The King is Here

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, 

to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" Luke 4:16-21

I seriously can't help but sit here and grin as I read this passage. I'll refrain from using the word I want to use to describe Jesus' demeanor in this passage, sparing you all of its inappropriate nature, but let's just say Jesus is straight fearless and indomitable. Just imagine him walking into the synagogue. Nobody really knows who he is. Back then it was often the custom to afford any visitors in a synagogue the opportunity to speak or read to the congregation. So Jesus, being the unknown, casually struts to the front. He is given a passage from Isaiah 61 wherein the prophet Isaiah is addressing the deepest questions and needs of our human history. 

Isaiah prophesied years ago to God's people that one day, a King would come and fulfill this passage. Ever since, people have been left asking, "Is it really possible for someone to come and make things right? Is there such a person who can establish justice, peace, and righteousness once and for all? Is it possible for the weary soul to be set free from the burden of captivity? When will this constant brokenness end?"

Jesus, in know uncertain terms, answers these questions with a resounding yes! He essentially answers, "I am Him. I am that King, and I am here right now! I am the One who comes to restore life and reclaim what has been broken. I have that kind of authority and power. Now, turn from being the king of your own little kingdom, and turn to me and my Kingdom, where I rule and reign with love and righteousness."

This is such an incredible announcement. I wonder what it would have been like sitting there and seeing Jesus roll up and hearing him speak these words. Either his words have no meaning and he is completely delusional and belongs in a mental hospitable. Or, he is who he says he is and his words have infinite weight that demand a response. Our response is either to fall at his feet in repentant joy that the King is here, or we continue on our way, choosing to live in self-autonomy. 

The Intention of Jesus

A rough draft of a paper I wrote answering the question, "What was the intention of Jesus?"

What did Jesus intend to accomplish in his first-century earthly ministry?

This paper holds that the intention of Jesus’ first century earthly ministry was nothing less than to restore life. Admittedly, a two-word answer for such an open ended and weighty question may seem a bit simplistic and incomplete. Throughout all four Gospels, Jesus makes numerous claims as to his intentions; and many of them are quite different. How can we boil the intentions of Jesus down to just two words? However, as this paper will show, when all of what Jesus did and said in his first century earthly ministry is taken and understood collectively, it rightly fits under the over arching intention to restore life.  This can be seen in the grand narrative of Scripture, as well as in Jesus’ own words and actions.

                  Before we examine Jesus’ words and actions, it is first fitting to define our terms. In saying that Jesus intended to “restore”, I am proposing that Jesus came to reclaim or bring back a certain something to an originally intended condition. In other words, Jesus’ aim is to bring things back to the way they are supposed to be. He is reclaiming what has been lost. In this instance, the certain something is “life”.  Therefore, Jesus came to reclaim or bring back life to its intended, God given condition and purpose.

                  To further understand Jesus intentions to “restore life”, we must go back and ask ourselves what were God’s original intention s for life, and what happened? The creation account in Genesis captures several significant features that help us to understand what true “life” is. Primarily, humans were created to be God’s image bearers (Genesis 1:27). This tells us several things. First, it lays out the Creator-creature distinction. Humans are not God. Rather, for our benefit, we (as God’s creatures) were created to live under God’s righteous and loving reign. As God’s image bearers, “life” consists of several roles and relationships; the most central being our vertical relationship with our God. Humans were created to know and be known by their Heavenly Creator. We were made to be worshippers of the one True and Living God. In addition, under God’s reign “life” is meant to consist of thriving and unbroken relationships with others. Our last role is one of steward. As God’s image bearers, “life” consists of having dominion over and stewarding God’s glorious creation (Genesis 2:15). Therefore, “life” as God originally intended it to be consists of three relationships. First and most importantly, we were meant to live under God’s righteous and loving reign wherein we know God and are known by him in an unhindered fashion. Further, this vertical relationship was meant to define our horizontal relationships with God’s creation, both among other image bearers (humans) and also among His creation.  To describe the condition wherein these three image-bearing relationships are harmoniously thriving under God’s reign, the Old Testament used the word ‘shalom’. Human beings were meant to live in ‘shalom’ where there is a deep contentment, peace, and wholeness.

                  Yet, as the story goes, this “life” which was the intended condition for God’s creation was lost when Adam and Eve fell. The result was utter brokenness existing in all three of our image bearing relationships. Rather than living under God’s righteous rule and reign, humans choose to live under their own self-autonomy. Because of this, all facets of life are broken; nothing exists as it’s meant to. Strife dominates our relationships with others, false gods control the affections of our hearts, sickness and death rule our physical bodies, and stewarding creation is strenuous. In essence, as we rebel against God’s eternal, righteous, loving rule and reign over our hearts, shalom is lost; all of life is broken.

                   It is into this context that Jesus must be introduced. Throughout the ages, there was an expectation among God’s people that one day He would send someone to restore this righteous and loving reign among his people, thus restoring life. Jesus was this Messiah. Although God’s ethnic people (the Jews) often had a misunderstanding of what God’s Messiah would actually accomplish, it is clear as we look at the grand narrative of the Old Testament that Jesus in fact is the Messiah who would “restore life”.

                  Viewing Jesus through this lens, it is possible to make sense of his actions as well as the numerous claims he makes regarding his intentions. For example, Jesus’ central message in his earthly ministry was the good news that the Kingdom of God was at hand (Mark 1:15). In essence, Jesus was declaring that He came to reclaim God’s rule and reign over His creation.  In doing so, Jesus invites human beings to come under his loving authority, in order that their image bearing may be restored to the fullness for which it was created.  Jesus’ came to earth preaching repentance, since in order to enter God’s Kingdom, we must first relinquish our self-autonomy. Along with Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God, Jesus demonstrated his authority both in his teachings and actions. His teachings were in direct contrast to our misconceptions of what “life” is supposed to be and were often aimed at rewiring the ways in which the Fall had distorted our worldviews. His actions often consisted of physical healings and casting out demons, which not only demonstrated his authority over the physical laws and evil powers, but also goes to show the breadth and depth of restoration Jesus aimed at accomplishing. Jesus’ intentions weren’t solely aimed at forgiving sins, or merely teaching people some good life lessons. Rather, Jesus’ intentions were to holistically restore all of life. His intentions were to reverse all the facets of the Fall and to bring the loving rule of God into all areas of life. Jesus came to bring back a total sense of image bearing shalom.

                  This brings us to the pinnacle of Jesus’ ministry. We have seen that Jesus’ came to reclaim God’s rule and reign in the hearts of men to once again bring them into a right relationship with Him. He came proclaiming this good news of the Kingdom, teaching, and healing every disease and affliction (Matthew 4:23). His ministry was holistic, and intended to reverse the multi faceted effects of the Fall. But, how did Jesus do this? The pinnacle of Jesus’ earthly ministry was indeed his death and resurrection, by which he accomplished His intentions to restore life. Jesus knew his entire life was ultimately leading up to the time when we would die as a ransom (Matthew 20:28) and then rise (Mark 8:31). In order to restore life, Jesus had to die a substitutionary death in our place wherein he would absorb the full weight of the Fall. He took upon himself the separation and brokenness that existed between us and our Creator. Further, Jesus resurrected from the grave, thus conquering the power of Sin. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we are effectively able to have new life. His death and resurrection are the ultimate remedy to the multi faceted curse of the Fall. In his earthly ministry, Jesus’ intentions were to come that we may have life (John 10:10). He came to reclaim what was lost  (Luke 19:10) and restore what was broken. In his life, Jesus proclaimed this good news of God’s Kingdom and demonstrated it in word and deed. However, the ultimate way Jesus accomplished his intention to restore life, was through his substitutionary death and life giving resurrection. 

The New Testament's Multi-Dimensional Fulfillment of the Old

This was too good not to re-post

HT: Dane Ortlund

Seems to me that while it need not be the main point of every NT book, nevertheless every NT book in some way fulfills the hope of the OT, though each from its own perspective. One former prof of mine used to say that the NT is a 27-volume commentary on the OT. Truth to that.

Matthew fulfills the OT’s hope for a Messiah, a Christ, an anointed son of David who would save God’s people (1:21).

Mark fulfills the OT’s hope for a coming Son of God who would inaugurate God’s kingdom (1:1, 14–15).

Luke fulfills the OT’s longing for God to come and set right the world’s injustices—reversing rich and poor, oppressors and oppressed, satisfied and hungry, outsider and insider (19:10).

John fulfills the OT’s longing for the tabernacle/temple to do decisively what it was always meant to do—unite God and man in restored fellowship (1:14; 2:21; 14:6).

Acts fulfills the OT by bringing God’s mercy to the nations (1:8; 9:15).

Romans fulfills the OT by showing the supreme manifestation of the righteousness of God, in Jesus, bringing resolution to the constant OT tension between God’s justice and his mercy (1:17; 3:21–26).

1 Corinthians fulfills the OT by showing, in Christ, the climactic way in which God destroys the wisdom of the wise (1:19).

2 Corinthians fulfills the OT’s repeated pattern of strength through weakness (12:9–10), supremely in Christ (13:4), in whom all the promises of God are clinched (1:20).

Galatians fulfills the OT by showing that Jesus’ atoning work (3:13) at just the right time (4:4–5) is the reason that the real children of Abraham are those who are of faith (3:7–9).

Ephesians fulfills the OT by revealing the “mystery” long hidden—that Christ, by virtue of his death and resurrection, unites Jews and Gentiles in one renewed people of God (3:5–6).

Philippians fulfills the OT by showing that the church is the real circumcision (3:2–3).

Colossians fulfills the OT by showing that another Adam, likewise the image of God (1:15), has fulfilled the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28 to bear fruit and increase, so that we who are united to this second Adam can now do what the first Adam failed to do—bearing fruit and multiplying (1:10).

1 and 2 Thessalonians fulfill the OT’s hope of judgment on God’s enemies by showing that Jesus received this judgment, so that God’s punitive judgment, which is surely coming, now will fall only on those who reject Jesus (1 Thess 5:1–10; 2 Thess 1:5–12).

1 and 2 Timothy fulfill the OT by showing that the true warfare of God’s people is not against the Amalekites and Amorites and others but against sin and Satan (1 Tim 1:18; 6:12; 2 Tim 2:3–4), a war that cannot be lost because of the Savior anticipated in the OT (2 Tim 3:15).

Titus fulfills the OT’s underachieved efforts to redeem a people for God who are his own possession, zealous for good works (2:11–14).

Philemon fulfills the OT’s insistence that love be from the heart (v. 14).

Hebrews fulfills the OT’s longing for a perfect priest and final sacrifice to usher in the new covenant (8:1–13).

James fulfills the OT’s call for obedience to the law by showing that such obedience is fulfilled in one thing—active love (1:12; 2:8–26).

1 and 2 Peter fulfill the OT’s calling to Israel to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Pet 1:4–12)—a corporate fulfillment that happens only because of another fulfillment that is not only corporate but also individual, this time of Isaiah 52–53 (1 Pet 2:22–25).

1, 2, and 3 John fulfill the OT by showing that through Christ we are once more, like Adam, sons of God, and now able to fulfill the OT law through love (1 John 3:1 and passim).

Jude fulfills the exodus in the OT by showing that ultimately is was Jesus who provided this rescue (Jude 5; cf. 1 Cor 10:4).

Revelation fulfills the OT by showing that Jesus has conquered our great enemy, death, which was introduced in Eden (Rev 1:18; 21:4).

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Fulfilled in Jesus

 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, 

   “when I will make a new covenant  with the people of Israel 

   and with the people of Judah. 

It will not be like the covenant  I made with their ancestors 

when I took them by the hand  to lead them out of Egypt, 

because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them declares the LORD. 

 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel 

   after that time,” declares the LORD. 

“I will put my law in their minds  and write it on their hearts. 

I will be their God,  and they will be my people. 

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ 

because they will all know me, 

   from the least of them to the greatest,” 

            declares the LORD. 

“For I will forgive their wickedness 

   and will remember their sins no more.”

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah of a New Covenant that He would make with His people. It would be a new and better covenant. Whereas with the Old Covenant, God gave His people the law. Yet, they were never able to obey. They're hearts were sinful. They needed a heart transplant. With the Old Covenant, sin caused a separation of intimacy between God and His people. Though God was their husband, though He brought them out of Egypt, and gave them a King (David), and the prophets, Israel repeatedly turned from knowing God in an intimate way, as we were all created to know him. With the Old Covenant, God's people had to constantly atone for their sins through repeated sacrifices. They needed animal sacrifices and the work of the high priests for forgiveness.

However, the in the New Covenant, God fulfilled these things in Jesus. Through the New Covenant, we have a new experience of obedience, a new experience of intimacy with God, and a new experience of forgiveness. The Son came from heaven to earth, taking on human flesh, died on the cross, and resurrected in order to give us this new experience; in order that He would be our God, and we would be His people. 

In the New Covenant, we are united to Christ, and are therefore indwelled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us a new heart and new life. In our old life, we loved sin. We lived according to the flesh, according to the world. Our taste buds were for sin. Our delight was in sin. Yet, through Jesus, the Spirit dwells in us. The Spirit gives us new hearts; hearts that desire and long to obey God. The Spirit gives us new taste buds. Whereas in the past, sin tasted so good to our souls, it now is disgusting. Our taste buds long to feast on the things of God. We live according to the Spirit. God's law is no longer a burden, but it is a delight. It has been written on our hearts. (Romans 8)

In the New Covenant, we are united to Christ and therefore have an deep intimacy with God. Whereas before, sin and death inhibited us from having fellowship with God. Now, Jesus is our covenant representative. We have access to God through Christ. We were once enemies, but have been made friends. We were once fatherless, but are now called Sons/Daughters! The natural intimacy that Adam and Eve had with God before they rebelled can now be experienced. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me" (John 10:14), and "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:7)

Lastly, in the New Covenant, we have a new experience of forgiveness. This forgiveness is different from the Old Covenant in that it is COMPLETE. It is complete in that this sacrifice was once for all. It was for ALL the sins of His people. No longer would God's people have to look to repeated sacrifices of atonement for forgiveness. Rather, with the New Covenant, they would look to their New Covenant representative for forgiveness. The Son came to earth, and died as the all time sacrifice for sins. Our sin greatly angers God. Our sin deserves wrath. It deserves punishment. That is why in the Old Testament, people had to constantly atone for their sins. Something had to pay the price. God is just. Sin can't go unnoticed. But the gospel tells us that God has made a new Covenant, where He would do the most radical thing. His Son would come to earth, and take the once for all punishment for our sins. Even though we have been unfaithful from the beginning. God so loved the world that He (the Son) sacrificed himself on the Cross for His people's sins, once and for all. Let's look at a few verses from Hebrews and Romans...

"he (Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats or calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."  Hebrews 9:12

"But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:27

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith" Romans 3:23-25

"having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14