Episode Details

The people reported as having walked and talked with Jesus in the first century all saw him primarily as a Jewish Messiah.

Jesus and his disorganized, unarmed group of disciples re-imagined as a conquering hero leading an armed resistance against the Roman Empire [image created by Andrew … thanks Andrew!]

One particular Christian tenet that has been the hardest to wrap my brain around is the idea that Jesus was “fully human, and yet fully divine”. This week, we look at what the people who walked and talked with him thought, and whether that thinking changed over the course of his time on earth. So we grouped them into five different categories:

(1) before he was born: Mary and Joseph (his parents), Zechariah (temple priest), and the wise men from the east talked about this baby being the king of the Jews, being given the throne of David to reign over Jacob’s descendants forever, and restoring the covenant with Abraham. Note the very heavy emphasis on him coming to Jews and doing what a Jewish Messiah would do, rather than a cosmic, universal Savior sent to take away the sins of the world.

(2) at his birth: the shepherds were told he was the Messiah … Simeon, who had been waiting for “the consolation of Israel”, saw this baby as the Lord’s Messiah … and the prophetess Anna said the baby would bring the redemption of Jerusalem. Again, I’m hearing “Jewish Messiah”.

(3) Jesus himself said he came only to the lost sheep of Israel. How does this fit with him being a cosmic, universal Savior sent to take away the sins of the world? Or did he also see himself as the Jewish Messiah? (note: our guest this week will shed some light on this “false dichotomy”)

(4) during his public ministry: John the Baptist, Andrew, Philip, the Samaritan woman, Peter, the people at “the triumphal entry”, one of the two thieves on the cross, the Roman soldiers, and even unclean spirits … they all specifically referred to him as the Jewish Messiah (aka: king of the Jews … the Chosen One … the Christ).

(5) after the Crucifixion: at the Ascension, his followers asked “is this when you restore the kingdom to Israel?”, something that a Jewish Messiah was expected to do. Their sermons almost always took place in the synagogue (wher