Friday, June 09, 2006
KING MESSIAH?
Matt. 12:22-24. Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.
23. And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"
24. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
Under close scrutiny of the Jerusalem scribes, a man with three afflictions is brought to Jesus. The reason for those bringing him was so that Jesus would cure the man’s eyes and speech, and rid him of demon possession. This is a simple enough task for our Lord in His ability, so He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. This may have been symptoms of demon possession but we are not definitively told in scripture. It is obvious that the demon was removed because of the reaction of the scribes that we will later see. The fact remains that the thrice inflicted man was healed.
The observation of the investigators is shifted to the perspective of the multitudes. The religious leadership could not bear to hear the words of the inquisitive crowd from their amazed reaction to Jesus healing of this man. This congregation, expecting the negative answer, began to say amongst themselves, “This cannot be the Son of David, can he?” The word, amazed – existemi – could be rendered in today’s vernacular as: “They were blown out of their minds.”
The very core of Judaism is the promise of Messiah, the anointed one (Greek equivalent = Christos) who will come and reign over the land promised to Abraham as the mighty Jewish king. This theme runs throughout the Old Testament but can readily be seen it the following passages: Dan. 9:25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. We see Messiah is a royal prince and is further defined as the Son of David in Is. 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse [King David’s father], And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. As a final example we look to Jer. 23:5-6 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6. "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, `The Lord our righteousness.' No one ever questioned that Jesus was from David’s lineage and when compare the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 we find that both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David. The concept envisioned from the religious perspective was that Messiah would have these supernatural abilities but their idea of kingly authority was a concept far from Jesus’ humble approach to His throne.
That the Jewish multitudes would even consider the chance that Jesus could be the Son of David was enough to fuel the wrath of the religious toward Him. We see that when the Pharisees heard it, (the crowd refer to Jesus as the Son of David) they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
23. And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"
24. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
Under close scrutiny of the Jerusalem scribes, a man with three afflictions is brought to Jesus. The reason for those bringing him was so that Jesus would cure the man’s eyes and speech, and rid him of demon possession. This is a simple enough task for our Lord in His ability, so He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. This may have been symptoms of demon possession but we are not definitively told in scripture. It is obvious that the demon was removed because of the reaction of the scribes that we will later see. The fact remains that the thrice inflicted man was healed.
The observation of the investigators is shifted to the perspective of the multitudes. The religious leadership could not bear to hear the words of the inquisitive crowd from their amazed reaction to Jesus healing of this man. This congregation, expecting the negative answer, began to say amongst themselves, “This cannot be the Son of David, can he?” The word, amazed – existemi – could be rendered in today’s vernacular as: “They were blown out of their minds.”
The very core of Judaism is the promise of Messiah, the anointed one (Greek equivalent = Christos) who will come and reign over the land promised to Abraham as the mighty Jewish king. This theme runs throughout the Old Testament but can readily be seen it the following passages: Dan. 9:25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. We see Messiah is a royal prince and is further defined as the Son of David in Is. 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse [King David’s father], And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. As a final example we look to Jer. 23:5-6 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6. "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, `The Lord our righteousness.' No one ever questioned that Jesus was from David’s lineage and when compare the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 we find that both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David. The concept envisioned from the religious perspective was that Messiah would have these supernatural abilities but their idea of kingly authority was a concept far from Jesus’ humble approach to His throne.
That the Jewish multitudes would even consider the chance that Jesus could be the Son of David was enough to fuel the wrath of the religious toward Him. We see that when the Pharisees heard it, (the crowd refer to Jesus as the Son of David) they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:14 PM
