Understanding Oneness
In earlier posts, we have shifted our focus between two ideas: the land and the people of Israel. This is not because I have trouble staying focused (some may beg to differ), but because this is how God writes his story. In fact, look at the word Israel – is it a person (aka Jacob) or a land (aka the promised land)? And the answer is … Yes!
The reason for taking time to understand the people and the land is that this background provides a foundational understanding for a Biblical definition of “Kingdom.” Consider, for example, the twin phrases “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” found in the gospels. They are often used interchangeably, and theologians have struggled to parse out the meanings of each. Perhaps that is the very point the Bible is making: they are not meant to be parsed; they are to be unified, a harmonized oneness, as Adam and Eve were originally one with the garden. This same harmony between people and land is reflected in the patriarch Jacob, as mentioned above, when God changed his name to Israel.
I Can See Clearer Now
Beginning with this post, we shift gears to consider how earlier conversations manifest in the New Testament. Much history had transpired since the closing of the Old Testament. That history included the transition of world power from Persian to Greek to Roman rule, the Greek cultural influence known as Hellenization, and the widespread use of the Greek language. Also, during the intertestamental period, the 2nd Temple and Apocryphal literature were produced and studied. And finally, Jewish religious sects came to prominence at this time; the Pharisees and Sadducees were well known, but the lesser-known Essene community, which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Against all the competing agendas, occupation by foreign military, and the influence of Greek culture, which threatened Jewish history, something was being birthed in Jewish people of faith. It was a bitter longing, an unrealized hope for the return of Israel’s glory and her king. The glory of Israel, led by David and his son Solomon, was a distant memory of a bygone era. Against this backdrop, a remnant still remained, people of faith, among them was a man named Simeon.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Luke 2:25-32
Simeon’s expectation was for the consolation and glory of Israel, which would come through the Messiah. It was with this hope and longing that the New Testament opens with these words.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Mathew 1:1
To an Israelite, the opening words of the New Testament could not have been clearer. In the first sentence are the basic building blocks of a kingdom. Abraham (from Mesopotamia, a land of ancient pagan idolatry) was called to a different land and to a relationship with Yahweh. We’ve already seen that a promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that land would be given as an everlasting possession. Stepping into that covenantal line from Abraham, David would rule as king over that land and its people from Jerusalem. Mathew is capturing this understanding with his opening statement. Later in this same chapter, Mathew again connects Abraham to David, and David to the Messiah (interrupted by the exile):
All the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
Mathew 1:17
Mathew is now writing to Abraham’s descendants, calling them to recognize Jesus as the promised messiah who perfectly fulfills the foreshadowed roles of Abraham and David.
Let me paraphrase what is being described. Israel, my people, after your storied history with Yahweh, he has restored you from exile back into your own land, even as the prophets foretold. And now the promised messiah has come in the flesh (telegraphed by Abraham and David) to reconcile you back to himself and restore the promised kingdom of David, your king.
Previously, God promised both Abraham and David that he would make their names great. But how long after they had died could that be accomplished; it would be through the promised offspring of both men …” Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
In speaking of Abraham, God said, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
Gen. 12:2
In speaking of David, God said, “And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.”
2 Samuel 7:9
Circumcision of the Heart – “I Guess God was Serious”
The purpose was understood: to reconcile the “lost sheep” and restore the kingdom. But before this can be completed, the people must repent and believe. This is why both John and Jesus begin their public ministries in the same manner, word-for-word.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mathew 3:2 – John the Baptist
Mathew 4:17 – Jesus the Messiah
Isn’t this the same thing God was after in the Old Testament, spoken through Moses and Jeremiah, a circumcision of the heart? (Deut. 10:12-16, 30:1-10; Jer. 4:4)
A few months later, following the initial events of the Lord’s ministry, he delivers a message capturing the heart and soul of what he desired of his people. It was a message of inner examination, repentance, and transformation. Once again, just as he did in the Old Testament, he called people to live differently from the world system. It was the way for his people to begin again, and now he was here to walk with them, teaching and demonstrating what it means to live as kingdom citizens. Let us notice the words in the heart of the Sermon on the Mount.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Mathew 6:9-10
The Sermon on the Mount certainly is about behavior, but not behavior like an outward circumcision only. Jesus wants behavior that flows from a changed heart (circumcision of the heart). It is not about acts done for the sake of appearance or with a hidden agenda, it is behavior that flows from purity, fidelity, integrity and truthfulness.
Jesus strategically places the Lord’s Prayer, discussing the kingdom, in the center of his sermon. A changed heart is essential to a restored kingdom. This is the day Jeremiah saw coming.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah
…
I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31
Rising Tensions
His name and his word were spreading, people were being healed and delivered, and the light was shining in darkness, as the prophets said. But others controlled the levers of power, those more concerned with their own positions and unwilling to upset the status quo. If they could somehow harness the influence of the itinerant rabbi, maybe he could be of benefit to them, but if not, well then?
In the early chapters of Matthew, there is already friction between the religious class and John the Baptist. John throws the first punch by calling them a brood of vipers, and Jesus follows up by telling the people their righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. (Math. 3:7; 5:20)
How are we to make sense of this back and forth between two groups who both claim to be serving God? The religious class apparently believed the kingdom could be achieved through power, authority, piety, keeping of law, and ceremony. Jesus and his cousin John also wanted to bring the kingdom, but for them it had to flow from the heart, from repentance, from a recognition of human pride and arrogance against the ways of God. Obviously, these two strategies are incompatible, hence the subsequent back and forth that unfolds in Mathew’s gospel.
In the next few chapters, the Pharisees raise issues of law, sabbath, and hanging out with the wrong crowd – issues of behavior without regard for the human heart. But beginning in chapter nine, the storyline takes a dramatic shift. The Pharisees no longer argue about external issues; the attack becomes personal. They call Jesus a blasphemer and accuse him of doing the miraculous by the power of Satan. In their minds, he is no longer a misguided prophet or errant teacher; no, he is persona non grata, enemy of all they hold dear. The astute reader will notice the rise in emotional intensity between chapters nine through twelve in the gospel of Mathew.
The healing of the man with a withered hand seems to be a major turning point. It was after this healing that the religious class regrouped and conspired against Jesus to see how they might destroy him.
But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known.
Math. 12:14-16
The communication eventually breaks down so badly between Jesus and the religious leaders that they conspire to have him executed. In Mathew 23, Jesus pronounces eight woes on them and their generation.
Obviously, the Father knew that Jewish leadership would reject the Son. The Lord even proclaimed it to them in the parable of the tenant farmers in Mathew 21. The rejection of their own Messiah allowed the gospel to go out to the nations, allowing Gentiles the opportunity to come to faith. Observe what is next called out (following the healing of the man) from the prophet Isaiah.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
Mathew 12:17-21
Restatement of Events
To restate what has occurred in the last few chapters, Jesus came to the land of Abraham’s calling. Through his teaching, healings, and presence with the people, he introduced them to the kingdom of heaven and invited them to enter that kingdom through repentance and choosing to live differently. The friction between Jesus and the Pharisees has been building and reaches a breaking point when they decide he must be stopped at all costs, by conspiring to kill him.
From this point onward in Mathew’s gospel, there is no bridging the gap between the religious class and the Messiah. The focus shifts to spending his remaining time teaching kingdom parables and preparing his disciples to reach the world after his departure; meanwhile, the Pharisees fret and scheme, hoping to catch him in a trap for a valid excuse to have him executed.
Rejection – The Sword Cuts Both Ways
For me, Mathew 23 is one of the saddest chapters. The religious class, for all their study, ceremony, and ritualized worship, was never able to move beyond their own myopic understanding of Yahweh’s big story. In the seven woes, the Lord calls them out in no uncertain terms.
Then in one final lament, Jesus mourns over his people, his land, and his city.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Mathew 23:37-39
After all of this, the religious class, secular leaders, and the common people decided it was time to put this man to death. During the ensuing trial, I want to highlight two events, but first, remember how Mathew’s gospel began:
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Mathew 1:1
As he stood before Caiaphas, the real question the religious class wanted to know was finally verbalized. Something deep inside the high priest wanted to know, but circumstances prevented him from accepting what he was about to hear.
And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Caiaphas wanted to know, are you the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head, are you the promised seed of Abraham, are you the kinsman redeemer, are you the ram caught in the thicket, are you Joseph saving his family, are you the one our people have hoped and longed for?
Jesus said to him, “You have said so.”
Jesus confirmed Caiaphas’s question but proceeded with more detail. As high priest, Caiaphas knew the scriptures well and certainly the messianic ones. Jesus borrowed two messianic passages from Psalm 110 and Daniel 7, respectively. He then linked them together for an incredible response.
But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Mathew 26:64-65
In other words, I am the one who sits at the right hand of the Most High, very God of very God; and I am the cloud rider who will return in glory with heaven’s armies. Yes, that is who stands before you now!
For Caiaphas, there was no misunderstanding about what he just heard. With the pressures of his colleagues, his position, the Roman occupation, the unruly crowd, the disruption this would cause to the status quo, and the theological dissonance he likely experienced, it was all too much to process.
Caiaphas’s question cut right through all the rhetoric and arguments; he understood that the Messiah would come from Abraham through the child of promise. He also knew the prophecies about how the Messiah would restore Israel’s glory, but not that the same Messiah would have to die for his people’s sins.
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”
Caiaphas has had enough. He then sends him to Pilate, who, as governor, was concerned about maintaining the peace. Lacking a background in Hebrew history and expectations of a coming Messiah, he was more concerned with a Jewish king who would rival the emperor, possibly inciting a revolt.
Pilate rejected a Messianic king who would sit on David’s throne, rivaling the emperor. And Caiaphas cannot comprehend how the coming king will be like Isaac, the son of Abraham, sacrificed on Mount Moriah. So, Jesus, the Messiah, Son of David (Solomon) and son of Abraham (Isaac), was rejected on both counts.
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Mathew 1:1
Where Do We Go From Here?
Where does this leave us? We have been building a case for Israel’s connection to the land, for the kingdom of God being established there, with its headquarters in Jerusalem, and for the Messiah to sit on David’s throne.
But now, at the end of the gospel story, Jewish religious leadership and Roman political leadership have both rejected him, conspiring together to have him executed. How will the ancient promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ever be fulfilled? How will the kingdom of God ever come to that land? And since the gospel has now gone out to Gentiles, how are they connected to this ancient story? And what about us in the 21st century? Are the ancient prophecies still in play? This is what we will discuss next.