In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus first appears when he is baptized by John in the River Jordan. The passage identifies him with his hometown of Nazareth, a small village of no consequence, though its very insignificance plays an important part in the larger narrative. Jesus is the Messiah who does not fit popular expectations even as he is anointed by the Spirit of God in fulfillment of Scripture, a role he fulfills as the Servant of Yahweh.
Continue readingMessiah
His Glory Revealed
In the Prologue of John’s Gospel, Jesus is identified as the Logos, the “WORD become flesh” in whom the “glory of God” now resides and manifests. He is the Greater Tabernacle foreshadowed by the Tent carried by Israel in the wilderness, the place where Yahweh’s glory is revealed. This declaration anticipates John’s later passages that link the Nazarene to the Father.
Jesus, the same man who gave his life on a Roman cross for all humanity, is the ultimate expression of the nature, love, and glory of the God who created all things.
Continue readingSon of Abraham
The introduction to Matthew declares Jesus to be the “Son of Abraham,” a declaration of far more significance than another name on a genealogical chart. He is nothing less than the heir of the Covenant promises made by the God of Israel to the Patriarch. His identification as Abraham’s “son” and heir points to the theme of fulfillment that dominates the Gospel of Matthew. In this man from Nazareth, all the promises of God now find their “Yea, and Amen”!
Continue readingServant of the LORD
The theme of fulfillment is prominent in Matthew’s gospel. In Jesus, the promises of God began to find their fulfillment though often in paradoxical and unexpected ways. Peter, for example, confirmed that the Nazarene was the “Messiah,” but he failed to understand that Jesus came to fulfill his royal role as the suffering “Servant of Yahweh,” the one sent to die for the sins of his people.
Continue readingThe Unforeseen King
A theme threaded through the Gospel of Mark is the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel apart from his crucifixion, and even then, and most paradoxically of all, he is called the “Son of God” by the unlikeliest of persons, the Roman centurion in charge of his execution. And so, it remains ever since his death and resurrection. The Suffering Servant of Yahweh continues to confound human expectations.
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