Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: When Yeshua Hamashiach, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, became sin for us, he took our sin into himself. He that knew no sin, the scripture says, became sin.

As we turn to perhaps the most specific long section of Messianic prophecy in the entire Tanakh, I’m going to begin reading in verse number one. Isaiah says, "Who has believed our message?" Right away, what Isaiah is revealing to us about the Messiah is that he will come, but many will not believe.

What does the scripture say about Jesus? It says, "He came unto his own, but his own received him not." Much of this 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah relates to how Israel related to the Messiah when he came. The first thing that we learn is that Isaiah is prophesying to us that when Yeshua comes, the majority of Israel will not believe. They won't recognize him.

He continues, "Who has believed our report? Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" It’s interesting there that he uses that word "revealed." He says, "To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" That’s the only way that you or I could really know Messiah is through the revelation that comes to us from the Father.

The scripture says all that hear and learn from the Father come to Jesus. Remember what Yeshua said to Peter? "Peter, who do they say that I am?" Peter said, "Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah." Then Yeshua looked at Peter and said, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "You’re the Messiah, the son of the living God." Remember what Yeshua said? He said, "Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Yeshua looked at Peter and said, "You’re blessed because my Father has revealed the truth to you."

Isaiah says most people are not going to see who Yeshua is. They’re going to miss it. But some will have the revelation to whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed. Let's continue. "For he," speaking of Jesus, "for he grew up before him." Isn't that interesting? We’re seeing now the mystery of the Godhead, the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Let me be very specific that we should not expect to understand the mystery of what we call the Trinity. We should not expect to be able to put it all together. People have come up with all types of analogies to try to understand the mystery of the Godhead, the mystery of the relationship between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Can you understand how we have a God that’s created everything and he’s always been? We can’t even begin to understand that. We say, "Where did you come from? How did you get here?" If we can’t understand this fundamental question of how an invisible God could have always been, then how should we expect to understand the mystery of the relationship of the Trinity or of the Godhead?

The scripture says here, "For he," speaking of Yeshua, "grew up before him," speaking of the Father, "like a tender shoot." It’s a mystery, but Yeshua is God. He is God’s essence. The Bible says he’s the bosom of the Father. He’s uncreated. He’s always been. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Yeshua is God in the flesh. He’s the visible manifestation of the invisible God.

Somehow, there is relationship within God. The Father has a relationship with the Son. "You are my beloved Son, and in you I am well pleased." There’s relationship between the Father and the Son. That’s why we have relationship on Earth. We have relationship on Earth because there’s relationship in God.

The Bible says God was about to create man. He says, "Let us make man in our image." Who was he speaking to when he said "let us"? Some people say he was speaking to angels. I don’t believe he was speaking to angels. I believe he was speaking to the Son. When he says "us," he’s speaking to the relationship God has in himself. He’s self-sufficient.

The relationships we enjoy on Earth, whether it’s a family relationship or whether it’s a relationship between husband and wife, these relationships exist because it’s a manifestation of the fact that there’s relationship within God. We see this revealed here in Isaiah 53:2, where it describes this relationship between the Father and the Son.

Isaiah says, "For he," speaking of Yeshua, "grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look at him." In other words, Isaiah is revealing to us that Yeshua didn't come looking like a superstar. He wasn't 10 feet tall. He looked like an ordinary person.

To just look at him, you’d miss it. You wouldn’t recognize that this was the Son of God manifest in the flesh. That’s why so many people missed him. They said, "Who is this guy? He claims he’s the Son of God. He claims he’s come down from heaven. Who is this guy? We know his mom and dad." You see, they missed it.

Yeshua’s own brothers, the scripture says, didn't believe in him. Yeshua said a prophet is not without honor except in his own town. The people that knew him, they looked at him and they didn't see anything special about him. He has no stately form, Isaiah says there in the second verse, that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.

In verse number three, "He was despised," Isaiah says, "and forsaken of men." Isn't that what happened? He came, his brothers didn't believe in him, people laughed at him, people mocked him. The Pharisees made up lies about him. He was despised and forsaken of men. Judas himself, Judas is the one that spent all this time with Yeshua, forsook him at the very last minute.

"He was a man of sorrows," Isaiah says, "and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face." Even the disciples, when Yeshua was crucified, remember the disciples got so afraid? The disciples were watching all this from a distance. They were trying to go undercover. They didn't want to be associated with him after he was crucified because they were afraid for their own lives.

Remember what happened? It says that some of them came up to the disciples and they said, "We remember you. You were with him." Remember what the disciple said? They said, "We don’t know him." Remember Yeshua said before a cock crows, "Peter, three times you’ll deny me." That’s exactly what was happening.

They said to Peter, "We know you. We’ve recognized you. You were with him." Peter said, "I don’t know the man." He was forsaken even by his best friends. He was despised. He was like one from whom men hid their face. Even his best friends at the moment of his weakest hour hid their face from him. Isn't this an awesome thing how Isaiah was able to bring this into view so much earlier than it ever was manifest in physical reality?

I’m picking up now in verse number four. "But surely," Isaiah says, "our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquity, and the chastisement of our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed."

This was the purpose that Yeshua came: to die for you and to die for me. He that knew no sin, listen now, became sin on our behalf that you and I could become the righteousness of God. This is what Isaiah is saying here. Let me read it again. "Surely our griefs he himself bore." In other words, he took our pain into his own body.

"Our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God. But he was," listen now, "pierced through for our transgressions." A lot of times we think about the pain and we hear about the pain that Yeshua went through when he went to the cross. Of course, some of you saw the movie *The Passion of the Christ*, and they showed how he was beaten and whipped, and how they put the nails through his hands and his feet.

You know what? I personally believe that that was not the greater pain that Yeshua bore. I believe that the greater pain that he bore was when the sinless one, when Yeshua Hamashiach, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, became sin for us. He took our sin into himself. He that knew no sin, the scripture says, became sin.

That’s why the Father put him to death and turned away. Yeshua said, "Why have you forsaken me?" I believe that was greater than the physical pain he endured. Even though he did this because he loved us so much, he had to die in our place, the innocent one dying in the place of the guilty so that the guilty one could be restored to innocence and into relationship with God. Even though he loved us so much and did this for us, the result of what he did with many was they looked at him and thought that God was punishing him for his own sin.

Isaiah says, "Yet we esteemed him stricken of God." That’s true. I know even today as a follower of Yeshua, I know people look at me sometimes as a Jewish person and they say you’re stricken of God because you’re an apostate, a Jewish person that believes in Jesus. They think that I’m a curse by God for my faith in Jesus.

That’s the same thing that Jesus endured. You should expect to carry some of the same suffering in your own body because the Bible tells us that even as Yeshua was rejected by people, even as he was crucified, the Bible says outside the city gate. In other words, when he was crucified, he wasn't crucified inside the city of Jerusalem because Jerusalem was the holy city. Because they looked at him as a criminal, they crucified him outside the city.

The Bible says even as he suffered that shame of having to be crucified as a criminal, you and I that believe in him must suffer outside the city gates.

Dustin Roberts: You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. But first, I’d love for you to stay connected with us by signing up for Rabbi’s *Seeds of Revelation* newsletter. Each week, you’ll receive a powerful devotional direct from Rabbi, along with other ministry updates, including when Rabbi will be live. It’s a simple way to stay uplifted and informed. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click "stay connected" today.

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Rabbi K.A. Schneider: We should expect to experience some of the same rejection and some of the same suffering that he experienced. It’s part of the price that we pay for being a follower of him because the scripture says we’ve been called and chosen not just to reign with him, but to suffer with him as well. That’s why Yeshua said blessed are you when you suffer and are persecuted for my sake. Amen. Hallelujah. We thank you, Jesus, for being able to suffer with you because we love you.

As we continue on, verse number five. "He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement of our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed." This speaks to us of the ministry of supernatural healing. I’m talking about healing of the soul and healing of the body.

Sometimes when we think of healing, we only think of healing that’s associated with the body. When Yeshua first announced his ministry, when he went into the synagogue and opened the scroll, he began to read and he said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me to bind up the brokenhearted." The healing that is ours through the atonement, the healing that’s ours in Jesus, it’s not just for bodily healing, but it’s also for healing of our soul, healing of our heart, healing of our emotions.

Everybody here has probably suffered some damage in their soul. Isn't it an awesome thing to know that whatever you’ve been through in life, if you’ve had a mom and dad that’s been divorced, if you’ve had a spouse that’s left you, if you’ve had children that have turned on you, whatever you’ve gone through in life that is hurting you now, you’re not bound in that state forever because through Jesus you can be made whole.

I thank you, Lord Jesus, for bringing wholeness and healing to my soul and my mind. I thank you, Lord Jesus, for restoring me. Time doesn't heal all things. We hear in the world that time heals all wounds. Well, that’s not true. Time can help, but there are some wounds that are so deep that time alone can’t heal.

Some of you are still struggling and suffering from something that happened in your life five, 10, 15, 20, and even longer years ago. But Jesus can heal you. I ask you to release healing right now, Jesus, to those that are looking to you in faith and in love. Receive it right now in Jesus' name. I release healing to the disciples Father of Jesus right now through the atonement. Hallelujah. And also healing in our physical bodies. By his stripes, Isaiah says, we are healed.

Verse number six, "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him." The most common position that we hear in America from people that don’t believe in Jesus is generally something like, "I’m a good person. I don’t believe that I need Jesus. I’m not a Christian. I don’t go to church. I believe I’m a good person."

But the scripture says all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We don’t measure ourselves by other people. Yeah, you might be good compared to this person, but we’re not being measured by other people. We’re being measured by God’s perfect standard.

Each one of us needs forgiveness. If we didn't need forgiveness, Jesus wouldn't have had to come and die for us. If you’ve never received Jesus, I encourage you to open your heart and ask him into your life. Ask him to forgive you and heal you and bring you into fellowship with God right now.

Verse number seven. "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, he did not open his mouth." Remember he was brought before Pilate, and here Isaiah says he didn't open his mouth. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Remember on his way to the cross, they whipped him? They pulled out his beard, they pulled out his hair, they laughed at him. They spit on him. And yet the scripture says he just kept on forward and he did not open his mouth.

Now he’s standing before Pilate. He’d been beaten, he’d been spit on, he’d been whipped. He’s standing before Pilate, and Pilate is asking him questions. Jesus is not responding to Pilate’s questions. Unbelievable the power he had to be silent because he knew that Pilate had no authority over him except that which had been given him from above and that Jesus knew that the cross was the purpose for which he was born into this world.

We continue on. Verse eight. "By oppression and judgment he was taken away." We just looked at that. "And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people?" In other words, the multitude, what did they do? They said, "Crucify him!" When they gave them the choice of Barabbas or Jesus, they chose to crucify Jesus.

The Lord says here, "As for my generation, they didn't realize what they were doing." They thought he was one that was stricken of God. He was assigned with wicked men. Remember next to him on the cross are thieves. Yet he was with the rich man in his death. Why was he with the rich man in his death? The scripture tells us he was buried in the rich man’s grave because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to crush him because the Father knew that through Yeshua’s death, the many would be made righteous and there would be a great harvest, multitudes and multitudes from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

There’s many other scriptures. Psalm number 22 describes the crucifixion process of Jesus. As we wind up this section on Messianic prophecy, I want to talk to you about types and shadows in the Hebrew Bible, which are a form of Messianic prophecy. For example, in the book of Matthew chapter number two, verse number 13 through 15, we find there that Yeshua’s father, Joseph, took him to Egypt because there was a plot to kill all the Hebrew babies that were being born because the ruler in Israel had heard that a Messiah was born.

The scripture tells us that Joseph, Yeshua’s father, was warned in a dream to take Jesus to Egypt that his life might be spared. Then it goes on to say there in the 15th verse of Matthew two that the scripture might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt did I call my son." But when you look at the cross-reference in Matthew chapter two, verse number 13 through 15, you go to the book of Hosea chapter 11, verse number one. All you read there is that the Lord called Israel out of Egypt.

You read it and you say, "I don’t understand how Yeshua fulfilled this because when I go to Hosea 11:1, it doesn't really lead me to believe that there’s going to be some type of Messianic expectation." In other words, there doesn't seem to be a future prophecy. It just seems to be saying that God called Israel out of Egypt. That’s the whole point. But nothing that God’s going to bring the Messiah into the world and call him out of Egypt or bring him into Egypt.

I don’t understand how this is a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. But here’s what you need to understand: it’s prophecy in the sense that Yeshua fills Israel’s history up with meaning. What we see God did to Israel, Yeshua lives out those same experiences and he fills those experiences up with meaning because Yeshua is Israel’s divine representative.

Even as Moses was in the wilderness for 40 years, Yeshua goes into the wilderness for 40 days. Even as Joseph was raised up to deliver his people and yet rejected at first, so Yeshua was raised up to deliver God’s people but was rejected at first. This same thing continues. Abraham, the father, goes to sacrifice his only son Isaac. It’s a type and shadow of Yeshua, who’s the Father’s only son.

We also see Messianic prophecy in types and shadows in the sense that Yeshua fills Israel’s history up with meaning as their divine representative by repeating in his own life many of the same experiences that Israel had lived through together as a nation.

We have to remember what we’re in the Earth to do. At the end of Yeshua’s ministry in the Gospel of John, Yeshua lifted his heart to the Father. He began to pray what some people call the high priestly prayer. He said, "Father, I’ve completed the work that you’ve given me to do." You and I likewise, my beloved brother and sister, have a work to do on the Earth.

Yeshua’s last words to us were, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything I commanded you." When you support Discovering the Jewish Jesus, you’re being part of making disciples of the nations because our teaching ministry is spreading all over the globe. Jesus said when he’s given people a platform to spread the gospel, those that don’t have that platform should support those that authentically are. I want to ask you for your financial support today.

Amen. And friends, if the Lord is leading you to financially support Discovering the Jewish Jesus with a gift of any amount this year, please call us. Our number is 800-777-7835 or give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. For thousands of years, believers missed the rich Jewish heritage of Christianity. But it doesn't have to stay that way.

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And now, here is Rabbi Schneider to speak God’s sacred and special blessing over our lives as we wrap up our time today.

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.

Yevarekhekha Yahweh veyishmerekha.

Ya'er Yahweh panav eleykha vikhunekkha.

Yissa Yahweh panav eleykha veyasem lekha 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 one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider explains faith in Jesus from a Jewish perspective. That’s coming up Friday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.