Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts

Jesus in the Old Testament - Why Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus

By | Published Saturday, September 1, 2012


torah

Image from Creative Commons

On my first post on Jesus in the Old Testament, my fellow blogger Monique left a very thoughtful comment.  I won’t quote it here, if you’d like to read it, you can click on the link above that goes to that post.

 One of the points she made was a reminder that the Old Testament is the Bible of the Jews, which is called the Tanakh, and that even though Jews and Christians are reading the same books, the Jews do not believe Jesus is the Messiah. 

Although humanity has been waiting for the Messiah since Genesis 3, when God promised that the seed of woman would bruise the head of the serpent, the Messiah was later promised to come through the bloodline of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Their descendants, the Jews, produced and protected the scriptures that told of His coming.  The Messiah was to come from their people.  If Jesus is the Messiah, and they, more than all people, were looking for Him, why do so many Jews not believe in Jesus?

 I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and even though I’ve done some reading, I don’t feel like I am at all qualified to make any statements about why the Jews don’t believe in Jesus.  If you have any respectful thoughts about this, I’d love to hear them in the comments.

 I do know that the first believers were Jews.  Jesus’ disciples and most of His other followers were Jews.  A significant portion, if not all, of the converts on the day of Pentecost were Jews who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival. 

According to Shema.com, the Jews remained distinct from Gentile believers until around the seventh century, when they assimilated into the Gentile church.  The website continues by saying, “Though Messianic Judaism as a distinct movement faded in the seventh century, there have always been individual Jewish Believers in Yeshua. Beginning in the early 1800s increasing numbers of Jewish people began believing in Yeshua.”
Today, there are many congregations of Messianic Jews in Israel and around the world. 

Tents of Mercy is a group of Messianic congregations in Israel led by the Jewish founders, Eitan and Connie Shishkoff.  I have heard Eitan speak on multiple occasions about their work in Israel and the tremendous impact they are having. 

The Messianic Jewish Bible Institute works around the world “to bring Jewish people into a personal relationship of faith with Yeshua as Messiah.”  They have locations in the US, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Argentina, Mexico, Korea, Hungary, Brazil, and Zimbabwe. Many of my friends and acquaintances are supporters and the minister of a church I was a member of for about four years is on the board of directors.

If you have a desire to support Israel and help teach Jews about Jesus, either of these organizations would be an excellent place to start.


I know that over the centuries, countless Jews have rejected Jesus, but I know as well that Jesus first came to the Jews and now many, many are coming to Him.

This is the final post in the series on Jesus in the Old Testament.  If you missed any of the previous posts on Jesus in the New Testament, you can see each one of them here.

 Jesus in the Old Testament
Prophecy
Prophecies of Jesus' Birth
Prophecies of Jesus' Life
Prophecies of Jesus' Death and Resurrection
Types of Jesus
Christophanies
Melchizedek




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Jesus in the Old Testament: Melchizedek

By | Published Sunday, August 26, 2012



While studying to write this post, I was mostly focusing on the question whether Melchizedek was a type of Jesus or Jesus in the flesh (a christophany).

In the middle of reading one of my commentaries on the book of Hebrews, I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me.  I was missing the point.

Whether or not Melchizedek was Jesus in the flesh is a question that many have answered or tried to answer.  But we have failed to come to a unanimous answer.  As much confidence as I might have in my own mind and my abilities, I am also confident that if I came to a conclusion, I would not be able to convince all, if any, of those who disagreed.

So, if you do want to study and come to your own conclusion regarding exactly who Melchizedek was, I encourage you to study it for yourself.  But I'm not going to focus on that today.

Melchizedek has more to show us than that.



First of all, I want you to see what the Bible has to say about Melchizedek. 

The first instance that Melchizedek is mentioned in Genesis 14, where Melchizedek and Abraham meet.  The meeting is very abrupt and described by only a few short sentences.  He is never mentioned before or after in the life of Abraham. 

"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of the God Most High.  He blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.'  He gave him a tenth of all."
Genesis 14:18-20 (NASB).

David mentions Melchizedek in Psalm 110.

"The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'"  Psalm 110:4 (NASB).

The third place is the book of Hebrews.  He is mentioned in more than one place in Hebrews, but we're going to focus on chapter 7.  The chapter is 28 verses long, so I'm going to send you to Bible Gateway to read this one.  Click here to go to the chapter, but don't forget to come back when you're done reading.

I assume everyone has read chapter 7 and then came right back here.  Now we can start talking about why Melchizedek is important.

Abram had just rescued his nephew Lot and many others who had been taken, essentially as prisoners of war.  They were now celebrating the victory.  In the midst of this celebration, Melchizedek just shows up.  There aren't any questions as to who he is or where he came from, so we might be able to assume that Abram and the others were already familiar with him, but we don't know that for certain.  Melchizedek brings bread and wine and then blesses Abram.  After Abram receives this blessing, he gives Melchizedek a tenth, or a tithe, of all he had.

After this, Melchizedek seems to just fade into the background, and nothing more is said of him until the verse in Psalms.  The verse says, as we already read, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."  What does this mean? 

The writer of the book of Hebrews explains that to us, so we'll jump on over there. 

Hebrews says that Melchizedek was "without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually" Hebrews 7:3 (NASB).

This verse is one that makes people think that Melchizedek is Jesus.  Others say that the point being made is that Melchizedek did not come from a priestly line, having no significant ancestors or descendants.  It is not necessary to know which is right in order to understand what is being said here.

Under Jewish law, a man can only become a priest if he is a descendant of Levi, but Melchizedek was not part of this line.  He lived many years before Levi was born, and it was much longer before the priesthood would be established under Moses.  Jesus is a priest in a similar manner.  He was not born as a Levite but rather as a descendant of Judah, the line of kings.

Another point that shows Melchizedek's priesthood as being greater than the Levites is that Abram tithed to Melchizedek, even though he is the father of the line of priests.  "And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him" Hebrews 7:9-10 (NASB).

The priesthood of the Levites was imperfect and temporary, waiting for a great fulfillment.  "The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing" Hebrews 7:23 (NASB).  Jesus came as a priest in the order of Melchizedek, fulfilling the picture painted by his life.  With Jesus, there is no succession.  Instead, He is " a priest forever."   Jesus' priesthood is validated by the shadow of a greater priesthood represented by Melchizedek. 

"Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.  Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.  For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever" Hebrews 7:24-28 (NASB).

I know it's not one of the easiest concepts to understand.  I would love to hear what you think of Melchizedek or if you have any questions about this mysterious man from the Old Testament.  I can't promise to be able to answer them, but I'll do my best.



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Jesus in the Old Testament: Christophanies

By | Published Sunday, August 19, 2012






This week I want us to look at theophanies in the Old Testament, but specifically christophanies.

I've turned to Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology on www.biblestudytools.com for a good definition of a theophany.  

A theophany is a "manifestation of God that is tangible to the human senses.  In its most restrictive sense, it is a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament period often, but not always, in human form."

Read more »

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Jesus in the Old Testament: Types of Jesus

By | Published Monday, August 13, 2012



So far in this series on Jesus in the Old Testament, we have been talking about prophecies of Jesus.  Now we're going to look at types of Jesus.  Types are pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament.  Michael Vlach, in an article called "Interpreting Types," explains the differences between prophecies and types.    "Prophecies verbally predict what will happen in the future.  Types are things that nonverbally prefigure some greater New Testament reality.  You can spot an Old Testament prophecy from reading the Old Testament alone, but the New Testament must indicate either explicitly or implicitly whether some Old Testament person, object, ceremony, or institution functioned as a type." 

The Old Testament is full of these kinds of pictures, whether they are pictures of Jesus or of various spiritual ideas.  I'm going to briefly look at two of my favorite types of Jesus.

Read more »

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Jesus in the Old Testament - Prophecies of Jesus' Death and Resurrection

By | Published Sunday, August 5, 2012








Sometimes it is just easier to let scripture speak for itself.  The 53rd chapter of Isaiah is, in my opinion, the most beautiful bit of prophecy about Jesus' death and resurrection in the Old Testament.  Please read it, and I'll meet you at the bottom.


Isaiah 53 The Suffering Servant


Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.


(NASB)


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I hope that as you read this chapter of the Bible, several lines stood out to you as clearly pointing toward Jesus' death on a cross, His burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and then His resurrection.  There are plenty more prophecies of Jesus' death and resurrection, but as this is so extensive, and my favorite,  I chose to focus on this chapter only.  If you have thoughts about other prophecies of Jesus' death and resurrection, I would love to hear what you think.  You can comment below.

 If you want to read more about this passage, I found a short commentary on this chapter.  Please read it, but remember that I did not write it.   I did read it, and I did not find anything I disagreed with it, but if you find something objectionable in it, do not assume that I believe that way as well unless you have heard it from my mouth (fingers).

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Jesus in the Old Testament: Prophecies of Jesus' Life

By | Published Sunday, July 29, 2012



There are many prophecies about Jesus' birth and Jesus' death.  There are also prophecies about Jesus' life, but I feel like those tend to be forgotten by the more spectacular prophecies of His birth and death. 

Though the prophecies about Jesus' birth and death tend to get the most attention, there are also prophecies about Jesus' life.  Today we'll look at five of them.


Read more »

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Jesus in the Old Testament - Prophecies of Jesus' Birth

By | Published Sunday, July 22, 2012



I suspect that Linus gave us the most popular popular reading of the Christmas story.  If you haven't seen it in a while, I hope you enjoy it here.




While all the prophecies of Jesus are significant, one might argue that, when it comes to  validating Jesus' identity, the prophecies of Jesus' birth are most important since these details are much more difficult to manufacture.




One of the things that was prophesied was Jesus' lineage. 



"Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." Isaiah 11:1 (NASB).


Jesse was the father of King David, of the tribe of Judah.  Because Jesus was to be King (though not the kind the Jews were expecting), it was necessary for Jesus to be from this royal line.




Another scripture prophesies the location of His birth.

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.  His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."  Micah 5:2 (NASB).

Bethlehem is a small town near Jerusalem, in the land belonging  to the tribe of Judah.  Israel consisted of twelve tribes, named for and descended from the twelve sons of Jacob.  Once the Israelites arrived at the promised land, the land was divided by tribe.   King David was from Bethlehem.

"Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons." 1 Samuel 17:12 (NASB).

Jesus' family was living in Nazareth before Jesus was born, but not long before Jesus was born, the family traveled to Bethlehem.

"Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.  This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And everyone was on hi way to register for the census, each to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.  While they were there, the days were complete for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."  Luke 2:1-7 (NASB).




I've left the most controversial one for last. 

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."  Isaiah 7:14 (NASB).

There is quite a bit of debate on the word "virgin" in this scripture.  Some would say that the Hebrew word "almah" simply meant an unmarried young woman.  It was, of course, expected that an unmarried young woman would be a virgin.  And Mary was described as such.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows:  when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.  But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 1:18-20 (NASB).

This is a lengthy debate that I choose not to discuss in detail here, but if you do find that you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, or you can look at a couple sites on the issue I found during my research. 

This page describes the issue without delving very much into Hebrew and Greek.
http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/almah-virgin-maiden-isaiah.htm

If you are more interested in the original languages and various word choices, you can check out this page.
http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/9_1/almah




Details of Jesus' birth was prophesied in scripture, in several different books of the Bible.  After reading these few examples, if you have any questions, please leave a comment below, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

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Jesus in the Old Testament

By | Published Sunday, July 8, 2012


I am beginning a series on Jesus in the Old Testament.  We are going to look at prophecy in general, and then we are going to look at some of the prophecies and also some of the other places we can find Jesus in the Old Testament.

For clarity, please note that prophecy and prophecies are nouns and prophesy and prophesies are verbs.

I love the Old Testament.  Many people don't understand it or just dismiss it, claiming that it isn't important, but I disagree.  There are many reasons why I find the Old Testament important, but the biggest one is that it prophesies of the coming of Jesus.





Jesus tells us in multiple places that He fulfilled the prophecies listed in the Old Testament. 

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill."  Matthew 5:17 (NASB)

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me."  John 5:39 (NASB)

"'Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures."  Luke 24:26-27 (NASB)

"Now He said to them, 'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.'  Luke 24:44 (NASB)

What is the purpose of prophecy?  I believe that there are two main reasons for prophecy.  The first one is to instill hope into the hearers. 

One of my favorite prophecies of hope is Isaiah 9:6.  I find it difficult to temper my joy and hope when I read this verse.

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)

If you've not heard Handel's Messiah, "For Unto Us a Child is Born" you should definitely press play on this video below.  It may not be your cup of tea, but it is one of my favorite songs from The Messiah.  It's long and repetitive, so I don't mind if you don't listen to it in full, but I do hope that you enjoy it enough to listen to the whole thing.  Just don't forget to keep reading below the video!






The second purpose for prophecy is to validate the Messiah.  The Old Testament prophesies the circumstances of Jesus' birth, His lineage, His life, and His death.  The following verses  are a few examples of validating prophecies.

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."  Isaiah 7:14 (NASB)

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.  His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."  Micah 5:2 (NASB)

"Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord."  Isaiah 11:1-2 (NASB)

"Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.  Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy."  Isaiah 35:5-6a (NASB)

"His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth."  Isaiah 53:9 (NASB)

"For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay."  Psalm 16:10 (NASB)

What I have listed so far is a sampling of the prophecies about Jesus.  If you want to see more, follow this link to a chart that lists more (but not all) of the prophecies of Jesus.  Just as a warning, I have not examined this chart in full, so please forgive me if the author of the chart has made any errors.  (Make sure you come back and finish here, though!)



So just how many prophecies did Jesus fulfill?  People tend to have different counts on just how many He fulfilled.  In my research, I've seen 100, 315, 365, and 400.  One reason for the different numbers is that one passage of prophecy may be counted as multiple prophecies in some listings.

You might wonder if it is possible that it is just coincidence that Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies.  I find it very hard to believe that it could have been an accident.  The probability has been figured, and the enormous chance that Jesus would have fulfilled all these prophecies purely by accident is laughable.

"Scientist Peter Stoner estimated that the probability of fulfilling 48 prophecies was one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion!"

That's only 48.  Even at 48, it's hard to imagine that this could be achieved on accident.  When you add another 52, or another 352 prophecies, I can't even begin to think that it could all be by accident.  And many of those prophecies could not have been orchestrated, such as where Jesus was born, where He grew up (both Egypt and Nazareth are included in prophecy), and specific details of His crucifixion (His side was pierced, but no bones were broken).




Over the next several weeks, we are going to look at Jesus in the Old Testament, starting with a little more information about prophecy in general, and then we're going to look at some of the prophecies about Jesus' birth, His life, and His death.  Following that, we will look at some "types" of Jesus and christophanies included in the Old Testament.  Finally, we will tackle a mysterious character in the Old Testament and how he relates to Jesus.

If you have any questions so far, feel free to comment below, and I will try to answer them the best that I can, either with a comment or a post, depending on which is more appropriate and effective.

I hope you come back to see what I have to say on those topics.  If you haven't yet subscribed to my blog, you can click here or click on "Subscribe Here" at the top of the page.  

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I AM

By | Published Tuesday, March 20, 2012



“ ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’

So the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’

Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’

Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”

John 8:56-59 NASB


One of my favorite things about the Gospels is that sometimes Jesus just amazes me with the things He says and the way He says them.  I love a good sentence, and as far as good sentences go, I find one of the best in these four verses. 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

At first glance, this sentence makes you wonder if Jesus, or at least John, forgot the rules of grammar for a minute.  It sounds funny.  But once you understand what’s going on here, you’ll realize that this is one of the biggest, most audacious statements Jesus makes.

The Jewish leaders thought that Jesus was claiming to be alive at the same time that Abraham was.  That really doesn’t lend to a yes or no answer.  More like a yes and no answer.  We know that Jesus as a man was not on the earth when Abraham was alive, but we do know that Jesus exists eternally, from another passage in John.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”  John 1:1-3 NASB

We don’t know exactly what Jesus was referring to when He said Abraham saw His day.  It could have been that Abraham saw Jesus prophetically, or maybe Jesus is talking about Abraham seeing Him from heaven?  There are a few more possibilities, but that’s not really my point here so we’re going to move on.  If you are interested in reading more about this, check out The Chronological Life of Christ : From Glory to Galilee (Vol. 1) by Mark Moore.  Page 391 discusses this question.

What I really want to look at here is Jesus’ response. 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (verse 58).

If you’ve read much in Exodus, “I am” should sound familiar to you.

When Moses met God at the burning bush, God commanded Moses to return to Egypt to tell Pharaoh to release the Israelites.

“Then Moses said to God, ‘Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?’
God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “  Exodus 3:13-14 NASB

I Am is not simply a statement of existence, it is a Name!  And not just any name.

In the book mentioned above, Mark Moore stated, “Whether Jesus says this in Greek, or more likely, Aramaic, the translation of the Tetragrammaton, is clear.  This ineffable name for God, ‘Jehovah,’ Jesus applies to himself” (391).

Jesus is calling Himself God.  No wonder the next thing that John tells us is that the Jewish leaders picked up rocks in order to stone Him.  To claim to be God is blasphemy!  

R.C. Foster, in Studies in the Life of Christ: Introduction, the Early Period, the Middle Period, the Final Week said, “If Jesus had said, ‘Before Abraham was born, I was,’ it would have been understood that He meant He had been in existence before Abraham, but the words I am make clear that Jesus affirmed eternality” (822).

“Say to the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death.  The entire assembly must stone him.  Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.”  Leviticus 24:15-16. 

You can also read 1 Kings 21:8-14 for an example of this and Matthew 26:63b-68 for another time Jesus is accused of blasphemy.

The Jewish leaders were half right.  Jesus was absolutely claiming to be God.  But it’s not blasphemy if it’s true!

One of my favorite authors over the history of the church is C.S. Lewis, and he presents an interesting argument concerning how we deal with Jesus.  Lewis says that Jesus either must be a terribly deceitful man, a crazy man worthy of the loony bin, or God incarnate.  There is no choice to label Jesus as merely a good teacher.  Jesus clearly told the Jews that He was God.  A good teacher doesn’t walk around the country lying to people!  You either have to call Jesus God or dismiss Him as a liar or a lunatic.  Check out Mere Christianity to read more about C.S. Lewis’ thoughts on the matter.


The Jewish leaders decided what they wanted to do with Jesus.

What will you do with Jesus?



This is the first in a series from the book of John.  We will be looking at each of the I Am statements that Jesus makes.

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Jesus is the Great High Priest

By | Published Tuesday, January 17, 2012


Once a year, in the old Jewish sacrificial system, the high priest went into the innermost part of the temple, called the Holy of Holies.  He made sacrifice on this day, the Day of Atonement, for the whole nation of Israel.  No one except this one man on this one day was allowed to enter this room.  Hebrews 6:19-20 tells us, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.  He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (NIV).

Jesus is our high priest.  There have been many high priests since the first high priest, Aaron, was appointed just after Israel left their slavery in Egypt.  There were certain requirements that a person must have to be a high priest.  Jesus met, and often exceeded, those prerequisites.

First of all, how would a man even become a high priest?  He does not simply decide in his own mind that he will be a high priest.  God chooses him to be such.  Aaron was chosen by God to be high priest.  Jesus also was chosen by God to be high priest.

Before a priest could offer sacrifices for the people, he had to be free of sin himself, so he first had to offer sacrifice for his own sin, then offer sacrifices for the people.  Jesus, on the other hand, was sinless His entire life; that is, He never caused offense to God, and so His relationship with God has remained intact.  For that reason, there is no need for Him to offer sacrifice for Himself.  He has a constant connection to the Father that is not broken.  Because of this, He is most qualified to be a priest, an intercessor, for us.

As a sinless man, one might think that Jesus is unable to understand where we are coming from as people dealing with sin and temptation on a consistent basis.  Jesus, though He never sinned, was tempted during His life on earth.  He simply chose not to give in to those temptations.  He withstood temptation to the farthest reach of it, something we have never experienced because we give in to the temptation before it can reach its full strength.  He understands temptation and the strength of it.  He can sympathize with our struggles.  He understands us, so He can “deal gently” with us as the author of Hebrews says.

When God began to form the children of Jacob, the Israelites, into a nation, He appointed the Levites as the priestly tribe.  The first high priest was Aaron, and his descendants were to follow him in that role.  The tribe of Judah was the tribe of the kings.  King David was from the tribe of Judah, and the Messiah was prophesied to come from this tribe.  It is obvious from the genealogies in Matthew and Luke that Jesus was the tribe of Judah.  Jesus is qualified biologically to be king.  How then can Jesus be a priest when He is part of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of the kings, and not of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of the priesthood?

The answer to this takes us far back into the history of Israel, even before the nation was a nation, before Israel was named Israel.  Abraham, in Genesis 14, came to the aid of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities who had been attacked and defeated by neighboring kings.  After Abraham and his people won the battle, Melchizedek, the king of Salem and the priest of God Most High, brought out bread and wine.  He blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave him a tenth, a tithe, of everything that he had.  The author of Hebrews states that Jesus is a high priest as Melchizedek was a high priest.  Melchizedek was not of the tribe of Levi; neither the priestly line nor Levi the man had even come to exist.  Hebrews explains that since the Levitical priesthood and the law were unable to save people, another priest and another law was needed to take the place of the previous.

How is it that Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek?  Is it only that neither one were Levites?  Or is there more?  Hebrews tells us that Melchizedek had no father or mother and no genealogy.  He had no “beginning of days or end of life.”  He had always been.  He is a priest forever.  Hebrews says that Melchizedek and Jesus were both “one who has become priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.”  Through the history of the nation of Israel, there was a succession of high priests.  One would fill this role for a number of years, and then when he died, another would take his place.  With Jesus, there is no succession because there is no death.  Jesus is a priest forever.

Finally, what raises Jesus higher than the priests before Him is the quality of the sacrifice offered.  In the past, sacrifices were rams, bulls, doves and other animals.  We are told, though, that the blood of animals cannot forgive sins.  Those sacrifices were looking forward to and pointing to a greater sacrifice.  The greater sacrifice that was offered was a pure, unblemished sacrifice, the life of the high priest Himself.  Jesus became not only the high priest who offered the sacrifice but also the sacrifice which was offered.

Jesus has become our high priest in that He has fulfilled and exceed the requirements of high priest.  The scripture describes to us a high priest who is able to completely wipe away sins because of His special capability to serve in this role and His offering of His own life for the atoning sacrifice.

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