25 March 2010


by Dan Phillips

(Continued from heah.)





Uh, yeah; except no.



  1. Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
  2. Priest (Psalm 110:4)

...not a concept
...not an ideal
...but a particular historical Person.






Dan Phillips's signature


donsands said...

Good study. Well done.

Made me think of this verse:


DJP said...

Very apposite, Don.

stratagem said...

You reminded me of a conversation I had decades ago in college: I was speaking with a "Christian" (?) in my dorm who told me that "the concept of Jesus came from Africa," something he had learned in Black Studies. It struck me as so bizarre, that I wasn't quick enough to point out that Jesus wasn't a "concept."

GW said...

Today I was reading John and I had this very question. Why were so many of the average non-educated people so aware of looking out for a Christ , a Messiah, a King and a prophet?


John 1:49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."


I just finished reading the old testament. Once I got to Isaiah, I would have to admit I was just plodding through. Where is the language in the Jewish scripture that made all these people know that a Christ was coming?

DJP said...

Good, short question, GW, that would require a very long answer.

I have actually answered you in part in my two 1-2-3's, in the post. Please check out those Scriptures.

The hope is first kindled in Genesis 3:15, where in unusual language Yahweh puts hostility between the woman and the serpent, and between his seed and her seed. But then her seed strikes — not the serpent's seed's head, but — the head of the serpent, mankind's enemy. Some individual, a descendant of Eve, would be mankind's deliverer.

This deliverer is then prepared for throughout the rest of the OT in a wide variety of ways, as Hebrews 1:1 says. In picture, He is seen in bloody, vicarious sacrifices such as begin in the Garden (Genesis 3:21) and are later formalized and ritualized in Israel's worship (Leviticus 1 and following). They set forth the principle of forgiveness through vicarious bloody sacrifice (Leviticus 17:11, 14).

There are many other pictures, but to stay with that one, Isaiah 52:11-53:13 takes that language, and shows an individual human being fulfilling what the animal sacrifices depict, in an effectual death for the sins of his people.

That person is named "Messiah" in the verses I give in the post.

Hope that helps.

Stefan said...

The whole Gospel is packed into the very name of our Lord and Saviour: the (ongoing) fulfilment of God's Old Testament promises in redeeming a people unto Himself united under a King ("Christ"), and His redemptive work that makes it possible ("Jesus").

David said...

Dan, you may not be blowing out the comment threads with these, but they're great foundational posts.

Oh, and I think I figured out why people sometimes say, "Thanks for the post, Phil." when you wrote it:

They think it's your title.

Stefan said...

Wow, seven comments total (eight including this one) on the Name of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away
But there's something about that name.

(The Gaithers)