The Bible - Jesus' Story Part 3

HOPE CHAPEL Sunday Service Notes

Teaching Series: “The Bible - Jesus’ Story”
Today’s Topic: “Week 3: Jesus in the Gospels - the Unexpected Messiah”

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For further study (retrieved on Thursday, August 20, 2020):
“Man or Messiah: The Role of Jesus in Judaism” - a Jewish perspective on Jesus as a false Messiah
https://www.learnreligions.com/jewish-view-of-jesus-2076763

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Today, we are going to look at the story of Jesus contained in the Gospels, but possibly in a different way then you have before.  As Christians we believe, based on the Gospel accounts, that Jesus was the long ago promised Messiah, come to save the world from sin.  He’s also promised to return and we look forward to that day.

The Jewish people, for the most part, continue to look for the coming of the Jewish Messiah.  They do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ; the ‘prophetic proofs’ from the Old Testament that Christians claim apply to Him, are denied as revisionist by nature.  Jesus is rejected as a fraud on a number of issues–He just didn’t meet the criteria.  He was not what the Jewish nation had been looking forward to.  The Gospels tell us of an entirely unexpected Messiah–they tell us the story of Jesus!

Expectation #1 - The Messiah would be a human. God, or YHVH, in the Old Testament was understood as a singular being.  The Jews of Jesus’ day held firmly to a faith that was Monotheistic–a belief in the existence of One God.  They believed that the coming Messiah would be sent by God, but would be entirely human.  Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah and the Son of God would have been as ridiculous a notion to them as if someone claimed to be the fourth person of God in today’s Christian churches.  Because of that, every time Jesus affirmed His deity–His Oneness with God–those around Him accused Him of blasphemy.

• He claimed to be God - “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:10-11) This was a difficult concept even for His disciples to wrap their heads around.  True, Peter had been quick to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 8:29), and the disciples were left in awe when He calmed the stormy sea (Matthew 8:23-27), but John also includes a discussion that Jesus had with His disciples and their lack of understanding is obvious (John 14:1-11).  Jesus is attempting to prepare His disciples for His departure and assures them that even though He has to leave, He’ll come back for them.  Thomas asks, “Where are you going?  How can we get there” (14:5)?  Jesus tries again by explaining that the only way to the Father is through Him, to which Philip replies, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough” (14:8).  Can’t you hear Jesus’ exasperation, “After all this time, don’t you know me yet” (14:9)?  Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, God from God, the very image of God...and that was just too much for those who were awaiting a human Messiah to hear.

• He forgave sins - “Be encouraged!  Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2) Matthew describes one particular scene.  A paralytic is carried to Jesus on a mat by his friends.  When Jesus sees their faith He begins not with the presenting problem–he’s paralyzed–but goes right to the heart of the matter and forgives the man’s sins.   “But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, ‘That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God” (9:3)?  Jesus responds to their thoughts, “I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home” (9:6)!  And the man is instantly healed not only of his sins, but of his paralysis as well.
• He accepted worship - “While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head...Jesus said, ‘wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed’” (Matthew 26:6-13)

While the disciples condemned this woman’s lavish display of worship, Jesus affirmed her actions as preparing His body for burial.  Might not the first and second of the ten commandments also have been on their minds, “Worship the Lord your God alone...bow to none” (Exodus 20)?  Jesus not only accepted this woman’s act of worship, He applauded her for it.

But the Jewish people weren’t looking for God to come to earth as the God-man, they were expecting a strictly human Messiah.  If Jesus had not claimed to be more than human, He might have won more people to His side; but Jesus’ claims to be the Son of the Father were truly offensive to the majority.  It was blasphemous to suggest that God existed as other than a singular entity–their understanding had never allowed for the possibility of a Trinitarian God.  This explains in part why his family thought He had lost His mind (Mark 3:21), the people of Jesus’ hometown attempted to throw Him over a cliff (Luke 4:28-30) and the religious leaders eventually had Him crucified under the charge of blasphemy (Matthew 26:64-65).

Expectation #2 - The Messiah would promote and live by the Laws of Moses.
The Jewish people knew that strict observance to the Laws of Moses, as given to him by God, was how the people could ensure God’s blessing on their nation.  When the Messiah came he would usher in a new golden age for the Jewish nation, much as his predecessor King David had done.  Under his rule, the people’s hearts would turn to God, the Temple and worship of God would be restored to former days of glory and the nation would be restored to a place of favour with God above all others.  But again, Jesus disappointed.  Not only did He not strictly observe all of Moses’ Laws as the Pharisees did, He appeared to flout them!  We’ve already demonstrated that He was accused of being a blasphemer, but that wasn’t the only charge against Him.

• He was accused of breaking the Sabbath - “One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight.  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!’ Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God” (Luke 13:10-13).

For the Jewish people, the Sabbath or ‘Shabbat’ was to be a day set aside for prayer.  They were not to do any work.  Moses had very clear instructions from God concerning one individual who was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp” (Numbers 15:32-36).  Keeping the Sabbath was deadly serious business for the Jews!  

Jesus most certainly healed on the Sabbath and even defended His disciples who picked a snack on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1), but the question remains, did He break it?  He was quick to point out that the Pharisees, by their own definition of ‘work,’ broke the Sabbath whenever they untied their ox or donkey for a drink.  God had made it clear that no ‘regular work’ (Exodus 35:2) was to be done on Sabbath, but according to Jesus, ‘doing good’ was not only permitted, but encouraged, “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12).  But this did not agree with the Pharisees understanding of the Law at all.

He was accused of disregarding traditions -

• Regarding hand washing (Matthew 15:2) - Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of those who questioned why the disciples did not perform the traditional ceremony of dipping their hands in water before eating; these same ones asking the question allowed their traditions to supplant the Laws of God.  Jesus set the record straight: God’s Laws are to be obeyed, not men’s traditions (15:3-9).
• Regarding fasting (Matthew 9:14-15) - John the Baptist’s disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast; He explained that it was not their time to fast, but someday soon, they too would observe this practice when He was no longer with them.
• Regarding paying the Temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27) - A tax was paid by Jewish males over the age of twenty for the upkeep of the Temple with the exception of the priests.  Jesus had no intention of paying this tax, but when Peter informed others that Jesus did in fact follow this tradition, Jesus sent him out to go fishing–he would find the necessary payment for both of them in the mouth of the first fish he caught.  Jesus saw Himself as exempt from this tax, but in order that Peter not cause offense, provided a means for Peter to pay the tax and to learn a lesson along the way.

Jesus wasn’t a stickler for traditions, many of which were misused.  No, He didn’t insist that His disciples ceremonially wash their hands, fast or pay the Temple tax.  Neither did He circumvent Samaria, avoid touching lepers or dismiss ‘sinners’ as being unworthy of His time and attention as other religiously upright teachers did.  He was compassionate and was determined to demonstrate a better way than what the traditions dictated.

• He was accused of hanging around ‘sinners’ - “When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners’” (Mark 2:16)?

Assumptions were made of Jesus concerning the company He kept–Samaritans, prostitutes and tax collectors.  The religious leaders were overly concerned with purity laws and as a result condemned Jesus for what they saw as participating in sin or at the least very poor judgment.  They would not have been caught dead hanging around publicly with some of the people who chose to associate themselves with Jesus.  What would people think?  What would people say?  Exactly what they thought and said about Jesus!  He was a glutton, a friend of sinners and an obvious sinner himself.  Jesus makes no apology: “On hearing the [Pharisees’ accusation], Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (2:17) Yes, Jesus hung around admitted ‘sinners,’ but for a reason. To do good and to minister healing!

Expectation #3 - The Messiah would be a great king and would usher in an era of peace.
The Jewish expectations of the Messiah in many respects mirrors Christian’s expectations for the Second Coming of Christ.  But unlike Christians, the Jewish nation is still looking for a human king, from the line of David, to come sweeping in to save and rule the Jewish nation, be anointed with holy oil and cause the world to experience an unending peace (Isaiah 2:4; 11:6-9).  There will not be two appearances of the Messiah such as in the Christian belief, but a singular age in which this promised Rescuer will come, gather the nation of Israel to Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, reinstate sacrificial worship and will establish peace for the Jewish people among the nations.

Despite the sign placed on Jesus’ cross by Pilate that read, “King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37), few were convinced that Jesus was a king and we certainly haven’t experienced an age of peace on this earth after his death.  For these reasons alone, many Jewish people rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah and still do.  Kings aren’t born in barns; Jewish kings aren’t refugees from Egypt; kings aren’t raised by carpenters and ordinary housewives; kings don’t hang around with  common people; the Messiah king would not have died on a cross...therefore, Jesus was no king!

And what of the promised enduring peace?  The continued conflict experienced by the Jewish nation and other peoples of this world is definitive proof that Jesus was not the Messiah.  He could only be a fraud!

Summary - The Messiah we meet in the Gospels is an unexpected one.  The people of Jesus’ day were convinced that they would recognize the Messiah when He came, but they remained blinded by their expectations.  How did Jesus not live up to the expectations of the Jews concerning their promised Messiah?

1. They expected a human, but God showed up!
2. They expected renewed favour for the Jewish nation, but God’s rescue plan embraced all of the peoples and nations of the world, from the beginning to the end of time.
3. They expected a mighty king, but God showed up as a humble and compassionate servant.

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Next week: “Jesus in the Church - Acts and Epistles”