Who Do Men Say That I Am

1
Who Do Men Say That I Am?

• Messianic Expectations and the Historical Jesus

2
Messiahs (Deliverers) in the Old Testament

• Moses delivered the children of Israel from
  Egyptian slavery established a new covenant with
  God.
• Cyrus the Great of Persia (Isaiah 45 1) a
  foreign king who conquered Babylon and freed the
  Jews to return to Judea.
• The Maccabees a priestly family of pious
  revolutionaries who drove out the Greeks.

3
Messianic Fervor gripped the Land

• Herod the Great proclaimed himself to be both
  king of the Jews and the messiah because he was
  rebuilding the Temple.
• It had been a 1,000 years since King David and
  the completion of the first Temple.
• Celestial Signs Haleys Comet, a super nova, and
  the conjunction of the planets.
• Judas the Galilean and his sons had initiated a
  pious Kingdom Movement.

4
The Jewish Sabbatical Year, 33-34 A.D.

• Jews enjoyed a special time of worship every
  seventh year -- established in Mosaic Law (Exodus
  23 10-11 and Leviticus 25 2-7).
• It required the release of all Jewish slaves.
• Jews could not plant, tend their crops, or sell
  their produce. Whatever grew belonged to the
  poor, widows, and orphans.
• The Romans assessed a special tax that was due
  the following year (i.e., 34-35 A.D.)

5
Jesus and the Sabbatical Year

• May explain why there were large crowds of idle
  farm workers in Galilee that year.
• Also explains why a religious reformer would be
  such a threat to both the Romans and the
  priesthood during Passover.
• Gives new meaning to the claim that Jesus was
  Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2 28 and Matthew 12
  8).

6
The Year of Jubilee

• Leviticus 25 8-17 A Jubilee Year would follow
  every seventh Sabbath Year.
• Leviticus 25 29-31 all debts were forgiven
  (usufruct) and all farm land reverted back to its
  original owners without payment to the owners
  the land belonged to God.
• The hated Roman Tax would be delayed.

7
Usufruct and the Jewish Jubilee

• Debt release had been a staple of the Middle
  Eastern theocracies, used by kings to claim
  power, raise armies, and suppress the aristocracy
  (example the Rosetta Stone).
• For Jews it was a religious proclamation.
• Rome didnt need it to raise an army and rabbi
  Hillel had found a way around it 50 years earlier
  when Herod was king

8
Did Jesus Proclaim the Jubilee Year?

• Isaiah 61 1-2 and Luke 4 16-30 The Spirit of
  the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord
  anointed me to preach good news to the poor . . .
  Proclaim release to the captives . . . Set at
  liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim
  the acceptable year of the Lord.
• Forgive us our sins as we forgive our debtors
  (Luke 11 4 and Matthew 612).

9
Or Was He Playing on Popular Themes to proclaim a
different kind of Kingdom?

• Whether he liked it or not, many of his most
  memorable sayings may have sounded revolutionary
  to the man in the street.
• Render unto God that which is Gods.
• Excitement over a proclamation of a Jubilee Year
  may explain the fickleness of the Palm Sunday
  crowd for one who comes in the name of the Lord.

10
Messianic Figures in the Dead Sea Scrolls

• The Righteous One / Malachi the great prophet of
  a new covenant, who would teach the people how to
  live in the end times a precursor.
• A Priestly Messiah the Interpreter of the Law
  who would purify the altar of God.
• The Prince of Light the Davidic king who would
  lead the sons of light in the final battle and
  establish the Kingdom of God.
• Enoch the Son of Man the final judge.

11
I. The Prophet / Messenger

• Deut. 19 18 And the the Lord said to Moses .
  . . I will raise up for them a prophet like you
  from among their brethren and I will put my
  words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them
  all that I command him.
• John 4 25-27 I know that the Messiah is
  coming when he comes he will show us all
  things. Jesus said, I who speak to you am he.
  See also Luke 24 13-27

12
The Return of Elijah The First Sign

• For Behold, the day comes, burning like an oven,
  when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be
  destroyed. . . But for you who fear my name the
  sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in
  its/his wings . . . And you shall tread down the
  wicked . . . on the day when I act, says the Lord
  of hosts. . . . Behold, I will send you Elijah
  the prophet before the great and terrible day of
  the Lord comes.
  Malachi 4 1-5

13
The Messenger of the New Covenant

• Malachi 3 1-2 Behold, I send my messenger to
  prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you
  seek will suddenly come to his temple the
  messenger of the covenant in whom you delight,
  behold he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But
  who can endure the day of his coming, and who can
  stand when he appears?

14
A Heavenly King (Psalm 110 1-3)

• The LORD says to my Lord (Adonai) Sit
  at my right hand, till I make your enemies your
  footstool.
• The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty
  scepter, rule in the midst of your foes!
• Your people will offer themselves freely on the
  day you lead your host in holy array.
  

15
A Priestly Messiah

• The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind,
  You are a priest for ever after the order of
  Melchizedek.
• The Lord (Adonai) is at you right hand he will
  shatter the kings on the day of his wrath. He
  will execute judgment among the nations, filling
  them with corpses . . . . Psalm 110 4
  6

16
Melchizedek?

• Genesis 14 17-24. Melchizedek, the king of
  Salem, is described as a priest of God Most
  High who brought out bread and wine to bless the
  patriarch Abraham. And Abram gave him a tenth
  of everything.
• He was thus a priest or holy man, but not a
  son of Aaron he was not even a Jew!

17
One Like A Son of Man

• I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like
  a son of man (bar nasha), and he came to the
  Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
  And to him was given dominion and glory and
  kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and
  languages should serve him his dominion is an
  everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away .
  . . . Daniel 7 13-14

18
What Role Did Jesus Expect?

• Mark 8 31 And he began to teach them that the
  Son of Man must suffer many things, and be
  rejected by the elders and chief priests and
  scribes, and be killed . . .
• Mark 9 12 the Son of man should suffer many
  things and be treated with contempt.
• Mark 9 31 the Son of Man will be delivered
  into the hands of men and they will kill him . .
  . .

19
The Signs of the Messiah

• Go and tell John what you see the blind receive
  their sight and the lame walk, lepers are
  cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised
  up, and the poor have the good news preached to
  them. Matthew 11 4-5

• In that day the deaf shall hear . . the blind
  shall see. . . And the poor shall exult in the
  Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 29 18-19
• Isaiah 35 5-6
• Isaiah 61 1

20
Dead Sea Scrolls Fragment 4Q521

• . . . The heavens and the earth will listen to
  his Messiah . . . Over the poor His spirit will
  hover and will renew the faithful with his power
  . . . He who liberates the captives, restores
  sight to the blind, straightens the bent . . .
  And the Lord (Adonai) will accomplish glorious
  things which have never been accomplished . .
  For He will heal the wounded, revive the dead,
  and bring good news to the poor.

21
The Suffering Servant of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53

• Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? My God, my God,
  why hast thou forsaken me? / this is my destiny
• I am poured out like water, all my bones are out
  of joint my heart is like wax, it is melted
  within my breast . . . . A company of evil doers
  encircles me they have pierced my hands and feet
  . . . They divide my garments among them, and for
  my raiment they cast lots.