Category: Jesus revealed in Gospels

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Jesus Heals: by Powerful Word

Bernard Kouchner
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung from Berlin, Deutschland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Influential French doctor-politician Bernard Kouchner founded the medical relief agency Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) as a result of his time in Biafra region of Nigeria during the bloody Biafra war working to heal and save the wounded.  MSF has become a global medical relief agency noted for its neutrality. MSF will try to treat and save any side in a conflict zone or natural disaster regardless of race or religion. 

MSF logo
Jislinn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

After the founding of MSF, Kouchner went on to become the health minister of France, three separate times, for both left and right-wing French governments.  The UN appointed Kouchner as their UN envoy to Kosovo to establish functioning government structures to heal Kosovo after the brutal 1998-99 Kosovo War in the former Yugoslavia.  The Jerusalem Post ranked Kouchner as the 15th most influential Jew worldwide because of his contributions to the healing of people and nations.

Sickness and Healing from ancient Jewish traditions

Healing from sickness has long been an important theme for the Jewish people.  Consider these words penned by Jeremiah in the Bible over 2500 year ago.

12 “This is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wound is incurable,
    your injury beyond healing.
13 There is no one to plead your cause,
    no remedy for your sore,
    no healing for you.
14 All your allies have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
    and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
    and your sins so many…
17 But I will restore you to health
    and heal your wounds,’
declares the Lord,
‘because you are called an outcast,
    Zion for whom no one cares.’

Jeremiah 30:12-14, 17
Historical Timeline with Isaiah, Jeremiah & Jesus

Jeremiah, in God’s name, wrote that the Israelite nation needed a national healing. But since Israel refused to undergo this healing in Jeremiah’s day her destiny pointed to national pain and misery.  However, Jeremiah lit a vision for a future national healing. He reiterated this again a few chapters later

Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.

Jeremiah 33: 6

Jesus the Healer

Five hundred years after Jeremiah penned those words, Jesus appeared.  Of his many exceptional characteristics, prominent among them was his ability and willingness to heal people.  Like Bernard Kouchner and MSF, Jesus dispensed this healing voluntarily to people regardless of race, gender, politics or conflict.  In contrast to Kouchner and other healers of today, Jesus’ primary means of healing was by speaking. We look at some prime examples recorded in the Gospels, and then reach back into the Old Testament to look their significance.

Previously we saw that Jesus taught with great authority, using authority that only the Christ could have.  Right after finishing teaching this Sermon on the Mount the Gospel records that:

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Matthew 8:1-4

 Jesus Heals by Authoritative Word

Jesus now shows his authority by healing a man with leprosy.  He simply said ‘Be clean’ and the man was both cleansed and healed.  Jesus’ words had authority to heal as well as teach.

Then Jesus had an encounter with an ‘enemy’.  Romans were the hated occupiers of Jewish land at that time.  Jews viewed the Romans then similarly to how some Palestinians feel towards the Israelis today.  The most hated (by the Jews) were the Roman soldiers who often abused their power.  Worse still were the Roman officers – the ‘centurions’ who commanded these soldiers.  Jesus now encounters such an ‘enemy’.  Here is how they met:

Jesus Heals a Centurion

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Matthew 8: 5-13

Healing when Faith recognized Authority

The word of Jesus had such authority that he simply said the command and it happened from a distance.  But what amazed Jesus was that only this pagan ‘enemy’ had the faith to recognize the power of his Word – that Christ had authority to Say and it would Be.  The man that we might assume has no faith (coming from the ‘wrong’ people and the ‘wrong’ religion), but from Jesus’ viewpoint, would one day join in a heavenly feast, while those from the ‘correct’ religion and the ‘correct’ people would not.  Jesus warns that neither religion nor heritage grants heaven.

Jesus also healed Jewish leaders.  In fact, one of his most powerful miracles occurred when he raised the dead daughter of a synagogue leader.  The Gospel records it like this:

Jesus raises a synagogue leader’s dead daughter

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

… Interrupted by healing a bleeding woman

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

…Back to the dead daughter

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Luke 8: 40-56

Once again, simply by a Word of Command, Jesus raised a young girl from death.  It is not religion or lack of religion, being Jewish or not, that kept Jesus from miraculously healing people.  Wherever he found faith, or trust, regardless of their sex, race or religion he exercised his authority to heal.

Jesus heals Many, including Friends

The Gospel records that Jesus went to the house of Peter, who would later become his chief disciple.  When he got there he saw a need and served.  As recorded:

When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”

Matthew 8:14-17

Jesus had authority over evil spirits which he cast out from people simply ‘with a word’.  Today we more often use the term ‘mental health’, rather than ‘evil spirits’ but goal remains the same – mental and emotional well-being. The Gospel then reminds us that the Prophets had predicted that his lifting of our sicknesses would be a sign of the Christ’s arrival. 

Isaiah Foresees Healings

Isaiah in Timeline with Jesus

The Biblical prophet Isaiah Isaiah had prophesied 750 years before Jesus, but speaking in first person (me, I) on behalf of the coming Christ (=’anointed’) prophesied that:

 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 61:1-3

Isaiah had predicted that the coming Christ (=anointed) would bring ‘good news’ (=gospel) to the poor and would comfort, free and release people.  Many today do not believe the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ healings.  However, they were not simply pious myths from the imaginations of Matthew and Luke. They stand in line with the much earlier prophetic writings which predicted these healings as an unmistakable sign to identify the Christ. Jesus’ ability to heal responded to the diagnosis given by Jeremiah, fulfilled the prediction of Isaiah, and offers hope for healing to us if we respond in faith to his display of authority. 

Word of God

That he healed so often simply by speaking ‘a Word’ demonstrates the Gospel claim that he was not only the Christ but also

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

Jesus had such authority that he was also called ‘Word of God’. Next we see how Nature itself submitted to his Word.

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Like Moses: Teaching with Authority on the Mountain

Guru (गुरु) comes from ‘Gu’ (darkness) and ‘Ru’ (light) in its original Sanskrit.  A Guru teaches to dispel the darkness of ignorance by light of true knowledge.  Speaking from the shores of Galilee, Jesus exemplified this by teaching with such impact that it would be felt even 1900 years later and far away in India through his influence on Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi & Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Mahatma Gandhi

In England, 1900 years after Jesus’ birth, a young law student from India now known as Mahatma Gandhi (or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) was given a Bible.  When he read Jesus’ teachings known as the Sermon on the Mount he recounts

“the Sermon on the Mount which went straight to my heart.”

M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography OR The Story of My Experiments with Truth. 1927 p.63

Jesus’ teaching about ‘turning the other cheek’ gave insight to Gandhi on the ancient Hindu concept of non-injury and non-killing.  Gandhi later refined this teaching into political force in Satyagraha, his use of non-violent non-cooperation with the British rulers.  Several decades of satyagraha resulted in the independence of India from Great Britain, in a largely peaceful manner.  Jesus’ teaching triggered all this. 

So what was it that Jesus taught?

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

After Jesus’ testing by the devil he started to teach.  His longest message recorded in the Gospels is called the Sermon on the Mount. Read the complete sermon while highlights are given here. Then we look back to Moses for deeper insight.

Jesus taught the following:

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Adultery

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Divorce

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Eye for Eye

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew5:21-48
Carl Bloch, PD-US-expired, via Wikimedia Commons

Sermon on the Mount reveals Authority

Jesus taught with the form “You have heard that it was said … but I tell you … ”. In this structure he quoted first from Moses, and then extended the scope of the command to inner motives, thoughts and words.  Jesus taught by taking strict commands given through Moses and made them even much more difficult to do!

But what is remarkable is the manner in which he extended the commands of Moses’ Law. He did so based on his own authority. He simply said ‘But I tell you…’ and with that he increased the scope of the command. This authority that he simply assumed was what struck his listeners.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Matthew 7:28-29

Jesus taught as one with great authority. Earlier Bible prophets passed messages from God to people, but here it was different. Why could Jesus teach like this? Psalm 2, where the ‘Christ’ was first foreseen as a title, described God speaking to the Christ like this

I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.

Psalm 2:8

God gave ‘the Christ’ authority over the nations, even to the ends of the earth. So as the Christ, Jesus claimed the authority to teach like he did.

Jesus in relation to Moses and David who respectively wrote of coming Prophet and Christ

The Prophet and the Sermon on the Mount

In fact, long before, Moses had predicted the coming of ‘the Prophet’, who would be unique in how he taught. Moses had written

The LORD Said …”I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.”

Deuteronomy 18:18-19

In teaching as he did, Jesus exercised his authority as the Christ and fulfilled Moses’ prophecy of the coming Prophet who would teach with the authority of God’s ‘words in his mouth’. He was both The Christ and The Prophet.

Jesus & Moses

In fact, Jesus meant to both draw comparison and contrast to Moses by the whole manner in which he delivered the Sermon on the Mount.  To give this Sermon …

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,

Matthew 5:1
Gustave Doré, PD-US-expired, via Wikimedia Commons

Why did Jesus go up the mountain?  Notice what Moses had done to receive the Ten Commandments..

The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up  (Ex 19:20)

Moses ‘went up’ the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. When Jesus likewise ‘went up’ the mountain he took on the role of Moses.  This makes sense because The Prophet who was to come would be

… a prophet like you (Moses)…

Deuteronomy 18:18

The Prophet had to be like Moses, and since Moses went up the mountain to give his teaching, so did Jesus. 

God’s Plan demonstrated in its Harmony and Unity

This shows a unity in thought and intent that reaches over a thousand years. Only one mind can span such an long time interval – God’s. This exhibits evidence that this is His plan. Plans originating from people conflict with that of other people. Look at the myriad of political and economic plans that contradict one another. But this plan demonstrates a unity and harmony stretching through history – an indicator that the Divine has set it in motion.

Initiating A New Era for Us

Though Jesus and Moses pattern each other in ascending the mountain, those receiving their teachings did not.  Jesus had his disciples come right up the mountain to be close to him when he sat down and taught.  But when Moses received the Ten Commandments…

the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”

Exodus 19:21-22

The people receiving the Ten Commandments could not go near the mountain on pain of death, but Jesus’ followers could sit right with him on the mountain when he taught. This demonstrated the dawn of a new Era, characterized by proximity to God, rather than distance from Him.  As the New Testament explains

For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 

Ephesians 2: 18-19

Jesus showed in how his his listeners sat with him that the way was now opening for us to become ‘members of his household’.

But his message also explained what he expected of the ‘members of his household’.

You & me and the Sermon on the Mount

This Sermon might perplex you. How can anyone live these kinds of commands that address our hearts and our motives? What was Jesus Christ’s intent?  We can see the answer from his concluding sentence.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew5:48

Notice that this is a command, not a suggestion. He required that we be perfect!

Why?

Because God is perfect and if we are to be members of his household then nothing less than perfect will do. We often think that perhaps simply more good than bad deeds – that will be sufficient. But if that were the case, and God let us join his household, we would destroy the perfection of His House and turn it into the mess that we have in this world. It is our lust, greed, anger that destroys our lives here today. If we join His Household still enslaved to that lust, greed and anger then that Household will quickly become like this world – full of problems made by us.

In fact, much of Jesus’ teaching focused on our inner hearts rather than outward ceremony.  Consider how, elsewhere, he focuses on our inward hearts.

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Mark7:20-23

A Perfect Household for us

So perfect inner purity is the required standard for His household.  God will only let the ‘perfect’ into his perfect household. But that raises a huge problem.

How will we get into this Household if we are not perfect?

The utter impossibility of us being perfect enough could cause us to despair.

But that is what he wants! When we despair of ever being good enough, when we stop trusting in our own merits then we become ‘poor in spirit’. And Jesus, in starting this whole Sermon, said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

The beginning of wisdom for us is not to dismiss these teachings as not applying to us. They do! The standard is to ‘Be perfect’. As we let that standard sink in, and realize that we are not capable of it, then we may be ready to accept the help he wants to give, rather than depending on our own merit.

This is the step his teaching pushes us to take. Next, we see Jesus demonstrate the authority that his teaching had assumed.

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Jesus Tempted in the Desert

The Gospels tell us that immediately after his baptism, Jesus…

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Mark 1:12-13

We may think it rather strange that Jesus went directly out into the wilderness for testing/tempting.  And why for 40 days?  But this is not random.  Jesus is making an astounding claim in doing this.  To see it we need to know Israelite history 1500 years before Jesus’ time. 

Flashback to Israel’s desert testing

Right after Israel’s baptism in the crossing of the Sea, …

The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

Exodus 16:1-3

Immediately after their baptism they entered the desert to face testing by hunger.  And they ended up staying in the desert for 40 years!

The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

Numbers 32:13

Jesus re-takes Israel’s tests, passing on behalf of the nation

Jesus re-took this testing of Israel in the desert.  His testing in the desert for 40 days mirrored Israel’s testing for 40 years. In doing this he was symbolically claiming to represent Israel.  Notice how the tempter tested Jesus.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:1-4
Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The tempter first tested Jesus with hunger right after his baptism.  How would he behave while hungry?  This was exactly the same first test Israel went through. 

The second temptation was to test God’s provision.

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

(Psalm 91: 11-12)

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Matthew 4:5-7

In their 40 years in the desert, the nation of Israel had put God to the test many times, including: when they tested God to provide water for them at Massah, with desiring meat instead of bread, refusing to entering the land due to fear.  As Israel, Jesus now faced the same temptation, but this Israel passed the test.

Who is the devil referring to?

Notice how the devil quotes Psalm 91 to tempt Jesus.  See the complete passage from which he had quoted only a part (which is underlined).

no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

Psalm 91:10-13

Note that this Psalm refers to a ‘you’, which the devil believed referred to the ‘Son of God’. But Psalm 91 does not say ‘Son of God’ so how did the devil deduce ‘Son of God’ from Psalm 91?

The Lion – Back to Jacob

Psalm 91 declared that this ‘you’ would ‘trample’ the ‘great lion’ and ‘the serpent’ (v.13). The ‘lion’ is a reference to the tribe of Judah of the Israelites. Jacob had prophesied at the dawn of the nation that:

“Judah, your brothers will praise you;
    your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
    you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
    like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

Genesis 49:8-10

Jacob had stated that the tribe of Judah was like a lion from which a ‘he’ would come and that this ‘he’ would rule. Psalm 91 had continued this theme.  By declaring that ‘you’ would trample the ‘lion’, Psalm 91 said he would be the ruler of Judah.

Timeline showing when ‘Lion’ & ‘Serpent’ oracles were spoken

The Serpent – Back to the Garden

Psalm 91, which the devil quoted, also stated that he would ‘trample the serpent’. This is a direct reference to the Promise in the Garden that the ‘offspring of the woman’ would crush the serpent. Let’s review it with a diagram showing the characters and their relationships in this Promise:

So the Lord God said to the serpent…

 I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis3:15

Discussed in more detail here, God had made this Promise in the Garden, but had not filled in the details.  Now we know that ‘The Woman’ is Mary[i] because she was the only person who had an offspring without a man – she was a virgin.  Therefore her offspring, the promised ‘he’, we now see to be Jesus.  The ancient promise predicted that Jesus (the ‘he’) would crush the serpent.  Psalm 91, which Satan had quoted in tempting Jesus, had reiterated the promise with

“you will trample the great lion and the serpent.“ (v13)

The devil quoted from Psalm 91 which in turn referred to these two earlier prophecies of a coming ‘he’ that would rule and would also crush the devil.  Thus the tempter knew that the verses he quoted in the Psalms referred to the Son of God (= ruler).  The devil tempted Jesus to fulfill these promises in the wrong way.  These prophecies would be fulfilled, not by Jesus jumping off the temple to draw attention to himself, but by Jesus following the plan revealed by the preceding prophets.

The 3rd Temptation – who to worship?

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Matthew 4:1-11

While Moses had been up Sinai Mountain for 40 days receiving the Ten Commandments, Israel began worshiping the Golden Calf.  As the Bible recounts

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Exodus 32:1-2

So they proceeded to make and worship the Golden Calf.  Israel failed even before the test had begun.  In resisting this 3rd temptation Jesus re-visited that test.  And through him Israel now passed the test.

‘Christ’ means ‘anointed’ to rule so Jesus has a right to rule. Satan tempted Jesus with what was rightfully his, but Satan tempted him to take a wrong shortcut to his rule, and he was tempting Jesus to worship him to get it. Jesus resisted Satan’s temptation, by (once again) quoting from Moses.  

Jesus – someone who understands us

This tempting of Jesus is crucial for us. The Bible states about Jesus:

 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 2:18

And

 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16

We often assume we can get right with God on our own merit.  Or we trust a religious official to be our Mediator before God.  But Jesus is the High Priest who sympathizes and understands us. He helps us in our temptations precisely because he himself had been tempted – yet without sin.  And so we can have confidence before God with Jesus as our High Priest because he underwent the most difficult temptations but he never gave in and sinned. He is someone who understands us and can help us with our own temptations and sins. He is the only one spiritually qualified to be our Priest.  The question is: Will we let him?

Conclusion

We have seen how Jesus’ temptations were, like his birth, childhood flight, and baptism, his claim to be the fulfillment of Israel – how Israel should have developed.  His 40 days in the wilderness also patterned Moses’ 40 days without eating while he received the Ten Commandments.  Jesus patterns with Moses as well as Israel.  We look at this more in depth when Jesus begins his teaching ministry. We conclude our investigation here.

[i] ’The Woman’ is likewise also a reference to Israel. Israel is pictured as a woman betrothed to God (Isaiah 62:5, Ezekiel 16:32, Jeremiah 3:20) and is also pictured thus in Revelation 12.  So there are two equally valid identities to ‘the woman’ of Genesis 3:15

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Jesus’ Baptism: What Does It Mean for You?

People instinctively sense that they are ‘unclean’. We know this because, while there are many differences amongst religions and traditions in the world, they all consistently invoke the need for washing with water when approaching the Divine. 

Muslims practice wudu, or ritual washing, before prayer.  Hinduism practices include bathing in sacred rivers, like the Ganges – to purify oneself before sacred festivals. Buddhist monks wash themselves in water before meditating. Shinto undergo Harae, or ritual washing, before worship. Jews practice Tevilah (full body immersion in a mikveh or bath), especially before their sacred festivals. In Christendom, baptism fulfills a similar role.

Muslims practicing Wudu
np&djjewell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hindus’ cleansing in the Ganges
Matt Stabile, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Buddhist monks washing
Tevaprapas, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Shinto ritual washing
A.Davey from Portland, Oregon, EE UU, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mikveh
Stefan Walkowski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Christian baptism
Eastside Christian Church from Anaheim, CA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The various churches practice baptism a little differently, but Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist sets the example.

Baptism of Moses

Although this receives most attention, baptism in the Bible goes back long before the time of Jesus.  The Apostle Paul writes:

“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

1 Corinthians 10:1-2
Crossing of the Sea under Moses was the national baptism of Israel

Paul refers to the Israelite Exodus out of Egypt, just after Passover, as the moment when the Red Sea parted and the Israelites walked through it.  As recorded in Exodus 14, the Egyptians tried to follow, but perished when walls of water came crashing down on them in their pursuit of the Israelites through the parted sea.  The Israelites, led by Moses, were all ‘baptized into Moses’ when they walked through the Red Sea.  It became their national baptism.

Jesus’ baptism mirrors the baptism of Israel

Jesus’ Baptism Extends the Pattern

We are exploring the Gospel’s portrayal of Jesus as the fulfillment, or embodiment, of Israel.  His miraculous birth paralleled that of Isaac, as well as his flight from Herod that paralleled of Jacob/Israel.  Jesus’ baptism continues the pattern (which we conclude here).  Why did Jesus undergo baptism?  He did not need cleansing.  John the Baptist said as much when Jesus approached him for baptism, as Matthew’s Gospel records:

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

John the Baptist baptizes Jesus

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-16

Jesus did not need baptism for cleansing from impurity.  He was already clean on the inside so nothing physical could make him unclean.  But his baptism was another indicator of his pattern with Israel.  As Israel went through a baptism, so he also went through a baptism.

Baptism of … cups

What does ‘baptism’ mean in the Gospels?  We can answer this by noting how the Gospels use this word.  As a comment on Jewish ritual washing, Mark notes that:

The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.

Mark 7:3-4

Three times the word ‘wash’ appears.  In the original Greek, the first wash (in v3) is nipsōntai, the standard word for wash.  But the two other ‘wash’s in verse 4 are baptismous – baptism!  So the Jews ‘baptized’ themselves and their cups when they washed them!  Baptism simply meant to cleanse by immersion in water.

Baptism in water not the issue

Though many view baptism with water in Christendom as being able to cleanse us the New Testament explains the active source of our cleansing.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.  It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

1 Peter 3:18-22

Here it clarifies that the ‘removal of dirt from the body’, that is a ritual physical washing of some sort, is not the baptism that saves.  Rather it is the ‘pledge of a clear conscience toward God’ – the inner repentance that John the Baptist taught – that saves.  It saves us as verse 18 explains because it is Jesus himself who is righteous (spiritually clean) so that he brings us to God through his death and resurrection, explored more fully here.  

Baptism into Jesus

In fact, we need baptism, not in water, but into Jesus himself, as the Bible explains

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6: 3-4

In trusting Jesus he washes us and thus we can ‘live a new life’.

That ‘new life’ involves an ability to have victory over temptation and sin.  Jesus shows exactly how he does this in what he went through immediately after his baptism. He went into the desert for 40 days for testing by the devil, once again patterning as Israel which had undergone testings for 40 years in the desert immediately after their baptism from Moses.

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Zealous in the Wilderness

Sculpture of Simon bar Kokhba on Israeli Knesset Menorah in Jerusalem

History remembers Simon bar Kokhba (Simon ben Kosevah) as the man who led and failed the last Jewish revolt against Imperial Rome from 132-135 CE.  As the self-proclaimed prince of the Jewish people in Judea, he required that all Jews follow him into a war of independence against Rome.  He led this revolt because the Romans were intending to build another pagan city (Aelia Capitolina) on the ruins of Jerusalem (ruined from the failed 66-73 CE uprising). This city would have a Temple dedicated to Jupiter, a pagan Roman god. 

Though initially successful from his base in the Judean wilderness, their fortunes turned when the full might of the Imperial Roman legions counterattacked. Bar Kochba and countless other Jewish insurrectionists were brutally killed in Rome’s final victory.  Before his defeat, many Jewish sages, including Rabbi Akiva, one of the leading contributors to the Mishnah, proclaimed Simon bar Kokhba as the Messiah.

Bar Kokhba directed his religious zeal from the desert wilderness against a foreign, external enemy – Imperial Rome.  His vision saw messianic peace only coming about if the alien occupying military might was expelled and Zion liberated from foreign occupation.

Bar Kokhba Contrasted with John the Baptist

In his religious zeal and messianic fervour from the wilderness, Bar Kokhba resembled his countryman John the Baptist who preceded him by about 100 years.  Yet, though similarly zealous, they differed in how they saw the fundamental problem and consequently the fundamental solution.  Comparing these two revolutionaries will help us understand competing ideas of the human situation and the solution that the Gospel puts forth.

John the Baptist in Secular History

John the Baptist, like Bar Kokhba, was a powerful figure, often portrayed as rugged in films
Lucas van Leyden , CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Like Bar Kokhba, John the Baptist generated much controversy and attracted a lot of attention.  Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, refers to him with these words:

Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man… Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion… Accordingly, he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. 

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, ch 5, 2

Josephus mentions John the Baptist in the context of the defeat of Herod Antipas against a rival.  Herod Antipas had put John to death, and Josephus informs us that his later defeat was viewed by the Jews as Divine Judgment against him for his execution of John the Baptist. 

John the Baptist in the Gospels

John the Baptist prominently figures as the forerunner of Jesus in the gospels.   Luke, one of the gospels in the New Testament, firmly anchors John the Baptist in history by cross-referencing him with other well-known historical figures of that time.

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’” 

Luke 3:1-6

In support of Luke’s account, Matthew summarizes John the Baptist’s message like this:

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Matthew 3:1-2

John’s Perspective

John saw the fundamental human problem being within us.  Therefore, his preaching directed his listeners to repent. 

Repent (metanoia in the Greek) means ‘change’ (= ‘meta’), your ‘mind’ (=’noia’). Think of a caterpillar’s dramatic ‘metamorphosis’ when its form (‘morphe’) changes into that of a butterfly. 

John preached the need for a change of mind so dramatic that it transforms the way we live, not by toppling governments and fighting foreigners as Bar Kokhba thought, but in treating others – whoever they may be – in a compassionate and just manner. This repentance would ‘prepare’ us for the Lord’s way.  In John’s mind, without this repentance, we would not see, grasp or understand the Kingdom of God, nor would we experience its ‘forgiveness’.

Confession in Our Repentance

An indicator of true inner repentance that John looked for was this:

People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 

Matthew 3:5-6

This contrasts the actions in another Biblical account – that of Adam & Eve.  After they ate the forbidden fruit, the Bible says that Adam and Eve:

‘…hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.’

Genesis 3:8

Ever since, this tendency to hide our sins, pretending that we have not done wrong comes very naturally to us.   Confessing and repenting of our sins is considerably difficult for us to do, because it exposes our guilt and shame. We prefer to try anything else but this. Nevertheless, John’s conviction and message framed repentance and confession as essential to preparing people so that they might experience the coming Kingdom of God.

Warning to the Religious Leaders Who Would Not Repent

Some people had indeed done this, but not all could honestly admit their sins before themselves and God. The Gospel says that:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 3:7-10

The Pharisees and the Sadducees, teachers of Jewish religious law, worked diligently towards keeping all observances (prayers, fasting, sacrifices, etc.) as commanded by the Law.  Everyone thought that these leaders, with all their religious learning and effort, were the ones who were guaranteed to have had God’s approval. But John called them a ‘brood of vipers’ and warned them about the coming Judgment of fire!

Why would John make such a claim?

By not ‘producing fruit in keeping with repentance’ they showed that they had not truly repented.  They had not confessed their sin but instead hid their sin behind their religious observances.  Their religious heritage, good though it was, had made them proud rather than repentant.

Fruit of Repentance

With confession and repentance came an expectation for living differently.  The people asked John the Baptist how they should demonstrate the fruit of their repentance and he answered this:

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Luke3: 10-14

 Was John the Christ?

Because of the strength of his message, many people wondered if John was the Christ.  This is how the Gospel records this discussion:

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

Luke3:15-18

John the Baptist in Prophecy

John’s independent spirit led him to dress coarsely and eat wild food in the wilderness.  However, this was not just an example of his spirit; it was also an important sign.  The prophet Malachi had closed the Old Testament 400 years before with the following:

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.”

Malachi 3:1

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Malachi 4:5-6 (400 BCE)

Elijah had been an early prophet who also lived and ate in the wilderness, dressed with a

“…garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.”

2 Kings 1:8
Timeline of John the Baptist along with those who foresaw his mission

So, when John the Baptist lived and dressed in the way that he did, it was to point out that he was the coming Preparer prophesied to come in the Spirit of Elijah. His garments, his lifestyle and tendency to eat in the wilderness showed that John the Baptist came in God’s foretold plan.

Conclusion

John the Baptist came to prepare people so that they would be ready for the Kingdom of God.  But he did not prepare them by giving them more Laws, or leading them into rebellion as Bar Kochba did. Rather, he prepared them by calling for their repentance from sin and their confession of it.  This is harder to do than to following stricter rules or participating in an insurrection since it exposes our shame and guilt. 

The religious leaders of that day could not bring themselves to repent and confess their sins.  Instead they used their religion to hide their sins.  One hundred years later they used religion to channel the ill-fated rebellion of Bar Kochba.  Because of their choices to avoid repenting they were unprepared to recognize the Christ and understand the Kingdom of God.  John’s warning is just as relevant to us today.  He maintains that we must repent from our sin and confess them. 

This enables us to experience the Kingdom of God, which John helped inaugurate in his baptism of Jesus, the next historical event we explore.

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Jesus as Israel: Pursued & Hiding from Herod the Great

Anne Frank in school 1940

Anne Frank is known for her diary, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’, which she wrote while hiding from the Nazi regime during the Second World War.  Her flight from pursuit had begun years before she hid behind a bookcase with her family in Amsterdam.  She was originally born in 1929 to a Jewish family in Germany. Her father, Otto Frank, decided it was best to flee the country when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Consequently, Anne grew up as a foreigner in the Netherlands.

However, in 1940, the Nazis overran the Netherlands, making it also no longer safe.  When the Nazis ordered Anne’s sister to report to their work camp in 1942, the family went into hiding.  They remained hidden behind a bookcase until their discovery in 1944.  During this period of hiding, Anne wrote in her diary.  Tragically, all the members of the Frank family except for Anne’s father died in the Nazi camps. But her diary remained hidden and her father published it after the war.

Other Jewish Holocaust Diarists

Other Jews also penned diaries while pursued and hiding from the Nazis.  Keep in mind that the following stories are emotionally disturbing.

  • Etty Hillesum (1914 – 1943) kept a diary describing her perilous life as a Dutch Jew under Nazi rule.  She died in Auschwitz.
  • Miriam Chaszczewacki  (1924–1942) was a 15-year-old Jewish Holocaust victim, who in 1939, began writing a personal diary about her life in the Radomsko ghetto; ending just before her death in 1942.
  • Rutka Laskier (1929–1943) was a Jewish Polish diarist chronicling the three months of her life during the Holocaust in Poland. The Nazis murdered her in Auschwitz at the age of fourteen.
  • Věra Kohnová (1929 – 1942), a young Czechoslovakian Jew, wrote a diary about her feelings and events during the Nazi occupation before her deportation and murder in the Nazi extermination camps.

Pursued – an Historic Jewish Reality

Having to flee pursuers who seek to harm was not just experienced during the holocaust, but has been a part of the Jewish experience throughout history. It began in the earliest days of the nation when Jacob fled from Esau who threatened to take his life. Over the following centuries, fleeing from pursuers was an ever imminent reality for Jacob’s descendants.

Jesus’ Childhood: Pursued & Hiding

In this regard, it is not surprising to find that in the Gospels, shortly after his birth, Jesus had to flee to another country just as Anne Frank’s family did. 

Matthew records how the Magi from the East had visited Jesus and created consternation for Herod the Great.

12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 2:12-23

Matthew records how King Herod, feeling threatened by Jesus and furious that the Magi had outwitted him, orchestrated the killing of all baby boys in Bethlehem. He hoped to kill Jesus in the bloodbath.  But Jesus’ parents had fled in the middle of the night and lived in hiding in a foreign country, like Anne Frank, to escape a murderous threat. 

… From Herod the Great

Herod the Great, the brilliant, but ruthless king of Judea, ruled under the Roman Emperor from 37 – 4 BCE.  Herod’s father, Antiper, had seized the initiative when the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE, earning Roman favour and becoming the vassal king over Judea.  Herod inherited the throne from his father and shrewdly navigated many intrigues to strengthen his position.  He sponsored magnificent building projects, many of which are now among the ruins of great tourist attractions in Israel today.  Masada and Caesarea are examples of two popular Israeli tourist attractions that survived as historical landmarks of his building activities. But, his most grandiose project was the re-building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. He built it to rival all structures across the Roman Empire.  Whenever the New Testament mentions a ‘Temple’, it refers to this temple built by Herod.

  • Ruins around Herod’s Temple
  • Caesarea built by Herod
    Bukvoed, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Masada built by Herod
  • Scale model showing Jerusalem’s Temple of Herod
    Berthold Werner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Herod’s ruthlessness was well documented by the historian Josephus, included the murder of several of his wives and children when he suspected their disloyalty, and he never hesitated to spill the blood of his subjects.  So though Matthew, of all who recorded Herod’s atrocities, is the only one who mentions his murder of infants in Bethlehem, these actions are entirely consistent from what we know of him.

The Audacious Hypothesis: Jesus as Israel

Herod the Great was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau; the brother of Jacob/Israel.  Thus, Matthew records an Edomite threat against Jesus’ life.

This opens the door for Matthew to reveal how he understood these events. He does so by setting forth the framework, or lens he uses to make sense of Jesus.  We see this in his brief quote (underlined above) of the prophet Hosea (700 BCE).  The complete quote from Hosea is:

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Hosea 11:1

Hosea wrote this sentence to recall the Exodus of the young nation Israel that came out of Egypt under Moses.  He pictured Israel as God’s ‘child’ and ‘son’ since the Exodus occurred early in the nation’s history.  But Matthew sees fit to apply this to Jesus, when he likewise came out of Egypt.  In doing so, Matthew sets forth an audacious hypothesis that Jesus in some way embodies the entire nation of Israel.  In Matthew’s view Jesus is the archetype, master blueprint, fulfillment, or completion of Israel.  Jesus forms the pattern which molds the nation of Israel’s experiences.

An Exhibit Supporting the Hypothesis

Matthew exhibits Jesus’ coming out of Egypt in his youth as evidence of this since it correlates with Israel’s national exodus out of Egypt in the youth of its nationhood.  And the ever-present Jewish experience through history of having to flee and hide, exemplified in Anne Frank’s story, equates to Jesus’ experience of flight and hiding.

The correlation goes deeper – back to the dawn of the nation.  Jacob, also called Israel, became the first of Abraham’s seed forced to flee and hide (from his brother Esau).  Jesus had to flee from Herod the Great, an Edomite or descendant of Esau.  As Israel fled from Esau, so his Descendant had to flee Esau’s descendant.  From the point-of-view offered up by Matthew both Israels fled from Esau.

Historical Timeline

We saw that Jesus’ miraculous birth paralleled Isaac’s miraculous birth.  Here his fleeing Herod parallels Jacob’s fleeing from Esau, and his return from Egypt to the land of Israel parallels the Exodus under Moses to the Promised Land.

Assessing Matthew’s Claim

Is Matthew on to something? The entire project known as Israel began with God’s promise to Abraham that

all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you

Genesis 12:3

Since this offers you and me God’s blessing and since Jesus did come through Abraham, investigating further along this line of thought could be fruitful. We continue going through Jesus’ life with this in mind, looking next at the one who prepared the way before him – John the Baptist – through the lens of the Jewish revolutionary Simon Bar Kochba. We conclude our investigation here.

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Flashback to Isaac’s Birth: Symmetry with Jesus’ birth

Isaac’s birth is one of the most anticipated and drawn out events in the Bible.  God promised Abraham, then 75 years old, a ‘great nation’ in Genesis 12.  Obeying God’s promise, Abraham left Mesopotamia for Canaan, the Promised Land, arriving a few months later.

But before Abraham could father ‘a great nation,’ he needed a son – yet the promised son had not arrived.  Abraham waited 10 years without siring any son or heir.  However, God reassured him with a binding oath; by trusting God, Abraham was ‘credited’ righteousness.  Abraham did get Ishmael as a son, through a surrogate-like arrangement, but God declared that Ishmael was not that promised son. 

Years passed as Abraham and Sarah continued to wait, with fading prospects of bearing a child the more they aged.  Hope seemed lost until Abraham had a unique encounter at the age of ninety-nine years old.

The Lord appears to Abraham

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

God’s Promise for a son

9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Genesis 18:1-15

Can we blame Sarah for laughing?  Having a child when the father is 99 and the mother is 90 is sheer impossibility.  We would also have laughed.

The Birth of Isaac

Nevertheless, in the following year, we find that:

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Genesis 21:1-7

Ultimately, Abraham and Sarah now had their promised son – Isaac.  Their dreams were rekindled.  Even so, the overall account raised an important question.

Why the drawn out wait for Isaac’s birth?

Why does God wait 25 years (Genesis 21) to bring about the promised birth of Isaac (Genesis 12)? If God has the power to do anything at any given time, why not bring about Isaac right away?  Would that not better show His power?  Or, was there some special foresight to God’s roundabout way of doing things?

From later outcomes we can deduce several reasons for the wait. 

First, Abraham learned valuable lessons about trusting God during this long wait. In doing so, he became a example for all people who desire to trust in God.  Those who would know God must follow Abraham’s path.

Second, instead of diminishing God’s power, the account magnifies it.  It is remarkable perhaps, but not miraculous, for a middle-aged couple to have a child.  Unlikely events do occur naturally. Should Abraham and Sarah have had Isaac early on, we could interpret the account in that way.  However, a couple bearing a child at the age of 100 years is either a fabricated story or miraculous.  There is no other explanation or middle ground.  Either the events of Isaac’s birth did not happen as recorded or there was a miracle.  If miraculous, then the whole project, known as Israel, continuing even to this day, sits on the foundation of God’s miraculous power and His utterly trustworthy promises.  In the birth of Isaac, all Jews through history are established on a miracle.  And if the foundation is miraculous then so is the structure built on it.

Isaac’s miraculous birth compared to Jesus’ miraculous birth

To grasp the third reason for Isaac’s delayed birth, we must recognize a remarkable pattern.  Consider that Abraham had only one other descendant with an equally promised, anticipated and miraculous birth – Jesus of Nazareth. 

For preceding centuries, different prophets in various ways had promised in God’s name that the Messiah would come. The Gospels then present Jesus as this promised Messiah. His being born from a virgin is equally, if not more, miraculous than Isaac’s birth.  Exactly as with Isaac’s birth account, we can only interpret the virgin birth of Jesus as either fabricated story or the miraculous.  There is no other explanation, no middle ground.  A little reflection brings plainly into sight this symmetry between the births of Jesus and Isaac.  

Jesus as the Archetype of Israel

Here is one in a series of instances that paints an overall portrait of Jesus as the archetype of Israel.  As an archetype, he represents, fulfills and is the fulfillment of God’s purposes that were first uttered to Abraham 4000 years ago. To be an archetype Jesus’ birth had to pattern that of Isaac, the first of the nation.  Otherwise Jesus’ claim to be Israel is proved false right from the start.  But since the miraculous nature of both their births match, then Jesus’ claim to be Israel remains intact and, at the very least, an open question worth investigating. 

Abraham & Jesus are separated by centuries of history

Comparing their births from this historical perspective, we can observe that Isaac’s birth foresaw that of Jesus’ who came much later. To coordinate events with foresight like this, that spans across an immense time period in human history, supports the claim that Jesus’ is the cornerstone of a Divine project.  God invites us all to understand this project so that we can be beneficiaries of that original promise that was given to Abraham so long ago.

… all peoples on earth will be blessed through you

Genesis 12:3

We continue looking at Jesus from this vantage point by examining how his flight from Herod just after birth mirrored the flight of Israel from Isaac’s son. We conclude our investigation here.

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Christmas – The Jesus Birth Story

Christmas is distinguished as a primary global festival, celebrated by nations around the world. Christmas celebrations are replete with music, food, decorations and gifts – while the exact way of celebrating varies from nation to nation. But at its historic core, Christmas celebrates the birth of a poor Jewish boy born just over 2000 years ago.

The unique essence of Christmas becomes ironic when we realize that the one people bypassing the Christmas celebrations are Jewish; the very people from whom this Jewish boy was born, who birthed the tradition. This intrigue alone makes the Christmas story worth exploring, which is what we will be doing here.

The Jewish Birth Story: Better than Santa

Jesus’ Birth Story is rich with imagery

Almost all the characters who make up the drama surrounding this boy’s birth were Jewish.  One of the two historians to have documented the story was also Jewish.

The intrigue, the suspense and the celebration surrounding the birth of this Jewish baby, recorded by a Jewish Levite, paints the later Christmas add-ons like Santa Claus, the North Pole, and the elves in Santa’s workshop, pale in comparison.

Levi, also known as Matthew, wanted us to know for certain that the baby boy he wrote about was Jewish.  So, he began his account with this sentence – the first sentence in his gospel and in the New Testament.

“This is an account of the origin of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

Matthew 1:1
Timeline of Jesus, Abraham and David in history
Jesus, David & Abraham in historical timeline. Jesus born 4 BCE since Gospels record that Herod lives at his birth.

Not only was he a son of Abraham as all Jews are, but he was also a descendant of the renowned King David!  What other theme could evoke greater expectancy?  Certainly not Santa.

Jesus’ Birth Recounted

What were the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth?  Matthew tells us in striking detail.

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Isaiah 7:14

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. 

Matthew 1:18-25

The Virgin Birth

Matthew quickly brings us right into deep controversy, for he tells us with certainty that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth.  Luke, another Gospel writer, provides further details on the event.

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

Luke 1: 26-35

Surprisingly, rabbinical Jewish sources reveal their belief in the virgin birth.  The theme of the Virgin birth goes back as far as Adam & Eve, its miraculous nature foreshadowed in Isaac’s birth.

Luke’s Details of Jesus’ Birth

Humble shepherds come to see the King

Luke continues the events of Jesus’ birth:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Shepherds at Jesus’ birth

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 

Luke 2:1-20

The Wise Men Visit Bethlehem

The visit of the Wise Men is usually included in the Nativity Story. Matthew writes:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

(Micah 5:2)

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Wise Men find baby Jesus

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Matthew 2:1-11
The Magi from afar come to see the King

The non-Jewish Magi comes from afar to encounter the ‘King of the Jews’. Meanwhile the ruling Jewish establishment, led by Herod the Great, becomes ‘disturbed’ by the news of the birth of their King. This foresees a pattern that has been intact for the last 2000 years.

Jesus’ Coming Through a Jewish Lens

In fact, Jesus’ Christmas birth account continues the narrative that depicts him as the archetype Jew who would bless all peoples – including me and you.  Two thousand years before, beginning with the story of Abraham (at 2000 BCE), God had promised

… all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you (Abraham).

Genesis 12:3

That set Abraham on a pilgrimage to the Promised Land in his old age.  However, many years ensued before his son Isaac was born.  Isaac’s birth during Abraham’s hundredth year was just as miraculous as Jesus’ virgin birth.  Jesus’ birth mirrors Isaac’s in order to stress this archetype Jewish role.

Re-iterated through Jewish Prophets

The hope for a future blessing for all peoples took a defining turn centuries later when God, through the prophet Isaiah (700 BC), called on all nations to:

Jesus, Isaiah & David in a historical timeline

hear this, you distant nations:

Isaiah 49:1

God then introduced his coming ‘servant’ as Israel, the archetype or embodiment of the Jewish nation.

He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

Isaiah 49:3

To bring this blessing on all nations (Gentiles)

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6

But simultaneously, this servant would remain strangely abhorrent to his own nation.

This is what the Lord says — the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel — to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,

Isaiah 49:7

Christmas reveals the double fulfillment of this ‘blessing’ as nations worldwide celebrate Christmas while Jesus’ own people do not acknowledge him.

What’s more, many of us in the nations no longer understand the significance of Jesus or his mission.  We might remember him at Christmas, but otherwise, he simply remains a cultural remnant of the European pre-scientific era.

Exploring Jesus Through his Jewish Lens

Perhaps a part of the problem relates to the nations within Christendom who no longer perceive Jesus from a Jewish perspective. As Matthew & Luke began the account of his birth, the four gospels proceeded in this entirely Jewish portrayal of Jesus.

In doing so, the gospels propose an audacious hypothesis that Jesus embodies the entire nation of Israel. From their perspective, Jesus is the archetype, master blueprint, fulfillment, or completion of Israel.

Although, can this hypothesis find support?

What difference does it make to us?

Exploring Jesus through this Jewish lens makes his person and mission vivid, real and personally relevant, rather than faded and remote like it seems to be for many of us.  Jesus stands out in the context of a Divine Plan. We can thus engage with him in a way that makes him large and life-like as he was to his contemporaries – allowing us to comprehend what his promised ‘blessing’ and ‘light for the nations’ means.

So we continue exploring Jesus through this Jewish lens. We review the link between his birth and that of the first Israelite – Isaac, suggesting Jesus’ role with his nation. Then we continue with his childhood flight for survival, illustrated in the story of Anne Frank, further advancing his role to bless all people.