The words of Jesus had been misquoted throughout history to support doctrines and ideologies. In this post, we will explore how the words of Jesus had been misquoted to support even murder and evil. If murderers can misquote Jesus, how much careful should His sheep be to guard themselves from deception?

Luke 19:27

‘But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay [them] before me.’ ”

Luke 19:27

The above verse was quoted against Muslims in Christchurch memorial to support the shooter who murdered 50 people.

But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

Luke 19:14

The verse was actually addressed against the subjects of Jesus Christ who are under Him but don’t accept Him to be their King as He explained in he beginning of the parable. Jesus was accused by Jews of being the ‘King of the Jews’ (John 18:33-37) and they crucified Him. When Pilate asked Jesus regarding the same, He not only acknowledged being a King but also adds that His Kingdom is not of this world. Jews suffered a great deal under the Romans in 70 AD (Ezek 22:17-22) and under the Nazis during the holocaust (Jer 30:7) and God had fulfilled all He promised and given them their own land back (Jer 30:3). The verse can be an extension and apply to all Christians as well who are under the authority of Jesus Christ but reject His teachings but it cannot be applied to pagans or non-Christians who are not subjects of Him.

John 8:44

You are of [your] father the devil ..

John 8:44a

Robert Bowers, shooter who killed 11 at synagogue, misquoted the words of Jesus in John 8:44a to commit a grave crime against Jews. ² Who was Jesus addressing to and what was He really saying?

As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. … They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. … You are of [your] father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [resources,] for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

John 8:30-31,39-40,44-45

If you look at the entire context of who Jesus was addressing to, it is obvious that the text mentions of many Jews in the crowd believed in Him. Jesus was also beginning His conversation only to those who believed in Him. The later part of the conversation is obviously to those who don’t believe in Him. It is to those who don’t believe in Him and want to kill Him, Jesus accused them of being children of devil. Jesus did not accuse the many Jews who believed in Him. How can the shooter think that all Jews as children of devil when Jesus Himself refers to only a few who want to kill Him in the crowd?

Conclusion

We just saw two very recent examples for how His words had been misquoted even by murderers. Many Christians are not murderers but want to misquote Jesus to justify their sinful deeds and remain in their sin. These people who do not turn away from their sinful ways will not enter life but death. Will you justify your sins by misquoting His words?

¹ Matt Burrows. “Ominous Bible verse left on Christchurch memorial.” MSN. 28 Mar. 2019. Web. 30 Apr. 2019. <https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/ominous-bible-verse-left-on-christchurch-memorial/ar-BBVjIJP>

² “Robert Bowers, Shooter Who Killed 11 at Synagogue, Quoted the Bible, Talked About Jesus Christ.” Christianpost.com. n.d. Web. 1 May 2019. <https://www.christianpost.com/news/robert-bowers-shooter-killed-11-synagogue-quoted-bible-talked-jesus-christ.html>