Customer Reviews

Messianic Exegesis: Christological Interpretation of the Old Testament in Early Christianity

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those books that I wish had been assigned to me a long time ago. The basic premise of the book is to show that the early Christians were convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah (meaning "king"), and then undertook the task of reflecting on the good news of his death and ressurection in light of the Scriptures. What came first was NOT apologetic argument but scriptural reflection whose goal was to understand the gospel.

Basically the early Christians take key words from well known Messianic passages already established, and use other passages NOT considered Messianic, and apply them to what they saw happened with Jesus in his unexpected death and resurrection.

This should be required reading for all who study the Bible. I believe this mainly because after being involved in Biblical Studies for a while and digesting all kinds of discussions, I feel that the way things are presented in this book should be the standard for understanding the relationship between the Tanakh and what is referred to as the New Testament.

It is the ultimate way of honoring Christ. The Messiah becomes the one who reinterprets everything that came before. The written word is in submission to the living word. SO when the unexpected happens we reimagine everything in light of the Truth.

This means that one needs to believe first that the death and resurrection of Jesus really happened, and also beleive that the result of this was vindication of His self declaration of being Messiah. When the Chief Priest asked if he was Messiah, Jesus said, "I am". The other thing that one needs to believe in is that God is fully consistent. So that when something happens later in history after Jesus' resurrection and ascension that is significant, it should always be compared to the death and resurrection and seen as inferior to it.

Colossians 1:15-18 15 ¶ And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.

This belief will rid the world of Christians who are pretentious and fundamentalists. For we know that Christ would befriend sinners, not talk to others telling everyone how much better they are than those sinners. In fact Christ's resurrection caused him to be the head of the body, not the head of a building with separate rooms that have separate entrances and exits. Christ created unity so that we have to rub shoulders with those we do not want to. Christ's enthronement means that the tasks that he gives us as King over everything are all encompassing that affect even inanimate objects, all of Creation. This means that we should be very busy doing his work, so busy in fact, that we will not have time to stop and bicker with each other and picket at the corner, but spend all our time LOVING!

Basically if we cannot fulfill Christ's mission for us as ambassadors to love the world and others like us unconditionally, then it doesnt matter if we have the proper form of Church government, or proper mode of baptism or communion, or beliefs of the end times, everything compared to what Christ tells us to do as King is clanging cymbals