Dear Shari and Toby,
JESUS CAME FOR THE JEWS
The Church teaches that Jesus died to remove the gentile’s sins. Jesus said he came for the Jews only. Only after Jesus died and brought Cornelius (a prominent gentile) and Peter together (Peter sent to the Gentiles) in AD 30 did the ministry turn to the gentiles. Paul was later to preach to the gentiles. Jesus clearly stated twice that he was here for the Israelites only, ( also Mat 15:24) not the Gentiles. What was Jesus’ purpose and why did he come? He announced in the synagogue his purpose and why he came when he first started his ministry. Using the scriptures from Isaiah he proclaimed he was here to fulfill the prophecies. The prophecy from Isaiah could only be fulfilled by the Messiah.
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the
Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat
down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears.
Jesus did not continue the second verse in Isaiah 61. He stopped before he was
to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God. This is to be done in the 70th week. This will be the last seven years
before Christ the “Most Holy” is anointed ruler of the world. Note that his first coming,
(starting of his ministry), not birth, is in a Sabbath Year. After this year he will die. The date of his
announcement begins a long chain of prophecy fulfillment, becoming a light unto
the world and ending in his death and resurrection. Between the healings and
other miracles, Jesus taught the good news of the kingdom
and what is required to enter that kingdom. The style of his death fulfills the
prophecy of Isaiah 53. This
style is based on the offering of the Passover lamb in appreciation of God’s
deliverance from slavery and death of the first born in Egypt. The inference
that Jesus came to save us from our sins starts with the institution of the
offering in Leviticus chapter 4
for forgiveness of each individual sin. This practice is later mixed with the
Passover lamb and identified with Jesus on the cross to save us from our sins.
It was the attitude of the Israelite clergy toward Jesus and his teachings that created the grief, sin and iniquities he bore upon the cross. This friction came from his teaching we could reach the holy spirit directly without the help of the Jewish clergy. This theme was echoed by the Gnostics for the next three hundred years. The same reaction Jesus received was provided to the Gnostics by the Catholic Church, The realization that he conquered death is where the recognition, repenting and healing of these attitudes came from. Jesus did not die to remove their sins but because of their sins. The healing and forgiveness of ourselves and faith that we can obtain forgiveness are provided by the example of Jesus’ life. Free will is provided for all. We can choose to believe that Jesus was resurrected, recognize where we do not follow his teachings and repent (change our attitudes including our thoughts) to receive the healing of our spirit and prepare us for the entrance into the Kingdom which is coming. Jesus is our savior in that he showed us the way. As the prayer says ”thy Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven”, Jesus was providing instructions and examples of how to become a part of that Kingdom. It is up to each of us to forgive others and ourselves. The alternative is to continue as we have in the past and not become a part of that Kingdom on this Earth. Note that not making a choice is choosing. To be part of the Kingdom requires effort on our part to believe in Jesus, his teachings and put them into practice in our lives.
What was Jesus’ purpose and why did he come? Jesus’ proclaimed purpose was to fulfill the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah for the Jews. Additionally, he stated several times he was to teach the “good news of the kingdom”. Jesus came to teach us the way to partake in the Kingdom is to turn away from selfishness and turn toward love. This is the required action on our part. His personal example, stories and parables point us in this direction. From his incomplete reading of Isaiah, he implied the establishment and ruling of the Kingdom would be later. Although Jesus did not come for the gentiles at first, he clearly sent Peter to spread the good news of the kingdom to them. Just as his teachings, miracles, death and resurrection are for the changing of Jewish attitudes, they were presented by Peter in Jesus’ name for the gentiles.
GENTILES_JEWS.htm
12/05/2017