Who did Jesus command to preach, the anointed or the great crowd?

by matt2414 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  matt2414

  When one becomes filled with the knowledge of the promised earthly Paradise under Christ's Kingdom, one wants to share it with others. You will too. It is good news!— Acts 5:41, 42 .

  Doing this is an important way of showing that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Jesus is called "the faithful and true witness." When on earth he preached, saying: "The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near," and he sent out his disciples to do the same. ( Revelation 3:14 ; Matthew 4:17 ; 10:7 ) Later, Jesus commanded his followers: "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, . . . teaching them." He also foretold that before the end, "this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations."— Matthew 24:14 ; 28:19, 20 .

  An earlier thread got me thinking: The governing body has implied, suggested and taught that the majority of Jesus' promises in the New Testament, such as going to heaven, apply just to them and the other "anointed." If that's the case, wouldn't Jesus' command to preach and go door to door apply just to them, too? Also, if it's true that the anointed aren't all old and dead but still being called to be part of the 144,000 to this day -- as they recently expressed with new light -- why aren't they carrying the bulk of the preaching work instead of just doing "street witnessing" on occasion or pressuring the great crowd to do it? The governing body is much younger now, they can surely do more. They don't appoint any of the "great crowd" to become members of their elite body, so why would they delegate their main responsiblity as preachers to mere, lowly members of the great crowd? It doesn't make sense.
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  designs

  No! Everyone gets to share the happifying message, what else are you going to do on Saturday mornings
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  No Room For George

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/220220/1/Other-sheep-should-never-forget-that-their-salvation-depends-on-their-active-support-of-Christs-anointed-brothers-yet-their-hope-is-not-founded-on-their-works-but-on-Jehovahs-underserved-kindness

  March 15, 2012 study edition article entitled, Rejoicing In Our Hope

  2. Christians living at this time of the end focus their attention on one of two hopes. The remaining members of the "little flock" of anointed Christians have the hope of immortal life in heaven as kings and priests with Christ in his Kingdom. (Luke 12:32; Rev. 5:9, 10) The far more numerous "great crowd" of "other sheep" share the hope of living forever on a paradise earth as subjects of the Messianic Kingdom. (Rev. 7:9, 10; John 10:16) The other sheep should never forget that their salvation depends on their active support of Christ's anointed "brothers" still on earth. (Matt. 25:34-40) The anointed will enter into their reward, but the hope of the other sheep will just as certainly be fulfilled. (Read Hebrews 11:39, 40.) First, let us examine the hope set before the anointed.
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  agonus

  I don't recall Jesus ever using the words "anointed" or "great crowd" to refer to his disciples.
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  mrquik
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  matt2414

  The other sheep should never forget that their salvation depends on their active support of Christ's anointed "brothers" still on earth. (Matt. 25:34-40) The anointed will enter into their reward, but the hope of the other sheep will just as certainly be fulfilled. (Read Hebrews 11:39, 40.) First, let us examine the hope set before the anointed.

  This a gross twisting of the JW's own doctrine. Matt. 25:34-40 isn't referring to both the "other sheep" and anointed "brothers." In verse 34, Jesus directed his words to those on his right: "Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world." Christ then describes many ways they helped and slaved for him, so much so that they wonder when they could have possibly done all those things. He responds: "To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." To fit in with JW dogma, it would be the anointed doing all the heavy lifting, such as preaching, on behalf of Christ's "brothers." The NWT refers to Matt 10:40-42, where the brothers seem to be called "little ones" and "disciples." Based on the JW's own Bible, it is the GB and other anointed who slave for the great crowd., not the other way around.
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  kurtbethel

  They do their little ... trick in that quote, so the real message is obscured. Look at Matthew 28:19.

  Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded YOU.

  So whoever it is that is being directed to do this is also commanded to baptize. You must ask yourself, has any of the r&f of the great crowd baptized anyone lately? That is part of the command. Also, are the baptizms being done "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit"?

  Just checking.
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  Chariklo

  Jesus was talking tp his disciples, and by extension, to his followers.

  Jesus had never heard of the anointed or the great crowd. They got invented in Brooklyn a couple of thousand years down the line.
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  blond-moment

  According to the latest special assembly, the "great crowd" job is to "assist" the anointed. Assist by going in service for them, obey them, beg them for spiritual scraps, work for the anointed. The "great crowd" only job is to be there for the anointed. Yes that talk ticked me off.
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  Nambo

  Or is this just another way of them making themselves objects of worship by us?

  Does it fit any less into scripture the notion that the little flock, and the 144,000, are literal Hebrews, to fullfill the promise made to Abraham, and that the other sheep or great crowd, are Gentiles to whom Jesus has given exactly the same destiny as the little flock, that they become one flock under the one shepard and all do the same job, ie preaching?

  That makes more sense to me than the Bible and Jesus just being for the benifit of a handfull of men, yet we are all to be judged or condemned by it.