The Life of Jesus - Session 1

Luke 24:27 NASB95

27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

John 21:25 NASB95

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

An Outline of Our Study

The Messiah

Before Nazareth - What the Hebrew scriptures tell us

Jesus of Nazareth - Step-by-step through his life as a human

After His Death - What we know about his life after his human death

The Word Messiah

mashach meaning “to rub or smear”

Like rubbing oil on a shield (Is 21:5) or smear paint on a wall (Jer 22:14)

In Dan 9:25-26 and Ps 2:2 we see references to a Messiah or Anointed One

Looking for the Messiah

A Biblical Description of the Messiah

A Consecrated Person

A King from Line of David

The Servant of the Lord

An End-times Deliverer

Redeemer of Those Trapped by Sin

The Perfect Eternal Ruler

Titles Assigned to the Messiah

The Son of God

The Son of Man

The Son of David

The Teacher

The Servant of the LORD

The Prophet Like Moses

Immanuel

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Father of Eternity

Prince of Peace

The Branch of the LORD

The LORD (Yahweh) Our Righteousness

The One Shepherd

The Light to the Nations

Who is Jesus

Jesus was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He was born in Bethlehem, Judea, and grew up in Nazareth, Galilee. According to the New Testament and his contemporary historians, Jesus performed miracles, taught about love and forgiveness, and preached about the Kingdom of God. His teachings, crucifixion, and resurrection are the foundation of Christian belief.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

This is not about trying to make something up to explain something unexplained. This is more about understanding the right relationship of distinct, but unified, existence of each of these spiritual beings.

Why is this important? Because as a child I too was easily confused by simple questions like: Who made earth?

Who am I supposed to be praying to?

When people say “God”, who are they talking about?

Why does it matter if they are all “one”?

Before Nazareth, Jesus in the Hebrew Bible (OT)

Genesis 1:26–27 NASB95

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

What is this image?

1 ṣěʹ·lěm 1 statue, inscribed column; idol; image, figure, replica, likeness (8x)

Gen 1:26–27; 5:3; 9:6; Ezek 7:20; 16:17; 23:14

Context of Hebrew Bible Thinking

We, without even noticing it, read and think about our Old Testament in a very different way than an ancient Jewish reader would have thought of it. Obviously we cannot know for certain how everyone considered it, but we do have hints based off of older Jewish writings. Although this cannot exemplify every view, it at least provides us a glimpse into how they thought of their Scriptures. As we prepare to look at the OT, we mustn’t allow ourselves to simply apply our current understanding only to the text. To fully appreciate the life of Jesus we must be willing to see the many facets of the expectations the original reader would have been experiencing.

The Oral Law -Talmud & Mishna

The Jewish community of Palestine suffered horrendous losses during the Great Revolt and the Bar-Kokhba rebellion. Well over a million Jews were killed in the two ill-fated uprisings, and the leading yeshivot, along with thousands of their rabbinical scholars and students, were devastated.

This decline in the number of knowledgeable Jews seems to have been a decisive factor in Rabbi Judah the Prince's decision around the year 200 C.E. to record in writing the Oral Law. For centuries, Judaism's leading rabbis had resisted writing down the Oral Law. Teaching the law orally, the rabbis knew, compelled students to maintain close relationships with teachers, and they considered teachers, not books, to be the best conveyors of the Jewish tradition. But with the deaths of so many teachers in the failed revolts, Rabbi Judah apparently feared that the Oral Law would be forgotten unless it were written down.

During the centuries following Rabbi Judah's editing of the Mishna, it was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis. Eventually, some of these rabbis wrote down their discussions and commentaries on the Mishna's laws in a series of books known as the Talmud. The rabbis of Palestine edited their discussions of the Mishna about the year 400: Their work became known as the Palestinian Talmud (in Hebrew, Talmud Yerushalmi, which literally means "Jerusalem Talmud").

Source: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-oral-law-talmud-and-mishna

Genesis 3:15 (NASB95)

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Genesis is believed to have been written by who? Moses.

This text would have then been delivered from his hands to the people by proclaiming these words in their mass gatherings to begin with. Put yourself there. In the wilderness of Sinai, being retrained on where the origin of mankind came from, learning to worship Yahweh, and being reshaped into a nation that has just emerged from slavery.

Moses, Aaron, and other elders begin to then share with you, your origin story. Creation, the flood, the Watchers, Abraham, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, and then the emergence of your family tribes into slavery.

What would they be looking for in the Scriptures? Were they even aware of a Messiah figure? Moses had just delivered them, at least in their experience, from the Egyptians. Yes, he was empowered by a god, but remember they are learning again about Yahweh. And remember, it is without any written text until now.

This blows my mind to consider how they thought about a Messiah.

The Pharisees emerged as a distinct group within Judaism during the Second Temple period, particularly in the 2nd century BCE. Their rise is closely associated with the social and political upheavals in Judea following the Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE) and the Hasmonean dynasty.

So would some people be thinking of a Messiah before then? Yes, when we look at Moses, Daniel, Isaiah, and Micah we can clearly see pointers in their writings to someone who would ultimately come to lead their nation into a glorious era that has never been seen.

So we then must ask, what would these people, and how should we really think about this snake crusher mentioned in Genesis?

Considering the original story in Genesis, there is some male human coming who will defeat the power of evil’s control on humanity. There are clear illustrations that it was for all mankind, not just the Jewish people.

Let’s look at some Hebrew Bible references to a Messianic figure

Genesis 12:3 NASB95

3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

This is a matter of distinction for the lineage of Abraham because Yahweh is promising to bless the earth through his heritage. We can begin to see the importance of something other than “stuff” and the value of relationship.

Deuteronomy 18:15 NASB95

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

The context here is important. Moses is talking with the people who have just come from slavery. The Hebrew people see Moses as a type of messiah for them, and he is pointing them toward the future. Some might argue prophets did come like Isaiah, but Moses is certainly pointing to someone far greater considering the context.

Isaiah 7:14 NASB95

14 “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.

Now we see a prophet talking about one even greater and we get an even more clear picture of how this “sign” will be evidenced.

Isaiah 9:6–7 NASB95

6 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. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah goes further to talk about the divine role of the one coming.

Isaiah 53 NASB95

1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 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. 3 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. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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? 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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.

Isaiah now shows how this human will be despised among those he was sent. He also though reveals why the Messiah must come as more than prophet. This messiah must be able to bear the transgressions of mankind.

Micah 5:2 NASB95

2 “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 was looking at a future ruler, but you can see why people might not see this as Jesus antagonistically.

Zechariah 9:9 NASB95

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I wonder what readers thought salvation meant from their perspective at this time?

It is important to remember that the Pharisees did not even exist in this time. It seems easy for us to muddle history when we have been so accustomed to the stories of the New Testament and very little understanding of origins and timelines. See below a brief explanation of the emergence of Pharisees.

The Pharisees emerged as a distinct group within Judaism during the Second Temple period, particularly in the 2nd century BCE. Their rise is closely associated with the social and political upheavals in Judea following the Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE) and the Hasmonean dynasty.

Now with all this in mind, then add the context ancient Hebrew history and the conquering by other nations well before Roman rule. What do you think they were thinking of?