The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

We continue in our study by examining how the Messiah responded to His rejection by the nation's leaders.

We need to note that His ministry changed after the unpardonable sin was committed.

That is, Jesus no longer offered the kingdom to the nation, but rather turned His attention to training the Apostles who would be the main strike force of the new religious movement. In the meantime, those individuals who were persuaded of His Messiahship were assured of their personal, spiritual future.



Large Pot holding water for hand washing

 After His rejection by the ‘special interest’ parties in the Sanhedrin, with the counter rejection of that generation of Israel by God, the conflict escalated. Accusation and counter accusation took place. The Pharisees raised issues from the oral law, asking: “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” (Matt.15:2) As always, the Messiah gave no consequence to their complaint but put His finger on the heart of the conflict between them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matt.15:3) The problem of the Pharisees, here identified by Jesus, was not just that they added to the T’nach, which in itself was unacceptable, but also in certain cases allowed the oral law to negate the T’nach. The matter He used to illustrate the point was the matter of ‘Corban’. To declare your possessions ‘Corban’ was to declare they were dedicated to the Lord. If the parents of a Pharisee were in financial need, the obligation on their Pharisee son was to assist, for the Decalogue commanded, “honour your mother and your father”. However, the tradition of the elders allowed the son to declare his possessions ‘dedicated to the Lord’ (i.e. Corban), which then prohibited him from giving them to someone else, including his parents. However, pronouncing his wealth and possessions ‘Corban’, did not remove them from his own personal control and he could still use them for his own needs. Therefore declaring one’s possessions ‘Corban’ had the appearance of being spiritual, when in actual fact it was designed to evade one’s proper family obligations. Jesus branded those that took advantage of such loopholes as hypocrites!

The Messiah identified a Scripture that prophesied of this attitude: “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honour Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt.15:7-9; Isa.29:13) Later He said, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat … they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men.” (Matt.23:1-5) 

Their hypocritical legalism received the strongest outbursts from the Messiah.

(i) “… woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” (Matt.23:13)

(ii) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” (Matt.23:14)

(iii) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matt.23:15)

(iv) “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?” (Matt.23:16-19)

(v) The Messiah put His finger on the weakness of the Pharisaic system: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” (Matt.23:23)

(vi) “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matt.23:24-26)

(vii) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt.23:27-28)

(viii) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matt.23:29-33)

The eightfold ‘woe’ means there is no reprieve, indeed no hope for these obdurate, blind leaders of the blind: “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” Jesus, speaking as the coming Judge of all men, detailed the sins of the Messiah-rejecting Scribes and Pharisees, and confirmed their judgement: “Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matt.23:36). What things? “That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (Matt.23:35). The Hebrew Bible, the T’nach, while containing all 39 books of the Christian Old Testament is ordered differently, and goes from Genesis to Second Chronicles. The example of Abel was taken from the first book of the T’nach (Genesis), and the example of Zacharias was taken from the last book of the T’nach (Second Chronicles). Jesus is saying that the attitude of Israel to God’s ministers has been one of constant rebellion. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matt.23:37-38). Consequently, He made His return conditional. “you shall see Me no more till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Matt.23:38) “And Jesus went out and departed from the Temple” (Matt.24:1).

Next Time : The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

In response to His rejection by the nations leaders, Jesus rejected that generation of Israel, so we continue the study by a further examination of the reasons for the Messiah's rejection of the generation that rejected Him. Following on from the illumination provided by the 10 rebellions that the Rabbis list we consider another.

Bread of Heaven

Perhaps the most significant rebellion of Israel was the one that took place after the ten listed. It was a revolt that arose from their dislike of the heavenly manna, the food provided by YHWH to sustain them. Their rejection of the bread of heaven can be compared with the rejection of the Messiah, ‘the Bread of Life’. In respect of the wilderness generation, God greatly condemned the rejection of the manna, and because of its high significance, did not postpone judgement. The T’nach first gives us the complaint of the rebels: “… the people spoke against God and against Moses: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes (detests) this worthless bread" (Numb.21:5) Then follows the description of the reaction of YHWH: “So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.” (Numb.21:6) When that generation rebelled against the bread from heaven, YHWH lifted His protection from the nation, effectively delivering them to Satan, who immediately sent in poisonous serpents to wreak havoc among the rebels! The only antidote to the poison of the snakes was faith in the God that had the serpent in subjection, which faith they could express by looking toward the brass serpent impaled on a pole.

The nation under Caiaphas despised God’s provision, Jesus the Messiah, the true bread from heaven. He was “hated without a cause” (John 15:25), and He “endured … hostility from sinners against Himself” Heb.12:3). When Israel rejected God’s Son, their Messiah, YHWH lifted his hand of protection (as He had with the wilderness generation) and effectively delivered the nation to Satan. The dogma of the Sanhedrists, like the poison of the serpents in the wilderness, was allowed to course through the veins of the nation. Jesus left Israel to the Pharisees and Sadducees, personnel who mouthed the doctrines of the Serpent and who had the poison of asps under their lips. They would lead the nation to destruction, in the name of patriotism, and in defence of tradition. Those that followed them and their system of righteousness would perish both physically and spiritually. They would be a nation possessed by multiple evils. Those individuals, who wished to remain under the protection of God, would have to repudiate the decision of Israel’s highest court, and receive Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah, even though the Sanhedrin rejected Him and Rome executed Him. Like those in the wilderness who wished to survive the activity of Satan, they would have to look to the gibbet, where the physical evidence of ‘the serpent in subjection’ was visible. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14,15)

The suffering Servant of YHWH, in His death, followed a path that was the exact opposite to the path of Lucifer. Lucifer tried to exalt himself, while Jesus humbled Himself. Lucifer rebelled against the will of YHWH, while Jesus Messiah embraced the will of His Father. The results were exactly the opposite too. Lucifer was ‘cast down’, where the Son of God was ‘lifted up’. The rebellion of Satan brought death and suffering whereas the obedience of Messiah brought life and blessing. The Roman gibbet on which He was executed became the symbol of the serpent defeated, for through death He rendered powerless the one who had the power of death, that is, the Devil, and freed those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. God will cast Lucifer down to the lowest depths of the bottomless pit – Jesus will have the highest honour that heaven possesses.

The Unpardonable Sin

The national rejection of Jesus as Messiah, coupled with the slander that He was demon possessed, constituted the unpardonable sin. At that point in Israel’s history, Jesus withdrew His offer of the immediate Messianic kingdom. He changed the Messianic programme from one coming to two. The nation will not now know the reign of their Messiah until Israel’s national leaders, in a spirit of humility and repentance, call for His return. The Sanhedrin, the leaders of the nation, were, at the time of the first coming of their Messiah, servants of Mammon, not servants of God, and thus failed to do what was right. Jesus said He would not return until a future generation of the nation calls for Him, and welcomes Him with the appropriate Messianic greeting: “For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Matt.23:39)

The language of the Messiah, after His rejection, was very direct. Facing His opponents, He powerfully described them as a “generation of vipers” (Matt.12:34), “an evil and adulterous generation” (Matt.12:39) and a “wicked generation” (Matt.12:45). He prophesied their decline and destruction, and said that since they had mouthed the doctrines of the serpent; they would have to justify their words in the judgement chamber of God. Jesus warned them, that the men of Nineveh will be called as prosecution witnesses against them. Because Nineveh repented, and turned to God, under the preaching of a prophet, while the leaders of this generation would not repent, even under the ministry of such a man as John, the greatest of the old dispensation prophets, or even more incredibly, under the ministry of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Similarly, testimony from the Queen of the South would also condemn them, because she travelled a great distance to listen to and marvel at the glory and the wisdom of Solomon; but they had rejected a greater that Solomon. Within four decades, the rejection of their Messiah brought the nation to a condition seven times worse than when He began His public ministry. While, at the beginning of the Messianic visitation, they were a subjugated nation, within forty years, they were to lose their lives, their privileges and their Temple; and in 100 years, they would lose their land for nearly 2000 years! What a price to pay!

So the offered Messianic kingdom was rejected, the unpardonable sin committed and a judgement pronounced on that generation.

Next time: The ministry of the Messiah changed after the unpardonable sin was committed.

 

The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

The reason for the rejection of the generation that rejected their Messiah

The T’nach gives the reasons for the rejection of the wilderness generation. By examining the narrative of nation’s experience under the ministry of God’s first Deliverer, Moses, and comparing it to the attitude and actions of the nation under the ministry of God’s last Deliverer, the Messiah, Jesus, we will be able to identify some of the principles involved in these sweeping judgements of God.

For the wilderness generation, God identified the point of no return to Moses: “Then the LORD said to Moses: How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (Numb.14:11) Also, “…all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it” (Numb.14:22,23). Notice, how YHWH refers to the rejection of Moses as a rejection of Himself. The rejection of Moses can be identified in the following rebellions.

In the first one listed below, i.e. “then they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness”. In the second and third, they “complained against Moses” In the fourth they, “contended against Moses”, and in the ninth and tenth “they did not heed Moses”.

The Rabbis list the ten rebellions as follows:

(i) At the Red Sea: “Then they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exod.14:11,12). They were on the threshold of a mighty miracle if they had only trusted, for the Lord divided the waters of the Red Sea and completed the defeat of Pharaoh.

(ii) At Marah: “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?”  (Exod.15:23,24) Again they needed to trust in God! He made the bitter waters sweet and promised that none of the diseases that were common among the Egyptians would affect any Israelite.

(iii) In the wilderness of Sin: “Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exod.16:2,3) This is where YHWH began to rain on them manna from heaven!

(iv) At Rephidim: “Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. So Moses said to them, Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” (Exod.17:1-3) Here, significantly, the Lord provided water from the rock.

(v) At Horeb, the golden calf revolt: “And he (Aaron) received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a moulded calf. Then they said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exod.32:4) So serious was this rebellion that YHWH implied that the survival of the nation was in the balance. The intercession of Moses, God’s Messiah, averted immediate judgement.

(vi) At Tabeerah: The rebellion against the route chosen by YHWH: “Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.” (Numb.11:1) They survived once more through the intercession of Moses, although a great number first died under the judgement of God.

(vii) At the graves of lust: “Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numb.11:4-6) Here YHWH gave them meat in abundance.

(viii) At Kadesh Barnea: “So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” (Numb.14:1-4) The words of this mutiny form the basis of the judgement of God upon that generation. The rebellious parents were to die in the wilderness, but the children would not become victims. YHWH would protect them and take them into the promised land.

(ix) The rebellion of certain individuals against the commandments of God at the giving of the manna: “they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.” (Exod.16:20)

(x) And again, the rebellion of certain individuals against the commandments of God at the giving of the manna: “Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.” (EXod.16:27)

Even a cursory glance at this will see how the children repeat the sins of the fathers. Here are some examples.

The generation that rejected Jesus repeated the essence of the first rebellion of the wilderness generation. If I may paraphrase the first rebellion to suit the second, “leave us alone that we may serve the Romans. It is better for us to serve the Romans than lose our place and nation” (cf.Exod.14.11,12 with John 11.48).

Despite the rebellion at Marah, God promised, “none of these diseases”; providing a wonderful name, ‘Jehovah Raphah’, “I am the Lord that healeth thee”. Jesus, “… healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”  (cf. Exod.15.26 with Matt.8.16,17) Yet they still rejected Him!

When they questioned the beneficence of God at Rephidim, God graciously gave them water from the rock. After they accused Jesus of having a devil, He graciously offered them living water (cf. Exod.17.1-3 with John 7.20,37,38).

Israel, in the wilderness, blasphemed YHWH by assigning the redeeming power that rescued them to an idol. The Israel of Jesus’ day blasphemed the Spirit of God, by assigning the miracles performed by the Messiah to the Devil. (cf. Exod.32.4 with Matt.12.24)

To be continued

 

The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE OF JESUS TO THEIR DECISION?

There is a point of no return for the obdurate. In His dealings with man, God sometimes says, ‘enough is enough’. The judgements at the time of Noah, and then at the tower of Babel, suggest as much. Twice before, in His dealings with Israel, God has pronounced a judgement that affected the whole nation.

(i) The generation of Israelites that rebelled on the journey from Egypt to Canaan under the leadership of Moses suffered such a judgement.

(ii) Then there was the judgement that sent the nation into captivity to Babylon.

(iii) Now there is to be a judgement on the generation that rejected Jesus as Messiah. When they rejected Jesus as Messiah, particularly for such base reasons and in such a way, that generation of Israel was rejected.

When they dismissed Jesus’ Messianic claims and when they attributed the good works that He had performed by the Spirit of God, to the power of the Devil (Matt.12:24), they committed the unpardonable sin. Their lying blasphemy, which still lives today, has no forgiveness (Matt.12:31,32). Those that attributed the attesting signs to Beelzebub were clearly in the camp of Satan, and Jesus called them a “brood of vipers” (Matt.12.34), words well chosen, for they were true children of the Serpent, and disseminated the lies of the father of lies.

Their rejected Messiah had yet one more message for them. When He was asked for yet another attesting sign, He said: “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt.12.39,40, NASB). This sign, which will be more thoroughly examined in chapter ten, has an extra dimension that the Messiah expressed: “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here” (Matt.12:41). “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt.12:42) This suggests that not only have they rejected a prophet greater than Jonah, but rejected the personified ‘Wisdom’ of God (Proverbs Chapter 8). 

Not only did Jesus prophesy the ultimate fate of that generation of the Jewish nation – the most privileged generation that ever lived – a generation who had the living God walking among them, blessing them and teaching them – but He also prophesied their more immediate fate. He gave it in the form of an illustration, no doubt prompted by the case that caused the final rift: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation” (Matt.12.43-45) 

The eight woes of Matthew 23 repeat His judgement on the Pharisaic Sanhedrists: “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matt.23.33-36|) 

The rejection of Israel.

Replacement theologians hold that God, in Christ, rejected the nation of Israel and permanently replaced them in His purposes with the Church. The rejection of Israel by Jesus the Messiah was not a permanent rejection. The Messiah, who always chose His words with great care, spoke of one generation of the nation, ‘this generation’. It is ‘this generation’ of Israel that was rejected, because it was with ‘this generation’ of Israel that He contended. “He (the Son of Man) must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (Luke 17.25).  And His recorded words of Matthew 21.43, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it,” were spoken to the leaders of that generation (Matt.21.:23).

It will be that single generation that will stand at the bar of God and be accused of unlawfully rejecting their Messiah: “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt.12:41,42)

Previous generations had rejected the servants of YHWH, but that one generation alone rejected the Son of God. Their own words will condemn them. Jesus says as much in His parable of the vinedressers. Their response to the claims of the Lord of the vineyard, presented by the Son and Heir, was: “This is the heir, come let us kill him” (Matt.21:38). 

The phrase ‘this generation’ is used in Matt.11.16; 12.41,42,45; 23.36; 24.34; Mk.8.12,38; 13.30; Luke 7.31; 11.29-32; 11.50,51; 17.25; 21.32. Qualifying adjectives of ‘this generation’ include ‘wicked’, ‘evil’ and ‘adulterous’. The rejection of this generation by the Son of God was justified!

The supercessionist view that God permanently rejected Israel is incorrect. While it is true that a rejection took place, it was the rejection of a generation. While it would have major implications for future generations, it cannot be used to teach that the Messiah withdrew God’s covenantal promises from the nation. As with the wilderness generation at the time of the exodus from Egypt, and as with the generation that went into captivity in Babylon, there is an ‘until’ with this judgement. For the wilderness generation, the ‘until’ lasted 40 years. For the Babylonian captives, the ‘until’ lasted 70 years. Here the ‘until’ is not given a time qualification but a moral dimension. Jesus, referring to His rejection and Israel’s subsequent rejection, gives the condition for their restoration: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt.23.39; Luke 13.35).  Here, He is anticipating call from a future repentant Israel. Another saying of the Messiah in Matthew supports this. When He spoke to the apostles He anticipated a future restoration of Israel: “assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt.19:28) 

Paul, the great expositor, also believed in the future restoration of Israel when he looked into the future and said: “all Israel shall be saved” (Rom.11:26); and this is the context for that mighty statement: “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom.11:29). Luke, describing the teaching ministry of the resurrected Messiah in Acts, categorises it as kingdom truth: “to whom He also presented Himself alive … being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3) Just prior to His ascension they asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) Jesus did not deny the restoration of Israel only informed them that God the Father had not yet published the timetable of it. “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1|:7) Paul asked the question, “I say then, has God cast away His people?” and himself answered, “Certainly not!” (Rom.11:1)

Next time: The reason for the rejection of the generation that rejected their Messiah

The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

WHAT WAS THE DECISION OF THE NATION’S LEADERS?

The third stage of investigating a Messianic Claim is the stage of decision and declaration. From the foregoing it is clear that the bulk of the Sanhedrin had already decided to reject the Messianic claim of Jesus. One group, the Pharisaic Sanhedrists, decided to reject the Messianic claimant because:

(1) He would not protect their position in the nation.

(2) He opposed their doctrine.

(3) He condemned their lifestyle.

If He were not stopped, they would

(1) Lose the adulation of the population.

(2) Lose the power they held as interpreters of the oral law.

(3) Lose the wealth that their position in the nation provided.

The other main group, the Sadducean Sanhedrists, decided to reject the Messianic claimant because:

(1) He opposed their moneymaking ventures.

(2) He opposed their doctrine.

(3) He condemned their lifestyle.

If He were not stopped they would:

(1) Lose their political power with Rome

(2) Lose their influence over the nation as intermediaries between Israelites and God.

(3) Lose the wealth generated by the monopolies they controlled.

However, these reasons for the rejection of the prophet of Nazareth could not be publicised. So the nation’s leaders begun a rumour-mongering programme to smear the prophet from Galilee. They needed some public issue to bring the general population to support of their decision. So they brought to Him a very difficult case of healing, significantly a man with an unclean demon, who was both blind and dumb.

Although in the T’nach exorcisms are almost unknown, at the time of the Messiah, Jewish exorcists were having some success. Their pattern of exorcism was to establish communication with the demon, ascertain its name and then addressing it directly, command it in the name of a higher authority to leave. The disciples of the Lord also used this pattern. For example, the seventy returned from their mission saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in Your name” (Luke 10:17). Another example, though not typical, is recorded in Acts: “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches” (Acts 19:13). However, with a dumb demon this communication is difficult, in most cases, impossible. The Lord Himself acknowledged the extra difficulty when the disciples confessed they could not cast out such a demon in the name of the Messiah. Because, in the Jewish mind, only Messiah would be able to heal these extreme cases, here was a decisive test for Jesus. In this case, because the man was also sightless, the degree of difficulty was increased, yet “He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw” (Matt.12:22). The onlookers immediately understood the significance of this Messianic miracle: “… all the multitudes were amazed and said, Could this be the Son of David?” (Matt.12:23)

The Sanhedrists were ready with an explanation. Wishing to discredit the sign, they repeated their previously published opinion that Jesus was demon possessed. “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Matt.12:24). The Sanhedrists’ accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, and that Satan gave Him His power. Their position, whether they understood it or not, was that the temptation in the wilderness had been successful. Jesus had taken the bribes offered and was now a follower of Satan and a sinner like the rest of Adam’s ‘fallen race’. Since Satan had failed to make Jesus the ‘cast down’ one, he was now getting the population to treat Him as such, by this insidious lie. The lie became the accepted opinion of the population. The Sanhedrists never disputed that Jesus performed miracles, but the Talmud reiterates the reason for His rejection - he did it by sorcery, expanding it further by saying He brought magical charms back from Egypt (Egypt was regarded as the special home of magic, an opinion expressed in the Talmud). The Pharisees rejected Jesus as Messiah because He would not endorse the oral law, and support their position in the nation. The Sadducees rejected Jesus as Messiah because He opposed their unholy practices in the Temple, and undermined their position in the nation. But the reason they gave to the nation was not the real reason. They published that Jesus was demon possessed and therefore could not be Israel’s Messiah. Thus the climax of the investigation was over the issue of the key attesting sign – the serpent in subjection! They declared that Jesus did not have the serpent in subjection, but the serpent had Jesus in subjection!

Next Time: The Response of the Messiah to their decision

The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

Stage of Interrogation (Continued)

Returning now to the stage of interrogation, delegates from the Sanhedrin were required to observe the life and ministry of the claimant, and if they thought any action or teaching was questionable they could voice their concerns. When dealing with Jesus of Nazareth, the objections of the Sanhedrists were almost exclusively in the area of the oral law, with questions concerning the Sabbath the most frequent, since they had given ‘Sabbath keeping’ such a high profile. The fourth command of the decalogue had been expanded by hundreds of additional rules and regulations regarding Sabbath observance to cover most eventualities. For example, the Shabbat section in the Mishnah begins with the detail of those acts of transporting objects from one domain to another, some of which violate the Sabbath. It reads:

1:1 A. [Acts of] transporting objects from one domain to another [which violate] the Sabbath

(1) are two, which [indeed] are four [for one who is] inside,

(2) and two which are four [for one who is] outside.

B.How so?

I C. [If on the Sabbath] the beggar stands outside and the householder inside,

D.[and] the beggar stuck his hand inside and put [a beggar’s bowl] into the hand of the householder,

E. or if he took [something] from inside it and brought it out,

F. the beggar is liable, the householder is exempt.

II G.[If] the householder stuck his hand outside and put [something] into the hand of the beggar,

H. or if he took [something] from it and brought it inside,

I.the householder is liable, and the beggar is exempt.

III J. [If] the beggar stuck his hand inside, and the householder took [something] from it,

K. or if [the householder] put something in it and he [the beggar] removed it,

L. both of them are exempt.

IV M. [If] the householder put his hand outside and the beggar took [something] from it,

N. or if [the beggar] put something into it and [the householder] brought it back inside,

O. both of them are exempt.

Jesus condemned this legalism with the words, “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”  (Matt.23:24) At the time of Jesus, questions as to what is proper on the Sabbath constantly occupied the minds of the legalists. If a Pharisee was asked, “Why did God make Israel?” it was likely he would have replied, ‘To honour the Sabbath’. In Pharisaism, the Sabbath was personified as the Queen of Israel and the Bride of YHWH.

Each of the synoptics records the incident when Jesus’ hungry disciples plucked the ears of corn to provide sustenance. Since it was on the Sabbath, the investigating Sanhedrists raised it as an issue: “And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” (Matt.12:2: cf. Mk.2:24; Lk.6:2) The Pharisees themselves would not normally walk through a field in case they accidentally uprooted a wayward stalk of grain, thereby becoming guilty of reaping on the Sabbath.

Jesus responded to the question by giving pertinent examples from the T’nach. The first was of David who, when in need, ate of the bread that by law was reserved for the priests. The second was of the priests themselves whose work substantially increased on the Sabbath because of the higher number of offerings. Neither the actions of David, nor the activities of the priests, received the disapproval of the interpreters of the law. Jesus took the first example from the period of David’s rejection, when the officers of a dying dynasty were hounding him. The selection of this event seems to suggest that Jesus knew already that the Sanhedrin would officially reject Him. The second example related to the killing of sacrificial lambs in the Temple as sin offerings, a parallel of some significance. However, the coup-de-gras was the claim of the Messiah that, “the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matt.12:8; cf. Mk.2:28; Lk.6:5); again driving home the point that He was more than Messiah. By this time, it was clear that Jesus was not going to support the Pharisees and endorse the oral law.

While the delegation involved in assessing His Messianic credentials were mostly Pharisees, there were others on the Sanhedrin that had an interest in the investigation and decision. They were the Chief Priests - Sadducees who rejected the immortality of the soul, and attributed all human activity to free will and none to providence. Because they did not believe in the resurrection, they expected neither reward nor punishment after death. Therefore, with no restraint placed on their actions by their religious beliefs, they exercised power, not for the good of the nation, but for their own individual gain. Influenced by Greek culture, they cultivated good relations with Rome. They were not interested in any Messiah, other than one who would improve their power base in the nation. Jesus rejected their Epicurean lifestyle, their corrupt ‘business’ practices and their defective doctrines. At the beginning of His public ministry, He upset more than just the moneychangers’ tables in the Temple. He had made it clear that if He were confirmed as Messiah He would ‘clean up’ the Temple, and Annas, Caiaphas and the chief priests could expect to lose their lucrative business. This meant that Jesus would not get their support!

Next Time: The Stage of Decision

The Messiah and His Miracles (Continued)

The conflict over the oral law (Part 1)

So, at the time of the Messiah the oral law, a binding set of rules which did not prescribe what a person must believe, only what a person must do, (sometimes called, “the tradition of the elders”), was in its second stage. It was designed to cover every contingency of life and conduct.

The oral law is designated in the New Testament by various forms of words, some of which include the word ‘tradition’, for example, “tradition of the elders” (Matt.15:2; Mark 7:3,5)), or, “your tradition” (Matt.15:3,6; Mark 7:9,13), or, the “tradition of men” (Mark 7:8). Paul, himself a Pharisee of the Pharisees, in his unregenerate state, was a zealous supporter of the oral law and he refers to it as the “traditions of my fathers” (Gal.1:14). Jesus, in referring to the oral law in His teaching, used the phrase, “it was said by them of old time” (Matt.5.21,27,33,43). This is in direct contrast to His references to the Pentateuch where He used the phrase, “it is written” (Matt.4.4,7,10).

The difference between Rabbinism and the teachings of Christ is that Rabbinism, in practice, emphasises what a man should do, while it is concerned less over what he should believe. Christ prescribes what a man should believe, while his conduct is largely left to his own conscience. Rabbinism insists on works and gives liberty of faith, while Christ insists on faith and gives liberty of works.

The contrast between Jesus’ attitude to the Hebrew written scriptures, and His attitude to the ‘oral law’ is clear in the Gospels. The evidence of the Gospel writers shows that He honoured the Hebrew Scriptures. He quoted the Pentateuch when Satan tempted Him. He often quoted the prophets. He acknowledged Old Testament events such as Noah and the flood, Solomon and the Queen of the south, Jonah and the sea creature and Jonah’s preaching at Nineveh, as well as Sodom and Gomorrha. He referred to events from the first and last books of the Hebrew Scriptures - the death of Abel in Genesis and the death of Zacharias in Second Chronicles. If the definition of ‘Torah’ had been confined to the Pentateuch or even to the Hebrew written Scriptures, the Messiah would have been supportive. He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil” (Matt.5:17). But He was unwilling to endorse the ‘oral law’, and led opposition to it.

As was intimated earlier, the Pharisees were the champions of the ‘oral law’. They thought of themselves as the logical descendents of the Torah movement, begun by Ezra and continued by the ‘Hasidim’ (pious/priests) who so valiantly resisted the Hellenisation of the Jews. The Hasidim fought, often to the death, every effort of foreign invaders, to replace Hebrew culture with Greek culture. The Pharisees, in the same spirit, wished to defend any attack on the traditions for which their fathers had fought and died. As the descendents of the Hasidim, they focused on ritual purity, calling on all households to apply the same standards of purity to the home that the priests observed in the Temple. The Pharisees wanted to establish a kingdom of priests. They were also very concerned with table fellowship (including dietary restrictions), Sabbath observance, tithing and circumcision.

Being guardians of the oral law, they expected Messiah to both commend them and support their work. They reasoned that Messiah would surely expect the nation to be a law-abiding people. However, Jesus asserted that Pharisaic legalism was external and though giving the impression that it was designed to please God was, in fact, directed towards man. It was hypocritical, and it negated both faith and love, the two basic ingredients in any relationship with God. Jesus’s attitude to the ‘oral law’ became the focus of conflict and opposition. When He opposed them and their doctrine, they opposed Him and His Messianic claim.

The Scribes and Pharisees, interpreters of the law, used legalism to keep power in their own hands. However, God had never been interested in legalism. Even during Israel’s training under the Mosaic Law, the truth was ever, “the just shall live by faith”. The Talmud indicates as much. A Talmudic passage (Mak.23b-24a), states God gave to Moses 613 precepts, but that later seers and prophets reduced these to certain basic principles:

(1) David reduced them to eleven.

In response to the question: “LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" (Psalm 15) he answers: 

(i) He who walks uprightly, (ii) And works righteousness, (iii) And speaks the truth in his heart; (iv) He who does not backbite with his tongue, (v) Nor does evil to his neighbour, (vi) Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; (vii) In whose eyes a vile person is despised, (viii) But he honours those who fear the LORD; (ix) He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; (x) He who does not put out his money at usury, (xi) Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

(2) Isaiah reduced them to six, (Isa.33:15,16)

(i) He who walks righteously and (ii) speaks uprightly, (iii) He who despises the gain of oppressions, (iv) Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, (v) Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, (vi) And shuts his eyes from seeing evil:

He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

(3) Micah reduced them to three. (Micah 6:8)

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you"

(i) But to do justly, (ii) To love mercy, (iii) And to walk humbly with your God?

(4) Habakkuk reduced them to one. (Hab. 2:4)

“… the just shall live by his faith”.

Moreover, when the Messiah quoted the summary of the Law, the Sh’ma, He emphasised love as the key, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mark 12.29-31)

The conflict over the oral law (2): The Sermon on the Mount

Jesus addressed the teaching of the Pharisees in the Sermon on the Mount. They taught that apart from certain identifiable renegades, all Israelites “have a share in the world to come” (Sanhedrin 10.1 (Mishnah)). Therefore, to be born a Jew was sufficient qualification for entry into the coming kingdom. This is why the Jews of Jesus time would fall back on the defence, “we are Abraham’s children” (cf.Matt.3.9; John 8.33; Lk.16.24). The doctrine of the Pharisees was not designed to provide entrance into the kingdom of God, but rather to provide a righteousness that would gain status in the kingdom of God. It was a righteousness based on works with no regard to faith. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7, is the teaching of the Messiah in contra-distinction to the teaching of the Sanhedrists. His main thrust is to encourage true righteousness, and reject hypocritical righteousness. The key text is, “I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt.5:20). His position is clear. It is not enough to be born a Jew. And hypocritical, Pharisaic righteousness does not count. Pursue another kind of righteousness: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matt.6:33)

This discourse of the Messiah included examples of the oral law which the Pharisees obeyed with outward, mechanical obedience, which were then contrasted with what is really required - a heart obedience to the true Torah. “It was said by them of old time”, or “it hath been said”, are the formulae used to introduce the oral law.

Matthew 5.21-26 gives the first comparison: “You have heard that it was said (the oral law) to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’” The Scribes and Pharisees taught that you were only guilty when the act was committed, but Jesus said, “I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment”. Jesus taught that murder is premeditated and that the sin is committed when the act is planned. God marks the premeditation, therefore Jesus taught, “agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.” In other words, murder in the heart will count against you at the bar of God.

The second comparison is in vv.27-32: “You have heard that it was said (the oral law) to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery’”. The Scribes and Pharisees taught that you were only guilty when the act was committed. “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. Jesus taught that adultery is also premeditated and that the sin was committed when the act was planned. Therefore, deal with lust quickly – metaphorically pluck out the eye and cut off the hand – lest at the bar of God it drags you down to hell. This, of course, is the context of the Messiah’s word on divorce, for He continued (first quoting the oral law), “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” The desire of the adulterer to put away his wife is the context of this word of the Messiah designed to protect a very vulnerable group in Jewish society.

Jesus gave three more examples contrasting the righteousness of the oral law with true righteousness. The first of the three, it is better to have heart obedience to God than the outward performing of vows (vv.33-37). The second, it is better to have a generous heart when dealing with your fellow man, rather than follow legalism and seek “an eye for an eye”. The third example then challenged His hearers to rise yet higher still and follow the example of the Father and “love your enemies”.

It is proper and pertinent to draw attention to the phrase, “but I say to you”. The Messiah chose His words with great care, because He was formally announcing what was opposite to the teaching of the Tanaim and therefore unacceptable to the Pharisees. The oral law, identified in the Bible as “the tradition of the elders”, relied on precepts handed on from one generation to another. For example the Mishnah records the words of R. Joshua: “I have a tradition from Rabban Yohanan b. Zakkai, who heard it from his master, and his master from his master, as a law revealed to Moses at Sinai” (Eduyyot 8.7 A). But in the case of Jesus He was standing on His own authority as Messiah. Furthermore, in His office as Messiah He was declaring that He had the authority to interpret the law. There is also, in this phrasing, that element which implied deity, for the sub-text is that He was the giver of the law and therefore needed none other beside Himself to interpret it.

The sermon began with consideration of the inner life. The blessed are the poor in spirit, the ones that mourn, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart and those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Chapter 6 of Matthew’s gospel returns to the theme of the inner life. For example, the matter of giving alms: “When you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matt.6.3,4) Then the matter of praying: “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father … in the secret place” (Matt.6:6). Then the Messiah turns to the subject of fasting: “When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place” (Matt.6:16).

These were declared in sharp contrast to the hypocritical righteousness of the Pharisees that emphasised outward observances, hence the warnings. In respect of alms-giving: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So … do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honoured by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” (Matt.6:2) And regarding praying: “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” (Matt.6:5) And then in respect of fasting: “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” (Matt.6:16)The actions of the hypocrites were, according to the Messiah, designed only to impress others.

Who are the hypocrites Jesus had in mind? At this time, He identified, by implication, the Scribes and Pharisees, those guardians of the oral law, but after His official rejection, He named and shamed them: “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honour Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me” (Matt.15.1,7,8). Then the seven times repeated, “woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matt.23.13,14,15,23,25,27,29) There the Lord described them as fools and blind guides. On occasion, He coupled the Pharisees with the Sadducees; and sometimes with the Herodians, indicating that they too were hypocrites

In the same discourse, Jesus taught that Pharisaic righteousness had a wide gate. As has already been mentioned, they taught that all Israelites have a share in the world to come. Yet, even they would exclude some. “And these are the ones who have no portion in the world to come: He who says, the resurrection of the dead is a teaching which does not derive from the Torah, (2) and the Torah does not come from Heaven; and (3) an Epicurean.” This section effectively excluded the Sadducees. A later inclusion seems directed at Jesus, “and those who whisper over a wound and say, ‘I will put none of the diseases upon you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you’ (Ex. 15:26)”. Notwithstanding the exceptions, Pharisaic doctrine pronounced almost all Jews ‘safe’, it had a gate wide enough to take almost every Jew ever born.

Jesus further taught that Pharisaism was a broad road – only outward conformity was required. However, it was a way of works, done publicly, which would only bring the praise of men. It was a way that seemed right but led to destruction. The man that followed the way of the Pharisees would have built his house on sand, a foundation that could not hold it. Paul, the great expositor expressed it thus: “they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God”. (Rom.10:3)

The Pharisees were also guilty of judging, finding specks in the eyes of others, when they had planks in their own eyes. The condemnation pronounced by the Messiah was absolute. They claimed to speak for God but were, in fact, false prophets. They claimed to be the shepherds of Israel but were guilty of decimating the flock like wolves. They pretended to be righteous people, living righteous lives, and bearing righteous fruit, but were, in fact, corrupt trees bearing evil fruit. They practiced lawlessness, an amazing charge considering that they imposed additional laws on the population. Implicit in the condemnation of the Messiah is the understanding that the imposition of the oral law undermined the Torah.

In contrast, Messianic righteousness had a narrow gate. Only those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah could enter. His followers were on a firm foundation: “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock”.

Messianic righteousness was a narrow way, a way of faith and love.

A way of faith: “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. (Matt.5.30-33)

And a way of love: “I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt.5.44) ; “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”(Matt.22.37-40)

Next Time: More on the stage of interrogation