PUMMELED AND BEHEADED INTO TEACHING A THREE YEAR MINISTRY OF MESSIAH?

Rood accuses the Christian Church and Roman Catholics in particular of murdering anyone who thinks that Jesus’ ministry was less than 31/2 years:

“…an invented and deceptive fairy tale that was never uttered until 300 years after the resurrection of Yahshua - the deviously invented ‘3½-year ministry of Jesus.’  This papal fabrication was pressed forward at the point of the sword, and anyone refusing to accept this concocted dogma was pummeled or beheaded into submission to the ‘Vicar of Christ….’ the 3½ years claimed by Rome and repeated incessantly by every one of the delinquent daughters of the pedantic papal cult.” (“The Greatest One Million Dollar Reward Never Offered,” Michael Rood, Feb 3, 2010)

Rood plainly claims that Catholics “pummeled and beheaded” people who disagreed. It is very serious to accuse Catholics of fabrication, murder and conspiracy, especially in the name of faith.

Rood apparently also claims that Protestants (the “delinquent daughters”) all insist on the same, calling it “the ubiquitously unchallenged 3-1/3 year ministry.”

Are Rood’s accusations true?

A very simple summary of Protestant and Catholic thinking on the length of Christ’s ministry can be found in “Duration of Christ’s Ministry,” in Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament by H. Wayne House. House shows that Protestants and Catholics have long debated the question, and variously conclude a one, two and three year ministry (and terms that fall a little longer or shorter than even years).

House cites nine prominent authors who advocate a one year (or close to one year) ministry: Valentinus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Johannes Belser, Hermann von Soden, Joseph Klausner, Maurice Goguel, A. T. Olmstead and Hans Conzelmann. No doubt others could be added to this list, which includes men from the third century all the way to the present.

One of these writers, Johannes Belser was a Roman Catholic professor who taught at a Roman Catholic university. Neither Belser nor the other authors on this list were pummeled and beheaded by the Pope, and Belser freely taught a one year ministry in Catholic universities, conferences and publications.

House also lists nine authors who taught a two year ministry of Christ: Apollinaris, Epiphanius, Edmund Sutcliffe, Josef Blinzler, George Caird, Eugen Ruckstuhl, Rudolf Schnackenburg, F. F. Bruce and George Duncan. F. F. Bruce is a very week known and influential contemporary Christian author.

Blinzler and Schnackenburg are both Roman Catholic authors and professors. But none of these have been pummeled or beheaded by the Pope for teaching that Christ’s ministry was less than three years. None of them have been pressed into submission to a three year ministry by the point of the sword, a pin, a pinky or any other kind of point.

Is the three year ministry of Christ a “deviously invented papal fabrication” as Rood claims? Melito of Sardis, who died about 180 AD and Eusebius of Caesarea, who died in 339, taught a three year ministry. They lived 900 and 700 years (respectively) before there was any pope or Roman Catholic Church. Many, many Christians believed in a three year ministry hundreds of years before there was any pope to fabricate it and pummel and behead people into accepting it.

No one has ever been beheaded for believing or teaching that the ministry of Jesus was less than 31/2 years. Rood is lying about all of this.

What does Torah say which applies to Rood’s behavior? One of the Ten Commandments specifically prohibits false witness, “you shall not give false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16), indicating that Rood’s falsehood is the most basic of sin. Torah also states that when a person witnesses falsely, the penalty is, “do to him as he intended to do to his brother” (Deuteronomy 19:18-20), an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. Rood intended that his readers distrust and shun any teachers and teachings which are Catholic or Protestant (almost anyone but himself). So the Torah commands that Rood and his teachings be shunned as the appropriate penalty for his false witness.

Is it possible that Rood is just totally, hopelessly ignorant? Major ignorance probably is a part of this, though it is more ignorance by choice than by circumstance. But the malicious nature of Rood’s attacks point to a desire to harm the influence of the Christian Church in order to promote himself and increase his sales and income. During Rood’s long term in The Way International he idolized its leader, V. P. Wierwille who did the same, and apparently learned and now uses Wierwille’s tactics.

A majority of Bible teachers do accept a three year ministry. Why? The Gospel of John mentions that Jesus went to Jerusalem for three Passovers (John 2:13, 6:4, 11:55; although 6:4 does not specifically states it was Passover, the green grass it mentions points to spring rather than a fall feast).

There is also the problem of fitting all the events and travel into just one year. Jerusalem was around 70 miles from Galilee (depending on what part of Galilee). Each round trip takes about two weeks (they didn’t travel on Sabbath), totaling six weeks of travel for the three trips to Jerusalem Jewish men were required to make every year. Since Jesus was repeatedly stopped by people, travel would have taken longer for him. Two chapters of the Gospel of Mark state that Jesus traveled north to Sidon, then south to Decapolis, then north to Caesarea Philippi, then south again (Mark 7-8; and other travel in other chapters). Sidon is 140 miles from Jerusalem, Caesarea Philippi about 115 miles. In the first century, people typically traveled only about 15 miles a day. The best of Roman roads (seldom traveled by Jesus) then were made of large paving stones, a harder walk than modern sidewalks. Given the large amount of travel noted in the Gospels, Jesus would likely have spent three whole months doing nothing but walking (or possibly riding a donkey cart).

The Gospel of John ends by noting that “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

The Gospels never state explicitly how long Jesus’ ministry was. It was not important enough to record, yet Rood pretends as if it is worth making it his centerpiece and haranguing anyone who holds that the ministry was longer than 70 weeks. Nonetheless, the three Passovers, the large number of events and great amount of travel Jesus carried on points to a ministry closer to three years than one year.

WHO REALLY WANTS YOUR MONEY?

Rood’s “Torah Defense Force” letter of March 4, 2010 ridicules “Minister Moemoney” from the “former church” of one of Rood new “Torah fans.” The name “Moemoney” obviously accuses pastors of thousands of congregations as being nothing but money hungry.

Rood apparently knows nothing about local churches, having not been part of one or perhaps never even visited one for over 40 years. Rood spent over a decade as a mid-level leader in a cult, The Way International, which repeatedly ridiculed Christian churches. This seems to be all he knows about them or their pastors.

But who could be more accurately called “Minister Moemoney”- local church pastors or Michael Rood himself?

Rood sends over 208 emails to his “Torah fans” every year (at least three a week). Every one of them has a pitch for either a donation (preferably large) or a pitch to buy something from him. The punch line of every one of them is a pitch for “Moemoney.” His Torah fans get one at least every other day. A large button of Rood’s home page (www.aroodawakening.tv) blares the word “Donate!” and at least five buttons advertise items to purchase. I have never ever seen a local congregational pastor force feed his people with 208 email or personal pitches for money a year, nor put “Donate” and five purchase buttons on their home pages as “Michael Moemoney” Rood does.

Pastors teach hundreds of Bible studies to their people a year, visit them in hospitals and nursing homes, teach their children, baptize, marry and bury them, counsel them in hardship, comfort them in grief, give to the poor. They truly serve their people personally hour after hour. They have far more reason to ask for support than Rood does, yet they don’t force feed their people with over 208 pitches for donations and purchases a year as “Michael Moemoney” does.

Dr. John Juedes, 2010

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