Problem: Did Jesus lie when he said he would not go to the Feast and then later he went?  No, he did not lie.  Let’s take a look at the verses and then examined their contexts.

1. No, Jesus did not go to the feast
   1. John 7:8, “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
2. Yes, Jesus did go to the feast.
   1. John 7:10, “But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret.”

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Problem: Roman Catholic theologians argue that the bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper literally become Jesus’ body and blood. They use the term transubstantiation to describe this event (trans means “to change” and substantiate means “substance”). Jesus himself said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (Jn. 6:53). At the last supper, Jesus offered the bread and said, “Take, eat; this is My body” (Mt. 26:26). In its 13th session in 1551, the Roman Catholic Council of Trent declared:
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Problem: In some verses of Scripture, people see God.  But, in other verses, it says they cannot see God? Is this a contradiction?  It is not if you understand the Trinity and the context of those verses.
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Problem: They sound exactly the opposite. On the surface, they appear to be completely contradictory statements. “We won the game.” “We lost the game.” How could both of these declarations be true? If a person is indeed talking about the same game, how could a team have both won the game and lost the game at the same time?
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Problem: Was it right for Jesus to bear witness of Himself? Does that invalidate His testimony? The gospel of John seems to say both yes and no. Does it contradict itself on this matter? Let’s take a look:
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Problem: One common misconception regarding the behavior of Jesus is that, on occasion, in healing the sick and performing other benevolent actions, He broke the Sabbath in order to accommodate the higher law of love. This viewpoint leaves the impression that law is sometimes, if not frequently, antithetical to being loving. It implies that sometimes breaking God’s laws is necessary in order to be loving. This notion, of course, is flawed and contrary to Bible teaching. As Paul explained to the Romans: “he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments…are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10). Paul meant that when you obey the law’s directives concerning how to conduct yourself toward your neighbor, you will be engaging in loving behavior. To love, one must enact God’s laws.
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According to numerous skeptics, the Bible is inconsistent regarding whether or not water baptism is necessary (e.g., Drange, 1996; Morgan, 2003; cf. Wells, 2001). In Dennis McKinsey’s book, Biblical Errancy (2000), he lists several verses that teach the need for one to be baptized in order to be saved (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21; etc.), but then he lists four verses (John 4:2; 1 Corinthians 1:14,16,17) which allegedly teach that baptism “is not a necessity” (p. 61). According to these men, Jesus and Paul were confused regarding the purpose of baptism.
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If Jesus is God’s “only begotten Son,” then how can angels and Christians also be God’s sons?

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Problem: Jesus says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (Jn. 3:36). John MacArthur writes, “Thus the true test of faith is this: does it produce obedience? If not, it is not saving faith. Disobedience is unbelief. Real faith obeys.” Lordship theologians use this verse to equate faith with obedience. Is this the case?
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Problems: The Bible tells us that God both loves people and hates people. Whether we like it or not, the Scriptures teach that God hates those who love violence and love evil. God is too holy to approve of those who love what is opposite to God’s character and nature. But on the other hand, generically speaking, God loves the whole world (John 3:16). Also, he lets the sun shine on the good and the bad. He let’s the rain fall upon all people. So, in this context, he loves all (Matthew 5:43-48).
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Problem: John writes, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15). Why does Jesus claim that the story of the brazen (Num. 21:4-9) serpent prefigures his death on the Cross?
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Problem: When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus regarding the need to be “born again” (John 3:1-8), He also sought to impress upon the mind of this ruler of the Jews that His words were from above. Jesus spoke of spiritual things that no man knew (Matthew 13:35; cf. 7:28-29; Luke 2:47). One of the reasons Jesus gave for being able to expound on such spiritual truths is found in John 3:13. Here, the apostle John recorded Jesus as having said to Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). According to the skeptic, this statement by Jesus is severely flawed. Since the Old Testament reveals that Elijah escaped physical death and “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11; cf. Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5), allegedly Jesus could not truthfully tell Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven.” Is the skeptic right?
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