The following is a (summarized) transcript from a renewal weekend retreat victory meeting (Secuela) a few weeks following the retreat. This retreat was a TRES DIAS weekend, but there are many renewal type weekends and if you have the opportunity to attend one you should!
4th day YES!!! Today we reflect back to the victory of the three-day weekend. Perhaps the most prolific mountain top experience you have ever had. I bet some of you have come down from that mountain though. Anyone actually hit the dirt yet? That happens. Luckily, we have a brotherhood and sisterhood now to help pick you up. On the weekend I shared from Psalm 22. Psalter is divided into five books (Psalms 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150). Book one is significant in several ways. Book I of the Psalms corresponds to the Song of Songs which was sung at the Passover season. The whole of the 41 psalms (1 of Introduction plus 40) relate to this theme. Note, as an example, Psalm 22 which says that the wicked “pierced my hands and my feet” (verse 16). This reference, in prophecy, referred to the crucifixion of Christ – who died at the Passover! Also, since Israel came out of Egypt at Passover, the 40 psalms of Book I (after the introductory one) probably denote the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The 30 psalms of Book II (after the introductory one) may show the 30 years for the establishing of the nation of Israel in the land of Canaan – and this took exactly 30 years from their crossing of the River Jordan to the death of Joshua. If you really dive in, after a careful analysis you will find a multi-layered, subtle, and profoundly meaningful structure and arrangement of the entire book. This arrangement is apparent in all five Books of Psalms, but it is particularly striking in Book I, Psalms 1-41. Keys to understanding the arrangement of the psalms are the awareness of chiasms, the linking together of psalms with common themes, words, and thought development, and the use of symbolic numbers. One of my favorite features of Hebrew poetry is the chiasm.
I wanted to show you how Psalms 15-24 are connected. I shared Psalms 15-24 today because they were meant to be read together in complete context and it is about our VICTORY! Together with Psalms 20 (a prayer for the king to be victorious) and 21 (a response from the king praising God for victories granted), these three royal psalms frame Psalm 19, the central psalm of the second chiasm. Like the first hymn of the Psalter (Psalm 8), this second hymn (Psalm 19) speaks of YHWH’s glory in creation and man’s responsibility to live in a covenant relationship with him. The psalm expands on the meditation of the Torah first introduced in Psalm 1:2-3, and it provides a glimpse of what is to come in the magnificent Torah psalm, Psalm 119. It is so beautiful!
Different people interpret Psalm 22 differently. But at ALTD we rejoice in what we have in common, not what we might see differently and regardless of your denomination or theological leaning we can all agree on Psalm 22 pointing to Jesus (Luke tells us that the risen Lord interpreted the Psalms to His disciples as referring prophetically to Himself in Luke 24:44) and revealing victory.
Of the thirteen (some count seventeen) major Old Testament texts that are quoted in the Gospel narratives, nine come from the Psalms, and five of those from Psalm 22. The best known of them all is the cry of dereliction, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani” -My God My God Why have you forsaken me- (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34).’ I talked about that on the women’s Tres Dias 50 weekend a bit but I will expound for those that were not there!
The Psalm has two strongly contrasting divisions: vv1-18 – a song of lament, speaking of the psalmist’s suffering, vv19-31 – a song of praise, speaking of the psalmist’s vindication. We could characterize it as, “From trauma to triumph.”
When you see that Christ shared this section of Psalms 22 with his disciples and identified himself prophetically, you understand that when he says, My God my God why have you forsaken me,” He was actually quoting the song of victory! Anyone that understood anything about Hebrew at the place of the crucifixion would have understood the quote then as not saying that God was forsaking Him but quite the opposite. Even though it may have looked to some or felt like that, Jesus was reminding them of the victory that was happening. This was a regularly sung song. I would contend that even those that weren’t of Israel would have known it much the way our world is aware of the hymn “Amazing Grace.”
When we use the words forsaken what do they mean? They refer to turning your face or back on someone. We here this in our language today when we say to someone, “don’t you turn your back on me,” or “don’t you walk away from me.” To turn away meant that you were no longer with them. It is the first step to leaving someone. The Bible calls this forsaking. Now, I have to go back to where I started. Some theologies do see God turning His face on Jesus but when you really follow their reasoning or understanding of the text here, I might reason that a lot of the differences might be simply definitions and semantics. I actually think we all (nearly) agree with what took place. We just frame it slightly differently as it is going to support different theologies. Free Will theology (for lack of better terminology) doesn’t have God turning His back on Jesus as that would be majorly problematic to God’s statement of promise and his character itself. However, a reformed theology is going to position him for a moment turning his back on Jesus to line up better with substitutional theology. (Did he “slightly” turn His back as He seems to have done with Israel? – I think that is the best framework for seeing it that way.) Every theology has to make a deduction here to line up with the rest of their atonement theory. I will still content that both views can be “close.” There are also some extreme views here such as viewing God as a cosmic child abuser that I won’t get into here.)
Yet God tells us more than 30 times in the Bible as His enduring covenant promise (many people will call an unconditional covenant) that God will never leave or forsake us. So theologically now it seems like we have a contradiction in scripture. Whenever it appears like scripture is in contradiction, we have to ask what is going on and look deeper into the text. We know that scripture doesn’t contradict itself so how do we theologically reconcile this? I think the answer is quite simple actually.
I can’t speak for how the reformed circles answer this (more than I briefly have), but I will speak to why I lean towards simply saying God never turned His back on Jesus. If you say God did turn His back on Jesus and connect it to Ransom and PSA versions of atonement, you’re going to have a lot of theological gymnastics needed. (But I will admit there is a framework for that view.) Most theologians I know are going to take the far more simple and defendable view that God didn’t turn His back on Jesus (but that is also going to create a problem if you hold to PSA and Ransom theories.) In quoting Psalm 22 Jesus is reminding all of the faithful that God actually ISN’T turning his back or his face on Jesus. That God is with him in the healing moment and reconciling the world in what looks like defeat but is actually the biggest victory the world will ever know. That is exactly the context of Psalm 22. This is important because the promise is likely the most thematic promise of the entire scripture -that God will never leave us or forsake us. By taking this view, I don’t have to then try to explain how God would say this and then seemingly turn away from Jesus at the cross. My theology overwhelmingly would state that He didn’t do that to Jesus and He won’t ever leave you despite what you do. (I would also argue he never turns His back on Israel which is in part what Jesus was clarifying in the parable.) In fact I would claim that is the continued message (and even central theme) of the Old Covenant and the New. It is the prodigal story; God is always arms open to you and there is victory. These truths are fundamental to the TRES DIAS journey as well as to our deepened trust in the LORD unto the rest of our calling.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. Psalm 22:28
Turn – the Hebrew word here is shuv. It is used more than 1000 times in Hebrew Scripture and carries a couple dozen different ideas or meanings but all of them have an idea of “coming back.” Now if I asked you what the gospel is. The answers would greatly vary which I always think is interesting. (your answers are based on how Jesus has personally revealed Himself to you.) You might say, freedom, or the good news, the covenant story, or something similar. These are all true! (Chapter 7 of This is the Way of Covenant Discipleship gets really into this.) My point is no one would use the word SHUV!!! All of these other words are nouns and the Hebrew word SHUV is about different because it is a verb. I like the word SHUV for this reason, living out the gospel should look like a verb in your life. There should be 1000 different ways that you live out the revelation of Jesus!
“Christians typically focus the attention of “conversion” on the future. Usually this involves concern about where you will go when you die. Getting to heaven is, too often, the goal of religious experience. Ultimately, this preoccupation with what happens after death is based in a Greek philosophical belief that the world is a bad and terrible place and the only real solution to problems here on earth is escape. Heaven will solve it all. If Jesus just comes back soon, our problems will be over.”1 This is called escapism and has led many people into poor theology.
I always think is interesting that in the Old Testament they had no revelation of any other further life. Other than God Himself, the concept of eternal life in the Bible is revealed in the New Covenant in Jesus. Yet in the Old Testament they possibly lived far greater lives of devotion than most of us do today. This Hebrew word SHUV reminds us that the object of return to God’s ways. A return to a life of devotion, piety study and action – a return to Eden type of communion, walking with God. This kind of life takes action here and now and it is not an escape plan.
I want to show you one more thing in the text. Hebrew reads a bit different than English. Often the first word is the main emphasis of the structure. So here the verb comes first! Literally, the verse reads, “Remember and return to YHWH all the ends of the earth.” The action is at the forefront. What do we need for this kind of action? Well, it tells us that to! Despite what things sometimes look like, remember who is in control, remember who will bring the victory. Remember the and live that out (as a note some scholars would interpret the Hebrew to not make the statement that all will actually return, but all are offered to return.) When we do that, it means that we run back into his arms. That we live out goodness, peace, edification of the body of Christ. We demonstrate compassion and image grace. We find ourselves with the father again on those walks in the cool of the evening when there was nothing to hide. We live transparently in the body of Christ through His amazing grace. In Philippians 2:5-8, believers are encouraged to adopt the “mind of Christ,” which embodies humility, obedience, and selflessness demonstrated in Him aligning our thoughts and decisions with Jesus’ way of thinking, promoting love, humility, and wisdom.
TODAY IS THE DAY OF VICTORY!!! There will be days that don’t feel victorious. We are actually PROMISED THAT! In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” James 1 actually says to “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
COMMUNION: The table should be a reminder of many things in your life. We are welcomed to regularly come to the table and remember the full picture (1000x) of what Jesus revealed to us. One of the pictures is victory. I invite you today to the table of victory. The bread that is broken, the cup offered to you as a sign to remember who you are. Your identity in Jesus. The rest of the world can fade away, but that that victory is part of you. It is literally what creates and embodies you. Remember and lay claim this day and every day.
This year at our Friday May 2 6pm outdoor Season kickoff. TOV will be commissioning Paul Lazzaroni in his gifting as a shepherd (pastor). We will start at 6pm with praise and worship and transition into a teaching and commissioning service. Towards the end of the night, we will call Paul and His wife Megg up and commission them. Paul is completing his BA in Biblical Studies from Covenant Theological Seminary (CTS) and will be installed as a TOV associate pastor. Tov also affirms women in Ministry and that the two have become one and therefore will be recognizing Paul and Megg together. Upon completion of His BA in Biblical Studies at CTS Paul will be enrolled in The King’s Commission School of Divinity in their Master of Divinity program. Friday night he will be presented with a certificate of ordination from TKC and the International Association of Theological schools (IATS). If you have walked closely with Paul, I want to personally thank you for the investment you have made and the fruit that it has and will continue to bear in our TOV community.
TOV believes in the priesthood of all believers. That means that from the opening pages of the Bible we believe that our vocational identity was to live out our giftedness as an ambassador that represents Jesus and His Kingdom. We believe that every believer is called this way and that it is a process within sanctification. However, some are recognized by the body as leaders that shepherd the shepherds.
Pastor – Shepherding those who shepherd
In this sense, we are recognizing Paul’s gifting. As TOV is not into titles, we view a commissioning of one’s life in relation to the recognition of the community and the fruit they bear. This is a functional calling based on unique gifting, spiritual maturity, and sacrificial service. We are setting apart Paul as one who has made the decision to live set apart and wholly devoted to shepherding others out of meekness and sacrificial love. To some regard TOV is hesitant to use the term “pastor” as it isn’t in the Bible. (The Greek in Eph 4 uses the term poimenas which is better translated shepherd.) Therefore, the term is a bit of a theological construct of humanity. We also believe everyone in some way functions ministerially. So, the term also becomes problematic in that sense. However, we do recognize in a modern definition of the word as someone who is identified as a central leader of the body of Christ. In that sense both Paul, myself, and my wife Krista are identified as those that are recognized and functioning as TOV shepherds who shepherd.
In a sense we recognize every believer this way, but in another sense, we see the Biblical example of those that lead the shepherding, and the world refers to these people as pastors. So, will you call him Pastor Paul from here on out? Well, I guess I will leave that up to you. I think He would prefer you just call him Paul. At the same time, it makes complete sense that nearly every other church uses the title pastor before someone’s first or last name. We certainly are not saying it is wrong or that churches shouldn’t do that. The roots of TOV are to return to a first century style church and they didn’t seem to call anyone pastor back then, so out of consistency, that is more of our reasoning. We also like to think this roles self sacrificially with the New Testament descriptions such as a gardener, one who cultivates growth.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
“This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
Today’s leadership structures in the church are based on a contemporary hierarchical and positional mindset. According to the positional mindset terms and titles like pastor, elder, bishop, deacon, the 5-fold ministry positions/offices, etc. are positions of church leadership or “ecclesial offices”.
By contrast we would believe that the New Testament vision is that of a functional mindset. Each of these “offices” in the positional view are actually giftings and not a position. Leadership in the New Testament places a high premium on the unique gifting, spiritual maturity, and sacrificial service of each member. It lays stress on functions, not offices. It emphasizes tasks rather than titles. Its main concern lies in activities like pastor-ing, elder-ing, prophesy-ing, oversee-ing, apostle-ing, etc. Positional thinking is hung up on nouns, while functional thinking stresses verbs.
Jesus was pretty clear on hierarchy in Matt 20:25-28 in that it should “not be so among you” and led by example from an upside-down kingdom perspective of complete self-sacrificial servanthood exhibiting power under rather than a power over.
Jesus on hierarchy:
Worldly leadership operates on the top-down command structures. The Kingdom of God operates on leadership that is not positional and that flows out of meekness and sacrificial love.
Worldly leadership is based on rank. The Kingdom of God operates based on Godly character.. Christ’s description of a “leader”- “let him be a servant”
Worldly leadership is measured by greatness and prominence. In the Kingdom greatness is measured by humility and servanthood.
Worldly leadership use their positions to rule over others. In the Kingdom of God leaders deplore special reverence “to regard themselves as the younger” (As the one with least power) or power under.
In Matthew 23:8-12 Jesus comes against the titles of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law- positional authority
In the Religious climate of the Jews a class system existed made up of religious specialists and non-specialists (clergy and laity?). Yet in the Kingdom all are brothers and sisters in the same family.
In the Religious world leaders are recognized with honorific titles (Pastor, Elder, bishop, minister, director, etc.). In the Kingdom there are no distinctions or titles- we are all a kingdom of priests unto our God.
Religious leaders lead through outward prominence and display. In the Kingdom we wash feet as humble lowly servants.
Religious leadership was rooted in status, title, and position. In the Kingdom everything is rooted in inward life and character.
Jesus comes against both the worldly view of hierarchical power and the religious view of positional authority. Why? Because they stunt the organic nature of his body. They impede the functioning of the gifts when just the “professionals” do all the “kingdom work”. And they create a 2-class system in the church.
Submission
We hear a lot about submission to authority in the church but in reality we have “no king but Christ” and the key verse in the New Testament for submission says:
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21)
Submit= hypotasso= voluntarily yield
Jesus is your only spiritual covering- there is not case in the Bible for any man or religious leader to be so.
The view of oversight in the NT church is about the whole body operating in their giftings and being discipled by those who are wise, mature, and have the character of Christ in them. This is what leadership and oversight looks like rather than the CEO structure that focuses on offices and hierarchy which hurts the church.
We need all the gifts to be a healthy body.
Apostolic work sets the culture and plants, waters, and weeds in the community. They are often itinerant workers plowing new roads for the kingdom.
Prophets are covenant enforcers exhorting the body to stay on course and listen to the Lord for his vision.
Evangelists embody the gospel message and share it boldly through invitation, which results in a growing community pursing discipleship.
We talked about hospitality as the primary method of early church discipleship
Shepherds/Teachers help the church in times of personal crisis (shepherding) and cultivate the church’s spiritual life by revealing Christ through the exposition of Scripture (teaching).
We noted that shepherd-teacher are combined here (4 fold?). This is also the only mention of “pastor” in the Bible and it’s better as shepherd and it’s plural. In 1 Peter it is a verb and here it’s a noun acting as a verb (function not position)
Also when someone says there are no women pastors in the Bible you can also say there are no male pastors in the Bible. Shepherding is biblical but it’s not a position.
Ephesians 4 describes these as “ascension gifts” not “ascension offices”
Does Romans 12 list a 7 fold ministry? Does 1 Cor 12 list an 8 fold ministry? No! Hardly anyone takes there lists hieratically so why Eph 4? We may have up 22+ gifts listed in the Bible but there are more.
How do we get to a better place?
Every day is completely, wholly given to Jesus and the calling to be a disciple and make a disciple by Jesus’ definition not the worlds
You don’t give your time, treasure, and talents to the world in any way, they are reserved solely for Jesus
You train up your kids as your primary responsibility and your core act of making disciples
You live intimately with Him and present deeper devotion to the king and His kingdom within your family and surround yourself with one accord of a body of believers that think the same way.
Don’t be immersed in the world, let the world find Jesus through you. Offer living water at each and every opportunity. You don’t need to drink the worlds water anymore.
Bring your gifts to and for the body each and every day
Meet regularly as a spiritual family communing with Jesus as a central strand of life together
Your best should be given to Jesus, everything points that way
Work repeatedly and regularly to present yourself completely devoted to Him (a living sacrifice) and your spiritual family of disciples.
Get back to God’s ideals, perhaps 7 feasts for 7 days and each sabbath together; or perhaps that was just the beginning of what God wants. Eventually in a recreated heaven and earth we are going to be in fellowship not just 7×7 but completely. That should be the goal today too, not once a week, but wholly given in complete life pursuit. That is the thrust of the New Covenant disciple, not just a tithe, or a first fruit, but all in all the time.
What would it look like if your spiritual family lived this way. Can you imagine it? Could you survive in America? What if you had 10 families that made this commitment. Your gifts enabled housing out of debt. (pipedream, impossible? I think your limiting yourself and God) You shared what was “needed”; you provided for not only your own but the others. You all learned to live this way. I would actually venture to say that it is not only possible but is the ONLY Biblical model and is a recipe for amazing life in Jesus. You might conduct a business but it is surrounded together in Jesus. Maybe the Amish building houses together weren’t too far off from a New Testament picture of working together, they just got hung up on legalism along the way.
In short, whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12)
The Edenic Ideal:
We always take everything back to God’s ideals. The Bible begins and ends with Eden. New Creation has broken into the present through the resurrection, so the church should be living according to God’s ideals in our communities even if the world looks completely opposite.
God’s eternal purpose was to have a people in relationship with him working in equality under God’s kingship. This is God’s ideal for his church too. Each of us bringing our gifts to the altar/table and using them to image him to creation.
A couple times a month I get asked similar questions about demons and possession. Are there really spirits in the Old Testament that are still plaguing people today or are people really just experiencing mental illness? Can Christians be afflicted or possessed? What kind of intervention is best? All of these are great questions and as with many Biblically or spiritually related things, theology is important. In my normal scholarly approach, I am going to try to NOT spoon feed you with what I think but offer you some things to consider as you form your own thoughts.
First, there is no demon possession in the Old Testament.1 Some might even say that there are not even any demons attested, although translations are problematic here.2 Secondly, this article centers on a foundation of biblical theology, not on phenomenology, however I will touch on this at the end. In a traditional sense, most scholars understand that when the snake or nahash3 figure tempts eve it is the introduction to a fallen spiritual being, something we would later call a demon. Adam and Eve are permitted to eat the fruits of all the trees except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The woman is tempted by a talking serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, and gives some to the man, who eats also.4
There are several non-traditional views, one option within this narrative is to see it as a dual fall5. In this view, it is not only the fall of humanity but the first (or what becomes main*) spiritual being to deny their vocational calling and “fall” as well. We also get insight into spiritual beings continuing to fall and Genesis 6 and Revelation seems to imply that fall continues and that when Jesus come 1/3 of all the spiritual beings will fall.6 The lake of fire was intended for these beings.7 The snake could then be reconciled as the “Ha Satan” figure of later notoriety and becomes the leader of the fallen spirits we call Satan. If you haven’t read this post, it might help before you get too much further.
All of this is highly debatable. To be clear I am still on the fence as to what I think the best options are. There may have been other spiritual beings that fell before this one. If the snake had already fallen, he likely would not have been allowed in the garden, therefore logically it seems we are reading the dual fall. Therefore, the story might not necessarily be giving us a narrative of the first spiritual being falling, but simply a story telling the fall of humanity while inferring the other fall. But we don’t know if it is the first fallen spiritual being or not. We aren’t ever given that in the Bible. We may be reading partially the significance of this later turning into the leader of the cosmic bad guys, Satan but we don’t know this for sure either. The central story is about the fall of the man and woman in the garden. The primary message is the casting out of the garden and hermeneutically we shouldn’t deduce much else.
Extra-Biblical Source
You might be surprised to learn that there’s no verse in the Bible that explains where demons came from. Christians typically assume that demons are fallen angels cast from heaven, but the Bible doesn’t actually state that, we would have to deduce it. When it comes to theology I don’t particularly like deductions or constructs or theologies of man, I like exegesis (which is still going to require some deductions!) But we do get some clues in the Bible and some other extra biblical sources that could help. In ancient Jewish texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls, demons are the disembodied spirits of dead Nephilim giants who perished at the time of the great flood8. I am tempted to save the time and not go where I am going to go, but Matt and I wrote a book9 partially on this and it is fascinating so I want to share some of it. Let me see if I can keep it brief here. I think you will be glad I decided to indulge. I will essentially attempt to summarize the content largely found in Michael Heiser’s Unseen Realm.10
In several contexts the Apkallu are seven divine beings, sometimes described as part man and part fish or bird, associated with human wisdom; these creatures are often referred to in scholarly literature as the Seven Sages.11 They are central to the Mesopotamian version of the flood story and important to Ugaritic text.12 The apkallu were dispensers of divine knowledge to humanity.13 Gilgamesh is perhaps the most familiar example. He is called “lord of the apkallu”14 in a cuneiform inscription on a small clay seal. But this is controversial, I might ad, he might not actually be considered one of the apkallu, but has that title attributed to him on a cylinder seal that proclaims his mastery (similar to apkallu). Again, my point is we have to use care with this. Both the divine fathers and their giant children are called apkallu. The apkallu are sometimes referred to by another Mesopotamian term: mats-tsarey, which means “watchers.”15 Genesis 6:1–4 was written by Israelites who wanted to make a statement: the apkallu before the flood were not good guys. Heiser would assert that what they did was wicked, and the giant offspring apkallu produced by their transgression were enemies of the true God of heaven. In fact, their own giant offspring were bent on annihilating Israel many years later. However, I would agree with Walton that there are a number of arguable points here. In Genesis it is not clear that the Nephilim are the offspring of the sons of God, and in Numbers 13, it is not clear that they are giants (that may refer only to the Anakim, and some interpreters conclude that the grasshopper comment there has to do with insignificance rather than with size). As you can imagine, there are certainly some questions to the interpretation.
Later in biblical history, during the days of Moses and Joshua, the Israelites ran into groups of very large warriors called Anakim in Numbers 13:32–33 and tells us explicitly that the Anakim came from the Nephilim.16 Heiser claims that the “The key to understanding how these giants were perceived as demons in the biblical material—an idea that got a lot of focus in Jewish writings produced after the Old Testament—is the term Rephaim.”17 I also might note that the Rephaim are perceived as spirits of the dead in the netherworld, but that does not make them demons.
You also might consider the Rephaim in this discussion, but these discussions are highly controversial and deeply debated. I would be reticent to derive confident conclusions about demons from what we know of them. But to give you a background, in the Old Testament, the Rephaim are described as giant warlords18 (Deut 2:8–11; 3:1–11; Josh 13:12), but also as frightening, sinister disembodied spirits (“the shades”) in the Underworld, called Sheol in Hebrew (Isa 14:9; 26:14; Job 26:5). The disembodied spirits of these giants were therefore associated with the abode of the dead, something everyone feared, since everyone feared death. But the Rephaim also had another awful association. There are nearly 10 references in the Old Testament to a place called the Valley of the Rephaim (e.g., 2 Sam 5:18, 22; 23:13). Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 tell us that the Valley of the Rephaim adjoined another valley—the Valley of Hinnom, also known as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom.19 In Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom” is ge hinnom, a phrase from which the name gehenna derives—a term conceptually linked to Hades/Hell in the New Testament.20 In the book of 1 Enoch the villainous sons of God of Genesis 6:1–4 are not only called angels—they are called Watchers. The link back to the Mesopotamian apkallu is transparent and unmistakable. First Enoch spells out how the Watchers and their offspring were the source of demons:21 From here I would urge you to read for yourself —1 Enoch 6:1-2; 7:1; 9:1, 9-10; 10:9; 15:8-9 1 Enoch calls the giants “bastard spirits”—a phrase used of demons in several Dead Sea Scrolls. Essentially, we get the idea that fallen beings are a bit more complex than we might at first think.
This leads us to some questions. “Are they still around? Are they to be identified with the demons that we engage in spiritual warfare today?” From here we drift farther from an exegetical approach. Walton reminded me here that just because Enoch connects them to demons doesn’t make that a biblically defensible view and I have to agree. We begin to drift into the guessing game. Every scholar seems to have a slightly different take on it. Nobody really knows the exact answer. Much of what we know is just the way people in the ancient world perceived things, we don’t know that their narrative was actually true. So now, let’s see what the Bible tells us.
Where are they in scripture?
Well after we just progressed to the guessing game, let’s get back on exegetical track! The New Testament is a different “cultural river”22 to use Walton’s terminology. There is little or no connection to Nephilim, apkallu or rephaim. In Jesus Christ’s teachings and ministry, He often confronted demons and their activities, i.e., demonic possession of individuals (Matthew 12:22-29, 15:22-28, 25:41; Mark 5:1-16). Christ demonstrated His power over demons and, furthermore, He gave His disciples power to cast out demons (Matthew 10:1).23 Some cessationists would say this period dies with Jesus and His victory at the cross meaning the demons are gone or phased out within a generation. That notion seems far-fetched. Jesus seemed to spend a great deal of time training the disciples for spiritual warfare and imparting the same aspects in scripture for those after to glean. We might distinguish between casting out demons and spiritual warfare at this point in the discussion. The former would be one aspect of the latter, but we know that spiritual warfare as it is envisioned today is a much broader concept.24
The New Testament does testify to the fact that demons are able to enter and control both humans and beasts. It is not mere psychological dysfunction on the part of a person. We find this from general statements the New Testament gives as well as specific examples of demon-possession.
This is an ADD squirrel moment, but again interesting – The gospel of John has very little about demons as you will see below, ironically the only times demons are mentioned is when someone accuses Jesus of being demon possessed in John 7:20 and John 8:48. While John’s gospel does not record any account of the healing of those demon possessed, it certainly acknowledges that the people believed demon-possession was a reality. Some have used this to say that John may not have had the same feelings about demons as other writers.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the exorcism of demons continued through the ministry of His disciples. They were able to drive out demons through the authority of Jesus. You might remember Acts 8:7, “for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured.” There is another account of a Slave Girl At Philippi in Acts 16:18.
Here are all the accounts in the NT in harmony for you:25
Synagogue At Capernaum (Mark 1:25-27; Luke 4:51-56)
The Gadarene Demoniacs (Matthew 8:28-34) (Mark 5:1-20) (Luke 8:26-39)
The Daughter Of The Gentile Woman (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-50)
The Demoniac Boy (Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-42)
The Mute Man (Matthew 9:32-34)
Mute, Blind, And Demon-Possessed (Matthew 12:22-30; Mark 3:20-27; Luke 11:14-23)
Slave Girl At Philippi Acts 16:18
What do we learn from these texts?
1. Demon-Possession Does Occur 2. Possession May Be Voluntary Or Involuntary 3. Those Possessed May Not Necessarily Live Immoral Lives 4. May Or May Not Be Permanent 5. Can Affect The Body 6. Can Also Affect The Mind 7. There Can Be A Wide Variety Of Symptoms 8. When Someone Is Delivered It Is Immediate
Do Christians need an exorcist?
This is the central question, and this one is up for debate. Different theologies see it differently. Michael Heiser in His book, Demons would say that,
“The jurisdictional authority of these sons of God has been nullified by the resurrection and ascension of Christ. That reality is what frames the Great Commission—the call to reclaim the nations (“go into all the world and make disciples”). The kingdom of darkness will lose what is essentially a spiritual war of attrition, for the gates of hell will not be able to withstand the Church. This is why believers are never commanded to rebuke spirits and demand their flight in the name of Jesus. It is unnecessary. Their authority has been withdrawn by the Most High. Believers are in turn commanded to reclaim their territory by recruiting the citizens in those territories for the kingdom of God.” 26
However, I don’t personally see eye to eye with Heiser on this one. There are at least two instances when Jesus seems to be preparing His disciples for coming spiritual warfare and still possibly needing to take command over them. Both come as field trips by Jesus which should show us that they were strategic in genre. The first is the crazy pigs story and the second is the grotto of pan. I have written on both instances. At the cross we see a Christus Victor sense of atonement where Jesus gains the keys of death back and the fallen spiritual beings are bound but not completely done away with, imprisoned, or cast into the lake of fire. That comes later after judgment. Until then, I would say they are still active but restrained.
Walton also would not agree with some of what Heiser states here, would have reservation about the cavalier identification of the sons of God with demons (which Heiser believed he built an evidential case for). Walton might disagree with the notion of the Great Commission as saying anything about the activity of demons in the world. Making disciples is not the same as making converts or followers. It is training apprentices who will take up the mantle in the next generation.27
Many of you know that one of my life mentors is John Walton. He and his son wrote an excellent book entitled, Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology: Reading the Biblical Text in its Cultural and Literary Context. 28 The book runs quite contrary to Dr. Heiser’s take on Demons. Both books shed good light on the subject, but I actually don’t agree with all of the assumptions of either. Walton and Walton think that a lot of what we believe about demons is wrong, I agree. They would assert that Bible is not meant to teach us any kind of demonology as the beliefs about the demons came from the culture much like one could talk about geological beliefs about the shape of the Earth and the nature of creation without having that be meant to give us scientific details. The Waltons also say this doesn’t serve the cause of what they call conflict theology, where God is fighting against the ways of the devil as classically understood, in a good light.29 The book serves a useful purpose of deconstructing some false “churchianity” stuff that is likely in your head, and I found it very useful. I can’t summarize everything that I would like to, so I highly suggest you buy the book and read it. It also seeks to challenge mental illness related to spiritual world assertations. I will get to this.
My personal take is that Christians can’t be possessed. If your life is in Jesus and you are fully inhabited as the temple of the holy spirit you can’t also be inhabited by a demon. You can however not be in good space or be weak and susceptible to nagging or leaching. Think of it as a spirit holding on to your ankles like a dog. They can be cast away in the name of Jesus in my opinion based on scripture. Sacred space might also creep into this conversation but I have written on it before so I think I will leave it alone here. Do you need continual checkups? Do demons creep in? Are they waiting at the gate? We simply don’t have all those answers, but we have enough to make biblically educated deductions.
Satan has been defeated
Can we equate Satan and demons? The only Biblical connection is in the designation of Beelzebub as the “prince of the demons” (Mt 9:34)–but even that is only stated as the opinion of the critics of Jesus. In other words, narrative simply tells us that is what they thought, we aren’t given this as Biblical truth. If that is indeed the case, we cannot say that Christians are immune to possession because demon possession is the invasion of something evil.
Satan has been defeated, but this is theologically foreseen as already not yet instance. I will use some of Andrew Womack’s wording but find the need to slightly edit towards a better theology (I love Andrew but not all of his theology or lack thereof). Satan has already been completely defeated according to Heb. 2:14. But he is still present as the New Testament goes on to clearly emphasizes.
Exegetically, I should again remind you that Satan is never indicated as a fallen being in the Bible (in Enoch, yes but not specifically in the Bible), nor are demons identified as fallen beings.30 Casting them out of heaven in Revelation is future and may or may not be another matter. In other words, your theological convictions are going to continue to matter in the way that you go on to interpret how we are personally affected. Walton and Walton are going to take a different trajectory than anything you might be familiar with. From their perspective, it is even difficult to Biblically prove that demons are the minions of Satan. If you think this way, whatever power Satan does or does not have cannot be associated with demon possession. Satan’s work is not represented as demon possession and demon possession is not associated with Satan. Judas (Satan entered into him) cannot be brought into this conversation any more than Peter (get behind me Satan) can be at Caesarea Philippi.
But theologies differ, in a traditional sense of fallen spiritual beings being thought of as demons, Satan and the other fallen degenerate spirits only power is the power to deceive Christians. I might call these leaching or nagging demons. Our battle should be against the schemes of the devil and his minions (Eph. 6:11), not the devil himself. Any other approach is cognitively giving the devil authority and power which he doesn’t have or deserve. The only weapon Satan has is the power we give him when we believe his lies.In this sense Satan is powerless towards Christians, Satan was defeated in a Christus Victor sense at the cross.31
As I have been going back and forth, I need to go back to Waltons view here and make the point that demon possession is dependent on associating demon possession connected to the power of Satan.32
Colossians 2:15 says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” The archaic meaning of the word “spoiled” here is “to plunder; despoil” (American Heritage Dictionary). This means that after Jesus defeated Satan, He stripped him of everything he had, specifically the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1:18). Satan has no power to imprison anyone.
Despite the fact that Jesus and his disciples certainly believed the world was oppressed with evil forces, they exhibited a complete freedom from fear in regard to such entities. In fact, the fearlessness of the early Christians was one of the chief “selling points” of early Christianity, since most people in the ancient world lived in fear of demonic forces.33 In large part, that is why the later second temple period had such an apocalyptic genre to so much of its writing including Biblical literature. 34
Mental Illness and demonology
This is going to be a controversial section. Different people see it differently. We are certainly plagued by our demons. In other words, some of the things we refer to as “demons” are figments of our own inability within a fallen world. Since I believe both in literal demons as well as metaphorical “demons” that are behavioral health issues, it’s important to distinguish between the two.I agree with C.S. Lewis, who said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our [human] race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”35 We need a balanced approach. There are literal demons, but there are also metaphorical ones. Around the world, in countless cultures and religions, people experience both intentional and unintentional spirit possession, as well as exorcisms to cure them of unwanted possessions.
One view is that Jesus never conducted rituals to free someone of a demon. In some cases, he engaged them in conversation that resulted in their expulsion. In other cases, the reader is not given details but is left to assume that Jesus summarily dismissed the demons without discussion.36 I would go on to represent this view by stating that the examples of demonic possession listed in the Gospels were not provided as a manual for modern exorcism (let alone as a diagnostic manual of mental disorders), just as Jesus’ miracles are not a blueprint for a higher Christian life. This is a general hermeneutical rule: We shouldn’t automatically deduce general principles or doctrines from a Biblical narrative. There is also a perspective that we aren’t Jesus and won’t ever be (yet are always called to image Him), so perhaps the better question is what did He instruct of His disciples? Sometimes rather than casting out demons we need to seek mental health care for people. However, some theologies of healing would disagree (such as Andrew Womack) and believe that Christ heals all spiritual and physical ailments through his atoning work at the cross. This is where I remind you to read about the theological differences of healing of you haven’t already. I also do not subscribe to Bill Johnson’s theology of healing, but you should see for yourself. I certainly respect the approach.
Dr. Steve Cassell ads, when a person is demon-possessed (non-born-again person), oppressed (born-again person), or mentally unwell, they all can exhibit the exact same ’symptoms’, so there is no way to truly know without the ‘discerning of spirits’ that is offered as a gift from the Holy Spirit. I lean into 1 Cor 2:10-16.
CASTING OUT DEMONS:
Will you cast out demons from non-believers and nagging or leeching demons from Christians? That is for you to decide. Luckily, we have the Holy Spirit to help us there. I believe this is something that is influenced by God’s order and gifting. Much like miraculous healing there are several things that come into play such as the faith of the healer, the faith of the crowd, and the faith of the one being healed. You also have to take into account the glory of God, what scripture already says about the situation, God’s will and ways, and a plethora of other influential spiritual dynamics. I believe we should all be open and working on all the gifts. Some see casting out demons as a gift. Some are better than others but (if you follow this theology) all should be working on their gift. So, if you go that way, let me give you a better theological framework for it.
This is sometimes called “Deliverance.” As I am weary as to all of the “encounters” I am convinced possession is real and there is a need to call out the demons in the name of the Lord. As I have mentioned, I respect Andrew Womack’s ministry, and I think He has done some good work in this area. As I am hesitant to share this as I don’t agree with all of it. I think you should read it. 37 It is set up in the form of a group discussion should you want to use it that way. Here is a sermon by Bill Johnson that gets into this, more of a cheerleading piece in my opinion, but you still might find it helpful.
I have cast out more demons than I can count. Here are some things to consider: I believe in counseling and the person may need some through this process. I dislike step plans for anything. God doesn’t always work that way, but here is some framework.
Ask for the spirit to guide you. Seek a fresh anointing and the presence of God. The person needs to be honest and transparent (if they are cognitively able).
What might be holding them back? Bitterness, unforgiveness, communion, unreconciled sin. You might need to bring out what is hidden. What needs to be revealed?
Faith – Your faith, their faith. I believe in counseling and the person may need some.
In the name of Jesus renounce – I have found it the most powerful to shepherd this. Start by saying it and urging the person to affirm in their own words. This means to repudiate; disown; to give up or put aside; to give up by formal declaration; to deny, disavow, discard, recant, cast off, and sever oneself from.
Sometimes I think it is important to make a proclamation to live this out. This comes back to faith. Do they need to break every hereditary curse coming down from their ancestors or through their bloodline? Jesus can break generational chains. I would be careful to call these curses. I don’t think that is always accurate or the best theological framework.
CONCLUSIVE THOUGHTS:
I have grown to very much appreciate Waltons criteria for a faithful interpretation over the years. I really like how he finished one of our conversations and I will share it in hopes that it will also help you come to your own conclusive thoughts. John Walton concludes, “I should make it clear that I have no hesitation at all in my belief that demon possession is a reality and that casting them out is an activity in which Christians may be called upon to engage, though I have never been in that situation myself. Nevertheless, I have questions about how confident we can be in connecting some of the dots (sons of God to demons, demons to evil, Satan to demons) and about some traditional teachings (fallen nature of spiritual beings) that are not taught in the Bible (none are). I hope that my comments will help you sharpen up the post a bit, even when you continue to hold a position that may differ from mine.”38 I love that heart!
I pray that you come to your own well exegeted conclusions. I am going to land with Brian Zahnd39 again on this one (which might point to some of my personal theology here different than where you land.) There is nothing to be done with demons but to wage war upon them and their works. That means setting people free by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the unique Kingdom manifestation of displacing demons. Every human vice and mental torment is a haunt of demon power. (Some would say this is over spiritualizing things but personally I don’t think so.) We can only imagine what led Mary Magdalene to become vexed by seven demons and how can we imagine the nightmarish road the Gadarene with his thousands of demons walked? But Jesus set them free. And He commissioned His followers to do the same in His name. I have to admit I still have a lot of unanswered questions for Jesus on this one! Don’t live in fear, don’t put the rest of the Bible on the shelf and go on a witch hunt, simply follow Jesus, love people, learn the power of God, and you will have opportunities to set people free from demon power by the authority of Jesus’ name. And finally, remember Revelation 20:10!
A special thanks to my good friend and mentor John Walton for his continued impact in my theological studies and so many others through his writing. He has been a lifelong source of inspiration and great advocate of faithful interpretation. Thank you, John.
Some might consider (1 Sam 16:14) but here it uses the word “oppressed” not “possessed” and it is further not clear whether this should be identified as a demon ↩︎
Graf, Fritz (2018). “Travels to the Beyond: A Guide”. In Ekroth, Gunnel; Nilsson, Ingela (eds.). Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition: Visits to the Underworld from Antiquity to Byzantium. Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean. Vol. 2. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 11–36. doi:10.1163/9789004375963_002. ISBN978-90-04-37596-3. ↩︎
Galambush, Julie (2000). “Eve”. In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN9789053565032. ↩︎
It should be noted that “Fall” is not a Biblical term. It generally refers to a fall (from grace). Walton makes the point that this is not an exegetical conclusion concerning humans, Satan, demons, or the Sons of God. The snake is never connected with Ha-Satan exegetically and he is never the leader of fallen spirits in the Bible. The Bible knows of no fallen beings (except the King of Babylon in Isa 14;12, but that is metaphorical—not a fall from grace and he is not a spirit being). See discussion in W&W. ↩︎
Belial (or Beliar, a corruption of the original form) is the most common name for the leader of the demons in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and occurs in other intertestamental literature and in II Corinthians 6:15. Belial (Heb. Beliyya’al) is a Hebrew compound word which etymologically means “no benefit” or “no thriving” and in liberal usage is often equivalent to “scoundrel.” But already in the Bible “streams of Beliyya’al” means “streams of destruction” (II Sam. 22:5; Ps. 18:5). In the intertestamental literature Belial is “the spirit of perversion, the angel of darkness, the angel of destruction” and other spirits are subject to him. Mastemah, which as a common noun means approximately “enmity, opposition” in Hosea 9:7, 8 and in some passages in the Five Scrolls, is a demon “Prince Mastemah” in Jubilees (11:5, 11; 17:16; et al.), and perhaps also in the Damascus Document (16:5). Watchers (Aram. ʿirin) are a type of angel mentioned in Daniel 4:10, 14, 20. To this class the intertestamental literature assigns the angels who, according to Genesis 6:2, 4, cohabited with women before the flood and fathered the race of giants (Test. Patr., Reu. 5:6–7; Test. Patr., Napht. 3:5; cf. Genesis Apocryphon, ii 2:1, 16). Asmodeus (Tobit 3:8, 17) is a demon who had slain the first seven husbands of Sarah, who becomes the wife of Tobias son of Tobit. ↩︎
Rouillard-Bonraisin, Hedwige. 1999. “Rephaim.” In Dictionary of Deities and Demons, pp. 692–700. ↩︎
Kohler, Kaufmann; Ludwig Blau (1906). “Gehenna”. Jewish Encyclopedia. “The place where children were sacrificed to the god Moloch was originally in the ‘valley of the son of Hinnom,’ to the south of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8, passim; II Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 2:23; 7:31–32; 19:6, 13–14). For this reason the valley was deemed to be accursed, and ‘Gehenna’ therefore soon became a figurative equivalent for ‘hell.'” ↩︎
Barker, Margaret. (2005) [1998]. The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its Influence on Christianity. London: SPCK; Sheffield Phoenix Press. ISBN978-1-905048-18-2↩︎
Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology: Reading the Biblical Text in its Cultural and Literary Context by John H. Walton and J. Harvey Walton (2019). ↩︎
Every year at Easter I practically have an aneurism from all the poor (or I should say Calvinistic) theology from the pulpit and social media. So much of what is shared and taught from mainstream Christians is Calvinistic Reformed Theology, but usually the person sharing has no idea, and most of them don’t realize just how reformed their language is. A friend posted this image over Easter, and it got me thinking about it. I agree with him that Calvinism is based on ideas that seem opposite to the humility of Jesus to the cross. For instance, as he points out, Calvinism sees sovereignty through or by control, victory needing irresistibility, and salvation as something predetermined and unilateral.
Here are some things that show Christ’s atoning work through the death, resurrection, and ascension as being very opposite of Calvinistic rhetoric, both TULIP and PSA (or ransom theories.)
Jesus emphasized victory through turning the other cheek or extreme surrender, this is referred to theologically as displaying “power under.” Calvinism is prefaced on the idea that God’s power is best shown through assertive dominance and total “power over.” Jesus’ life shows humility revealing that God doesn’t need to coerce to reign.
The very heart of Calvinism and its so-called “glory of God” is often defined by control, while the cross redefines glory as self-emptying love.
Jesus’ life through death shows that the cross was about love, restoration, and healing through self-sacrificial grace. Calvinism displays the cross as a legal hostage exchange but somehow Jesus gets away without actually paying anything and not having to serve any penal sentence. Calvinism frames this as if Jesus gives his life but then He somehow gets it back. They say it is such a great exchange but is really? 1 life for all of humanity? Wouldn’t anyone make that exchange if it were true. I think it greatly devalues what Jesus does through the cross. That sort of sounds like what we define as the world’s sense of trickery or thievery not honest sacrificial grace. This kind of purchase sounds more like a back-alley exchange than a picture of truth and unfailing love. Calvinism robs the beauty of Jesus’ mission.
Calvinism frames God as planning from the beginning of time to sacrifice Jesus as a debt to be paid. Jesus (who I will remind you is God in the Trinity) asks his father if there is any other way. This shows God uses what the world did to Jesus for unthinkable victory, He didn’t orchestrate it. To this note, some would say that Calvinism frames God as a “cosmic child abuser.”
From the beginning pages of the Bible God’s nature is described by His own decree as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love [hesed] and faithful” Yet through the cross, Calvinism defines God by pouring out His wrath on His son, turning His face on Jesus as the cross, and the need to make a deal with the Devil. These seem at odds.
Calvinism communicates that Jesus was stricken by God at the cross and that God left Jesus at the cross turning His back on Him, a better theology shows God in perfect unity with the son as 2 Cor 5:19 assures us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. God was pleased to heal Him. By Healing His son, raising Him from the dead He accomplishes something great, He heals the nations.
Jesus is enthroned by humility and exhibits His power under; Calvinism is defined by coercion and control over.
Calvinism presses down to restrict, dominate, control, and subdue, while Jesus shows us how to humbly serve -even to death. Calvinism demeans, Jesus empowers; Calvinism controls, Jesus frees; Calvinism functions in superiority, Jesus functions in humility. The heart of Calvinism is rooted in pride exerting power over, but the heart of Christ exerts humility and calls for power under.
Wow! This is awesome! We are super excited for you! The heavens are rejoicing! You just made a decision to welcome Jesus as your King, and the Bibe says, He is LORD of your life now! That might sound a bit strange to you in our modern culture using terminology that is thousands of years old, but the meaning of who and what Jesus does in our lives for those that follow Him hasn’t changed. Making a decision to follow Him is the first step, the next step is to make that a public confession to the world. We do this through baptism. Baptism is an outward sign of the inner decision and declaration you have made to faithfully follow Jesus. Your local church would love to help guide you through this step. I would suggest looking for a solid non-denominational or mainstream denomination church. Hopefully that church was part of the process where you already decided to follow Jesus. Your pastor would love to talk you through this! We are praying for new confidence in your identity as you begin to walk boldly in the power and presence of Jesus who is in you. WE DECLARE FREEDOM!
From there we encourage you to start deepening your relationship with Jesus and His word (the Bible), this is usually “shepherded” by the body of Christ we call the church. This is actually the main thrust of the message of the Bible, to live in fellowship together in devotion to the Lord. The Bible describes it like this, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Colossians 2:6. Walking is a metaphor for intimate relationship. To better help you understand this idea, and the path that you are entering, read the beginning of this post right now, it is short, and sweet, and can be read in a couple of minutes.
Ok so now you might have a better idea of the way that God loves you and wants to have a deep relationship with you gathered around the community of Jesus. Together we represent the presence of Jesus to the world.
Next you should get into the word of God, the Bible!
Somehow you found your way here to Expedition 44. Expedition 44 is known for super deep theological Bible studies geared towards seminary students. You are certainly welcome to read all the articles here and watch videos, but it might be over your head right now… (but I guarantee we have videos and articles that will answer your TOUGH questions about God and Christianity if you have that need or desire. Just use the search bar to the right.) The good news is the basic message of Jesus is pretty simple! You have a lot to look forward to and it won’t take you long to get there! That is the best thing about this walk, it is super exciting and before you know it, you will be filled with joy & surrounded by a great community on your way to a transformed life getting to know Jesus. This process begins by joining a small group at your local church and a Bible study where people get transparent and are welcoming. Make a commitment ty to attend church regularly being immersed in whatever “events” they are offering. Next, the Bible Project is an awesome organization that is known for great theology through simple animated videos that everyone from children to adults can glean from. They are my favorite online site. This is a great resource to start learning about the Bible and its truths.
Make some time and start a prayer life! We are all really busy to be sure, but the addition of walking with Jesus to an already full schedule can be one of the largest obstacles to overcome in a new faith journey. We’ve got two suggestions that can really help. 1. Be intentional. Make a plan to set aside time in your schedule to meet with God. 2. Get practical. In the time you set aside, make use of tools to help you connect with God. In the church we have often called these “spiritual practices”. Find a Bible reading plan to work through perhaps on the Bible app. (The Bible project – above, also has a plan for this.) Learn to listen and speak with God through prayer. Setting aside time in and of itself is a spiritual practice called “sabbath” which helps us overturn the oppressive “busyness” in our lives in order to make way (sacred space) for Christ’s new rule and reign in a partnership with us. Through this you will start finding a new destiny and fulfillment for your life centered in Jesus.
The faith walk is exciting, fulfilling, and offers a lot of transformative qualities for your life, but Romans 12:12 reminds us to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” In the years to come you will experience some spiritual highs and lows. But remember that God promises to be with you, He asks for one step at a time towards Him. You will still “Miss the mark” occasionally, but that DOESN’T invalidate the commitment and growth we’ve already experienced. Some areas in our lives are a long triathlon, not a sprint. When you asked Jesus to come into your life, He actually does that! His spirit is now indwelling you and will act as a spiritual helper with you. Romans 8:26 reminds us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Even when we do not know what to pray the Spirit Himself intercedes for us!
Maybe you are in a season of healing. Sometimes in Jesus this is miraculous and immediate, but sometimes it is a steady course. We wouldn’t go into a rehab where someone has had a decades long addiction, and when they come to Jesus, expect them to never struggle. If you stumble, let your pastor and/or discipleship partner know, and they will lovingly help you back up and continue the path before you hand in hand. That is what community in Jesus looks like. Jesus us here for you and the church is the physical hands and feet of Him in our lives.
Okay anything else? Here are some next steps for people that think more analytically…
Find a local church and introduce yourself to the host people or pastors letting them know you want to get involved and take the next steps of discipleship (this is an important word to use with them.)
Find a friend to help you walk through this. I would suggest entering into a relationship with someone that can help you on a weekly basis. A scheduled cup of coffee each week, phone calls and text messages are great! This helps you stay on track! If you don’t have a person like this, ask your pastor to help!
Build a solid foundation. Get in the word every day. The paragraph above will be great for you!
Next, start building Godly relationships. The community of Jesus is important and central to the faith journey. You don’t necessarily have to leave your old friends; but in some cases, you might consider particularly if they aren’t good influences in your life, each person’s situation is unique. We want to encourage you to start walking with people that will edify or build you up in your faith and are on a similar trajectory with Jesus. This decision should be an awesome new launch or maybe restart for your life. We hope you never look back!
Be discipled and start discipling! I bet your thinking wait how can I disciple? I don’t even know what that means yet! Just tell your story! Tell your family, your friends and those you’re meeting at church. Give a testimony as to what God is doing in you.
Start praying! Don’t know how? We can help, but it’s pretty simple! Just start talking to Jesus! He hears and you will be surprised at all the ways that He answers back!
Attend a three day renewal weekend. Ask us how!
If you need help, don’t be afraid to reach out to your local church. If you aren’t sure about any of this text us! We will help you! 2629031887 -Dr. Ryan or 2623524938 -Pastor Josh
This post was written by Dr. Will Ryan of the Tov Community with special thanks from a think tank of other contributors such as:
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” “My God, My God, why have thou forsaken me?
You have three options to interpret Jesus’ words on the cross: 1. God turns his face from Jesus and the trinity is split. 2. Jesus was actually calling to Elijah which would have fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi four but would then have the words in the gospels “miss translated.” 3. Jesus is quoting Psalm 22 as remez* and the immediate audience knew that the end of the Psalm is victory.
1. If you go with the first option typically aligned with Calvinism and Reformed theology your going to have to reconcile Biblical covenant not lining up specifically with the phrase “I will never leave you nor forsake you” in Hebrews 13:5 and Deuteronomy 31:6 and echoed throughout the Bible as a covenant promise. If God turns his back on Jesus, will He turn it on you? Doesn’t seem to line up with the Character of God.
2. It seems that some of the original audience according to the synoptics interpreted what Christ was saying this way, (as a calling out to Elijah to return) but our texts seem to quickly correct that notion. However, that leaves Elijah not ever appearing as a mystery perhapsps we are atill waiting for. Some are also going to connect John the Baptist here as prophecy fulfilled. But the greater problem with this view is that you’re saying that there’s an error in the text which I don’t think works for most people’s theology.
3. In my opinion, the best option is to interpret the voice as remez of Psalm 22. Jesus used a lot of remez in His teaching so it fits theologically.
When you study Psalm 22 you find that the hymn acknowledges the pain of feeling abandoned (sign of Christy’s humanity), but it goes on to declare abiding faith in God, and that He will not abandon his righteous faithful one (sign of Christ’s divinity). The implication is that God does not turn his face from Jesus and doesn’t break covenant promises. The genre is actually in literary contranym form (found so much in the Scriptures, especially wisdom literature) showing unwavering confidence in the faithfulness of God. The text contrasts what we feel compared to what God is actually doing -as extremes. This also fits very well with the backwards or upside down kingdom dynamics of the humility of Christ to the cross.
*remez: The great teachers during that day used a technique that was later referred to as remez. When they were teaching they would use part of a scripture passage in a discussion assuming that their audience had knowledge of the Bible and a simple word or phrase (which was usually an idiom or something they wouldd have had menorized) might point the audience towards what they understood as a full teaching to a certain text, without actually having to recall the entire thing. Apparently Jesus who possessed a brilliant understanding of scripture and at the very least considered, the greatest teacher by the world’s standards, used this method regularly.
If you’re interested in really diving in and reading more about this follow this link…
JESUS QUOTES PSALM 22
Jesus was quoting the first line of Psalm 22, which was an especially beloved psalm by the Jews of this time. All of the Jews looking on would know what was going on. Jesus often taught using Remez and this is no different.1 The Psalm begins with the psalmist believing that God has forsaken him. This is defined in the psalm by God’s silence, not his abandonment. There are two voices in Psalm 22. Unfortunately, this is pretty common in scripture, but people fail to follow the poet genre or even realize what is happening. Isaiah 53 echoes the same type of two voice narrative. We have one voice saying what they think and then another one later that speaks clarity. Sometimes in scripture we read a narrative and never get the clarifying second voice of God. This can be tricky. We often want to read every passage as “thus saith the Lord,” but we would be mistaken and lead to poor theology. I am so thankful for Job because we get the first voice thinking His friends are giving “GODLY” counsel but the at the end God (second voice) actually says none of that counsel is of me. This is similar to the way we should read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53.
Next the psalm says “I am a worm”… in Hebrew this is the same word for scarlet. Jesus was covered in blood, scarlet, some see this as a picture of the suffering servant of Is 53. Continuing, this prophetic psalm states he was despised, bones out of joint (but not broken), hands and feet pierced, clothes divided by lots…
Jesus’ next statement from the cross is “I thirst” which is the middle verse of this psalm.
But in verse 19 it says that God actually is not far off in all of this! Verse 21 says God answers his cry!
Verse 24 says God does not abhor the afflicted (Jesus) and has not hidden his face and has heard the cry for help…. I want you to get this…. I do not believe that God has not forsaken or abandoned Jesus! The trinity isn’t split here. This isn’t God turning His back. As hard as it is to read and witness it is actually part of a beautiful redemptive plan. God didn’t turn his back and Jesus and He won’t turn His back on you.
This is a completely different story than what people wanted or were looking for. It seems backwards or upside down. Christ leading by humility not power. But that is the way of Jesus.
Jesus, though He is suffering, has His mind set on the victory at the end of this psalm. The saving deed that brings the reconciliation of God and the nations. Remember in the garden, the table of nations and the feast of tabernacles? “Not my will but yours be done.” Christ knew that dying was what it would take to win the victory and when he was arrested in the garden, He stated that he could call legions of angels to save him if he wanted to and God would send them… God was not forsaking Jesus.2
NOTE: I think there is a valid argument for the splitting of the trinity but I don’t personally think it is the best explanation. I do however greatly respect Greg Boyd who constructs it this way.3
The psalm concludes stating: 22:31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished. Jesus’ next statement on the cross… “It is finished” or “it is accomplished” referring to the concluding line of this psalm and the accomplishment of His saving deed.
2 Cor 5:19… assures us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The perspective of the crowd in IS 53:10 is that we perceived that he was stricken by God (that’s what the world thought.) But the true perspective was that God was pleased to heal Him. By Healing His son, raising Him from the dead He accomplishes something great, He heals the nations. God takes the first step in reclaiming the nations and through the sending of His spirit at Pentecost will now partner and entrust us to be his physical agents of reconciliation.
Then with one last surge of strength, he once again presses against the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deep breath, and utters His seventh and final cry: “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit”.
Jesus dies as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered as our Passover lamb of the new exodus delivering us from the Spiritual Powers and rescuing us from enslavement to Sin by defeating Sin in the flesh.
The cross is hard but it was necessary. It was brutal but it was freeing. Something happens at the cross that we can’t full understand. The captives are set free, the keys to death are regained, and there is a victory won in the cosmos that we may never fully understand. The RESURRECTION POWER IS BEAUTIFUL.
JESUS FULFILLS The Day of Atonement: The purification, the cleansing of sacred space, becomes the sacrifice and the scapegoat, and transfers himself to be the forever high priest.
JESUS FULFILLS The Passover lamb by dying for everyone giving us unending freedom and reinstating our place in partnership with him in the royal priesthood of believers. We will soon become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
JESUS FULFILLS The feast of Tabernacles so that the nations may be regathered unto Him by us, manifested as His hands and feet.
THINKING SLIGHTLY REFORMED
I have many good friends that are reformed and several of them seemed to want to “justify” a modified view of God turning His back on us. I have a slight bit of respect and room for that, but it seems contorted. I started out the holy week with this premise. Here is the basic problem with any kind of framework going that way, and honestly it is really basic. The major theme of the Bible is that God makes covenant to Humanity to return to their destiny or vocation which is walking in partnership with him. It isn’t “just” the garden, it is actually even better than that towards the recreated Heaven and Earth. That covenant picture is based on humanity continually breaking the covenant but God saying despite your unfaithfulness I will continue to show complete faithfulness. That means in His words as the grand idiom of the Bible that he will never leave or forsake us. That phrase describes His covenant faithfulness over and over, more than 30x specifically and nearly 100 times in slightly different form. One of the greatest idioms that has ever come from the Bible that is still used every day in our culture and perhaps every culture of the world is to say, “I won’t turn my back on you.” That is the beginning or the foundation of leaving or forsaking someone. But it isn’t just the first step, it is the biggest picture we have of simple “unfaithfulness.” Therefore, when God says this, what He is saying is that despite your unfaithfulness I am not even going to take the first hint or appearance of unfaithfulness. So at the cross to say that God turns his back on Jesus is majorly problematic. It is saying that God isn’t a promise keeper and that His covenant means nothing. If the covenant means nothing than you just lost the entire thread or mission of Jesus. Furthermore, if you have to do all kinds of crazy theological gymnastics to reconcile what I would call poor theological phrases and doctrines, well then “houston, you might have a big problem.” It doesn’t have to be that way!
In the article I tried to give a shout out to what might be a better view of God turning His back by quoting my well-respected friend Greg Boyd. But I had a few other friends send me what they thought was a good version of God turning His back and frankly based on the causation above. I don’t see it.
It sounds good at first reading, things you have always heard, but to me it is problematic on a number of different levels and I will keep this pretty simple:
Why have you forsaken me is a feeling of simple abandonment, it isn’t faithful interpretation to try to frame it as if it isn’t. Even a kindergartener would tell you that. to get into all the “judicial sense” justification is a smoke screen. Any time someone abandons or forsakes you its relational. IF God is simply quoting Psalm 22 as remez you don’t get into any horrible hermeneutics.
The trinity wasn’t broken? Let’s again keep this simple. If one person or aspect changes than it’s “split”. That is why psychologically we describe this sense as a “split personality.” You have to start twisting common definitions to make sense of a contorted theology.
Jesus as taking on Sin Himself – Does Christ bear our sin? I personally didn’t put Christ on the cross as the reformed camp likes to say. DO I sein? Yes Christ atones for that. But we don’t have to frame it as if he is literally bearing our sin. Why would we want to say it like that? Perhaps in a very light analogy, but nothing more than that, and again why? – That isn’t the “justice of God.” It is the opposite of that. The character of God doesn’t act opposite of what it says in the Bible, that would be a logical fallacy. You can’t define the character of God and then do something that is opposite to it.
“Willingly stood in the place of sinners as their substitute.” Do you realize that there actually isn’t one verse that specifically says Christ is our substitute? You have to deduct that as a systematic theology. I can see this in a very basic metaphorical sense, but it is still problematic particularly as a doctrine especially when you get into double imputation.
‘The father poured out divine wrath” – oh boy – That sounds like an angry or even abusive father. I don’t think that is a great way to describe God. He never describes Himself that way. In fact. quite the opposite again. In Exodus 34, God describes Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding with loyal love and faithfulness in Exodus 34.
The elect… Most simply you’re stating that God didn’t die for everyone as John 3:16 says, and now to try to make so many of the verses in the Bible that agree with the notion that God died for everyone you are going to have to continue to conjure up a bunch more hoops to jump through. I get tired just listening to this.
federal head – and that’s in scripture? But I don’t really think I need to go there.
Adam and the curse – The Bible is very clear that we are responsible for our actions and our sin alone (to borrow the favorite reformed theme.) I don’t have to pay God or Jesus back for some sin that someone else committed. Again, that would be a contradiction of the scripture. That would be framing God doing opposite of what his covenant promises to say to us.
“wrath satisfied & dept paid” – I never get the debt paid thing. Moses didn’t pay pharaoh and Jesus doesn’t pay God or Satan. It is simply freedom in Christ. To make that out to be anything more than that is quite conflating.
All of this is what I really don’t like about reformed theology. These systematic theologies are based on a couple atonement theories, the main one being Penal Substitution Atonement (PSA), with riding on its coat tails. First, PSA is not the gospel! Some would say if you don’t adhere to PSA that you don’t adhere to the Bible. Not true. There are several other theories of PSA that have been around longer and are “more traditional.” I tend to be a basic Christus Victor person, but see some support lightly for all the frameworks. X44 has sever videos on this. But with PSA, it creates a ton of complex negation and proof texting to try to get simply core verses to support things they don’t say. To think that all of this comes back to the desire to frame God as turning his back on Jesus at the cross makes zero sense! There is a better theology, and it is really simple! I can give it to you in one line and the entire Bible supports the statement in perfect harmony:
God will never leave you or forsake you. His covenant promises that over and over. He didn’t leave Jesus at the cross and he won’t ever leave you regardless of your actions against Him. That is the central theme of the Bible.
HERE IS A BASIC SUMMARY OF WHAT A “GOOD” PSA VIEW ENTAILS…
A TRADITIONAL PSA INFLUENCED VIEW: When Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He was not merely expressing a feeling of abandonment but was truly being forsaken in a judicial and covenantal sense by the Father as He bore the sins of His people. This forsaking was not relational in nature—the eternal love and union within the Trinity was never broken, nor could it be. The divine nature remains indivisible. Yet the Father, acting in perfect justice and holiness, turned His face away from the Son in terms of communion and blessing, treating Him as if He were sin itself—not because Jesus had sinned, but because He willingly stood in the place of sinners as their substitute.
As Scripture says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father withheld the comfort of His presence and instead poured out the full measure of divine wrath—not out of displeasure toward Christ personally, but because Christ was bearing the guilt of the elect as their federal head. He was suffering the penalty required by God’s justice. This is what it means when Scripture says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
This abandonment was covenantal: Jesus, as the second Adam, was enduring the curse that came through the broken covenant of works. He was fulfilling every demand of divine justice, drinking the full cup of wrath that should have been ours. The forsaking He experienced was real, but it was legal—not a break in divine fellowship, but an act of righteous judgment. Even in being forsaken, He remained the beloved Son, fully obedient and fully pleasing to the Father in His substitutionary work.
It’s important to recognize that Christ was not merely tasting wrath—He absorbed all of it. He endured the full fury of God’s justice, as if He had committed every sin ever committed by those He came to save. And in that moment, He bore it all alone, so that we would never have to. His cry from the cross is not a cry of confusion or defeat—it’s a declaration of fulfillment. Quoting the opening line of Psalm 22, He identified Himself with the Suffering Servant, and the very Psalm that begins in anguish ends in victory and vindication. That cry, then, was part of the triumph.
Because He was forsaken, we never will be. The wrath is satisfied. The debt is paid. The veil is torn. There is no more judgment left for those who are in Him. That cry from the cross is the deepest expression of God’s justice and His love meeting in one moment. The atonement was not theoretical—it was complete. Nothing remains to be added. Christ bore our judgment fully, so that we might be reconciled to God forever.
Lastly, for us to try to fully understand what this truly means is impossible on this side of the cross. I’m just thankful for all Christ has done for each of us. Every time I try to wrap my mind around this topic, my mind is blown! Praise Him who bore my sins.
The Passover elements symbolize God’s character and retell the story of our liberation from the forces of the fallen world.
Passover is a beautiful and highly symbolic celebration. More than any other festival (right or wrong), it has been at the heart of the universal Jewish experience, helping to form the core of spiritual identity and pointing inexorably toward the hope of Israel’s salvation.1
Each year the date of Passover slightly changes on the Gregorian calendar. The Haggadah (Hebrew: הַגָּדָה, “telling”; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to post second temple Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to recount the Egyptian Exodus story to their children on the first night of Passover.2 You may or may not want to partake in it considering that! (More on that at the end of the article.) As I have previously written, the Passover teaching is intrinsically intended to be simple enough for children, and if you were raised with it each year hearing the story and going through this motion, you would think that, even though it may actually seem complex to a non-Torah observant evangelical. The seder dinner is based on Passover and Passover was the simple feast of the seven. But since the other feasts are now not typically observed sometimes the seder dinner becomes more complex attempting to try to make the Passover feast encompass the content of all the feasts. This is a bit unfortunate. The Passover is aimed at families considering a personal commitment to Yahweh’s covenant offered to them. I am going to write this from an already/now perspective giving you the historical symbolism impacted already by the work of Jesus through His death, resurrection and ascension as it relates to us today. Lastly, if you haven’t read this article, please do so first. 3 Personally, I am always amazed walking through a seder dinner how everything so richly points to Jesus yet so many of those that partake refuse Him.
Much of the seder dinner is based on tradition not the Bible. This is a biblical struggle. You also have the issue that second temple Judaism made a lot of rules which is what Jesus spoke very harshly against – That is actually what the temple cleansing was about in large part. So, I have crafted a presentation based on a better understanding and education. What do we take away and what do we leave behind? Below is the typical Seder order, however – I don’t really think a lot of the traditional seder is scriptural and thus think some of it could and should be left out. I think a better aim of the seder is to teach the symbolism of the Old Testament as it may relate to the Messiah which is what I aim at here. I also would not get caught up in needing to do things exactly as they are scripted. The was never the heart of the text or the biblical intent of reembrace of Passover. The seder should be light, fun, and simple. Made for children! The remembrance of Passover to the people of Israel in many ways was a foreshadow to the remembrance of communion in the New covenant.
The original intent of early Passover was to pass on to your children orally what is important and “SETS APART” your family. IT was not only a time for the stories of God’s covenant faithfulness but also brought a sense of spring cleaning spiritually to begin your year on track with the LORD. This is a great thing. I would encourage you to partake with your family in a similar sense. Maybe you tell the story of “passing over” or maybe you spiritually just use the meal to discuss Jesus over everything for your family and how important that is “YEAR after YEAR for you and your family.
Order of the Seder
Name
Meaning
KADDESH
Kiddush (1st cup of Wine)
URECHATZ
Wash hands, before eating Karpas
KARPAS
Eat parsley dipped in salt water
YACHATZ
Break the middle matzah – hide the Afikoman
MAGGID
The telling of the story of Passover (2nd cup of Wine)
RACHTZAH
Wash hands before the meal
MOTZI
Blessing for “Who brings forth”, over matzah
MATZAH
Blessing over matzah
MAROR
Blessing for the eating of bitter herbs
KORECH
Eat matzah with bitter herbs & charoset
SHULCHAN ORECH
Passover Dinner
TZAFUN
Eat the Afikomen
BARECH
Blessings after the meal (3rd and 4th cups of Wine)
HALLEL
Recite the Hallel, Psalm of praise
NIRTZAH
Next year in Jerusalem – conclusion of the Seder
Song of Rejoicing
Song of Rejoicing (technically, this is after Seder)
LIGHT THE CANDLES: Light is a symbol of God’s presence. Lighting candles during holidays and on Shabbat remind us that God is our light.
Traditionally a woman would light the candles and begin the chant. But you can make a joke that perhaps a manchild or manwoman will do, in Hebrew the word for Man or husband is a contranym and can mean a a man of valor, champion, expert, counselor or great hunter, but it can also find an opposite meaning such as manchild or woman like man, oppressor, adulterer, or general offender. That’s why for centuries the idiom has shown woman rolling their eyes and saying “eeeesh” when a man does something childlike. אִישׁ Transliteration: iysh Pronunciation: eesh
The Haggadah means “the telling” and has been passed over generation to generation for thousands of years. But again, I would not emphasize that as I believe it might be grounds to be “off course” for a Jesus follower. You could begin with reading Matthew 5:17-20.
LEADER:God is holy, and we cannot enter His presence with sin. He established the sacrificial system to cleanse us of our sin. Yeshua is the ultimate sacrifice, so we can be in God’s presence. May we all be sanctified through the blood of the Lamb, Yeshua.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the festival lights. Amen.
Bondage and Exodus
Hebrew Scriptures: Exodus 12:24–27. The nation of Israel is commanded to celebrate the Passover as a yearly ordinance to remember how God has dealt faithfully with them and preserved them. The emphasis is that they will individually be covenant keepers and that that notion leads their families and becomes communal to the larger context of the body [of Christ]. This is the foreshadow of New Covenant communion as we remember how Jesus fulfilled what was started here.
New Testament: John 8:36. Believers in Jesus recognize that God has extended salvation to all nations; through the salvific power of Yeshua’s blood, we are set free from the bondage of sin. Jesus is the Redeemer of humanity. (“All nations” is really a remembrance of the Feast of Tabernacles but as I mentioned earlier gets thrown in the pot with a seder dinner as the other feasts are slowly forgotten.) This starts with a personal covenant commission that we are the personal manifestation of the hands and feet of Jesus to regain ourselves, our families, our church body, and eventually the nations, but Passover emphasizes the aspect of personal reflection. The other feasts emphasized some of the other things, but because in our modern age the Passover is likely the only feast still exercised all of these things in the other feasts may be emphasized.
The Ceremonial Cups
Hebrew Scriptures: The original Passover makes no mention of a cup. Yet throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the cup is often used as a symbol of both God’s covenant and provision.
Rabbinic Tradition: The four cups represent the four phrases in Exodus 6:6–7: “I will bring you out”; “I will deliver you”; “I will redeem you”; “I will take you to be my people.” First is the Kiddish Cup (the Cup of Sanctification), followed by the Cup of Plagues, the Cup of Redemption, and lastly, the Cup of Hallel (the Cup of Praise). The Mishnah, instructs those celebrating to drink from the cup four times during the Passover seder (Pesahim 10:1).
New Testament: At the Last Supper, Jesus raised the cup before the supper (Luke 22:17–18), and the cup after the supper (the Cup of Redemption), when he said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). This is the covenant promised to us by God when He said He would establish a new covenant with His people (Jeremiah 32:38–40). Paul tells us that the communion cup represents the blood of Messiah (1 Corinthians 10:16). The Hallel Psalms sung during the Cup of Hallel were likely sung by the disciples after dinner. Read more about the Passover cups and their significance in the Last Supper.
Jesus declared that this new covenant would be poured from the cup of salvation in His blood. The cup of redemption stood for more than the Hebrews’ escape from Egypt; it stood for the plan and purpose of God for all the ages. Judgment and salvation, wrath (impeding in 70AD) and redemption are brought together in the mystery of one cup, explained by the Messiah in that upper room. Jesus was not speaking of the cup in a purely symbolic manner. He was describing events that would soon occur in His own life. He also reflected this the day before at the triumphal entry when he wept.
Please fill your cup. Let us lift our cups, the Cup of Sanctification, and bless the Lord for His abundant giving.
Ba-rukh a-tah A-do-nai E-lo-hey-nu Me-lekh ha-‘o-lam bo-rey pri ha-ga-fen.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
(Drink the first cup of wine.)
READER:(Psalm 24:1-6)
[1] The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; [2] for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. [3] Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? [4] He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. [5] He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. [6] Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments, and has commanded us to wash our hands.
LEADER:We will take the parsley, called kar-pas and we will dip it into the salt water. We do this to symbolize the tears and pain of the Israelites. After the following prayer, take the parsley and dip it into the salt water and remember that even though we have painful circumstances in our lives, we will always have the hope of God to free us from our tribulations.
Hebrew Scriptures:Karpas (Hebrew: כַּרְפַּס) refers to the vegetable, usually parsley or celery, that is dipped in liquid and eaten. The karpas do not appear in the early celebrations of Passover. So do you even want to do this? Maybe maybe not. Perhaps use it to emphasize a conversation on balance. The greens represent life. But before we eat them, we dip them into salt water, representing the tears of life. The karpas are dipped in salt water to represent and remind us that the lives of the Israelite slaves were immersed in tears. By dipping, we are also reminded that a life without redemption is a life drowned in tears. This message still takes on Biblical messages. You could ask your family where similar messages are later found in the text.
Ba-rukh a-tah A-do-nai E-lo-hey-nu Me-lekh ha-‘o-lam b-orey pri ha-‘a-da-mah.
Blesssed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.
(Dip the parsley in the salt water twice, then eat it.)
LEADER: (Take three matzohs and put them in the matzoh pouch, one per section.)
Take your matzah pouch (a napkin works fine) and three slices of matzah and put one matzah in each section. In a moment we will break the middle one.
Matzah – The Unleavened Bread
Hebrew Scriptures: The “unleavened bread” is the last of the three items commanded for the Passover in Exodus 12:8, typically called matzah.
Rabbinic Tradition: The unleavened bread recalls the haste with which the Israelites fled Egypt. The impending Egyptian army did not allow Israel to wait for their bread to rise. We recall the escape from Egypt for the seven days of Passover as it is traditional to abstain from leaven.
New Testament: Jesus equates the matzah with his body at the Last Supper with his disciples (Luke 22:19). He broke the bread and distributed it to his disciples saying, “This is my body, which is [broken] for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Today, matzah is often used as a communion element to remember Jesus’ sacrifice. The matzah is meant to remind us that Yeshua’s body was broken. Interestingly, the modern way of producing matzah causes it to be striped and pierced. Some Jewish believers see this as a kind of “visual midrash” that reminds us that the Messiah’s body was “striped” (Isaiah 53:5, KJV) and “pierced” (Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 1:7). Matzah has always been made with holes and stripes. It still gets me that traditional Jews don’t see Jesus every time they pick up one of these crackers. How can you miss what is right before your eyes?
Further, just as leaven causes bread to rise, sin puffs us up. At Passover, we remove all leaven from our homes, not only in memory of the haste with which we departed Egypt, but also as a symbol of removing sin from our lives. The apostle Paul charges us to: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Passover is the first of the festivals and seen as spiritual spring cleaning. Jesus’ mission was all about sacrificial humility. The triumphant entry and resurrection where the greatest display of humility in History. I urge you to take on this same attitude of Christ. (Phil 2:5-11)
The three matzahs represent the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, why would we break the matzah representing Isaac? Abraham offered his son Isaac at the a-ke-dat Yitz-chak,the binding of Isaac, but Isaac was not broken. *This is complex, I don’t suggest bringing this up unless you’re going to do it justice to the nature of God. This article will help. Another explanation offered is that the three matzahs represent God, Israel and the Jewish people. Again, why break the matzah representing Israel and that one only? The broken piece is called “the bread of affliction.”
*NOTE: There are several portions of scripture that are problematic especially to our modern lens of interpretation. Typically, I would say that it’s better not to approach these subjects unless you can spend the time needed to “do them justice” in the eyes of God. Quickly sharing things out of context can be hard for people to understand the character of God. Especially for pastors, my recommendation is to not briefly mention these controversial stories and situations of the Bible in passing; but to come back to them and teach them well. The stories so dark or strange or uncomfortable such as Sodom and Gomorrah, or the Deborah story of the woman pounding a tent stake through the “bad” general’s head. From the world-wide genocide found in the story of Noah to the Canaan genocide mandate commanded of the ancient Israelites, the Bible contains stories that some people feel present God as vindictive and violent. These deserve a better contextual teaching and are probably best not mentioned and then quickly moved on from. IN fact, the story of a gruesome cross is one of them.
With this thought in mind, the story of our fall into sin and eventual redemption wasn’t highlighted by pretty songs and peaceful prayers. It climaxed with an ugly death on the cross and a miraculous resurrection.
Continuing with the seder, The Hebrew scriptures say Adonai e-chad u-sheh-mo e-chad, “The Lord is One and His Name is One.”
The word e-chad carries with it the concept of some sort of plural aspect. Also, the Hebrew scriptures refer to God as Elohim, a plural form.Perhaps the three ma-tzot hint at the triune nature of God–a single indivisible spirit who manifests to us as our Father, and as Yeshua, the Mashiach, the living Torah, the Word of God and Son of God, and also as Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God. Perhaps the middle matzah is broken to remind us of what Yeshua, the Bread of Life, endured to be our ki-pur-ah, the sacrifice that atoned for our sins.
(Remove and break the middle matzah in two relatively equal pieces.)
We now break the middle piece, the bread of affliction. We will eat one half and the other half is called the a-fi-ko-men, [ah-fee-KOH-men] the dessert.
NOTE ON BREAD: By the way Jewish Dessert breads (kashrut) are kind of a thing! You might want to get some really good ones for this! To set the record straight, the here is what the Bible actually says about unleavened bread, anything other than this is “later rabbinical legalism” in my opinion. During the Passover, the Israelites ate unleavened bread to commemorate their hasty departure from Egypt, symbolizing purity and readiness for God’s deliverance (Exodus 12:17–20; Deuteronomy 16:3). Leaven, symbolizing sin, was prohibited in offerings to the Lord (Leviticus 2:11), emphasizing the need for purity in worship. In the New Testament, leaven represents sin’s pervasive influence and corruption (Galatians 5:9), illustrating how sin affects individuals and communities. Removing leaven symbolizes removing sin from one’s life, reflecting a call to moral and spiritual purity (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).4
(Wrap the afikomen in a cloth or put it in the afikomen pouch.)
I will hide the afikomen and later the children can try to find it to return it for a reward.
Afikoman (Mishnaic Hebrew: אֲפִיקִימוֹן ʾăpîqîmôn; meaning “that which comes after” or “dessert”)5, the second (middle) piece of unleavened bread (the afikomen) is taken from the matzah tosh (special pouch with three compartments for each of the three pieces of matzah) during the Seder. The matzah is removed and broken, and then the broken piece is wrapped in the cloth and becomes the afikomen that is hidden from view. It is essentially broken and tucked away until dessert.
The afikomen was not part of the original Passover described in the Old Testament. You could avoid it, or you could share that. While the traditional meaning of afikomen is “dessert,” afikomen is actually a Greek word meaning the “coming one,” and is a clear reference to the Messiah.6 As believers in Jesus, we know that our Messiah’s sinless body was “broken” in death, wrapped in a cloth, hidden in burial, and then brought back by the power of God.
READER:[4] Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [5] Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. [6] These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. [7] Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. [8] Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. [9] Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
READER:[20] In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?” [21] tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. [22] Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders–great and terrible–upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. [23] But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. [24] The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. [25] And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” (Deuteronomy 6:20-25)
READER:[26] And when your children ask you, “What does this ceremony mean to you?” [27] then tell them, “It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.” (Exodus 12:26-27)
LEADER: Let us fill our cups a second time. A full cup is a sign of joy and on this night we are filled with joy in remembrance of God’s mighty deliverance. We must also remember the great sacrifice at which redemption was ransomed. Lives were sacrificed to bring the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt. (This might be a good opportunity to talk about the biblical definition of Ransom as compared to what “ransom theories” attempt to turn it into.) Will Hess’ book Crushing the Great Serpent: Did God Punish Jesus? will help you greatly with this discussion.7
LEADER: PASSOVER: It is God that we honor in remembering that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians. (Lifting the shank bone of a lamb) The shank bone reminds us of the lamb whose blood marked the doors of the Israelites. We read in Exodus that the lamb was to be without defect, brought into the household and cared for. It was then at twilight, the fourteenth day of the month, that the Israelites were to slaughter the lamb and put the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes. God gave His people instructions that only through obedience would they be spared from the angel of death. Isaiah told of the coming Messiah, that He would be led like a lamb to the slaughter. We know that Yeshua was our final blood atonement so that we would be freed from the bondage of sin and we would be passed over from death. “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12)
LEADER:MATZAH (Lifting the other half of the Middle Matzah): Why do we eat this unleavened bread? The dough did not have time to rise before God revealed Himself to them and redeem them. As it is written: With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. (Exodus 12:39)
LEADER:MAROR (Lifting the Bitter Herb): Why do we eat bitter herb? We eat bitter herb because of the hardship that the Israelites had to bear. As it is written: They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly. (Exodus 1:14)
The Maror
Hebrew Scriptures:Maror (Hebrew: מָרוֹר mārōr) are the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment “with bitter herbs they shall eat it.” (Exodus 12:8).8
Rabbinic Tradition: The maror represents the bitterness of Egyptian slavery. Each Passover, as we eat the maror, we remember the toil and burden of slavery that our ancestors endured. The natural reaction to eating the bitter herbs (usually fresh ground horseradish) is to cry, which is a physical reminder of the sadness of life without redemption.
New Testament: In John 13:26 at the Last Supper, Jesus says, “‘He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.’ And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon” (King James Version). While this is often translated as the unleavened bread that is dipped, it could also be the bitter herbs, since after the first cup, the Passover ceremony commences with bitter herbs dipped into a vinegar sop (karpas). But this seems like a stretch. This is actually one of the reasons who I believe the LAST SUPPER was not a Passover meal. Jesus was a VERY observant Jew. If this was a Passover meal you would think that at least one of the synoptics would have mentioned it or recorded it that way. Passover is mentioned 29 times in 27 verses in the New Testament but never once at any mention of the Last Supper.
LEADER: (Lifting the egg) The egg has also been added to the Seder. It is called kha-hi-hah, a name signifying the special holiday offering. The egg was added during the Babylonian period. The egg does not have a great significance in the Seder other than reminding us of our Jewish heritage and the many obstacles that have been overcome throughout the years. NOTE: Some Christians will identify with a since of Dispensational Zionism and Israel here, I don’t.
The Beitzah
Hebrew Scriptures: The “roasted egg” (beitzah) does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures as it remembers the destruction of the Temple. Beitza (Hebrew: ביצה) (literally “egg”, named after the first word) is a tractate in SederMo’ed, dealing with the laws of Yom Tov (holidays). 9
Rabbinic Tradition: The beitzah represents the renewal of life. Unconsumed, it represents the discontinued korban chagigah (“festival sacrifice”) that was offered at the Temple in Jerusalem. The egg evokes the idea of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and our inability to offer sacrifices at Pesach. However, (this doesn’t make much sense to me) in contemporary Judaism, the beitzah is consumed at the contemporary Seder as an “appetizer,” and is dipped in salt water to symbolically grieve the destruction of the Temple. So are we going to eat the egg? Hmmmm
The traditional Jewish problem: With no Temple, no altar, and no sacrifice, how is it possible to atone for sins? The rabbis say that forgiveness from sin is obtained through repentance, prayer, and good deeds. But the Law of Moses states that atonement must be made through blood, and our good deeds can’t save us. Of course, if you believe is Jesus, you see Him and the sacrifice at the cross as the once and for all atoning work. But you might just want to leave the egg out. What I have done is sometimes leave a few of the eggs “raw not hard boiled” and let someone bight into it to which I can have a conversation pertaining to the problem of the egg discussion in the seder!
The Charoseth
Hebrew Scriptures: Charoset is a sweet, dark-colored mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts.10 According to the Talmud, its color and texture are meant to recall mortar (or mud used to make adobe bricks), which the Israelites used when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt, as mentioned in Tractate Pesahim 116a of the Talmud. The charoseth is not specifically mentioned in the Old Testament. The symbolism might be that even the most difficult circumstances of our lives are sweetened by the promise of future redemption.11 But if you’re going to leave anything out this is the first thing I would cut.
LEADER:And now we bless our second cup of wine, the cup of plagues.
ALL:Ba-rukh a-tah A-do-nai E-lo-hey-nu Me-lekh ha-‘o-lam bo-rey pri ha-ga-fen. Blesssed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who created the fruit of the vine.
(Drink the second cup of wine.)
LEADER:Let us now eat and remember the grace, mercy and love that God has for each of us, for He sent Yeshua, our Messiah, to be our Passover Lamb. We too, like the Israelites released from the bondage of slavery, can be saved from the bondage of sin.
The Lamb
Hebrew Scriptures: Exodus 12:5, 8, 46. The lamb is one of the three items to be eaten at the Passover meal. In the original Passover in Egypt, the entire lamb was central to the observance. The Israelites took the lamb, sacrificed it, placed the blood of the sacrifice on the doorposts of their homes, and then ate the lamb as their main course. At the first Passover, the angel of death “passed over” the homes marked by the blood of the lamb during the final plague.
The word used today for the lamb “shankbone,” zeroa12, is used not only to remind us of the Passover lamb but also as a symbol of God’s “outstretched arm” with which He delivered us from Egypt (Exodus 6:6). The same word (zeroa) is used to pose a question in Isaiah 53, a key Messianic prophecy: “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the [zeroa] [in English ‘arm’] of the LORD been revealed?” (v. 1). Then Isaiah continues in verse 2, “For he …” (seemingly now speaking of the arm as a person). Isaiah then goes on to describe the servant who would suffer and die for the sin of his people “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (v. 7).
New Testament: Jesus is understood to be the Passover Lamb who was slaughtered to take away the sins of the world (1 Corinthians 5:7). John the Baptist affirmed this when he saw Jesus and said of him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
(Eat the broken half-Matzah with Maror and Charoset.)
LEADER: (Lifting the afikomen) We will now eat the afikomen, the dessert. The taste of the afikomen should linger in our mouths. It is about the afikomen that Yeshua said “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) The Passover can not be completed without the afikomen, nor can our redemption be complete without Yeshua, the Bread of Life, our Messiah!
ALL:Ba-rukh A-tah A-do-nai El-o-hey-nu Me-lekh ha-‘o-lam ha-mo-tzi le-khem min ha-‘a-retz. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
(All eat the Afikoman)
LEADER:Let us fill our cups for the third time this evening. (Lifting the cup) This is the Cup of Redemption, symbolizing the blood of the Passover Lamb. It was the cup “after supper”, which Yeshua identified himself — “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:20)
ALL:Ba-rukh A-tah A-do-nai E-lo-hey-nu Me-lekh ha-‘o-lam bo-rey pri ha-ga-fen. Blesssed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who created the fruit of the vine.
(Drink the third cup of wine.)
LEADER: (Lifting the extra cup for Elijah) The theme of this part of the Haggadah before the meal was the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt. In keeping with tradition, we now move to the Messianic redemption. (The 4th cup)
LEADER:Let us fill our cups, the Cup of Praise and give thanks to God!
Ba-rukh A-tah A-do-nai E-lo-he-ynu Me-lekh ha-‘o-lam bo-rey pri ha-ga-fen.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who created the fruit of the vine.
(Drink the fourth cup of wine.)
LEADER:(Can read Psalm 136)
LEADER:[12] Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. [13] We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. [14] But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. [15] Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. [16] But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:12-18)
LEADER:We have now finished our Passover Seder. We are all called to live the Sh’ema — to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and might, and to treat others with kindness. Seek a relationship with God, not a “religion”.
It is fun here to memorize the Aaronic priestly blessing13 in Hebrew and chant or sing it over the people at the table. You could start with having a kid blow a shofar and use a tallit over your head as you commission your family for the year.
WRITERS BEWARE:
Now that we have approached the end of this post. (I am glad you made it.) I want to finish by saying that I have actually only participated in a few seder dinners throughout my life. I thought that might surprise you after just reading this. As with anything, there is some good to be gleaned but also some concern and things to be aware of or even avoid.
Balance
The Hebrew Roots movement should concern you. But that isn’t what this post is about. Neither is it about Talmudic Judaism, which should also concern you. Even second Temple late Rabbinical Judaism was largely what Jesus was cleansing the temple of and should concern you. So, my emphasis in anything but particularly the conversation at hand, a Seder dinner, is to stay Biblical. Stick with the text. As you just read my hesitancy in celebrating a Seder dinner is much of it has left the context of scripture and joined “tradition.” It was actually difficult to write all of the NON-Biblical parts of this dinner. Personally, I think they are best avoided, but I still have a place for the biblical aspects of the seder dinner. It is not the authentic Judaism of Moses, Abraham, or the Old Testament prophets. Instead, it represents a later development that might lack elements of the priesthood, temple, and sacrifices central to Abrahamic and Mosaic faith.
I am always careful in devotion toward the Lord to stay balanced on the Word of the Lord. The evolution of commentary is beneficial yet also scary. “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. Syncretism, which is a blending of what is true and elements of what we have added should always be a concern.
My hesitancy with the seder dinner is similar to my feelings concerning most modern religious practice. Does it conflate the truth of the gospel? In regard to the seder dinner, I would consider it much like any other theological construct formed after the early church. There may be a need to glean. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, the biblical Passover could no longer be observed as prescribed. Without a temple, priesthood, or altar, the sacrificial system ceased. In response, Jewish leaders developed Rabbinic Judaism, a new framework based on oral traditions later codified in the Mishnah (c. 200 AD) and Talmud (c. 500 AD).14 This tradition reimagined Passover as the Seder, a ritual meal with symbolic foods, prayers, and readings, centered on the Haggadah, a text outlining the order of the service. The earliest Haggadah texts date to the 2nd–3rd centuries AD, reflecting a post-temple adaptation designed to preserve Jewish identity in the absence of sacrifice.15
As I have shown above, much of the seder points to Jesus, but some of the roots don’t. I will remind you that Jesus was an observant Jew and commanded us to follow His examples. After the destruction of the Temple much of the Christian community (Paul) remained observant. There were Jews that were Messianic and Jews that weren’t and they continued to practice in similar ways.
To simply say we shouldn’t partake may be a double standard. As I mentioned, remembering Passover in Israel is a foreshadow to communion in the New Covenant. The disposable cups and tiny crackers are hardly adequate of what communion means before the lord (and when was the last time you washed someone’s feet); quite frankly this minimal “remembrance” might even be offensive to Jesus. Christians didn’t start practicing communion as a quick cup of juice and bite of bread distinct act of worship in the church service until 1891.16 Let that sink in for a minute. Most Christians aren’t going to have a problem with quickly partaking every week before they run off to worship the football game because they are embracing the good. God honors steps of goodness towards Him, but we still need to be careful here and teach scriptural truths. Seder is similar. In fact, a Biblical Seder is likely a better “do this in remembrance” than passing tiny cups will ever be. Just because it isn’t practiced as well as it could be (and is sometimes misused) doesn’t mean a Christian should just simply not do it.
Jesus followers need to seek some balance within the world they live in and the manner that Christianity has evolved to a modern world. Live redeemed as a recreated spiritual being whose place is now not of this world. But as long as you live in the physical world, you’re going to need a balancing act. The Seder like so many other religious traditions is a product of a religious system that emerged after Christ’s fulfillment. Should you partake? That is up to you and your family. I have found that I want to celebrate what is good, that which is TOV, and in my sanctification process, I begin to leave behind what is constructed of the world. I personally have found fruit and redemptive work in teaching a “better” Seder. Maybe you will too, or maybe in your season it is best to leave it alone. Both might be good options or relevant to your situation and season. Only you can decide. And what was meant to be simple has become complex.
Conclusion
Passover is not a stand-alone example of God’s redemptive power. God has continually and faithfully delivered His people. The Passover symbols remind us of God’s continued presence with us and the hope we have in Messiah.
ENDNOTES
This article has been adapted by permission from my good friends at JEWS FOR JESUS. When I attended Moody Bible Institiute in the early 1990’s MBI was one of the centers for Jews for Jesus and I enjoyed a rich friendship with their ministry.
So spelled and vocalized in de Rossi 138 (Parma A) and Kaufmann A50; also spelled אפיקמון in the Cambridge manuscript and by Joseph Ashkenazi↩︎
Traditionally, the word is explained as “dessert” or “that which comes later.” The late Jewish scholar David Daube, professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, and others have more recently defended the explanation that it is derived from the Greek afikomenos, “the coming one.” See David Daube, Collected Works of David Daube, vol. 2, New Testament Judaism, ed. Calum Carmichael (Berkeley: The Robbins Collection, 1992), 425; Deborah Bleicher Carmichael, “David Daube on the Eucharist and the Passover Seder,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 42 (1991), 45–67. ↩︎
The most important story in history is the story of Jesus. Perhaps the most unique aspect of this story is that it has the power to significantly impact every person from the beginning of time until the end yet is also so counter cultural to humankind in the same timeless way. Very few Christians really understand the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension dynamics of the story even though they would all claim to have given their life to what it represents. That is strange to me. The other strange thing is that very few Christians can answer the question, “why did Jesus die on the cross for us?” or perhaps, “what did it accomplish?” This is called the atoning works of Christ and I will admit, it can be very simple, yet also complex. Expedition 44 did a 17 part series on the subject. My goal today is to spend a few minutes honing in on the topic as it relates to the Holy week. If you haven’t read the post on Passover and Palm Sunday, you should start there first.
You might also know that I have written on this topic similarly before, here are a couple of posts that have a similar target but discuss Easter from a different pathway than today’s post.
To fully understand the works of Christ at the cross we have to start with the Old Testament, there are seven major feasts within the year —four in the spring, three in the fall.1 They all have a couple of different names that throughout the scripture describe the same feast.
1. Pesach (Passover), Mar-Apr
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread*, Mar-Apr
3. Feast of First Fruits, Mar-Apr, May-June
4. Feast of Weeks* (Shavuot or Pentecost), May-June
5. Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Sept-Oct
6. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sept-Oct
7. Feast of Tabernacles* (Sukkot or Feast of Booths), Sept-Oct
NOTE: *All of them are important and have symbolic ramifications for Christ and the church, but I want to highlight the three times a year the festival dealt with what came between God and His people, Covenant Reconciliation.
Atonement was for the communal body of Israel, the church, and Christ
Tabernacles is about regaining the 70 nations
Passover
Passover is meant to be pretty simple… it symbolizes a basic sense of salvation and freedom. Israelites applied the Passover lamb’s blood to the doorpost and lintel of their house. This blood was a very simple picture of blood that covered or atoned the door as a symbol to mark those that would be passed over by the grace of Yahweh. After the initial Passover of the Exodus, God’s people would remember Biblical Passover by celebrating in each home in the springtime. With a personal family sacrifice of as close to an unblemished lamb as the family could provide. In fact, the intention of the celebration of this feast is so simple that traditionally seder meals are primarily centered around educating the children of what should be of utmost importance to the family – their covenant devotion to the LORD. Sometimes I think we actually do a disservice when we attempt to bring more into the story than needed. God’s message has always started out with a very basic and simple message that can be understood by anyone.
The Feast of Tabernacles
After Noah’s flood, the ‘table of nations‘ in Genesis chapter 10 includes the 70 patriarchs who became the fathers of modern nations.3 But there is a lot more going on than this. If you prescribe to a Deuteronomy 32 worldview it gives a greater depth of understanding to why God wanted Israel to function as his ambassadors to regather the 70 nations that were essentially lost. Matt and I just wrote a book on this entitled. PRINCIPALITIES, POWERS, AND ALLEGIANCES: Interpreting Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17, and Revelation 13 within a Deuteronomy 32 Worldview. Essentially at the tower of babel the nations are spread out and eventually lost, or turn against Yahweh. They will eventually need to be regathered, and God’s initial plan was for Israel to be the agents of reconciliation. This is why, during the week-long feast of Tabernacles, 70 bulls were sacrificed. Tabernacles is about God one day reconciling all nations back to Himself through his faithful people. Has that happened? Already but NOT YET. The ability came completely through the cross, but now as all of Israel, [we] are now the holy royal priesthood that is commissioned with this task. Even though we have been given everything we need delivered by Jesus through His death, resurrection, ascensions, throning and sending of the spirit to dwell in us His new Temple to the world; it is certainly an unfinished work in progress.
The Bible is set for everyone to glean from; the basic story is simple yet there is another level of complexity that is unrivaled by any other work or religion. This is called the mystery of the gospel – Passover is simple (thief on the cross simple), atonement is complex.
Atonement
Leviticus 16 is about the Day of Atonement, and the yearly remembrance of the people of Israel -Yom Kippur. The plan for Israel was that every person should return to their intended “out of Egypt” anointed priestly calling…. But that never happened. That whole golden calf thing two weeks into the plan sort of changed the everything… MOSES ACTUALLY SWAYS THE HEART OF GOD HERE – But one of the results of such failure was that rather than an entire nation of priests, we then end up with just one person functioning in this capacity. Israel had one high priest, a person who speaks on behalf of the people. And represents God to the people. God would start with Aaron and hope to eventually redeem the entire nation and then the world through them. GOD SAID THAT THE PEOPLE NEED TO BECOME PURE– SET APART “HOLY LIKE I AM HOLY“.
Covenant Love
God’s original plan seems to indicate that they would come out of Israel, be given the law and the land immediately while God provided a means of sustenance that would be “grapes as big as their heads” that required nearly no “work” from the people of Israel and would result in large financial desire from the rest of the world drawing people from everywhere to the promised land’s beauty flowing with milk and honey and the innate beauty of the people of the Lord. This would allow the people of the Lord to return to a life of less toil and walk beautifully with each other as they learn to keep and cultivate again giving way to a devotion of love in Yahweh and for the world. This would be the main directive of how the world would be regrafted. People would see the beauty, taste that it was good, and desire to have what the people of the Lord had. (You should start noticing how food ties into the picture of the goodness of God.) Yet what happens is nearly the opposite picture of this. Rather than walk beautifully with Yahweh the walk in the wilderness, rather than feast, they east manna. Israel continually breaks covenant, doesn’t ever possess the intended land, and resembles an image of utter brokenness rather than beauty. Even the world views them as ugly. Yet the Lord still sees their inner beauty and never loses His desire for them as His bride.
Yom Kippur is about purification and holiness before the Lord. It is about the path to holiness.
Take a second and READ LEV 16 – Spiritual Spring cleaning.
Yom Kippur, the day of atonement acts a bit like a spiritual spring cleaning. It is a yearly communal return to what they should be doing – returning to their destiny, their intended vocation to be Holy and represent the Lord as a combined people. Every part of the day is a reminder as to the character of Holiness in Yahweh with hopes of Israel following that picture or mosaic.
The priest purifies himself – The Bible gets real into this, it even talks about what kind of underwear he has to wear. There are two goats: and lots are cast over them.
Goat 1- is the purification offering, the basic intention is to cleanse the temple objects. But this is a bit of a reciprocal gift given back to God; it is Dance of Grace language. If you aren’t familiar with this concept, I would encourage you to understand the concept as I believe it is lost in our culture yet foundational to understanding God’s covenant love for us. My Book, This is the Way: Defining a Biblical Covenant Way of Life I clearly walk through the dance of Grace. We want to view grace as totally free, and it is in a basic sense, but as with any gift given, relationally there are expectations of reciprocity in friendship and covenant. Genuine love responds in an unbroken circle of devotion. That is what a wedding ring represents between a husband and wife which is our best picture and biblical analogy of what God’s covenant is extended to us as His people. I also want to point out that blood is not applied to anyone, it just cleanses the temple. The sacrificial goat is a gift that represents the people’s intent to live Holy before the Lord. If you don’t know why this is important, or why I would make this definitive statement, I would urge you to start with Heiser’s post on it.4
Goat 2 – The priest would take the cord used to lead the goats and put it on the head of the still live goat and essentially place the sins of communal Israel on it. The Laying on of hands is about setting something apart or consecrating it for a task. Tradition has it that the man appointed to the task would be a Gentile who had no connection with the people of Israel. No Jew would be crazy enough to want this job. There is some tradition surrounding the goat and a red (blood stained) cord. The Mishnah (Yoma 4:2, 6:8)5 says they would take a cord and it would be placed on the head of the goat and then use the cord to tie the curtain veil of the holy of holies.
The word for this second goat in Genesis isn’t the usual word in Hebrew for goat which is pronounced saw-eer but in English gets translated most often as the scapegoat. In Hebrew the word is ahzahzel. Ahzahzel literally means “taking away” in Hebrew. Ahzahzel is a picture of everything that the Israelite people have done that is contrary to Gods ways – The ways of the world. So, sin, the forces of death, are removed from the camp. God is rescuing his people from the forces of death. This is still Purification language. This is all about resetting sacred space (getting back to Eden).
THEOLOGY OF THE SCAPEGOAT
I need to take a moment and give you a better theology before we move on. You likely need to deconstruct a bit before you move on. Definitions are important here. You often here of the Substitution and Transfer of Sin being transferred to the second goat. Some of this is backread into the story and we usually take more liberty analogously then we probably should. The goat isn’t a substitute for anything. The sin simply needs to be removed from the camp. The goat doesn’t really serve as a substitute for anyone. Those that hold to a substitutionary view of atonement have the goat taking all the sins of the people, but this isn’t really a great analogy because the goat just goes back into the world, It isn’t sacrificed and it doesn’t truly get rid of the sin. It doesn’t really even cover the sins as it has no power to that. Jesus later will do what the goat can’t do which is to make atonement for the sins of the world and wash the slate clean. But this is still purification language. To make any more out of this become poor theology. You often here things like “you and I put Jesus on the cross” within substitution theories of atonement. That isn’t logical. In the same way that I didn’t eat the apple, I didn’t put Jesus on the cross. I don’t “NEED SALVATION” because I am a wretched person that inherited someone else’s guilt or original sin that doesn’t deserve to live or worse deserves to be tortured forever and ever. Sometimes this is even presented because I didn’t accept a free gift or something; even worse would be to frame it as if I didn’t win the cosmic lottery and now have to be tortured forever. That kind of logic is as corrupt as the world we live in. That certainly doesn’t match God’s own description of himself as loving and compassionate. It sounds like a monster god. There is a better theology. So many people have left the faith because this kind of Calvinistic theology doesn’t add up with the pages of the Bible. All of those are poor ways of considering the cross and toxic to the character of God and the plan of Jesus for your life. I need and want Jesus because I am broken and unholy. I need salvation because I desire what God offers through a covenant here and now and in the days to come. There is so much more to the beauty of what Jesus did for me through the cross, resurrection, and ascension. In one sense Jesus covers the sin that I can’t, He is THE mediator for me (and if we define that as a substitute than I get that); but viewing substitution as some kind of exchange with a terrorist or to position this as transactional with God simply doesn’t bear the heart of God. We can frame this better. Jesus would encourage us to think less about what we are saved from (annihilation – death) and more about what we are saved for here and now and into eternity.
Their is also a sense that the goat carries of the sin in a sense of removal and separation from God. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Interesting this is a pre-cross passage because at the point it was written I would not agree with the statement. at that point the goat was only a few miles out of the camp, not as far as the East is from the West. Often in scriptures we get the writers personal narrative, which in this case is David’s and sometimes His theology seems pretty far off. Was he writing prophetically? Perhaps.
Atonement and Reconciliation: The sending away of the live goat was an integral part of the atonement process, signifying reconciliation between God and His people. The removal of sin allowed for a restored relationship with God, highlighting His mercy and grace in providing a means for atonement.6
Lastly, there is obviously a foreshadowing of Christ’s Sacrifice: From a Christian perspective, the live goat serves as a foreshadowing of the ultimate atonement through Jesus Christ. Just as the scapegoat bore the sins of Israel, Christ bore the sins of humanity. Hebrews 9:28 reflects this fulfillment: “So also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.” To be clear Christ “bore” these sins, but I also want to say that we often get “off” by taking this too far. Christ’s work came at a great ransom in terms of an Exodus motif and once and for all declaring freedom; but similar to the Exodus there is no price and this is not transactional. Jesus wasn’t paying the father or Satan and to view it in this way would again be making a doctrine out of a very simple and basic scriptural analogy that was never the intention of the text, nor a faithful reading of it. Do we deserve the torture that Christ went through? (substitutionary atonement). “Unfortunately, this theory has held captive our vision of Jesus, making our view very limited and punitive. The commonly accepted atonement theory led to some serious misunderstandings of Jesus’ role and Christ’s eternal purpose, reaffirmed our narrow notion of retributive justice, and legitimated a notion of “good and necessary violence.” It implied that God the Father was petty, offended in the way that humans are, and unfree to love and forgive of God’s own volition. This is a very untrustworthy image of God which undercuts everything else.”7 If this is the first time you are reading this, I urge you to take on the view that instead of our substitute, Jesus functions as our representative ad then asks us to do the same for him. That is a better picture of the covenant circle formed. Brian Zahnd has some good framework for thinking better.8
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CORD IS IN THE Binding (of Isaac)ʿAqēḏaṯ
The binding of Isaac is one of the most difficult stories in the Bible to reconcile. You better read this. 9 But as it pertains to this story, the actual binding is key to atonement because it references what is important to us. Matthew 18:18 connects here. What are you attached to more than the LORD? Are you entangled? The cord is a continual reminder that humanity is bound to the world. When Jesus comes, we are no longer bound to the world or the principalities. Somehow Jesus regains the keys over death. This basic concept is called a Christus Victor model of Atonement. As I think their is an element of truth to each of the atonement theories; I think we take most of them too far in making doctrines out of simple textual analogies. That isn’t the intention of the text in a faithful reading. Yet Christus Victor, a theory of atonement that emphasizes Christ’s victory over the powers of sin, death, and Satan is readily accepted by everyone. This view sees the cross and resurrection as triumphant events where Jesus conquers evil forces and liberates humanity from bondage. No one disagrees with this statement. Every other view of atonement seems to conflate the cross than simply supply a textual anology. I might recommend Scot McKnight’s book a community called atonement to start thinking better.10
There are two the triumphal entries. Every year at Passover Pilate, the governor of Judea, would march into the city from the West (THROUGH THE GREAT GATE) with full military might on a war horse. His parade was a show of force to remind the people of Jerusalem that Rome was in charge.
Jesus [LIKELY] came into Jerusalem at the exact same time from the EAST as the Passover lambs were brought in through one gate of the city, the FARM ENTRANCE -Jesus came in humbly riding on a donkey (which strangely was a sign of kingship that was offering peace not war) as he mourns over the state of his people. There are some other things going on, but I want you to key in on the Humility of Christ in this event. That is the main or primary intention of the texts. Power under rather than power over. The opposite of the world.
Then at the last supper… Jesus washes his disciples’ feet… even the feet of those how would deny him and betray him. Remember when Peter says, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me?” (JOHN 13:8) We seem to regularly celebrate the remembrance of communion but forget that in the same breath Jesus urges us to also regularly wash feet per 1 Corinthians 11:23-29. Interesting how modern Christianity seems to pick and choose what ways they are willing to follow Christ’s examples and commands.
Jesus then takes bread and breaks it saying that this is his body broken for them and takes the cup saying that this wine is the blood of the new covenant for the forgiveness of sins. This is a far bigger “remembrance” than what typically is the scope of our tiny cups and crackers at church. The intention was that it was to be remembered as a banquet that symbolized the feasts, and all of the richness of the covenant faith walk. What we were to remember was our covenant allegiance. To be clear the upper room was not a Passover dinner. I will go on to show you this, but you also might want to read this article which I agree with and is an excellent source slightly taking a different view on the same discussion.11
They progress to the garden on the Mount of Olives to pray… Jesus walked further into the garden where he knelt and fervently prayed Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. , Take this cup away from Me; “Father, not my will but thine will be done.” The word Abba is an Aramaic word that means “Father.” It was a common term that expressed affection and confidence and trust. Abba signifies the close, trusting intimate relationship of a father and his child.”12 However, let’s not get too carried away with the term Abba, there is nothing magical about it; it simply shows the confidence and trust that Jesus had for His father and is a picture of what we are to posture similarly toward our father.
Jesus returns to his disciples and while speaking with them a mob of temple guards13, and Jewish Religious Leaders arrive being led by Judas Iscariot. With a betrayer’s kiss Jesus is taken before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas the High Priest in the middle of the night.
In the early morning a bruised, battered, and dehydrated Jesus who is exhausted from sleep deprivation is escorted across Jerusalem to Pontius Pilate. Pilate tries Jesus and finds no fault but when he hears he is Galilean he sends him to Herod. Herod and his men mock Jesus with great contempt and cloth him in a fancy robe and send him back to Pilate unpunished. Pilate ultimately tries Jesus again and condemns him to appease the Jewish leaders and in response to an inconsistent crowd or what our reformed friends like to call a kangaroo court.
Turn to John 19. Verse 15, When the text says, “the crowd shouted,” what did they shout? “Crucify him?” No, first they shout, “Take him away,” then they shout, “Crucify him!”
John uses the words “take away” in John 1:29 and Here. John is saying,Hey, by the way, there’s a connection. The author of Hebrews makes the same connection in Hebrews 10:11. Remember we are reading the translated Greek of the Hebrew and Aramaic they were actually speaking.
Verse 16, “Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.” Jesus is led outside of the camp, the city of Jerusalem, by Gentiles. The crowd chanting, take him away or likely, “ahzahzel, ahzahzel” and then a Roman Gentile leads him outside of the camp, Jerusalem.
Jesus was then flogged. The Roman floggings are unimaginably brutal they consisted of 39 lashes. Roman whip was a short whip with several heavy leather thongs. 14
The Roman soldiers then mockingly as a great joke proclaim Jesus is king. A robe is then thrown across his shoulders; a stick is placed into his hand to represent a scepter. As a final piece a crown is fashioned out of thorns and placed across his brow and pushed into his scalp causing a copious amount of bleeding and blood loss.15Remember the red on the head of the Lamb?
Next is the 650-yard journey from the fortress at Golgotha.16 We don’t know the exact path. The Stations of the Cross is a path in modern Jerusalem and a devotion in the Catholic Church that commemorates the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However, there are some controversies and debates about the content and authenticity of these stations. Some argue that they are based on Scripture, while others believe they include non-biblical events. To some this is misleading. I always prefer to just stick with scripture not man’s concoctions. A new word would later be invented to describe the worst pain the world had ever witnessed… the word excruciating.17
The crucifixion now begins. Simon is now ordered to place the crossbeam on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backwards onto the cross with his shoulders against the wood. The soldier drives a heavy square wrought iron 9” nails through the hands (I believe is most scripturally accurate) and deep into the wood.18
It was during this that he uttered the seven short sentences:
First he prays “Father forgive them they know not what they do”.
Next he turns to the penitent thief and says “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise”.
Sometime later Jesus notices the Apostle John and gives him a special assignment “Behold your mother,” He says and to his mother Mary “behold your son”.
As Jesus agony builds, with a loud voice He echoes the text from
And he cries out “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” “My God, My God, why have thou forsaken me?”
JESUS QUOTES PSALM 22
Jesus was quoting the first line of Psalm 22, which was an especially beloved psalm by the Jews of this time. All of the Jews looking on would know what was going on. Jesus often taught using Remez and this is no different.19 The Psalm begins with the psalmist believing that God has forsaken him. This is defined in the psalm by God’s silence, not his abandonment. There are two voices in Psalm 22. Unfortunately, this is pretty common in scripture, but people fail to follow the poet genre or even realize what is happening. Isaiah 53 echoes the same type of two voice narrative. We have one voice saying what they think and then another one later that speaks clarity. Sometimes in scripture we read a narrative and never get the clarifying second voice of God. This can be tricky. We often want to read every passage as “thus saith the Lord,” but we would be mistaken and lead to poor theology. I am so thankful for Job because we get the first voice thinking His friends are giving “GODLY” counsel but the at the end God (second voice) actually says none of that counsel is of me. This is similar to the way we should read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53.
Next the psalm says “I am a worm”… in Hebrew this is the same word for scarlet. Jesus was covered in blood, scarlet, some see this as a picture of the suffering servant of Is 53. Continuing, this prophetic psalm states he was despised, bones out of joint (but not broken), hands and feet pierced, clothes divided by lots…
Jesus’ next statement from the cross is “I thirst” which is the middle verse of this psalm.
But in verse 19 it says that God actually is not far off in all of this! Verse 21 says God answers his cry!
Verse 24 says God does not abhor the afflicted (Jesus) and has not hidden his face and has heard the cry for help…. I want you to get this…. I do not believe that God has not forsaken or abandoned Jesus! The trinity isn’t split here. This isn’t God turning His back. As hard as it is to read and witness it is actually part of a beautiful redemptive plan. God didn’t turn his back and Jesus and He won’t turn His back on you.
This is a completely different story than what people wanted or were looking for. It seems backwards or upside down. Christ leading by humility not power. But that is the way of Jesus.
Jesus, though He is suffering, has His mind set on the victory at the end of this psalm. The saving deed that brings the reconciliation of God and the nations. Remember in the garden, the table of nations and the feast of tabernacles? “Not my will but yours be done.” Christ knew that dying was what it would take to win the victory and when he was arrested in the garden, He stated that he could call legions of angels to save him if he wanted to and God would send them… God was not forsaking Jesus.20
NOTE: I think there is a valid argument for the splitting of the trinity but I don’t personally think it is the best explanation. I do however greatly respect Greg Boyd who constructs it this way.21
The psalm concludes stating: 22:31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished. Jesus’ next statement on the cross… “It is finished” or “it is accomplished” referring to the concluding line of this psalm and the accomplishment of His saving deed.
2 Cor 5:19… assures us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The perspective of the crowd in IS 53:10 is that we perceived that he was stricken by God (that’s what the world thought.) But the true perspective was that God was pleased to heal Him. By Healing His son, raising Him from the dead He accomplishes something great, He heals the nations. God takes the first step in reclaiming the nations and through the sending of His spirit at Pentecost will now partner and entrust us to be his physical agents of reconciliation.
Then with one last surge of strength, he once again presses against the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deep breath, and utters His seventh and final cry: “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit”.
Jesus dies as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered as our Passover lamb of the new exodus delivering us from the Spiritual Powers and rescuing us from enslavement to Sin by defeating Sin in the flesh.
The cross is hard but it was necessary. It was brutal but it was freeing. Something happens at the cross that we can’t full understand. The captives are set free, the keys to death are regained, and there is a victory won in the cosmos that we may never fully understand. The RESURRECTION POWER IS BEAUTIFUL.
JESUS FULFILLS The Day of Atonement: The purification, the cleansing of sacred space, becomes the sacrifice and the scapegoat, and transfers himself to be the forever high priest.
JESUS FULFILLS The Passover lamb by dying for everyone giving us unending freedom and reinstating our place in partnership with him in the royal priesthood of believers. We will soon become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
JESUS FULFILLS The feast of Tabernacles so that the nations may be regathered unto Him by us, manifested as His hands and feet.
THE TEARING OF THE VEIL.
The tearing of the veil separating the Holy place and the Most Holy place happened simultaneously as the death of the Passover Lamb.Remember that cord that came from the head of the goat that then year after year tied the curtain at the holy of holies? The veil was torn, and the cord fell to the floor.
Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death and the grave, and ten days after He ascended up into heaven to sit at His throne, a great event took place, the equal of which the world has not witnessed since.22 This event is designated in the Bible as “the day of Pentecost” (Acts 2:1) when Jesus sends his spirit to indwell every believer finishing the Passover stover.
We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit
He transforms the body of each believer into the New Covenant temple of the Lord. There is no longer a need to travel to the temple because Hebrews tells us that we are the temple. In fact, to say that we want to build another temple implies we don’t trust or believe the work of Jesus at the cross and Pentecost commissioning a once and for all work in us. Therefore, to want to build another temple would be a slap in the face to the atoning work of Christ. Traditional Jews want to build another temple because they don’t see Christ as the Messiah and his finished work.
Hebrews 4:14 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
The “CHOSEN” – Election & Foreknowledge
What does this mean? I Peter 2:9 makes it clear that we, ALL OF ISRAEL23 are a New Covenant Priesthood. You probably get royal, Heirs of the Christ. Alot of poor theology has been built on the word “chosen” as the elect here. The elect is Biblical. We can’t just remove it because we don’t like what reformed theology has done to the term election, particularly in an unconditional sense. Brian Zahnd gives us about the most simple understanding I have seen.24 Allow me to paraphrase. Calvinism makes the mistake of confusing the election of Israel for a vocation with the election of an individual for salvation. This is a tragic mistake fraught with enormous implications. Jesus Christ is God keeping covenant with the seed of Abraham. Jesus Christ meets the covenant obligations of both God and man in himself. All things are summed up in Jesus Christ. Election of one (for salvation) necessitates reprobation (election for damnation) of the other. I don’t think we need to go much farther. A sovereign God’s ways are higher than ours, but rational superiority is not the point of Isaiah 55. God’s ways embrace a mercy that we can’t imagine and don’t practice. If you follow Aristotle’s influence in Christian theology, you will convert Aristotle’s terminology to words like omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, but your god will also be immutable and impassible25 (you can look that one up). Can He see the future like a crystal ball? (That seems to be what the scripture warns as divination so I kind of doubt it. God’s character doesn’t go both ways unless you’re a Calvinist.) Does He see many options such as a marvel Dr. Strange superpower? It is fun to debate but we might never know the fulness of this until the heavens. Does he have the power to change the future? We see that He does throughout scripture, isn’t that partially what prayer is about? God’s order seems to be a bit of an algorithm based on the devotion to his precepts. Is it a retribution principle? At times it might function that way, but again, we will never have the un-adulterated eyes of God as long as we are on this earth. We are just asked to fully place our trust in him, not once but a complete sense of trust us never ending.
THE CALENDAR
The traditions sometimes get the calendar wrong. He was resurrected in three days and most likely died on Thursday not “GOOD FRIDAY.” as tradition has it.
Jesus’ last meal was Wednesday night, and he was crucified on Thursday, the 14th of the Hebrew month Nisan. The Passover meal itself was eaten Thursday night, at sundown, as the 15th of Nisan began. Jesus never ate that Passover meal. He had died at 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. (He was the Passover meal).
So, have you been lied to all your life about Good Friday? Probably, but not intentionally and this is still up for debate in my mind. Here is another consideration. Could Jesus have been crucified on Friday? It is truly hard to reconcile this view with the scripture, you’re going to run into a good deal of harmony problems. The primary problem with this is that Jesus said He would spend three days and three nights in the grave (Matt 12:40). Many historians rightfully point out that by Jewish reckoning, any portion of a day was considered the whole day, but this explanation still does not get us to three days and three nights. To take this view essentially has you saying that Matthew was wrong. I don’t think that is a good solution. There are other problems with that view, but honestly, I think that one should be enough for you to broaden your horizons and consider stepping away from traditional views if they aren’t accurate and explore more exegetical considerations. Below is what I think is the closest chart to try to see this through the lens of a traditional good Friday crucifixion, but as I have said, its problematic.
Jesus was crucified on Thursday not Friday
A better view for many reasons is that Christ dies on Thursday not Friday. As Jews know, the day of Passover itself is also a “Sabbath” or rest day — no matter what weekday it falls on. In the year 30 AD Friday, the 15th of the Jewish month Nisan was also a Sabbath — so two Sabbaths occurred back to back — Friday and Saturday. Matthew knows this as he says that the women who visited Jesus’ tomb came early Sunday morning “after the Sabbaths” (Matthew 28:1). I made this point earlier, but here is another post that thinks similarly that is also worth a read. From a chronological standpoint, it should be noted that the crucifixion took place on a Thursday, not a Friday, and that the year of the Crucifixion was 30 CE. That year can be calculated from Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy, which requires that Jesus’ ministry began in 28 CE. Once the start of Jesus’ public ministry is confirmed as beginning in the year 28 CE, it is a simple matter of calculating the three Passovers mentioned in the Book of John, the first occurring in 28 CE, the second in 29 CE, and the third being the Passover of the Passion Week in 30 CE, to verify that the Crucifixion took place in 30 CE.26 This is not the time or place to get into this but there’s a lot of significance within the scripture of the two Sabbath‘s.27
ON THE THIRD DAY… Sunday (The first day of the week) Christ had risen!!!
LIFE APPLICATION
Okay, I don’t preach much. But if you know me at all, I am quite different from most theologians in that what drives me is ministry. I believe that my study and teaching is life changing and will deepen your covenant devotion to the Lord. I believe this. So, stick with me for a rare moment…
God knows about the junk. God knows about the addictions, the abortions, the affairs, He knows about the lying, the deception. He knows about all the ugly and He still calls you His royal chosen priesthood. Your worth is in Jesus, your value is in the resurrection, you are a royal holy chosen priesthood.
It’s freedom in Him forever. This picture God gives us—take that goat and send it out because it’s gone and it’s not coming back.
His death sets us free from death… Oh death where is your sting? You have been swallowed up in victory! … Humanity forsook God and lost access to life and our vocation, but God showed his love for us in this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. He died upon a tree so that we could have access back to the tree of life. This life is found in Jesus… in the new covenant in his body and blood. His death is the new exodus that ends our exile and brings us back into the glory and relationship we were created for.
Everything we need was accomplished through the death, resurrection, ascension and sending of the spirit into us. We are the hands and feet of Jesus.
Jesus, help us to take up our cross daily and die to ourselves so that we can live for you, our King.
Affirm the person that Jesus is calling you to be right here right now, take the bread and the cup and be redeemed once and for all.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He created Man and Woman in his image and placed them in Eden to work and keep the garden. This space was where heaven and earth overlapped. Humanity was created to be priests in sacred space, to cultivate and keep creation and to dwell with God, living according to his wisdom, to be mediators between God and others—relating with God on behalf of other people and reflecting his character to others through love, compassion, generosity, and justice. To rule and reign, to keep and cultivate.
Psalm 8 calls this our glory.
Starting in Genesis, God enters a formal partnership He defines as covenant with those that choose Him in order to rescue his world. These divine-human partnerships drive the narrative forward until it reaches its climax in Jesus. To tell the story of God redeeming humanity through Jesus is to tell the whole story of God’s covenantal relationship with humans. Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal. The Bible uses an analogy marriage to show Christ as the bride of the church—a husband and wife choose to enter into a formal relationship, binding themselves to one another in lifelong faithfulness and devotion. They then work as partners to reach a common goal, like building a life or raising children together. [1]
Humanity made a decision (albeit they were influenced by the Nāḥāš – נחש) to usurp God’s authority and live by their own wisdom, forsaking their role as priests, eating from the forbidden tree instead of the tree of life. Now in exile from the presence of God, humanity must deal with the natural consequences of separation… death. Exile is death. Sin enters the world… missing the mark of our role as partnered priests, falling short of the glory we were intended for, our vocation. God’s intention from the beginning was to create a covenant partnership with us and even though we were banished from that walking path in the garden, God’s character itself, His nature is to continue to find a way to continue to offer walking in covenant with us; despite the brokenness that we create. He sometimes finds us in the darkest places.
God is gracious. The downward spiral continues with spiritual beings falling in Genesis 6, the unrighteous world of Noah and the flood, the rebellion at the tower of Babel; but despite all of this pain, God still has a rescue plan for humanity. HE IS THE WAY MAKER. He calls Abraham and makes a covenant with him that through his seed all nations would be reconciled to Him. God makes a covenant with Abraham’s descendants, Israel. He calls them to be a light to the nations, a kingdom of priests. He rescues them out from Egypt and from their gods. He delivers them by the blood of the lamb and leads them into a land of promise, sacred space to dwell again with God. The people reject God after all he has done for them…“give us a king so that we can be like the nations.” God consents. But the kingdom splits they disobey God again and break the covenant, again like Adam and Eve, God’s people, his priestly nation, are in exile. Scattered to the nations, outside of sacred space. After continually breaking the covenant, God hands the people over to the consequences of their sin, furthering their separation from sacred space. They continue to walk farther from Him than closer to Him and eventually even their religion seems far from the ways of the scripture or the father. There is a holy remnant, but they are few.
The covenant seems lost…
God Himself comes in the flesh not only to deliver his people but to end the exile of all humanity. To eliminate separation from God and restore his purposes, to get the Eden project back on track. God has come in the flesh to establish himself as king again and to heal his people from sin… God so loved the world that he GAVE his son.
Jesus’s crucifixion was a political execution and at the same time his enthronement as king of kings. CS Lewis also describes it as a great victory over the fallen spiritual beings that the entire cosmos might return to a beautiful Edenic-like place once and for all.
Thus, as Scripture portrays the matter, the foundational reason Christ appeared was “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), to disarm “the rulers and authorities” (Col 2:15), and to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). The consequence of this victory is that he is seated on his rightful throne, the whole cosmos is liberated from a tyrannical and destructive ruler, humanity is delivered “from the power of darkness and transferred … into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col 1:13), and all who accept it are thereby reinstated to the original position and responsibility of stewards of the creation that God had always intended for us.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God stripped Satan and all levels of demons of all their power (Col 2:15). Therefore Christ now reigns in the power of God far above all such demonic powers. Expressing the tension of the “already/not yet” that characterizes the entire NT, Paul can say that “all things” are already “under his feet,” (Eph 1:21-22) though the actual manifestation of this truth is yet in the future. But the central point remains: the work of the cross was about dethroning a cruel, illegitimate ruler and reinstating a loving, legitimate one: Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ is reinstated, all who are aligned with his rule, all who are “in Christ,” all who are his “bride” and part of his “body,” are reinstated to their appropriate position of authority as well. In a word, we are saved because he is victorious. [2]
We are once again offered the fullness of his covenant promise, with the expectation of covenant devotion. Jesus gives us a commissioned calling to regain the nations in deep devotion to Him. We are now unhindered and partnered with the Holy Spirit, reinstated as ambassadors, the royal holy priesthood of believers to be the manifestation of His hands and feet to bring covenant love back to the world. A return to walking with Jesus as in Eden bringing Heaven to earth.
Taking these thoughts one step further… (and slightly different trajectory)
The idea of the priesthood of believers is both powerful and deeply ancient. That calling goes all the way back to the garden.
In the ancient Near East, kings were seen as the image of their gods—icons of divine authority, representing the rule and presence of deity on earth. Genesis radically reimagines this: every human being, not just royalty, is made in the image of God (tselem elohim). That image is not just about dignity—it’s about vocation. We were created to reflect God’s character, rule, and care into creation. We were meant to be royal priests in His cosmic temple.
Psalm 8 ties this together beautifully: “You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands…” (vv. 5–6). Image, glory, and dominion are all part of one vocation. To be made in God’s image is to be crowned with glory—kavod in Hebrew—weight, splendor, significance. In temple language, we were created to be living icons: not statues in a shrine, but animated reflections of God’s presence, mediating His glory to creation. That’s priesthood. This is also why the 10 commandments begin with having no gods before Him and no images — God already has an image, us.
But as Paul explains in Romans 1, humanity exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for lesser images. We turned from our calling and became idolaters—reflecting creation instead of the Creator. In Romans 3:23, Paul summarizes it: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That glory isn’t just moral perfection—it’s the vocation to image God. Sin isn’t merely lawbreaking; it’s a desecration of our identity as image-bearers. We were crowned with glory, but we gave it up.
And yet God didn’t abandon His plan. At Sinai, He told Israel, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). God wanted all of Israel to reflect His glory, bear His name, and serve as His priestly partners. But when the people shrank back in fear (Exodus 20:18–21), the priesthood was restricted to the tribe of Levi. Even so, God’s purpose remained unchanged.
The tabernacle—and later the temple—became a mini-Eden, decorated with garden imagery, where priests were commissioned to “work and keep” the sanctuary using the same Hebrew verbs (abad and shamar) given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:15. It was sacred space, designed to extend God’s presence into the world. But time and again, Israel failed to embody their calling.
Then Jesus came—the true Image (Colossians 1:15), the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3), and the Great High Priest. He fulfills Israel’s vocation and Adam’s as well. Through His life, death, and resurrection, the fractured image is restored, the priesthood reconstituted, and the glory reclaimed. Peter echoes Sinai’s language when he says of the Church, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood…” (1 Peter 2:9). In Christ, we are crowned again with glory and sent back into the world as priests of the new creation.
That’s why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we are being “transformed from glory to glory into the image of Christ.” This transformation isn’t just about forgiveness—it’s restoration. Romans 8 picks up the same thread: those God foreknew, He also “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (v. 29). This conformity is salvation’s goal. In verse 30, Paul completes the picture: “those He justified, He also glorified.” Glorification is not some distant afterthought—it is the return of the lost glory, the restoring of the cracked image, the final stage of God’s redemptive work.
Holiness isn’t about sinless moral performance—it’s about the Spirit restoring the image of God in us, reordering our loves, renewing our minds, and empowering us to live in union with Christ. We are being transformed to fully love God and neighbor—not in theory, but in Spirit-enabled action. Entire sanctification is not about perfection in the abstract—it’s about Christlikeness and love in practice.
And just like Eden was never meant to remain a private garden, our vocation was never meant to stay confined. God created the world tov—good, meaning functionally complete and equipped for purpose in Hebrew. Adam and Eve were called not just to tend Eden but to expand it—to take the beauty, goodness, and order of sacred space into the wild. That same mission is now ours. Through the Spirit, God partners with us to renew the world—to reflect His image, spread His goodness, and extend His kingdom.
Our priestly calling is not passive. We are to embody heaven on earth. That’s what Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Edenic vision isn’t behind us—it’s ahead of us, fulfilled in Christ and now unfolding through His body, the Church.
The world still needs priests—Spirit-filled image-bearers who don’t just talk about glory, but carry it in love.
Written by Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt Mouzakis
The Bible Project
Adapted from Greg Boyd’s God at War, pages 240-246
“The Abomination of desolation” is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the Greek (Seleucid Empire) king Antiochus IV Epiphanes that desecrated the Second Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and sacrificing swine, an unclean animal according to Jewish law, on the altar in 167 BC. [1] Partially in response, the Jewish Maccabees went to war (revolt) with the Seleucid Empire and in 164 BC, the Maccabees captured Jerusalem. [2] The subsequent cleansing of the temple and rededication of the altar on 25 Kislev is the source of the festival of Hanukkah. [3] In doing so they paraded through the town displaying their pomp and splendor over their enemies. The Hasmonean dynasty then survived 103 years before yielding to the Herodian dynasty in 37 BC. From that year on, at the beginning of Passover (the day the Jews believed Yahweh gave them freedom) the Roman governor of Judea, would march into the city from the West (THROUGH THE “GREAT” GATE) with full military might on a mighty war horse. His parade was a show of force to remind the people of Jerusalem that Rome was in charge, and every magistrate wanted to be treated like a god. [4]
But here we have Jesus coming through the East Gate. That is the lowly gate that shepherds of animals used. This is where the Passover lambs would have been ushered in later this week. It is readily seen that Jesus’ triumph is very different from the Maccabees; Jesus wields the cross, not the sword, as His triumphal weapon, just as his regality is ensconced upon a lowly donkey rather than a mighty warhorse.
The Maccabees were aimed at liberating Jews from the oppressive nations, focused upon the pollution of the temple by the Greeks but Jesus would be setting the table that the nations might be regained through a different kind of spiritual cleansing.
The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, continues to take on a similar image of palms and laudatory praise, echoing the entry of the Maccabees into Jerusalem following their triumph over the Seleucids. [5] The Maccabees entered Jerusalem “with a chorus of praise and the waving of palm branches” [6]. All of this, of course, in the context of a grand temple cleansing – just as Jesus’ entry will be followed by a temple cleansing of His own the day following His triumphal entry. In Antiquity, the palm is one of the trees identified as the Sacred Tree connecting heaven, represented by the crown of the tree, and earth, the base of the trunk. [7] The palm became so closely associated with victory in ancient Roman culture that the Latin word palma could be used as a metonym for “victory” and was a sign of any kind of victory or redemption of a people. [8] They connected the “gods” with victory.
Why a donkey and the coats thing? Well, they both are tied to royal procession. This is a story of the contranyms of the kingdom of Jesus. In 2 Kings 9:13, a man named Jehu is anointed king of Israel and his supporters spread their cloaks on his path, shouting “Jehu is king!” This becomes a regular act from that point forward. In the ancient Middle Eastern world, leaders rode horses if they rode to war, but donkeys came in peace. In 1 Kings 1:33, it mentions Solomon riding a donkey on the day he was recognized as the new king of Israel.
By some estimates, a population of perhaps a few hundred thousand could swell to 2-3 million during Passover. This helps explain several dynamics, most notably why the city’s leadership (both the Romans and the temple establishment) might be more on edge. [9]
FULFILLMENT OF SCRIPTURE
Jesus’ dramatic entry into Jerusalem is included in all four of the canonical Gospels but it varies slightly leaving us the need to harmonize the gospels. In Matthew, quotes Zechariah 9:9, which says:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This is a scratch my head moment theologically and my take on this may challenge your views of inspiration. Was Jesus engineering the fulfillment of scripture? Was Matthew doing a bit “too much” to try to align with a well-known scriptural prophecy? I do not often align with Bart Ehrman, but in this case, I do as he notes, “Hebrew poetry was often organized conceptually rather than by rhyme scheme. This was the case for the poem from Zechariah, in which the idea in the penultimate line is repeated in the last line with different words. Because the author of Matthew doesn’t understand this, he interprets the verse as saying that the king will ride both on a donkey and a colt, which is what he has Jesus do. He doesn’t explain the gymnastics one would have to do to straddle two animals this way, but our imaginations can fill in the details.” [10] So is that what Jesus did? He straddled two animals to fulfill scripture. It seems that way, but who knows, maybe one was good for Jesus.*
*(On a side note, I often like to point out that we have the best tools of any time in History to best interpret scripture. Everything is at our fingertips. We often see the disciples not understanding Jesus and today we have the whole lens of scripture which they didn’t have, linguistic tools for the Biblical languages they wouldn’t even know how to dream of, and hundreds of commentaries from the best scholars the world has known. We “should” understand far better than they did when it comes to seeing things like this.)
But there is something else that I want to point out here of more significance. Matthew 21:5 quotes Zechariah but leaves out one line, “triumphant and victorious is he.” Isn’t that interesting? It should continue to point you towards the backward kingdom dynamics of Jesus as power under not over. This was quite strategic.
Luke and Mark’s narratives give very similar versions of the story, compared to Matthew’s (though without the two animals). However, in both Mark and Luke (but not Matthew), after his triumphal entry, Jesus goes to the Temple and looks around before leaving and going out to Bethany. This is interesting because in all three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ next action will be to cleanse the Temple which I am sure you have made the connection to mirroring the history of the Maccabees above. Why the second cleansing? Who was Jesus’ worst enemy? It surprisingly wasn’t Rome; it was the Jewish religious leaders. Consider the need for Jesus to cleanse the “religion” that “defiled” the temple. When you sit back and consider this, Jesus might be making quite a statement. Is He making the point that what the pharisees have done in the temple is as defiling to His father as the abomination of Desolation? So, then you would ask the question is the desolation of religion connected with what they are sowing and will be reaped in 70AD. Are we reading too much into the textual analogy to the Maccabees? Is this a faithful to the text interpretation? Jesus is known for how he regularly crafts inference. Furthermore, we only read Jesus weeping twice and this is one of them. Which one is He weeping over? The context definitely fits the ensuing destruction of 70AD but perhaps both are at liberty within the textures of interpretation.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, He was acutely aware of the city’s impending destruction and the spiritual blindness of its inhabitants. This event takes place shortly after the crowd had joyfully welcomed Him as the Messiah, laying down palm branches and cloaks in His path. Despite the outward celebration, Jesus knew that the hearts of many were far from understanding His true mission. [11]
Hosanna
Psalm 118:25 says, “Save us (Hosanna), we beseech you, O Lord!” In one sense, the crowd is asking Jesus to save them. In another parallel sense, it’s calling him “savior.” Perhaps both. The strange thing is that the greater portion of the crowd doesn’t seem to have the mind of Christ. That is one of the reasons why Jesus weeps later. They are looking for a war monger savior to meet Herod on the streets and victoriously and triumphantly overcome Rome. You better believe they wanted Jesus to call down the angels of war or open the earth and swallow the Roman army. I am sure fire from heaven would have appeased them too. But that wasn’t the way of Jesus. Some believe that’s why a few days later perhaps the same crowd will be saying, “Crucify Him or take Him away” Others believe the same people weren’t in that “kangaroo courtroom” and it didn’t really matter.
Most of the people were just looking for a show while they were in town and Jesus probably also wept because he wasn’t into that, and He still isn’t.
The next thing they chant – “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” – is also from Psalm 118, this time verse 26. Luke has the crowds say “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” This accords both with Jesus as king and agrees with Luke 2:14, which John also says, and with what the angels proclaim to the shepherds when they announce Jesus’ birth: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!” But what is interesting is the rest of Psalm 118. If you have never read it, well that may influence your thoughts a bit on this.
Hosanna meant they were looking for savior. “It is, however, possible that in the case of someone like Judas, if he had previously been a political zealot, that this entry signaled to him that Jesus would perhaps take over things in Jerusalem, and the cleansing of the temple (Matthew 21:12–13) might well have been interpreted as a symbolic gesture suggesting Jesus would clean house. But then when Jesus reiterates, he came to die, not to start a coup, this must have crushed the hopes of anyone with zealot inclinations about kicking out the Romans. Perhaps that is why Judas does what he does at the end of the week.” [12]
WHAT IS THE TRIUMPHANT ENTRY?
In their book The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem, John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg write “What we often call the triumphal entry was actually an anti-imperial, anti-triumphal one, a deliberate lampoon of the conquering emperor entering a city on horseback through gates opened in abject submission.” [13]
Ian Paul Says it like this, “This is a different kind of king to any you’ve met before. And the reason for that is that the journey up to Jerusalem is not a journey to power and glory, but (as Paul makes very clear in Phil 2.5–11) it is a journey down in obedience to death. Jesus does not come to conquer the city; he comes to be conquered, and in this great reversal to win an even more profound victory. This is why he brings peace: he has turned us from enemies of God to friends through his death. This is why he brings praise and joy: because his death and resurrection have dealt with the things which separate us from God and from one another. This is the power he offers: power to know forgiveness and peace of mind.” [14]
There is a lot going on here. Jesus is acting out the prophecies that the people recognize as pointing to a Messiah, but the prophecy seems to change. Perhaps the prophets read a bit too far into the vision they were given or maybe the failures of the religious Jews changed the conditional covenant offered. Your overall theology for the lens of scripture is going to influence your thoughts here.
The Triumphal entry is CERTAINLY the coronation of the coming king and His kingdom. But it’s also a picture of the rest of the world being so far away from the heart and kingdom that Jesus was offering, and perhaps quite a statement about how far the religion of His day has turned from the Kingdom that He is ushering in.
Lust, Johan (2001). “Cult and Sacrifice in Daniel. The Tamid and the Abomination of Desolation”. In Collins, John Joseph; Flint, Peter W. (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. Vol. 2. BRILL.
Doran, Robert (2016). “Resistance and Revolt. The Case of the Maccabees.”. In Collins, John J.; Manning, J. G. (eds.). Revolt and Resistance in the Ancient Classical World and the Near East: In the Crucible of Empire. Brill. pp. 175–178, 186–187.
Josephus: The Essential Works, copyright 1994. Kregal Publications Grand Rapids, MI 49501.
EXPEDITION 44 