Yeshua in Context » Yeshua as

Pre-Order Yeshua Our Atonement

yeshuain — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:58:28 +0000

Due for release December 20, 2012. You can pre-order now (US only, foreign orders please email me at yeshuaincontext at gmail to request a link to order).

PODCAST: Lamb of God #2

yeshuain — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:50:31 +0000

Sometimes we understand a story best only after we have read to the end. Like a detective story, the Gospel of John has some revelation that waits until 21:24. And when we read a second time, once we understand, there are some connections between Messiah, Passover, Temple sacrifices, and the eyewitness experience of the Beloved Disciple that add new layers of meaning to Yeshua as our Passover.

Lamb of God #2

PODCAST: Lamb of God #1

yeshuain — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:17:31 +0000

Passover is coming. It’s a good time to meditate on many themes. One that get’s less attention — I think — than it should is the lamb of God thread in the gospel of John. There is probably a lot more to it than you think. And it is good.

Lamb of God #1

Low and High Versions of the Yeshua Story

yeshuain — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:36:44 +0000

THE YESHUA STORY, LOW VERSION
At last, in the days of the Second Temple a great Son of Israel arose in Galilee. He was a Hasid whose piety and Spirit-endowment worked healings. He was a teacher who spoke of the kingdom, the malkhut hashamayim, the world to come. The Temple authorities and the would-be rabbis in Judea opposed him. His miracles bothered them, since he was not one of them. His fanatical following scared them and was enough to convince the Roman governor to kill him. But the God of Israel raised him and he ascended to be the heavenly Messiah. God revealed that the death of Yeshua was a substitutionary atonement for all who would believe. At the end of the age, God will send him back as the Messianic king.

THE YESHUA STORY, HIGH VERSION
The story of Israel is not simply on earth, but in heaven. The Ancient One would give dominion to the Divine One who is like a man (the Son of Man). In Galilee a man became known for his miracles and kingdom teaching. His followers thought he was simply a human Messiah, but some things did not fit. He did not heal by prayer, but by his authority. He forgave sins. He said he was Lord of the Sabbath. He said the Son of Man would suffer Israel’s tribulation in himself. He rose and ascended and then they knew him to be the Divine Messiah and Redeemer, the Son of Man who received all authority from the Father. God himself, the Son and not the Father, had become a man. God himself took on humanity to raise humanity toward divinity. God himself experienced death to free us from death. The Radiance of God has been among us and will come again.

What difference does it make which version we believe?

Moses-Like Prophet in John

yeshuain — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:11:12 +0000

In the fourth gospel, Deuteronomy 18:15-22 is a key passage. It’s language (from the Septuagint or Greek version) is echoed throughout the gospel of John. Much of the Father-Son language in John comes from concepts and phrases in Deuteronomy 18:15-22, the Torah passage about the Prophet who is to come. Of course, the Deuteronomy passage is in one sense talking about the office of a prophet (and so, in that sense, all prophets like Samuel, Elijah, Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah fit the meaning of the Deuteronomy passage). Yet the Prophet in Deuteronomy was also interpreted in another sense (as evidenced in the gospels) as a singular Prophet who would be greater than Moses. One could argue that this is not what the Deuteronomy passage intended, but there are two answers to this:

(1) The multiple meanings of an important scripture may become evident over time as events unfold.

(2) God at times may fulfill expectations (ones he approves of) regardless of the plain meaning of prophecies.

From Dale Allison, I learned of the New Moses theme in Matthew. From Raymond Brown’s commentary I first learned of the Prophet theme in John. But it is from Paul Anderson’s The Christology of the Fourth Gospel that I learned how much this theme really plays into the fourth gospel.

Statements and Concepts from Deuteronomy 18:15-22

Like Moses: “God will raise up for you a prophet from among your own people, like myself.”
To be obeyed: “him you shall heed.”
God’s voice to terrible to hear: “Let me not hear the voice of the Lord my God any longer.”
No one can bear the sight of God: “…or see this wondrous fire any more, lest I die.”
God gives him words: “I will put My words in his mouth.”
He says only what God shows him: “He will speak to them all that I command him.”
God judges, not the prophet: “If anybody fails to heed the words he speaks in My name, I myself will call him to account.”
Unauthorized prophets anathema: “any prophet who presumes to speak in My name…that prophet shall die”
Signs will reveal the identity of the Prophet: “If the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the oracle does not come true, that oracle was not spoken by the Lord.”

Yeshua as the Prophet-Like-Moses in John

Statements that explain Yeshua as the fulfiller of Mosaic roles: 1:17; 3:14; 6:32; 7:19.”Law was given through Moses; grace and truth through Yeshua.”
Statements that Moses wrote concerning Yeshua: 1:45; 5:46. “Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.”
Onlookers identify Yeshua as the Prophet: 6:14. “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!”
Yeshua says what he has seen and heard from the Father: numerous references including 14:24, “the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”
Hearing Yeshua requires believing in him: numerous references including 5:24, “he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Rejecting Yeshua is rejecting the Father: 5:37-38; 8:47; 12:46-48. “You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent.”
Yeshua speaks only the words he receives: numerous references including 7:16, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me,” and 5:19, “The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.”
Yeshua offers signs of his authenticity as the Sent Prophet: numerous references including 10:38, “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
The name of Yeshua the Prophet carries great weight: numerous references including 15:16, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
The Father judges for not heeding the Prophet: 3:16-18; 12:47, “If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”
Yeshua word as the Prophet is the standard of judgment: 12:28, “the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.”
Yeshua accused of speaking presumptuously and being a false prophet: numerous references including 7:12, “He is leading the people astray.”
Yeshua foretells his suffering accurately: 13:18-19, “I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.”

Paul Anderson’s list in The Christology of the Fourth Gospel (lxxiv-lxxviii) is much more detailed and elaborate.

See “Why Yeshua? A Jewish Question,” for a prelude to this article.