Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Jesus repeats the patterns in Israel’s history because Jesus is Israel’s divine head.

I’m continuing in a series that I’m calling Isaiah and Messianic Prophecy. What we’re doing is we’re looking into the Word of God and I’m teaching how rich the Old Testament is with Messianic prophecy. Last time, I began to look with you in the Hebrew Bible, in what we call in Judaism the Tanakh or in Christianity the Old Testament. We looked into the Old Testament and we saw that God had a divine call on Israel’s life.

We proceeded last time by showing that Israel as a nation did not fully fulfill her calling. However, we pointed out that Israel has a divine representative. They have a head, and the head of Israel is none other than King Jesus himself that died with the sign above his head that said, "Yeshua of Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

And so, in order to understand Messianic prophecy, we have to understand that the declarations that God made over the nation of Israel, although not fully fulfilled by the nation, are fulfilled in the head of the nation, King Jesus himself. It’s important because, in some nuances of Messianic prophecy, we see, for example, Matthew taking scriptures that God spoke about Israel and applying them to Jesus. If we don’t understand what’s going on, we’ll scratch our head and wonder.

Let me give you an example of this. I’m going to take you now to the New Testament. We’re going to be looking at the book of Matthew, chapter number two, verses number 13 through 15. Hear the Word of God: "Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream." Joseph and Mary had just given birth to their son, Jesus. As soon as Jesus was born, Herod was warned that a king had been born, that a Messiah had been born, and he was threatened.

The same thing happened when Moses was born. Remember when Moses was born? Pharaoh panicked. He heard from the wise men and the magicians that a king had been born, and so he ordered the death of the newborn Hebrew children. Same thing is happening when Jesus is born. Why? Because Jesus repeats the patterns in Israel’s history because Jesus is Israel’s divine head.

The same patterns that Israel as a nation went through, we see Jesus living out in his life because he encompasses the nation. And so once again, even as Pharaoh ordered the death of the firstborn when Moses was born, the same thing is happening now when Jesus is born. Herod the king is ordering the death of the newborn Hebrew children. So, it’s in that context that we’re reading.

Let’s look again at the scripture, Matthew chapter 2, verse 13 through 15: "Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.' So Joseph got up and took the child and his mother while it was still night and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet."

Then Matthew quotes this section from the Hebrew Bible: "Out of Egypt I called my son." Jesus is taken to Egypt to avoid the slaughter of the newborn Hebrew children, just as it happened when Moses was born because Jesus is repeating Israel’s history. And now, when Herod had died, when that king had died, what happens is the angel comes back to Joseph and appears to him and says, "I want you to take the child back to Israel now to fulfill what the prophet has spoken." And then he quotes the Hebrew prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Before we look at what section of scripture Matthew is quoting here when he says that the words of the prophecy would be fulfilled—"Out of Egypt did I call my son"—before we look at what portion in the Hebrew Bible Matthew quoted, I want to share this with you. When you and we think about prophecy, because remember, Matthew is saying he fulfilled the word of the prophecy here. When you and I generally think about prophecy, we’re thinking about predictions, that there was a prediction made in the Old Testament that was fulfilled or will be fulfilled in the future.

Generally speaking, when we think of prophecy, we think about a declaration being made that listen, accurately foretells the future. A prophecy about the future. For example, in the book of Daniel, we hear Daniel giving all these prophecies about the end times, what it’s going to be like on planet Earth during the end. Daniel said, "I saw in a vision," and he said, "and people were traveling to and fro, and knowledge had greatly increased."

Daniel was looking into the future, and he says at the end of days, "I see this happening." Sure enough, Daniel’s prophecy is being fulfilled right now, all these years later, as people are traveling to and fro by airplane and we’re in the age of information technology. Knowledge has vastly increased all over the earth. Daniel talks about certain kings arising, these kings that will arise, world powers in the end times.

When we look at the prophecies of Daniel, we’re looking for clues as to what’s going to happen in the future. But what is interesting and mysterious is that Matthew uses prophecies in a completely different way. Rather than Matthew pulling out sections of scripture and showing how Jesus fulfilled the future prediction of that future, instead what Matthew does is he takes Israel’s history. He shows us how Jesus relived that history, and in reliving Israel’s history, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy.

The point that I’m making is that Matthew uses the word "fulfilled," that a prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus. Matthew uses that word many, many times not to indicate that somebody in the Hebrew Bible predicted a future event and Jesus fulfilled it, but rather what Matthew does oftentimes is show us how Jesus fulfilled something that God did in ancient Israel by repeating the pattern.

For example, once again, the scripture we just looked at, Matthew chapter 2, verse 13 through 15: "Out of Egypt did I call my son." Joseph took Jesus back into Israel from Egypt, where Jesus was kept until Herod passed away. Now, where is this scripture, "Out of Egypt did I call my son," taken from? It’s taken from the book of Hosea. When we look into the book of Hosea, Hosea chapter 11, verse 1, here is what we read: "When Israel was a youth, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."

When we go to Hosea chapter 11, verse 1, and see how Matthew used it, took it out of Hosea 11:1 to say Jesus fulfilled it, the puzzling thing is that when we go to Hosea and we read that, we say to ourselves, "Well, that doesn’t look like a prophecy because it doesn’t look like Hosea is telling us that something is going to be happening in the future." It doesn’t look like Hosea is prophesying a future prediction of what’s going to happen.

Instead, when we go to Hosea 11:1, it just reads: "When Israel was a youth, I loved them. Out of Egypt I called my son." God is just speaking to Israel’s past. It doesn’t appear that God is predicting anything about Israel’s future, and yet Matthew saying that Jesus fulfilled it. How did Jesus fulfill it? Jesus fulfilled it because Jesus is Israel’s divine representative, and the history that Israel went through is climaxed in Jesus.

This is why when we go to the book of Luke chapter 24, we find something taking place that really is a bit mysterious to us. What we find in Luke 24 is this: Jesus’ disciples were totally downcast. All they knew was that this one that they had left everything to follow, King Jesus, who they thought was the Messiah, all they knew for sure was that he had been crucified. They got the report from Mary and the women that he had appeared to them, but they didn’t know for sure.

They’re walking on a road to Emmaus, a city about seven miles outside of Jerusalem. Once again, we have to put ourselves in these disciples' place as we go to Luke 24. They really are confused. They don’t know what happened. They thought Jesus was going to lead Israel into freedom. Remember, even though the Jews were living in the land of Israel at the time of Jesus, they were still under, politically, the Roman people.

The Jewish people thought that the Messiah would free them from the Roman tyranny. And now, Jesus had died, it hadn’t happened. They didn’t know what to think of it. They thought maybe that the thing that they believed was not true. So they’re walking on the road to Emmaus in this mental state of confusion and discouragement. As they’re walking on the road, Jesus appeared to them. But when Jesus appeared to them, he appeared to them in a physical form that they didn’t recognize.

In other words, he looked physically different to them than he looked to them when he was on earth with them. We have to remember, Jesus is God in the flesh, so he can change forms. God is very fluid. We think, for example, the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 2, he appeared as a tongue of fire. When Jesus was baptized, he appeared as a dove. We see a rainbow around the glory of the Lord when Ezekiel saw them. So God can appear anyway he wants to. So it shouldn’t be hard for us to imagine and understand that Jesus is able to appear to each one of us in whatever form he desires. So Jesus appears to these disciples of his as they’re walking on the road to Emmaus in a form, a physical form, that was to them just a stranger.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. He’s going to be right back, but first, I want to let you know that you can watch full episodes of Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku television. We have episodes that are filmed in the Holy Land and outreach events from Nigeria and Gulu, Uganda, all sorts of places. Every episode is available to help deepen your understanding of Scripture and the Jewish roots of your faith. So search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku today.

Guest (Female): Your support is fueling a powerful move of God through the Discovering the Jewish Jesus Israel Awakening Initiative. Right now, we’re equipping and strengthening congregations throughout Israel. We’re launching evangelistic outreach campaigns in the land. Lives are being changed as Israelis encounter the love of Jesus. Stand with us today and boldly proclaim the Gospel in Israel, clearly and without compromise. If God is moving you to join us, go to DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com. Now back to Rabbi.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: And let's pick up now what happens as I begin to read from Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse 25. Jesus says this to them: "Oh, foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in the scriptures.

Then continuing in verse 45: "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, 'Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day.'" And so, in order for these apostles, these disciples, to understand what was in the Old Testament about the Messiah, about the Christ, about Yeshua, about Jesus, in order for them to see it, listen, they had to supernaturally have their minds opened to come into a bigger space of understanding than they had previously been in.

Remember, most Jews missed the Messiah’s first coming because their understanding of Messianic prophecy was very limited. And so, we need to understand Messianic prophecy not just in the sense of looking for something that a prophet predicted would happen in the future to happen, but we also need to understand Messianic prophecy as being fulfilled in Jesus because Jesus, listen now, completes Israel’s history by living out the same patterns.

Knowing that now, I want to begin to move towards the book of Isaiah. As we begin to contemplate Isaiah and Messianic prophecy in the book of Isaiah, I want you to understand who Isaiah was. First of all, Isaiah, as we know, is a prophet. A prophet is a spokesman for God. In the ancient Biblical world, the nation of Israel was ruled by a hierarchy. The hierarchy was the king, the prophets, and the priests.

Now, we know about the king. Israel cried out for a king. Eventually, God gave them a king. We know David was one of the kings. So, Israel was ruled by the kings, the prophets who were God’s spokesmen, and the priest that mediated between the nation of Israel and God, primarily through sacrifices and worship.

Isaiah was a unique prophet because many of the prophets, they would cry out in the streets and they were really radicals, or Isaiah was more sophisticated. He was a statesman. Isaiah actually was living in a very noble place and he served, listen now, under four different kings.

The king that Isaiah first started under and the king that was in kingship when Isaiah got his call to be a prophet was King Uzziah. We actually read about it in scripture, in the sixth chapter of Isaiah’s prophetic work. I want to take you there now because this is really a very powerful portion of the Word of God, how Isaiah encountered Father God in his power and in his glory. Listen to this section of scripture, Isaiah chapter 6, verses number 1 through 9.

Isaiah is recording: "In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of the hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.' And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of host.' Then one of the seraphim flew to me with the burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?'"

And here is Isaiah’s call: "Then I said, 'Here I am. Send me.'" So after Isaiah has this incredible power encounter with Yahweh, the God of Israel, the Lord says to him, "Whom shall I send?" And Isaiah responds, "Here I am. Send me." When Isaiah received this call, once again, I want you to understand he was different than many of the other prophets. He was a statesman and he was a scholar. He was very unique.

His prophetic work, the book of Isaiah, is the longest prophetic work in the entire Word of God in terms of the words of the prophet. 66 chapters in the book of Isaiah. The first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah deal much about God’s judgment of the nations and judgment of Israel. The last 27 chapters deal primarily with the Messiah: what he’s going to look like, who he’s going to be, where he’s going to come from, what’s his ministry going to be like, and the institution of the Messianic age, what will happen on earth when Messiah fully exerts his lordship over the world.

So what we’re going to do, beloved ones, as we continue in this series is we’re going to dig down deep into the book of Isaiah. You’re going to be fascinated by what you’re seeing. Many of the scriptures that you’ve heard before that have kind of rolled off your back like water off a duck’s back, they’re going to hit your heart and I’m telling you, you’re going to go deeply grounded into scripture because of this series.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God abides forever. Even some of the scriptures, for example, that you think about during Christmas, like, "Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given." You’re going to see how many of these scriptures that you’re familiar with actually come from Isaiah. When you see them quoted again in the New Testament, you’re going to be once again so rooted in the fact that Jesus is the Christ.

He is the only way to God, and it’s going to help you, listen now, to be a bolder witness. Because when you and I are marked by God, we become bold. Oftentimes the reason people are not bold in their witness of Jesus is because they’re not fully convinced. They’re not fully marked. But as I said to you earlier, beloved, the Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword.

And I promise you this, next time God’s Word is going to go deep into your heart, slice it open by his divine electricity, and you’re going to become more excited about Jesus and more confident in who he is than ever before. You see, when you are able to put together the Old and New Testaments like a hand and a glove, you’re going to be fully equipped to go forward in your faith in spirit, listen, in truth and in power.

That’s why I’m here. This is why the Lord has raised me up for such a time as this: to equip the church to understand the Jewish roots of our Christian faith because remember, Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, "Woman, salvation is from the Jews." So Father, we just ask you for a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we look deeply into your Word in the weeks ahead.

And I pray, Father, that in Messiah, Jew and Gentile would become one as we see that Jesus is the theme of scripture from the very beginning of the Word of God to the very end of the Word of God. Father, we just want to tell you thank you for Jesus. We love you today, and I speak this, Father, on behalf of all those that love you.

Many of you love Jesus. I can feel it. We're in a situation, those of us that are senior citizens or those of us that are about the age of 50. We were raised, we were taught to honor the Lord with our finances. But America and many other nations in the world are not so Christian anymore. What that means is those of us that have learned how to tithe, those of us that have been instructed to honor the Lord with our finances, we need to be thinking about having an ability to continue to reach the younger generation, many of whom are not tithing.

When you honor the Lord by sowing financially into Discovering the Jewish Jesus, you’re giving us an opportunity to continue to reach the younger people even after you and I have passed on. Even if they might not give like we do, we’re going to have enough that we have already to continue to reach them. I want to ask you to sow financially into this ministry so that we can reach, beloved, the next generation.

Dustin Roberts: Amen, and if God is calling you to give to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, a gift of any amount, would you please call us right now? You can reach us at 800-777-7835. Or please give online when you visit our website. You’ll find us at DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com. And I want to share something with you today that we don’t talk much about on here.

Did you know that Discovering the Jewish Jesus also has a Spanish YouTube channel? We also have a Spanish program on television. It’s really a wonderful way to share Rabbi Schneider’s teaching with Spanish-speaking family members, friends, and neighbors who want to grow in their relationship with God. On our Spanish YouTube channel, viewers can find Biblical encouragement, ministry content, and truth-filled messages that help people encounter Jesus in a deeper way.

If you want to find it, just search for Descubriendo al Jesús Judío on YouTube and explore what’s available. Even the graphics are in Spanish. They’re right there for people speaking that language to help them. We also have one in Russian and Hebrew as well. As this ministry continues to reach lives in multiple languages, your support is what enables this. So I just want to say thank you for supporting us today. And now, here is Rabbi to wrap up with God’s special and sacred blessing.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: In the book of Numbers, chapter six, we find a personal blessing from God our Father. This blessing should touch our hearts because it’s so personal. Father God wants to intimately bless you. So receive his blessing into your life today with gladness and an open heart.

Yevarechecha Yahweh veyishmerecha. Ya’er Yahweh panav eleycha vichuneka. Yissa Yahweh panav eleycha veyasem lecha shalom.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance and the Lord give you, beloved ones, his peace. God bless you and Shalom.

Dustin Roberts: This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and I'm your host, Dustin Roberts. Make sure to come back next week when Rabbi Schneider reveals how Isaiah’s prophecy begins. That’s Monday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.