BC and AD
Posted by: root <root@...>
RELEASE APRIL 15, 2001
The true purpose of Christmas and Easter is to honor a man. The
same man, Jesus. They are not designated holidays to honor
red-suited Santas or egg-laden bunnies. Yet, whenever I try to
honor this man of men, for whom these days are set aside,
hackles go up.
True Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish
Messiah, I am one of them.
The God of Judaism and the God of Christianity is the same, and
the people of Israel are His chosen people, and Jesus is one of
them.
The first Christians were all Jews. The olive tree is the
symbol of Israel, and by God's grace and the work of the Apostle
Paul, all non-Jewish people who believe as I do are grafted into
the olive tree. Therefore, I, too, am a Jew. One who believes
that the Jewish Messiah is King of kings, Lord of lords and the
savior of all mankind.
The Torah, the law of the Old Testament demanded death as
payment for sin: "Without the shedding of blood there is no
redemption of sin." But God in his gracious mercy allowed
animal sacrificial substitution for atonement.
Then, one starry night, along came Jesus, Emmanuel (God with
us). His birth alone fulfilled (four) Old Testament prophecies
of the "Law and the Prophets" from the tribe of Judas (Gen.
49:10) of the House of David (Isa. 11:1), born of a virgin
(Isa. 7:14), in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah 5:2).
Jesus lived a sinless life for 33 years and dwelt among us. He
never missed a Sabbath, a holy day or a feast. He was more than
a good Jew, he was a rabbi, teaching in the synagogue, and a
healer of multitudes.
"I came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill
them," Jesus said. And fulfill them he did. He became the
willing substitutionary sacrifice once for all time, past,
present and future. He purchased a pardon for all people:
salvation for all who believe, and cleansed them of all
unrighteousness with the shedding of His own blood on Calvary's
cross.
Jesus was called "the Light of the World."
The menorah, with its seven candles, to Jesus and the Jews, was
symbolic and emblematic of the many facets of Jewish life and
worship.
It was because of the mystical marvel of 7's -- seven
candlesticks, seven utterances from the cross -- that I chose
the menorah as part of the symbolism for my Easter strip:
The LIGHT of the WORLD being slowly extinguished candle by
candle with each utterance, His life blood flowing downward
leading us into an empty tomb.
The cross, the tomb, the blood of the lamb, the wine, the bread
of life: unleavened (without sin), striped and pierced.
Symbols both of Passover and Resurrection: VICTORY OVER DEATH!
The message of Passover was immunity from death through the
blood of the lamb. The message of Easter -- the same. Jesus
was called "the Lamb of God."
I regret if some people misunderstood the strip, and it hurt
their feelings. I abhor the so-called "Replacement Theology."
This is a holy week for both Christians and Jews, and my intent,
as always, was to pay tribute to both.
In His name, Johnny Hart
Monday, April 16, 2001 (310) 337-7003 ADDITIONAL STATEMENT FROM
JOHNNY HART
It seems my Jewish brethren are determined to believe that I am
an advocate of Replacement Theology. I read about it a few
years back and dismissed it as hogwash.
To help put all of this to rest, I offer the following:
REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY
I believe that Replacement Theology is the stuff of lunatics and
self deluded fools. There is no foundation for it in scripture
and there is no room for it in responsible society.
For all of my Jewish brethren, who were quick to condemn me on
the word of their overzealous protectors, please know this: for
as much as it hurt you to think I had betrayed you to idiot
theology, that much more did it hurt me -- that you believe me
capable of it.
OVERZEALOUS PROTECTORS
Comic strips are printed one or two weeks in advance, and
somebody who objected to the strip alerted hundreds of
newspapers a week before publication, falsely claiming that it
was anti-Jewish. The Jewish Defense League held a press
conference urging newspapers not to run the comic strip.
There is something afoot here. For all during the week
preceding Easter, phones have been ringing off the hook and
E-mails by the hundreds have been pouring in, inquiring and
objecting to a comic strip that hadn't been published yet.
Now, if you see censorship as I do, i.e., the blotting out or
prevention of ideas from being seen or heard -- this is an
across-the-board classic violation of the First Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States. Namely, freedom of speech,
freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
THE INSPIRATION AND PURPOSE OF THE EASTER STRIP
I noticed one day that the center section of the Menorah -- the
sacred symbol of Judaism, bore the shape of the cross.
I wanted everyone to see the cross in the Menorah. It was a
revelation to me, that tied God's chosen people to their
spiritual next of kin -- the disciples of the Risen Christ.
If there are any further explanations or insights to clarify
what seems to have gotten out-of-hand here, ... please stay
tuned to this site.
Johnny Hart