Jesus Christ was called a "Nazarene" - Sermon (Church of God World mission society)

Jesus Christ was called a "Nazarene"

Ac 24:1-16 『Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Cae-sarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. … "We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him." … When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: … "My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man."』

There was no charge against Paul, but they accused him just because he taught different doctrines from theirs; Paul was accused of believing in God, not of committing a crime. In those days, the gospel of Jesus Christ already spread all over Jeru-salem and other regions. However, at that time people didn't recognize Jesus to be in very nature God, and they charged Him unjustly with her-esy―‘the Nazarene sect.' The religious leaders also brought the Apostle Paul into governor's court by reason that he believed Jesus as God. It was natural for the two groups to be opposed to each other; for one group taught that Jesus is the very God, and the other objected to it, saying, "How can you say that Jesus, a mere man, is God?" Spiritually, the antagonism between the two can be explained as the enmity between God and Satan. When Paul was taken to court, he asked them what crime they found in him. Actually, they found no basis for a charge against him. For he just preached that Jesus Christ is God and He rose from the dead and so whoever believes in Him would not taste death but be resurrected. Disputing with them, he said that he followed the way which they called a sect (heresy, KJV). The way was not really heresy, was it? Let's see what Jesus said about those who called Him the Nazarene.

Mt 23:13-15 『"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."』

Jesus said to the religious leaders esteemed in those days, "Woe [Curse] to you." He said that they shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, for they hindered people from entering the kingdom by any means, saying, ‘How can Jesus, a mere man, be God? He was unlearned.' With such evil speakings, they constantly tried to hinder people from having faith in Christ. They kept the people from recognizing God who came into this earth and made them take the lead in opposing God and do more evil than before. So the Bible says that they make each of them twice as much a son of hell as they are. They can never enter the kingdom of heaven. Ananias, Tertullus, false elders and all the Jews who stood by them … Where are they now? They are tormented in hell; the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.(continuation)