| JESUS, THE CHRIST
OF GOD
Section
4 - Christ Came: To Minister to The Lost Sheep
Christ Came: To Confirm the Patriarchal Promises
Christ
Came: To Minister to The Lost Sheep Of The House Of Israel
As we shall see, the efficacy
of Christ’s absolute obedience to the Father’s will is to be applied universally.
When He came in flesh, however, He was given a definite and specific commission
to be effected only among the lost sheep of the house of Israel and which
He carried out to a finish. He delegated this particular restriction, right
at the very beginning of His ministry, to His apostles and disciples.
Jn.8:42
…For out of God I came forth and am arriving.
For neither have I come
of Myself, but He commissions Me.
Mt.15:24
"I was not commissioned except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Jn.17:4
I glorify Thee on the earth,
finishing the work
which Thou hast given Me, that I should be doing it.
Mt.10:5-7
These twelve Jesus commissions, charging them, saying,
"Into a road of the nations
you may not pass forth,
and into a city of the Samaritans
you may not be entering.
Yet be going rather to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Now going, herald, saying
that `Near is the kingdom of the heavens!'
In this figure of the lost sheep,
Jesus is the Shepherd Who cares for His flock.
Mt.2:6
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, …
out of you shall come forth
the Ruler Who shall shepherd My people Israel.
Lk.19:9,10 …Today
salvation came to this home, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Mankind came to seek and to save the lost.
Jn.10:11 I am
the Shepherd ideal.
The ideal shepherd is laying
down his soul for the sake of the sheep.
Jn.10:2-4 Now
he who is entering through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the doorkeeper is
opening, and the sheep are hearing his voice,
and he is summoning his
own sheep by name and is leading them out.
And whenever he should be
ejecting all his own, he is going in front of them,
and the sheep are following
him, for they are acquainted with his voice.
Jn.10:5 ...an
outsider will they under no circumstances be following,
but they will be fleeing
from him, for they are not acquainted with the voice of the outsiders."
Jn.10:12,13
Yet the hireling, not also being shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
is beholding the wolf coming,
and is leaving the sheep and fleeing.
And the wolf is snatching
them and is scattering the sheep.
Yet the hireling is fleeing
for he is a hireling and he is not caring concerning the sheep.
Jn.10:14,15
I am the Shepherd ideal, and I know Mine and Mine know Me,
according as the Father
knows Me, and I know the Father.
And My soul am I laying
down for the sake of the sheep.
Mt.9:36
Now, perceiving the throngs, He has compassion on them,
for they were bothered and
tossed as if sheep having no shepherd.
Mk.6:34 … Jesus
perceived a vast throng, and He has compassion on them,
for they were as sheep
not having a shepherd, and He begins to teach them much.
This figure of Shepherd and
sheep shows the duty and responsibility of the Shepherd over the welfare
of the sheep. When one sheep is lost it is not left to fend for itself
from then on. It is the Shepherd that makes the effort to go after the
stray one until found.
Mt.18:12,13
"What are you supposing? If it should be occurring
to any man, with a hundred
sheep, that even one of them should be led astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine
sheep on the mountains,
and go and seek the one
which is straying?
And if he should come to
find it, verily, I am saying to you that he is rejoicing over it,
rather than over the ninety-nine
that have not strayed.
1Pet.2:25
For you were as straying sheep,
but now you turned back
to the Shepherd and Supervisor of your souls.
The believing people of the
house of Israel are the main fold, coming from the same stock. But others,
who are non-Israelites, coming from out of the nations, attach themselves
to Israel in worship of the true God by induction as proselytes. They,
too, obey the directions of the Shepherd and are recognised by Him as members
of His one flock.
Jn.10:16
"And other sheep have I which are not of this fold.
Those also I must be leading,
and they will be hearing My voice,
and there will be one flock,
one
Shepherd.
Jn.10:26-30
But you are not believing, seeing that you are not of My sheep,
according as I said to you.
"My sheep are hearing My voice, and I know them,
and they are following Me.
And I am giving them life eonian,
and they should by no means
be perishing for the eon,
and no one shall be snatching
them out of My hand.
My Father, Who has given
them to Me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to be
snatching them out of My Father's hand.
I and the Father, We are
one."
Heb.13:20 the
God of peace, Who is leading up our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of
the sheep,
The Shepherd has been called
away, so, in the meantime, He has delegated some chosen ones to shepherd
the sheep until His return. Great vigilance is needed at all times. The
situation is fraught with danger and - especially from within where wolves
disguised as sheep have become mingled with the flock.
Mt.7:15
"Take heed of those false prophets
who are coming to you in
the apparel of sheep, yet inside they are rapacious wolves.
Mt.10:16 "Lo! I am
dispatching you as a sheep in the midst of wolves.
Become, then, prudent as
serpents and artless as doves.
Jn.21:15-17 Jesus
is saying to Simon Peter,
"Simon of John, are you
loving Me more than these?"
He is saying to Him, "Yes,
Lord, Thou art aware that I am fond of Thee!"
He is saying to him, "Graze
My lambkins [arnion]!"
He is saying to him again
a second time, "Simon of John, are you loving Me?"
He is saying to Him, "Yes,
Lord, Thou art aware that I am fond of Thee!"
He is saying to him, "Shepherd
My sheep [probaton]!"
He is saying to him the
third time, "Simon of John, are you fond of Me?"
Peter was sorry that He
said to him the third time "Are you fond of Me?"
and he is saying to Him,
"Lord, Thou art aware of all things!
Thou knowest that I am fond
of Thee."
And Jesus is saying to him,
"Graze My little sheep [probation]!”
[ lambkin = arnion;
lamb = amnos; sheep = probaton; little sheep = probation
goat = aigeion;
kid = eriphion ]
1Pet.5:2-4
Shepherd the flocklet of God among you, supervising,
not of compulsion, but voluntarily,
according to God; nor yet avariciously, but eagerly;
nor yet as lording it over
the allotments, but becoming models for the flocklet,
and, when the Chief Shepherd
is manifested,
you shall be requited with
an unfading wreath of glory.
Christ
Came: To Confirm The Patriarchal Promises
Another reason for Christ’s
coming to the people of Israel was to confirm the promises made by God
to their patriarchs.
Rom.15:8
For I am saying that Christ has become the Servant of the Circumcision,
for the sake of the truth
of God, to confirm the patriarchal promises.
Heb.10:23
We may be retaining the avowal of the expectation without wavering,
for faithful is He Who
promises.
Lk.2:10,11 I
am bringing you an evangel of great joy which will be for the entire
people,
for today was brought forth
to
you a Saviour, Who is Christ, the Lord,
To this end, His preaching during
His ministry is mostly concerned with the coming of the kingdom of God.
Matthew refers to 'the kingdom of the heavens'.
During the forty years in
the wilderness after the people of Israel had been delivered from their
Egyptian bondage, God ruled them through Moses. Through Moses He made a
solemn contract with them, the covenant of Sinai, giving them its terms
of reference, the law. They willingly contracted to obey Him - He was their
Ruler!
God then directed them in
their conquest of Canaan, and ruled the nation through a succession of
judges during their tenancy there. But there came a time when they became
dissatisfied with this arrangement. God was invisible to them. They wanted
a king, just like the other nations round about. They wanted someone they
could see, a visible point of reference, someone they could rally to, a
physical symbol of their nationhood. Matters came to a head in the days
of the last judge, Samuel.
1Sam.8:4-6
And all the elders of Israel gather themselves together,
and come in unto Samuel
to Ramath, and say unto him,
`Lo, you have become aged,
and your sons have not walked in your ways;
now, appoint to us a king,
to judge us, like all the nations.'
And the thing is evil in
the eyes of Samuel, when they have said,
`Give to us a king to judge
us;' and Samuel prays unto Yahweh.
1Sam.8:7,8 And
Yahweh said unto Samuel,
`Hearken to the voice of
the people, to all that they say unto you,
for you they have not rejected,
but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them.
According to all the works
that they have done
from the day of My bringing
them up out of Egypt,
even unto this day, when
they forsake Me, and serve other elohim--
so they are doing also to
you.
The man chosen as their first
king was Saul, a man of imposing stature and ability. But he proved to
be a failure and was succeeded by David the shepherd, a man who cared for
his people just as God does.
Act.13:22
…He rouses David for their king, to whom He said also, in testifying,
`I found David, of Jesse,
a man according to My heart, who will be doing all My will.'
After the reigns of David and
his son Solomon, the kingdom was split because of civil war. Later, God
sent both divisions into exile for their gross idolatry, bringing the once
glorious kingdom to an end. Instead, God gave supremacy and kingdom glory
to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Dan.2:37; 4:17,25). The Medo-Persian and
Greek kingdoms ruled supreme in their turn after the Babylonian (Dan.8:20,21).
From the remains of these three kingdoms, and from within the same area,
is to rise up a fourth kingdom, under a federation of rulers, different
in character from its predecessors. This ‘end-time’ kingdom is prophesied
to be dominated by ‘a king of strong presence and understanding problems’
who, through cunning and deceit, establishes his control and consolidates
his authority over the rest. He even comes into the Temple and proclaims
that he is God. After a short period of undisputed control he will
challenge the returning Christ to battle (Dan.8:11,23-25; 2Thes.2:3,4,9-11;
Rev.19:19-21).
It is then, a time still
future to us, that kingdom glory will return to Israel. It is only
then that Israel will ascend to her rightful place in God’s scheme
of things. This is still the expectation of Israel.
Dan.2:44
In their days, that is, of these kings,
the Eloah of the heavens
will set up a kingdom that for the eons shall not come to harm.
His kingdom shall not be
left to another people.
It will pulverize and terminate
all these kingdoms, and it shall be confirmed for the eons.
Dan.7:27
And the kingdom and the jurisdiction and the majesty of the kingdom
under the entire heavens
will be granted to the people of the saints of the supremacies.
Their kingdom is an eonian
kingdom, and all other authorities shall serve and hearken to them.
Rev.20:6
Happy and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection!
Over these the second death
has no jurisdiction, but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will be reigning
with Him the thousand years.
Act.13:23 From
this one's seed, God, according to the promise, led to Israel a
Saviour, Jesus.
There was a solemn promise made
by Jesus to His apostles which He will fully honour. And, just before He
ascended into the heavens, this was the urgent topic in their minds. Were
the preparation aspects of the kingdom to begin immediately? What was to
be their role and responsibility while He would be away?
Mt.19:28
Yet Jesus said to them, "Verily, I am saying to you, that you who follow
Me,
in the renascence whenever
the Son of Mankind should be seated on the throne of His glory,
you also shall sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Act.1:6
Those, indeed, then, who are coming together, asked Him, saying,
"Lord, art Thou at this
time restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
Act.3:19-21
…so that seasons of refreshing should be coming from the face of the Lord,
and He should dispatch the
One fixed upon before for you, Christ Jesus,
Whom heaven must indeed
receive until the times of restoration of all
which God speaks through
the mouth of His holy prophets who are from the eon.
It was not given to the apostles
to know the answer to their spoken question. But, they were to be His witnesses,
in the coming days and years, of His resurrection. Their King was ready
and waiting; His people must be made ready to receive Him.
The people of Israel had
been given the law through Moses. Christ, emphatically, did not, in any
way abrogate it. He came to confirm the law and the promises attached to
it.
Mt.5:17-19
You should not infer that I came to demolish the law or the prophets.
I came not to demolish,
but to fulfill. For verily, I am saying to you,
Till heaven and earth should
be passing by, one iota or one serif
may by no means be passing
by from the law till all should be occurring.
Whosoever, then, should
be annulling one of the least of these precepts,
and should be teaching men
thus, the least in the kingdom of the heavens shall he be called. Yet whoever
should be doing and teaching them, he shall be called great in the kingdom…
But that law had to be observed,
not merely in its letter (as did the scribes and Pharisees) but in its
spirit (Mt.12:7,11,12; Mk.2:27,28). God has determined that Israel is ‘the
salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world’ (Mt.5:13,14). She should
act as such. Christ’s emphasis was for the spirit of the law. To this end
He enhanced the teachings of Moses (see some details in Mt.5:21-48). Not
only is this what He taught, this was what He Himself lived by (Heb.4:15)!
Act.3:22-26
"Moses, indeed, said that:
A Prophet will the Lord
your God, be raising up to you from among your brethren, as me.
Him you shall hear, according
to all, whatsoever He should be speaking to you.
Yet it shall be that every
soul whatsoever which should not hear that Prophet
shall be utterly exterminated
from among the people. Now all the prophets also,
from Samuel, and consecutively,
whoever speak, also announce these days.
You are the sons of the
prophets and of the covenant which God covenanted with your fathers,
saying to Abraham: And in
your seed all the kindreds of the earth shall be blessed.
To you first, God, raising
His Boy, commissions Him to bless you
by turning away each of
you from your wickedness."
Lk.2:30-32
For my eyes perceived Thy Salvation,
Which Thou dost make ready
suiting the face of all the peoples,
A Light for the revelation
of nations, And the Glory of Thy people Israel."
Mt.20:26-28
But whosoever may be wanting to become great among you,
let him be your servant,
and whoever may be wanting
to be foremost among you, let him be your slave,
even as the Son of Mankind
came, not to be served, but to serve,
and to give His soul a
ransom for many.
That Christ would experience
terrible sufferings at the hands of His own people had been foretold in
Scripture - and well He knew of the fact.
Act.3:18
Yet what God announces before through the mouth of all the prophets--
the suffering of His Christ--He
thus fulfils.
Act.26:22
Happening, then, on assistance from God, until this day I stand attesting
both to small and to great, saying nothing outside of what both the prophets
and Moses speak of impending occurrences--if it be the suffering Christ—
1Pet.1:10,11
Concerning which salvation the prophets seek out and search out,
who prophesy concerning
the grace which is for you,
searching into what or what
manner of era the spirit of Christ in them made evident,
when testifying beforehand
to the sufferings pertaining to Christ and the glories after these.
Mt.17:22,23
Jesus said… "The Son of Mankind is about to be given up into the hands
of men, and they will be killing Him, and the third day He will be roused."
Mt.26:2
"You are aware that after two days the Passover is coming,
and the Son of Mankind is
being given up to be crucified."
The opposition of the nation’s
elders and religious leaders, spurred on by their jealousy over the way
the common people marvelled at His teachings, culminated in their plotting
to assassinate Him (Lk.22:2; Mt.26:3-5). When the opportunity presented
itself, through Judas, they took full advantage of it (Lk.22:3-6) and instigated
the crowds, who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover, to demand for
His crucifixion (Mt.27:20). Through subtlety and blackmail they carried
the day (Jn.19:12,13). And so, Jesus was led to His execution.
Those arrayed against God’s
Christ represent the whole world and range from rulers to commoners.
Act.4:27
…in this city were gathered against Thy holy Boy Jesus, Whom Thou dost
anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the nations
and the peoples of Israel,
How Satan and his spiritual
forces of darkness must have exulted in what may have seemed to them an
overwhelming victory over God’s representative. Little did he realise that
he had actually sealed his own ultimate defeat (Col.2:14,15). He had actually
done exactly what God had determined that he should do, and which would
turn out to be his own undoing (1Jn.3:8). He did not know the tremendous
range of effects this particular crucifixion would release!
February 2001
Back to:
....Main
menu of articles
....Section
1 - Introduction
......................The
Image and The Firstborn
....Section
2 - The
Son of God
......................The
Christ of God
....Section
3 - The
Way Jesus is God
Proceed to:
....Section
5 - Christ
Came: To Save All Mankind
......................Christ
Came: To Annul the Works of the Adversary
....Section
6 - Scriptural
Evaluation
......................Conclusion
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