Ragnar, Author at Croatian

June 10, 2022

The Revived Woman paired with the Resurrected Son

We have gone through portraits of Jesus presented in the Gospels by looking at him through his Jewish lens. In doing so we have seen two over-riding themes.

Jews have led in making contributions to mankind in many fields of activity. However, their story is mixed with immense suffering and sorrow.
Jesus has participated, even headed, this totality of Jewish experience. We see this in the numerous parallel patterns. We review and look at a few more, including the modern revival of Hebrew and the Festivals prescribed through Moses.

Jewish Contributions to Mankind’s Progress

Consider the following in light of the fact that the total Jewish population is 15.2 million, 0.19% of the 8 billion worldwide population.

From 1901 to 2021 Jews have accounted for 22% of all worldwide individual recipients for all of the Nobel Prizes. (summing all the chemistry, literature, physics, economics, medicine, and peace prizes of the Nobel Prize series)
Jews have been awarded 38% of the US National Medal of Sciences.
Japan’s coveted Kyoto Prize (both for arts and sciences achievements) has been awarded to Jews 24% of the time.
The Grande Médaille of the French Academy of Sciences has been awarded to Jews 48% of the time.
Of the members of the Scientific British Royal Society (wiki summary) 26% have been Jewish since 1901.

We have surveyed Jews who have significantly impacted modern society:

We learned how Jews led in the initial development of the first alphabet. Innovation on many fronts continues to overflow from them. They have blessed the world by being a light to the nations.

Jewish Sorrows

But it is not as though Jews have had an easy time riding the wake of success. The stories of Anne Frank, Simon bar Kochba, the Maccabees, Richard Wurmbrand, Natan Sharansky, and the repeated expulsions of Jews across Europe culminating in the Holocaust illustrate this. Humankind has been beset with many problems of racism down through history. However, Jews are the only people for which a term for unsuppressed hatred and persecution specifically against them needed creating (anti-Semitism). Along with their propensity for innovation, an adversarial principle seems to continually confront them.

In fact, Jewish success often raises the fears of others that they control society, harboring sinister intentions to take over. These fears, though unfounded, seem to spread through many social sectors. Many times they have been the cause of anti-Semitic outbreaks.

On other occasions, success for certain Jews has raised questions resulting in backlashes against Jews as a whole. The Russian oligarchs associated with Russian President Putin serve as an example. Of the 210 Russian oligarchs worth more than $1 billion, 20 of them, or 10%, are Jewish. This is far above the per capita Russian Jewish population at 0.16% of the Russian population. Prominent among these Russian-Jewish oligarchs are Roman Abramovich, Petr Aven, Boris Berezovsky, Mikhail Fridman, Vladimir Gusinsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Alexander Smolensky. Six of the top seven Russian oligarchs are Jewish. This weighting has started creating the impression that the oligarchs are all Jewish. Here again, Jewish talent has exerted a disproportionate influence. So with the scrutiny of the oligarchs, some fear a coming anti-Semitic backlash.

The Power Shaping Jewish Destiny

So how to explain Jewish ability as well as their history of sorrows? We explored an adversarial spirit pitted against them here. The Bible presents their complete situation as even more complex than that.

At the call of Abraham 4000 years ago, the One Calling him declared:

²“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12: 2-3

Abraham and Moses in Historical Timeline with Jesus

Then five hundred years later (1500 BCE) this Same Presence, through Moses, pronounced Blessings & Curses. Moses predicted these would shape global history going forward, and they have.

Later (750 BCE), Isaiah, also in the name of that Same Power, predicted repeatedly that:

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
Isaiah 42:6

Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 60:3

These pronouncements line up with what we see recorded in history, and also happening in the world today. History did not have to follow the path of these decrees after Isaiah wrote them down thousands of years ago.

But it did.

It still does.

We should take note.

This shows a single-minded Intent, Purpose and Power behind these statements demonstrating itself through history. Intent and purpose come only from persons. Since this intent and purpose spans thousands of years it cannot come simply from human purposes. God shows His Hand through these Promises.

Was Christ the Messiah? Christians and Jews Disagree - BahaiTeachings.org — Light to the Nations

Jesus leads the Jewish Experience

We also saw that Jesus participated with his fellow Jews in the totality of their experience. He did so both in its heights and its depths. It is not just that Jesus’ career has similarities with that of some well-known Jews. But his experiences match that of the Jewish nation. He typifies national Israel.

Jesus’ Resurrection & the Jewish Hebrew Revival

For example, Jews underwent a national death when the Romans expelled them from the Biblical land. They remained exiled for 1900 years, during this period, their national language, Hebrew, died. For hundreds of years, Jews ceased to speak Hebrew in everyday conversation. People cannot live without their native language, but the Hebrew language recently revived.

The revival of Hebrew began when the Russian-born Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, self-taught in Hebrew, chose to speak Hebrew with fellow Jews in Paris on October 13, 1881. This recorded the first time in hundreds of years that Hebrew had been spoken in everyday conversation. Shortly afterwards, moving to Jerusalem, Ben Yehuda tried to persuade other Jewish families to speak Hebrew. He developed dictionaries, wrote plays for children in Hebrew and published a Hebrew newspaper.

His efforts met with limited success since after ten years only four families spoke Hebrew conversationally. Obstacles loomed. Parents were reluctant to educate their children in Hebrew, an impractical language since no one spoke it. Hebrew schoolbooks did not exist. However, by the early 20^th century Hebrew began to gain traction. Today over 9 million people speak it. As Wikipedia says of the revival of Hebrew:

The process of Hebrew’s return to regular usage is unique; there are no other examples of a natural language without any native speakers subsequently acquiring several million native speakers,
Wikipedia

Jesus died and then rose from the dead, a one-of-a-kind event. In the same way, Israel died and then came alive again as a nation with the one-of-a-kind revival of Hebrew.

Jesus and the Torah Festivals

Jews, as a nation, celebrate the festivals prescribed through Moses 3500 years ago. As a nation they celebrate Passover, Sabbath, First Fruits and Pentecost. These festivals partly embody and define them as Jews.

Jesus underwent his:

Thus, Jesus embodies, represents, and experienced all the spring festivals as no other Jew, Moses included, has ever done.

Jesus’ career did not embody the remaining autumn Feasts prescribed by Moses. These occur in September-October: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. However, Jesus announced that he would return again and that the time of his coming would be precisely planned. His First Coming precisely matched the timing of all the spring festivals. So it stands to reason that his Second Coming will precisely match the timing of these fall festivals.

Revived and Returning

Here again, in the mere expectation of his Second Coming, we see Jesus’ career, viewed through the span of history, typifying that of national Israel. During their long exile from the Biblical land they celebrated the annual Passover in exile with the phrase that became a tradition: “Next year in Jerusalem“. As a nation, they anticipated a return to the Land. As a nation, they have returned within our lifetimes. Jesus, likewise, has left the Biblical land and has been absent for over 2000 years. But, like his nation, he has promised his return. He said that the return of the Jews to the Biblical land was a sign that his return was ‘near’. So he linked the two returns.

Reach Out to the Presence at Work

Many think of Jesus solely through the stained-glass window of Christendom’s history in Europe and the Americas. Therefore he is often seen simply as a dusty, (somewhat) historical figure who lived long ago. Perhaps he is a cultural relic that has some traditional value, but little potent relevance to our lives today.

But the Bible, from its beginning and right to its end, appended thousands of years later, presents him as the Offspring of the Woman (Israel). It also presents him as the Christ, destined to return and reign.

From the Beginning…

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15 (in writing as far back as we know, more details here)

To the last pages in its final book…

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ²She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth…
Revelation 12:1-2

_{^{Bartolomeo Cesi , CC0, via Wikimedia Commons}}

⁵She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
Revelation 12:5 (written 1st Century CE)

We can see in the news headlines today that the ‘Woman’ is reviving. Since the Son is hers, tangibly linked to her, then we would not be foolish to reach out to Him. If we do, even without complete understanding, then we can experience his promise that

…he is not far from any one of us.
Acts 17:27b

and

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3: 9

For Further Reflection

May 15, 2022

Cosmic Rhythm only God could Dance: From Creation to Cross

What is dance? Theatrical dance encompasses rhythmic movements, meant to be viewed by spectators and to tell a story. Accordingly, dancers coordinate their movements with other dancers, using different parts of their own body, so that their movements generate visual beauty and accentuate rhythm. Usually this coordination occurs in a repeating time interval, called meter. Researchers have documented the crucial role that rhythm plays in our lives. So it is not surprising if we see a similar tilt to rhythm in God’s outworking since we are made in His image.

The Cross: Dancing on the Serpent’s head

The Gospel emphatically declares that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus was God’s defeat of His Adversary. We see this right at the beginning of human history, when Adam succumbed to the serpent. The scripture back then (details here) had predicted to the serpent:

¹⁵And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15

*The Woman’s Seed would trample the serpent’s head*

So this foretold a coming struggle between the Serpent and the Seed or Offspring of the Woman. Jesus declared himself as ‘the Seed’ on Day 1 of Passion Week. Then he purposefully drove the conflict to its climax at the cross. Thus, Jesus allowed the Serpent to strike him, confident of his final victory. In so doing, Jesus trampled the head of the serpent, making the way to life. Summing up, the Bible describes His victory and our way to live like this:

¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Colossians 2: 13-15

Their struggle unfolded like a dance, in a rhythmic meter of ‘sevens’ and ‘threes’. We explicitly see this by looking at the Passion Week events of Jesus through the lens of Creation.

God’s foreknowledge revealed from the beginning of Time

How can we know if this was God’s Plan instead of some random events with no ultimate purpose behind it? Alternatively, could the Gospel story have simply been human-engineered?

We know that no matter how clever, gifted, eloquent, powerful, or rich someone is, they cannot foresee the future. No one has the ability to coordinate with events thousands of years into the future. Only God can possibly foreknow and predestine far into the future. So, if we detect evidence of this kind of coordination through history we can prove that he choreographed this drama. Thus, it would rule out chance or clever people behind the gospel.

In the whole Bible there are, in fact, only two weeks where the events of every day in the week are narrated. The first week, recorded at the beginning of the Bible, describes how God created everything.

The only other week with every day’s events recorded is Jesus’ Passion Week. No other Biblical characters have daily activities detailed for one complete week. You can read the complete Creation Week account here. Correspondingly, we went through each day’s events in Jesus’ Passion Week. The table below places each day of these two weeks side-by-side. The number ‘seven’, which forms a week, is thus the base meter or rhythm. Observe how all daily events correspond to one another even though separated time-wise by millennia. At the very minimum, because the Creation Week is included in the Dead Sea Scrolls the creation account was already in writing hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth. And textual criticism analysis of the New Testament reveals it has not been changed or corrupted.

So how to explain the coordination?

The Rhythm of the Two weeks

Day of week	Creation Week	Jesus’ Passion Week
Day 1	Surrounded by darkness God says, ‘Let there be light’and there was light in the darkness.	Jesus says “I have come into the world as a light…” There is light in the darkness (John 12: 46)
Day 2	God separates the earth from the heavens.	Jesus separates that of earth from that of heaven by cleansing the Temple as a place of prayer from commercialism.
Day 3	God speaks land to rise out of the sea.	Jesus speaks of faith moving mountains into the sea.
	God speaks again ‘Let the land produce plants’ and vegetation sprouts.	Jesus speaks a curse and the tree withers.
Day 4	God speaks ‘Let there be lights in the sky’ and the sun, moon and stars appear, lighting the sky.	Jesus speaks of the sign of his return – the sun, moon and stars will extinguish.
Day 5	God creates flying animals, including the flying dinosaur reptiles, or dragons.	Satan, the great dragon, moves to strike the Christ.
Day 6	God speaks and land animals come to life.	Passover lamb animals are slaughtered in the Temple.
	‘the Lord God … breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life’. Adam started breathing.	“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.” (Mark 15: 37)
	God places Adam in the Garden.	Jesus freely enters a Garden
	Adam is warned away from the Tree of Knowledge with a curse.	Jesus is nailed to a tree and cursed. ¹³But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” -Galatians 3:13
	No animal is found suitable for Adam. Another person was necessary.	Passover animal sacrifices were not sufficient. A person was required. ⁴It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; -Hebrews 10:4-5
	God puts Adam into a deep sleep.	Jesus enters the sleep of death
	God wounds Adam’s side with which He creates Adam’s bride.	A wound is made in Jesus’ side. From his sacrifice Jesus wins his bride, those who belong to him. ⁹One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” -Revelation 21:9
Day 7	God rests from creation	Jesus rests in death

Jesus’ Passion week in rhythm with Creation week

Adam’s Friday Choreography with Jesus

Events for each day across these two weeks correspond to each other, resulting in rhythmic symmetry like in a choreography. Then, at the end of both these 7-day cycles, first fruits of new life bursts forth into a new creation. So, Adam and Jesus link together, creating a composite drama.

Significantly, the Bible says of Adam that:

… Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
Romans 5:14

and

²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:21-22

By comparing these two weeks we see that Adam dramatized a pattern that prefigures Jesus. Did God need six days to create the world? Could He simply not have made everything with one command? Why then did He create in the order and with a structure that He did? Why did God rest on the seventh day when He cannot tire? He created in the timing and order that He did to demonstrate that He anticipated the events of Passion week from the beginning of human history.

This is especially true of Day Six – The Fridays of both weeks. Specifically, we see symmetry directly in the words used. For example, instead of simply saying ‘Jesus died’ the Gospel says he ‘breathed his last’, a direct inverse pattern to Adam who received the ‘breath of life’. Surely, such a pattern from Time’s beginning shows foreknowledge spanning time and the world. In short, it can only be a dance orchestrated by the Divine.

Subsequent Prophetic Events of the Divine Choreography

Subsequently, the Bible recorded specific historical events and festivals picturing Jesus’ coming. They were written down and recorded hundreds of years before Jesus walked on earth. Since humans cannot foreknow the future that far ahead, this provides further evidence that this was God’s drama, not man’s, nor simply random chance. The table below summarizes some.

Hebrew Bible	How it foretells the coming of Jesus
Sign of Adam	God confronted the serpent, announcing the Seed coming to crush the serpent’s head.
Sign of Abraham’s sacrifice	Abraham’s sacrifice (2000 BCE) was on the same Mountain where thousands of years later Jesus would be sacrificed. At the last moment the lamb substituted for Isaac so he could live. This pictured how Jesus the ‘Lamb of God’ would substitute and sacrifice himself for us so we could live.
Sign of the Passover	Lambs were to be sacrificed on a specific day – Nisan 14, Passover (1500 BCE). Those who obeyed escaped death, but those who disobeyed died. Hundreds of years later Jesus was sacrificed on this exact day – Nisan 14, Passover. Like those original Passover lambs, he died so we could live.
Where does ‘Christ’ come from?	The title ’Christ’ inaugurated with the promise of His coming – prophesied 1000 BCE.
Was Jesus the son of a virgin from the line of David?	The ‘Christ’ would descend from King David, but would be born from a virgin the ancient prophets foretold. Prophecies given 1000 BCE and 750 BCE and fulfilled in Jesus.
Sign of the Branch	The ‘Christ’ would sprout like a branch from a dead royal dynasty – prophesied 750 BCE and fulfilled in Jesus
The Coming Branch named	This sprouting ‘Branch’ was named ‘Jesus’ 500 years before he lived.
Suffering Servant gives his life for all	The prophecy foretelling how this coming Servant would serve all mankind in his death – 750 BCE. Fulfilled by Jesus in the manner of his crucifixion and his resurrection.
Christ Coming in ‘sevens’	The Prophetic Oracle foretelling when He would come, given through cycles of seven in 550 BCE. Fulfilled in Jesus by the precise timing to the day of his arrival to Jerusalem in 33 CE.
The Crucifixion Previewed	Vivid details of the crucifixion prophesied 1000 BCE – and fulfilled in the details of Jesus’ crucifixion.
The Son of Man Revealed	The vision of a Divine person coming on the clouds in the air is fulfilled in the only way possible by Jesus

Festivals & Oracles prophetically choreographed to Jesus

Your Invitation

The Gospel invites our examination. It also invites us to

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Revelation 22:17

The following are available to help both to examine and to ‘come’

May 10, 2022

Resurrection First Fruits: Life for you

The Jewish festival of First Fruits, is not as well-known as Passover. But First Fruits was also instituted by Moses under the command of God. Leviticus 23 describes the seven festivals prescribed through Moses. We have already looked at Passover and Sabbath and have seen how Jesus fulfills them in remarkable ways.

Isn’t it curious that both the crucifixion and death of Jesus happened exactly on these two festivals prescribed 1500 years beforehand?

Jesus’ crucifixion occurred on Passover (Day 6) and his rest occurred on the Sabbath (Day 7)

Why? What does it mean?

The next festival after Passover and Sabbath prescribed by Moses 3500 years ago was ‘First Fruits’. Moses gave these instructions for it.

**Hebrew First Fruits Festival**

⁹The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest,bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. ¹¹He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:9-11

¹⁴You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
Leviticus 23:14

‘The day after the Sabbath’ of Passover was this third sacred festival, First Fruits. Every year on this day the High Priest entered the Holy Temple and offered the first spring grain harvest. It signified the start of new life after winter. It looked towards a plentiful harvest, enabling people to eat with satisfaction and live.

This was exactly the day after the Sabbath when Jesus rested in death. It was the Sunday of the next week, Nisan 16. The Gospel records what happened on this day. The day when the High Priest went into the Temple offering ‘First Fruits’ of new life. See how First Fruits, now known as Easter Sunday, offers new life to you and me as this ancient Festival prophesied.

Jesus Risen from the Dead

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸Then they remembered his words.

⁹When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.¹¹But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Luke 24: 1-12

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;¹⁶but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²²In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning²³but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke itand began to give it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Luke 24: 13-35

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁶While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

³⁷They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?³⁹Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

⁴⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish,⁴³and he took it and ate it in their presence.

⁴⁴He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you:Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.⁴⁶He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.
Luke 24: 36-48

First Fruits Victory of Jesus

In rising from the dead, Jesus gained victory over death, exactly on the ‘First Fruits’ Festival. This was a feat that both his enemies and his disciples thought impossible. His victory on this day was a triumph of good.

⁵⁴When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
1 Corinthians 15:54-56

‘First Fruits’ brought about the greatest role reversal. Previously death had absolute power over mankind. But now Jesus has won power over death. He reversed that power. Jesus, by dying without sin, found the opening to defeat a seemingly invincible death. This was exactly as he had declared he would do when he entered Jerusalem the previous Sunday.

Victory for you and me

But this was not just a victory for Jesus. It is also a victory for you and me, guaranteed by its timing with First Fruits. The Bible explains:

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. ²⁴Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Jesus Destroyed Death
_{^{Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons}}

Jesus resurrected on First Fruits so we can know that he invites us to share in his resurrection from death. First Fruits was an offering of new spring life with the expectation of a great harvest later. Likewise, Jesus’ rising on ‘first fruits’ holds an expectation of a later resurrection for all ‘who belong to him’.

The Next Adam…

That quote above from the Bible explains Jesus’ resurrection using the example of Adam, the progenitor of all mankind. We are all his children. The Bible explains that through Adam death came to all mankind ,since it passed from him to his children.

But Jesus is the next Adam. With his triumph over death he inaugurated a New Age. As his children, we also will share in this triumph over death by resurrecting like Jesus. He resurrected first and our resurrection comes later just as the First Fruits festival pointed to the coming main harvest. He invites us to receive his first fruits of new life so our resurrection can follow his.

Easter: Celebrating that Sunday’s Resurrection

Today, we often call Jesus’ resurrection Easter, and Easter Sunday commemorates the Sunday that he rose. The specific way to celebrate Easter is not that important. What is important is the resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of First Fruits, and receiving its benefits.

We see this in the Timeline for the week:

*Jesus rises from Death on First Fruits – new life from death offered to you & me.*

‘Good Friday’ Reflections

This answers our question about why ‘Good Friday’ is ‘good’.

⁹But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9

When Jesus ‘tasted death’ he did so for you, me and ‘everyone’. Good Friday is ‘good’ because it was good for us.

Resurrection of Jesus considered

Jesus showed himself alive from death over many days to prove his resurrection, recorded here. But his first appearance to his disciples:

…seemed to them like nonsense
Luke 24: 11

Jesus had to:

²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Luke 24:27

And again later:

⁴⁴He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Luke 24:44

Rising from death is so unexpected that his disciples did not believe it at first. Apart from his appearances to them, Jesus had to also show them how the prophets predicted it.

When we are confronted with the claim of Jesus’ resurrection, we, like his disciples, probably find it hard to believe. How can we be confident that Jesus rose from the dead? How can we be sure if this is really God’s plan to give us everlasting life? To help us think through questions related to Jesus’ death and resurrection, we explore:

May 5, 2022

Day 7: Jesus in Sabbath Rest

A striking Jewish distinctive is their keeping of the Sabbath, which occurs every Saturday. This Jewish keeping of the Sabbath goes back 3500 years to when Moses instituted seven special festivals. Leviticus 23 describes all these seven festivals, six of which are celebrated annually (including Passover, which we looked at previously).

Sabbath Origins

But leading out the list of Festivals was the Sabbath. Today we call this Saturday, the weekly day the Jews were commanded to rest and not work. This included their servants and beasts of burden. All were to enjoy one day of rest out of the seven-day weekly cycle. This has been a blessing to all of us today since this seven-day cycle became the basis of our work week. The Saturday-Sunday weekend that we enjoy so much comes from this institution of Sabbath rest commanded by Moses.

Moses had commanded that:

The Lord said to Moses,²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

³“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
Leviticus 23: 1-3

Jesus keeps the Sabbath

Jesus in the Gospels disputed with the religious leaders of his day what Sabbath rest actually meant. But he did keep the Sabbath. In fact, we see him keep the Sabbath even in Passion Week. The day before, Friday on Day 6 of Passion Week had seen Jesus crucified and killed. The final event that day was his burial, leaving an uncompleted task.

⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56

The women wanted to embalm his body but time ran out and the Sabbath began at sundown Friday evening. This started the 7th and last day of the week, the Sabbath, when Jews could not work.

The women, though wanting to embalm Jesus’ body on the sabbath, in obedience to the command, rested.

…While others worked

But the chief priests continued their work on the Sabbath.

⁶²The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Matthew 27:62-66

So on that particular Sabbath the chief priests worked, securing a guard for the tomb, while the women rested. We may think it pointless to consider Jesus as also resting on that Sabbath. After all, the authorities had executed him so obviously he was resting in death. And stories of people always end with their death. But Jesus is different and it did not end there. He was resting on this Sabbath as all Jews should have been. But the next day, originally called First Fruits, saw him working again.

*Day 7: Sabbath Rest for Jesus’ body compared to Hebrew Regulations*

April 30, 2022

Day 6: Good Friday and Jesus the Passover Lamb

Jews celebrate several festivals that come from events unique to their history. One of their more well-known festivals is Passover. Jews celebrate this festival in memory of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt about 3500 years ago. Recorded in Exodus, Passover climaxed the Ten Plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt. For Passover, Moses instructed every Israelite family to slay a lamb and paint its blood on their house door frames. Death would then pass over their house. But houses without the blood on the door frames would see the oldest son die.

The first Passover occurred on a specific day in the Jewish calendar – Nisan 14. God, through Moses, instructed the Jews to celebrate this festival every year on Nisan 14. Now, as a part of their culture, Jews continue celebrating Passover every Nisan 14. Since the ancient Jewish calendar is lunisolar, Nisan 14 moves around in the modern calendar, occurring sometime in March – April.

Jesus on Passover

We have been looking at Jesus through his Jewish lens, and are going through every day of his Passion Week. Day 6 of that week, Friday, was Nisan 14- the Jewish Passover. A little review before covering the events of that Friday.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday, Day 1 of that week, he stood on top of Mount Moriah, where 2000 years earlier Abraham had prophesied that there a great sacrifice ‘will be’ (future tense) provided. Then after his entry Jesus declared:

*Confronting Serpent at Cross has given much artwork*

³¹Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
John 12:31

The ‘world’ would revolve around the struggle about to take place on that Mountain, between himself and Satan, the ‘prince of this world’, who had entered Judas on Day 5 to strike the Christ.

The Last Supper

Friday, Day 6 of Passion week began with Jesus sharing his last supper with his disciples. We reckon this was on Thursday evening. But since the Jewish day started at sundown, their Friday began on what we would consider to be Thursday evening. Here is part of Jesus’ discourse at that meal.

²⁷Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26: 27-28

Then he explained through example and teaching how to love one another and he talked about God’s great love for us. This is all recorded here from the Gospel. Afterwards, he prayed for all his followers (read here).

In the Garden of Gethsemane

Then, he began his all-night vigil in the Garden of Gethsemene, just outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane
_{^{Heinrich Hofmann, PD-US-expired, via Wikimedia Commons}}

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Matthew 26:36-38

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Matthew 26:36-46

The disciples could not stay awake and the vigil had just begun! The Gospel then describes how Judas betrayed him.

The arrest in the Garden

Judas leads soldiers to Gethsemane take Jesus

²Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)⁶When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

⁷Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

⁸Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ⁹This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

¹¹Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

¹²Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him ¹³and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.
John 18:2-13

Jesus had gone to the garden to pray. There, Judas brought soldiers to arrest him. If we are threaten to get arrested, we might try to fight, run or hide. But Jesus did none of these. He admitted that he was the person they were looking for. His clear confession (“I am he”) startled the soldiers so his disciples escaped. Jesus submitted to arrest and they took him away for interrogation.

The First Interrogation

The Gospel records how they interrogated him:

¹⁹Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

²⁰“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. ²¹Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

²²When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face.“Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

²³“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
John 18:19-24

So they sent Jesus to the high priest for a second interrogation.

The Second Interrogation

There they interrogated him in front of all the leaders. The Gospel also recorded this second interrogation:

⁵³They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. ⁵⁴Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

⁵⁵The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.⁵⁶Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.

⁵⁷Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: ⁵⁸“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹Yet even then their testimony did not agree.

⁶⁰Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶¹But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

⁶²“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶³The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. ⁶⁴“You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

They all condemned him as worthy of death. ⁶⁵Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
Mark 14:53-65

Jesus calls himself the ‘Son of Man’ in this exchange. This is a title full of prophetic meaning, which we explore here.

However, the Jewish leaders condemned Jesus to death. But since Romans ruled them, only the Roman governor could approve an execution. So they took Jesus to the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate.

Jesus interrogated by the Roman Governor

¹¹Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

¹²When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. ¹³Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” ¹⁴But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

¹⁵Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. ¹⁶At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. ¹⁷So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” ¹⁸For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

²¹“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

²²“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

²⁵All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”

²⁶Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Matthew 27:11-26

The Crucifixion, Death & Burial of Jesus

The Gospel then records the details of Jesus’ crucifixion.

²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. ³⁰They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. ³¹After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27: 27-31

The Crucifixion of Jesus

²¹A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²²They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

Two Rebels Crucified with him
_{^{After Peter Paul Rubens , FAL, via Wikimedia Commons}}

²⁵It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

²⁷They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³²Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

³³At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

³⁵When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

³⁶Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

³⁷With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

³⁸The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15: 21-39

*Jesus Crucified: The Most Depicted Scene of his life*

‘Pierced’ in his side

The Gospel of John records a fascinating detail of the crucifixion. It states:

³¹Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³²The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.
John 19:31-35

John saw the Roman soldiers pierce Jesus’ side with a spear. Out came blood and water separated, indicating that he died of heart failure.

Jesus’ Burial

The Gospel records the final event that day – his burial.

⁵⁷As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Matthew 27: 57-61

Day 6 – Good Friday

Each day in the Jewish calendar began at sunset. So Day 6 began with Jesus sharing his last supper with his disciples. By the end of that day, he had been arrested, put on trial many times throughout the night, crucified, pierced with a spear, and buried. Pain, sorrow, humiliation and death marked this day and so people remember it in solemn contemplation. But this day is called ‘Good Friday’. But how can a day of betrayal, torture and death ever be called ‘good’? We get a hint in Psalm 22, written 1000 years before Jesus.

Why Good Friday and not ‘Bad Friday’?

Jesus’ drinking the ‘cup’ given to him by his Father saved the world. It fell on Nisan 14, the same as Passover day, when sacrificed lambs saved the people from death 1500 years before. It is the same day when Jews remembered their deliverance from the death. The timing of Jesus’ crucifixion was coordinated to the Jewish Passover. This is why Passover occurs very close to Good Friday, with the variance explained in the footnote below[i]

The Sign on Mount Moriah at Passover

The location of his crucifixion, was on Mount Moriah just outside the gates of Jerusalem. This was the place where 2000 years before, a lamb had substituted for Isaac when Abraham offered him to God. Jesus’ crucifixion so clearly coordinates by date to the sacrificed Passover lambs and by location to the lamb sacrificed for Isaac. This is a sign that Jesus’ crucifixion forms the centre of God’s plan. It is not mindless faith to believe this, but it simply allows these historical facts to speak their significance. The chart for Friday, Day 6 of Passion Week shows this coordination through the centuries.

*Day 6 – Friday, compared to the Hebrew Torah regulations*

Accounts of men conclude with their deaths, but not Jesus. Next came the Sabbath – Day 7.

[i] Jesus was crucified on Passover, Nisan 14 of the Jewish Lunisolar calendar. But the standard calendar used internationally is the Gregorian calendar with its 365.24 days per year. So in the 3^rd Century CE, church officials devised another way to calculate Good Friday and Easter for this calendar. Easter Sunday was set to the first Sunday after the first full moon following the March 21 equinox. Since Jewish months are lunar, Nisan 14 will always land on a full moon. With the revised method to calculate the date of Easter, the festivals of Passover and Easter are usually close together. But they are not generally on the same day.

April 25, 2022

Day 5: Through Treachery Satan coils to strike

Jews have been persecuted, loathed, feared and mistreated in many ways and this is recorded both in the Bible and in history outside it. Of course, many people have experienced persecution and discrimination at the hands of other nations. But history demonstrates a tendency to inevitably target Jews in a unique way over other groups. A special word has been coined to label discrimination specifically against Jews – antisemitism. This demonstrates the enduring peculiarity of their mistreatment. But the most perplexing aspect of antisemitism is that it is not confined to one time period, one region of the world, or simply a small group of perpetrators.

A Brief List of Anti-Semetic events

For example, consider these:

The movement led by the Persian official Haman to annihilate the Jews in the ancient Persian Empire, about 480 BCE. The Book of Esther records account and it forms the basis of today’s Jewish Purim festival.
The Greek Seleucid campaign to wipe out Judaism from the Biblical land of Israel in the 160’s BCE. This then resulted in the Maccabean Wars.
The Roman destruction of, and Jewish expulsion from, Jerusalem in 70 CE to worldwide exile. Later on the Romans renamed Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina to eradicate anything Jewish from Judea.
The massacring of Jews across Europe and also in Jerusalem through the Crusades of the 1100’s and 1200’s CE.
The forcing of Jews to live in segregated and walled parts of cities across Europe. These were widespread from mid- 16th century to 19th century. These were called ‘ghettos’ and this is the historical basis for this word.
The ‘pogroms’ or massacres of Jews in 19th century and early 20th century in Imperial Russia (including Ukraine and Poland). In the pogroms thousands of Jews were killed and raped. ‘Pogrom’ is thus one of a few Russian words that came into English from this specific Russian persecution of Jews.
The Dreyfuss affair in France in 1890’s resulting in mass discrimination against Jews in France.
The expulsion of Jews from across the Arab world after 1948.
The Spanish expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492.
The British expulsion of Jews from England in 1290.
The expulsion of Jews from southern Italy in 1541.
The periodic expulsions of Jews from France, Germany, and other Kingdoms across Europe throughout Middle Ages (see map)

Medieval ghetto
Russian pogroms
Dreyfuss affair
The annihilation of Kaifeng Jews in Imperial China — Historical Expulsions of Jews across Europe

Causes of Antisemitism

But what causes antisemitism? Wikipedia, in its series on antisemitism, can show many instances of antisemitism through history and across cultures, but cannot point to a definitive cause that explains it. The difficulty with any explanation is that it cannot adequately explain both the breadth and long history of antisemitism. A racial cause might explain Nazi-derived antisemitism, but does not explain Christian antisemitism of the Middle Ages. A Christian/Judaism polemic might explain the Christian antisemitism, but it does not explain the 19^th century French antisemitism that broiled France for over a decade in the Dreyfuss affair. And then there is the ancient antisemitism of the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans.

The Bible on the root cause of Anti-Semitism

However, the Bible offers a simple and straightforward explanation for the cause behind antisemitism. It spans the Book from its beginning to end. In the beginning, after Adam & Eve’s disobedience, God pronounced a curse upon the Serpent. He then prophesied a pattern of ‘enmity’ between it and the “Woman”. That woman was not Eve but Israel. (details here)

Then, at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation, a vision references back to that showdown. It identifies the ‘serpent’ and the ‘woman’. Here is the vision:

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ²She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. ³Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne…
Revelation 12: 1-5

⁹The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him…

¹³When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
Revelation 12: 9, 13

The Enmity focused particularly on the Child of the Woman

The child born of the Woman is Jesus. The Woman is the Jewish Nation, from which Jesus came. The Serpent, also called ‘the dragon’, is identified as Satan. Back in the Garden, God had said that there would be ‘enmity’ between the woman (Israel) and the serpent (Satan). History has documented the ever recurring antisemitism. That it comes from a wide variety of social conditions and perpetrator nations shows the enduring reality of this enmity.

But God also predicted enmity towards the offspring, or son, of the Woman. We see this enmity build on Thursday, Day 5 of Passion Week, when the Dragon rises to strike the Son. We have been looking at Jesus through his Jewish lens. The Bible presents him as the archetype of the Jewish Nation (synthesis of that thesis here). So it is not surprising that the Offspring of that Woman should also experience that same enmity.

Judas: Controlled by The Dragon

The Bible portrays Satan as a ruling Spirit who manipulates hatred and intrigue behind the scenes. Satan had plotted to have everyone worship him, including Jesus. When that failed, he set about to murder him, manipulating people to carry out his scheme. Satan used Judas on Day 5 to strike Jesus, just after he taught about his return. Here is the account:

Judas betraying Jesus for 30 Silver Coins

22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, ²and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.³Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. ⁴And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. ⁵They were delighted and agreed to give him money. ⁶He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
Luke 22: 1-6

Satan took advantage of their conflict to ‘enter’ Judas to betray Jesus. This should not surprise us. The Revelation vision describes Satan like this:

⁷Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Revelation 12:7-9

The Bible likens Satan to a powerful dragon cunning enough to lead the whole world astray. As that ancient serpent he now coiled to strike. He manipulated Judas to destroy Jesus as the Gospel records:

¹⁶From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:16

The next day, Friday, Day 6 of the Week, was the Passover Festival. How would Satan, through Judas, strike? We see next.

Day 5 Summary

The timeline shows how on Day 5 of this week, the great dragon, Satan, coiled to strike his foe Jesus, the Seed of the Woman.

Day 5: *Satan, the Great Dragon, enters Judas to strike Jesus*

April 20, 2022

Day 4: Look to the Stars

Perhaps nobody has invited modern culture to imagine the stars like the pioneer science fiction writer Isaac Asimov and the innovative science-fiction franchise Star Trek have.

Isaac Asimov
^{_{Rochester Institute of Technology, PD-US-1978-89, via Wikimedia Commons}}

Isaac Asimov – 20th century most prominent science fiction writer

Born into a Soviet Jewish family, Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) moved with his family to the USA while still young. He was the most prolific writer of the 20th century, writing over 500 books. But he rose to fame with his science fiction writings, particularly the Foundation Series. Begun in the 1940s, the Foundation series a galaxy-spanning Empire. The Empire opposed two newer governments covering star clusters on opposite ends of the galaxy, called Foundation. The two Foundations were launched because the hero, through a fictional mathematics called psychohistory, predicted the decay of the Empire. The establishment of the Foundations would guard intergalactic civilization’s downfall. The book series has the heroes and villains blasting off between stars and planets we jet across oceans today.

20th Century most prominent Science Fiction on the screen

This imagining of inter-stellar travel went from printed pages to TV screens with the broadcasting of Star Trek. Star Trek featured William Captain James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as First Officer Mr. Spock. They led their crew of the starship USS Enterprise into adventures across deep space as they traveled by warp speed across star systems. Shatner (1931-) and Nimoy (1931- 2015), were both born into Jewish families, only 4 days apart. Shatner was born in Canada and Nimoy in Ukraine.

These three superbly talented Jewish visionaries led the entire world to imagine stars, space travel, and mankind’s future there. In doing so, they followed their fellow Jew, Jesus, who also told us to look at the stars. However, he foretold a future cosmic sign so drastic that Asimov, Shatner, and Nimoy never visualized anything like it.

Jesus references the Stars

We are going through each day of Jesus’ final week, exploring him through his Jewish roots (synthesis here). He had uttered a Curse on Day 3, dooming his Jewish nation to desolate exile. Jesus also predicted that his curse would expire, setting in motion events closing this age. The disciples asked about this and Jesus explained. He predicted his return and how it would extinguish the stars.

The Gospel records it like this.

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ²“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.”

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Matthew 24: 1-3

He started by giving details of His Curse, predicting it would begin with the Temple’s destruction (occurring in 70 CE). Then in the evening, he left the Temple to go to the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem (i¹). Since the Jewish day begins at sunset, it was now Wednesday, Day 4 of Passion Week. This was when he described his coming return.

Anticipating The End

We have an instinctive fear that the world is heading to some catastrophic end. Whether through nuclear war, an asteroid impact, climate change, environmental collapse, or another pandemic, we fret over this threat. Elon Musk’s reported motivation for SpaceX is so he can escape from the doomed Earth and restart mankind on Mars.

So we hope that, maybe somehow we can find some way to set the world right. Jesus claimed that this was precisely the mission he was on, but he taught that before he could fix wrong ‘out there’ he had to first cleanse our corruption within. Then, later, he would right the world in his Second Coming. Jesus anticipated his Second Coming on Day 4 of this week, describing the Signs of his return.

Day 4 – Signs of his Return

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

²²“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹“Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Matthew 24: 4-31

Signs: The False and the True

On Day 4 Jesus looked past the coming destruction of the Temple. He taught that increasing evil, earthquakes, famines, wars, and persecutions would characterize the world before his return. Even so, he predicted that his message of Good News would still be announced across the whole world (v 14). As the world learned about Christ there would be growing numbers of false teachers and pseudo-claims about him and his return. Indisputable cosmic disturbances would be the true sign of his return in the midst of wars, chaos, and distress.

Thus he calmly asked us to picture what science fiction visionaries famous for imagining all sorts of things in space could not imagine. He predicted an instantaneous and timed snuffing of the light from all stars, the sun, and the moon. A scene like that has not even been imagined by our brightest. Yet he soberly predicted a cosmic extinguishing of light to signal his return.

Then he calls himself the ‘Son of Man’, coming on the clouds of heaven. This references an ancient prophecy from Daniel about the coming of the Son of Man.

Assessing the Signs

In Asimov’s Foundation Series, mathematicians used the (fictional) science of psychohistory to predict the coming events in galactic history. Here Jesus also predicts large, sweeping events. He does so without using any analytical discipline, but based solely on his ability to foresee the future.

This raises the all-important question: Are his predictions accurate?

We can see that war, distress and earthquakes are increasing – so events generally seem to follow his outline. But there are no disturbances in the heavens so his return is not just yet.

How close might we be?

Luke’s Perspective

To answer this we look at how Luke records, the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse.

²⁰“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. ²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. ²²For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. ²³How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. ²⁴They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 21: 20-24

We see here that Jesus not only predicted details of how the curse would unfold (Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews scattered around the world – which happened in 70 CE), he also predicted what would happen to the land during their exile (It would be in ‘desolation’ and ‘trampled on by the Gentiles’). For almost 2000 years, the land was trampled on by various Gentiles (Romans, Byzantines, Arab Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, and British). But Jesus predicted that this succession of foreign rulers would one day come to an end. He did so by qualifying that the land would be trampled ‘until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled’. The Jewish people regained Jerusalem in 1967, after a 1900-year exile.

The Roaring and Tossing Seas

He then continued.

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. ²⁶People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
Luke 21: 25-26

An ongoing global discourse today concerns climate changes, rising sea levels, and increasing the intensity of ocean storms. Nations come together regularly in conferences like COP26/COP27 to try to develop global guidelines. That sounds a lot like, “Nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea”. Not all his predicted events have occurred yet, but some seem to be happening right now.

He concluded his predictions of events with this:

²⁹He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
Luke 21: 29-31

The Fig Tree greening up before our eyes

Remember the fig tree, symbolic of Israel, which he had cursed on Day 3? The withering of Israel began in 70CE when the Romans destroyed the Temple and it remained withered for 1900 years. Jesus told us to look for green shoots from the fig tree to know when His return was ‘near’. In the last 70 years we have witnessed this ‘fig tree’ beginning to green and sprout leaves again. We literally saw this greening of the land from satellite imagery.

Perhaps we should exercise care and watchfulness in our times since he warned against carelessness and indifference regarding his return.

Stay Alert!

³⁶“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴²“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready,because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:36-51

Jesus then taught on his return using specific parables or stories. They are given here.

Day 4 Summary

On Wednesday, Day 4 of Passion Week, Jesus described the signs of his return. It climaxes with the extinguishing of the luminous heavenly bodies.

*Day 4: Events of Passion Week compared to the Hebrew Torah regulations*

He warned all of us to carefully watch for his return. We can now see the fig tree greening, exactly as he said it would one day. So perhaps we should take heed.

The Gospel next records how His Enemy moved against him on Day 5.

Describing each day that week, Luke explains:
Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives.
Luke 21:37 ↩︎

April 15, 2022

Day 3: Jesus utters The Withering Curse

In 1867 celebrated American author Mark Twain, visited the land of Israel (Palestine as it was called). He travelled across the land, writing his observations in his best-selling book Innocents Abroad. He used the words “unpicturesque”, “unsightly”, and “desolate” to describe what he saw. Twain wrote,

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes…. desolate and unlovely.”
Innocents Abroad

Of the Jezreel valley, Twain wrote,

“Stirring scenes … occur in the valley no more. There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent-not for thirty miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings.”
Innocents Abroad

He described the Galilee as

“the sort of solitude to make one dreary … Come to Galilee for that … these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective; that melancholy ruin of Capernaum: this stupid village of Tiberias, slumbering under its six funereal palms … “
Innocents Abroad

Mount Tabor …

“stands solitary … [in a] silent plain … a desolation … we never saw a human being on the whole route … hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country”
Innocents Abroad

Desolate Land or ‘flowing with Milk and Honey’?

Mark Twain was particularly baffled because what he saw did not match at all what he read in the Bible, where powerful kings ruled over people, multitudes of people thronged around Jesus, and what was described many times in the Bible as:

… a land flowing with milk and honey.
Jeremiah 32:22

So what happened to the land?

It is what Jesus said and did on this Tuesday – Day 3 of Passion Week – that explains it. Jesus used mannerisms replete with symbolism and withering criticism of the people in his day. In doing so he demonstrated a gift for drama which we regularly witness from some similarly gifted fellow Jews today.

Witty & Gifted Critics Present and Past

Among the most gifted and well-known today for directing withering criticism, drama loaded with irony, and symbolic denunciation are Bill Maher, Seth Rogen, Ivan Urgant, and Sasha Baron Cohen.

Bill Maher, long running host of Real Time with Bill Maher, one of the most popular late night shows in the USA, regularly engages in political satire and social commentary, leaving none free of his withering criticism.

Seth Rogen, a Canadian comedian and filmmaker, achieved unique notoriety with his movie The Interview, portraying journalists undertaking an assassination attempt on North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un. North Korea threatened ‘merciless’ retaliation unless the movie was withdrawn. The controversy generated wide publicity and gained Rogen prominence for his ability to needle the North Korean dictator.

Sasha Baron Cohen, the well-known British satirist who, through his wild alter-ego characters Borat– the Kazak journalist, Bruno– the gay Austrian fashion reporter, General Aladeen in The Dictator has enraged so many groups that Cohen has had to increase his security detail.

Ivan Urgant, the host of the most popular Russian late-night TV show, had his show Evening Urgant cancelled because he criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Apart from being well-known for their satirical criticism, what these four all have in common is their common Jewish heritage. They illustrate that, though small in number, Jewish satirists are among the leaders in this genre of drama.

Jesus likewise was a master critic. But the criticism he leveled on that day has affected human history far more than modern-day critics’ ability to arouse satire lasting only through the next news cycle. It evoked Mark Twain’s wonder centuries later

Jesus’ Looming Conflict

First we review the week and then look at what he did that day.

Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Sunday as prophesied and then shut down the Temple on Monday. So the Jewish leaders planned to kill him. But it would not be straight-forward.

God had selected Jesus as His Passover Lamb when Jesus entered the Temple on Monday, Nisan 10. The Torah regulated what to do with the selected Passover lambs

⁶Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
Exodus 12:6

As the people cared for their Passover Lambs, so also God cared for His Passover Lamb. Thus Jesus’ enemies could not get at him (yet). The Gospel then records what Jesus did the next day, Tuesday, Day Three of Passion Week.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

¹⁷And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

¹⁸Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
Matthew 21: 17-19

Why did he do that?

What did it mean?

The disciples were amazed, leading to a puzzling statement from Jesus about casting mountains into the sea.

²⁰When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

²¹Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matthew 21: 20-22

The meaning of the Fig Tree

The earlier prophets explain it to us. Notice here how the Hebrew prophets used the Fig Tree to picture Judgment on Israel:

The prophet Hosea went further, using the fig tree to picture and then curse Israel:

¹⁰“When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.
Hosea 9:10

¹⁶Ephraim is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay their cherished offspring.”

¹⁷My God will reject them
    because they have not obeyed him;
    they will be wanderers among the nations.
Hosea 9:16-17 (Ephraim=Israel)

The destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE fulfilled these and Moses’ curses (see the history).

When Jesus cursed the fig tree, he symbolically pronounced another coming destruction of Jerusalem and Jewish exile from the land. He cursed them into exile again.

After cursing the fig tree, Jesus re-entered the Temple, teaching, debating and clarifying his curse, especially on the Jewish leaders. The Gospel records it this way.

Not an empty one – The Curse takes hold

We know from history that this destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, along with the expulsion of the Jews into worldwide exile, happened in 70 C.E.

With the Temple destruction in 70 CE Israel’s withering took place. Then, it remained withered for thousands of years.

*Roman Destruction of Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. Preserved Roman sculptures show them looting the Temple and taking the Menorah (large, 7-place candle)*

This curse does not reside simply in the pages of the Gospel story. We can verify it happened in history. This Withering Curse pronounced by Jesus lasted many generations. The people of his day ignored him to their destruction.

19th Century panorama view of Jerusalem – desolate

*The destroyed Temple ruins visible today*

The Curse to Expire

Jesus later clarified how that curse would come and how long it would last.

²⁴They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 21:24

He taught that his curse (exile and Gentile control over Jerusalem) would last only ‘until the times of the Gentiles (non-Jews) are fulfilled’. He thus implied that his Curse would expire, explaining this further on Day 4.

The Curse Lifted

*Historical Timeline of the Jews on larger scale – featuring their two periods of exile*

This timeline shows the history of the Jewish people with further details here. Coming to our modern day, the timeline shows the end of the exile. In 1948, from a UN declaration, the modern state of Israel was founded. In the 1967 six-day war the city of Jerusalem, now the capital of Israel, was regained. We see the ‘times of the Gentiles’ coming to a close in modern-day news events.

The beginning and expiration of Jesus’ curse, uttered symbolically to the fig tree and then explained to his listeners have not remained simply fiction on the pages of the Gospel. These events are verifiable, making news headlines today (ex., USA moved its embassy to Jerusalem). Jesus taught profoundly, voiced authority over nature, and now we see that his curse left its imprint on his nation for thousands of years. We ignore him at our peril.

Aerial view of Jerusalem today – from wikimedia

Summary of Day 3

The updated chart shows Jesus cursing the fig tree on Day 3, Tuesday, while taken care of as God’s Selected Lamb. We see on Day 4 he foretells his coming return, coming to set right many wrongs.

Postscript on the Day 3 Withering Curse

Jews have a reputation of leading in many areas of human undertaking. This is regardless of whether they are Israeli or part of the world-wide diaspora of Jews. But this is not true in agriculture. Only Israeli Jews carry this distinctive. Israel has carved out a hard-earned reputation as a leader in agricultural technology. This started when the Jews first made Aliyah to Palestine over a hundred years ago. They then formed kibbutzim and moshav (essentially different kinds of co-operative communal farms). The Galilean north was swampy, the Judean hills were rocky, and the south was desert. The land was exactly as Mark Twain had experienced and described it. So the first settlers had to drain malaria infested swamps, clear land, and learn to irrigate.

Blossoming Green in Today’s desert

Today Israel is a world leader in drip irrigation technology, growing and exporting many fruits, vegetables, grain and dairy products. This is true in spite of the fact that Israel is not naturally conducive to agriculture. Over half the land is natural desert. With water shortage being a major and continual problem there, Israeli farmers have become world leaders in irrigation technology.

Israeli farmers in just this last generation have been able to transform the land from a barren, withered landscape into a panorama of green. The satellite view in Google Maps shows this, comparing the borders they share with their neighbours. On Day 4, Jesus prophesied this would occur, holding a special meaning.

Israel-Egypt border (red highlight) with irrigated circles prominent on Israeli side

Israel-Jordan border (red highlight) with green irrigated fields visible on Israeli side

Demarcation line between Israel and Syria. Israelis have greened their landscape

Lebanon – Israel border: The cultivated block of fields on Israeli side basically follows the border

April 10, 2022

Day 2: Jesus Selected

Richard Wurmbrand, Ivan Urgant and Natan Sharansky represent the Jewish spirit of unarmed civil protest voicing objection to powerful and abusive institutions. As a result of their outspokenness, they became targets of the systems that they criticized. In that regard they followed in the footsteps of their fellow Jew – Jesus of Nazareth.

Tortured for his Faith – Richard Wurmbrand

Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001), was a Romanian Jew who later became a Lutheran priest. He publicly taught from the Bible in a time when Romania strictly enforced communist atheism. Authorities imprisoned him from 1948-1956, including a three-year period of solitary confinement in an underground hole with no light. Upon his release he resumed leading the underground church. So the authorities imprisoned him again from 1959 to 1964 with frequent beatings. Authorities finally released him to the West because of an international campaign highlighting his plight.

Cancelled for his Convictions – Ivan Urgant

Ivan Urgant (born 1978) hosted the most popular late-night talk show on Russian state TV called Evening Urgant. He followed the format of well-known American late-night talk shows like The Tonight Show and The Late Show. Ivan Urgant gained notoriety in February 2022 by protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He posted “No to War” on his Instagram account. In a country that declared public dissent on the invasion illegal, it was a bold and high-profile stand. Russian Channel One then suspended his late-night show. Shortly thereafter Ivan left Russia and appeared in Israel.

Refused for his Brilliance – Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky (born 1948), gifted physicist, mathematician and chess prodigy, became one of the most recognized Soviet refuseniks. Refuseniks were Soviet Jews who were denied exit visas to Israel in the 1960s and 1970s. Soviet authorities denied Sharansky his exit visa in 1973 under the pretext that his work in physics gave him access to state secrets. Sharansky then became a public activist for all refuseniks in the 1970s, a risky move under the Soviet regime. Arrested in 1977 by the KGB, the authorities moved him around prisons and forced labor camps. In response to an international campaign highlighting his plight, he was freed in 1986 by Mikhail Gorbachev. Thereafter, Sharansky emigrated to Israel, where he has conducted a successful political career.

Jesus – Selected for his Perfect Timing

Jesus of Nazareth also demonstrated this inclination to activism, at great personal risk, through bold protest against a powerful bureaucracy. But his ability to time his actions and link them to past era-defining events, as well as directing them to future freedoms affecting you and me, remains unmatched. We have been looking at Jesus through his Jewish lens and here we examine his protest actions, unpacking their remarkable timing, and their meanings. After reviewing specific instances of the Jesus-as-Israel thesis, we reflect on it here.

On the second day of Passion Week, Jesus took his protest to a whole new level, setting in motion a chain of events that would forever alter history.

Significance of the Date

Jesus had just entered Jerusalem at the exact day prophesied hundreds of years before, revealing himself as the Christ and a light to the nations. That date, in the Jewish calendar, was Sunday, Nisan 9, the first day of Passion Week. Because of regulations in the Torah, the next day, 10^thof Nisan, was a unique day in the Jewish calendar. Long before, Moses had decreed the steps to prepare for Passover:

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ²“This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
Exodus 12: 1-3

So, every 10^th of Nisan since Moses, each Jewish family would select a lamb for the upcoming Passover festival. It could only be done that day. In Jesus’ day the Jews selected the Passover lambs in the Temple in Jerusalem. This was the same location where 2000 years before God tested Abraham in the sacrifice of his son. Today, this is the location of the Jewish Temple Mount and the Muslim Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.

So at one specific location (the Temple Mount), on one specific day of the Jewish year (Nisan 10), Jews selected the Passover lamb for each family. As you might imagine, the vast number of people and animals, the noise of the bartering, the foreign exchange (since Jews came from many locations) would turn the Temple on Nisan 10 into a frenzied market. The Gospel records what Jesus did that day. When the passage refers to the ‘next day’ this is the day after his royal entry into Jerusalem, the 10^thof Nisan – the exact day that Jews selected Passover lambs in the Temple.

Cleansing the Temple

¹²The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”And his disciples heard him say it.¹⁵On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,¹⁶and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.”
Mark 11:12-17

Jesus cleanses the Temple
_{^{Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons}}

At the human level Jesus went into the Temple on Monday, Nisan 10, and stopped the commercialism. The buying and selling had created a barrier for worship, especially for that of non-Jews. Jesus, a Light for these nations, therefore broke this barrier by stopping the commercial activity.

The Lamb of God Selected

But something unseen also happened at the same time. We can understand this from the title that John the Baptist had previously given to Jesus. In announcing him John had said:

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1: 29

Jesus was ‘the Lamb of God’. In Abraham’s sacrifice, God was the one who had selected the lamb replacing Isaac by catching it in a bush. The Temple was at this same location.

When Jesus went into the Temple on Nisan 10 God selected him as His Passover Lamb.

Jesus had to be in the Temple on this exact day in order to be selected. And he was.

The Purpose of Jesus as the Passover Lamb

Why was he selected as Passover lamb? Jesus’ teaching above provided the answer. When he said, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ he quoted from Isaiah. Here is the full passage (what Jesus spoke is in underlined).

⁶And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
⁷these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.”
Isaiah 56: 6-7

Historical Timeline of Isaiah with some other prophets of the Old Testament

The ‘Holy Mountain’ that Isaiah had written about was Mount Moriah, where Abraham had sacrificed the lamb selected by God in place of Isaac. The ‘house of prayer’ was the Temple which Jesus entered on Nisan 10. However, only Jews could sacrifice at the Temple and celebrate Passover. But Isaiah had written that ‘foreigners’ (non-Jews) would one day see that ‘their burnt offerings and sacrifices would be accepted’. In quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus announced that his work would open a path to God for non-Jews. That path had started opening the day before when Greeks asked to meet Jesus.

Nations around the world noticed the protests of high-profile Jewish activists like Wurmbrand, Urgant and Sharansky. Jesus said that his work would similarly arouse the attention of the world’s nations. He did not explain at this point how he would do this. But as we continue the gospel account we will see how God had a plan to bless you and me.

Next days in Passion Week

After the Jews selected their lambs on Nisan 10, the regulations in the Torah commanded them to:

⁶Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
Exodus 12:6

Since that first Passover at the time of Moses, the Jews sacrifice their Passover lambs every Nisan 14. We add ‘taking care of the lambs’ to the Torah regulations in the timeline we are building for the week. In the lower half of the timeline we add the activities of Jesus on Day 2 of the week – his cleansing of the Temple and his selection as God’s Passover lamb.

Activities of Jesus on Monday – Day 2 of Passion Week – compared to Torah regulations

Marked and Selected by the Authorities

When Jesus entered and cleansed the Temple, this also had an impact at the human level. The Gospel continues by stating:

The Angry Chef Priest
_{^{James Tissot, PD-US-expired, via Wikimedia Commons}}

¹⁸The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
Mark 11:18

In cleansing the Temple the Jewish leaders targeted him for death. As Wurmbrand, Urgant and Sharansky were targeted by the leaders they protested against, Jesus was from this point on, a marked man.

They started by confronting him. The Gospel recounts that the next day:

²⁷They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ²⁸“By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
Mark 11:27-28

We follow the schemes of the authorities, the actions of Jesus, and the Torah regulations on Tuesday, Day 3 of Passion Week, next.

April 5, 2022

Day 1: Jesus – Light to the Nations

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the galvanizing figure of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has become a familiar face to the nations of the world. Against the Russian claim that they invaded Ukraine to get rid of its Nazi government, Zelensky replies that he is Jewish. How then could his government then be a Nazi one, he asks. Zelensky has since gone on a virtual tour of the halls of power of nations around the world. He has given pitch-perfect addresses to government bodies of many nations. Zelensky spoke to the British Parliament, US Congress, the German Bundestag, the Israeli Knesset, the Canadian Parliament, the Italian Parliament, the Japanese Parliament, and the United Nations General Assembly, among others. He has been given the highest Czech honor, as well as national honors in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

The Jews – Light to the Nations

Zelensky has gone on a virtual tour of parliaments and halls of power of the world’s nations. He chastises, encourages, pleads, and goads them into moral action on behalf of Ukraine. He illustrates so well the prophecy that Isaiah foretold 2700 years ago about the Jewish people. Isaiah had prophesied:

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
     and a light for the Gentiles,
Isaiah 42:6

Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 60:3

Jews have since carried this mantle of being a ‘light to the nations’ given 2700 years ago through Isaiah. They ponder its meaning. We know this from search results on popular Israeli websites. Here are the ‘Light to the nations’ results in TimesOfIsrael, and here similarly for the Jerusalem Post.

Claims to be a ‘Light to the Nations’

In spite of his prominent voice before nations today, Zelensky has never claimed to be a ‘light to the nations’. That would be presumptuous. The one Jewish person in history who is on record as having claimed that distinction is Jesus. But it is not only his claim to be such a ‘light’ that stands out. Rather, it is when and how he made it is remarkable. We look at this here and reflect on whether his legacy justifies this claim.

After the Triumphant Entry on Palm Sunday

Jesus had just entered Jerusalem mounted on a donkey as prophesied 500 years earlier. He did so on the exact day that the prophet Daniel had prophesied 550 years before. The Jews had been arriving from many countries for the upcoming Passover festival. Therefore Jewish pilgrims crowded Jerusalem.

The manner of Jesus’ arrival had caused a stir among the Jews. But it was not only the Jews who noticed his arrival. The Gospel records what happened right after he entered Jerusalem.

Jesus coming through Jerusalem on a Donkey

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
John 12:20-22

The Greek – Jew barrier in ancient times

It was extremely unusual for Greeks, (that is Gentiles or non-Jews), to be at a Jewish festival like Passover. The Jews shunned the Greeks and Romans of that time since they were pagans and considered unclean. And most Greeks considered the Jewish religion with only one (unseen) God and its festivals to be foolish. So these people regularly stayed apart from each other. The Gentile, or non-Jewish, society was many times larger than the Jewish society. So the Jews lived in a sort of isolation from much of the world. Their different religion, their kosher diet, and their exclusive Book created a barrier between the Jews and the Gentiles. Each side displayed hostility toward the other side (as we saw with the Maccabees and bar kochba).

… Prophesied to come down

But Isaiah (750 BCE) claimed to see far into the future and he foresaw a change for the nations. He had written:

49 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name…
Isaiah 49: 1

And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength—
⁶he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 49: 5-6

60 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
²See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
³Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 60:1-3

So Isaiah had foretold that the coming ‘servant’ of the Lord, though Jewish (‘the tribes of Jacob’), would be a ‘light for the Gentiles’ (all the non-Jews). He prophesied that this light would reach to the ends of the earth. But how could this happen with this barrier between the Jews and the Gentiles firmly set these hundreds of years?

Jesus’ Entry that Day begins the dismantling

That day when Jesus entered Jerusalem the light began to draw the first Gentiles because we see some approaching him. Here at this Jewish festival were Greeks who had journeyed to Jerusalem to meet him. Jesus had raised their interest. But would they, considered unclean by the Jews, be able to see him? They asked Jesus’ disciples, who brought the request to Jesus. What would he say? The Gospel continues

²³Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.²⁴Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.²⁵Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”²⁹The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”³³He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

³⁴The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you.Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ³⁶Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
John 12: 23- 36

Belief and Unbelief Among the Jews

³⁷Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴²Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.⁴⁹For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
John 12: 37-50

Against the prevailing Jew-Gentile animosities of that day, Jesus said that he would be ‘lifted up’. He predicted that this would draw ‘all people’ – not just the Jews – to himself.

Jesus boldly claimed that he had ‘come into the world as a light’ (v.46) which the previous prophets had written would shine on all nations. And on the day when he entered Jerusalem, that light first began to shine on the Gentiles.

Jesus’ Light to the Nations in History

Consider now how the halls of power, with their accompanying institutions, where Zelensky has been speaking recently, have come about by Jesus’ influence on the nations.

Here are some quick examples.

These practices, customs, and institutions that we often take for granted today across the many nations came about as people throughout history were influenced by Jesus. From a strictly historical point-of-view, Jesus of Nazareth has been the brightest Jewish light shining upon many nations. Isaiah’s predictions 2700 years ago have come true through Jesus’ historical influence on the nations.

Passion Week Day-by-Day

But Jesus did not simply come to be a Light to the nations. He had also declared War on death itself. How he goes about this struggle is reviewed in a day-by-day recounting of his activities in Passion Week. We will go through each day of Passion or Holy Week and note what Jesus does and says each day. From these we will recognize patterns going back to the beginning of the world, bringing fresh meaning to his activities that week. We also reflect on the Jesus-as-Israel lens we have adopted.

The following chart goes through each day of this week. On Sunday, the first day of the week he fulfilled three different prophecies given by three previous prophets. First, he entered Jerusalem mounted on a donkey as prophesied by Zechariah. Second, he did so in the time prophesied by Daniel. Third, his message and miracles started to light an interest among the Gentiles. Isaiah had foretold this would shine as a light to the nations, growing brighter to people around the world.

We continue looking at the events of Monday, Day 2 of Passion week next.