Not gonna say that. It has been considered to be inspired words that were given from God to whoever put it in. We just don't know who that person is.
• 33:30
  And so we accept on that basis. Should you go out now and pick up a serpent and see, you know, if it's gonna bite you if you're gonna live?
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: No, of course not. I know in some
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: of these churches the men pick up serpents and the women drink water that has arsenic in it. Don't do that. I don't know that there's any teaching there that you need to emulate,
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: but it does tell us that, you know, those who work for
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: the Lord, there will be times when God will use them to do miraculous things, but I I don't think these are things you do as a test of membership. Oh, you can't join our church unless you drink arsenic in your water.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: You know, you gotta pick up you gotta pick up this cobra.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Well, they didn't have cobras there
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: in Southeast, but you know,
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: rattlesnakes I'm sure they had. So not normative behavior, but certainly an encouragement that God can at times work and do miraculous things through people. But remember, the signs are not for our amusement and amazement. Alright. So these are three additions that were added to scripture.
• 34:50
  Woman caught in adultery, I have no doubt it happened. And it was so well known people wanted to put it in and so a later a later copyist put it
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: in. The
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: verse four in John chapter five. It's not in the original but I suspect in all likelihood everybody knew that that was the common superstition of the day. And so that's why it was put in. And of course the end of Mark. Not sure how to deal with it but fortunately there's nothing in verses nine through 20 that conflict with anything else in scripture.
• 35:32
  They're simply consistent. I I think they're just copied from the other gospels. And then the final final, the signs. Well, I would say use great deal of caution there. So the problems we have are not problems.
• 35:50
  They are issues that can be explained and can go to encourage our faith. Gracious Lord, I pray that for everyone who listens to this that they will be encouraged in their faith especially after they find out that all these things were added later. Yes. But it doesn't mean they're not inspired or that they didn't happen. And so give those who listen to this encouragement.
• 36:17
  We thank you for your word in Jesus name. Amen.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Bible in three d. We're so grateful for listeners like you. Your encouragement helps us create and share more transformative content that strengthens communities worldwide. If this episode inspired you, consider supporting our nonprofit mission with a donation at cogworksmedia.org. Also, be sure to check out our other podcast, biblical reflections, for more faith insights.
• 36:51
  God bless.