The Jesus of the Bible and the Jesuses of churches (1)

  

“Luk 24:25  And *he* said to them, O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Luk 24:26  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Luk 24:27  And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

The Jesus of Nazareth we believe and preach is "all that the prophets have spoken;" he is not part, but the fullness of things announced by the prophets. For example, the prophet Isaiah describes him as Son, but also as everlasting Father, Wonderful Counselor (Joez in Hebrew, meaning Counselor or Comforter, the Holy Spirit). So, he who receives Jesus only as the Son, and may not receive him as the everlasting Father, and as the Holy Spirit; that one believes in another Jesus because he does not believe all that the prophets have spoken.

The explanation of the Jesus of the Bible begins with Moses and all the prophets and spreads throughout the scriptures. Whoever does not find Jesus in all the books of Moses, the prophets, the psalms and in all the scriptures, he has found a demon that comes in the name of Jesus. Already in the first book of Moses, in the very first verse we read “Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  This is where he began to explain to the disciples of Emmaus the things concerning him. The Apostle John, too, went back up there to introduce his Gospel: “Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh 1:2  *He* was in the beginning with God. Joh 1:3 All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being.”  We also read “Col 1:16  because by him were created all things, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or authorities: all things have been created by him and for him.”

So from the very first verse of the Bible it is about him, when he created the heavens and the earth. But at this point he does not yet bear the name of Jesus, or even that of Jehovah; but he is called Elohîms. Why? - The reason is very simple: each name has a meaning. Elohîms in Hebrew simply means the Supreme Being who is the source of everything and above everything. The original Hebrew word is ĕlōhīm, puriel of ĕlōah   which means god. Other Mesopotamian peoples, such as Moab, used the same word for their plural deities: eloah fertility, eloah of war, eloah of harvest, eloah of the oppressed, etc.. But Moses received the revelation that it was not a plurality of gods, but rather a plurality of attributes of one God. That is why he does not write "In the beginning Elohim created ...” but "In the beginning Elohim created ..." (the Hebrew verb is not in plural but singular: this difference s unfortunately not made clear in English). So, the plural word Elohim does not imply the existence of many gods, but several attributes of one Supreme Being. The logic itself does not admit that there are several supreme beings: each army has one supreme commander, each kingdom has one sovereign who is the supreme leader, every household has one supreme head who is the husband, etc... ; put simply, the epithet "Supreme" can only apply to a single person in a group.

But what interests us in it all over our subject is that he was the Supreme Being who was then calling other beings into existence. He was alone; there was no earthly army or heavenly army on whom he could rely as Lord: where there is a lord, there have to be subjects. But after the work of creation, he is now Lord over all that he has created, then he is called IHVH-Adonaï Elohîms. Yahvé or Jehovah is the Lord or the Eternal, the I AM THAT I AM. This designation appears in Genesis 2: 4 when he finished the work of creation. But until that time he is not yet the Savior because there is no person to be saved yet: the man has not yet fallen into sin. In Chapter 3 the man falls and IHVH-Adonaï Elohîms (Lord God) gives the promise of salvation. Throughout the Old Testament he keeps on recalling the promise while specifying that he – and  he alone – is  the savior, and when he comes to fulfill this promise, he is called Yéhoshwa = Lord Savior.

From Genesis 1: 1 to Genesis 2: 3 he is only Elohîms (Supreme Being or God), from Genesis 2: 4 and throughout the rest of the Old Testament he is IHVH-Adonaï Elohîms (Lord or Jehovah God). According to the manifestation of His attributes (he that provides, heals, gives peace, delivers, etc.) he was named in the Old Testament by variants with the root Yahweh or Elohim: we have therefore Yahweh-Jireh, El-Shadai, Yahweh-Nissi, Yahve-Shalom, El-Gibor, etc. And finally, in the New Testament he is called Yéhoshwa = Lord Saviour (or Lord and Savior) rendered in Greek Iesos that we adapt in our respective languages, including Jesus in English. The Supreme Being is unique but is variously called according to the office he assumes or the context in which he presents himself.

“Luk 24:44  And he said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all that is written concerning me in the law of Moses and prophets and psalms must be fulfilled. Luk 24:45  Then he opened their understanding to understand the scriptures, Luk 24:46  and said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise from among the dead the third day; Luk 24:47  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem.” We often hear of a Jesus of Nazareth who healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, etc., and that's all. It's very good, but it is incomplete, it is only historical facts or facts of society which we can leave to the proper care of historians and sociologists; and therefore it is not the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus of the Bible is the fullnss of scriptures starting with the books of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, etc., and then the New Testament. Whoever wants to talk about Jesus must be ready to open all these books and pull out his speech thereof.

The disciples of Emmaus, like all the other disciples then and now, had this socio-historical overview of who Jesus is: « Luk 24:19  … a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. »  Still today it is the world as a whole which knows that Jesus was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and yet they refuse to be saved in the name of Jesus! Knowing that Jesus is a great character that marked the history of mankind does absolutely nothing, it's just like having a little information on the biography of Socrates, Carl Max, Albert Einstein, or some other great man who impacted the history of mankind.

But the perfect and useful knowledge of Jesus is the knowledge of the Scriptures: speaking of Jesus is speaking of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, knowing Jesus is knowing the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Public or media interfaith discussions are sometimes caused between Muslims and Christians, and it is not uncommon to find that the Christian part is severely manhandled by the Muslim side, while the discussion is about Jesus. The fact is that either parties debate on a socio-historical Jesus. Hence, he who is more eloquent than the other or has conducted more research than the other, is has quite the privilege of dominate the debate.

Yet, if anyone is interested that hear about Jesus, whether Muslim or member of any other religion, he must suffer that we speak of Jesus in the Bible, and in it alone. Jesus is not the theme of the Koran or any other holy book, although each of these books can devote some passages by the way! but as for the scriptures of the Holy Bible, we read that they are entirely dedicated to him; they all speak of him from beginning to end. And the Muslim who does not believe the holy bible scriptures, in which capacity will he debate about Jesus?

All the prophets of the Bible only speak of Jesus (Act 3, 24: 10: 43). He himself is the Word that was inspired to the prophets of the Bible and every detail of his life is the fulfillment of an Old Testament writing: he was conceived according to the Scriptures, he was born in Bethlehem according to writings, Herod attempted his life according to the scriptures, he stayed in Egypt according to the scriptures, he grew up in Galilee according to the Scriptures, he was called a Nazarene according to the scriptures, he began his ministry according to the Scriptures, he was betrayed according to the scriptures, he was arrested according to the scriptures, he was crucified according to the scriptures, he died according to the Scriptures, he arose according to the Scriptures, he was elevated to the throne according to the scriptures, he will take us according to the Scriptures, He will judge the living and the dead according to the Scriptures, and we will be together with him forever according to the scriptures.

Any Jesus not presented from the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation or whose presentation is in conflict with a single passage of the Scriptures is a demon, a seductive spirit disguised. Hence the need to know the scriptures: "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures." If God has not opened your minds yet to understand the scriptures from the perspective of God, you have hitherto intellectual knowledge of who Jesus is. Until then no one had perfect knowledge of who Jesus was because they had no understanding of the scriptures. The Lord gave them the ability to understand the scriptures in order to speak of him according to what is written, and not only based on historical facts and social facts they witnessed. Whoever presents Jesus, not according to the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, or in disagreement with one passage of the Bible; same presents to us a demon which was pasted the name of Jesus. This may be the devil of his church, his family, his tribe, who all recognized the stardom of the name of Jesus and resolved to disguise behind it to seduce many. We will demonstrate in the following epistles.

If you feel blessed, share and pour out the same blessings!