Tag Archives: messiah

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?

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WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?

“Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him. ’Why then do you baptise if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah nor the Prophet?’ ‘I baptise with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know.

“‘He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan where John was baptising.” John 1:24-28 (NIV).

Did John, the apostle, ever have an opportunity to chat to John the Baptist? This conversation between John the Baptist and the Pharisees who were sent to interrogate him does not appear in the other gospels. so how did the writer know about it? It was not curiosity or interest that prompted their questions. They wanted to know because they had to report back to the powers-that-be.

Why did John baptise? First of all we need to dissociate baptism from Christianity as an exclusive rite. Baptism was a common practice in Judaism. They practised mikvah, ritual washing, for many different reasons. Before a groom-to-be formally proposed to his bride-to-be, he instructed her to wash (mikvah) which indicated his intention and ritually prepared her for his proposal.

A young priest was initiated into the priesthood in the footsteps of his father by being acknowledged by his father (“This is my son”) and by being baptised into his office. 

Why was John baptising? He was initiating people into the new era of Messiah, preparing the way by calling people to repentance and identity with Messiah and what He stood for, through baptism. They were “washing away” the old life and taking on a new role, just as a bride-to-be was washing away her single life and taking on the role of the betrothed and soon-to-be wife. Through baptism, she was separating herself from all other men to the one man who had chosen her.

Unfortunately, those who “baptise” infants have placed a different meaning on the ritual and have missed the real significance of both John’s and Jesus’ baptism. Baptism is not a new kind of circumcision. God has given us His Spirit as the sign of the New Covenant — the counterpart of circumcision, if you like. “When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 1:13b (NIV).

Just as circumcision was a sign of belonging to Israel and the guarantee of participation in God’s covenant, so also the Holy Spirit is the sign and guarantee that we belong to God, that we are His children and have the right to share in the blessings of the New Covenant.

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:13-16 (NIV).

Baptism is also a sign of separation. A young woman separated herself from other men. A priest was separated to his priestly office. A believer is separated from his old life by a ritual dying, to his new life in Christ. Jesus was separated to His Messianic office, and finally separated through His baptism of suffering and death to His eternal high priestly office for us.

Baptising babies to include them in the covenant people of God is a forbidden addition to Scripture and cannot do that because the Holy Spirit takes up residence in those who believe, not those who are sprinkled with water. Paul even made it clear that the children of Abraham are not those who are natural descendants of the patriarch but spiritual descendants who have become part of spiritual Israel because of their faith.

“Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham, ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Galatians 3:7-9 (NIV).

Why was John baptising? There was one coming, right on his heels, to whom he was pointing. He was alerting the Pharisees and religious leaders as well as all who would heed his message, that Messiah was here to usher in the new era of God’s rule in the hearts of His people. If they responded by trusting Him, they would have the privilege of becoming a part of an entirely new way of doing life, God’s way energised by God’s Spirit.

Are you in or out?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – WHO WAS ON TRIAL?

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WHO WAS ON TRIAL?

60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him. Mark 14:60-65

Jesus’ composure in the face of the hubbub going on all around Him was remarkable. He did not respond to their foolishness, only to the High Priest’s serious question, “Are you the Messiah, Son of the Blessed?” Was Caiaphas genuinely wanting an answer or was this a trick question to trap Jesus into incriminating Himself?

Jesus reply sent Caiaphas into a frenzy. “Do you hear that?” he exploded. “Guilty of blasphemy – out of His own mouth!” Let us examine the situation closely. Many imposters had come and gone, men claiming to be their Messiah but who could not back up their claims. For the Jews, it would have been impossible to recognise the true Messiah without the prophetic fingerprint in the Old Testament. Was Jesus just another upstart who would disappear off the radar soon enough?

But there was one thing different about His claim. If they had taken the trouble to examine the evidence, they would have found a perfect match with Old Testament prophecy. God was smart. He ensured that there would be no mistake about who was telling the truth by writing history before it happened. Time and again, during the Old Covenant era, when His people insisted on worshiping the dumb idols of the surrounding nations, He challenged their gods to do what He did – tell them what would happen centuries later.

Since Jesus’ claim that He was the Messiah was the issue that finally clinched it for the Sanhedrin, was this the question that Caiaphas wrestled with, that drove his conscience in the night hours? Did Jesus’ behaviour and demeanour appear insane when He made a claim like that? His authority, His composure, His utter calmness and serenity in the terrifying circumstances, was disconcerting to them all.

When we put ourselves into this scene, we witness a strange reversal of what should have been happening. We should be seeing a justice system that was running on well-oiled wheels, not a judge and jury that were and behaving like children. We should have seen the accused either defiant or full of fear, trying to deny the charges or prove His innocence and yet – Jesus was in full control while His accusers were in disarray. How did Caiaphas and his cronies and Pilate sleep that night

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – WHOSE SON IS HE?

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WHOSE SON IS HE?

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”
The large crowd listened to him with delight. Mark 12:35-37

Jesus had His own question to put to the people. This one seemed like an unsolvable riddle. “How can David’s Master be his son?” That was a real clanger if you didn’t know the inside story. His opponents, the religion scholars (did Jesus use the term with tongue in cheek?) readily acknowledged that David was inspired by the Holy Spirit when he made that claim.

This question delighted the people. Why? Many of them would have witnessed the on-going debate between the religion scholars and Jesus. Were their sympathies with Him at this point? Perhaps they recognised the unfairness of the attacks of the religious leaders in view of His impeccable life and uniquely authoritative teaching. Since questions were more important than answers and were the measure of a person’s intelligence, the people realised that Jesus was head and shoulders above His contenders in understanding God and His ways.

Unfortunately, their sympathies did not go deep enough for them to seek an answer from Him to His question or to be convinced that He was David’s son in the Messianic sense of the word. It is easy for us to understand what He meant from our post-resurrection, post-New Testament perspective but those who were in the moment had no reference point.

What does Jesus’ question mean to us? Here is the meeting point between God, the second person of the Trinity and humanity in the person of Israel’s greatest king. God had promised David that his dynasty would remain forever. How could that be, since Israel didn’t even have a king at that time? They may not have had a visibly reigning king, but David had a bloodline which traced right to Jesus, hence David’s “son”.

The religion scholars, Pharisees and ruling Jewish council made sure that He was enthroned on a cross and crowned with thorns but, in their mockery and unknown to them, that was God’s way of confirming Jesus’ eternal reign because He would, through His own death and resurrection, conquer sin and death. Now He reigns on the throne of heaven forever.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – WHO ARE THE REAL DANGER?

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WHO ARE THE REAL DANGER?

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:27-38

This incident and its repercussions have opened up to us at least a part of the reason that Christians are the greatest danger and hindrance to the coming of the kingdom of God. Against the backdrop of Caesarea Philippi, representing the way people think and behave when they reject the “tree of life” and eat the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, Jesus asked His disciples the most crucial question they would ever have to answer. “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter’s response was, in essence, absolutely correct but, as he later revealed, its content was way off the mark. It’s the content of that confession that validates or invalidates our confession. From Peter’s declaration, Jesus launched into a revelation of the Father’s agenda for Him, exposing Peter’s contradicting the content of the confession he had just made.

True discipleship not only embraces Jesus’ essence and nature as the Son of God. It also fully embraces the implications of that confession both for Jesus and for himself.

Peter refused to embrace Jesus’ yoke – the unconditional love of God that endures humiliation, disgrace, rejection and ridicule in order to overcome the worst man can do, through compassion and forgiveness. He still espoused violence, force and control as the way of victory. He was embarrassed by Jesus’ revelation of suffering and death as the way of overcoming the world. Jesus repudiated that way as the way of Satan.

God’s love is all-inclusive and all-embracing. He opens His arms to anyone who will repent and return (tefilah, teshuvah). By contrast, Jesus said that discipleship is all-exclusive. He is embarrassed by and repudiates anyone who refuses His yoke and chooses to continue on under the devil’s yoke. Such a person is “anti-Christ”, constituting a danger to the growth of God’s kingdom because he misrepresents his Messiah and brings the spirit of the world into the church, and the name of Jesus into disrepute.82

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – WHO WAS ON TRIAL?

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WHO WAS ON TRIAL?

“When it was morning, the religious leaders of the people and the high priests and scholars all got together and brought Him before their High Council. They said, ‘Are you the Messiah?’

“He answered, ‘If I said yes, you wouldn’t believe me. If I asked you what you meant by your question, you wouldn’t answer me. So here’s what I have to say: From here on the Son of Man takes His place at God’s right hand, the place of power.’

“They all said, ‘So you admit your claim to be the Son of God?’

‘”You’re the ones who keep saying it,’ He said.

“But they had made up their minds. ‘Why do we need any more evidence? We’ve all heard Him as good as say it Himself.’ Luke 22:66-71.

This has to be the strangest court case in history! Jesus was the prisoner and yet His subtle answer to their question and their attempt to force Him into incriminating Himself, exposed their guilt, not His. Their charge, punishable by death according to their religious law, was blasphemy. For them, His guilt was cut and dried, if they could get Him to make a confession. ‘If you are claiming to be the Son of God, say it.’

The only witnesses they could produce contradicted one another and, according to Mark’s account, brought an accusation so feeble that their testimony was dismissed. All they could bank on was that Jesus would admit guilt to their charge by His own confession.

His counter charge was: ‘If I am not the Son of God, prove it.’ As the members of the High Council, it was their duty to uphold justice and to do this, they had to provide evidence to support their charge, but they could not even produce at least two reliable witnesses.

Jesus turned the tables on them by His reply to their question. ‘If I said yes, you would not believe me. If I asked what you meant by your question, you would not answer me.’  He dug underneath their hypocritical “justice”, exposed their motive and revealed their wicked hearts. They were not after the truth. They were after an excuse to condemn Him.

Instead of giving them a direct answer, He made a statement which they were forced to weigh up for themselves. Their response would be the verdict on themselves, guilty or not guilty. Their refusal to drop the case drove them deeper into guilt and His resurrection three days later finally sealed their doom.   

Once before, they were caught in the same dilemma when they came to Him with a trick question, ‘Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?’  His answer took them by surprise. They were expecting Him to get Himself into trouble either with Jewish or Roman authorities. Instead, He put them in their place by reminding them of both their civil and religious responsibilities. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” Luke 20:25b (NIV).

Motive and responsibility – Jesus was big on both these issues. Why we do things is just as important as what we do. Taking responsibility for what we do and why we do what we do is the essence of maturity. Adam and Eve tried to play the “blame game” but it did not work with God. Man has been doing the same thing ever since and it still doesn’t work.

Even though Jesus was found guilty, condemned and crucified, He was the judge in the end, and His accusers the condemned. Yes, Jesus was guilty as charged, guilty of being who He said He was, the Christ, the Son of the living God, and He not only claimed it, He proved it by rising from the dead.

Those who tried and condemned Him were the guilty ones, guilty of prejudice, injustice and treason because they betrayed the God they claimed to serve and condemned to death the Son of God because they refused to recognise and believe in Him.