Jewish Expectations of the Messiah

Notes
Transcript
I know that we’ve been making our way through 1 & 2 Samuel - having just broke in to 2 Samuel a couple weeks ago...
BUT...
- with Easter on our door step – we’re actually going to start an Easter Series today that will take us right to Easter Sunday.
· This series is one that we actually walked through several years ago…
And for those who were with us THEN - I hope this is a reminder for us - TO NOT MISunderstand Easter and TO SEE IT more clearly in light of its context.
· AND for those of you who WERE NOT here - my hope is that this series will help YOU APPROACH Easter from maybe a NEWER angle this year…to SEE it more clearly in light of its CONTEXT
• to maybe view Easter – with a deeper background than we have before…
That can’t be a bad thing right?
• So TODAY - we’re going to see what the Jewish Nation was expecting in regards to the coming Messiah....Because make no mistake – the Jews were on the LOOKOUT for the coming Messiah!
• And so hopefully by the end of today, we'll understand a little better what those expectations were...
• AND THEN - Following TODAY - in the coming wees, ...in LIGHT of these EXPECTATIONS, we're going to focus in on what Jesus had to say about Himself...
• ...and we'll do that by focusing in on John 14:6 where Jesus says – this
John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• And so OVERALL - this is how this series will play out:
SLIDE:
Jewish Expectations
Jesus as I AM
Jesus as The Way
Jesus as The Truth
Jesus as The Life
· Each of those phrases – making up John 14:6
• And so hopefully come Easter Sunday, we'll have MAYBE - a newer perspective on the resurrection...in light of what the Jews had expected from their Messiah...And so – LET’s get started…
• The first aspect of Jewish Belief that we're gonna look at (FIRST EXPECTATION) deals with the Nature of God...
– And remember this will tie directly into their EXPECTATION of the Messiah.
SLIDE: Jewish Belief: God Is One

Jewish Belief

• now, when we read Deut. 6:4....
Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
• We think - OK, they're right on...the Lord is one...
• Now, we hear that....we read that...and we filter it through the rest of Scripture...
• We know what Isaiah 43:10 says...
Isaiah 43:10 ESV
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
• We hear this and think - Yes, that's right... · That’s OT….but we can even go to the NT and hear the same truth…
Ephesians 4:4–5 ESV
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
· There is ONE Lord…· And we say – Yes…that’s true
• BUT the Jews understood this in a different way...
• Their thoughts on the ONENESS of God lead them down the path that ended with the belief that there was no TRINITY...
• In Jewish theology, the thought that One God would exist in 3 separate persons...
• was heretical!
• They couldn't wrap their heads around it...
• And so what are the implications of that?!!!
• WELL –
· How about the incarnation? - According to Jewish theology....it did not happen
See in Jewish theology, the Messiah was going to be born AS OTHER MEN...
• The belief was that the Messiah would be born as other men...AND that he would NOT be sinless...
• Now WE hear that and we think - that's crazy...
• BUT, HOW INTERESTING IS IT – that when we look at Scripture....we see this belief play itself out...
Luke 9:18–19 ESV
18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.”
Matthew 16:13–14 ESV
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
• Do you see where their minds DEFAULT to?
• The CROWDS saw Jesus...
• they saw His miracles...
• they saw the works He performed..
• And so on ONE HAND they KNEW that this guy "Jesus" was doing things that no NORMAL man could do!
• BUT... • on the OTHER HAND they COULD NOT say - this is GOD IN THE FLESH...
• WHY?
· remember – They read Deut. 6:4 (God is ONE) – and decide that “God in the flesh” is IMPOSSIBLE…
• and so what was the conclusion??
• Who did they say Jesus was? _ we just read it...
• Well, it's not GOD in the flesh - it MUST be John the Baptist (back from the dead)...
• Or it's Elijah (back from the dead)
• Or Jeremiah...
• Or one of the prophets...(back from the dead)
• And so in SEEING the works of Jesus, the people were willing to believe that God had sent these mere mortals back to earth (BACK FROM THE DEAD) to DO these things...
• but they wouldn't say that this was - God Himself...walking among them...
• ...because their theology wouldn't LET them say that.
• And so their theology REMOVED the deity of Christ...and THAT would have implications in how they handle things that Jesus ends up saying about Himself....
· OK- that’s the first belief we’ll look at today…
· God is ONE…Implication? - Jesus could NOT have been the Messiah?
- - WHY???
· Because Jesus CLAIMED to be GOD.
So think of the irony here - Jesus’ CLAIM TO BE GOD in the flesh - DISQUALIFIED Him from being the Messiah - in the minds of the Jews.
NOW - what about another Jewish belief that would have HINDERED the Jews from believing in Jesus as the Messiah?
SLIDE: Jewish Belief: No Suffering Messiah

Jewish Belief

• So think about how hindering this belief would have been in looking at Christ as the Messiah...
· How confident are we – that an Elder is to be – A MAN (not a woman – but a MAN).
· We are VERY confident – why? - Because the Bible tells us so.
· An elder qualification is that this person – should be the HUSBAND of ONE WOMAN. The HUSBAND…
· An ELDER is to be – A MAN.
· NOW – if a woman walked in here and said – I’m going to be an ELDER at this church – As confident as I would be in looking at her and saying- NO YOU’RE NOT…
· As confident as I would be in responding that way…(saying – well – you’re a WOMAN so – NOPE you can’t be an ELDER)
· The 1st century Jews were just as confident that a SUFFERING Messiah would be NO MESSIAH at all…
• Jewish theology at the time of Christ had no doctrine of a Suffering Messiah...
now again, we might think....wow that's weird, BUT we see this play itself out in Scripture...
Matthew 16:21–22 ESV
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
• So here we have - Peter
- Peter knows that Jesus is the Son of God...the Messiah (he said so 5 verses before this)
• So Peter knows who Jesus is - God Himself in the flesh...and yet...
• When God in the flesh tells him that he must SUFFER and DIE...
• Peter takes Jesus over in the corner and says - That's NOT GONNA HAPPEN TO YOU!!
• Why would Peter say that?
• BECAUSE according to Jewish theology, there was no CONCEPT of a Suffering Messiah....
slide: Electric Chair
• You know what this is?
What does the electric chair have to do with Christianity?
• Answer: nothing
• Christianity has no use for the electric chair...
• And on the flip side, Jewish Theology at the time of Christ has no use for the Cross...
• It wasn't part of their thinking...
• They didn't even consider it...
• SOOO, when they heard it...When they heard Jesus talking about being killed...it was hard for them to even grasp the concept...
And we HEAR about this - in the Bible
1 Corinthians 1:22–24 ESV
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
• The thought of a Suffering Messiah was repulsive to the Jews...
• It was the biggest stumbling block to them BELIEVING the gospel...
• Here you had a guy who was claiming to be God...and yet He was getting pushed around by man...
NOW – this is gonna be a really lame analogy…but it’s real to my life. (ACC, Big12, Big10…)· *Univ of Maryland (Terrapins) – we went there my senior year.
· At the time they were in the ACC – one of the power conferences.
· Fans – “Welcome to ACC Baseball!”
• When it came to JESUS – You had a guy claiming to be God getting spit on...
• Having His beard pulled from His face...
• Getting owned...
• And the DISCONNECT between the claim of Jesus being God and what was HAPPENING to Him...
• ...caused the RELIGIOUS Leaders to MOCK Jesus...
Luke 23:35–37 ESV
35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
• Here's the IRONY - The rulers and the soldiers MOCKED Him...
• What they were saying was - We're GOING to kill You...and the only way you'll survive is if you SAVE Yourself!
• The only way you WON'T die, is if You CHOOSE to save Yourself...
• What THEY couldn't understand - was that HE was ACTUALLY making a CHOICE...
• That He was CHOOSING to die...!!
• That this was HIS plan to die!
Acts 4:27–28 ESV
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
• The Jews didn't understand that Jesus (God in the flesh) was choosing to lay down His life..
• And yet It was all building on itself...from the Jews perspective...
• First this guy Jesus was claiming to be equal with God...
• And according to our 1st point today, that didn't compute with Jewish theology...
Mark 14:61–64 ESV
61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.
• So we have Jesus claiming to be equal with God - to be God, and since that didn't compute with Jewish theology, they decided He was blaspheming God...and decided to kill Him.
• THEN, you have Jesus being sentenced to death, and suffering...
• which just made it even more improbable that He would be the Messiah...
• All they saw was a guy who had claimed to be God, and yet they were man-handling Him...
• In their minds...it didn't MAKE SENSE!
· So Jesus is PUT TO DEATH – solidifying in the Jewish mind – even more-so that Jesus wasn’t who He claimed to be…
· And His death had an impact on the Jewish people…
Luke 24:13–21 ESV
13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
• Do you see what had happened?
• The death of Christ KILLED the hope of the Jew...!
• v21 - But we HAD HOPED that He was the one to redeem - - WHAT? Israel...
• What are they saying? - We HAD hoped this, but now that He's dead, our HOPE in the redemption of Israel is gone!
Which leads to our 3rd expectation for today...
SLIDE: Jewish Belief: National Salvation, Not Individual Salvation

Jewish Belief

• If we look back at verses 20-21 of Luke 24, we see what the expectation was for the Jewish people...
Luke 24:20–21 ESV
20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
• The Jewish expectation was that the Messiah would come and free the Jewish people from Roman oppression.
• The thought was that the Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom where:
• the law would be established
• the temple restored
• and where Judaism would reign over gentiles
• See the Jews wanted to reign, but what they needed was to be conquered....in a Spiritual sense...
• And In their IGNORANCE - they stood in opposition to the TRUTH
• And so when Jesus comes and He starts talking about needing to die...
• That didn't FIT in with the idea of 'the Messiah CONQUERING Rome'...
And so all of these things playing into the Expectations that the Jews had…regarding the COMING MESSIAH
And so we might ask - WHY DID the Jews VIEW salvation only in terms of the NATION of Israel - AND NOT in terms of individual salvation?
WHY did they NOT look to the Messiah - in terms of being a PERSONAL savior?
It’s because they viewed the ROLE of the Messiah to be MAINLY political...
And viewed SOMETHING ELSE as their SAVIOR / REDEEMER in relation to God - on a personal level.
Which leads us to the last EXPECTATION for today...
- The 4th Jewish Belief...
SLIDE: Jewish Belief: The Law as Redeemer

Jewish Belief

• How did the Jews view the Law?
• i think it's helpful to start off by saying that Judaism, throughout the centuries has changed...
• with different sects of Judaism branching out from others...
• I think when we hear the term JUDAISM...right away we think of the Pharisees in Scripture...
• ...where Judaism was this WORKS-BASED religion...
• With that said, I think it's important to understand HOW Judaism had come to get to that WORKS-BASED religion...
• ...where maybe initially it wasn't QUITE so VOID of God's grace...
• Let's look all the way back at part of the Abrahamic Covenant...
• Remember - God chose Abraham...Abraham did nothing to earn being chosen by God.
• It was based on God's grace!
Genesis 15:8–11 ESV
8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
• Here we see God executing a covenant ceremony...
• ...and He orders Abraham to lay out pieces of dead animals to create an isle (a blood path) that can be walked down.
• Ordinarily when a servant would enter into a covenant with a lord, the servant would pass thru the dead animals as he made his promise of faithfulness.
• This was a way to say - If i'm not faithful to this promise i make today, may i be torn into pieces and killed like these animals.
• The [servant] is agreeing to take on the curse of the covenant if he does not keep his oath.
• Now with this in mind...let's look at what happens here.
Genesis 15:17 ESV
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
• So instead of Abraham passing thru the dead animals...
• God does!
• In the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch, God passes thru the blood path (the dead animals), and as He does, He promises to bless Abraham in all the ways He has promised.
But typically....as we said - it was the SERVANT who would walk the blood path
• AND YET - God walks the blood path...
• And then the ceremony ends.
• Abraham never walks.
• This means that God promises to take the curse of the covenant upon Himself...
• NOT ONLY if God fails to obey the covenant, but ALSO if Abraham fails to obey the Covenant.
• He offers to die and be torn to pieces if humanity fails so that He can give us the blessings of the covenant...unconditionally.
• That's the Abrahamic covenant...based on God's GRACE...
• And it's THAT Covenant that is passed down and renewed with Isaac, and then Jacob...
• ...who then articulates it to Joseph...
• We see that it's an EVERLASTING Covenant...
• ...WHICH IS THEN confirmed and extended in the Mosaic Covenant...on Mt. Sinai with the GIVING of the LAW...
• ALL THE WHILE - - IN REALITY - - based on God's GRACE...
• When we look at the Mosaic Covenant...
• The GIVING of the LAW at Mt. Sinai...
Exodus 19:5–6 ESV
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 30:16 ESV
16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
• Now, this sounds as though Israel needed to OBEY God in order to COME into RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Him...
• But that's not the case...
• We need to know that the Mosaic Covenant was...
SLIDE: Mosaic Covenant
Founded on God's Grace
Conditional Blessings Built Into It
• And so the question that maybe arises in your heart now is - How can this Covenant be founded on Grace, and YET be predicated on whether or not Israel KEEPS the Covenant with God?
• It would seem that this Covenant is founded on works right?
• That if Israel "does" the right things, then the Covenant would be kept. WHICH MIGHT make us think - man, no WONDER the Jews tried to WORK their way to God!
• First thing we need to understand is that the condition placed on this Covenant is not "sinless perfection".
• This covenant does NOT teach that if Israel sinned, then they forfeited the blessings.
• God settled that in verse 7 of Chapter 34...
Exodus 34:7 ESV
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
• And so when Exodus 19:5 says - Israel must "Obey God's voice and keep God's Covenant"...
• ...it doesn't mean that they must EARN their blessings by working for God.
• It means that they must continue to love and trust God, to receive His mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
• Listen to what God says in the middle of giving the Law.
Exodus 20:5–6 ESV
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
• So Israel upholds her end of this by loving God, not by working for God.
Israel upholds the Covenant by valuing God, treasuring God, above all things.
• And from THAT love, that valuing of God, flows an obedience to His word...
So that the obedience itself is not earning God's grace, OBEDIENCE itself is the evidence of love FOR God's grace.
So true biblical obedience is NOT in pursuit of God's grace....it's fueled BY God's grace.
It's fueled by a love for God...a trust in Him.
• And this completely points to the fact that the Law can't save anyone.
BUUUTTTTT
• At the time of Christ, there was this Pharisaical Judaism on the scene that would have said - Oh yes, the LAW can save you!
And THAT belief is an ABUSE of the Law of God…
• So how did the Jews come to ABUSE the LAW?
• How did they get to the point of ABUSING the LAW...?
• First things first - - Lost men will operate like lost men.
• Getting RIGHT with God has ALWAYS been by Faith ALONE...
• And so if you don't have FAITH...you will ABUSE everything in relation to God...
SLIDE: Without faith...You will abuse...
God's mercy
God's blessings
God's grace
God's law
• BUT - what happened in Jewish History that could have contributed to this abuse of the Law...that contributed to their BLINDNESS?
• We talked about the Mosaic Covenant....
• ...well fast forward to 587 BC, and you have Nebuchadnezzar defeating Jerusalem...with the Babylonian exile...
• Jews are exiled...
• But they eventually return...
• Now they're back, and they're reading Deut. 4:25-28
Deuteronomy 4:25–28 ESV
25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
• I assume they read these words, see their DISOBEDIENCE - IN these verses and think - OK, where's the LAW...
• We must keep the LAW SO THAT God will love us..
.• Keep the Law in order to be accepted by God!
• Keep the LAW
• KEEP the LAW!!
• DO, DO, DO
• Do you see how 'Working for God' could have become elevated in their minds?
• But here's the thing...if they would have just kept reading - the very next verse...
• If they would have UNDERSTOOD verse 29...
• LET"S READ VERSE 28 AGAIN...
Deuteronomy 4:28 ESV
28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV
29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
• There it is!
• You will FIND God if you WORK for Him with all your might!!?????
• NO
• With all your HEART and with all your SOUL...
• Obedience to the LAW is the RESULT of - LOVE for God...
• But many missed it!
• Fast forward to the time of Christ, and what we see is the MONSTER of 1st Century Judaism WHICH FOCUSED:
1. MERELY on the EXTERNAL (lineage, circumcision, dietary laws, the written code itself)
• EVERYTHING was external...and so....
slide - latter
• And so this is what Jewish Theology taught at the time of Christ...THIS is how they viewed the LAW…
- It was their WAY To GOD!!
• The Law had become so misunderstood that it took Paul writing 13 (possibly 14) books of the Bible to help people understand how THIS was not the way to heaven.
• The Jews believed that IF they were a literal descendant of Abraham, and IF they externally FOLLOWED the LAW - THEN they would be WORTHY enough to GET TO HEAVEN...
• They believed that they needed to CLIMB the latter (to work) to get there.
• AND that if they were able to CLIMB it - then that was their TICKET to heaven (automatic entrance)
• Now think about Christ coming on the scene...
• What did He preach?
He said:
Matthew 5:17 ESV
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
slide: Latter Analogy - The Jews
...used the LAW latter to get to God.
Jesus comes - and He takes the EXTERNALITY of the Law, and He pushes it INWARD...**
Jesus comes, climbs the latter, then LAYS the latter down and says, I fulfilled the LAW... The Jew gets angry, believing that Jesus just cut them off from their only way to GOD!
Matthew 12:1–8 ESV
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
· Do you see what happened here?
· BECAUSE of how the Jews viewed the LAW…· They looked at what Jesus was doing as – AN ATTACK on the Law…
An attack on what they viewed as their ONLY way to get to God…
And so the JEWS of the 1st century - they viewed Jesus - as THE ENEMY...
See why?
To the Jews - Jesus persecuted...
the Law
the way to God
AND THEREFORE - persecuted ANYONE whom He persuaded to follow Him!
And SO - the Jews EXPECTED the Messiah to come and AFFIRM their ABUSE of the Law of God!
He DIDN’T!!
Jesus REALLY did ATTACK their belief system...
AND SO - they RESPONDED… HOW?
• We see this play out in Scripture when on Palm Sunday, the Jews are shouting for Joy at the sight of their SAVIOR...Jesus!
• AND YET, just a week later, when they realize...
He came CLAIMING to be GOD in the flesh!
He wasn't about to SAVE them from Rome...
He DID NOT affirm their beliefs...
• ...Those shouts of praise turn to shouts of - Crucify Him!!
Today we’ve seen 1st Century Jewish Expectations of the law...
SLIDE:
Jewish Belief
God Is One
No Suffering Messiah
National Salvation, Not Individual Salvation
Law as Redeemer
GOD IS ONE: The concept that God could come down in the flesh was actually heretical to the 1st century Jew.
NO SUFFERING MESSIAH: The Messiah coming and dying - was FOREIGN to Jewish thought. YET - without a suffering Messiah - there is no gospel!
NATIONAL SALVATION - NOT INDIVIDUAL SALVATION: The Jews couldn’t grasp the idea that they NEEDED RESCUED - as individuals...
LAW AS REDEEMER - they viewed the Law as their savior.
• And so as we make our way to Easter...Resurrection Sunday...
• I hope that we have maybe a new perspective to see the backdrop of Jewish Thought (Expectation) as Christ came to accomplish for His own what they could not do for themselves...
Next week -
We will begin looking at Christ - and what HE said about Himself...
And TO DO that - we’ll walk thru John 14:6
John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We'll see Christ as:
- I Am
- The Way
- The Truth
- The Life
Until THEN - Lord willing!
Let's pray...
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