Messianic Expectations

Use your imagination with me for a minute. Let’s say that I told you some details about something that was going to happen in the future:

• Across the street in your neighborhood there will one day be a change
• There will be no more houses but something larger than anything else in your town.
• There will be a place of truth.
• They will never know darkness
• They will change the world.

What are some possibilities of what that might be? Is it only one thing? More than one?

Before you know the whole story, you develop a whole range of expectations of what might happen. The Essenes at Qumran believed that there might be several Messianic figures because of the conflicting images in the Old Testament (comforter, warrior, deliverer, etc). However, once you learn what all these things are describing, it all makes sense and you begin to realize new things that pointed to that future reality that you never noticed before.

What was being described in the hypothetical example above? A center that is producing Christian literature, training, and transporting missionaries and literature all over the world. They are reaching the lost on a daily basis. It is one building, not many. It never knows darkness because it runs 24/7 and because it is doing its part to be a light to the world. It is a place of truth and is changing the world. Now that you know that, it all makes sense. You begin to realize that some of the possibilities you generated were not quite correct, although they had some correct components.

One difficulty we run into is that some of the information was figurative and others parts were literal. Some parts had both figurative and literal components (no night). The temptation is that once you have had the answer to those details, after a while you begin to think that it all made perfect sense the whole time. But it didn’t. That is like the view of the Messiah. Now that we know it is Jesus, it really changes the way you look at scripture. Now, all of a sudden things jump out that sound like the Messiah that were not recognized that way all the time. It sounds obvious to us because we know about Jesus but it wasn’t as obvious to them.

We read verses like the following as obvious prophesies of Jesus:

• Isa 53
• Psalm 22
• Isa 7:14
• Zech 11:12-13 (Mtt 27:9-10)
• Jer 31:31-34

These were not so obvious to them. Only in hindsight do these things begin to fall into place from our perspective of knowing that Jesus is the answer. There are all sorts of charts and diagrams on the prophesies concerning the Messiah but one thing is clear, if they had made a chart of what they considered prophesies of the Messiah in 600 B.C. it would certainly have been a lot shorter than the ones we develop today. Why? Because now we can see those things clearly and more pieces begin to fall into place.

The Jew’s had a misunderstanding of who/what the Messiah was supposed to be because they didn't have all of the pieces in front of them and they weren't privy to all the stories about Jesus' life that we are. What do you typically hear that the Jews expected in a Messiah?

• Military leader who would free them from the Romans.
• Acts 1:6 – Restore the kingdom
• Mark 10:35-45, Luke 22:24-27 – sitting by Jesus in the kingdom
• John 6:15 – they were going to make Jesus king.
• John 19:19 – King of the Jews (irony)

Where does this idea come from?

• Who did the Jews live under rule from? Rome.
• Was that all fun and games? They were oppressed and had to pay heavy taxes, etc.
• What do we do when we want to find out what God has to say about things like that? Turn to our Bibles.
• What Bibles did they have prior to Jesus? – Old Testament. So they looked there to see what God did in times like these.
• They found verses like the following:
• Isa 56:6-8
• Isa 61
• Hag 2:7
• Dan 7:13-28

When God’s people had been in exile and oppression in the past, God promised and sent deliverance. How would Roman oppression be any different?

People started looking for additional fulfillments of Old Testament prophesies, many of which had already had an initial fulfillment in figures like Zerubabel and Cyrus the great in order to make sense of their situation with Rome. Little did they realize that the Messiah that would come would have a greater purpose than freedom from momentary struggles. Therefore, they misunderstood him and eventually killed him, ironically with the sign over his head "King of the Jews."

Another problem and temptation is to read back into the text what is not there. Once you begin looking for Messianic prophesies you start to see them everywhere! But that is not always being fair with the text. Some prophesies had dual fulfillments (Isa 7:14 – the first fulfillment is a “young woman” having Isaiah’s baby in 8:1-4 and the other is in Jesus). Some scriptures that appear to have a Messianic twist may not have any at all except a loose connection by a few common words or themes that may not have been intended. I often wonder if Hosea 11:1 is not one of these. We like to connect this verse with Jesus time in Egypt in infancy. Whether or not that was the intention is highly questionable.

The bottom line is that we have to be honest in trying to understand and appreciate the Old Testament in two ways. First, we need to appreciate it for what it meant when it was written. When Isaiah prophesied about a son being born to a young woman, it was really a message of hope to them because he was using that as an illustration of a time-table for deliverance (Isa 7:14-16) that had significance in giving them hope in their present day circumstances. It is not very hopeful to say that 700 years from now deliverane will finally occur. Did it mean more than that? Of course. Ultimately Jesus was the greater fulfillment of that prophesy. But first we have to appreciate it for what it meant in their day. Second, we appreciate the text in light of the rest of the story. Now we do no about Christ and we should never discount that. He brings a greater light to the story and illuminates parts that have never made sense but are only brought together in an understanding of his life, death, and resurrection.

Living Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday

We recognize "Good Friday" and Easter but what about the day in between? Do you ever wonder what life was like for the disciples the day after the crucifixion? During Jesus' earthly ministry they never quite understood his prophesies concerning his death and resurrection. Even when he rose from the dead they were a little slow to understand. I wonder if they were hopeless that day. It would seem their hope in Jesus had been dashed to pieces by his crucifixion by the Romans and now they are potential targets as well.

Do you think many people today live in the day between Good Friday and Easter? I mean, do you think that many people live in light of shame and agony of death without any hope or recognition of the Good News brought that Easter morning? It is a lot like the Japenese soldier they found on an island in the pacific decades after the end of WWII who thought they were still at war. He had never heard how the story ended. The hope that we have springs from the resurrection of Christ. Without that our lives are meaningless. Unfortunately, many live in the day between with no hope beyond the grave and no understanding of the rest of the story for their lives.

Let us be people who share with others the rest of the story about the hope that is found in Jesus Christ and how God calls them to their own empty tomb as death will no longer have a hold on them. Let us get people past Friday and Saturday and show them the glory of Sunday and abundant life. We often take hope for granted but many people live every day with no hope. They are living on the day between Good Friday and Easter, never having heard that there is more to the story of life than death and degradation. There is a story that will change their lives forever. Let's share our hope with others by telling the Easter story over and over again. Have a great Easter!

Jesus and the Gospels - Craig Blomberg

I just finished Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg. I was VERY impressed by this book. His structure, exegesis, charts, etc were fantastic. I would highly recommend this book to anyone doing a study of the gospels as a whole or even a particular gospel. He gives a good political, cultural and social background to the gospels. He introduces critical approaches that have been used to interpret the Gospels. He completes the book with a Survey of the Life of Christ that encompasses roughly 200 pages and walks you through each Gospel's account of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. This book is an excellent resource.

Next post - Paradigm Issues Facing the Church - Translations

Acts 2 - How are we doing?

Acts 2:42-47
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

I appreciate the fact that we see Acts 2 as a good way of doing things. Baptism is one of the most fundamental practices of the early church and so were several other things that are just as important. Acts 2 contains a snapshot of the first "church." I think we really make an attempt to study the Bible together. What about the other things? What about our willingness to sacrifice for each other? How can we better encourage our members to open up in loving generosity toward each other? How about hospitality? Meeting for three hours a week in an alternate location that isn't anyone's home just isn't enough. I really feel like hospitality has nearly been lost even among our members. That is a real shame. If we are going to hold up Acts 2 as a model of the church, maybe we need to be turning to those verses in our assemblies to prove more things than just baptism. There is a lot more there than just baptism.

Making a Lasting Impression - Mark 14

They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. But I think God gives you a lifetime to make a lasting one.

The type of impression we make depends on who is at the center of our universe. There are several options people have tried:

1. Self - this is the most common. Impressions are made by making yourself look good. These impressions don't last forever.
2. Others - this is seen a lot with families of addicts. Family members often become co-dependent and learn to operate in a dysfunctional atmosphere. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, pornography, etc the family tends to center around the person with the problem. Attention and resources are disproportionately given to that person. These impressions don't last forever.
   
3. God - this is handing over the steering wheel to someone who is more powerful and more wise than we are. It is submitting our lives to His will instead of our own. This is the only way to open up our lives and make a lasting impression in the lives of others.

I think you can see this contrasted vividly in Mark 14:1-11

Read this passage and notice where people's focus was.

1. Self focused - the story is bookended (as Mark often likes to do) by those who are focused on themselves. 14:1-2 tells about the chief priests and teachers of the law looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus. 14:10-11 tells about Judas' deal with the chief priests and their promise of payment for his services. Judas and the chief priests were clearly focused on self and not on God.
2. Others focused - "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money be given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly" (14:4-5).
   
3. God focused - Two people in the story are focused on Jesus/God. Jesus commends her for her focus on himself and his impending death/burial. This woman was clearly focused on Jesus/God. Jesus is also focused on God as His death will reflect the will of God.

The only ones who made lasting impressions were the two who were focused on Jesus/God (14:9) - "Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

How often do we chase our own desires or even serve the poor to make ourselves look good. The only way to make a lasting impression on earth is to fully devote our lives to seeking Jesus (which often does mean serving the poor - Mark 9:41). It means being salt and light. It means having an answer ready for those who ask.

We all want to make a lasting impression but many times the things we chase don't reflect that desire. The biggest blinder Satan has to keep our focus from God is self. He can even use others to distract us if we are not careful. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." And let us remember that God has blessed us with a lifetime to make a lasting impression, one that is focused on Him.