“The majority judged that [Jesus] was bad because he did not conform to their ideas of how the Sabbath should be kept. But the real reason was that Jesus ignored these ecclesiastics [the Scribes and Pharisees]; and this was a cause of deep anger. They excommunicated both Jesus and the man who was the recipient of his goodness.” (Watchtower 1926, February 15, page 60 paragraphs 11-12)
The logic of this article is sound, and it is well-written despite it being a very old quote. So have you ever thought of this notion before? And what does the fact that he was cast out say to us today as modern-day followers of Christ? That Jesus was “excommunicated” or “disfellowshipped” by the religious leaders of his day is not that shocking- we know that is one of the things the Pharisees did to maintain power and control over their fellow brothers and sisters. For anyone that opposed them, it was their ultimate weapon. But why was he disfellowshipped by these ones?
all the way back in the 1970s the Watchtower had two excellent articles explaining the true and accurate meaning and depth of John 17:3. So why is it that 99% of the friends don’t really know what this verse means, and relegate it to the “Study the Bible” scripture? Just because most of us have it memorized doesn’t mean we understand it. And how accurate is the unusual rendering given to this verse by the New World Translation?