V. 27 We saw the contrast -- it was a pagan cultic shrine area Christ chose to be revealed, where cries of Caesar is Lord rang. Jesus Christ was proclaimed to be God in human flesh.
V. 28 introduced us to the confusion that abounded in Christ's day. They by and large missed His arrival, explained away His ministry and rejected His claims to be who He claimed to be. Why? It is quite simple if you were to get the best selling book list of the day.
A German scholar Schurer gave us a lifetime of study into the inter-testamental Jewish apocalyptic writings (that's a big word for between Nehemiah and Malachi's time to John the Baptist).
Well, what did the Jews look for in 400 years of religious writing? Listen: these are direct quotes from apocalyptic writings:
Before Messiah comes there will be great and terrible tribulation. into the chaos will come a herald Elijah to announce Messiah's coming. Messiah enters the world. All the nations gather against this Messiah. Total destruction of the world's armies follows. Jerusalem is renovated. All jews regather in Jerusalem. Palestine is the center of world rule. A new age of peace and goodness lasts forever.
No wonder they missed Him. They looked for Alexander the Great + Caesar + Napoleon in one! So, in the confusion they missed Him. As one writer put it:
Some say He was just a good teacher, Jesus has been called the ideal man, an example of love, the highest model of religion, the foremost pattern of virtue, the greatest of all men, and the finest teacher who ever lived. All of those descriptions capture elements of His character, but they all fall short of the full truth. The apostle Thomas expressed it perfectly when he sa
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Dr. John Barnett
Who Was Peter? Scriptural Biographies - Peter DTBM, International
Pastor John Barnett has been devouring the Word of God for over 30 years. John, now the teaching pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan has served congregations in Oklahoma, New England, Georgia and California. He also served on the Faculty of the Master's College...
