Lesson 56 - Matthew 16

who is yeshua what is yeshua you know this is a question that has yet to  be fully answered to this point in matthew   and even though most 21st  century christians think it's an   answer and settled matter in the church it's far  from it matthew chapter 16 adds a new wrinkle   into who and what jesus was now up to now he has  said and demonstrated that he's a number of things   and we're gonna go fairly deep into this  topic during our study in in this chapter   mainly because this is the time to do it the  first thing that must be noticed is that christ   has been presented by the gospel  writer matthew as a complexity   of attributes and roles and he cannot be  defined by a simplistic faith doctrine and the second thing to  notice is that to this point   yeshua is to the jews he's encountered  in so many different settings primarily   a sodic a jewish holy man even though they had  some suspicions that he was some other things too now asodek is a remarkable jew  who comes along only rarely   that has the divinely given ability to do miracle  healings it seems that jesus was not the only   jewish miracle healer that had come along by  his day and after his time there would be others let's begin our study by reading all  of matthew chapter 16 together open   your bibles to matthew chapter 16. let's read  the scriptures together matthew chapter 16. then some parsheem and sudukeem that's  the pharisees and sadducees came to trap   yeshua by asking him to show them a miraculous  sign from heaven but his response was   when it is evening you say fair weather ahead  because the sky is red and in the morning you say   storm today because the sky is red and overcast  you know how to read the appearance of the sky but   you can't read the sign of the times a wicked an  adulterous generation is asking for a sign he will   certainly not be given a sign except the sign of  yanna of jonah with that he left them and went off   the talmud demon crossing to the other side  of the lake had forgotten to bring any bread   so when yeshua said to them watch out guard  yourselves against the hobbits that's the leaven   of the pharisees and the sadducees they  thought he said it because they hadn't brought   bread but you're aware of this said such little  trust you have why are you talking with each other   about not having bread don't you understand  yet don't you remember the five loaves of the   five thousand and how many baskets you filled  or the seven loaves of the four thousand and   how many baskets you filled how can you possibly  be thinking i was talking to you about bread   guard yourselves from the hummus the leaven of the  paroshim the sadhukeem and then they understood   they were to guard themselves not from yeast for  bread but from the teaching of the pharisees and   the sadducees now when yeshua came into  the territory around caesarea philippi   he asked his disciples who are  people saying the son of man is   and they said well some say yochanan the immerser  others elio it's elijah still others jeremiah   that's jeremiah or one of the prophets but  you he said to them who do you say i am   and shimon kifa that's peter answered you  are the meshiach the son of the living god shimon bar yochanan yeshua said to him how blessed  you are for no human being revealed this to you   no it was my father in heaven i also tell  you this you are kepha which means rock   and on this rock i will build my community  and the gates of sheol will not overcome it   i will give you the keys of the kingdom of  heaven whatever you prohibit on earth will   be prohibited in heaven whatever you permit  on earth will be permitted in heaven then he   warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he  was the messiah from that time on yeshua began   making it clear to his talmidim that he had  to go to yerushalayim endure much suffering   the hands of the elders the head cohanimus  the head priest and the torah teachers and   that he had to be put to death but that on the  third day he had to be raised to life now kepha   took him aside and began rebuking him heaven be  merciful lord by no means will this happen to you   but yeshua turned his back on kepha saying get  behind me satan you are an obstacle in my path   because your thinking is from a human  perspective not from god's perspective then yeshua told his talmudim if anyone  wants to come after me let him say no   to himself take up his execution stake and keep  following me for whosoever wants to save his   own life will destroy it but whoever  destroys his life for my sake will find it   what good will it do someone if he gains the whole  world but he forfeits his life what can a person   give in exchange for his life for the son of man  will come in his father's glory with his angels   then he will repay everyone according to his  conduct yes i tell you that there are some people   standing here who will not experience death until  they see the son of man coming in his kingdom to better understand the scene that unfolds to  open this chapter we've got to go back to the   ending of chapter 15. there it reads everyone ate  his fill and they took seven large baskets full of   the leftover pieces and those eating numbered  four thousand men plus women and children and   after sending the crowd away he got into a  boat and went off into the region of magadan so after the miraculous feeding of the  4000 and then sending the crowds away   yeshua got into a boat he went off to a place  called magadan now there's no subtle conclusion   about where exactly that is except that it  is on the western shore of the sea of galilee   now still in magadan yeshua is approached  by some sadducees and pharisees that have   come to ask him or demand is more like it to  show them a sign from heaven as some kind of   an unspecified validation not so much of who he is  but rather from what source does he get his power now since the accusation has been made  to him before that his abilities came   from satan i can imagine they wanted  him to somehow prove to their liking   that these powers came from above from god if he  could and as with only the opening verse of this   chapter there is so much to unpack throughout it  that we're going to spend a lot of time with it   because it is here that we see an important  milestone in christ's earthly ministry   and because this incident of yet another  confrontation with the jewish religious leaders is   also recorded in the book of mark we're going to  take a couple of minutes just to read it because   it rounds out what we the information that we have  about it so turn your bibles to mark mark chapter   eight mark chapter eight we're just going to read  verses 11 through 22 11 through 22 mark chapter 8 the pharisees came and began arguing with him   they wanted him to give them a sign from  heaven because they were out to trap him   and with a sigh that came straight from his heart  he said why does this generation want to sign   yes i tell you no sign will be given to this  generation and with that he left them got into   the boat again and went off to the other side of  the lake now when the disciples had forgotten to   bring bread and had with them in the boat only  one loaf so when yeshua said to them watch out   guard yourselves from the muhammads the leaven of  the paroshim and the homets of herod they thought   he had said it because they had no bread but  aware of this he said why are you talking with   each other about having no bread don't you  see or understand yet have your hearts been   made like stone you have eyes but you don't see  you have ears don't you hear don't you remember   when i broke the five loaves for the 5000 how  many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect   12 they answered him and when i broke the seven  loaves for the 4 000 how many baskets full of   broken pieces did you collect seven they answered  and he said to them and still you don't understand notice that mark says some pharisees came to yeshua bake  he makes no mention of sadducees   now it's hard to know why except perhaps mark  didn't think it that important to mention them   remembering that mark's intended audience  were gentile romans while matthews were jews   the lack of mention of the sadducees by mark  might have to do with his gentile readership not   really understanding or needing to know the jewish  cultural nuances between pharisees and sadducees   nuances that every jew would readily pick up on  and understand the significance of this piece of   information so jews knew that the pharisees were  the faction who dominated the synagogue system   leadership while the sadducees were the faction  that dominated the temple system leadership   that is while both of these are  essentially political social factions   they're not the name of some kind of a  religious or political officer position   nonetheless each faction represented the dominant  one within their particular sphere of influence   the pharisees were the favored leadership  leadership of the synagogue the sadducees were the   party favored by the chief priests and the high  priest so an ominous corner has been turned here   up to this point yeshua has been targeted as a  threat only to the synagogue leadership and we   as we know from his several testy  encounters with them however that sense   of threat has now crossed over to include  the temple authorities and the priesthood   in other words starting now the entire jewish  religious leadership complex was gunning for him now what we see is that the jewish leadership of  religious leadership of both the systems were all   too aware of yeshua's accomplishments and claims  but even more how much the people flocked to him   see these two factions that were essentially  rivals well they had a little love for one another   but here they're banding together to try to blunt  the trajectory of this rising star of the common   people what's that saying the enemy of my enemy  is my friend now we learned in matthew chapter 5   of the tremendous crowd jesus drew at his sermon  on the mount then in chapter 14 we read of him   drawing about 10 000 people people he not only  actually healed but he also miraculously fed   and in chapter 15 he drew yet another crowd  of around 8 000 for whom he did the same   i mean no one could establish that immense  of a following in the holy land and   go unnoticed by a perpetually suspicious  religious or political leadership because   it was occurring outside their oversight outside  their structure therefore outside their control jesus was not accepted by the pharisees  or the sadducees as a fellow servant of   god a minister to the people but rather  as an unwelcome competitor he was a pest they were afraid this would upset the apple  cart and ruin especially the sadducees   cozy relationship with their roman  occupiers you know i think it's hard   for a bible student that is paying attention as  he or she reads through matthew to understand   how after a barrelful of miracles and exorcisms  that christ had done that these men could   demand another one the reality is that such  a request for a sign is absurd on its face   and it merely exposes that these leaders  are the false prophets blind guides and   and wolves and sheep's clothing that yeshua  had openly declared them on numerous occasions   there was nothing yeshua could ever do to  convince them of his divine position and   authority because they had hardened hearts they  were here to protect their turf and nothing else well as for the miraculous  sign in heaven that they wanted   this is speaking about a sign in the sky above  the firmament and it's fermented being the ground   portion of the firmament and it's not about  the spiritual heaven where god lives and in the   ancient belief of that day god's heaven sat above  the sky so exactly what kind of a sign in the sky   might they've been seeking what they  want they want the sun to stand still   they want the moon to come out in the day see  it's not stated and no doubt it doesn't matter   because their request for a sign was sarcastic it  wasn't literal it was only meant to try to cast   yeshua as a fraud in order to try to discourage as  many followers and would-be followers see yeshua   refuses the request and in reply speaks a proverb  of sorts that most people even in the modern west   know to paraphrase it red sky in the morning sail  or take warning red sky at night sailors delight that is the red sky is a sign in heaven the  heaven where the birds fly and the clouds float   that the typical jew and gentile for that matter   would understand significance see just  like today weather mattered for people   and they paid attention to signs that would  tell them what to expect in the red sky   proverb the people of course understood and  this is critical that the time of the day the time of the day that the red sky  occurred was decisive because the same   sign at one time of the day was a good omen  at another time of the day it was a bad omen time so says christ these religious leaders seem  to know how to look up into the sky and see these   signs that tells them about the weather yet  they can't read the even more important and   obvious signs about the era about the time  of redemption history therein and thus the   accompanying events the implication that is  just heavy that yeshua was one of those signs   the chief sign of the times now there  is a principle that simply oozes   out of what we're reading yet it's  one that can be easily overlooked it is that despite the well-worn expression to  the contrary seeing is not necessarily believing it wasn't only the religious  leaders but also the thousands   of common jews that had personally seen  yeshua's incomparable acts of compassion   and miracles had heard his many sermons so full of  wisdom and truth yet that still did not bring them   to a belief that extended beyond  his mysterious ability to heal yeshua proved even though it frustrated him deeply   that doing miracle healings for unbelievers  is not what brings them to faith and this reality is no  different in the 21st century   or as w d davies puts it whereas miracles do not  create faith faith does in fact work miracles in verse 4 giving is the reason for his refusal to  produce a sign in the sky something he was clearly   capable of doing jesus says it is because  these religious leaders are representative   of those being in league with satan   now adulteress means to be unfaithful to the god  whom they purport to be in union with and serve marriage terms like adultery are used  because human marriage is the illustration   that is regularly applied in the bible to explain  the kind of relationship we're to have with god   now marriage unions consist either of faithful  partners or unfaithful adulterous ones   yeshua's claim against these religious  leaders is deeply offensive to them and   quite embarrassing to have happening  in front of an audience of onlookers   now both matthew and mark report that  yeshua abruptly ended the confrontation   and left the leaders standing there as he  got into a boat went back to an undisclosed   location on the east side of the lake i have a  little doubt it was to escape is being arrested   now the scene changes to the boat as it's crossing  over the sea of galilee jesus and his disciples   are apparently some distance from the shore when  one of them notices they'd forgotten to bring food   bread bread in hebrew was a term  that doubled as one time meaning   actual dough that rose and then was baked  another time it simply means food in general   bread was the staple food of the times especially  for the common folk it was not only part of   every meal it was the primary food eaten often  with nothing to supplement supplemented so the   disciples were likely a little bit upset when they  discover they've somehow left their bread behind   yeshua uses the mistake as an opportunity to teach  now mark disagrees with matthew on one small point   matthew says they had no bread mark says there  was one loaf between them all hardly enough   to go around yeshua uses the important ingredient  of leaven in bread to illustrate a point verse 6 he says the disciples need to be  very careful they need to guard themselves   against the leaven of the pharisees and the  sadducees now leaven is often used biblically   as a metaphor for sin and yet it was at times  like here also used as a metaphor for teaching   now very likely what we have here is a word  play see in aramaic the word for leaven is   hamura the word for teaching is amara hebrew  and aramaic are cousin languages it was common   that both languages were spoken by holy land  jews in yeshua's day now we know for sure   because of his final utterance on the  cross that yeshua could speak aramaic   so levin was known to be used as a term describing  teaching that was neither positive nor negative it   was the context of a conversation that determined  in what light to take the meaning now here because   yeshua says to be beware clearly he means the term  11 as a negative so the idea is that while the   instruction of the pharisees and the sadducees  may not always be wrong all too often it is and this wrong instruction can be a corrupting  influence that clouds or even replaces god's truth   and it leads people astray and we've already  seen christ exoriate the pharisees for just this reason in the previous chapter of matthew  we read of yeshua saying this in chapter 15   verses 4 through 6 for god said honor your father  and mother and anyone who curses his father and   mother must be put to death but you say if anyone  uses says this says to his father and mother well   i promise to give to god what i might might  have used to help you then he's rid of his   duty to honor his father and mother thus by your  tradition you make null and void the word of god so what yeshua is saying to his  disciples and against the pharisees   has now been extended to actions and  edicts sent down by the chief priests   even the high priest those who control the  temple and belong to the sadducee party   now while the leaven metaphor is not a parable  in which only one single moral point is being   made at the same time we should resist the  urge to find a flurry of allegorical uses of   the term leaven in this verse that could send us  away from what is really a pretty simple message and that message is this it is the human  tendency to automatically place our   trust in our religious leaders but we should  always do that with a strong sense of caution   their instruction to us could very well be an  error and i even have a hidden agenda behind it   it's all too easy to assume that  these leaders are especially holy   and that what they do and what they say well just   must be biblical biblical and it sourced properly  before god because after all they're the experts they're the religious office  holders they're the role models now while yeshua is of course referring directly  to those particular pharisees and sadducees that   put their man-made doctrines above god's word it  equally applies to all judeo-christian religious   leaders in every era whatever their title might  be or office they hold see it's really only in recent times that the lay person  within judaism or christianity has   the means to fact check what our  religious leaders are telling us bible ownership even after the invention of the   printing press was still something that  only the more well to do could afford later's costs went down a bible was still so  expensive that it was considered a prized family   possession that was usually handed down as an  inheritance to the next generation today bibles   are exceptionally cheap available in scores of  languages in translation and given pardon me   given away by the hundreds of thousands to people  who don't even have a few dollars to buy one   so the 21st century believer everybody that's  listening has the means at our fingertips to see   if what is being taught to  us agrees with the bible therefore we are without excuse when we fo allow our rabbis and our pastors to  get away with at times taking great liberties   with god's word and teaching man-made  doctrines as though it was holy truth   now we don't necessarily have  to confront them about it   but we can apply a filter to our  eyes and ears about what they say now what is truly remarkable is the resources we  now have available online i have no doubt no doubt   this is a fulfillment or at least part  of a fulfillment of the strange prophecy   from daniel chapter 12. in verse 4 it says  but you daniel keep these words secret and   seal up the book until the time of the end  many will rush here and there as knowledge increases as knowledge increases   little more than 25 years ago the knowledge  and materials that were the sole province of   theological schools were locked up available only  for for those few worthy students that attended   and it was handed out within whatever  doctrinal framework that school adhered to the average synagogue or church member had  little to no access but because of the internet   now these libraries and their scholarly content  have become open to the public and far more   in-depth bible teaching has become available  to the average god worshiper for little cost   on the other hand we must understand that in  christ's era personal access by the common man   to even the tiniest portion of holy scripture  was not possible scripture scrolls were few   and they were held mostly by the  wealthy and the religious authorities the elite among the jews like paul for instance  did have an opportunity to go to one of the   great religious academies of the day if they  had the funds and they had the influence to   gain them a seat in one of them yeshua knew  that indeed these jews who came to hear him were helpless sheep before these ravenous  wolves of the religious leadership   that had their own personal interests  in mind not the welfare of god's people yet there's another item in the background   of yeshua's warning to his disciples to watch out  guard themselves against the teachings the leaven   of the jewish religious leadership and as we've  seen christ's disciples still held the jewish   religious leadership in high regard they respected  them as pious men they believed what they taught in their minds yeshua's teachings were a kind of  supplement but not a challenge to the accepted   leadership in customs so far they didn't seem to  grasp that much of what jesus taught conflicted   with the tradition-based teachings  that were typical of the synagogue it's not unlike warning your  child for the hundredth time   not to cross the street before looking both  ways for traffic now crossing the street's   not a bad or a wrong thing but the hope is  that someday that child will subordinate   his or her instincts and just dart out into  the road assuming all is well and instead   approach it with due caution that do  caution you've been telling them to do now verse 7 reveals that the disciples thought  that when jesus spoke to them about the   comets the leaven then he meant it literally  because see all the disciples focus was that   they'd forgotten to bring bread to eat now  their focus and mindset was still earthbound   while yeshua's teaching was heavenly  and spiritual base so once again   yeshua accuses them all as a as a group of  having little trust not no trust small trust now hidden just under the surface is an  important principle that is among the most   difficult to communicate to internalize it is  that trust in christ is what opens our minds   so that we can learn and act upon what it is  that he and all of god's word is telling us   see without that firm trust not just in anything  not faith for the sake of faith but trust in him   we will find ourselves otherwise  exactly as these disciples are   they have been sitting at the feet of  jesus receiving personalized instruction   for several months and yet their trust in  him is still so small they cannot discern   the more profound things that he's been trying to  teach them so the inalterable principle is this   the more we trust in yeshua the  more we'll understand his words the less we trust in yeshua the  less we'll understand his words   in some ways the disciples  still place yeshua lower   in the religious pecking order of the jewish  faith than the synagogue and the temple leadership   well verses 9 and 10 to begin  don't you understand yet expresses an obvious level of frustration within  jesus towards the seeming inability of his   disciples to comprehend the meaning of all that's  been happening he blames this inability on their   lack of trust then he goes on to remind them of  the miraculous feeding of the five thousand later   the four thousand for which they were present they  were the ones who distributed distributed that   multiplied food with the idea that such a thing  should have been instructive to them but it wasn't the word usually translated into english as  remember when christ said remember don't you   remember it's not meant to be some passive  intellectual activity of merely recalling   the specifics of an event  rather because matthew was a jew   and he wrote his gospel in hebrew no doubt the  hebrew word he was thinking of was zakar and zakar   means to remember in the sense of paying heed to  something taking further action giving something   more and deeper thought because of what's called  the mind yeshua goes on in verse 11 to say and i   paraphrase how in the world can you think i was  talking about leaven that's used in making bread rather christ's disciples are to guard themselves  against the comets the leaven the corrupted   teaching of the pharisees and sadducees now  we're not told the response of the disciples   but in a few verses we find that at least one  disciple had a true spiritual breakthrough   it's rather mysterious that in mark's  account in chapter 8 in verse 15 he says   the disciples are to guard themselves against  the leaven of the pharisees and of herod   of herod what's herod got to do with it now  i've heard a few different explanations for   this but none of them bear up to scrutiny okay  for one thing which herod is mark talking about   i mean is he talking about herod the great  or is he talking about his son herod antipas   then why would any jew ever looked at  any either of them for spiritual food   i mean perhaps the closest to  an explanation that might work   is if this was referring to herod  the great because the priesthood   represented by the sadducees especially  the high priest had been in herod's pocket   although by christ's adult life herod was  dead but other than that one has to wonder   if the addition of herod did this  the first wasn't actually marx   but rather can be attributed to a later copyist  error and i i kind of think this is what happened now this episode in magadan by the sea of galilee  ends with matthew telling us that yeshua next   appeared with his disciples in caesarea philippi  also known as banias home to the worship of the   god pan now this is a fascinating sight in israel  that most times that i take a tour group to israel   we try to stop here to take in its beauty  and its history and to have a bible lesson   now it's located on the  southern slope of mount hormone   in the the north of israel and it is one of the  sources of water for the jordan river it's here   the christ mission and the question of who  and what yeshua is turns a corner it's here   that yeshua makes the leap in his identity  from sadiq to mashiach from jewish holy man   to israel's messiah in verse 13 jesus asks his  disciples who are people saying the son of man is   now pandora's box has just been opened and  a question has been asked that despite what   the average believer might think it has  not been fully settled up until our day matthew's gospel has the disciples saying that some people say he's john the baptist   others that he's elijah still others that he's the  prophet jeremiah or maybe another of the revered   prophets of old now this ought to be sufficient  evidence to prove that jesus has to this point not   made a firm mention of who he is such that people  could quote him or have some kind of definitive   description of him now i spoke to you in earlier  in an earlier lesson about how herod antipas   was concerned that jesus might be the resurrected  or reincarnated really john the baptist and that   this idea came to him not from his own mind but  from others around him i mean such superstitions   had much popularity among the jewish people in  those days yeshua as a reappearance of elijah   had some merit in that elijah went to heaven  having never died and he was prophesied to   return at the end of days something which many  jews believed they were currently living out and then finally there was this thought  that christ could be a reappearance   of the prophet jeremiah now biblically  speaking no such thing was contemplated   for israel's prophets however  it was the subject of folklore   and jewish tradition that some of israel's  ancient prophets would appear in the latter days the thing is that the people were just  guessing about jesus because they were   uncertain just how to label him we all  want to label something it's so much easier now interesting interestingly the one thought of  the people that never seem to enter their minds   as a possibility was that  yeshua could be the messiah why might that be see now this leads  to a subject all its own in the minds a first century jews what was a messiah  thought to be what did they think he would do now this is important see because it goes a long  way to explain the challenge that yeshua had   in explaining his true and fullest  identity over and against the expectations   about a messiah that had been taught to  the people by the synagogue leadership   yeshua's person and purpose were misunderstood by  the very people he came to save as one example of   this we read in the book of john john 6 verses  14-15 when the people saw the miracle he had   performed they said this has to be the prophet  who's supposed to come into this world yeshua   knew that they were at the point of coming and  seeking him seizing him in order to make him king   so he went back to the hills again  this time he went back by himself see this probably represents the most widely  taught and accepted mindset and firm belief   among the jews of what the hope for messiah  was to be see he would not he would come   not as a religious leader he  would come as a political figure the romans seemed to be quite aware of this belief   among the jews that the messiah  was going to be a what a king they took this as a threat  they took it quite seriously   the messiah would be the first jewish  king israel had had in hundreds of years   and of course this belief came from a  firm biblical foundation second samuel   do you want to turn your bibles there go  ahead i'm just going to read it to you   second samuel 7. i'm going to read verses 4  through 16. ii samuel 7 verses 3 4 through 16.   but that same night the word of adonai came  to natan nathan go and tell my servant david   that this is what adonai says you are  going to build me a house to live in   since the day i brought the people of israel out  of egypt until today i never lived in the house   rather i traveled in a tent and a tabernacle  everywhere i traveled with all the people of   israel did i ever speak a word to any  of the tribes of israel whom i ordered   to shepherd my people israel asking why  haven't you built me a cedarwood house therefore say this to my servant david this  is what adonai saif says i took you from the   shipyards from following the sheep to make  you chief over all my people over israel   i have been with you wherever you went i  have destroyed all your enemies ahead of you   i am making your reputation great like the  reputations of the greatest people on earth i will   assign a place to my people israel i will plant  them there so they can live in their own place   without being disturbed anymore the wicked will no  longer oppress them as they did at the beginning   and as they did from the time i ordered judges  to be over my people israel instead i will give   you rest from all your enemies moreover adonai  tells you that adam and i will make you a house and when your days come to an end and you  sleep with your ancestors i will establish   one of your descendants to succeed you one  of your own flesh and blood and i will set   up his rulership he will build a house for my  name i will establish his royal throne forever i will be a father for him he will be a son for me  if he does something wrong i'll punish him with a   rod and blows just like everyone gets punished  nevertheless my grace will not leave him as i   took it away from shaol from saul whom i removed  from before you thus your house and your kingdom   will be made secure forever before you your  throne will be set up forever so the reality is oh this is important to understand folks  the reality is jesus would be executed   by the romans primarily because he was  mistakenly seen as a political offender   the challenged roman rule when we  read of that sign remember that sign   tacked unto the cross above yeshua's head what did  it say king of the jews see this was to mock him   but certainly not in the spiritual the  religious sense see it was a demonstration   to the jewish people with the message that they  ought to abandon any hope that a jewish messiah   could come along lead a successful rebellion  against rome and install himself as a king   nonetheless the expectation of the jewish  people was that their messiah would be a warrior   leader and a king like david who would  successfully vanquish their roman occupiers of course as we've been reading yeshua  wanted no part of being a political figure he had no intention of trying to break the  cruel yoke of rome off the necks of his fellow   countrymen and despite the broad expectation among  the jewish public that their messiah would be a   political deliverer there wasn't anything near  to what we might call a unanimity of thought   among the jewish religious  authorities or people regarding the   attributes and works of the suspected expected  anointed one see it does as well to recall that mashiach messiah means  anointed one it does not mean savior it is a rather broad term as used in the bible it  was applied to every single one of israel's kings   that is from a purely literary  standpoint every israelite king   was a messiah a mashiach an anointed one not  metaphorically not allegorically actually the title of mashiach meant to communicate two  things first that this person was spiritually   anointed by god as his divine chosen to lead  his people second the king was literally   ceremonially anointed by having oil olive  oil poured over his head in an inauguration   usually officially aided by the high priest so  the most predominant view of jesus by the jewish   people as we find it in the new testament was  in a nationalistic tone not in a religious one if jesus was the messiah of israel  it would be as a typical sitting king   over a newly re-established independent nation  of israel see the religious component was   completely secondary to the political component  and the religious component existed primarily   because there were the prophecies that this  new king messiah would arise and rule and   because secular life and religious life  were not separated or compartmentalized   like they are today now i dare to say that my  reading of the gospels decisively shows that   the messianic expectations of the jewish people  in that era are nothing like the christian view and perhaps this is because the gospel accounts  are based please hear this the gospel accounts are   based almost entirely of the recorded history and  life of christ prior to his death and resurrection his death burial and  resurrection and even ascension   are told in only the final one and  one half of the 28 chapters of matthew in the final one and one half of the 16  chapters of mark and in the lesson two   of the 24 chapters of luke thus the christian views of who the historical  yeshua was and how to understand what his   words and his actions meant are based almost  entirely on what happened after his death now by no means am i suggesting this is wrong  what i'm suggesting is that when christianity   reads back into the bulk of the gospel accounts  things that happened before yeshua's execution   interpretations and doctrines that are  formed based only on the last few paragraphs   of each gospel book that's how the church  can misunderstand so much of what happened   in the many acts of jesus and what it meant  to the minds of the jewish people of his era   the jews had been conditioned through centuries of  teaching and traditions to understand the expected   jewish messiah in certain ways yeshua didn't  fit the mold because the mold makers were wrong one other backdrop matter also  tends to escape christian view   especially the modern christian view it is  that within the jewish culture the expectation   of the arrival of a messiah coincided  with the end times and the apocalypse   this expectation was not lost on  yeshua nor did he ever deny it   he saw his own advent as a latter days event and  all the apostles who followed him including paul   were certain they were living in the latter days not only because of the things  yeshua said but because the   culturally accepted notions of the jews  had all that woven into their thinking jesus therefore was not some odd figure  who operated outside the cultural norms   and lifestyle of typical jewish society he  would not have stood out in a jewish crowd   from his appearance rather he would have  blended because he was indeed one of them so it is with this conceptualization  of jesus in the minds of the jews   among whom he spoke and he lived and he performed  all those miracles that we need to understand   all that's going to come next in christ's  life as it's presented in the gospel accounts   okay we'll continue next week in chapter 16. so   you

Channel: Torah Class

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Keywords: Torah Class, Tom Bradford, God, Christ, Son of God, Yeshua, Matthew, Seed of Abraham, Jesus, Bible, Bible Study, Hebrew Roots, Hebrew Heritage, Christian, Christianity, Sermon on the Mount, Jews, Beatitudes, Parables, New Testament

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Length: 57min 1sec (3421 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 12 2021