“Carry On as Men”
“Stay awake, stand firm in the faith, carry on as men, grow mighty.”—1 Corinthians 16:13.
1. By the words “Look! The man!” Pilate was referring to Jesus as being what?
“LOOK! THE MAN!” With those historic words the Roman governor Pontius Pilate presented to the crowd of hostile Jews gathered before his palace in Jerusalem the most famous man in all human history. It was the Jew named Jesus Christ, then arrayed in a garment of royal purple and with a crown of thorns upon his head, all of this in mockery of his claim to being the promised Messianic King. (John 19:5-15) However, by the words “Look! The man!” Pilate was referring to Jesus as the most outstanding figure among all humankind, one not deserving to be rejected. This was indicated by Pilate’s use of the Greek word anʹthro·pos (Hebrew, geʹber), meaning a human being of the male sex.
2. Through what man will dead humankind have a resurrection from the dead, and on the basis of what offering?
2 The apostle Paul referred to this man, who was the equivalent of the perfect man Adam in the day of his creation, when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:21 these words: “For since death is through a man [the anʹthro·pos Adam], resurrection of the dead is also through a man [the anʹthro·pos Jesus Christ].” The apostle Paul had the same man in mind when he spoke to the members of the Athenian court on the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, and said: “True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance, yet now he is telling mankind [literally, the men] that they should all everywhere repent. Because he has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30, 31) By sacrificing his perfect human life in behalf of all humankind, this resurrected Jesus could present a ransom for all mankind that even the human dead might have a resurrection from the dead and an opportunity to gain everlasting life on a paradise earth under his millennial kingdom.
3. Whose offering of a corresponding ransom had to be witnessed to at the particular time, and why is now the most fitting time for this witness?
3 In agreement with that happy fact, the apostle Paul wrote to his colaborer Timothy and said: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all—this is what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times.” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6) And now, today, during his presence as reigning King on his heavenly throne at God’s right hand, is a most appropriate time for such a witness to be given to all humankind.
4. When Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd, how was his appearance different from that on the day of his ride into Jerusalem, and why should Pilate have been impressed?
4 However, now, to turn back to that memorable Passover Day of the year 33 CE, when the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, presented the scourged and humiliated Jesus to that evil-intentioned crowd in front of his palace and exclaimed: “Look! The man!” Jesus was certainly then quite a spectacle! He had taken on an appearance far different from what he had displayed earlier in that selfsame week. This was when he made a triumphal ride into Jerusalem as a king-elect on his way to his coronation in the capital city. This was in a miniature fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, where we read: “Be very joyful, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Look! Your king himself comes to you. He is righteous, yes, saved; humble, and riding upon an ass, even upon a full-grown animal the son of a she-ass.” (Matthew 21:1-9; John 12:12-16) Later, on Passover day, what a masterly display of manly qualities Jesus had to make, to take all the mistreatment and abuse uncomplainingly, in full submission to the will of the Most High God, his heavenly Father! How could Governor Pilate do otherwise than be profoundly impressed by the sturdy, unflinching manliness of this Jew toward whom the eyes of the whole universe were then turned?
5, 6. (a) Why do lovers of life in paradise have in Jesus Christ a perfect example as to their course of action? (b) According to Paul’s description, how did the course of Adam and that of Jesus Christ affect mankind in different ways?
5 All lovers of life in human perfection on a paradise earth in the approaching future have, in that manly human being, an example worthy of imitation, one on which to keep their eyes fixed. Like the first man, Adam, when his Creator put him in the garden of Eden, the full-grown Jesus was a perfect human being. But Jesus did not spoil the image of God in which he had been put on earth; he never disfigured the human likeness of God according to which he had been brought up as a man. (Genesis 1:26, 27) So, how dissimilarly the disobedient course of Adam and the loyal, submissive course of Jesus Christ have affected all mankind!
6 Briefly stating this, the apostle Paul wrote to the Christian congregation in the highly intellectual city of Corinth, Greece, the following words: “For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive. But each one in his own rank: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ during his presence.” (1 Corinthians 15:22, 23) For that reason God did not leave his faithful Son in the state of death. According to his own unbreakable promise, God raised him from the dead on the third day, the first one to be raised from the dead to eternal life. By means of resurrection God returned his obedient Son to the place that he had had with him formerly, in the invisible heavens. This made possible the restoration of the human dead back to life on earth, with the opportunity of being uplifted gradually to perfect human life on a paradise earth, during the invisible reign of Jesus Christ over his earthly domain for a thousand years.
7. Why is Jesus Christ no longer a perfect human being, and yet what will he be able to give back to the descendants of Adam and Eve?
7 His unseen, yet perceptible, “presence” as King over redeemed humankind will indeed make itself felt. Jesus Christ is again a spirit creature, but now deathproof, immortal. The apostle Paul points up this fact when he goes on to say to the Corinthian congregation: “If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual one. It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:44, 45; Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7) No longer being a human creature of flesh and blood, but now being a mighty spirit in heaven, the glorified Jesus Christ will be able to give back life in human perfection to the descendants of Adam and Eve, inasmuch as he laid down his perfect human life as a man in behalf of the human family.
The Man Like Whom to Carry On
8. To seekers of what is Jesus Christ an example worthy of being imitated, and on the basis of what could Paul tell members of the congregation in Corinth to be imitators of him?
8 As a perfect example during his stay on earth, Jesus Christ is worthy of being imitated by all today who seek to gain eternal life, whether as heavenly associates with him in the kingdom or as his perfect human sons and daughters on the paradise earth. So, in the perfect fitness of things, the apostle Paul could write to the followers of Christ in ancient Corinth and say: “Keep from becoming causes for stumbling to Jews as well as Greeks and to the congregation of God, even as I am pleasing all people in all things, not seeking my own advantage but that of the many, in order that they might get saved. Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.”—1 Corinthians 10:32–11:1.
9. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 the Greek verb translated as “carry on as men” is drawn from what noun, and what distinction does this noun make?
9 Those words help us to view from the right standpoint Paul’s further exhortation found among his closing words written to the congregation in Corinth, Greece: “Stay awake, stand firm in the faith, carry on as men, grow mighty.” (1 Corinthians 16:13) Here the one Greek word translated as “carry on as men” is a verb drawn from the noun an·erʹ in the genitive case, namely, an·drosʹ. This Greek noun means a man, a male, as different from a woman, a female. For instance, Matthew 14:21 reads: “Yet those eating were about five thousand men, besides women and young children.” (See also Matthew 15:38; Mark 6:44; John 6:10.) Against the apostle Peter the complaint was made in Jerusalem that “he had gone into the house of men that were not circumcised and had eaten with them.” (Acts 11:3) At 1 Corinthians 11:3 we read: “The head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.”
10. In Acts 17:31, what Greek noun did Paul use in designating the one by whom God purposed to judge the inhabited earth?
10 To the members of the Court of the Areopagus in ancient Athens, Greece, the apostle Paul said the following words concerning Jesus Christ: “He [God] has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man [an·erʹ] whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men [Greek, paʹsin] in that he has resurrected him from the dead.”—Acts 17:31.
11. In Acts 14:15, how does the Greek text show the difference between a person of the male sex and a mere human being?
11 In Acts 14:15 we read of Paul and Barnabas as crying out: “Men [Greek: anʹdres], why are you doing these things? We also are humans [Greek: anʹthro·poi] having the same infirmities as you do.” Thus we can see how the Greek text makes a distinction between a person of the male sex and a mere human being.
12. (a) In what way were the sisters in the Corinthian congregation to carry on “as men,” and how do other English translations read here? (b) How many times does the Greek verb an·driʹzo occur in the Christian Greek Scriptures, but how many times in the Greek Septuagint Version?
12 Paul’s words at 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Carry on as men” (an·driʹzo), were written to all members of the congregation, to the sisters as well as the brothers. So even the sisters were to act in a manly way, that is, with Christian courage, in imitation of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Christian congregation. In the original text of the Christian Greek Scriptures the verb an·driʹzo occurs only once, namely in 1 Corinthians 16:13, where the New World Translation renders it as “carry on as men.” The King James Authorized Version reads: “Quit you like men.” The Living Bible: “Act like men.” Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English: “Live like men.” However, in the Greek text of the Greek Septuagint Version the verb an·driʹzo occurs twenty-one times.
13. How is the Greek verb rendered in Deuteronomy 31:6, 7, 23 according to the translation of the Septuagint by Charles Thomson?
13 For instance, in Deuteronomy 31:6, 7, 23 as translated by Charles Thomson, we read: “Act manfully, and be strong; . . . Then Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel, Be courageous, and strong; . . . And the Lord gave a charge to Joshua, and said, Be courageous, and strong, for thou shalt conduct the children of Israel into the land which the Lord solemnly promised them, and he will be with thee.” (See similar readings in the edition published by S. Bagster and Sons of London, England.)
14. How does the translation by Charles Thomson render the Greek verb in Nahum 2:1?
14 In the last of the twenty-one cases of the occurrence of this Greek verb in the Greek Septuagint Version at Nahum 2:1, we read: “Into thy presence came up panting one who is delivered from affliction. Watch the way; strengthen thy loins; act manfully with all thy might.” (See also Bagster’s edition of the Septuagint.)a
15. So, in the light of the foregoing, how do other modern translations render the Greek verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13 in a way that plainly can apply to womenfolk as well as menfolk?
15 In view of the Septuagint renderings of the Greek verb an·driʹzo, it is understandable why other modern versions of the Holy Bible treat that Greek verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13 in a way as did translations of the Greek Septuagint Version (LXX). For instance, The Revised Standard Version: “Be courageous.” Today’s English Version: “Be brave.” New International Version: “Be men of courage.” The New English Bible: “Be valiant.” The Jerusalem Bible: “Be brave.” In that sense the Greek verb would apply to dedicated, baptized Christian women as well as to dedicated, baptized Christian men. Hence, the proper fitness of Paul’s use of that Greek verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13. This is true even though physically the womenfolk are each “a weaker vessel, the feminine one.”—1 Peter 3:7.
16. After telling Christians to carry on as men, what words does Paul add, and how can this exhortation be carried out?
16 After the apostle Paul tells the dedicated, baptized Christians to “carry on as men” he adds the words: “Grow mighty.” In line with this, Paul wrote, at Ephesians 6:10: “Finally, go on acquiring power in the Lord and in the mightiness of his strength.” Jehovah God the Almighty can strengthen us to “grow mighty,” yes, to do exploits in his sacred service. (Daniel 11:32, Authorized Version; American Standard Version) He has clothed his dedicated, baptized people with the dignity of the greatest service one could have on earth. This should powerfully motivate the spirit-anointed remnant and their sheeplike companions to do as Paul exhorts us, “Carry on as men.”
17. In what way does the anointed remnant of today have a privilege more honorable than that of John the Baptizer?
17 Ours today is a greater and more honorable privilege than that of John the Baptizer of the first century. He was honored with the privilege of being the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the King-to-be, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 in a typical way or on a miniature scale. (Mark 1:1, 2) When speaking about this “messenger of the covenant,” Jesus said: “Truly I say to you people, Among those born of women there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.” (Matthew 11:7-11) Today, since the end of World War I in the year 1918, the remnant of the anointed heirs of the heavenly kingdom are acting as ambassadors, not of a future royal government, but of a celestial kingdom that was installed at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914, with the glorified Jesus Christ being put on the throne. Of them it is true, but in a grander sense, just as the apostle Paul wrote: “We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’”—2 Corinthians 5:20.
18. (a) Since 1935, who have responded to the entreaty to be reconciled to God as voiced by the remnant of “ambassadors substituting for Christ”? (b) Who have joined the menfolk in preaching the kingdom news, and how was this indicated in Psalm 68:11?
18 Since the close of the first world war in 1918, and notably since the memorable year of 1935, a great crowd of persons of all nationalities have responded to that entreaty extended by the anointed remnant of the kingdom heirs. These responsive ones have taken the Scripturally defined steps to become reconciled to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and are now at peace with him. In appreciation these are acting as the companions of the remnant of “ambassadors substituting for Christ,” and could be viewed as ‘envoys substituting for Christ’ in extending the appeal to be reconciled with God to still other sheeplike ones. In a manly, courageous way, these also, both the womenfolk and the menfolk, are going forth to preach ‘this good news of the kingdom in all the inhabited earth for a witness.’ (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 7:9-17) It is just as Psalm 68:11 foretold: “Jehovah himself gives the saying; the women telling the good news are a large army.”
[Footnotes]
a For other occurrences of the Greek verb an·driʹzo in the Greek LXX, see: Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18; 10:25; 2 Samuel 10:12; 13:28; 1 Chronicles 19:13; 22:13; 28:20; 2 Chronicles 32:7; Psalm 26:1427:14; 30:2531:24; Jeremiah 2:25; 18:12; Daniel 10:19; Micah 4:10; compare these with the readings of the translations of the original Hebrew text for all these verses, for example, the modern English versions cited above. At Jeremiah 2:25 we read: “But she said, I will act like one come to maturity [an·driʹzo]. Because she loved strangers, therefore after them she did go.”—Charles Thomson.
Can you answer these questions?
□ Pilate’s presentation of Jesus to the crowd as “the man” implied what about Jesus?
□ How was Jesus’ appearance on this occasion different from what it had been earlier that same week?
□ What kind of example did Jesus set for all his followers by his behavior that last day of his life on earth?
□ To whom was the apostolic command to “carry on as men” addressed?
□ How are Christian women to carry on as men?
[Picture on page 21]
“Look! The man!”
What was implied by Pilate’s introduction of Jesus?
[Picture on page 24]
How are women to “carry on as men”?