/';

The Life of the Messiahfrom a Jewish Persnective

A seriesof lecturesby Arnoid Fruchtenbaurn
of usA" a MessianicJew

trntroduction

.vicstiheoiogicaicoiiegesnavea ccurserhey caii "The Life oiCluist" What is usuaiiymissedin

theseschooisis that thereis a Jewishperspective that took piacethat by now is largelylost in the
churchesoithe West. in mcst Christianschools,colleges,serninaries and institutesin r,vhicnihe:r
studythe life of Jesusincluding the onesI went to, when they get into historical backgrounds,they
invariably go to the backgroundsof Greeceand Rome, and the Greco-Romanworld, which is verv
valuablefbr the bookssuchas Romans,the latterpart of Acts, Galatians,Corinthiansbecauseriucii
of what is saiciin rhosebooksof the Bibie is written from thai backdrop.

However, the lit-eof .lesusis not played out in the Greco-Romanworld or culture, but ratherin the
culture of first centilry israel and the theology of first century lsrael, which is primarily, Pharisaic
theoiogy. Viuch of what goeson neecisto be understoodfrcln that specific perspeciiveanciif w*
don't understandthingsfrom that perspective we will niiss rnuchof what is going on in what is
beingwritten. That's why it is specifically"The t"iib of the Messiahtiom a JewishPerspective",
and I hopeas we go to varioussegmentsof the Gospeisyou will seea new areaof knowiedgeby
virtue of that frame oFreference

tr. The oLOGOSt Johnchapter

1.
The Gospelof Johnis often accusedof beingthe most Gentileof the tbur Gospels.But a {nore
carefulstudy of his Gospelshowsthat it is just as Jewishif not more so than someof the others.
iohn begins tris Gospel with the tbmous sentencein verse i of chapter l, "In the beginning was
tlee Word, the Word wss rvith God snd the V[ord wus GotI" Now most of you protrabiy know that
the term John usedhereis the Greekword "Logos" which in Engiishwould mean"Word". But
becausehe usedthe Greek term "logos" many commentarieson Jctrnat this point go into a rather
iengthydeviationto explainwhat exactly'logos' meantin terms of Greek philosophy. They may
take a few pagesto do it or they may take many pagesto do it dependingon the size of the
commentary,but in the end they all say basicallythe samethrng.

And what they say is this, That the logos in Greek philosophy had rwo concepts. Thesewere the
conceptof reasonand the conceptof speech. After telling us that in Greek philosophy the logos
had thesetwo conceptsof reasonand speechthey then try to point out that what John is doing in
thesef-irst18 versesof his gospel,is to showhow Jesuscomesto fulfil the goals of Greek
philosophy,in that by reasonhe was the very idea of God and that by speechhe was the very
expressionof God.
'Ihat's
aii weii ancigooc Lokiiow but wiratthesecoinrneniatt.rrsibrger is rhatby prorbssioniohn was
not a Greek philosopher,but he was a Jewisht-rsherman.What he really l-rasin rnind is not Greek
phiiosophy,but tire"lewisirrheoiogycirhat iay in ihe Rabbiniciiteratureof that riayiherevrasa
conceptthat they had derrelopedcalled the 'Memra' . It is an A^ramaicterm that means"vyord"
And sinceJohn was writing his eospeiin Greek.he of courseneededa Greekterin to iranslatethe
Jewishworci 'lvlemra'. The only Greekterm he couid use adequateiywas "iogos' but when he says
logos,he doesnot rneanthe logosof'Greekphilosophy,but rather,the Memra of Jewishtheclogy,
anii we lvili seethis verv quicklv.
}.low if you read through the Rabbinic literatureof that day you will discoverthat the Rabbistaught
six things about the Memra. Six things were true aboutthe Memra. and all six things come out one
way or the other in thesei8 verses.

First of all, the rabbissaidthe Memra was sometimesthe sameas God. but sometimesdistinct fiom
God. They did not try in their writingsto explainaway the obviousparadox. How could the
Memra on the cne hancibe the sameas God, but on the other handbe distinct from God? They
taught both statementsas being true, and left it at that. Notice how verseone read. "'In the
beginning,was the word, the word was with God", ttrerefbrehe was distinct fiom Gcd. but then he
says,"the worciwas Goci",meaninghe is the sameas God. Like the rabbisat this point"Johndoes
not try to expiain away the paradox. How could this word be with God, distinct lrom him. but then
at the sametime be God? This is explainedlater only in the termsof the tri-unity,in that the One
he is writing about is ciistinctirom Cod in that he is not God the father,nor is he God the Hoi;:
Spirit, yet he is the sameas God in that he is God ihe Son,the secondpersonof that tri-unity. Only
in that way, in terms of the tri-unity, could this paradoxof the Memra be explained

The secondthing that Rabbishad beensayingaboutthe Memra was,The Memrawas the agentof
Creation. WheneverGod created,it was alwaysby rneansof, or through the Memra, by rneansof
nothingwould existthat now doesexist in verse3 John
his word. Without the word. the N,{emra-
says;"all thingswere madeby or throughhim, and without him was not anythingmadethat had
beenmade." What the rabbishad saidaboutthe Memra,Johnsaysis true of this logos.He is the
agentof creation. A1l things were madeby or through hirn and without him nothing would exist
that now doesexist

The third thing that the rabbis had beenteachingaboutthe Mernra was that the Memra was also the
agentof saivation. WheneverGod saved,it was by meansof the Memra. For the most part, in the
Rabbinicwritings the conceptof salvationwas in the realmof the physical.

WheneverGod savedIsraelphysicallysuchas the exodus,out of the land of Egypt, he did so by

meansof his Memra,by meansof his word. In versel2 however,we are given a more spiritual
dimensionof the sametruth. In verse12 "But as many as receivedhim, to them gavehe the right to
becomechildrenof God, evento them that believeon his name." Concerningthis logos,Johnsays
in verse 12, it is thosewho believeon him, thosewho receivehim; thosearethe oneswho beccme
childrenof God;they arethe oneswho receivespiritualsalvation,becausethis one is alsothe agent
of salvation.

The fourth thing the rabbishad been saying about the Memra was that the Memra was the means
by which God becamevisible in the pagesof the Old Testament.As you readthroughthe OT, you
find that periorJicallyGod takeson sometype of a visible form. This is oftenreferredto in Jewish
literatureas the Shekinah. Whenthe rabbisspokeof the Shekinah,it emphasised a visible
manifestationof God's presence.Wheneverthe invisibleGod became visible,whenever the
omnipresence of Goeitook on a localisedform, this visible localisedform was the ShekinahGlory
On most occasionsit appearsas a light or as a fire, or as a cloud or somecombinationof thesethree
things. That is not the only way it appeared,but in the majority of casesthat is the way it appeared
- light, i-lrer:r cioud. Anrj this was the,risiblemanif,estation of God's presence. this was the
Shekinah,and the Shekinah was frequentlyconnectedwith the glory of God hencethe title
"ShekinahGlory".

Notice what he writes in versei4, "And the word becamef'lesh". The word that back in verseone
was in the beginningwith God, was God, at a certainpoint in humanhistory,becamevisible. tsut
this time not in the form of a light, or of a frre, or of a cloud, but this time the word becametlesh
and John continuesto write, "and clweltamongus". Now of the two words that are often usedto
describe'"dwelling"in Greek,iotrn doesnot usethe regularword tbr dweltringin verse l'l
2
 trnsteadhe usesa unique word that is reaily a borrowed word from the Hebrew, it is a word that
;omes tiom the worri Shekinah. When the Greekscame in contactwith the Jewishworld after
Aiexancierthe Greatthey came in contactwith this word Shekinah,and reaiiseci what it conveyeci.
They liked the term and wanted somehowto incorporatethe term into the Greek language,because
in Greek rnythoiogy, you hacithe Gods oeriociicallycorning dor.vntiom Mt Olymous in some
visibiefbrm and intermingiingwith humanbeings.

Therewas one problemand the problemwas this; The Jewshavea letterin their alphabetthe
Greeksdo not have.The letter"shin" with which they madethe "sh" sound. in Englishyou havetc
ccrnbinetwo ietters"s" an(i "h" to get the "sh" sounci,but in Hebrewjust one iettei is enough
However, in Greek you cannotcombineany number of letters to get that "sh" sound. The Greeks
had a hard "s". they could say "s" but they couldn,t say ..sh,'.

But what they did was to take the Hebrew word for Shekinahand incorporateit into Greek. They
Hellenisedit and the Greekword usedhereis "skeinei"which is the Greekor Ftrellenised fbrm for
Shekinah Literally,it cioesnot meanto dweii, but to "tabernacie" it hasits originsin Exocir-ls 40
wherethe ShekinahGlory in its visible fbrm took up its resicience within the Holy of Holies of the
tabernacleand tbr centuriesit tabernacledwith lsrael. But now the ShekinahGlory hasreturned.
(It disappearedfiom Israel in the days of Ezekiel) Now it hascome back, this time in the tbrm
of
flesh and once againit hastabernacledamongus. You notice how in the next ( - - -uninteltigble - -
- ) said with the glory of God, "we beheld his glory, giory
of the only begottenfiom the Fatherfull
of graceand truth." The ciearstatementoiverse 14 is that the one Johnls going to be writing
about,Jesusof Nazareth,is the new, visible manifestationof God'r p.rr"n*. Once again CoO is
ln
visible form, this time as a man in flesh.and he dwelt. or tabernacledamonqus. so he was the new
visible manifestationwhich cameby meansof the word, by meansof the Memra.

The fifth thing the rabbishad said aboutthe Memra was that the Memra was also the agent
of
revelation.WheneverGod revealedhirnself"he did so by meansof his Memra, bi, meansof his
word. In verse i8 Johnr,vrites,"No man hasseenGociat any time; the oniy begottenSon which is
in the bosomof the Fatherhasdeclaredhim." Accordingto verse 18,one of the ministries
of the
logos is to cometo declare,to revealthe Father. The main theme that runs through the gospel
of
John is, Jesusthe Messiahthe Son of God, but John also has severalsub-themesinut run thiough
his gospeland one of thesesub-themes is that Jesuscameforthe purposeof revealingthe Fatherto
men.

That is why John more than Matthew, Mark and Luke combined"teils us more what Jesus
taught,
while the othersseemto be more concernedwith what.fesusdid. John is firore concernedwith what
Jesustaught and said. We have more discoursesin John than in the other three gospels. In these
discourses, what Jesusis doing,is revealingtheFathertothepeopleof trsrael.flaf is rvhy it is
John,ratherthan Matthew, Mark or Luke that recordsthe queition one disciple asked,"Show us the
Father",and Jesusturnedto the ciiscipieand said,"trf you have seenrne,you-haveseenthe Father.'
All that is true of-the natureof the Father,is true of the divine natureof the Son as well, therefore
he
is the revealerof the Father. The samepoint is madeby the writer to the Hebrewschapter
one
versesone' two and three.wherethe writer saysthat "while in the past,God had reveaiedhimself
in
varior-ls''ryays{in -,/ari.l.rs
portions),has in theselast daysre.zeaiechirilseif bi. ;neans;f the Son."
He is the agentof revelation.

The sixth and last thing the rabbis had beenteachingaboutthe Memra. is that the Memra is
also the
meansby which God signedhis covenantin the Old Testament.Of the varicuscovsnsnls
madein
the OT' eitherwith the worid in generai,or with Israei in parricuiar,thesewere signeciand
sealedby
meansof the ShekinahGlorv.
Now this sixth point doesnot come out as clearly as the other five points do, but he does hint at it in
'zersel7 when he says,"The Law was given by Moses,graceand truth cameby JesusChrist." The
Law cameas the resultof the Mosaic covenant,which was signedand seaiedby the Shekinah
Glory, in the book of Exodus chapter24. The new manifestationof gracethat carnewith the
Messiahis ihe resultof the new covenant.which will be signedand sealedby the deathof the Son
of God, the Logos or the Memra.

So what Johnis doing in thesel8 versesthen, is not showinghow Jesusfuifilled the goalsof Greetr<
philosophy,but showingthat he cameto tulfil the iewish Messianichope. The very thingsthe
rabbishad beenteachingaboutthe Mernra.is true of this Logosthat Johnwill be writing about.

We can summarisewhat Johnwrote herein thesel8 versein four simplepoints.

Nurnber1, the Word. The Logos,the Memra carnein visible fbrm.
Number2, sadly,the world in generaldidn't recognisehini.
Number3, evenmore sadly,his own Jewishpeopledidn't recognisehim either
I'lumber 4, those Jewsand Gentileswho did, have becomethe chiidren of this new ShekinahGlory
Light.

This then is one exampleof severalthat will follow. that if you look at a passagefrom the Jewish
fiame of ret'erenceit was written in, you canget the full impactof what the writer was trying to say

2. Zachariah in the Temple Luke Chapter 1.

This first segmentwiil be dealingwith the birth narrative,and what you will notice is that as we
begin to dealwith the birth and early life of Jesus,only two gospelsfully recordthe birth and early
life and theseare Luke and Matthew Mark and John begin their accountswhen Jesusis alreadyran
adult.The storiesin Matthew and Luke aretoid from two viewpoints,not contradictorybut
supplementary, in that Luke tellsthe accountfrom Mary's viewpoint,while Matthew tells the story
tiom Joseph'sviewpoint.

In chapterI verses5 to 25 Luke givesus the accountof the announcement of the birth of Johnthe
Baptist. And the individualprimarily involvedin this sectionrs Zachariahand his function in these
versesis to burn the incense This was donetwice a day,in the inorningand in the late afternoon,
and what the processwas you would take a hot coal from the altar of sacrificeoutsidethe temple
building, you would take this hot coal into the tirst room of the temple the Holy Place,you would
set that hot coal upon the altar of incensethat stood beforethe curtainthat separatedthe two rooms,
you would then drop incenseonto the hot coal and there would be a sweetsmelling savour, smoke
that rvould arise,penetratingthrough the veil as an otTeringto the Lord. For a two week period it
was Zachariah'sresoonsibilitvto do this twice a dav.

Now becauseof an incidentback in Lev l0 when the two sonsof Aaron did this ceremonyin an
improperta.shion,they were killed, so the teachingcameto be by this time that if the priestdoes
this ceremonyin a wrong manner.improperly,he too would die. So this may havebeenon his
mind when he was performingthis. In verse10 we read "And the whole multitudeof the people
were praying without at ihe time of incense,and there appearedunto him an angelof'the Lord
standingon the right sideof the altar of incense."By the time of the daysof Jesus,the storyabout
<iyingas a resuit oiburning the incenseimproperiy,hacigainecian acicieci ciimension Anci a
commonR.abbinrc teachingwas that if he did it wrcngtryand was going to die,beforehe would die
an angel,the angei ot-death,would be found visibly stanriingat the right, not the ieft. but at ihe
right sideof the aitarof incense.
Here is Zachariah.perfbrmingthe ceremony,and all of a suddenand angel doesappearvisibly,
standingat the right sideof the altar of incense.For note in verse lZ,"andwhen Zachariahsaw
nim he.:vastroubierianciiear ieii upon him." Guesswhy?

By what he had beentaught he expectsto die, but the messageof the angei is not a messageof
deathandjudgment,but of new lit-eand blessingto come. And he is told that he will sire a son whc
be Messiah's florerunner,and the heraici of the King Later on in,,zerses
26 to 38 we havethe same
angelannouncingthe coming of the birth of Jesusto Mary. Looking at verse30 we read, " And the
angei said unto her. 'fbar not Mary fbr thcu hast found Favourwith God and behold rtrou shalt
conceivein thy womb anci bring fbrth a son and shaii caii his nameJesus. He wiil be great and
will be calledthe Son of the Most High and the Lord God shallgive unto him the throneof his
father David. He will reign over the houseof Jacobfbrever, and of his kingdom there shall be nc
end," When the messagecomesto lvlary that sheis to becomethe rnotherof the lriessiah,the
messageis reiatedwithin the framework of the covenantthat God had madewith David.

The covenant God madewith David promisedtbur eternalthings.

There would be first of all an eternal"house" or dynasty.
Secondlythere would be an eternalkingdom.
Thirciiythere wouid be an eternaithrone, and
fourthly, there would be an eternaldescendant

And the eternity of the house,kingdom and throne are guaranteedbecausethe iine of David was to
culminatein a descendantwho was himself eternal. All four elementsof the Davidic covenant are
found in the messagethe angelgivesto Mary First of all he rnentionsthe issueof the Throne,in
verse32 "The Lord God shallgive unto him the throneof his flatherDavici." Concerningthe
house"He shallreign over the houseof Jacobfbrever." Concerningthe kingdom,"of hii kingdom,
there shall be no end." And here he re-emphasises
three of the four eternalthings of David's
covenant,the housethe kingdom and the throne.But againthe three eternaielementsot'house,
kingdom and throne are guaranteedto be eternalbecaulse they are fbcussed upon a descendentof
David who is himselfeternal. For in verse35, "The Holy Spirit shallcome upon thee,and the
power of the Most High shail overshadowthee,thereforealso that the hoiy thing which shall be
born of thee shallbe calledthe Son of God." What shewill produceis the Son of God.

While in his humanity, he wiil have his origins with lMary,nevertheiessin his divinity he has
(always)beenpre-existent.What is going to come about with this union of the physical and the
supernaturalis the God-Man, and by virtue of his being the God-manhe is the eternaldescendantof
David. For that reasonhe can guaranteethe eternityof the kingciom,the houseancithe rhrone
Thesethings are put within the fiamework of the Jewish covenantsof the Old Testament.

3. The Birth of Jesus Luke chapter 2

In Luke chapter2 verses1 through 7 we havethe accountof the birth of Jesusfrom Luke's
oerspective.Beeauseof the statements which are madein verse l-7 v.tecan pinpointtairly
accurateiyabout when or what year,Jesuswas reaiiy born. To begin with, we know that Jesuswas
born prior to the year 4 BC. Becausethat is the year that Herod the Great died, and the testimony
of both Matthew and Luke is that F{erodthe Great was living when Jesuswas born. Sincehe died
in ihe year4 BC, it meansthat iesuswas born priorto that trme of Heroci'sdeath. The decreeoi
(CaesarAugustusin the time of ) Quirinius(governorof Syria)mentionedin verses2 and3 was
passedin the year 8 tsC. ObviouslyJesuswas born afterthis decree,so that we can at leastreach
one conciusion,ancirhat is, -Iesuswas born son'lewherebetween8 anci4 tsC Bur we can even
narrow it down further.
According to Josephus,Herod left Jerusaiemin what is the year 5 BC for iericho, and he spentthe
last monthsof his lit-ein "lerichoand that's wherehe died. When the wise men meetHerod it was
not in Jericho,but ihey rneethim when he was stiil in Jerusaiemwhich would meanthat Jesushad
to have been born prior to Herod's departurefrom Jerusalemin the year 5 BC
If we take what the wise men say about how long ago the star appearedbefbrethey finally arrived
in Jerusalem,putting ail thesetogetherwe can say Jesuswas born somewherebetweenthe year 7
and 6 BC. So Christ was born between7 and6 before Christ! It soundssornewhatcontradictorv
now but that's ihe way it hasturnedout becauseof somepreviousmis-calculation.

Now even more important is what happensnext in verse 8 through 20 in Luke chapter2 in which he
dealswith an event that occursat a iime of the actuaibirth. Verse 8 says"And there were in the
samecountry,shepherds abidingin the fields keepingwatchover their ilock by night." Becauseof
what verse8 says,aroundChristmastime in many American churchesand American christianradio
programs,there is a favourite sermonwhich the personpreaches and the main point of the sermon
is invariablythat Jesuscould not havebeenborn on Decemberthe 25'n And the reasonthey give
is that you wouid not haveshepherds and sheepout in the fields in the month of Decernber.
Whoevertells you that hasneverbeento Israelin the rnonthof December.I havelived in Israelfor
a nurnberof years and have spentmore than one Decemberday in the Bethlehemenvironrnentand
there were sheepand shepherdsall over the place. In fact that is aboutthe secondor third month of
the rainy seasonand the grassesare all growing again.and that is a good time tbr the sheepand
shepherdto be out there in the tlelds. Thesepeopleare interpretingwhat thev readin verse8 on
the basisof what they would do in the stateof Montana in the month of December. Granted,you
probably don't have sheepand shepherdsout in the fields in Montana or in any of the northernparts
of the LISA but that's not the way we interpretwhat goeson in Israel. Now I am not arguingin
favour of a December25tn(birth)day"I am only sayingthat verse8 cannotbe usedto contradicta
December 25thday. While we can say that Jesuswas born between6 and 7 BC, we are not given
sufficient information to pinpoint when within that period Jesuswas born. Maybe he was born
December25ft, maybehe was born July 4thin anticipationof Americanindependence day I don't
know We don't really know exactlywhat time of year Jesuswas actually born.

Regardlessof the time of the year,certainly in verse9 we are told that "an angel of the Lord stood
by them, the glory of the Lord shoneround aboutthem." After somethinglike five and a half or six
centuriesof absence,suddenlythe ShekinahGlory of God reappears in one of its more famiiiar Old
Testamentmanif-estations, that of a light. By meansof the Shekinah Glory and by meansof the
angelGod usesboth of thesethingsto announcethe birth the Messiahto Jewishshepherds.Having
informedthem the Messiahhasbeenborn he then tells them to go and look tbr this child. But as
we know from Matthew's account,there were many babesin tsethlehem,so how could they know
which one was the right babe? So he givesthem a sign in versel2 "And this shallbe a sign unto
you." Now whiie the word "sign" by itself doesnot requirethe miraculous,it doesat leastrequire
somethingout of the ordinary, somethingunusual.

What is unusuaihere are two elements. Number one is that they would tind the babewrappedin
swaddlingclothes,and secondly,lying in a manger The fact that the babeis lying in a mangertells
theseshepherds, don't look in privatehornes,but look in stables.Stablesin the areaof Bethlehem
'4iu-rc
rtct-Jepaf3r€luridings rut rather,caves Caves.vere fi:und ali tirrcughcutttre hiil country of
Judahwhere Bethlehemis located,and thesecavesare where they would housetheseanimals
particulartryon rainy days. So if the shepherdsare toid to look in thesecaveswhich are usedas
stabies,ancibeing shepherdsthey would know where thesecaveswere. Xnamongthesecavesthey
would find this babe.

But secondlythe baby is wrappedin swaddlingclothes."Swaddlingclothes"doesnot rneanregular

baby ciothesbecausethat would not be a signas it would not be unusual.it's a word that is used
iater in referenceio "burial cloth". The babeis wrappedin buriai cloth.
6
Interspersedamong the cavesof the hill country of Judahwere thoseusedfbr burial and those
which were'.isedas stables.As a rnatterof convenience. often burial cloth was storedin these
srabiecaves.

If a persondied in Bethleherntbr exampie,his body was taken out in sometype of a funeral

procession,the flrst stop rvould be a stabiecave where the buriai cloth was kept, the body would be
wrappeciancithen the boriy wouid be put in a burial cave The stoneover the buriai cave wouicibe
rolied away,the body laici within and the stonerolied back over the entranceto the cave. Because
Jesuswas born in a stabie,Josephand Mary had to rnakeuseof that'whichwas most ieaciily
avaiiabieto them, and that was buriai cioth.

The syrnbolismshouldnot be rnissed.On the first day of his life, his body was wrappedin the
samekind of cloth as he will be wrapped againon the last day of his life, when his body is taken off
trom the cross. The ciearpoint is that F{ecameto die. Ail ot'us herewere born to iive. but this Gne
was born to die. And the purposeof his birth is signified in his being wrappedin burial cloth.

Becauseof thesetwo clues,the Jewishshepherds do trnd the child, and in the closingsectionverses
18 through2A we havethe first recorded Jewishworshipof the MessianicPerson.In Luke 2:21
we are told that when Jesuswas 8 dairsold he was circumcisedand on that occasionhis was given
his name"iesus". it is the.iewishproceciureto this day that the otTicialnamingof a son is not at
birth but upon circumcisionwhich occurson the eighthday. Circumcisionwas prescribedunder
two covenantsin the Old Testament. The first is the Abrahamic covenantwhere it was a sign of his
Jewishness.The outward sign of Jesus'Jewishnessis that he was circumcisedunder the Abrahamic
covenant.But secondly,circumcisionwas also commandedunderthe Mosaiccovenant.Underthat
covenantit signifiedsubmissionto the law of Moses. Becausehe cameto live underthe law: Gal
4.4 "Born of a woman,born uncierthe iaw, for the purpose that he might cometo ruifii the iaw."
By meansof circumcision he is made subjectto the law, and on that occasionhe is called "Jesus"
his Hebrew name was actually "Yeshua" which means"salvation" This was io be his flame
accordingto Matthew chapter I becauseit is F{e that wili savehis peopie iiom their sins.

1. toWeThree Kings of Orient Are. ....?,' Matt 2:1-12

This accountof the visit of the wise men hasgiven rise to a numberof questions,becausewhat we
have here is a number of men, Gentilesat that, askingthe question;"Where is he that is bom the
king of the Jews?" There is a cornmonChristmassong often sung in the Christmasseason,the first
iine of which is; "We three Kings of Orient are".

There are two theologicalblundersin that t'rrstsentencealone. The first mistakeis to call them
Kings. Actually the Bible neverrefbrsto them as Kines. Thev are referredto as "wise men". a
term that means"astroioger"

The secondproblem in that song is to say "three". How many men showedup? The common view
is to savthree"but the text neversavsthree We rlon't know horvmany thererverebut rve do knorv
ihat there \tere at ieasttwo, becauseof the piural words used. Maybe there were two, maybe
twenty, maybetwo hundredor two thousand. We don't know. Certainly,there were enoughof
them to causethe whole city of Jerusaiemto be disturbedand troubled,which might imply
considerabiymore thanthree men.

Bi-rtsuddenlyyou have an unknown number of Gentile astrologersfrom the east,(Babylonia)

asking the question,"Where is I{e that is born the King of the Jews?"
And the questionthis raisesis; How would Gentile astrologerseven know anythingabout the
conceptof a King of the Jewsin its Messianicsense?And even knowing it, why would they want
to corneand worship him? Somehave usedthis passageto try to teach the conceptof someform oi
Christianastrology,thoughthe Bibie clearlyforbidsany suchdabbiingwhatsoever This raises
severalquestionsthat we needto answerone by one.

The {irst questionto answeris, "How did they know about any such conceptof a Messianic
kingdom? How they knew hasto do with the starthey saw in the east. Now I rnust emphasisehere
ihat the way we interpret Scriptureis that we alwaystake the Bible literally unlessthere is
somethingin the contextthat indicatesthat we cannottake it that way. There are 5 things about this
star in this contextthat inform us that this is not a literal star as we know it.

First of all. it is referredto in v 2 and3 as "His star", (with the personalpronoun).This is the
Messiah'spersonaistar in a way that is not true of any other star that God created.
Secondlythis star appearsand disappearson at ieasttwo or more occasions
Thirdly, this star moves fiom eastto west.
Fourthly, it then movesfiom North to South
Fifthty and perhapsmost conclusively,this stareventually comesdown and literally hoversover
one housein Bethlehem.

Any literal star that will come down to hover over one housein Bethiehemwill end up destroying
this entire planet. Becausethat is the natureof stars;They are like our sun. They wiil destroy
anythingthat comesnearthem.

So this is not a literal star in the sensethat we know starsto be. The root meaningfor the word for
star (Gk Aster) is the root that meansto radiateor to be brilliant. What we havehere is the sarne
thing we had with the Jewish shepherds(Luke 2'.9"The glory of the Lorci") and that is the Shekinah
Glory being usedto announcethe birth of the King of the Jews,this time to Gentileastrologers.
But again,How would they know about any Messianicconceptiike this? Again the key is to know
wherethey are fiom. They are ftom the Eastand the Eastin the Bibie is the Mesopotamianregion
of Assyria, Babyloniaor presentday lraq.

Now, of ail the books of the Old Testament,only one book actuallypinpointed how many years
would transpirebeforeihe first comingof the Messiah. That one book is the book of Daniel. In
Daniel chapter9'.24-27Daniel pinpointe<ihow many yearswould transpirebeforethe birth of the
Messiah. Unlike other books of the OT the book of Daniel was not written in Israel. It was written
in Babylon. Half the book was written in Aramaic, not Hebrew, which is the Jewishtongue,but
.kamaic which is the tongue of the Babyionians. As you readthrough the book of Daniel you will
discoverthat Daniel the prophetbecamethe headof the Babylonian School of Astrology, not
becausehe practisedastrology,but becausehe was noted for deepspiritual insights. When King
Nebuchadn ezzarrecognised Daniel'sunique ability he assumedthat Daniel hadtheseabilities
becausehe was a superiorastrologer,and so he appointedhim as headof that school,but Daniel
neverreceivedhis information throush he starsbut from the Creatorof those stars,the God of
lsrael.

The day camewhen Daniel was able to savethe lives of the other astrologersbecausethey could
not interpretone ofNebuchadnezzars's dreams.Becauseof their inabitrity,the King sentencedall
of Babylon'sastrologers to be executed Among thosearrestedwas Daniei,becausefiom the
Babylonianviewpoint, he was no'wnot onl-v-associatedwith thai school,but he 'wasthe headof it.
tsut Daniei requestedand receivedand audiencewith the king. He interpreted the dream.and after
interpretingthe dreamhe savedthe iives of ail the others. There is no doubt that as a resuit of this,
many of theseastrologersturned away fiom the .worshipof the stars,and worshippedinsteadthe
Creatorof those stars.the God of israel
I
Now thesewise men had within their possessiona book written by one of their fbrmer heads,
Daniei. that told them how many yearswould transpirebetbre the birth of the King of the Jews. At
ieastthat toicithem about when they shouicibegin to iook ftrr him

3ut Daniel doesnot say anywherein his book, that the Messiah'sbirth would be announcedwith
somekind of staror brilliancein the sky. For that thereis yet anotherBabylonianconnectionfbund
in the book of ilumbers, chapters22, 23 and24, three chaptersthat deai with ihe story of Baiaam.
Balaam had a reputationweil estabiished.[t was o'WhomsoeverBalaam trlessesis tllessed,and
whomsoeverBalaam cursesis cursed." Becauseof that reputation,ihe King of Moab hired
Baiaam to cursethe iews. Four diiferenr times he takesBaiaam up onto a high mountainfrom
which he can look down on the Jewishencampment.Four times Balaamopenshis mouthto curse
the Jewsand fbur times God takesover his tongueand he blessesthe .lewsinstead. In thesefbur
blessingshe issuesseveraiMessianicprophecies,ancione of theseis iounciin NumbersZ4'.t7.
"A star shall urise out of'Jacob to whom the sceptre of'Kingship will be given." Balaam
ccnnectedihe coming of the Messiahwith kingship and with a star.

Balaamwas an astrologer.Accordingto Numbers22.5 he was alsofrom Babylonia. One thing

the Babyloniansare noted f,or archaeologically,is their ability to keep historicalrecords,so from
the Baiaarnconnection,and the Daniei connection,anciputting it ail iogether,wiren thesemen saw
this unusualbrilliancein the sky, they took this to meanthat the Messiahhad come.

Now while they had the book of Daniel,they did not havethe book of Micah. Micah prophesied
that when the Messiahwas born, he would be born in Bethlehem. They didn't know that.
Logically, {i-omtheir point of view, the placefor the King of the Jer.vs
to be born is the capitalof
ihe Jews,the city oiJerusalem And that's why they come to Jerusalemasking,"Where is he thut
is born King of the JetvsT" Finally through a seriesof situations that involved Herod the Great
andthe priestsof Jerusalem,they discoverthat the placeof birth was Bethlehem They begin
heaciingibr Bethlehem,the star reappears,and comesciownancihoversover the house(v9) where
Jesusnow was. They go to the house(vl1-12) and we havethe f'rrst recordedGentileworshipof
the Messiah. The shepherds were the first Jewishworshippers" the wise men,about3 yearslater,
were the iirst Gentiieworshippers. They presentthreegifts (vi t), goici,ftankincenseand rnyrrii
Eachof which hassymbolic significancein the OT .

Gold, the symboiof kingship

Frankincense,the symbol of Deity
Myrrh, the symbol of Death and Sacrifice

If the first verseof the Christmas song "We three Kings of Orient are" is not entirely Biblical, the
Iast verseis God and King and Sacrifice. Halleluja.h

We don't believein singingeffor any more thanwe believein teachingerror.

So while we might not agreewith the first line we can ail join freely in the rest of the songwithout
making any Bibiicai mistakes

5. Jesusand Nicodemus John Chapter 3.

Prior to the rninistryof'Jesuswas the ministry oi Johnthe Baptist. The tirifilling of his comrnission
which he receivedlrom birth was accomplishedwhen he announcedthe Messiah was going to
come. And he was going to point him out. He was askingthe peopleto preparetbr Messiah's
comingby repentance and baptism. Thosewho were baptiseiiby Johnwere committingthemseives
to acceptthat personwho was the Messiahthat John points out.
So Johnhad a ratheretfectiveand widespreadministry accordingto the testimony of the gospels
prior to his actuallypointingout Jesusas the Messiah.Jesusis initiatedinto his ministry by being
oaptisedby John himsetrfand then suffering a period of temptationin the wiicierness But it is
shortly thereafterthat his ministry beginsin earnest.

in John2.23-25Jesuscomesto Jerusalemfbr the irrst Passovertbllowing his baptism. It is on this

occasionthat he goespublic with his miracles,signsand wonders. He did performone miracie
earlierin John2:1-11,wherehe changedthe water into wine but that was a privatemiracleseenb1l
only a few and it was not somethingthat was generailyknown. But now with the first Passover
following his baptismat the endoi-ch 2 he goesvery public with his miraclesbecauseit is at this
point he goespublic with his Messianicclaims. Becausethe purposeof his miraclesat this stageis
to authenticatehis Messianicclaims. That's going to changelater as we will see,but for now we
shouldnote this important element. For the for the tirst part of his ministry, the purposeof his
rniraclesis to serveas signsto Israel,to get Israelto makea decisionconcerninghis Messianic
claims They were there to authenticatehis personand his message His person,that he is the
JewishMessiah,his message, that he is ofTeringto Israelthekingdom of the Jewishprophets. if
they will own him as their King, as their Messiah.they could seethe kingdom of the Jewish
prophetsestabiished in their day. So thesesignswereto serveas signsto lsraelto get Israelto
makea decisionconcerninghis Messianicclaims. Later we will seeat somepoint in iris ministry,
the purposeof his rniracleschanges.For now sutice it to saythey wrll serveas sign tc Israelto get
lsraelto makea decision.

Among the onesto observethe miraclesof Jesusat the end of chapter2 is the man we are now
introducedto in 3 : 1, Nicodemus,a Pharisee,a ruler of the Jews. By callingNicodemusa Pharisee,
John tells us immediatelyhis theologicalframe of reference. For example,if we call a rnana
Baptist, a Presbyterianor an Anglican we are saying somethingabout the theologicalframe of
ref'erencein which he is tbund. The samething is true of the term "Pharisee". Among the
teachingsof the Phariseesis the statement,"A11Israel has a sharein the age to come." What that
meant is that anyonewho was born a Jew, by virtue of being born a Jew, would have automatic
rights into God's kingdom. While a Gentilewould haveto undergoa processof conversionto
quaiify, Jewshad no needfor that process. Anyone who had been born a Jew would have
automaticrights into God's kingdom

In later Rabbinic deveiopmentthey madecertainexceptionsto that ruie. Among theseexceptions

were Jewishbelieversin Jesus.Therewere othersbut initially all Israelhad a sharein the ageto
come. Anotherpopularsentence within Rabbinicwritings of that day said;".A.braharn sits at the
gatesof Gehennato snatchany Israeiiteconsignedthereto" lf by somemistake,a iew was
consignedto go to hell, not to worry, Abraham sits at the very gatesof hell to snatchthat Israelite
before he has a chanceto tbll into hell. becauseall Israei has a sharein the age to come. That is the
theologythat Nicodemushaswhen he comesto Jesus.And he is respondingto the miracleshe saw
at the end of chapter2. Before the conversationgets very far, in verse3 Jesussaysto Nicodemus,
"Except a man be born again,(or anew or from above)he cannot seethe kingdom of God."
Nicodemussaidunto him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a secondtime
into his rnother'swomb and be born ? Nicodemus'responseis frequentlymisunderstood.In many
sermLlns i ile*.,e chapterl, lris iesp+nse'is.nterpr*ied
ireard.x -r'-.hn io;ir.eanihat he didn';
understandwhat Jesusmeantby that expression,to be "born again". But notice,that is not his
question.He is not asking"how is one born again". What he is askingis; "How can one be born
again,when he is old?" Now if the problemwas simply, what do you rneanby beingborn again,
what differencewouid age make? How is one born againwhether he is a chilci,a ieenager,a young
man or an old man? Nicodemusdoesknow somethingabout that term "born agarn". It was a term
usedin Pharisaicwritings. What he doesn'tunderstandis how someonehasthis experienceafter he
has reacheda certainstaeein litb.
Within PharisaicJudaism,there were six different ways of being bom again. All six different ways
were tn the realm of the physicalancihe did qualiiy fbr tbur of thesesix ways"but he did not
rluaiify fbr rwo of them. Let me aiso aciriat this point that in Pharisaicwritings to be born
physicallywas given a certainexpression That expressionwas, "to be born of water".
To be of water meantto be born physically"and to be born physicallyas a Jew was all you needeC
to enter into the kingdom. Yet iesus saysyou must be born againand Nicodemusdoesn't
understandhow that is possiblefbr someonethat hasreacheda certainage in life And again,the
reasonhe doesn't understandit, is becausein Phariseeisrn,.whilethey had that terrn, it was a
physicaiterm, ancitherewere six ciifferentways oibeing born again.

But two he ciid not quaiify fbr. One of theseways which he did not qualify fbr was to convertf,rom
being a Gentitreto Judaisrn. A convertedGentile was said to be born again. Nicodernuswas born a
Jew, anri he did not haveto undergoa processof conversionso he dici not quaiify tbr the new birth
in this way.

A secondway it was possibieto be born againthat he did not qualify tbr" was to be crownedking.
When a man was crowned king, he was said to be born again. John doesn't evenhint that
lrlicodemusv/as a memberof the houseof David, apart fiom Jeconiah. lf he was, he didn't find it
significant enoughto mention But even if he was, at this point in Jewish history,the Jewswere
thoroughly under the domination of the Roman empire and there would have beenno opportunity
for him to havebeencrownedking anyway. So thesetwo ways,he couidn't qualify fbr anywav.

There were four other ways that he did. The third way one could be born againwasby one's Bar
Mitzvah, that is the specialtype of Jewishconfirmationthat occurswhen the Jewishboy is thirleen
yearsoid, as througha ceremonyat that point he takesupon himselfthe obiigationsof the Law oi
Moses,and at that point fiom the viewpoint of the Jewishlaw he is reckonedas an adult,and can be
countedamongthe ten men necessaryfor a Jewishserviceto be conducted. Havine undergonethis
processof the JewishBar Mitzvah ceremony,he is saidto be born again. Obviouslyat this point,
Nicodernusis weil pastthe age of thirteen. He was born again atthat age.

The fourth way one could be born againand one he qualified for was to marry. When a Jewish
man took a wife he was said by the Rabbisto be born again. Now John doesnot evenmention that
Nicodemushad a wit-e,but we know that he did becauseof verse 1 where he is retbrredto as a ruier
of the Jews,which meanshe was amongthe 71 membersof the JewishSanhedrin.Among the
prerequisites of mernbershipof the JewishSanhedrinwas you had to be a marriedman. A single
man of any age sirnpiy ciicinot quaiify. Jewishmen in those days marriedbetweenthe agesoi'
sixteenand twenty so sometime during that period he was born again for the secondtime.
The fifth r.vayit was possibleto be born againwithin PharisaicJudaismwas to be ordainedas a
Rabbi. When a rnanwas ordainedas a Rabbi, he was said to be born again. Nicociemusbeing a
leading Phariseeand a memberof the Sanhedrinmeantthat he was also ordaineda Rabbi which
occurredaroundthe age of thirty in those days,and at that point he was born againfor the third
time

There was only one other way that it was possibleto be born again,and that was to becomethe
headclaRabbinlc !eiuii:ar;,--'rY:sh:',ratrRabbinic sclicclwhereycu had lhe;uthcritytc bclh
train anciordain firture Rabbis. We know that Nicodemushad attainedeven this levei in Jewish
societyby the way Jesusaddresses him in verse 10,whereJesuscallshim "The Teacherof Israel".
(It is unfortunatethat the KJV hastranslatedvl0 to read "A teacherof lsrael" ignoring that the
Greek text hasthe worci "the" in tiont of it. The New Testamentwas transiatedby Gentiie
committeeswho didn't always understandthe Jewishbackground,and .whenthey saw "the" teacher
of trsraelthey saw nothing significant about it. But there is a signiiicant dift-erence.)Thosewho
were common Rab'niswere rei-errerito as "a teaoherof Israei" but anyonewho was the heaciof"a
Rabbinnicserninaryor Yeshivawas given a titie of "The Teacherof Israei".

i1
The fact that Jesuscalls him not "a teacherof Israel" but "The Teacherof [srael", points out that he
was the headof one of severalR.abbinicAcaCemiesin the Jerusalemarea"somethingattainableat
aboutthe age of fifty At that point he ,.,,zas
born againfor the iburth time.

But having reachedthis levei, at this age he hasusedup all of the ways of being born againwithin
'DharisaicJudaism. That is why he is asking the questionthe way he is asking it. How aan a rnan
be born againwhen he is oid? What he is sayingis; '"1'veusedup all my options.From the
fiamework of my Judaismthere is no other way of being born again." Except that is, the way he
suggestsin verse4.that is to re-enterhis mother'swomb again.becomea fbetusagain,be born
againphysicallyand startthe processall over again,being born againat the agesof 13,20" 30 and
50. No, what Jesusis doing with Nicodemusis usinga very commonJewishmethodof teaching,
which is to go from that which is known to that which is unknown. The known is the expression
"to be born again", bllt the unknown was its spiritual ramif-rcationsand this is what he proceedstc
do next in verse5,

"Jesusansweredverily verily I sayunto vou, excepta man be born of water andthe Spirit he cannot
enterthe kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh,andthat which is born of the
Spiritis spirit." By saying"...unlessyou areborn of waterandthe spirit",Jesusis sayingthatthe
teachingthat aii Israelhas a sharein the ageto come. and that physicaibirth as a Jew is totaily
wrong. A personneedstwo births,to be born of water and the spirit. fo be born of water is
physicalbirth, but to be born of the spirit meansspiritualre-birth. Unlessyou are born both
physicallyand spiritually,you cannotenterinto God's kingdom. From verse6 to be born of water
is to merely be born of the flesh and fleshly birth aloneis insulTicientto enterinto God's kingdom.
He must also have a spiritualre-birth and that is the kind of new-birth which is essentialfor
enteringthe kingdom

Now the questionis; "How then can you be born again spiritually?" Now Jesusexplainshow one is
born againspiritually. He points out that there are two steps. God doesone, but man must do the
other. Verse 14,"As Mosesiifted up the serpentin the wiiderness,evenso mustthe Son of Vlan be
iifted up. Whosoeverbeiievesrnayin him haveeternallit-e." Stepnumberone is God's stepto
sendhis Sonto be the final sacrificefor sin When Jesusdied on the crosshe providedsalvationfor
all. God hasdoneall he needsto do to providesalvationfor all. But becausesalvationhas been
providedfor all, that by itself will saveno-one. Becausetheremust be that secondstepin which the
individualmust personallybelievebeforehe haseternallife

Perhapsamongthe most famousversesin John'sGospelis the verv next one versei6 wherethe
sametwo stepsare repeated."For God so loved the world that he gavehis only begottenSon",that
is stepnumber one. That is a finishecistep. God has done all he needsto do to provide salvation
for men. But again,that alonesavesno-one. Becausethen comesthe secondstep. "whosoever
believeson him will not perishbut haveeverlastinglife." Now until l{icodemushimselftakesthe
second stepand ownsJesusas his Messiahhe will not haveeternallife, he will not enterinto the
kingdom. For Nicodemus,that was too much of a new truth lbr him to acceptat this point. Later
on in chapter7 we still find him strugglingwith it, but at the end of John'sgospelhe finally comes
acrossand owns Jesusas his Messiah.

But in this first real confrontationbetweenJesusand this Pharisaicmemberof the Sanhedrinthere

is alreadycoming out the clear implication that Jesusis going to be teachingthings that will
contradictthe fundamentalsof Pharisaic-ludaism,the dominant Judaismof that day.

!2
6. The Healing of a Lepen Luke Chapter 5.

ln verses12 t"o16 we havea sectionin which we havethe healingof a leper. Thereis a sudden
shi{there,not in termsof the miraculousper sebecausebetweenthe eventsof chapter2 and this
chapter,he hasperformeda numberof miraclesalready. There is going to be somethingdifferent
with this one that wiil createa reactionfrom the Jewishieadership.Under the Law of Moses,just
aboutthe only time a Jew could be detiledby touchinga iiving humanbody is if you happenedto
touch a leper. Normally you would only be ceremoniallyuncleanif you toucheda deadbody or an
uncieananimai. The oniy way you could be defiledby touchinga living humanbody is if you
happenedto touch a leper.

Another thing importantto note is this; From the time the Law of Moses was completed,there was
no record of any iew who was ever healedof ieprosy. This will becomeimportant here Yet in
Leviticus ohaptersi2 and i4, two whole chaptersoithe Law of Vloses,are devotecito providing
detailsin what the priesthood,the leadershipof Israel had to do in the caseof a healedJewish leper.
According to thoset'wo chapters,if a Jew said "I was a leper,but now I have been healedof rny
leprosy", on that day they rvouiri haveto offer up an initiai sacrificeof two oircis. Then ior seven
daysthey were to investigatethe situationto answerthree questions.

Number one; Was the man reaily a leper'?if "Yes", then secondiy,was he realiy heaiedof his
leprosy? If "Yes", thenthirdly, What were the circumstances of the healing? Was it legitimateor
not? If all three questionswere answeredsatisfactorily,on the eighth day there would be a lengthy
(- - uninteiligbie - - ) rituai On the eighth day they would offer up a trespassoffering, a sin
otTering,a burnt offering and a meal offering. They wouid then take the blood of the trespass
offering and apply it to the healedieper,the blood of the sin offering wouid aiso be applied to the
healedleper, and the ceremonywould then concludewith the anointingwith oil.

While they had all this detail on what to do, as far as the written recordsare concerned,they never
did it. Becausefrcm the time the Law of Moseswas completed,therewas no recordof a Jew beins
heaiedof ieprosy Oniy a Gentiie(Naamanthe Syrian)but no Jew. So whiie in Rabbinicai
literaturethey had all kinds of cures tbr various diseases,there was no cure for leprosy It was
consideredeventuallyin Rabbinicwritings,that a leper,a Jewishleperwould only be healedwhen
the Messiahcomes.

For a good whiie beforethe daysof Jesus,the Rabbishad divided miraclesinto two categories.In
one categorywere those miraclesthat anyonecould do, if he was empoweredby the Spirit of God
to do so. But therewas a secondcategoryof miracleswhich were ciassedas Messianicmiracies,
meaningmiraclesonly the Messiahwould be able to perform. Altogether there were seven
Messianicmiracles,but threethat appiy to the issuesin the gospelsand the first of thesethree,is the
healingof a ieper. The act of healing a leper,try its very action wouiri rneanthat the healerwas
clairningto be the Messiah,becausethat was reckonedas a Messianicmiracle If we keep that in
rnind.we.willunderstandwhy thingshappenthe way they do.

In Luke 5 verses 12 and 13, iesus heaisa ieper. Mark and fuIatthewalso point out that the man was
a leper,but Luke versei2 teils us that the man was "full of treprosy".
The leprosywas fully
deveiopedand it would not be long befbrethe ieprosywould take this man's lit'e. Luke being a
medical doctor alwaystakes rnore careful note about diseasesthan the other gospelsdo
He healsthe leper in verse 13,and in verse 14 note what he tells him to do. "He chargedhim to teil
no man. but, go thy way and show thyself to the priest,otfer fbr thy cleansingaccordingas Moses
commancied,(and why?) tbr a testimonyunto /ftena."

Who is the "them"? The leadershipof Israei. He deliberatelyteils the man to proceeddirectlyto
ihe leadershipand begin the processof Leviticuschaptersl3 and 14,becausehe wantsto forcethe
Jewishieadersto begin investigatinghis Messianicciaims So whenthis man finaily appeared
before the leadershipand said "'I was a Xeperbut now I have beenhealedof my leprosy", on that da1,
two birds were off-ered.And then fbr sevendays he was investigated.In the courseof those
investigationsthey learnedthreethings. Number one,Yes,the manreaily had beena leper.
Secondly,Yes, the man really had beenhealedof his leprosy,therewas no signof it now. But
thirdly and most iinportantly, a rnannamedJesuscf FJazarethCid the healing. Frcm the Jewish
fiarne of reference,the very act of healingthe ieper ineantthat ne was ciaiming to be the Messiah
It is no accidentthat at this very crucialpoint in verse l6 Jesuswithdrawshimselffrom peopieto
give himseif over to a period of prayer. Within the contextof what precededand what fbllows. he
was praying tbr what was aboutto happennext.

What happensnext is recordedin Luke 5.I7-26. Now accordingto the rulesof the Sanhedrin,if
there was any kind of Messianicmovement,the Sanhedrinhad to investigatethe rnovementin two
stages. The first stageis called "The stageof observation". A delegationwas sentout to do nothing
but observe. To observewhat was being said,taught and done. They could ask no questions,they
could raise no objections,they could only watch, observe. After a period of observationthey would
return to the Sanhedrinand report and give a verdict, They would decreethe movementeitherto be
significant or insignificant. If the matter was decreedinsignificant,it was dropped. If they decreed
the movementsignificant,there would be a secondstagewith a seconddelegationwhich was called
"The stageof interrogation".This time they would raisequestionsand objectionsiooking tbr a
basisto eitheracceptor rejecta person'sclaims. BecauseJohn camepreachingthe comingof a
king and kingdom,he underwentboth thosestagesof the Sanhedrin'sinvestigations.

Now Jesustoo is about to undergothose sametwo stages.What we have in theseversesis the first
of thesestages,the stageof obsen'ation.Note who's aroundin verse17. "It cameto passon one oi'
thosedaysin which he -ras teaching,and therewere Pharisees and doctorsof the law sittingby,
which were come out of every village of Galilee and Judeaand Jerusalem."What we are told here
is that we don't really havesomelocal Phariseesin Capernaumlisteningto what Jesusis saying. It
is not that simple Luke is very specificand says"a11"of the Jewishleadershavecometogether
fiom every village,of Jerusalem,of Judea,and of Galilee,they haveall migratedtogetherto
Capernaum.

Now why haveall the spiritualleadersof Israelcometo Capernaum?Therewas no Angiican

conventionat Capernaumat this time. Why have they all migratedup there? Well this is their
responseto what hasjust happenedin the previoussectionin the heaiingof a leper. That was a
Messianicmiracleand it had to be investigated.That's why the whole body of the leadershiphad
: , J ' r et , f C r p e : : a u : : r T l : i s. s i h r s t r g e: f t b : e r . a : i c n T h e ) ,: a F n c i r 5 k q u e s f i c n -sr - ' : i s c
objections,they can only observewhat is being said,taught and done. And they foiiowed the
procedurestrictly

It is no accidentthat it is on this occasionJesr-ls

claims to have authoritythat belongsto God alone
Because'while he is teaching,four friends of a paralytictry to get the man over to Jesus. But they
are not ableto get him to -Iesusbecauseall the leadershipis there blocking the doorway, so what
they do is go i."rp
to the root, and through a hole that they madethey lower the man down to where
Jesr"lsis teaching.
1A
Now normally Jesuson other occasionsproceededto heal, but not so in this case. [n this casehe
makesa statementinstead. He saysto the man in verse20; "Man, thy sins are forgiven", knowing
'zeryweii that that i<inciot'a statementwouid raise questionsin the rninrisoithe Fharisees.Anci it
does.

But they have to keep it to themseivesbecauseit is the observationstage. What Jesusdoes is to

prove that he can say the easier"Thy sins are forgiven" by perfbrrningthe harder,healingthe
paraiytic. When he heaisthe paraiyticthere was instantaneouseviciencebecauseverse25 points
out, "Immediateiy he rose up beforethem and took up whereonhe lay." There was instantaneous
evidencethat the man was healed,and again.the miraclesoIJesusare to authenticate his Messianic
ciaims. if Jesuscan do the harder,that is to healthe paraiytic, it meansthat he can say the easier
"your sins are forgiven". If he can say the easier,it meanshe was claiming to be the God-Man
himsell

trt'svery evidentthat when this group went back to Jerusalemto give their verdict to the Sanhedrin.
the verdict they cameup with is "Men, this man is significant." From that point on Jesusundergoes
the secondstage,the stageof interrogation. From this point on" everywherethat Jesusgoes,a
Phariseeis sureto fbllow. But this time, they are asking questions,they are raising objections,
iooking for a basisto eitheracceptor rejecthis claims. It beginsimmediateiyin the tbllowing
sectionfrom Luke chapter5 verse27 tiuoush 32 in the storv of Matthew

7. The Calling of Matthew Luke Chapter 5:27-32

In this accountMatthewis calledto discipleship,and by prof-ession Matthew was a publican.

Publicanswere otTlimits for Pharisees and spiritualJewsso to speak. Becausepublicanswere
working on behalf of the subjugatingpower, the Gentile authoritiesof Rorne. Although a Jew knew
that if he took thejob of a pubiicanhe wouicibe ostracised,Jewsoften bicito havethis ofhce. Nct
becauseit paid well but becauseof what Rome allowed. If Rome decidedthat Mr Cohen owed
Rome 5 shekelsin taxes,a publicancould sayto Mr Cohen,"You owe 10 shekels",collect tr0,give
Rome the 5 Rome wanteciancikeep 5 fbr himself. As a result,the publicansbecameweaithy by
extortingtheir own peoplewhile working lor the powersof Rome. Under Pharisaiclaw, publicans
were off limits, they were classedwith prostitutes,their testimonywas illegal in a court of law.
Accorciingio Phariseeism, repentancewas virtuaiiy impossibietbr a pubiican.

Therewere two types of publican,both were bad, but one was worse than the other. The bettertype
of publicanwas the incometax collector,but the worst type of publicanwas the customsofficial.
Accorciingto Matthew's account,ire was oithat iatter category. However lVlatthewrecognisesthai
the authority of the Messiahsupersedes the authority of Rome and leaveshis office and becomesa
believer and a disciple of Jesus. And becausethis marksthe time of his new birth. he throws
himself a "New-birth birthday party". What kind of peopleattendMatthew's parry? Only other
publicans,prostitutesand in this caseJesusand the discipleshe hasat this point. The Phariseesare
observingthis and raisingobieetions The implicationis that if Jesusreally is ttre Messiah.he
wouidn't associate with thesetypesoipeopie.

trnhis responseto them Jesussaysthreethings. Number one, It is the sick who needhealing. The
Phariseesagreedthat publicanswere sick, so shouidhe not go to them that needhis ministry?
Secondiy,the problem with Phariseeisrnwas that it was characteriseri
by much sacrifice and
keepingthe externaldemandsof the tr-awbut it lackedthe requirernentof mercy. And thirdly, it's
not the righteousthat needto be called,but the sinners.
The Phariseeslelt themselvesto be amongthe righteous. They agreedthat publicanswere sinners,
ihereforehe must go to them that are sinnersto call them to repentanceand salvation.

This becomesthe standardmotif. Whatever he does,and whereverhe goes,and the people he

associates with, the Phariseesbeginobjectingimplying that if he really was the Messiah.ihat would
not be what he wouid be doing; that would not be his characteristic. We are aboutto enter rnto a
rather crucial area,the strugglebetweenJesusand the Phariseesover the issueof traditionalism.

8. Jesus Confnonts Pharisaic Tradition Luke

ctrapten
5.
In [-uke 5.33-39we continuein the secondstageof Sanhedrininvestigationwhereineverywhere
Jesusgoesthe Phariseesfollow, asking questionsand raising objections. We havehere a conflict
over one ot the Pharisaictraditions. "And they saidunto him, the disciplesof Johnfast often and
make supplication,likewisealsothe disciplesof the Pharisees but thine eat and drink." Fastingwas
a common motif of Pharisaism. {n fact they fastedtwice a rveek. Every Monday and every
Thursdaywere both Pharisaicfast days lt becomesapparentthat whiie the disciplesof the
Pharisees fbllowed this procedureand the disciplesof John also.neitherJesusor his discipleswere
tbllowing this procedureand that is anotherpoint of conf'lict.

The main conflict that now developsis over a specificbody of Pharisaictraditionknown as the
Mishnah. At this point we must go back into history to surveythe developmentof Pharisaic
tradition to give us a better idea of what is happeningin iesus' time and why thereis such a battie
betweenJesusand the Phariseesover this body of Pharisaictradition calledthe Mishnah. When the
Jewsreturnedfrom Babylonian captivity, it was recognisedamong the spiritual Jewsamong Israel,
that the reasonfor that captivity was Jewish disobediencero the Mosaic iaw. So Ezra, the Ezra of
Scripturebegana schoolknown as the Schoolof the Sophrim(Heb. Sophrim: Scribes,sing.:
Sopher).The originalpurposeof the Sophrimwas a legitimatepurpose.The purposewas to take
eachone oithe 6i3 commanciments of the Nzlosaic
Law anriexpoundthem,interpretthernanC
explainthem so that the Jewishaudiencelisteningto their teachingcouid understand what the
commandmentmeant.what is requiredand they could follow it and not break and bring down
divine discipiine,suchas anotherBabyloniancaptivity

At that point they were doing the samething that any Bible teacherdoeswhen he takesthe
Scripturesand beginsto expoundthe Scriptureto expiainits meaning. When the first generationof
Sophrimpassedaway, the next generationtook the iask more seriousiy. They went beyoncimereiy
the purposeof expiaining,they said it's not enoughto merelyexplain,but we haveto build a f'ence
aroundthe Torah, a fencearoundthe Law. But what did this fencearoundthe Law consistofl The
fence consistedof additionalrules and regulations,Rabbinic enactments,which could be somehow
logically derivedtiom the 613. And by addingtheseother rulesand regulations,this would
comprisethe fence aroundthe Mosaic Law. So while the Jew might breakthe laws of the fence,
that wouid keep hirn fiorn breakingthrough and breakingthe o i 3 and bringing anotherdivine
discipline. So the schoolsof the Sophrim begangoing through this Rabbinic debateusing a form of
logic called Pilpul and beganto seehow many new laws could be derived from the original. We
wili seeshortlyhow that pilpul logic worked. They beganto add and add and add more mles and
more regulations.In the courseof their discussions,the principlethey usedwas this. A Sopher
may disagreewith a Sopher,but he could not disagreewith the Torah, the Law of Moses. The law
was given by God through Moses,it was sacrosanct,we don'i debateits validity. So whiie the
Sophercould disagreewith a Sopherin debate"he could not disagreewith the original After going
backwardsand fbrwards in debate,they would eventuallydecideby majority vote what the
enactment,what the commandment,what the law would be

l6
They used a tbrm of logic called the pilpul, which is a Hebrew word that means"sharp" or
"'peppery"but it retbrsrnore specificallyto a form of logic where you try to derive a new
commancimentflroma previousone in somelogicai or<ier For exampie.one of the commanciments
of the Law of Moses saysthat you must not seethe(boil) a kid in its mother's milk. The original
intent of that commandmentwas to avoid a Canaanitepracticewhere a new-born baby goat was
taken fiom its mother,the motherwas miiked ancithe new born kid was boiied aiive rn its mothers
milk as a first-fruit offering to the god Baal. The Jewswere to avoid that kind of idolatrouspractice
whatsoever.But by the time of the Sophrimthe purposebehindthe commandmenthad beeniong
forgotten. So ihe questionarose;Flow do w-effiake surethat we do not boii a kid in its mother's
milk?
As they went back and tbrth in thesediscussions, pilpul and ???,here'swhat they carneup with.
Supposeyou eat a pieceof meat"and with that pieceof meat you drink a glassof milk. Now matter
how remote,it is conceivablethat that milk came from the mother of the meatthat you are eating.
If you swallow them both togetherit beginsto seethe(digest)in your stomachand you have
vioiated the lvlosaiccommandmentwhich says"you must not boii a kid in its mothersmiik It is at
that point that you havethe law that you must eat separatelydairy productsfiom meat products.
That was not a Mosaic commandment,but a iater Rabbinic commandrnent,so the Jews will not
meat and milk togetherbut will separatethem by arounci4 hours.

So you have a new commandmentright there, but pilpul goes even further. Supposeyou have a
plate, and from this plate you ate a slabof cheese. You then wash this plate. No rnatterhow well
you maywash itthere might be a iittie speckof cheeseyou havenot seenonthat piateleit behind.
Four hours later you chooseto eat a meat meal. You put that meat on the plate and that meat might
oick up that little bit of cheeseyou didn't seeand you swallowthem both together.No matterhow
rernote,it is stiil possibiethat the cheesewas madetiom the miik of the motherof the meatthat you
are now eating. By swallowing them both togetherthey then seethe(digest) in your stomachand
you have violated the commandment. So there's now anotherrule. You must havetwo setsof
ciishes.one set of dishesior your dairy food and anotherset lor your meat dishes.ancithat's the way
orthodox (?) Judaismfbllows it to this day. And on and on and on! So in the end, tbr every one of
the 613 commandments therewere sometimeshundreds,sometimesthousandsof new
commandmentsadded.

The Sophrim finished their work about ,50or 30 BC and then came a secondschool of Rabbis
known as the Tanairn,(sin. : Tana) a Hebrew word that meansteacher. They looked at the work of
the Sophrimaneithey said, "You tr<now, there are too many hoies in this fence. \.fue'vegot to piug
up theseholes." The Tanaim beganissuingmore Rabbinic enactmentsbut they operatedby a
cruciallv diflerent principle. The Sophrim\,vaywas, "A Sophermay disagreewith a Sopherbut not
with the Torah." But in the Tanaim's developmentthere was a ruie that a Tana could disagreewith
a Tana"but he could not disagreewith a Sopher.

So the ruies and regulationsthat the Sophrim cameup with were as sacrosanctas the Scriptures.
After a while there arosea questionhow do you justify that and they did so by developinga new
theology as to wheretheseRabbinic laws came fiom. They said that upon Mt Sinai,Moses really
receivediwo laws not one. There was the written law, the 613 commandmentscontainedin
:n ,-.ralla..v,which
Cenesis"F:,:dus, I *.;itic:-:si.l*mbe:s anCDeutercncin),',bui l4cses elsc rer-=i-;eC
he memorised. trtwasn't written down at that point he simpiy memoriseciit. He then passedit
down to Joshua,Joshuato the judges,the judges to the prophets,the prophetsto the men of the
great svnagogue,and the men of the great synagoguewere the schoolof the Sophrim. At the time
of Jesus,what the Sophrimand the Tana were coming up with was considerecias sacrosanctas the
Scriptures.

Accordingto Galatianst Paui callshimselfa trail-biazerof Judaism,a terrnthat the Tanaimliked "
to use andthe implicationis that Paulwas aTana.
la
 'fhe
FIewas involvedin someof theselaterRabbinicenactmentstbr a while. Tanairnflnishedtheir
',r'rork
about200 AD. then carnea third schoolof Rabbiscalledthe Arnoraim{sing.: Amcra) which
1sAramatc tbr teacher They lookeciat the productsot-the Tanairnand they said,"'Thereare stiii
-['hey
too many holesin this fbnce." beganaddingmore rulesand more reguiationslbr the next three
centuries.dp until about 500 AD

What the Sophrim and the Tanaim came up with togetherwas known as the Mishnah. What the
Arnoraimproducewas calledthe Gamaraand the Mishnahand the Gamaratogetherfbrm the
Taimuci.The mishnahin smail print adrisup to about i 500 pages The Gainarais aboutihe same
sizeas the EncyciopediaBritannica. A massivepieceof work.
We are ilot concernedabout the Gamaraduring the period of "iesussincethat was not ihe issue.bui
we are concernedwith the tVlishnah, which by the time of iesus had takenequairank with Scripture,
and at sornepoint as we shail see,assumedsuperiorauthority

The main bone of contentionbetweenJesusandthe Phariseesis over the authorityof the Viishnah
will reject it whiie ihey will affrrm iis authority. From hereon rve rviil be using certainterms
Jesr"ls
interchangeablir.We wiil refbr to the orai iaw, or the Pharisaiciaw or the Rabbiniclaw or iiie
Mishnaicla.w. Theseall refer to the samebody of tradition,rulesanciregulationwhicil vvereadded
by the Rabbis One o1'thesetraciitions was this rnattercf fastin.qeverj,'Vlondavand everv
Thursciay

Jesusrespondsto their attackby pointing out four things. First of ali in verse34 and i 5. he saiC
"you don't come to a wedding fbastto fbst, you cometo tbast. At the momentthe bridegrom is
visibiy anciphysicaliypresent As long as he is presenttherewiil be no room for iasting.anci
indeedfrom the time of that 40 day fasting period before his public ministry, we don't find any
cccasionof Jesusfastingwhile he was present.A{ter he is gone he says,therewill be time tbr that
but not while he is present.

Secondly,in verse36, "you do not put a new patchon an old pieceof garment." Thesewere not
dayswhen thingswere sanfbrised.If you havean old garmentanCyou put a freshpatchon it to tix
a hole, the first time you wash it thereatler.ihe new patchiviii shrink and puil the garrnenttogether
The point hereis that he did not cometo patchup PharisaicJudaism,he didn't cometo help thernin
their work to patchup holesin ihe ibnce He did not acknorvledge that the lenceneededanv
building to begin with.

Thirdly in verse37 and38, "You do not put new wine into an old rvineskin."Becausean old
wineskinhasstretchedas fbr as it will ever stretch.New wine is wine that hasbegunfbrmenting
but hasnot compleiecithe fermentationprocess.If you fiil up an oid w'ineskinwith new wine, as
the lermentationprocesscontinues;,ou will loseboth the new wine and the wineskin. The point is
that he hasnot cometo put his new teachingsinto the mouid of the old Pharisaism.He is
presentingsomethingthat is new

Now fourthiy in verse39, he prophesies

what the end productwill be. They will rejectthe new and
tbllow the old.

9. The SabbathLaws [,uke Chapter 6, and illatthew chapter 5"

Now while Jesusand the Fhariseeswiil debateoverthe authorityof the Mishnahingeneral,one

specialareaof conflict is overthe way the Mishnahdevelopedthe issueof the Sabbath.in
PharisaicJudaismthe Sabbathhad becomegreatlypersonified The Sabbathwas the brideof Israel
ancion FrioaynrghtsIsraeiiteswouicigc ouatancigreetancimeet [sraei'sbricie

t()
[t was aiso the Queen,Maikah Shabbat,QueenSabbath. To that one commandmentthat Moses
gave;"R.emember the Sabbathday to keep it holy", the Phariseesadded 1500additionallaws and
regulationson the Sabbathissueaione.

What happensin Luke chapter6 is that they violate tbur of theserules and regulations.
Verse 1, "It cameto passon a Sabbaththat they were going throughthe wheatfields the disciples
piuckedthe earsof wheat rubbing them in their hands. But then the Fhariseessaid, 'Why do you do
what is not lawtul to do on the Sabbathday?"' Now by doing what they did, they violated tbur of
theseaciditionali500 laws on the Sabbath.

When they took the grain off the staik, they were first of all guilty of reapingon the Sabbath When
they rubbedthe wheat in their handsto separatethe grain from the chaff, they were guilty of
threshingon the Sabbathday. When they blew in their handsto blow the chaff away, they were
guilty winnowing on the Sabbathday. When they swallowed the wheat, they were guilty of storing
the wheat on the Sabbathday.

Becauseof theseruies it was againstthe Pharisaiclaw to walk on the grasson the Sabbathday.
What's wrong with walking on the grasson the Sabbathday? Well" walking on the grassnothing's
wrong, but here's the problern Unbeknownstto you there might be a wild stalk of wheat growing
out there in the grass. And as you are walking on the grasson the Sabbathday you may step on the
stalk and separatethe wheat from it and that would meanthat you were guilty of,reapingon the
Sabbathday. Then as you step on it you might twist your tbot and separatethe wheat from the
chaff, and you would be guilty of threshingon the Sabbathday. As you walk by, the hem of your
garmentmight causea slight breezethat will blow that chaffaway,and vou would be -quiltyof
winnowing on the Sabbathday When you are gone a bird might fiy by and seethat exposedgrain
of wheat swallow it and you would be guilty of storingon the Sabbathday, so don't walk on the
grasson the Sabbathday!

The thing to noteis that the Phariseesneverhave a basisfbr accusingJesusof violatingthe Mosaic
law. This he keepsperfectly down to everyjot and tittle. When they have reasonto accusehim, it
is alwayson the basisof Pharisaiclaw, Mishnaic law. And Jesusoftengoesout of his way to
violate their laws, refusingto recogniseits authority. When Jesusdefendshis action,he does so by
pointing out six things. First of all, he pointsout the exampleof David. Now the MosaicLaw
never said that the Priest could not give the showbreadto a non-Levite,but Pharisaiclaw did say
that. David ate the showbreadand in doing so violated PharisaicJudaism. As they claimedthat
this law was receivedby Mosesorally, that would meanthat this law was in effectin David's day,
how come they never condemnedDavid for his action? Certainiv if David can violate Pharisaic
law, so can David's greaterSon.

Secondly,he points out the principle of the Law that insoth.ras the temple serviceis concerned,the
Friest hasto work on the Sabbathday. [n essencethey have to violate the Sabbathbecausethat was
a day of work for thern,not a day of rest. His point being,that certainworks were alwaysallowed
on the Sabbathciay,evenunderthe Mosaic iaw

Thirdlv he 'r1qr'nnipi3*ut ihat 3: the iqlessiahhe is greeterth*:: the Tempie,iherefcrellc .;;n :liic.,v
- "- *- j

what they disallow, he can forbid what they permit

Fourthly,he quotesF{osea6:6 which showsthat the prophetscleariystatedthat works of necessity

and works of mercy were allowed on the Sabbathday. Healing was an act of rnercy,eatingwas an
act of necessity. These\ /ere always allowed on the Sabbathday.

Fifthly, he points or-rtthat the Son of Man"is also Lord of the Sabbath. Not only is he Lord of the
Ternple,he is also I-ord of the Sabbath As Lord of the Sabbath,he can ailow what they disailow.
lq
Then sixthlv he points out that they had terribly misconstruedthe purposeof the Sabbath The
Sabbathwas madetbr man. not man fbr the Sabbath. God's divine purposefor the Sabbathwas io
refreshman,not to ensiavehim. But by meansof the i500 Sabbaticairuies,by personifyingthe
Sabbath,by teachingthat trsraelwas madefbr the purposeof observingthe Sabbath, they totally
missedthe purposeof the Sabbath.The way they were keepingthe Sabbathshowstheir
misconceptionof it. But again.while they taught that Israel was createdby God for the purposeof
observingthe Sabbath,the oppositeis true. The Sabbathwas made fbr lsraei, to give them a day of
rest. But this is going to be the consistentpattern. They will debateand conf-lictover the Mishnaic
iaw, Pharisaiclaw in generai,bui especiailyin the realmof the Sabbathlaw.

10. The Kind of Righteousness

God Requires Matthew 5.

The high point is reachedin the Sermonon the Mount, so turn to Matthew chapter5.
The Sermonon the Mount, asthis is usuallyreferredto, comesat a specificpoint in his ministry. it
comesshortlyafter he hasclosedthe apostolicgroup of 12 and he now hashis fixed group of
ciiscipies.Up to now it wasn't cioseci,now it is. Seconciiyit comesailer therehasbeensomesharp
initial conflict with the Phariseesover the authorityof the Mishnah. lt was a time in Jewishhistory
',arhenthe Jewishpeoplewere looking lor redemption,specificallythe Messianicredemption. trtwas
known tiom the old Testamentprophetsthat righteousness was going to be the meansof entering
into the Messiah'skingdom. Pharisaismwas offering to Israel a form of righteousness.The
questionthat the ministry of Jesusnow raisesis; Is PharisaicJudaismreally the kind of
righteousness required,or is it sufficient? Will he substantiateand authenticatePharisaicJuciaism.
or will he repudiateit? And if PharisaicJudaismis not the kind of righteousnessthat you need,
then what kind of righteousnessdo you needto get into the kingdom?

From that perspectiveperhapsthe most important singleverseis verse20 of Matthew 5. "For I say
unto you that exceptyour righteousness will exceedthe righteousnessof the scribesand Pharisees
you shaii in no rviseenter into the kingdom of heaven." With this one statementJesusrepudiates
PharisaicJudaismon two grounds. First of all, as to the kind of righteousnessyou needto get into
the kingdom, secondlyas to the proper interpretationof the kind of righteousnesthe Mosaic Law
demanded.It's a repuciiation of the Pharisaismthat hacicievelopedup to this point. Now as a unit,
the questionwe should ask is, "What is the Sermonon the Mount?" What is it as a package,as a
unit? Therehavebeena numberof basicanswers,but amongthe most commononesis that the
Sermonon the Mount is a way of salvation.This is a iiberai 'riervmosrly,reflectedin positions
peopletake that if I live up to the GoidenRule I wiil make it to heaven.

Well, even if you live up to the GoidenRule, you are not going to make it to heavenas heavenis
not attainedby meansof works. That was not the purposethe Golden Rule was given to begin
with. This sermonas a unit is not to explainthe way of salvationotherwisesalvationwould be bv
works.

Secondlv"in somecirclesit is taughtthat this is the constitutionof the future Messianickingdom. I

don't think that that is the purposeof the Sermonon the Mount either,becausethat would require a
rotai re-institutionoithe MosaicLaw ancithe fufosaicLaw wili not be re-institutedin rhis full
systemin the Messianickingdom.

A third comrnonansweris that this is intenciedto be Christianethicstbr this age. i don't think
that's a good answereitherbecauseit would also requirethe fuil keepinsof all 61i commandments
by the churchsaintstoday as well.

20
lf this was Christian ethics for today, it would meanno more baconand eggs in the morning, no
more ham on rye. All thesethingswere no-no'sunderthe V{osaicLaw.

Ntrowhe doessay many things which of coursedo becomeChristianethicsforthis age,but as a

pachagethat rvasnot the purposeof ttre Sermonon the Mount. Sc threethings ir is not. it is not the
way of salvation,it is not Christian ethicsibr today, it is not intendedto be the constitutionof the
tuture i<ingdom.

As a package,what this sermonis, is Christ's interpretationof the kind of righteousnesswhich the

Law of Moses demandeci.[t is Christ's interpretationof'the kind of righteousnessrhe [-aw of
V{osesciemandedin contra-distinctionto the Fharisaicinterpretationof that sameLaw. Tl-iatis its
purpose. He is going to explain what Moses' I-aw reaiiy dernandedover againstthe way the
Pharisees have takenit. And the basicpoint of differenceis, did Mosescommandontrymere
externalconformity, or is somethingrnorethan externalcontormity required?
Chapter 5 verses17 b 2A spellsout his own purposeof the Mosaic l-aw, he camefor the purposeof
fulfilling it, not destroyingit. By rneansof his life he fuifilled all of the 613 commandments
that
were applicabieto him. IVIanyof courseweren't but every commandmentof the 6tr3 which were
applicableto him he kept, and he kept the Mosaic Law perfectly. He will be the One who will fulfil
the Law down to its jot and its tittle, meaningdown to the smallestletter of the Hebrew alphabet.
down to the smallestportion of a letter of the Hebrew aiphabet.

But having spelt out what he intendsto do with the Law, fulfil it crsit is written, not as it is being re-
interpretedby the Pharisees,he now beginsto show examplesof the diflerence.Notice how certain
versesstartout. Verse21 "you haveheardthat it was said ", verse27, "you haveheardthat it was
said...",verse31 "It was saidalso",verse33 "Again, vou haveheardthat it was said",verse38
"you haveheardthat it was said...",verse43 "you haveheardthat it was said...". Whenthe issue
is a matteroithe fuIosaicLaw, the tbrmula is, "It is written". Whenthe issueis that of the Vlishnaic
Law or the oral law, the formula is, "you have heardthat it was said.. .". What he doesis take one
exampleafter anotherof a Mosaic commandment,and then showsthe ditl'erencebetweenthe r,vay
the Phariseesinterpretedit, over againstthe way he is going to interpretit, meaningwhat was really
requiredof that commandment.

He beginsin verse2l to 26 with the law of murder. According to Pharisaicinterpretation"you were

not guilty of violating the righteousnessof this commandment,until you committedthe act of
murder. Jesussaid,that's wrong. While you don't violatethe letterof the commandment, until you
commit the act, the righteousnessof the commandmentis violated beforethat. Before someone
commits an act of pre-meditatedmurder,he beginsby developingan animosity towards the victim.
Once that animosity is there internally, the righteousnessof the Law has been vioiated. As it says
in verse22, as soon as you cail your brother "'raca"a Hebrew term that means"you empty-head",
you have at that point violated the righteousnessof the Law. At that point the Law hasbeen
broken, and that internal violation will then lead to the externalviolation of committine the act of
murder.

Or verses27 through 30 the issueof adultery. Moses saici,"thou shaltnot commit adultery".
Accrrdilg tc Pharisai:rn,/cu ,'rsr3;io1guiltr-cf vici*ting ;he rightecutlic:s;i;he l-tw uniii ycu
commit the act of adultery Jesussaid that's wrong. Again you do not violate the letter of the
comrnandmentuntil you commit the act"but the righteousnessof,the Law is violated earlier.
Becauseas he points out, betbre one commits the act of adultery,he beginslusting after a woman
other than his wif-e. Once that lust is there internally, the righteousnessof the Law has aireadybeen
violated. And mere externalcontbrmity was not God's desirewhen he save the commandmentsof
ihe Mosaic n-ar,v

11
So back and forth, over and over again. They say this, I say this. They do this, but this it what you
reaily shouldbe doing. And the whole sermonconstantlydividesbetweenthe way Phariseesdo it,
ancithe way Goci intendedthe {-aw to be kept, untii we come to the end of the sermon,in Matthew
chapter7.

In Matthew chapter7 he concludesby pointing out to Jewishpeopiethat they now have two
options. They can continuebuiiding on the Pharisaicinterpretationof the Law and Pharisaic
righteousness, but that will be building upon a foundationof sand.and a housebuilt on that
foundationis destinedto collapse.But you can aiso havethe optionof buiiding on rny
interpretationof the Law, that will be buiiding upon a foundationof rock, and that housewill stand.
And that is the choicehe givesto the massesof {srael,they havegot to makethe choice;there'snot
going to be any reconciliationbetweenJesusand the Pharisees.

In verse28 of Matthew 7 "It cameto passwhen Jesusendedthesewords, the multitudeswere

astonishedat his teaching,fbr he taught them as one having authoritv, not as the Scribes."
The Jewishmassescleariy understandthat there is a sharpdifferencetretweenthe way,Iesusis
teachingto the way the Pharisees are teaching,not onlv in content.but in style and type as well. To
seehow the Pharisees and the Scribestaughtyou only haveto readtwo orthree pagesof the
Mishnah. Over and over againthe tbrmuia is the same Rabbiso-anci-so saicithis, Raobisuch-anci-
suchsaidthat. Every Rabbitaughton the basisof previousRabbinicauthoritv But Jesus
throughouthis expositionsquotesno Rabbi,no Scribe,no Tana,nobody. He teachesthe Law and
interpretsit as one who hasauthority to do so. As the Messiah,he certainly has

With this sermon,the dividing line is complete. He hasrepudiatedPharisaicJudaism,both as the

proper righteousness,and the proper interpretationof the Mosaic l-aw. It is his rejection of
Pharisaismthat in turn led to their reiection of his Messiahship.

11. The Blind Mute Healed Matthew

chapter
12.
The event we are aboutto readis fbund in some detail in two gospels,Mark chapter3 and Matthew
chapter 12. Matthew gives us the greaterdetail so \.vewill stay with Matthew's gospel. However
Mark pointsout that while the eventtakesplaceup in Galilee,the eventsare instigatedby Scribes
who havecomedown from Jerusalem.That secondstage,the stageof interrogationis now'over
with. They have come to a verdict and the opportunityto presentthe verdict is aboutto present
itself. In verse22 of Matthew chapter12;"There was broughtunto him one possessed with a
demon,blind and dumb,he healedhim inasmuchas the ciumbman spakeand saw."

In verse 22 the circumstancesbegin with the castingout of a demon that causedthe person
controlledto be both biind and dumb, or mute, so that he could not speak.Now the act of casting
i)ut demonswas not all that unusualin the Jewishworid of that day Even the Phariseesand their
followers had the capacityto castout demons. Jesuseven said as much in verse27 when he
challengesthem with the questiofl,"By whom do your sonscastthem out?" But in the ftamework
of PharisaicJudaism,rhe castingoul of a demonrequirecione to usea speciticrituai. This ritual
had three stepsto it. In the first stepthe exorcisthasto establishcommunicationwith the demon,
the dernonspeaksusingthe vocal chordsofthe personhe controls. Then secondly,after
establishingcommunicationrvith the demon,he would haveto frnd out the dernon'snarne. Then
thirdly, after iearningwhat the demon's namewas, he could by use of that narne,order the demon
out.

22
Thereare otheroccasionsin the gospelswherewe hnd Jesususingthat method. One exampieis in
-Vlarkchapter5 vrhereJesusrs contiontedby a demcniacwherehe askedhim the question,"What ls
ycur ilame?"and the answerhe receivedwas,"My nainels legicn, ibr we are finany" In that
context he usedthe traditionai Jewish aooroach

There was one i<rncioi demon that "iuciarsm coulciiio nothing about,and that was the kinci oi demon
that caused.the person contrciled to be dumb, or mute, so that he couidn't speai<.Sincehe could not
speak,therervasnc 1ryav cf establishingcornrnunicatlon'with this kind of a demon,and;rc way cf
iinding ouithis iemon's naffie.so w'ithiilthe iiarneworkoi'.Furiaisn'i it'was impcssi'oieto casithrs
kincioia ciemonout. But the Phariseeshavebeenteachingthat when Messrahcomes,he will even
be able to casi *ur ihis krncicf a cierncn.F{erewe havethe secondof'thosetiuee Vlessianic
miracles. The tirst was the heaiingof a leper.the secondwas the castingout of a dumb dernon.

{n verse22that was the kind of demonJesusdoescastout" and in verse23 that rniracleraisesthe

very questionarnongthe Jewishmasses,that the miraclewas intendedio raise. "Is this nct the Scn
i;f David? lsn'i this the -lewishMessiah'7fie is doing the very things,.veiravebeentaughttrom
childhoodthat only Messiahwouid be ableto do." We shouicinote ca.refuily,that they did not raise
this questionwhen he casiout othertypesof demon.
When he cast out other riemons,the questionthey raiseciwas; "By what authority cioeshe castout
demons?" Back then,the issuewas the issueof authority. When he castout a dumb demon,the
issuewas not authority,but "[s he the Scn of David?" Becausethe iian'leof referencefrorn which
they ssfi1g,this was scmethingthat only lVlessiah lvas supposedtc be abietc
"ic

t2. The Unpardonable Sin Committed" Matthew 12"

Chapter
l'low whitrethe Jewishmasseswere willing to raisethis question,"lsn't thrsthe Son of David?",
they are not willing to makethat decisionfbr themselves.insteadthey are looking to the Pharisees,
their leadersto makethat decisionlor them. It hasbeena consistentpatternthrcughoutJewish
historythat the Jewishpeoplehavecontinuedto belabourunderthe cornplexwe call the leadership
complex. Which everway the leadersgo, the peopieare sureto foilow. We seeit ofltenin the Old
Testarnentwhen r,veare told. 'when the king did that which was right in the eyesof the Lord, they
iblloweci..nhenthe king did that which was evii in the sight of the Lord they aisotbilowed.' Even
in our own day when Jewishbeiieversin the Messiahtestify to their Jewishcontacts,eventually
most of them will raisethe 5i1mssbjection. {f Jesuswas the Messiah,how comeour Rabbisdo not
beiievein hiin? Harieyou heardthat befbre? It's a cornlnonobjection. lt's the oid leadership
complexobjection. in New Testamenttime, becauseof the strangleholdthat Pharisaismhad on the
masses,this complexwas uniquelystrong. So while they were willing to raisethe question,"Is thrs
the Son of David?" they don't want io makethat decrsiontbr themseives.insteadthey are iooking
to their leaders the Pharisees,
to makeit ibr them.

The Pariseesare now stuck with one of tr,vooptions. The first option is to proclaim Jesusto be the
Messiahin iight of all ttrreevidence The "qecondoption is to rejecthis Messianicclaims tsut"ii
thev do take that qecondtoticn anrj,reiecthis Messianisciaims thev rviii havetc at the sanretime
be ableto explainaway,how comehe is performingthosevery miraclesthey havebeensai'ingonly
Messiatrwill be ableto do. [n verse24 they do takethat seccndcption, andthey rejecthis
MessiahshipThento explainaway his ability, thcy clain:that he himselfis possessed. :'lr'tby
somecornrnondemon,but by the princeof demonsBeelzebub.Beelzebubby the way is a
combinaticnof iwo Hebrewwords that mean"The Lord of the tlies". F{eis controliedby the prince
ot'dernons,the Lorciof the tiies. This becomesthe Pharisaicbasistbrthe rejectionof the
Messiahshipof Jesus.He is not the Messiah"on the groundof beingdemonpossessed

L-)
 Jesusrespondsin verses25 ta 3A by det'endinghimself in fbur ways. First of ali tn 25 and26 he
potntsout that this could not be true becauseit would meana division in Satan'skingdcrn
-{econdlyin -t,erse27 theltthemsei'.,esha'rerecognisecithat the gift of exorcisrnwas a gift of the
Spirit. Thirdly, in verse28, this miracleactuallyauthenticates the claimsof Jesusto be the
Flessiah,and fburthiy it showsthat lle is strongerihan Satan,not subservient ic Satan. fiavine saii!
ihis in versesiil ro 37 of Vlatthew 12,he ilow pronouncesa judgemenruponthar generationor
Israelfbr beingguilty of a very uniquesin, the unpardonabie sin"fbr the btrasphemy of ttre Holy
Spirit. Because this sin is exactly.what -
he saysit is, unpardonable, ludgement'isnow placeC
againstthis generation,a ji"rcigement'which canunderno circumstances'ne alleviateijor rernoverj,a
judgementwhich will come40 yearsiater in 70 AD with the destructionof Jerusalemand the
Tempie.

We shouldrnakeit very clearin our rninds"exactlywhat the unpardonable sin is, in the contextin
which it is alwaystbund. First of all it is not an individualsin-but it is a nationalsin And
secondiyit -wascommittedb), the.treryish generatianof .jesus'day, and cannotbe appiiei to iater
-Iewishgenerations.

And the content(definition?)of the unpardonablesin is, -

'['he
national re.iectiortb]t Israel. q,fthe Messi{thshiprt',Ieyrs while he was pre:;eilt.
on the gt"oundsof heins demon Dassessed.

Again this is a nationalsin, it is not an individualsin. individualsof that day couiciand did escape
the judgementas did the apostlePaulamongothers. It is not a sin that any individualcould commit
ioday Errerysin is lorgivableto that individualwho wili cometo God through-lesusthe kfessiah
But for the nation as a nation, it is unpardonable.Now keep in mind when Jesusdied, he died for
every type of sin not only for certainsins and not for others.

So that is not a sin that any individualcould commit today,nor is it a sin that any nationcould
comrnitioday,becauseJesusis not now physicallyand visibly presentwith any nationotfering
hirnselfas that nation'sMessiah.That was a uniquerelaticnshiphe had to lsraelak:ne And again
it is a sin that is uniqueto that generationof Jesus'day and cannot,as often hasbeenappliedto
later "Iewishgenerations.We are going to seetiom now on. how often two key words keep coming
up. And thesetwo worcis.a'rili be; "ihis generation'',becauserhis generationof iesus' day is guiity
of a very uniquesin

The cornmittingof the unpardonablesin by that generarionmeant two things fbr them.
Number one, thekingdornhe was oilerinq to estaoiishis now rescindeci.They have lost our on
seeingthe iVlessianickingdomestablished in their day, insteadit is to be re-offeredto a later Jewish
generationthat will acceptit, the Jewishgenerationof the GreatTribulation,and the detailsof that
are speitout in Matthew chapters24 and25

Secondlyit meansthat this generationwas now underdivinejudgementand 40 yearslater in 70 AD

it camewith the fall of the city and the temple But havinglistenedto thesewords of rebukeand
jucigement,in verse38 the Phariseestry to retakethe otTensiveanciwe reaci;'"Then saicithe scribes
and irte irilariscys ariswctiilg iriiir sayrrrg, iviasicr, we wuuir.i sce ix slgfi ii:urri rrree'. uur issus
answeringthem said,'An evil and adulterousgenerationseekethaftera sign,tkrereshallnr: sign be
g i v e nt o i t b u t t h e s i g no f J o n a ht h e p r c p h e t F o r a s . ! o n a h a y s a n Ci h r c en l g h t : i n : h e
r v a s ' : h r ei e
belly of the whale.so shailthe Son of Man be threedaysand threenightsin the heartof the earth.'

In verse38 the Phariseesdemandyet anothersign as if-Jesushacidone norhing so t'a.rto authenticate

his Messiahship.From the tirne his ministry began,he performednumerousmiraclessincethat first
Passover.includingthe miraclesthey themselveslabelledas being uniquelyMessianicmiratles.

.1 A
LA
Yet in spiteof ail this they rejecthis claims,so now Jesusannouncesa new policy concerningthe
purposeoihis miracles. No longer..rillthe purposeof his rniraclesbe to serveas signsto lsraei,to
get lsrael to rnakea decision. That riecisionhas now been made. From here on, the purposeof his
miracleswiil be diflerent and that is to train the twelve disciplesf,ora new kind of work they will
haveto conductbecauseof this rejection,the kind of work.ffe flnd them conciuctingin the book of
Acts.

But for the nation, no more signsbut one, the sign of Jonah,which is the sign of resurrection. A
sign that will come tc trsraelon three occasions. First, the resurrectionof {-azarus,secondly,tfre
resurrectionof Jesus,and thirdly, ihe resurrectionof the two witnessesciuringthe Great T'ri.bulation
After now statingthe new policy concerningthe purposeof his rniracies,in verse41 he continues
spelling out more words ofjudgement, and notice carefuily the emphasison that particular
generation.Verse41; "The men of Ninevahwill standup in the judgementwith this generation,
and shall condemnit." Verse42;"The Queenof the southwill rise up at the judgementwith this
generationand shallcondemnit."

Jesusnow brings thern the exampieof two Gentile elementsout of the Old Testament. The men of
Ninevah and the queenof Sheba. Thesewere Gentileswho had a lot less light to respondto, but the
light they had, to that light they did respond. And so at the Great White fhrone Judgement,rhese
Gentileswill be able to standand condemnthis particularJewishgenerationtbr being guilty of the
unpardonablesin.

The words of judgementthen end with the story about a demonin verses43, 44 and 45, but the
point of the story is otlen missed. It concernsa demonthat wasn't castout but simply left of his
own free will, to f-rnda bettert'latin which to live. He searches
tbr a while, but when he can tind no
vacancies" he decidesto try to go back into the personhe was indwellingearlier. But upon his
return, he finds that personswept,he also tbund him garnished,but, he also tbund him empty.
Becausein ihe intervaiperiodwhen the man was not demoncontroiied,he was not indwelt by some
other spirit,be it eitherthe Holy Spirit or anotherdemonicspirit. So becausehe rernainedernpty,
this was abieto re-enterhim but no longerwilling to live by hirnself,he invites sevenof his tiiends
to join him, and the last stateof that man is becomeworse than the tirst. Becauseat tirst there was
only one demonin him. Becausehe remainedempty,he now haseight demonsresidingin him.
But he point of the storyis that last phraseof verse45, "Even so will it be also unto this evil
generation",againemphasising'thatgeneration'.

This generationbeganwith the preachingof John the Baptist, and the calling of John was to prepare
this generationfbrthe acceptance of the Messiahshipof Jesus.By meansof the preachingof "Iohn,
this generationwas 'swept', this generationwas 'garnished'. But now, with the rejectionoihis
Messiahship"this generationalso remainsempty, and becauseit remainsempty, the last statewill
be worse than the first. At the first under Roman dominationthey had to pay tribute to Rome but
they retainedtheir national identity. Jerusalemwas standing,a temple was functioning in all its
Herodian glory

But 40 yearsafter thesewords were spokenthe legionsof Rome invadedthe land. After a two year
selge,Jerusalemwas CesircyeC,tlie ren'lple,,vss:or:1dc.,vn,untii therewas ilct ofle stonestiil
standingon top of another,and the Jewishpeoplewere dispersedall over the world. And so indeed,
the last stateof that generation,did becomeworse than the first. And the dispersionis still with us
The fact that I arn a Jew, that I was born in Siberia,Russia,savedin Brooklyn New York, grew up
and spenta iot of rny time in Texasand now in California is a picture of this dispersion. The fact
that Jewsare herein Engiandis a pictureof this dispersion.If that's not dispersion,then I don't
know what dispersioncould possiblybe. But that's not the only resultof what happenedin this
particuiar chapter.

l5
Now at this point the ministry of Jesuschanges,and it changesradically in four important areas.
The tirst changewe have alreadymentioned. The purposeof his miraclesis no longer to get Israel
io make a decision The purposeof his miraclestiom this point on will be fbr the trainingof the
twelve, to preparethem fbr what they will have to do in the book of Acts.

The seconcichangeconcernsthe peopietbr whom he perfbrmsmiracies. Untii the eventof

Matthew l2 he performed miraciesfor the benefit of the masses,the multitudes,without requiring
them to havefaith first. From hereon, he will perfbrmrniraclesonly in responseto ihe needsof
individuals, and ttr:rn now on he will requirethat they have faith first. Also from that saine
conjunctionuntil now he told that person,go proclaim what God hasdonefor you. From now on
he instructsthern to tell no-onewhat God has done fbr you. He initiatesa policy of silence,and
thosewho benet"ittiom his Messianicauthoritv are fbrbiddento shareit.

The third changeconcernsthe messagethat he and his discipleswill now be giving. Until this
eventboth he and thev went all over the land of IsraelproclaimingJesusto be the Messiahto the
Jewishaudienceat iarge. {n chapter 10 the discipleswere sentout two by two to do exactlythat,
but, as of now his disciplesmust alsofollow the policy of silence.They will be forbiddento tell
anyonethe he is the JewishMessiah. So for examplein Matthew 16 when Petermakeshis great
confbssionand he says"you arethe Christ(.theMessiah)the Son of the Living God", Jesusthen
tells Peter"tell no-onethat I am the Messiah." What they were allowedto do, they are now
fbrbiddento do until his own resurrection.
The fourth changeconcernshis teachingmethod. Until this event,when he taughtthe rnasses he
taught them clearly, in terms that they both could and did understand.One exampleis in Matthew
chapters5, 6 and 7 in the sermonon the mount, and when he was done we are told, the people
understoodwhat he said and where he differed from the scribesand the Pharisees.

But now beginningwith the very next chapter"chapter13, he beginsa new methodof teaching
calledthe ParabolicMethod of teaching Ard when in Matthew 13:10his disciplesaskedhim
"Why have you 'oegunteachingthem in parabies?",Jesusansweredthat there aretwo purposestbr
the parabolicmethodof teaching. The first purposeis fbr the disciples.For themthe parableswere
to illustratethe truth. But for the masses,it's for the purposeof hiding the truth. To teachthem in
terms that they cannot,and will not understand.

For examplethen turn to Matthew 13:34. "all thesethingsspakeJesusin parablesunto the

rnultitudes,and without a parablespakehe nothing unto them." Nor,vthis was not true befbre
Mattherv 12 but is very true after Matthew 12 Frorn here on in when he speaksto the rnasses,he
alwaysspeaksparabolically,in termsthat they cannotand will not understand.Mark's accountof
the sameversesaddsa bit more detail, and adds something. In Mark chapter4 verse33 he says
this; "And with many such parabiesspakehe the word unto them as were ableto hear it, and
without a parablespakehe not unto them,but privatelyto his his discipleshe expoundedall things."
This is his consistentmethod. When he addresses the masseshe teachesthem parabolically,in
terrnsthat they cannot and will not understand.But afterwardswhen he is all by himself and
privatelywith his discipleshe explainswhat they mean,becausefor themthe parablesare to
illustratethe truth. But for the others,it will hide it. Becausethe unpardonablesin has now been
:omrnitted:nd ihe !ight hirsnor,,,beenrejected,nc furtheriight wiil be gi',,en.

It is impossibleto really understandwhy his ministry changesso ( - - unintelligble- -) in thesefour

areas,but we dc understandclearly how crucial the eventsof Matthew 12 are. Becausethe events
of N{atthew12 setthe stagefbr the secondhalf of his ministry They setthe stagetkrrthe eventsoi
the book of Acts. They set the stagetbr a new entity to come into being,the Church,the body of
the Messiah,they set the stagetbr Jewishhistory fbr the next 2000 or so years.

26
A verv rrnpoftantthing happenedthere and that's why Matthew 12 is the rnost important event in
ihe l1t'eof'jesus wrth the exceptrcnof courseof his deathand his resurreotion.We canunderstand
wiiy his minis*rirchangescniy rn ihe ligiii oi idatthew i2 and lhe cornmitmentof the unpardi:nabie
sin

Ye1evenatterthoseevents( - - Linintelligbie - -; the Pharisees come back iiemanciinga sign. Turn

fbr a secondto &4atther,v i6. ln N,{atthew16 versesl-4 we haveboththe Phariseesand Saciducees
:omin:i tc lestrsaga:ndcrnandinu a s;g:: !n rer,qei he agrin iinswr'rc:licrn,n ilic sarnc,zv;11 ufiilr-h
i s c c n s i s t e n i ilyr u ea R e rI-V i a t t h e w
i l , t h a ti b r t h e mr h e r ew i l i i r en o n l o r 3 . r i g nisi u i u n e ,i n e s r g i l, ) i
Jonah,and he departed.Again the sign of Jonahis the sign of resurrectron that wril come to lsrael
on lhree nceasions.ihe resurrecricnsaf i-azarus.of "lesusanciof the rwo l,^nrnesses durins the Great
Tribulation.

X3" Tradition versusScripture, Mark Chanter 7

ln the time of Jesus,the Mishnahhad becomeequalin authoritywith the Scriptures.and at"times

was consideredto haveeven greaterauthority. [n Mark chapter7 izersesI through 4 we have again
; conf'lictover a specificissuein the Mishnah The MosaicLaw nevercommandeda Jew to ivash
his hancisevery time he atethe smallestmorselof seeci.Bi,itthe Mishnaiclaw clearivdernanCed
that. And when they observedthat the disciplesof Jesusand Jesushimseifdo not ".arash their hanr;s
every time befbreeatingthey come attackingand in verse5 the Phariseesancithe scribesask him
"Why waik not thy disciplesaccordingto the traditionof the elders?" F{ere'syour New Testament
title fbr the Mishnah
What the "lewishpeoplecall theMishnah.the NervTestament callsthe Tiaditionof the Elders,or
eisewhere" the Traditionof the Fathers Theseare that samebody of traciitionthat they took
seriously. Now, let me give you four shortquotationsfrom the Mishnahitseif,that emphasisehow
importantthey f'eitthe }zlishnahwas.

Quote #1 "[t is more punishableto act againstthe words of the scribesthan thoseof the Scriptures
If-a man was io saysomethingin orderto speakagainstthe words of the Scriptures,he is notto be
ireatedas a rebei But ii he shoukisay somethingthat contraciicts the woi'cisof the scribes,then ne
is to be treatedas a rebeland pr-rnished,
tbr it is more punishableto act againstthe words of the
scribesthanthoseof the Scriptr-rres."

Quote #2. "He that sayssomethingthat he did not hearfrom his Rabbi,causesthe Shekinahtc
departfrom Israel.

Quote #3 " He that contradictshis Rabbi is as he that will contradictthe Shekinah.He who speaks
againsthis Rabbi. is as he that speaksagainstGod."

Quote #4. " My son,give more heedto the words of the R.abbis,thanthe words of the Law of
N4oses"

trnthesequotesit is obvioushow far they had eievatedMishnaiclaw. Anci so if the Vlishnaiclaw

'"wasiryour
says handsbetbreeating",you harreto rio that nc matterwhat. The Nzlishnahitself says,
(quote)"'lt is betterto waik tbur miiesto waterthanto be guilty of not washingyour hands."
Another cluotesays,"One who neglectshandwashingbefbreeatingis as he that went in unto a
prostitute." A third quote;"He that negiectshandwashingis as bad as a rnurderer."So rnakesure
lrcu wasii thcse handsbeforeyou eatthe smailestseed That's how ibr it vrent

)1
Remember,they don't t-rnda basisever to accuseJesusof violatinglvlosaicLaw, only Mishnaic
law, but Jesusreadiiyadrnitsto oorngthat WhenJesusanswersthernhe answersby pointrngout
tlueethings

Numberone, thetrue characterof Pharisaictraditionalismis hypocrisy. Becauseit showsan

i;xternaireiigicn with no inward reality. They are like the oneslsaiahprophesiedc{';"'Tlieyhonour
rne vrith their iips, but their heartsare tbr irorn me "

The secondproblemhe pointsout in verse8 is, "Ye ieavethe commandmentoiGod, andhold iast
the traditioncf rnen." L{epointsout that often in orcierto keepa Mishnaiccommandmentyou have
to ieaveibiiowing a Mosaic commandment.

But then thirdiy he makesa strongerstatementin verse9; "He saidunto them,full well do you
rejectthe comrnandrnent ol'God ihat ve may keepyour tradition." Nct cnly doesPharisaismoften
rnvoivea lack of fuiirllinga Vlosaiccomrnandment- it goesa stepfunherat Lirnes andactually
rejectsa Mosaic commandment.And he givesone examplein verses10, I I and i2, the principleof
the'Corban'. Theword ccrbanis aworcithatmeans'dedicated'The systernworks sornething like
this. With one wave of the hanciand savingthis one worc 'corban',it meantrhat everythingvou
ownedat that momentmateriallv,was dedicated,committed What that meantlvasthat you could
cicone of two thingswrth it You could ertherdonateit to the tcmplc treasula', cr secondiyyoi.lcan
useit for )1ourov/n pri'rateuse What you couid not do with it, wasto gi..'eit for scmebcdyelse'.
privateuse.

Many Phariseeswere convertsto Pharisaism,their parentsnot necessarilyPharisees thernselves

Thev were often loatheto aid parentswho were not themselvesPharisees.The MosaicLaw said;
"Flonour your tbther and your mother."
The way the Fvlosaiclaw elaboratedthat comrnandrnentincluded that you were responsiblefor the
welfareof your parentsoncethey got too old to take careof themselves.But therewas a way
aroundit. That i,vastheprincipleof the corban. if a Phariseesa\.vhis non-Fharisaic fathercorning
towarcishis homeand knew his iather was havingtlnancialprobiemsor whatever,he couicilust
wave his handand say "corban" When the fathercameand statedhis need,then his soncould say,
"I wish you had seenrne earlier. I havejusi recentlydecreedmy presentpossessions as corbanand
"
b y i a w ! c a nn o l o n g e rg l v e : t f c r r n y b n d ye i s e ' sp r i l a t eu s e T h e i n t e n ti s n o t n e c c s s a r i l y , : 1 '
courseto give it to the templetreasury,sincehe was still ailowedto keepit for his own privateuse.

This was a meansby which thev got arouncithe clearN4osaiccommanciment, "Honour vour t-ather
and your mother." In this wav they literally rejectedGod's Law to keepman'slaw. ln verse13
Jesussays;"[n many suchlike thingsyou io." Frornthe Mishnahthereare many,many examples.
Scmect-you may be farniliarwith a book called"When being Jervishwas a crime", by R?r?
Friediand, He hasa chapterin which he givesa numberof theseiypesof examplesin his book in
how in his training, he found n"vays
tc get arcund the Mosaic Law through what vraslater Rabbinic
traciition.iJnceagain"this attacktiom the Pharisees doesnot createany impressionuponJesus
sincehe refusesto recognisethe authorityof the Mishnah.

rI.. 1..
- ^ . . , v u . . . ! J .
f

Number one,Fhariseeswere plantsnot plantedby God, so were destinedto be uprooted.Secondly

They are biinC leadingihe biinci,and sc;
Thirdly, both wiil fall into a pit. and that pit of destnrctionwill comein 70 AD

Later,when he is aionewith his disciples,he explainsthe meaningof the parabtre to thern.because

that's his pattern;io the massesparabolically,to the disciplesprivatelyhe expoundsthe meaningof
iheseterms
14. The Woman taken in Ariulterv .lohn Chapter 8.

Let's take anotherpassage Let's turn to -Iohn8.

As I inentionedregularlythey attackhim for violatingMishnaiclaw, but he attrms only the &,[osaic
izrr/ &od therefbrethereis no irnpressionmade. What happensin chapterI verses1 ttrrough I I is
rhe ixe attemptthe Pharisees maketo get Jesusto saysornethingthat wouid contradicrthe Mosaic
tu?w iithey get him to contraciict the MosaicLaw, it will rencierhis own atfirinationaf it nuil and
void. F{eis not gcing to ,keepit as he ciaimedto everyjot iincitittie

The occasionis when Jesusis teachingratherpublicly the massesand in verse3 of John B the
scrrbesand the Pharisees bring a lvomantakenin adulteryhavingset her in the midst thev saidunto
hii'n rhis rvornanhasbeentaken in adultery,in the very act " .Andverse six points out;
"'rnaster"
"This they saidtemptinghim." Now by sayingwhat theyjust said,they gavethemselvesaway.
The gave themseivesaway in a simple form. They clairnecithat ihis 1vomailr,r,asguiitv r:t'aduiterll
cecauseshewas caughtin the very act. Well it is impossibleto be caughtrn the act of aduitery,
unlessthere is at leasttwo of you. You canbe singularlyaccused,bul to be caughtin the verv aci
requiresat ieasttwo or rnore,but whereis the male counterpartto this relationship'l

Nevertheless, they set thetrap next in verse4 and 5; "Now in the La'n, Vlosescommandedus to
stonesuch. What sayestthou ol'her?" The Greekis rnoreernphatic."Moses saidthis"but you,
what do you say'1" ln contrastto Moses,Youi What cioyou say? It's an attemptto get him to say
somethingthat would contradictthe MosaicLaw Jesusin the beginningchoosesto saynothing but
in verseo Jesusstocpeddown and with his trngerr,vroteon the -eround.lt is sornewhattascinating
how flrequentiy-comi"nentarieson Johntry to tigure out rvhatit i.vasihat Jesuswas writing on the
ground,as if after 2000 yearsthereis somethingin the sandthey coulcistill decipher
trnthe Greektext the emphasisis not upon the writing but it is upon the finger "With the frnger,lie
-yvroteupon the grounci" The emphasisrs speciticaliyon the iinger

Why the frnger? Of the 613 commandments of the MosaicLaw, 603 of thesewere written in
manuscriptfbrm but i0 of thesewere inscribedupontabletsos stone. One of these10 had to do
with the iaw oi adulter.; Furthermore,accordingto Exodus3 1: 18,the ten commancinients in st*ne
were inscribed,not chiselled,but inscribedby the finger of God. The emphasison the tinger is to
point out that he is the authorof the adulterylaw. He knows exactlywhat that commandment
states.He knows exactlyevery(?) of lvlosescommandedconcerningthat commandmentand its
punishmentil the commandmentwas violated. When he is pressedfor an answerhe finally gives
them one in verse7 when he savs;''He that is without sin among you, let him f-rrstcastthe stoneat
her", and again he stocpeddown and 'uvirhhis finger wrote on the ground When they pressedhim
fbr an answerhe gives a very simpleone, "Thoseof you without sin, let him castthe first stone,'
and once againhe writeson the grcunciemphasising the finger with w:hichhe wrote.

Now verse7 hasusuallybeenmisunderstood to meanthat what Jesusis sayingis; "Unlessyou are

sinlesslvpert'ect"vou shouldn'tjudge people." So if you are sinlesslyperfbct,then izoucan go
aheadanri castthe first stone ii-that's:vhat.lesuswas savinqhere.he was violatins ihe Mosair:
Law. The Mosaic Law did not requiresinlessperfectionfor punishmentto be carriedor-lt. If that
was the basisundenthe [-aw then no-rrneunderthe Lar.vcould be executedby anybody,and the
iMosarcLaw cieariy mandatedexecutionrbr specific sins. So ibr him to say that oniy ii you are
sinlesslynertbcteanvou castthe first stone,he would be violatingwhat the VtosaicLaw taught.

But that's not his point at ail. His point is this in conjunctionwith the writing with the finger. Yes.
the Mosaic Law diii say; "Thoil shaitnot ccmrnit adultery" Yes. the Mosaic {-aw ciid say illat ii
'yttuvioiated iire commancimentyou hacito be stoneciat the mouth of the twr: or tirree witnesses.

!\)
You hadto havethosetwo cr threewitnesses.but this they havebecausethey claimedshe'was
caughtin the very act.

But that's not all that the Mosaicl-aw demanded.The Mosaic {-aw also said"it is the witnessesat
wirosetestimonysorneoneis being executed,ihev rnustbe the onesto castihe first storle. But that'r
not all. ln Exocius,t and E;<oiiusi 7, it's also pointedthat the witnessesat whoseword someoneis
beingexecuted,they must not be guilty of that samesin. The point that Jesusis makins is this. If
you are a witness,and you are innocentcf this samesin, ihen proceeCto castthe ti;:ststct"le.And
guessivhathappens {}ne by one,they squirrelaway,impiying that they were not innocentof-this
samesin. And perhapsstandingamonglhem is the one with whom shewas caughtin the very act.
This was the one iime etTortthey madeto get .iesusto viciate the Vlosaicl-aw. it failed rniserably.
They don't try this trick again. From hereon in they gc backto the oid coursewherethey accuse
him of violatingthe Mishnaiclaw. but not the Mosaic [-aw

tr5. The Healing of the Man Born Blind. rohnchaptere.

ln JohnChapter9 versesI through4l we havethe accountof the healingof the man born blind.
The chaptercoLlldbe subdividedinto 5 seciions.The i-irstdivision is verses1 through 12 which
detaiisthe physicaihealingof the rnanborn biind. trnverse1; "lVow as he passedby he sawa man
biincifiom his birth. F{isdiscipiesaskedhim saying;"Rabbi, who did sin. this man or his parents
that he shouldbe born blind? If you haveanalysedthis questionat any time you shouldhave
noticedthat there is somethingvery stra.ngein the contentof this question. The strangepart of this
questionis not; "Dici his parenrssin that he was born biind?"

We can seehow they might havearrivedat that becausein Exodus34 verses6 and 7 it doessaythat
tlle Lcrd'wiil visit the sinscf the f-atherupon ihe chilCrenand upcn the chitrdren's
childrendcwn tc
the"hirdand i't-.unh so
3enerat!,1n. presun-iably'-
rhe parentssinneC-Ccti chose to.risit rharsln upon
the child and the child was born blind. So that part of the questionis understandable but that'snot
the entiretvot'thequestion

The questionis not only did the rnan'sparentssin that he was born blind, but the questionincludes,
"Did this man sin, and becausehe sinnedhe was then born blind?" That is the strangepart of the
question.For how could he havesinnei flrst. ancithen havebeenborn blinC? Since.ludaisrn does
not hold to the conceptof re-incarnation,
that is not rvherethis questionis comingfrom. But the
questiondoesreflectthe Pharisaismwhich his discipleswere broughri-rpin. The teachingof the
Phariseesis that a personthat was born blind , was born blind becauseof a specificsin, either
committedby the parentsor by the individuai. Again, how could the individuaisin and thenbe
born blind?

In Pharisaism,when a child is conceivedhe hastwo inclinations.Theseare ref-erred to asthe yetser

hatov (?) and the yetserharow (?) or the good inclinationor the evil inclination The pictureis tliat
rieht tiom conceotionthe two inclinationsare stnlq,qlinrlwith ea.chothertbr contrnl For most
peoplethat are born the good inclinationhasconsistentlywon out. Thereare a few exceptions.It
could be that in the caseof one individualthe evil inclinationhad takenover"andin an act cf
animositythe foetuskickei the rnotherin the wornb,and becauseof that act of animcsityihe chrlc
is bornblind.

it is thrs questionthat is ref'lectingthat old Pharisaicteaching. Ancibecause'beingborn blind was

due to a specificsin like this, thereis no hope of healingsomeonethat was born biind unlessthe
\4essiahcornes.

]C
And so we cometo the third of the Messianic;niracies:healingsomeonethat wasborn blind, as
i]\/eregalnstheaiingsorneonethat sirnplywent bhncl. Healingsorneonewho went blind is not a
Messianicmiraciebut healiilgsorneonewho was born biind is. That woutrdhelp to expiainwhy the
Jewishpeoplereactthe way they q.join what happensin [his context.

So havrngspeit out or oorrectecitrleir theoiogythat neitherhe nor the parentssinneci"but Goci so

atrlowedtbr the child tc be bcrn blind in order to glorify him in the action aboutto occur, he then
prcceecistc hea1.but ne Ccesit ln i,rcliff,crentway than };e ncrnially r-locs \,Vhafhc ilces is mahr;
somemud cut ot"spittleancihe sir-tears ihe mud in the eyesof iile one born nlind, and i.,eepin unin+
that rt is the Sa.bbathciay. {nterestingivenough,lire V[ishnahciearly spellsout ways that it rs
ii:rbiddento be ileaiecion tire Sabbathciay. One of the ways the h4ishnahsaysyou are not aiiowed
to heala blind rnanon the Sabbathday is by smearingrnudon his eves. And Jesususesa rnethod
of healingthat is speciticallyfbrbiddenby the Mishnahitself.

f{e isn't heaieCat that point but he is told to go down to the pooi of Siloarnand when he washesthe
rnud off his eyes.only ihen urili he see. And so ane thing to note is thal he is arvay iiom -iesuswhen
he iina{ly has sight,and he hasn't really seenwhat Jesusiookedlike.

|'low why to Siloam? Thereare a numberof poois in iemsaiemand fbr a blind man to trek his wav
down to Siloamv/asnot the best..r/ayor the bestpool to sendhim to , becausehe would have to go
down a rathersteepsiopeinto the Kidron Vailey io get to thrs particuiarpool. For a blind man it
wouid havebeeneasierto sendhirn to anotherpooi. Why this one? Thereare a coupleof reasons
One of theseis a play upon words over the word "sent". In verse4 Jesussaid;"We mustwork the
'rorks of him that sent me." And in versei and eight we are toid that rhe rneaningof the name
'to
Siloamis be sent' The play upon words is that he was sentbv God to do the works of the
Father,and hereis one of the works the Fatherhad assignedhirn to Co.

But there is anotherreason,a secondaryreasonwhy, here. lt happensto be in the contextof the

FeastoiTabernacies.Now of all the pools in Jerusalem,Siloamwas the most importantpooi fbr
that partrcularoccasion.Becauseduring the observanceof the Feastol Tabernacles, one of the
ceremonieswas that the priestswould makea processionfrom the templecompound,down to the
pool of Siloam,they would fill jugs or oitchersof water,trek back up the tempiernountand ascend
+ha l5
rlvpr arru
cfeno .rn'-l ..i-
,,^,gthe songsof ascentaccordingtry, (Psalmsi20 io 134),andthen they would go
into where the laver was, pour out the water into the iaver and atthat point there wculd be great
rejoicing. The Mishnah says,"he who has not seenrejoicing at the pouring out of the water, hasnat
s e e n r e j o i c i n g i n a i i o i - h i s i i i . eB
. "e c a u s e o i t h e r o l e t h a t t h e P o o l o i S i i o a m p i a y s r l u r i n g t h i s
festival,it would be rhe most crowdedof all the pools of Jerusalem.And so the third Messianic
miracleis like the cthers,it is a very public miraclethat requiressometype of a reaction.

And so the man goesdown to the Pool of Siloam,it is very crowdedon this occasion,he washesthe
mud otf and ire sees. And that createsa dilemmaibr the Jewishaudiencethat hasjust observedit.
On the one hand,they reaiisethat a Messianicmiraclehasjust beenpertbrmed,the whoie concept
of someoneborn blind now seeingwas somethingthey neverexpectedto seein their lifetime. On
the other hand, it was done on ihe Sabbathday" done in the .ruaywhich -trewishiaui clearly forbadeat

That leadsto fhe secondpart of the passage verse 13 to 17"where we havethe frrst interrogationof
the man bcrn blinci. The.lewishpeopiedo what is naturaitc them in verse13,they bring the man to
the Pharisees fbr themto expiainthis seemingcontradictionin their theoiogy So the beginto
questionand interrogatethe rnanLrorriblind but as they are not getting anywhere,someonesuggests
tlrat perhapshe wasn't reaily bcrn biind. Ferhapsit isn-t true that he was born biincianc thereis a
tlaw somewhere.

ll
Jt
So to validatewhetherhe was or wasn't born blind, we come to verse 18 through 22 where they
interrogatethe man's parents. While they interrogatethe man's parent,the parentsatfrrm two
things. Number one,this rnanis their son. They have known him lor a long time now, in fbct since
he was born. And becausethey have known him sincehe was born, they can secondlyaffirm he
really was born blind. tsut that doesn'thelp their case. So when they try to ask, "How cornehe
now sees?",the parentsventureno guesswork becausein verse 22 ithas been decreecithat any
Jewishpersonwho will own Jesusto be the Messiahis to be excommunicatedfrom the Synagogue.

So sinceinterrogatingthe parentshas not helpedtheir case,they now go back to the man born
blind, and so we come to the fourth division of the chapter,verses23 to 34 where we have the
secondinterrogationof the man born blinci. it this point things get somewhatiliogicai anci
somewhathumorous. For in verse23; "So they calledthe secondtime the man that was born blind,
and said unto him, 'Give glory to God, we know that this man is a sinner."
For peoplefamoustbr logic, this is a ratherillogicai staternent.When rvasthe iast tirne yoLrsaici;
"Praisethe Lord, that guy there is a sinner." Or "Praisethe Lord, that one there robbed a bank" or
"Praisethe Lord. that one there murderedhis wil-e"? We praiseGod for many things but to praise
God for otherpeople'ssinsisn't one of them. But this is what they are doing here. They say;
"Give glory to God. We know that Jesusis a sinner." That's not a very logicai statement

But at this point the man born blind is abieto remainsomewhattacttul. He respondsto them in
verse25; "Whether he be a sinnerI know not, but one thing I know that whereasI .,rras blind, now I
see." Now keep in mind that he is not merely making a statementhere,but issuinga chailenge
Basically he is sayingthis. "What Jesusis, I am not sure. But I am sure about this. I was born
blind. And basedupon what you have taught me I was never to seein my life time unlessthe
Messiahcamein my lif-etirne, now a man namedJesusof Nazarethhealedme of my blindness.
Basedupon what you havetaught me we shouldsay that he is the Messiah,but now you say; "Give
glory to God. He is a sinner." Would you pleaseexplain?
So they explain or at leasttry. In verse26; "They therefbresaid unto him, 'What did he cioto theet
How openedtheethine eyes?"' Their responseis, "OK onceagain,from the top. Explain
everything.Relatethe story in detail. Don't leaveanythingout." As if reteilingthe story is going
to help the situation

At this point the man loseshis ability to remaintactful. And in verse27 he answers;"I told you
evennow and you did not hear. Why would you hearit again? Would you alsobecomehis
disciples?" This was not a smartthing to sayto Phariseesat this point. "You want to herethe story
so you too canbecomehis disciples?"And they respondin kind in verse28; "They reviled him and
said;"Thou art his disciple,we are disciplesof Moses. We know that Gocihas spokenunto Moses,
but as tbr this man,we do know whencehe is." Their responseto him is, "you want to be a disciple
of Jesusyou go ahead,we will staywith Moses. We know God spokewith Moses,but we don't
know where this man is coming fiom."

Well if the man was lesstactful earlier,he blows it next. Becausehe saysto them in verse30;
"Why here is a marvel that ye know not whencehe is, yet he openedrnine eyes." Verse :?2;"Since
the world beganthere was neverheardthat anyoneopenedthe eyesof a man born blind." There are
cf ccurse:ecoidscf pecple.,lhc'.ventblind, but:re'reris :herea recci'dcf cne iiealedwhc wasbcrri
blind. Well that endsthe conversation.In verse34 they respond;"Thou was altogetherborn in sins
and doestthou teachus?" and they cast hirn out. Becausehe was born blind he was thereforeblind
due to a specilic sin from their theologicalperspective,and they casthim out. This castingout in
verse34 is the sameas in verse22 andmeansthat he was excommunicated{iom the synagogue.

Now the fifth and frnal sectionis verses25 to 4l wherewe have the spiritual healing of the man
born blind Rememberhe had not seenJesusbecauseJesushad senthim away to the Fool betbre
his evesiehtcarne.
)L
So Jesusineetshim and saysrn verse36; "Doest thou believein the Son of God?" and he answered
lrtm aneisard""Who rs he i-$r{i ihat I may beiieveon hlrn'1" JesussaidLlntohirn;'"-Thcuhasbcrh
:een hirn"he it ls tirat speakswittr thee." i{e said"Lorci, i believeand r.vorshiped
him." At this
point the man owns Jesusas his Messiahanciis spirituailyheaiedof spirituaiblindnessjust as
eariierhe had beenheaiecii;i'hrs physieaibiinciness.

ln responseto the tlrst h4essianic

miracle,the heaiingof a leper,that's when the leadersfirst began
;cminq tosethertc investigatehis fu4essianic clairns. In resconseic the -.-eccnd
Messianicmiracle,
the castingoui cia iiuinb demon,ihey rejeciedhis Messianicciaimson the grounciof {his)-being
ciemonpossessed.ln responseto the third Messianicmiracle,the heatring oithe man born blind, tne
reactionwas agalnstthe tbilor,versct"-iesus.Any.]tewishpersonwhc.,.vritr own -Fesus
as the Messiah
is to be excomrnunicateci. Anciror the most part.this eciicthasstoodto this dav.

16" Lazarus and the Rich l\dan [,a"rke

Chapter tr6"

The eventsof Luke 15 recordanothermajor conflict with the Pharisees, this tirne over the proper
attitudetowards the materialthings of this world. Again there was a sharpelisagreement between
the way the Fhariseesviewed it and the r,vaiz.lesusvie.wedit. {t's impcr-tantto notethat
Chronologicaiiyspeaking,the eventsoii-uke i6 takeplaceshortlybeibreJesusdoesthe ljrst of the
signsof Jonah,the resurrectionof Lazarus. The conflict with the Phariseesin verses1 through l8
of chapter 15 here is conciudedwith a story in verses I 9 through 3 i, the story of the rich man and
Lazarus.

In Fharisaic.ludaism^ wealthhasbecomea sisn of divinet-avour That expiainsthe disciples'

iliiernmain a ditferentincidentthat when Jesussaid:''How hard it is tbr them who arerich to enter
into the kingdom " The discipieswere concernedand said,''Well if the rich can't makeit. what
chancedo we havel"'
Becausein Phansarctheoiogl weaithrad oecomea sign oiriivrne fbvour,thoservho ,vereureaith,'l
were certainlyguaranteedspecialplacesin the kingdom,but as for the others,well you couldn't be
too sure.

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus.what wouki havebeenanticipatedby that theoiogydoes
not take placebut the exactoppositers true. Becausewhen the beggarrnanLazarus, the poor mai:
Lazatusdies"he goesio Abraham'sbosorn..whiieihe rich man endsup in heli. So without getting
into the detailsof wherethis placeis, it is obviousat leastin this story,that betweenthe place
whereLazarusand Abrahamwere,and the piacewherethe rich man was, therewas a separaticnof
a greatgulf They could seeeachother,and they could conversewith eachother

Aiso rememberthat in Pharisaictheology,all lsraelhasa sharein the ageto come,and anyonewho

was born a -lewwould haveautornaticrights into the kingdom and into heaven.This story helpsto
dispelthat theoiogy as well as throughoutthe conversationbetweenAbraharnand the rich man the
rich man refersto Atrrahamas "father" and Abraham refersto the rich man as "son". But that
father/ scn nhvsicalrelationshipas ie''vsditi nnt heinthe dch man nre bir becar-lse
^r'his lack of
iaith.

When the rich man tinally reaiisesin the courseof his conversationwith Abraham,that thereis no
ocssibiiityof l-azaruscoming over to gi.reeven a drop of watertc give hirn sornereliet-tiomthe
ilre, he then getsconcernedabouthis brotherswiro are stili living. ln verse3? he said,"l pray thee
therefbrefbther that thou would sendhirn to rny tather's irousewhere trhave five brothers.that he
may testily untc thernlest thev alsa come into ihis p-iaceof torment."
The specific requestmadeby the rich man to Abraham,is to allow Lazarusto be resurrectedfrom
the dead,so that Lazaruscould then warn the five brotherslest they too end up in the sameplace.
Abraham'sresponseis in verse29, "Abrahamsaid,they haveMosesand the prophets,let theni hear
them." The point of Abraham's words is that it is not necessaryfbr Lazarusto be resurrectedfrom
the dead. The truth is available. Thesefive brothershavethe Scriptures. They traveMoses and the
prophets.If they will read,if they will iearn,if they will obey,thenthey will not haveto fear
coming into the sameplace.

However in verse30 the rich man answers. "Nay lbther Abraham,but if one go to them tiom the
dead,they will repent" The rich man's answeris, Nol The Bible is not enough. It is insuftcient.
What my brothersneeciis a miracle of resurrection. if they can seethis miracie of resurrection,ii-
they can seeLazarusresurrectedfrom the dead,that will certainly convinve them once and for ail.
Merely readingthe Scriptureswon't do it.

But againAbrahamnegatesthe response.In verse31 Abrahamsaysto him; "If they hearnot

Mosesand the prophets,neitherwill they be persuadedif one rise h-omthe dead." The clear
implicationof the statementis that if the Scriptures,if the written word of God is not believed,
signswill not help either. If they are not willing to believeMosesand the prophets,the resurrection
of Lazaruswill not help his brothersone iota.

.A.gainit's no accidentthat this story takes placejust before a man namedLazarusr,vouldbe

resurrected.It wiil not be the sameLazarauqbut the name is the same. And the point Jesusis
teachingus is, that when the hrst sign of Jonahis given to the nation, and a man namedLazarusis
resurrected,that first sign of Jonahwill be rejected. It will be rejectedbecausethey did not believe
what Moses and the prophetswrote.

T7" The Resurrectionof Lazarus. .Iohn Chapter 11.

In John chapter1 I we are given 44 versesgiving us the detailsof the resurrectionof Lazarus.
Lazaruswas not the first personthat Jesusraisedfrom the dead. But ail the other resurrection
storiesare coveredin two to four versesthey are rvitnessedby only a few, and the few who
witnessedthoseother resurrectionsare then told to tell no-one aboutit In sharpcontrastto all the
other casesof resurrection,in the caseof Lazarus,we are given a lot of detarl,44 versesof detaii.
Ratherthan being witnessedby only a few, this one is witnessedbii the many, by the multitudes.

What makesthe resurrectionof Lazarusmore unique than the others? It's unique in that this is the
sign Jesussaid he was going to give to Israel,the sign of resurrection.When this is given, they will
needto respond. If we understandthe roie that the resurrectionof Lazarusplays in the relationship
betweenJesusand Israelas Israel'sMessiah,we will betterunderstand why things happenas they
do throughoutthe account.

This chaptercan be divided into four sections. In verses1 through l6 we havethe first section
which hasto do with the deathof Lazarus. In verses1 through 5 a messageoomesto lesus
inlorrning him that his fiiend Lazarusis latally ill. The obvious purposeof the messagesentby
Mary and Martha the two sistersof Lazarusis to get Jesusto come quickly to Bethanybefore
Lazarusdies so that he couid heal Lazarus. That was the intent of the message.You would expect
to readthat as soon as JesushearcithatLazaruswas sick, he immeciiatelyciepartedibr Bethany.
From where he was at this point, it was only a one day iourney to Bethany.

i4
But verseb readsthe exact oppositeof what you would have expected."When therefore,(a good
rule cf interpretingScnpture is that when you read the word 'theretbre' f-rndout wtrat it is there tbr.
oecauseit is a worri that 1sa ioglcalccnnectioni:uilciinga caseeitheron the casisof what precedes
or what fbilows. "When therefbrehe heardthat he was sick, he abode atthattime two daysin the
piaeewhere he owas.".florthe ver]1roascnttrat he heard Lazan-;swas ;rci<,tbr that very reascnhe
went ilo-where He staveciput. He is iiterally waiting ibr Lazarusro die. When he tinaiiy cioes
begin trekkingtowardsBethany,what shouldhavetakenhim only one day, took him fbur days,so
thatbv the time hc rrrirzcdin tsethanv.I-azarushas beeirdead i'our ilavs-anll ihat's goillg tc be
signif-rcantshortly Ai the enci+f 'verseib, Lazarusis deac,and Jesussiowlr,,movasj-ovv,&r-ss
Bethany.

The secondsectionversesl7 through27, twehavethe discussionbetweenJesusand Martha

BasicallyMartha scoldsJesustbr not comingwhen he was t'irstcaltred, shereaiiseshe hasdelayed
coming for r:nereasonor another ,Andin her conversaticnit is cbviousshe recosnises the
authority c1'Jesusand the power of Jesusbetore death,but not yet over death

The third sectionverses28-32 he has a similar confiontation with Mary. And like Martha, Mary
a.lsorecognisesthe authority and power of iesus befbre deathbut nct yet over cieath.

But then we come to the tburth divisron 133-44).Jesus and f,azarus,the resurrectionof Lazarus. {t
is pointedout to Jesusihat tc removethe stoneat this point is going io be a'ba,3thing ic do because
\-azarushastreendeadfbur days. And that is significant tiom a Jewishfiame of retbrence. The
common teachingof the Pharisaismof that day was that when a man died, the spirit of the man
hoveredover the bcdy fbr threedavs. During ihoseihree Caysr:f hovering,therewas alwaysa
possibilityof,resuscitation. But atthe end of thethircidav the spiritdescends downto'Sheol'from
then on a resuscitationis then impossible,only a miracleof resurrection.And Jesussetsthe stage
in sucha wa-vthat the Pharisees, when they do respondto this (andrespondthey will), ihey won't
be abieto simplyexplainthis away bv mereresuscitation.

Also note verse42 and note tbr whom Lazaruswas really being raised. "Father, I thank theethat
ihou hearestme. I know that thou hearestrne always, but becauseof the multitude that stands
aroundI saidit, that thev mav believethat thou didst sendme." Surelythis miracleis for the
benefitof the masses,fbr the benef-rtof the multitudes. It's not merelya fbvour for Mary and
Martha. And when this sien is -siven.it will haveto be respondedto. [n verse44 Lazarusis
resurrecteci,
and the tirst sign of Jonahis given

In the next segmentwe begrnto seethe response.In verses45 and 46 there aretwo tvpesof
responses."Many theretbreof the Jewswho cameto Mary and beheldthat which he did believed
on hirn, but someof them went awayto the Phariseesand told thernthe thingswhich Jesushad
done." On one handmany individualJewsrespondcorrectly,and exercisedfbith. But many others
were stiil beiabouringunder the sameleadershipcomplex, and rnereiyreport what has occurredto
the Pharisees, looking tbr an expianationtiom them. And becausethe Phariseesin particuiarknow
that this is the sign Jesuspromisedto give them,they rnustrespond.
'-:'
: - : - ' ! - : l : i : l l , : j : - : - i . . : r , r - - ; ; 1 1 . . " T l : - l l . i : l ' l ; ' l - - r - l l ; c ; - l - . -* ; l ; . ^ ; - r 1 . . , ' ; . - - . 5 * i l ; , . . . ;
the counciland said;'What do r've.fbr this man doesmany signs? If we let him thusaioneall men
wiii believeon him, and the Romanswill come and take a.ruay both our placeand our nation. But a
certainone of them CaiaphasbeingHigh Priestttratyear saidunto them; 'You know nothingat all"
nor do you take intc accountthat it is expedientfbr vou that cne man should die ibr the peopleand
the whoie natianperishnot." Verse53, "So ltorn that dav firrth thevtook councilthat thev misht
put hirn to death"
The Sanhecirinrloesmeet. But in rlre cclurscot'tirerrdeliberationsthey carrl, out one step further ihc
flac!i in \'lattherv l: thcv rciecteclhis,.:iiiiirtsoll thc h:isi:;rtf
i,i,hicirhas alreaci'.,ocrJi-rrrer'tr
rejectie-in
his being demon possessed But here thev go a stel--'' turther:ind setrtencehirn tit deatl-t Anci rvitil
this action. tlie first siun o{'.ionairis reiected

Norv rvhathappensnext cirronologicailv'is qi"en in Lrrke 17.

18" Ten LepersHealed" X-uheChllqrtenl7

l n L u k e c h a p t e ri T . r v e a r e a b o u t t o s c e a n e r a r n p l e o f h u u r o u r o n t l t e p a f t o f J e s u s . d i v r n e h u m o u t -
ttrJervishhuntour. {ther''ie ltrobtrblvtl:c'sanreetn\\\i}v!)anclchronclolltcallvas harlitttniesivill
shorv"rvlrathappensne\t fbllou,sthe rejectionbv the Sanhedrinof the frrst siqn of Jonah. LLrke 17
verse I l.'"lt carneto passas thev \\ere on their ivar' tc,.lerusaleni" tliat he ',vaspassingtirru;r-rgh the
n i d s t i t f s a n i a r i ai p C a i i i e e a n c ja s h e e n t e r e Ci p r o a c e f i a i l r i i l a s e t i r e r - ret r e th i n t l ( . 1n t e n l l t a t i v c r e
'Jesus-
lepers.which stood atar otf ancltlrer titied Lrptherr roice anclraicj irar'erlerc\r ()tl Lts

I n t h i s a c c o t u t t - . J e s ui ssf i r c e cnl o t h r r i r r e! e D e r b . u t b r t c ' r rl e p c r : i { e m e t r b c t ' * i t e n . . ! e s Ll ri se a l e c l

o n e l e p e r .a n C : ; e n th i n r t o t h e p r i c : ; t h r ; o ct h i h e . , ' i r e g a irlit e i r i r t t e - n : l;iet t e s t i g a t i c no i ' h i s
i .i r t - s . , l l i e n
\ J e s s i a n i ecrl a i r n s T h a t ' s n ' i r e nt h e l v i r c l l eJ e r v i s hl e a d e r s h i pc a i r e f o ( ' l i p c r n a t i i nt o l i s t e nt o w h a t
he clainredto ite BLrtthis tiute. it is not one leper but ten lepersancinotice witat je-*usteils tiretl tti
'-,\nd unto tite
do in verse l-1. when he saw them. he said unto ihenr.'Go ancishou t'tttu'seir''es
priests "'

Just after thev have rejectedhis Nlessiaiiicclairir.right after that. Jesussendsten healedleperstc-r
them All of a suddenten lepersare standingthere saving."'We r,vereiepers.now lve are irealedof
i)Llrieprosv" On that dav telt tilnes overthev r,vilihave to otf'erLli)i\!o birds. f,or the tiext se\'elt
irar,'elo inrestisatetheir clairn to lr:ire ireenie'persanclthev r.i,iil
dzl\'sten tiuresor,'elther"r,,rii1
,-liscoverthree tltrrrqsilualn
\umber one. all ten of thesemen reallv were lepers. Secondlvall ten of these men really were
healedof their leprosv .\ncl thirdlv. \\orsc-fbr them. all ten oithese'u,erehealedby Jesr-rs of
Nazareth Suddenli'ther,l-iavein tiont of them. a tentold wirnessto the Messiarricclaims of Jesus
of Nazareth I can almost see.lesusc:hucklinqas he serrdstheseten irealecilepersto the priests.that
hav'ejust deliberatecjhis rejrctron Fronr ihis iroint,:n. slotlr he liegins lris tref. torviudsJerusalent
torvards his final rveeii

19. The Triumphal Entry L u k e C h a p t e r1 9

One er,'ent eospelslecordin somedetai!is rvhathascor-ne

that al! fbr-rr io be kuownas "The
Trir-rmphal Entry" The triumphalerrtryis sometimes interpreted to be Christ'sflnal otl'erto lsrael
as lsrael'sking This is saidto be his tlnal ot]'er I do not think that is the correct\.vavof seeingthe
trir"rmphal i'atherit shouldbe seenin a ditferentperspective.1nthe iight of r,vhatirappened
€ntr.'r. in
r v t a t t i ' l e ' , vi j \ t ' l t t r t t r c l - i l t l , r a f t l o n A U si el r l - i L t o r l { u e t i c r " c i t c r v a s i e - t i r i e r r r t s .t i t c r ! r u s u r . } n r r r u r s
triurrphal entrv

T h e d a t e o f h i s t r i t r n r p h ael n t r . ' i n t h e . l e r v i s hc a l e n c i airv a s t h e l [ ) ' r ' o f N i s a n \ c e o r c l i n gt o t h e

Ntosaic[-alv on the l0tt'of Nisan the Passor,'er lamb was to be set aside. Ancl t}om the l0tr'Ll11til ihe
i-+tl'dav of the rnonth.the iairiirwAs t(l be testedto rnaliesure that tlie iainb \\AS',i,,ithor1f ,rpotilnd
rvithourtbleurish Ratherthan viervirlqthe triLrnrphalentrv as a point of tirne tirat he rv:tsofl-erirtg
b e v i c r v i n t h e c o n l e x tc l i ' i l r eP a s s o v e ri'h. a t h e \ ! a s s e t t i r . l - s
h i m s e l f a s I s r a e l ' sk i n g a g a i n .i t : ; i r o L r l d
I t i m s e l fa s i d ea s t h e l . a n r bo f G o c l
rr,
{,}n f hts t.ia'vlte w:rs tleili-{ set xsrrxrll; {re testedand proven io ile ',vrtliuutspot and without bieinrsh

'.ii)!v;ts
ire i:. iiuittg iitttt jerusitiem.rie rs grertei:lirv thou:;atrcls iti'.jervi:;iri)e()pie
ltitcitt'tor-rstincls
oLrt:tsin i,srse.l8. "Eli:ssecill" lhe iiinq that cometi-rir-rihc name ilf":he i_*rcl ' ilorv it is
cr.,iir-ri:,
:1-.i,l;it:,;i-iatiheill;..ib!,e:jixiat'i:t-ilii-nrlijin,glCfr..jt3ft;wari1ir:riigaleiir
iiinqctotrl lrr iitcf Lheirectir:nsiike raking dor^,nthe paini brancites anciiaving iirem befbr-eirim are
actic.'n:-r ra,i:ich:tir) risu;lii'''rii-rneitt the Tieast'.>lTabelnncle:;iloi itt lhe i;l:a:;ti''f"{}assover {t is e';icienf
.ira|tht.,'iirfj:i1]f.JiilrglilcF'.l1>t.r1.Tabcrtti.ii:ie:;ilbt.|triiliier1l;ttfhil1}CCiisi{.}l.iBe..:;lLt$r:;|1
1lt;r-nlec;narj:iit i-i ih:;t ihe ircasi:riT;itre:rnar:ies is 1r-r .;iiir4ciciir
bi: iiilflilerj hv:hr: lv'le:l:,;l;iriii.: anctr
ihsv are er{iie{jiinuilte i\-!esslanic l';nqcj';tnlo ire:jet Llitai rhii; ttr-ne r.nndti-,,. i;r, ij.;r,irihotrsandstiier
;lre Droci{.iimin*' hilir ic i;e the l\,,les:;iah in the.,,er-r,itateinent "'Bies:;ed:s irt thai,:clr]lethiil ihe ilaine
lf the {-orcl"' is a Vlessianicrr:aciing ilecausethe R.alrbishacibeen teachinqbr:f}lrethis iime. that
rvirenl\{essiahccrncs.he irii-rstbc greeteclrvith theservrirrdstbr thev ciirne {rili of'rr lVlessi;rnic irsairn
r n t h e O i e lJ ' r : s t a L n e nPt s- a l m ! l 8 1 6

5o-,'"t-tell
til.;';.ipi;i'"'ihere rl''r;rrisii;..lesuE
tiie.,.lrri'itioclairning hinr l;.'iiietr-iirr;ris;uriig
i{i rle iEi;ici'
lvlessiah"iiiirJitre erpecting hirir to tulfli the Feastc'rf-Tabernacles at this ooint and set up Ihe
liinqdclnr :.'ite,,'itari rlot'\,'t:trerlised that Plsscl'oi lxr.lstbe tirittlled prjor i{i Tai;ernacles-iin.l
i)assoveris trrltllled br,'the cleatirot'the Niiessiah

Srlt "rll of ihese pror:lamatiolisi.ivtlie iholisandsiii'.lesLlsfo be the fulessiaiimav c;rlrsje us tri ihini<
lhat condition,.rnitv lrow clianqu'.The unpardonablesin irasaireadl"oeencommitted- alrd because
of its very unpardonableness. nothing can chanqethe.juclgement that now hangsover that
: i e n e r a t i c n J , t ) . . )i itit ' e r s e - 1 1l r n t j ; r r i t i c ct h a t i n t h e i i t n t e r l o f i t r i t i ; ip r * c l i r i n r i n gh i r t rr e rb e f u l e s s i a h -
the irit;rclsrti"jestis remain ilords cfjLrclgement \,'ersc'-lliti'L.Lrkel0 '-'.,r,hen !re clrewdrew nigh hc:
s a r vt h e c i t v a t t d \ \ e i l t o \ e r i t s a v r n s .- 1 1 ' t h o uh a d s tk n o \ \ n e \ i e nt h o r i i n t i t i s t h v ; l a y t h e t h i n g s
rvhich belong i-ttrtothr,,' peace But now therl are hid fionr thine eves For ihe cia.irvill come Lrpon
lltee wlren titttie cnetniesshiill ciIStir bank aboLitthee anciconrpassthee roriiriianc'ikeep lhee irr cln
e\,'erllsicie..titcisiiail ,iztsiithce tti the ground anclihy cliilcirenwithin titec-aitcithev ir,iii not leave in
thee t:ne stone rtponanotherbec-ause you did nclt knorv the time r:i'thy vrsitation"
\o:ltttottnt cf lJosannii'sand proclarnationsof klessiahshipat this point {janiento\ie lhe jucigernent
fbr the unpardcnable'tn And beciLuse of its Lrnpardonableness. ierusalenl is itill rrnder<.iivine
.judgement Fortt'vears later theservordswere literallv tul{'llled. But with ilie riciin.uinio jerusalenr
on this iiccasiori.,'r)ri have the settinc asicleoi'the Lantb of {r'od to be testei1ti)iee if lre r,iasrru.ithoLrt
spot arld withor-ttl-.ieniish.And indeedas the nert chaptersin \lattherv si.rorv- \lattheu, cirapters2l
ancl12 Partit:ulail','-.treslts was belng iested He was being fr::;te:rl i:', iirr-:i-'irrtriscri:; itv rite
Saddr-rcees. l;r,the scnhe.';elrd bv the Herociians fliev *anre lrtiackiiiqhirn oric;itter anLrthertoirv
to trncisome fauit. some spcit.sonreblemish. tn the end ail his answerssilencedthenr and bv his
ilil"c\,ver-c he :ihcrtrcrjthern that lte r^iasthe Lamb of Cod inc|--ecl ili{hc,rit:ip{)tand -rvithouthlemish
ifaving prL)\,en]rirrrselfto be withor-rtspot anii rvitlioLrtt:lerlisir. irc itor,vtllnts Ltpot]the leadershipof
lsi-ael \&r\)ne:it tr-rinlhen ti-rVlnttlrew chanter 2-1.

.1 j
2t),The Sevenlvvoes i\E*ftirew {. llnpter ?3.

'\,,|art|rcrvi--l-]al]let:.jltasbLtii,,iteiherlt*iill't;r'igittll-tliisl.:ltiiic]i,}t./.i-}[.S()s,.Tlt;il:;lll:
ijetlulrciiri.il;ttrii.lll.:.,el.i'tl,.::;..iilr-iP|-.:;ti'l:;,:t:'ii.il."']r;lric::,iti|:l.:l-|-i:,rae1,rflitlii.:ia-i,.
.'ienrtncirttti.;tt11el:!l..isgs:ti:;1';iiilii..:lntttili;.''ii:'rrii;l:,cit;lorct,tels;.ii,.li:e';\,i'itt"ji:rii:iii;is
t i r e P a s s o . , ' i : rr ) i . i[ o h i s t r r r e : ; t .h r : ; 1 l l : l i . ] r i : ; i . i e a t 1 i . : r n cl i i s t " r : . ' ; l t r l - e c t i e rfrhTi s i i i i r i l t e r r : n c l sh i s p u b l i c
n l i i t i s t r . , i 1 e t ; r : g l : i ;l i t s i t u i ; i i u : l l r i l i i : j t i ' ' , ', ; l i : l 1 ) : r : ; s o " , * r1. l cc n i l t ' i f i l t t l i i r l t s s t ; o ' c r i l u i l , : l l , i : l n l h c
i e n i p l e r : l t r t l p r i r r i t i.i j . i et : * r i r l i r i d r : , r i l i i l c ; u - i I . i l i i r ;i . i ; i l l i , ' i ( i l t i - i c V
l . e l " ' , i i l ' i i i t r i r l t ' j c e c !i

-ihrre
'iitr il.rrJe .l;',,t:;tt:rii:r
i - i r s c i p i e s4 q ! i ! ! j i l r e P h a r i s e e : ; { n r l i p c a i i i r i g u b ' , ' i u ri l i e I } i r a r i s e * , n * , ; 1 i ' ' i i ,f i v c l h i n g s i ] : i " s ti ; t ' i t l l i n
vefS€-]liter,.itl.er,,itar;tciel'is*rj1ri'ilt'i;t;i;.is.*i1ii;t;ciis..l;l-i;-;'lt.ltiiri".e5j}h;.1i'i.cei5I1l'
r il l { l n { ) t l t € r s . i i r r l i r e t ; f i t l i t rl r r i t - r ' iSo g e t
J . i h e y a r e g r ; i 1 t . 1l t l l a l i l l t q T h e \ ' ! i : l i . t i r l i h , t i t c t i ' , ' l ; r . r r . i i e u
arorttlt-i,tTjrircil..']ti.,er:;e|iiliiiLrr:it.:,iic..

[le1-rrinusriu1tcr-tilillctlallli}ie:.;liile:-';:lile-,,.|i.-iiiti.'t;'i'."lrl;lic
irorera,nlpl{-'1ill.je1.:-if.]....'iI.,ir':i1iihtii
p i l y l a c t e r i e s l l n , - i. : r t l i i r - g ei i t e ; t t , . i i i i : i : i, i . i 't i t s i j ' l i u ' i l i c t i t , , i l l c i l i l i i i t r : i t l - i c l 'i;i l l r , 'ili l c [ . ' t : i - c i u r, -) st ' t l ' i c

i}haiisecs,liiicieli.;tiitj::ijJ;lrliisitai|-v;itl.:le.inciLhel.lrlt'i1c:'si.ll.'fl.iil]{1:;
a l t l t e a r i n q i u i ; e . . , ' e r . u ' t t l t l t o i i o ri o i t e s e e n r ; i r t i e t r . . { n d i l t e r , , u s e d ' i v h a i \ ' l c r s e sc i l t r l i n a t t d e c ii t l a l v a l .
t i - i a th { o s e s t i i d i r t i u t e n c i . i o s l i o w o i i t i l e l r o l v n s e l f l i - i g h t e o u s n e s : ;a n c i i h e i i , r ' ; r v irt; e i i - s e e k i i l g .

'fhey
FoLrnhivverses,S-i2. the riisclprls5of .jesuswereto irecharacterised nv oppt'isitelenciencies.
'Vlztster' {rl llte br:dytheyare
rvrlieitirIfo seekirianexaitirrgtitle:;:::uoh ;lrlrJ'fiather :rtiri
a,"i"ldah.rbr'
andthey iireto lit'e a tit'eoiirLlmilitv.not a Iii'eof sitorvincss
ail co-ec1r-ral

ab(iruiire l)ltarris,:es
Tlle fiitii thin.giie :jil1i,:, rs rioi irt 'ol;iiijtr:',i: .iuur)'r1lti.
li . '-rter in Vlarli !l -i{t. lrrit
tlre ljfth lhir-:ghc r-ravsti-rolitritc Phaii:,r-es utiili\ i;i'trr,rstiii-lting
irriliai ille'. .ir-.', tileir religion in tltat
bv lcng przlversihev liii-jerheir iovelt)Lrsnd:rs lind rherl r(i\L'tcLlsltcss is seetibv tileir fbreclosureotl
tiie hornest'li'i,riiclolvs i.-incier'ihelvlcrsaiei.;iw. ,,vic1o'.\,-",
\\'ere uncierspcr:ialirrotectitttl,ancithe
\jrtsaic l-aiv lookecirrirt il;r'.hcse ,rirc rr,ei(li!r{,ir-r\\r lirrr Phrilisce$-ixthrf than playing or-rtthe
iutent of the l-;nv. rvoulr'riitrecloseon tiic ironre:,cf lrrr-io,.r'sBL,tiitc" ire\,'et'Liiri rt without pravlilg
about it flrst. Anri l--,v sc dorr.r iircv nL'i'equilti oi'iri'o-iIiirriiit,,. iir,-'ii'ieii!.ittn

The secor-rc1 ]-l ;:; ',i:::'c:; i.i iu,ib

ltarr ot'i','[atiherv ,iirectlv lo t!-rescribesancj
J-lti:,ii;.lrc'lt,;:;1)crli.,,l
i'l'iiiilgci.'i. lic aliitiiLiiilit:; ii.tr'ltt lbt' ,,'ai-i*u:; :iit:;. iIe piri-iii';iiilci]s :rc'. ili: !1,i,:r-i5
Lli]i)ll the P[rarisees
Whiie thesewoes are iil'','ariou:;sins iheri tbrm a circie.,r,ithtlre first ancl,rer'enthwc.edealing rtith
iire samesiu.

-W'-ie ht'pccl'ite:i.becauisevolt shut lltc

fhe tllst ivoe i:i in i'e';,;el.l sci it;e:;and i)!rai-i:;ee:;.
trntr-t,ir-:r-i
kingdom of treai,'en;rgainst nren-tbr ve enter not in voursclves.neither sr"rtl"er re them u,ho are
enteting in 1rtenler"- \,\'irirriie 1lrst..,-oe the Phar-isees itre ci.indemnedbecltt"ts* uitntL'ettrtte.tiier are
r-eiectiriJhir Vlessirltiit: i;ul:-ecuncilrilirerrare lL'aijingttre:iatiottiu t'r-iecthis fulessiiinic
i:laii-.ris.
c i a i n i sa s r v c i i

tlie ,iecc;ndiviie i:.;irt ',er:;ei:.

\!ifr-jT]te-;;n<li'eri1rar!;t:ili:'siilltiir.1l.,'l,iif1i;]|i-lli}|l!iirr{lerrrile:;ii--l'r.'irc:r
\^ii1Sil.|i1leici1'tt;iite.,Vtjr!;ililj.ir'iiiet.it,-.'i.ii.isttei.iti..ll:]
citen thesr'i-.ecaillc
i1i{-iTrl llririrr'riiettille Pllnrisr:e'\
c.iirenrt'ie,,.irlist:i tvet'e
Iiir'tns'-'i"'r:s
I'hethirclwcreis 1il verse!6-21 ancltiratrs fbr switchinqprionties.in thiltthev qaveprioritvlo the
.lonseciiiitj{j" ;'atiicrtlraii iii iht,;r,,nse,;t'it[qlf i{c,:Ji.ie:; Lrstrrrr.) *tiitllrptre:;i.lne r.ratni:iejs l]re
rii:]telnentiti',,'er:;eib. "Whcstrerier:;hail:;ivear',rr. the ieiitpie it is ntithii-rrr- r.iiitosoelier sIrails\^,'ei]l'
'l
i;i,'the goicioi'ihe ternuie.he is a riebtor'" irat lvas the reacirinc.ihat rlyt:Lr inaclea comrrltment (.lt
.nL-;rasi:. ';i iire ',i:t]lpirj.,,1)ii'iitilt'1 :titr,916y ketp,;Orir i{}l'nr-ititt;tentrJiit;l'.,,,.it.t rnadevoLir
ccttnmittnenton tlte Dastso1''tiiecolciirf tire iernpie.Iiren'lor-ril;tr,eto L:eel.tr it BLrtrvhat inakcs the
g o l c lr ; i i h e t e r n p i ei n o r - c : i i g n i i i c i i nt ht a n l o l d e i s r - . w h e r el.t' )i s t h e t e m p l e l t s e l f i t i s t h e i e m l r i gi h r l
rloll:-reci-aie:.] ltle :ciii ,iitr.iire ttrnp{t i.."r, ihc r-:ciil 5i-.in tiiis.r.!isten'} iite\/:illv€ i}'iL}l-i:ylo lhat ,'ui:icir
was conseclati:cl- {tiie ,:Oiri}ralhei'tharithe consecratol-.fheienrple

Tlle:'ec,"-,ttci;:.airtpie;ie:.,4o,-il,'u,iiii
rhe ':,iit.iiriiihe aitar lf r,'ous\,vearl,.r rireaiiar ir is trcitirrng Er-tt
ii'".rousweitr bv tlie giit on the aititi'.'/rliiiial'e to keepthat ''"^/hich 1,ouha'ie colnmiited vr;urselfto
dit Bi.it;rgaiit,,,vitiilriiAi'esthe qi{i -iigrriticant'llt is becauseof ivhere it is. on the altar 'Thegift
doesn.t sanctit-1/'ilte:.iitar. the altai-sanctitresthe gifi. I{ere again the.i srviti:hedoiiririties Friority
r;',';'ts lii lirat ,vhich lvASconsL'crated.rather than to the r:0nsecrator
rIir.,eTr

The lburth rvoe is in vs15s52:i-i4. for camping {?) on the rninors lvhile iqnorinq the rnajors And
titev'are'u';r'','i:aretiil
tc irive;r tenth of the very smallestot'seeci The.r;lre,.'ervcareh*lito l<eepthe
externair,lelttands of tlie Law. and.Jesus:iavsthesethings vor,roughtto har;edone. {lod r-ioesexpeet
i:s lc)keeo tiie e:<ternaldemancisof the comrnunr,finent.c he -givesus But the./ ignorr:clthe'.,veishtier
-fhe
ill;ltlers rlithe Lar,v-irjij:iernent"ilrercv and taith internai clerniindsof rhe Larv were not 1iept.

The tifth r.voeis in verse 25-26. That is to be concernedwith externals and ignoring internals. In
ihat ri,'ar.tl.ttt''.vcrclilie li,hrte-ii,ashecjiiirr-rbs Ther stiil ilracticethi:i iir isr:tei \ tornb is given a
tieslt coat t'if ,r'ltite paint that can be easilr'-ieen.so a Lerite wiil not acciclentallvrvalk on it and
becomeceremoniallvdetjled. And rvhile on the outsidethesewhite-washediombs look very nice
and prett-v.rvithin the..,aretirll of dead men's bones ,{nd that which is a deraci nran's bone deflles
Tilat"s wliat the'Pharisees rverelike. Outrvardl",'thevwere verv spiritual and i'eligiousiooking. but
inrvarcllv-tl-te.,'i'lerc spir-rtuailri
deflied. Now benveenthe tlrird. fburth lncl rjtih wr;e. iive di11'erent
iitnes ite t-ei"ers tti the Phariseesas beins biincl. The tlrst tirne in r,'erselb. 'Woe unto vou. -veblincl
guides". secondlv"in verse 17. "'Ye tbois and blin<l". thirdly in verse lt)" "'Ye blind" iburthltr in
i'ersel-1. "'\'e biinci gLrides".and flfihl-v in r,'erse ?6 "'fhoLrblincl Pharisees" Five times he labeis
titem t<tr rlhAt rl.ie.,' iire. ltlrnci

The sixth r,'i,'r-.e

is in r;ei'sel7-28 and that is tbriheir hvnocrisv

Bul then comes ihe se'renthw(-)ein verse29-16 rvhich is an expaiisionrif the ilrst,.voe!n ."'ersei--l
ln verse29. "Woe unto vor-rscribesand Pharisees.hypocrites.for you build the sepulchresof the
prciphetsitttrigarttislttite toiitbs oithe ri,'hteoLrs zrnclsa1'.'If rve hzrcibeen iii fhe dal,sof our ihthers.
rve shouid riot ila\;ebeen pamakersi.viilithern.in the blorid of the prophets Wireretbr-e ve are
Vvitness v(itirscli,i:stltal .rreore tiie srinsol'them that slew tlre prophers"
Ltl'lt()
"Fill ye up then the nreasureof 'vour f'athers. Ye serpents.ye
of1ipring of vipers. I-lorv shall you
escapethe.iudqementof hell " "Thereibre hehold I sendLlntovolr praphetsanciwise rren and
-',cribes Sotrtet'f them vou .;hailliiil lnd cnicitl' Some of them shall ,icu scollr.Jein ,r,our
J: r,(r!iu!rtr!J ,.,,.; )\LrtL\- rrrLrt, r!urlt rrr.\ tU Llt\. iil,f t UlrUil vULl rlld\
lrr, L(rillC illI tllC ll:llllt,(tU5 lJlL](]Ll

shedLrpontlreear-rh from ihe lilosrdof .\bcrlthc ri'clrteous irlrtothe bloccjof Zachariair sr:nof
Baraclliztr''r'ittll.t't'it'rti .v'rllt.
sicl,vl,'etweeittile teutpieand tlre ititar Veriiv I sa"v'i;ntt,l cillthesethrngs
''
sh;rilctrineupail$t_!ti:{{!4e{qlljt.ti (l-here'sih(}.E;e;\\,r}
ivr;rr.ls;iquin;

1n tliis seventhi.,',.;e.iesrtrs
s;rvsthat tliis generatir:nwill not onll'be heici;,ri:countable fbr the
re.lectlollrlt'his lrler,'-niait,cititr^
bttf il{)ri:r!,c}that the-vwill breheld accoilntabieilr ail lt'the blacci oi
theOlci T*l;tiiittetttpri-rpitets ll're i-*asr;rr beinc ihat el'erutirinqlhc propiiets1\eie -u,oinq ti-rsAr,,,
lbtxrt
ihc cr;rnin.qi;l the l.les:;iahhad b,nthis illiic i;een:;aicl.

-ll
 'tr-esizrilent
ihe {;lcl l a c l b e e n c o r n p r c r e c {i t t r w e i l - , ' r i e r1 i : L r ta n c i ; : h i i i f ' c c i l t i - t r i e s i r i l l ' t i i c r l r l r i i - ei-i l e l
h;iii ihe rc:;tinri.iir\,'
ihevnadtireiirttils[rv{}I.]e-.]uS.,l'tt*i'1iiittittlet.elli*laiitthiies:iiail:;iti;r.ilttr
.'vitlttrriracie:;ancisigl-tsil'tlr'i.'Vi)|l[ie1.:;lirc:it.i{-iir;giht}.',tjl..r'tt"lit.:i'clc:;iile,;il.ieti,isll'e:illll.i
-
fu1e:.:rlr ii ii-ril Ii^{luies

'Tltis grncratit,in be
Yet in spite i;f rll this e,,icienr:e his ciiiiit-is i'it-itr,iesusiairi"
th*-",i'electecl
"viil
itel.d.icciii'llrl;lil|fiill.lhelvittlic]lt:.jr,,ii':-...;:ait:tj
i i j h e i t . i e s l l s 6 s e e ir [ e i i l c i i , : s t ; i l i ] e l t t - i i f L r s ; c gi t i l . i i r e t ; i ' " l l e rt r i i ' t c ; e i l i s i r $ i b t e . t t t i t i l i i l t , ^ ' . l l ' c i eirl l '
I h e i n c l i , i e m{ - l i r i : l i l a n i l r h t e . l ' | e r r L p l r i r e ;rtr f i - r { - , 1 f ir,rj t : l - i r : . r , : i v i : , i l ; , i 111 ri -r ir i s t r t i i t t i l r " i i ' i : s r - : i r n e l l ti55
the :,anie, birt :he orcier l.ii btrrlk:l is ittlt rlt..::jAiiic.
l n f h e J e w i s h o r d e r t h e 1 ' r r s tb o o l i i s i h e ' ; ; t m e . { i e n e s i s - i t t - i ft i t r : l a s t l r t i c i i ] s i l o t f u l a l a r ; h ia s i n t h e
t ' i r l r s t i a i lP . r i r l . ' ;i"! t e i l : t ! r , : , r kt r t l l l i - ' .ei \ \ r : i l ' r l ' i l r , 't;' l " ' ' { ! l l i } l l l t l L ' : '

ltt..',er:ic]j.Jeslrsllan,}e:;|.w(iiIe11''\l--ei.iiluirr].:li..jtnr::i:;-.Lttti.l:-.;l':j;ll
'ltt:
t i r C l a s t b c - i O l{<' i 1 ' c i r t i r - : i i : rl i,t-e l ; t s i l - ; l i r ; ! ., r i i , : r ' , , r . i t. . ; , ( i i - ! i j , ' l i i l j . i l i i ' ' i i i * : : r -f:i . ' " 0i j l r : l i ' \ i r a l h c i s
' , i r t r , e r - \ , t i ' i i n gi l ' r t i t t t , i e t t ' . ' s i si { } l ' " ' i - ' l l r c i n l c l e s . A l i g u r e
s a v i n g i s r h a t t h e . r w r i l L r ei l e i r l a c c o u n r a b i e
',\
o f s p e e c h i n e a n i t t q . i l t t : . , l h o i e t ) r . i i i ri,, : 1 ' r ' e*ra i c u . \ i t i t i c l t L ; i . t i i t ., : t i t ei l , 1 , c r t i 5 d i : is l t t i t i ; i i ' f i ' - I l r t ' et l f
s p e e c h t o r j a . , ' , l i t e n \ . r / e , : j ; lill ' i i r n , J e n c : ; r :[i ( i R L ' \ . e l : t t i r r r t i i t c r r i l t l i c i l i l r j r ,, ) l ' l . * \ ' e i l l e o - ' " v r 1 t t ef rnl t t h
['irisgeneratii;tr'guiit'tlf.theilllpai.ij()rii10lerit1.i,vitttit1il0\,lDeiii;itl;rrjCtiLii-iliii;it:li;riitei,v.nt;iei-tlc
o t ' r r t r t h . ' \ n d i u . a i n - t i : i i t : - p e c i a ie r n p h i l s i s' . l n i h i i t g e n r : a t iion

A tbw davs after thesewords were spoken came the second sign oi.lonah which r,vasthe
-l'lie
iesurreciion llf .lesits second sigtr ilf .!onah llollever. l.vasrejected in the fir:-'tr,;evenchaptersof
lhe book of Acts ihe stoning oistephen in ,\cts cirapter7 inarks Iire Sanirr:drin'srejectionoithat
-I'hat
secondsign *i'"lonah is wliv in the tiamer'lork ot'the Lrooi',;['\cts. ilnly is it rti cllapter3 that
the gospels,oesoLltinto tire non-.iewisirworld. Lintitrthe seconcisign of .irtnah,'vas reiected.it
stavecirryitirinthe tiantewori' oi'tlte -ielvtshrvorlr.l:ilcltle

'Ihe
book of Hebreri,scan be betteruitcJersrcocl irt the ijonte\t
ilrie kcei.rin irtnri tliirt it i'n'its'"vritten
-I'!ic
olthe ilnparcluuable sin. ancitlie lLrdgenient i;1'tirat:{enerstic'n i;tioii oi}lcbrerls rvas'"vrittelr tt-l
a groLtpoiicwish beiiercrs- Lrncleri4r,ing sorlre5e\.ercNrci:reci.ttioit-,tnil bccALlse <lt'tlrispersectrtion
\.vasienoLrsi'iconstderingr1tIing i;aci' iitt'.:.iLlilatsttt
,{nd the wnter rti'{-{ebr-er,r,s;ilritcs to iirenrio \viln} thcrr agein:t .loitlg:)().beciltibeif the*tgtl baci'
!tot\- thev wiil iliace thernscii,estiucierthe ]irrlgerlcntot'7il AD:rnO ivill cliea ter"rible
inter.lr:daisfil
ph.Tsic;rl',ieath flit: onir' ',\arif ite,,oiln itopc iLrescaprilltat luclscnis'r1 ,ll'7{l {i} the.ittilgernent ibr
thc Llnp;Li"eionablesirr-r-ci(: iuake iile breali liom oucc
.iLrclaisilr .inri ilr .it1c*iitplete Fot'.Jervs ihen
as fbr Jews ioday rhar breaii corres b-!'lneans of ivatel bapttsur Unl.' br inaking that hreak cor:lcl
thev hope to esL:ape tliat phvsicaijLrclgernent cl'70 AD

FronrHebre\\,:i \!e tlcin'tiinctn,i itorr titel'reslroncied. but Iiirtunatellr,ve!rar,ethreeiincieutrvritings

which rf ,we pooi the inirirmarion iogether.we do know hc;rvrhevresponcied. is
l'he tlrst scturce
Josephus. a iew'ishwnter of ihe first centurv.rn evewrtncss of the evenisof 7iJ:\D. ilre secondmzrn
rvasHaqio:ivl)piiJS whrt iuuas belier,eroi'the sccotitiL:entunr'-
ir.]erol:;ir ancltiien canteUsebiusil
. j - ; r ; ; i - l ' 1 , ; ,. . , , , ^. r, . 1 '
far asJe.,vish beiier,'ers;"tre cL)nuelnecl. ive aretolclthattire.Jervish diciobevthe boo['of
{relier,'ers
Hebreivs,irnrl.'nadciheir i;i-i,:*kIiriti't.it.liiaisnt i-lr.rt'l-rpIeie

.+rri ',riren i i : e . l e r ^ r sl e v { , \ i t e { -i 1r g A l i r . ci t i i l r t e i n i , . L . , r \ D - L l i e . - - t t t l r ei c r . r i s l i i - ' l ' t f t s t ; n l 1r - i i l l l l l i t i l l i t : i

nulntreirng 1 n t h e i r i h o i - l s a - n < Ji es .i t . j e r r i s a l c n i " icrt israei.,.lfossed ici i-ite-liisl :;iLicr,iiiie ittrciatti{ir,er.
trnd rvarteiii l l c , * a r ' { r l r [ d l i i . l i c e a r t s i i i e c i i h c .ii.it'<.iitit iti fiie io\.\,rii r:i'iiic,.i Peilti;tlsi ii,riilil.-lithe sea,,rt
G a l i i c c i i r r r i t e c i t s t s i ri c , u ' i i t c r ' l, . 1 , -
iriiur vears later the ivar endeei One iriillicinone hundied thor-rsancl .Jewswere Iiiled in thai Rornan
.:onflict ,*itt ,vr:'ii-c!olcii'-v'ihesc'.irlterlihat not lne sillgle.l':r,t'ish l*st lri:' iiie" llccaLiseof'
beXic',,er-
ili.robeiiiencet{) ine ieiter to iire Hebrer,v.,

i ' e r t a i n t : p r s i - l e s . r ,t -er n i l l t . r c I r , i c ' , l i, -i s- 'lhi ; - i s i i rapi r : r l e sl i r n c i l a t . i e r v i s hi , ' i e l i e r , ' * ti-];t t e n r ; v h aits s a i i l

ireedsio oe unciel-st*r;ri ln rhe contexroi'tliis.yudgementiransingo\er that yeneration-rire
''"'
irnpardonalrier;in 1-iri:iinciirr,les itof rrni','f-lebre.rvs. hut.lanrcs. t'' lnei ir,llcr--;ind.lrrcleTitese
r::tlist!c:i;'1li]i,-fiic'.i.iilliii''i'i|()ti{jii'ihevllt.esrrlr1ieriin1!reij{}lll€\i.l;|titat

,generatioir.

i-irere'sl ihrrC 5{-'gflenii,r ch;ii:re:'l-l that we:";houicl noi iniss. Verses jT. -i8.inri ,.ir.slril
addressingtire ieaciership '.rflsraei.ire closesit with a trarnent."'{) Jerr-lsalem..ieruisaiern-
'.viroi<illetlr
ihe prophet:;-ancistiittetltthern which iire sent unto her. l-{orvolten r,vouldi irar,e:ratherecl thv
(-'\,enas il hen gatirers'her-rhickensunder her',vings but
cl-lilcirento{.Iett.}er- !.{ioLiid
nct Behold-
_yc
vour housr: rs lctt ttt-ttoirs11de:;oiate"fbi- l szivi"tntoVrtu-'vou shali not see nre irencetbltir"until 've
'Bles:;i:i.i
;haii sar'. i:; l-trerharcorletfi rn the narneof the l-ord.'""

in';erse i7 the iVlessiahsummarisesthe three anciahalf'year rninistrvover lsrael-how often he

longed to sprear,l{rishand.criLrtand to:-rir,'e the trtolvCitv the inessiarricprotectionpredictedltv the
prophetsof oid But he cotiiriri'tdo rirat becausethev'."r,ouidnot'or rnore literaily" they r,viildicJ
rtot'" "uvlren
thev r-c'jectecl
l:is,;luirrrs llo in v,:ise -lB. tfreir hou:;e,tirerrternple.is clestineci
io no'tviie
destllate

Bt-ttrrersei9 is verv intpofiant Fle sav.,to ihem. their ieacjers''\"tiLirvill not seeme again"untii yoLr
s i r a l ls a " ' - ' " B l e s s c rc:i;I i e : i r a t c o i r e t h i n t l i e n o h - r ic) f l h e i - o r d " \ g a i n . i r - r i r ra J e w i s ht i a r n eo f
ret-ereuce this is a \iessianrc reading They rvill not sav this of hint unlessthei'olvn hiin to be their
\,1essiah.

[{is pubiic r]rinistr\ enclsbv iavrnq doi.vnthe condition. the pre-recluisireto irrsretlrnl in that just as
tlre Jewish icadetsvL'llr*qag{.)led thc-n;rtionto i'eiecthis Nlessiahship.u Juv nirr:;tcorle ',vhenthe
leaderswiil ieaciihe nation to ilcceptanceoithe Messiahshipof Jesus That is the basisof the
seconclccmin-q ihat is the pre-condition [-rnrilthere is a national salvationof Israei.therewill tre
no secoridcciling,-r h:.lrsoer er

Now we cannot gr,rinto the circumstancervhrch will bring all this about becausethat griesbevond
ourthenre lj-rrthe ijresent.brr[ ''oekno'r tior-urttherpropheciesthat there wijl be a naricnai
regeneratiolt.a lrati(inalsahiation lt is describedin placeslike l-eviticus26 verse-10--12. .lererniah
i verse 12-18.Zechariah l2 r,'erscsllr to chapter I3 verse l, L{osea5:15 throLrgho -1.ancimany
others. Essentiallvthe.,rintirr.rlus rh?ttin rhe last three days of the Tribulation. rhe last ihree days
precedinu the second cornitrg. all lsrael r.viilbe saveclindeed. and that will brine abrl,rttire return ot
titeLord

Par-tof the role tlrat ivill trrin,rabout lsrael'ssaivationwill be the th ird siqn of ionair ln Zechariah
chaiiter"{.Zcchar-ialtseesir',,isicn ii'rthis r,'isir-rn
ire seesa seven-brnnched fulenorait-a iiirnpstanci
'

. - ; :- . . - , ;
a a - - l - I ! ' ! | I I

into a borvlthat-sorrerf lie l\{encr"ah or lampstancl. From thebowl containingtheoil- theoii is

sLri;plied iri -:a,:irinclii'ieiLnt lairri;rhroLigii si:renducts.seventil eacirliiinpr;r 4ti ciuct:;What
Zechariahis seeinqin chapter"l !s r pictLrre of a resenerated nationritftrsraei. a sa.iednation
i i r l t i i l i n gi t s c a i l i n gr o b c t i r el i s h t t o t h eL l e n t i i e sV
. l o s to f w h a t s i n r h i s . " i s i c nh e a i r e a d y
uttderstattds" he knor,^,'s w'hatthe i\'lencrahrepresents and nll that. !\,hat he cioesn'fr.rnder-stanci is
rvlratthe tn'o riliveircesl'epreseltt

+t
\ e t t h e r : l i i ' 1 i:r e e r s i l i e : ; l r u r c er r f ' t l i e* r i - a i i i j i h e r t r l r l t S c n p l u t e i s i l i e s " v i l b o i ; t ' l l t e { t o i - vS l l r i i t
rlrd iri
!|'.}i0st3'.ljr.lhe:];ccSiSi.z.i'eii:L5i].i:irt'\'r:,.i,lpiritrtiili};itltii1.beillgrneii{jiiti:i'|ile.'jert[titl.
c{)mn.i(]niheileii,tairlllts[irrouqircut|i.levtstq.irt!:jlitc|he1n
])i;,'dtree:j..indile;.1*lcl.,t'tii":i-1CiV..ii.litf.,he::ii'.'.jil-tlC|.{]]]l.t]::]i]-'llil;
irilo\!'ri whai ille rtti rs- brrt he ri{-}esn'i lii'lt,tr'v ovirilt ihe trees l-el)reserit

ii;ii*nt.''t]i:]ij:i;1.iitr.r':.-rgit]'lill../ul:lllili.t1r-.
|}taiaret.tiel;gltir*;r],lt.iiie;lii,r.'iil.u.l,:i.:;tj:+ilif.|i}1Jfigil,t::.'iti;il'l..ltihrl.,-;l'';j|lt-'i;t'1ijellriIS1;l*f,
,inlpi'.,131le...r119r.c;Ifei1lb]trvri:int;tttt*cirltie:;iiiat:;i;intil;eiiri"ttheicrdnt'iher^ircjicr:iii.th..-llat.s
n'ilatil{-l'a.Y'5l{or.,'ittuchy-,ecitariahLlncierSt0{)d',vciit;n.i,.;i1-;..y'iui-elr.,.i|.tirat.:;:i-ii.r.'r:
ivor-ridn'tlralie a lcf 9f ,;eilselionl lhat aior:e But'iears iirter.thc l;stol',of'Rc-r'elatron is wri{ien".rirtl
chapter-I I i,,erses -l tlitwards. ,i{piains ihe i rsir,nrir rlror-c,ietail ltt":haltter I I lu'eafil tolalthai
ijuring the Tribr-riatlr-rlt fherc rviil lre frr,t]i,.rophet:;- l\v(.!i*"'ilnrlsses in.lerusiLletn- that-.viii ur-'
r i t r g . f r e! i l ' e t r m e
p r , r c l a i m i n gt h e w r . r r c [ . ' l - h s t Lrri u h i ] i : ! h e 1 r , i - l r t t i s t i - '
lileir. ' , i - n e s s a grev l l l i - r e : ' e i e c t e c i

,,1'tSsJtnepoirit.,,vhileihr:".,,aretnint.'iei.;l'ig.,jiitel.rltrceiitiiiliill.iii'lg1i,15;)ii]llt'.]1:jti.r'.
'fheir
bodies jie ilntirlrieijr;: tlrr.5tre';is,ti.jerlisiiieuribr iltrirr 1:itr-i
ii n;lii''jlli':, ir"r-:l'.''j1g,iu'
itt
thes;ebrilliesl*c't ceiebratllrgrheir rleathbecariseilter sLtliet'eij
r,'ierving ilticit itt thetr ilititcis Btrt
t.;0d iesuirecisiile:;c1lv<.i
al-ferihree and a iraif i1;t',':;- ..'uitle:ise':;
ltrtd lil ahe:ilr:llt ii .ilt ,ilt--iitscencl
into hear,en

Severalthings happen as a result of the resurrection and ascent ot'the two witrtesses Number one
ihere is:r grett earlhclrrakeSeclrndlvtxe tenth r;f "ferLisalerrt ts destroverl Thirdlt' se,,'enthousanci
'[-lten
re:;idenrsare l.:illed. comes a filurlh resuit [t says that the l'ettrainingresiclentsof Jerursalem.
give ulory to the Gocloitrsrael r\s a resLlltof the i'esurrecticnaf thc lwo wrtnessesin lsraei.that
wiil iesr.rltin the salvarionof the Jewish peopie in.lerr-lsaientThat begins a processat fhe end of
-f
the nbulatiou the iilst tlrlee davs-that resr-lits in the resl ,-ri'jsraei iretn!rsitt,eci So lvhlXethev
the iirst rnd scccnd ,slgili)f Jonah-pr-nisethe iord. ther iiri! ilcoepti:hethird';tgtt tti.lonah
re.jecteci

hior'l,goingback to the passagein \latthe',v l-i aird the basisiir;-iiie sect'incl i1'we cleariy
cq,-rtninq"
comprehendtiie btrsisitf tlre:iecondccming. ive',i:ili ':omprei:ettii ihree othertlrin,{sirirporlantbv
1v;1yr)i tipplrcatlon

The flrst thiir.grve r,villcleariv understandis n'hv Satan iriis iracithis perpetualwar againstthe.ier.r,s
thrcuqhout Jewisli liistorv.:rnr1rvir\rhe irasbeeri :;o -qtubbLrrr rbcrrt irvins to annihilatei.heJer.vs
once anciil:r alI Satalnl.:norors iha{ once.icsr.rs !r orer rvith {-ieaiso l":nowsthat
retrrrits.i.tisilari-:r]r
Jesr-rswillnot come b:rcl<.Lrntilthe Jews ask irim to conre bacii So ri"irecan ever succeeciin wiprng
orrt the Jevn'silnce and ibr all" l;etbre they have a chance ro i)ieaLlii.;r'h'lessiairio i'elurn.lliere ivill be
seconciccr-r-rinq.
i-rr-r unil iatan':i efireeriviil be sat-efor efrilrij-\

That's nrh'vihinqs like tire f'rr;sades<icerurrecl. ihat-s whv the \i;lzi LIoloc;tlrst{icLrlrried. that's \,vhv
-l-r!lttrlaiit-:n,
R e v e l a t i r ; nl l r , e r : ; e si l a n c i l - i s f a f e ^ ' . i t aotn c e h e i s i n t h e i i c l . t l i - ; w iri i : ;l i r l l t i s s h o r t .
a t r J i r r j u r v r , , r * , r , " a , , , , . , , r . r , , . , r r . l., t " , 1 r - , , . i . . " ; l . , I t l ; ' . , . ' , - . = ; - . . ,.'..-,:,^- "* .],-- ..'i -1;-.j-.'. , --.:a: -:.::l

tbr ail He i:l-rst destrov tlie Jervstc iteep Clirist fiotri fetlttttitts.

Tirat is,vh.r anti-::erritisr-lr ,.^,rirether

in,tn.,,i:f its tbims. i'rcti\/eor 1ressi,.,e. li is socral.ittiiricai.
religior-rs,rtitiionai-er:otir-:micls part ut'ihe Satiinrcweillnn {{')\\iillr rtr-tti.i:q:..ir;:ws i-}nc ltast-''ttwhv
beiievers i'r-lLlslt
ftl,,va','s iiirl lhe
!;tilnri;igainsten'v f'cr-inti'anti-lreniit!snt" !est thev inilri','*ti'^t-lfi-v
Sataniciir"{,rsi-irinr1lei:ii'it-r,illsiti i<eep.iesus tirrrtiit:turniltg

- t1* - 1
 iiic- seconcJ tltitig i;r,'\L.ilv
of ;rppiicationis lhe irrrpoftaricet.rt"!ewishe.;angelisnlin the ileht of aii
il:i:; f-he3it:li: iJrlc:;{icilri-t,':.:pei!rut lhirg:i iir;it '.viil{-'{}1-irt
iiird ih* ilihlc..k,er;tenc:l:that 1dav is
:liillllllg rr'iienaii 'israei'rilil i-''csaveci.i'rrt ne','crripart ii-t-rnrtire,Eoocitrervsttf tite ilosDei. E,r,'en frti
lire:rtiarth ivill cq;nrei;v hearinqarrciheanng b.,'ttrewurcioi'ijccl. i.-rr,rr rlri!or.gcirishcr.rliibe to win
J i : r , v i s i l1 l e 0 1 t i et t l l i t - ' . i : r ; i t i i : l t ? \ v - , ( i ; j l ; i l i i l c r j i l A i ' i i j i i f i l . j i 0 t i n ( . ) . " .l.i \i e
, i-;r;ij,;i'iuraei lv ]tnc;ll,.liigilie
ier.r,'rsh iviessiah lVe sitorrictaiso i;e ro,'r.:ii 'lf
awiu-eol'Rornans Ii blincinessnr pan irathbefallen
' '
l s r a e i .' ' l n t i lf h e i r r i l n l : - :c: :f, ;l f r ei l c n t i i e : l i r c l c l r r e i l t W i : ' L ' o i ) u n l r er l : a it h r : n r a i o n t v , i t ' l s r a er! i , i l l
t't'i eti ..jt-tl- iIi-'s :--a1::-

'l
here is n secitncJ :ri)riiilt :lic ivr;i"i.;
rri'.iewisi-re','angeiism.;,incilhzrlls 1t;i-.rive peoplea
tlie.jt:',rrisii
i'tio,.vleclge rlf'',.rltAt
ii:;: i-lr;";i-.ei
i:; ii'rtr'viirieier,ls iteArilan,y'ihinri:rabcut -leSils:'lruch cf it is
r.l'arperi atid'"vrortg-:liciierv.Jervl;'i:i:.i l'/ Lrnrjerstaitd the content of the Cr.i:ipelrtr i,now '"i'hattire
issuesare. Stt n'e:,;irculcl gi',r: the.Jer,riish people a hnolvlecigect'r,vhatthe Gospel is anclto knorv
u,hatthe issLiq::i ai'e iiencnciiirgon {lotj'r iilnet;rbieand ijod',s prLlqrantit rna'l r,cr-',,,'l,ell be rlhatthe
seedsrve plant throrrgiter,angelism;ror.vmight be rejer:tediirr ncr',, bLrtirr iheir utrncitliey
Ltnderstanci ihe issitr's, ,\:l tiotl':; lirletab!e anci r;rergraincle',,elr:ps rnanv rti'iiiesc ,,r.'ir<-r
irli,e irearcithe
Gcspel now ittigirt,icceptit iiiter and i:e ailrcr-lsthe.Jervishleildersrvho wi!l then !cticlthe natiqlnto
iicceptancet;ithe htessiahshiprrt'.le:;us.!-hev"orcllvill liave to oornein one tbrm or anc;ther.ancj
lrerhapstire seeds1veai-esoivillg ioelav,nili be lf berrefltin flie riistanttirtr.rre as *ell ;is the Dresent
..,ritltJe,avtsir
people ci)mlng to the klessiah e\reltnorv

Titere is a third apptricaiitrrt.

urrriihi:l ii the rrnpcrtafrci-.,,ii;rir.r'inv
r'or !sraelirnd praving iiir the
iewish people as well Nlost believe Gentile believersprobablv don't live in a situationor an
ell./ir0llnlenttl,|tei.*ihr.'\']la.r.ihel-rp1--1;111ttli|iitlititite'c"q|t,.l,':.,l'isir1-],i]t)plf|{ri.''vevu:r.
ltcliei'ercall pra\ ti.;rrhe Je',,rish
people Apd rl1i," lbr.iite iteriLleiri.isr-ac.lWliile {-lorjhlis worked
oLltllis prosralx he:vorits;i'l.iirieans.antl the nteansi: b,- nreunsof ilre preversi-ii'thesaints.
witnessine inisht be iirrited. but praver is not lirnited in arrr,ira,.,'

tk**Jq***t<*" **rk*:&t rkrtrr*

END

+-l
 Gnossary
*f Ternas
i-ecru "The Life {rorn n .flew ive" bv Arnold F baurn

''V8. Thesettu.fistitittns ttre nol exhcut,sljv,e

httl rtre '-leslgteti simply lo pro,,,ide.,;ufficient
tnlarmcliort it; ;ttuke lheir its'etn lhe #c{{impsilving lrcwtsct'ipttrndersfuirn{able.

Abraharnic Covenant The unconditionalagreernentGod madewith Abral"rarn in which

Abrahamn'vouldbecomea great ruationand his descendants wor:ld possessthe land of Canaan
( G e n .i 2 . 1 - 3 . 7 i"3 i a - ! 8 , i , 5 : i - i 8e t c ]

Amora {pi Amoraiin) A ihird schoolof'JervishRabbis(follcwing the Sophrimancilhe

Tanairn)wno taught between200 AD and 500 AD. Their writings are known as ihe Garnaraaild
wereaddedto the Mishnahof Jesus'day The whoie coliectionis kncwn asthe Taimud

Aram The regionof Syria and hAesopotamia

,{rnrnaic The Serniticlan,euage

of Syria/ Mesopotamia.[t was the languageof,theGaiileans.

Assyria The ancientkingdom tbunciedbv Asshurson of Shem Centredon Mesopotamia.but

bv conquestincludedPersia,Armenia,Babyloniaand Canaan.

Astrologer One who en-gages in the ancientart of astrologirto determinethe will cf the gods,to
gain wisdom ancifbretellthe future Astrologerswere often councillcrsic kinqsand soverncrs
interpretingthe signsand acivisingon appropriatecoursesot'action

Astrology The studyof the starsand their rnovementswhich were believeclto revealthe will of
the gods and inf'luencopeopleand events.

tsar Mitzvah A.iewish boy's coming of age. Celebratedat the ageof l3

Beelezebub Literaily "'Lord of the tlies", ttorn "Baai , Zebub", but usedin the New Testament
as a euphemism1l:rSatan,the princeof 'lemons

Corban Literally'"dedicated",but was a word usedby the Pharisees to deciaretheir private

prcperty dedicated,iilough not necessarilyto the Temple. {t allowecithem to avoid their
tinancialr:biigaiionsto others,especiallytheir agedparents.

Davidie Covenant The agreementbetweenking David and the Lord,,(2 Sam.7:4-i7 and I
Clrron. 17.7-15.)in which GocipromisesDavid an eternalhouse,throne,kingdornand
;,::i-;;:i;;;",

Dennogl A failen angetror spiritbeing subservientro Satan.

Excornrnunicate To ban fiom tempieor synagogueactivities. In {sraelit nreantihe iossr:f ali

statusas a Jew, lcsscf fa.mil,v,
tiiends and.iob.

Gnrnar:r The writings of the z\moraim.the third schor:loiRabbis irorn 2{}0AD to 500 AJ}.
 T

iastludgemen't
wickeciwril be consignedarier ihe
Gehenna Hell. The pracewherethe
liace of eternaltire and torment'

Gentile AnY Personwho is not a Jew

that of Greece'
Elellenise To transtbrma culture into

td lrr ^l -l^r u'rr4 ir tar n c a l e * r i s hn o l i t i c aol a r t vt h a t s u p p o r t etdh e r u l eo f H e r o d '

ihe ark *f ihe
of the Temprein Jerusaieln,in r^'rnich
F{aryof horie_oThe innerrnostchamber
g o v e n a n t * u , p , u " . d . u n a o u . , w h i c h t t - ' " u i , i u t " s i g n o f t h e L o r d ' s pthe
r e ssmoke
e n c eof
d wincense'
eit.Visrtedby
priest ayea{,but noi wittrout tfe blood of a lamb and
rhe F{igh oniy once
priestotfered
the Holir cf hoiies,wherethe otaciating
Holy prace The temprechamberoutside
incensetwice daily beforethe Lord'

JewAdescendantofJacobandtheretbreofisaacanciAbraham.

.Iotandtittle'lot:thesmailestietteroftheHebrewaiphabet'
Tittle:thesmailestpartoiaietteroltheHebrervaiphabel.

L a w o f M o s e s v a r i o u s l y ; t h e t e n c o m m a n d m e n t s ' t h e 6 l tirst
3 i a wtlve
s a nbooks
d r e gof
u i the
a t i oBible'
nsgiventothe
generally,the
peopleof Israelby God ihroughfUor.r, o. *o..
affectedthe
(then) incurablediseaseof reprosy,which iirst
Leper one who is afflicted with the noseand ears'
turning it white, then eating awaythe i-reshof the tingers and toes, lips and
skin
endedin death
Often .uur*d blindnessand inevitably
Gorl io ser-"zr-
of Jacob. The Le,;iteswere chosenby
Levite A rnemberof the tribe of Levi, son and courai-le
tbllowing a demcnstraiionof taithftilness
as priestsin the l-abernacleanciremprl
rlescribedin ExoduschaPter32
conceptsof reasonand speechpersonified'
Logos Greektbr".word'.,but includesthe

MemraTheHebrewwordequivalenttotheGreek.logos',butwithdifferencesinmeaning
accordingto iewishthought

candlestickor lampstand
Menorah A seven-branched

MesopotamiaLiteraily,.Thelandbetweentherivers',thatis,theTigrisandEuphrates.

MessiahLiterally,.Theanointedone',thesonofGodintheflesh.

M e s s i a n i c m i r'a' c l e M i r a c l e s t h a t a c c o r d i n g t o t h efhat
P h ano
r i sother
e e s 'could
onlyMdoe s s i a h c o u i d d o H e w a s t o
u
-v!^r:r-,
r r r L . r ",. 1-,"-.,:r: Lrl<ll nf miracles
De l U C l l t l l l C L l u ) r r r r

guidebookof
the traciitionsof the Erders. The
Mishnah The corlectionof writings recording
the Pharisees.

MoabThelancieastoftheDeadSea,nowpartofmociernJordanNamedafter{-ot,sscn.
 t
:
Mosaic Covenant The agreementbetweenGod and Moseswhich requiredlsraelto observethe
{;13laws gir,'eilcn Mt Sinai"and to be a light to the Gentiies. in return,the Creatorof all thines
rvouidbe ihe ilod oi lsraei anciiie .,voulciclwell with thern.

F{isan The irrst month in the F{ebrewcaiendar.{Also cailed ebib'.}

ParaLrie A story told ta re'reaispiritualiruth to believers-and io hide it tiom unbelievers.

Pharisees A schooiof Rabbisextantin -iesus'ciay,who generallyopposedhls ieachingsand

rejectedhis miraclesas the ',aorkoi'Satan. Thev madegreat show-cf obser.zing iiie ietteroi'the
iaw but they diclnot keep it in spirit. They were spirituailybiind, hypocritesanciproud.

Phylactery A smail leatherbox containingportionsof fbur Scripturres {Ex. I 3 i - 10, I I - i 6,

Deut.6:z{-9,i i: i3-21}.These.were
tied to the fbreheadandto the leti arin and'vvoril ilt ihe time
of rnorning prayers This customtreganaboutthe secondcentury AD ancjperhapswas an
attemptto show that they were keepingthe commandmentof Mosesin Deut. 6:8.

Pilpul A tbrm of Jewishlogic, in which secondarylaws were derivecifiom the l-aws of,Moses

Fublican A tax collectorfor the Romangovernment,eitherincometax, or customs.Publicans

were despisedby the Jews,andby the Phariseesin particular. They were consideredto be of the
samesociaiclassas prostitutesand spirituaiivworse than centiies

Rabbi A Jewishteacherof the Scriptures.

Sabhath fhe seventhday, a day of rest trom everydaywork, and a day of worship

SadduceesA Jewishsectof the priestlyaristocracywhosepolicy was secularand pragmatic

ratherthan religious and ideological. They differed in doctrine fiom the Phariseesin rhat rhev
did not acceptthe authoritv of the Old TestamentScriptureseNcepttbr the five books of Vloses
only. They did not believein angelsor in the resurrectionof the dead.

Salvation Deliveranceftorn sin,judgementand hell, on the basisof the sacrif-rce

of an innocent
substitute,capableof satisfyingthejust demandsof a holy and riehteousG<;d

Sanhedrin The ruling counciiof the Jews,numberingTl judges(Priests,Elders,Rabbis,

Phariseesetc.)presidedover by the F{ighpriestand meetingfrom time to time in.trerusalem.
They were permitteda great degreeof {ieedom by the Roman government,but were not
permittedto executethe deathpenalty.

Satan The devil, fbrmerly i-ucifer,the anointedcoveringcherubclosestto God. F{eibil by

reasonof his pride and now opposesGod and aii who woulclbe godly.

Shekinah Literally Hebrew'dwelling'" but is useciof the visibie manifestationof God's

presencein the tbrm of light. fire cr cloud. :\lways associated
with the glor;vr>l'Gcei.;c thatthe
'shekinah
Glory' mentioneciul "iewishwriringsilieans'The Dwelling clor5,'

Sheol i-iebrewibr" the wortrdof the dead,the grave cr heii, dependingon context.
 I
II
Showbread Loavesoibread in the Tabernacleexchangedeachweek ibr lreshi,raves.*rey
svmbolisedthe spirituallbod obtainedas men met with Gorl.
.!:le
Son of,Davicl A -rewisntitle tbr the \zfessiah
who woulcicertainlv a *escenciant
of'David

Sopher {Pl. Sophrim) Lit. Scribes.JewishRabbisfiom the ciaysof Ezra,'whoseonginai

,\,asio expcundihe word o1'G.:rl Tlreli laterbegan1.oiia.nrenew la."vg
iiesisnei icr
irltrpose
reclucethe risk of breakingGod's Laws as given to Moses,but in:lo doing thev ber;arireleqaiis'ts

Synagogue A houseof worshipotherthanthe tempie. Whiie there.wasonly one ternple.there

were svnagogues in every significanttown. The synagoguewas the centreoiJewish worship
and authorityand also a centreof educationfbr Jewishmaies.

Tatlernacle A tent of ornatedesignusedas a portabletemple.Usedby Israelat God's

ccrnmandrintii they settledin the land cf Canaan.The tabernacler.vassuperseded
by the first
lempiebullt by king Solomonin Jerusalem.

Talrnud The writingsof the Sophrim.Tanaimand the Amoraim. A. voluminouscomrnentaryon

the Old Testamentbv JewishRabbisand teachersof the [.aw. Cornpiledover a periodof fi'zeor
sir ceiituries

Tana (Fl.'fanaim)The secondschoolof Rabbiswho completedthe writings known as the

Mishnahshortiybeforethe birth of Christ.

Torah The Jewishterm fbr the Old Testament

ie.
Tnlnity From tri-unitv, a conceptin which therearethreepersonsmanit.estin the Godheaci,
but alwavsaci in
Father,Son and Holy Spirit The ihiee personsne\er act inciepenoently,
harmoniouscommunion. They delight in loving and unbrokenfbllowship.

Unpardonable sin The nationairejectionby israel,of the Messiahshipof Jesuswhiie he was

present,on the groundsofbeing denron-possessed.

Veil A heavycurtainthat separated the holy of holiesfrom the most holy placein the tabernacle
and latenthe temptre.lts tunctionrvasto hidethe ark of the coveniintand the Shekinah,'lorlt
fis3mthe view of'the nenni,=t',nrhnli,-ellyseparatingGcd in nis hoiinessttcm inan in iris
sintulness.

Yeshu:r Hebrewnamemeaning'Jehorrah saves'or'salvation' In Engiishit becomes'Joshua'

g ealb r i eiln [ - l i k ei . 3 i .
a n d i n G r e e k i t l r e c o m e s ' J e s uTsh' e n a m e g i v e n t o t h e [ - o r d b v t h e a n G