Q&A — Luke 23:43 and John 20:17: Jesus eating post-resurrection and 'do not cling to me'

Viewer asks about the relationship between two post-resurrection passages

Q&A: Are there essential Christian beliefs that are genuinely hard to understand for non-scholars?

Viewer question about whether ordinary Christians can understand the Bible's core doctrines without academic credentials.

Mark 13:32-37 — no one knows the day or hour; the command is perpetual alertness

Mike reconciles the specific sign and generation statement with the 'no one knows' declaration.

Acts 1:6-8 — Jesus does not promise imminence at the ascension; redirects disciples to mission

Mike cites a post-resurrection passage that confirms the same pattern: unknown timing, mission focus.

Q&A: Hebrew wedding tradition and 'only the Father knows the day' — Mike is curious but wants historical verification

Viewer William Williams asks about the Hebrew wedding tradition parallel to the Son not knowing the day.

Ahn Sahng-hong: CoG teaches he was the Second Coming of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Father

The founder of CoG. Mike did a separate video showing Sahng-hong did not even claim to be Christ — he thought he was Elijah.

Genesis 1:27 does not teach two divine images (male and female) — it teaches one image of God in which men and women both participate, with God referred to as masculine

Q&A: question from Teresa Barrio about God the Mother and Genesis 1:27.

Matthew 16 / Mark 9 / Luke 9 — 'Some standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom' refers to the Transfiguration, not the Second Coming.

Ra claims Jesus predicted his imminent return and was proven a false prophet because all disciples are now dead.

Jeremiah 7:24-26 — Israel 'did worse than their fathers,' a qualitative moral judgment, not merely a count of more sins.

Mike cites another Old Testament narrative statement about moral deterioration across generations to reinforce qualitative distinctions in sin.

Doubt is not automatically a sin; faith is a decision and doubt is often a feeling, and both can coexist — as illustrated by the father who said 'I believe; help my unbelief.'

Q&A section: a viewer expresses fear that their doubt may be their spiritual demise.

The Life of Apollonius explicitly names his father on page 11 of the text. There is no virgin birth. His mother has a dream telling her to go to a meadow, swans startle her into premature labor, and a lightning bolt curves upward at his birth — none of these constitute a virgin birth parallel. Even Bart Ehrman publicly agrees there are no parallels to the virgin birth of Jesus.

Zahnd's idol: a universalist Jesus who saves devout Muslims regardless of belief, contradicting Christ's own words

Winger reads Zahnd's 'Becky and Belkis' thought experiment from page 142 of the book, in which a devout Muslim woman is contrasted with a mean American Christian woman.

Mike's disagreement with Vatican II's claim that Muslims worship the one true God

Responding to Lumen Gentium's statement about Muslims

Romans 4:1-5 — Abraham justified by faith, not works, citing Genesis 15:6

Mike uses Abraham as the foundational Old Testament example of faith-based justification

John 5:45-47 — if you believed Moses you would believe me: encountering Jesus reveals whether one truly believed Moses

Mike addresses the logical question: what about Ben, who has heard of Jesus but rejected him?

John 5:31-38 — Jesus presents three specific evidences for his identity: John the Baptist, miracles, and Scripture

Mike analyzes Jesus's own self-defense in John 5 as a model of evidence-based persuasion.

John 5:39 — the Old Testament scriptures testify of Jesus as a third category of evidence

Continuation of the John 5 analysis; the Father's testimony through Scripture.

Christian call to defend the fatherless — abortion as a moral mandate for Christians regardless of eschatological timeline

Q&A — question about whether abortion can be abolished given worsening culture as end times approach

Rape exception — the child is not morally culpable for the father's crime; killing the child does not undo the evil

Q&A — question about whether abortion is acceptable in cases of rape

Comparison of Hebrew Roots reasoning to Mother of God cult — both use oversimplified philosophical principles to override Scripture

Mike broadens his critique to identify a general pattern: movements that start with a simplistic principle and then force-fit Scripture to it.

Baptism does not secure salvation; it is an outward expression of inward faith

Q&A on whether post-baptism sin causes a loss of the security received at baptism.

Mark 13:32 — Jesus not knowing the hour does not threaten his deity

Viewer question about the Trinity and whether Jesus' limited knowledge in Mark 13:32 undermines his divinity

Luke 2:52 — Jesus grew in wisdom, demonstrating genuine human limitations on omniscience

Continuing answer on Mark 13:32 and Jesus's limited knowledge

Acts 1 implies Jesus's limitations were lifted after resurrection and glorification

Continuing discussion of Jesus's limited knowledge before vs. after resurrection

Cleopas in Luke 24 and Clopas in John 19 — the same person as a named eyewitness source

Case study in named eyewitness sourcing: the road to Emmaus account.

Simon of Cyrene named with his sons Alexander and Rufus as eyewitness sourcing (Mark 15:21)

Another case study in named eyewitness sourcing from the passion narrative.

Q&A: Titus and 1 Timothy pastoral qualifications — "husband of one wife" and "having children"

Q&A on elder/bishop/pastor qualifications in the Pastoral Epistles.

Question: Did Jesus claim to be the Father in John 14:9?

Jacob Seiler asks why Jesus said he was the Father in John 14:9.

John 14:9 context: Philip asks to see the Father; Jesus responds with a revelation claim, not an identity claim.

Mike walks through the narrative context of John 14, noting the Last Supper setting and Philip's request.

Hebrews 1 supports the distinction: Jesus is the radiance/imprint of God, not God the Father himself.

Mike cross-references Hebrews 1 to reinforce that seeing Jesus reveals the Father without Jesus being the Father.

John 14:10 reinforces Trinitarian distinction: Jesus is "in" the Father, not identical to the Father.

Continuing the John 14 exposition.

Pre-trib rapture and early church fathers: Mike acknowledges not knowing the answer and references Brian Brodersen's book.

Ian Connolly asks whether the pre-trib rapture was a recent invention not believed by early church fathers.

John 20:17 — Jesus says "my Father and your Father, my God and your God": Jesus as mediator connects believers to the Father.

Rodriguez asks why Jesus refers to the Father as "my God" in John 20:17.

1 Timothy 2:5 mediator concept underlies John 20:17 — Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.

Continuing the John 20:17 discussion.

Hegesippus account continued: James thrown from Temple pinnacle, stoned, and killed by a fuller's club; "forgive them for they know not what they do" echo; his burial near the Temple

The detailed narrative of James's death in Hegesippus

Apologetic questions are being asked at younger and younger ages due to technology — Josh McDowell's observation about shifting ages of questioning

McDowell references his father Josh McDowell's observation from 55 years of ministry

John 20:17 — 'Do not cling to me' means do not grasp or hold on, not 'do not touch'; the Greek haptomai connotes holding on, explaining why Jesus also allowed Thomas to touch him later

Response to question about why Jesus would not let Mary touch him but later allowed Thomas to touch him

Big picture point 1: The Law had a beginning—it did not exist for Adam, Noah, Abraham, or Cain and Abel

First of three foundational contextual claims about the Law

Genesis 26:5 does not prove Abraham kept the Law of Moses

Response to a Hebrew Roots proof text about Abraham

Q&A: Jesus likely knew his messianic identity by age 12 (Luke 2 temple incident), but what he knew before that is uncertain

Theological question about the development of Jesus's self-awareness

Isaiah 63 — Three persons of the Trinity in the Old Testament

McLatchie presents Isaiah 63:7-10 as containing all three persons of the Trinity within a single Old Testament passage.

Extra-biblical corroboration: Herod Archelaus and Matthew 2:22

McLatchie gives Josephus as extra-biblical corroboration explaining Matthew's otherwise puzzling reference to Herod Archelaus.

Acts 15:6-11 -- Peter's speech at the Jerusalem Council: God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, cleansing their hearts by faith; why put on them a yoke their fathers could not bear? Salvation is by grace alone.

Peter's speech at Jerusalem Council

Acts 16:1-3 -- Timothy is circumcised by Paul, despite delivering the decree that Gentiles need not be circumcised. His circumcision is for missionary effectiveness among Jews.

Survey of Acts 16, Timothy's circumcision

Acts 28:17 -- Paul says he has done nothing against the customs of our fathers. Again consistent with fulfillment theology.

Survey of Acts 28:17

Historical question: sign gifts did not begin at Azusa Street; early church fathers (Justin Martyr, later Augustine) attest to prophecy and miracles continuing post-apostolically.

Q&A — viewer claims modern tongues/gifts stem from the 1906 Azusa Street revival. Winger corrects the historical record.

Objection 1 stated: Trinitarian harmony in the atonement

Mike explains the Calvinist argument that Trinitarian harmony requires limited atonement.

Response to Trinitarian harmony #1: it assumes a single, limited intention for each person of the Trinity without scriptural proof

First of Mike's in-principle objections to the Trinitarian harmony argument.

Response to Trinitarian harmony #2: the Father can have complexity in his desires — saving all who believe

Mike offers a positive alternative to the Calvinist Trinitarian harmony construct.

Romans 10:21 — God holds out his hands to a disobedient people; implies genuine offer of salvation

Evidence for the Father genuinely desiring the salvation of non-elect Israel.