When we talk about our identity in Jesus, we often use terms that are singular and individualistic. “I am a child of God.” “My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and I am a member of the Body of Christ.” These are truths we need to be reminded of. However, we should also use plural and collective statements to identify with the people of God’s redemptive covenant.

Paul describes what being in Messiah means in Romans 6 when he answers the rhetorical question, “Shall we continue in sin so that grace may grow even more?”

Romans 6:2-5 (NKJV): “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united [planted] together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

In the early passages of his account, Nehemiah learns of the grave difficulties Jewish people are experiencing in the conquered and devastated land of Israel. Although he was born in captivity and was serving as cupbearer to the king of Persia, he identified not only with those suffering in the land of their ancestors but with those ancestors who broke covenant with God. He owned the sins of his fathers as if they were his own. Nehemiah knew he was a participant, he was in the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

Image: Andrea Lightfoot

We are in Messiah more completely than when the nation of Israel was in David, the runt of Jesse just in from tending sheep, when he went up against the champion, a giant named Goliath who was trained for war all his life.

In all our beautiful difference, despite our shortcomings and failures, from many tribes and cultures, we are one in Messiah.

As I read through Michael Brown’s book Resurrection, comparing the events surrounding the life and death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to the life and death of Jesus, Brown makes the case that even though these two individuals are both compelling figures in Judaism, one important event, the resurrection, distinguishes why one is considered to be the Jewish Messiah and the other is not. Jesus’ resurrection is what Brown calls the event that changed the world. As Brown points out, many of the followers of the Lubavitcher Rabbi, who they refer to as The Rebbe, expected him to resurrect after he died on June 12, 1994.  When no resurrection occurred, many became dejected, and it divided the entire movement, and those divisions still exist today. Subsequently, his followers have come up with different reasons as to why his resurrection had not occurred, but this has left many questions unresolved such as, is the Rebbe still with us today and is he the promised Jewish Messiah of Israel? This book takes us deeper into the mysterious sect of the Lubavitch Movement, an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, whose many adherents still claim today their beloved rabbi is the Jewish Messiah.

I can’t help but reflect on my own life, living in New York City, as I read through Brown’s timeline of the events surrounding the Rebbe’s death. For years before he died, there were huge billboards around New York City showing his face and blaring a fervent Messianic message “We Want Moschiach Now.” This group of devoted followers believed he was the best candidate to be the Jewish Messiah and they were waiting for him to declare himself to be the Messiah. Then the unexpected happened and he died. Right afterwards many clamored on the streets of 770 Eastern Parkway, his home awaiting him to be resurrected, but after three days their hope had turned to sorrow. Many of his followers claimed he could have been the Messiah, but the Jewish world was not quite ready to receive him, so he died for their pain and suffering and even attached the Suffering Servant motif from Isaiah 53 to their Rebbe’s death in the literature that was being circulated after his death.

As Brown writes in his book, even though they knew the Rebbe had not physically resurrected, many came to believe he never really died, and his presence is still with us today. When one visits the Rebbe’s place of worship at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY, one may converse with his followers and see some rather fascinating ideas being promoted. One of the most fascinating is the idea the Rebbe is still with them today as he sits in a chair they have in the corner of the building where they worship even though you cannot see him.

Lubavitch children every day pray to the Rebbe who they believe did not die, by chanting this phrase, Yechi Adonenu Mereinu v’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L’Olam Va’Ed, “May our Master and Teacher and Rabbi, King Messiah, Live Forever.” Reflecting on this phrase that is used again and again in publications about the Rebbe, Brown points out that in Judaism there are two ways to reflect upon someone’s life. You can refer to someone who is living and to one who has died. By referring to The Rebbe as SHLITA instead of as The Rebbe ZT’L, they are making the case that he never died. This might be overlooked by many, but by using SHLITA which means “may he live a good long life” instead of ZT’L, “In blessed memory”, they are telling everyone in Judaism of their belief that the Rebbe is still alive and not dead.

Brown states very directly in Chapter 5 that we have two leaders with two very different outcomes. Jesus died and was buried just like Rabbi Schneerson, but what sets Jesus apart is that he was resurrected on the third day and the Rebbe did not. There were no mass hallucinations as some want to suggest, as Jesus showed himself to hundreds after his death.  The early disciples did not cling to a Messiah they could not see. They beheld him, they touched him and even grieved when he physically went up into heaven, waiting for Him to return at the proper time.

Then in Chapter 6, Brown takes us to the pinnacle event that Christianity stands, the death of Jesus and compares this to the Rebbe’s death. Jesus did what no one expected Him to do, as He came down to earth from heaven to die for our sins revealing himself as the true Messiah of Israel and the whole world and then was resurrected.

This idea may seem like something way outside of Judaism, but as Brown points out in Chapter 7, Orthodox Judaism does have a belief in what is called the merit and death of a righteous tzaddikim. A Tzadik, who is a Jewish holy man, may increase in his suffering as he is trying to rectify his generation and the generations to come. As Brown rightly concludes, this idea sounds like the Gospel, and it is! Now with this backdrop, Brown brings the words of Paul in Corinthians to light “…Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised from the dead on the third day, according to Scriptures, and that he appeared…”

Over the last two thousand years many in the Jewish community have tried to distance themselves from the idea of a Messiah who dies, by referencing Deuteronomy 13:2-6. This passage states that if a prophet comes to you and says, “let us follow and worship other gods,” this is a test from the Lord. Even though he may appear to be righteous, and it looks good, stay away.  However, Jesus never tried to get the Jewish people to follow other gods. When Jesus refers to himself as God in the flesh is this a test from the Lord? The answer is no! The answer lies right in the Old Testament itself as Brown reveals the mysterious concept of the Divine Angel in Chapter 9. Brown points out that this Angel of the Lord is no ordinary angel as he speaks as God and does things only God can do. The rabbis have never really been able to figure out precisely who this angel is, as they get close but not close enough to call him God.

Finally, Brown wraps up his book by stating that the event that changed the world, the resurrection of Jesus, has changed the lives of millions and millions of people, both Jew and gentile. The Rebbe could never claim such miraculous testimonies as those who have come to follow Jesus these last two thousand years.

The Rebbe has changed the face of Judaism and today there is still much confusion over who this rabbi was and who he is today. There is no such confusion with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The event that changed the world is still being heralded by His followers and still changing the lives of people all over the world.

Reviewed by Mitch Forman 

Preview: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Resurrection/nN7QDwAAQBAJ

PneumaReview.com had the opportunity to speak with two scholars about this move of God, each of them giving an interview. The first of these interviews was with Dr. Paul Palma. He has written a significant book called Italian American Pentecostalism and the Struggle for Religious Identity, published in August 2019. In this book, he has written about the Italian Pentecostal Movement in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The second interview is with Dr. Michael Brown. It may be a surprise to some but an Italian Pentecostal Church played an important role in his spiritual journey. We trust that you will find these interviews informative and inspiring.

PneumaReview.com: You were born into a Jewish family. How did you happen to go into an Italian Pentecostal Church?

Michael Brown: Because I was not a religious Jew, I got caught up in the whole counterculture revolution of the 1960s, playing drums in a rock band and becoming a heavy drug user. My two best friends and fellow bandmembers (and drug users) liked two girls whose uncle was an Italian Pentecostal pastor and whose dad had been praying for them for years.

When the girls started attending services there, my friends went with them, first just to hang out, then because the church fascinated them, both because it was Pentecostal and because the pastor was teaching about the end times. When my friends started to change, I went to the church in August 1971, to pull them out. I was sixteen at the time, and, as they say, the rest is history.

PneumaReview.com: How were you received by the people there?

It made such an impression on me that I said to my friends, “Fine, if this is the direction you want to go, I won’t fight you over it.”

A unique commentary on Matthew, the Gospel to the Hebrews, by Messianic teacher Kevin Williams.

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 1)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 2)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 3)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 4)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 5)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 6)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 7)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 8)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 9)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 10)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 11)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 12)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 13)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 14)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 15)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 16)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 17)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 18)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 19)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 20)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 21)

The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah (Part 22)

Oskar Skarsaune, “From the Jewish Messiah to the Creeds of the Church” Evangelical Review of Theology, Vol. 32, No. 3 (July 2008), pages 224-237.

My interests always peak when encountering a document that traces our Christian faith back to the first century believers, so I was delighted when this article by Oskar Skarsaune, professor of church history at the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, was brought to my attention.

Skarsaune’s work is a fast-paced, condensed exploration of the Apostle’s and Nicene creeds. It is difficult to tell at first if the professor is caustic or sarcastic, as he clearly takes a dim view of what he refers to as Liberal Protestantism from yesteryear to today’s Jesus Seminar. In all fairness however, it may simply be a matter of style between the Norwegian and English syntax.

Yet his point that since very early on there has been a tendency to seclude Jesus from his Israeli context and Jewish practices is well taken. This view divorces him from being the Messiah of the Hebrews and “converts” him into a Messiah for the Gentiles. That of course, creates a very interesting debate which, in this writer’s opinion, merits further exploration.

The professor challenges what has rightly or wrongly become commonplace: that the creeds have become an outgrowth of a Gentile expression of faith and are distant from any Jewish origins. Most of modern Christianity supports this position, but so does most of Judaism, only too happy to divorce Jesus from any hint of Jewishness and certainly separated from the notion that He is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.

Skarsaune disagrees with both camps, and takes a markedly different approach, exploring Jewish thought in the second temple period—both biblical and apocryphal—to uncover clear lines of evidence linking the creeds with the faith of Israel. Examining the creeds almost line by line, he helps the reader gain a perspective that is surprisingly refreshing, albeit ancient.

His conclusion? The creeds so common and important in many denominations of the Christian faith owe their origins to the ancient faith of Israel.

Reviewed by Kevin M. Williams

The July 2008 issue of Evangelical Review of Theology: http://www.worldevangelicals.org/commissions/tc/ertcont-article.htm?id=2324  (includes an article by Jim Harries)

Magnus Zetterholm, ed., The Messiah in Early Judaism and Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), xxvii + 163 pages, ISBN 9780800621087.

The Messiah in Early Judaism and Christianity presents the papers read at a meeting at Lund University in 2006. Three of the essayists are from Sweden, while the other two flew in from Yale University. In spite of the specialist nature of this type of meeting, most readers should find the papers broadly accessible. The essays in this book should speak directly to anyone who has wondered about the meaning of the term “messiah”. Although the subject is one that requires a thorough knowledge of biblical and postbiblical apocalyptic writings, the essays are written in such a way that the beginning student of NT backgrounds will understand everything and learn much. Although there is a time and place for making arcane points, many readers will be relieved to learn that one does not find that type of deliberation here. Beginners will especially get a lot out of the first essay, written by one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject of messianism (John J. Collins). Collins shows that the idea of the messiah was not eschatological in the Old Testament, but that it became so within second-temple Judaism.

Other contributions are by Adela Yarbro Collins (on “The Messiah as Son of God in the Synoptic Gospels”), Magnus Zetterholm (on “Paul and the Missing Messiah”), Karin Hedner-Zetterholm (on “Elijah and the Messiah as Spokesmen of Rabbinic Ideology”), and Jan-Eric Steppa (on “The Reception of Messianism and the Worship of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Church”). All of the essays are clear and written with a firm grasp of the facts surrounding the issue. As the reader can see, three of the five essays deal directly with the Christian aspect of messianism. There are many books that give a fuller treatment of messianism, but at only 163 pages, this book deserves pride of place for what it packs into a somewhat slim paperback.

Reviewed by John Poirier

The final chapter in this unique commentary on the Gospel to the Hebrews. Messianic teacher Kevin Williams discusses the Roman execution of Messiah, the forsakenness of the sacrifice, changing the Sabbath, the Great Commission and other insights in this closing chapter.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him (Matthew 27:27).

It is important to note the lack of Jewish names and perpetrators in this verse, or those that follow. Those who cling onto the obscene notions of the Jewish population as “Christ killers,” and therefore worthy of not only God’s scorn but Christian oppression as well, should carefully note these violent and insufferable acts of the Gentiles.

As noted in part 21, the trail of Yeshua was a mockery, conducted by a handful of spiritually blinded Jewish leaders. They certainly passed a false sentence, but it was the Roman cohort that stripped, mocked, spat on, beat, and crucified Him. The horrific scenes made so vivid in Mel Gibson’s 2004 production of The Passion of the Christ, are guilts all mankind shares.

They gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink (Matthew 27:34).

For some, this might contradict an earlier promise by Yeshua at the Passover: “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). If the Messiah said he would not drink of the “fruit of the vine,” that is to say, wine, then why did he drink this wine/gall mixture?

First of all, Yeshua did not “drink,” He tasted. Once He tasted it, “He was unwilling to drink.” If there is an exact explanation to settle any disparity, this should suffice.

There may be a deeper spiritual significance beyond the words on the page, however. Proverbs 31:6 reads, “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to him whose life is bitter.” Within the Israeli religious culture of the day, that verse was interpreted thusly, “When a person is lead out to be executed he is given a glass of wine containing a grain of frankincense, in order to numb the senses, as it is written, ‘Give strong drink unto him who is perishing, wine to those bitter of soul.’” (Sanhedrin 43a).

For those witnesses there, the religious theology of Sanhedrin 43a may well have been the filter through which they processed the crucifixion. Yeshua had been offered the prescribed drink to “numb his senses” and to deaden a “bitter soul.” But Yeshua’s soul was not bitter, and from His perspective, death was not permanent. He wanted his senses to be as sharp as possible, for He was about the business of fulfilling God’s Plan.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

It should not be missed that this was “about the ninth hour” a very significant moment in the Temple, as well as throughout the Scripture: often referred to as the ninth hour, eventide, the evening oblation, or the evening sacrifice (see Joshua 7:6-10, I Kings 18:36, 38, Daniel 9:21, Ezra 9:5-6, and Acts 10:30-31. Editor’s Note: read Kevin William’s article “The Ninth Hour” from the Summer 2000 issue of the Pneuma Review). In the Hebrew it is known as the minchah as is still commemorated every day by observant Hebrews through the “evening” prayers at 3:00 p.m.

An examination of Messiah’s night-time trial before the Sanhedrin, pointing to the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy and the travesty of justice that took place.

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (Matthew 26:31-32).

As we shall soon see, Peter rejected that he would be “scattered,” rather than taking the comfort Yeshua² offered that even though He would be struck down, He would rise again. To further His comfort, the Messiah tried to help them see that this scattering would fulfill the words of the prophet Zechariah (13:7). The coming execution was—as Yeshua had attempted to help them see before—an inevitable part of the noble plan God had ordained before the foundation of the world.

We also see here in Yeshua, a man who is fully prepared to step through the doors of destiny, without flinching, and still filled with compassion for His disciples.

But Peter answered and said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a cock crows, you shall deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too (Matthew 26:33-35).

We can learn this much from Peter, at least: it can be all too easy to boast in the flesh, even with the best of intentions. What Peter—and subsequently the other disciples—were saying, was that the prophetic promise of Zechariah and the affirmation of God’s Messiah could be overthrown by their own human strength.

This example of human arrogance and lack of spiritual discernment—even from those closest to the Redeemer—leads to a precarious path upon which we may all stumble if we do not constantly test our hearts and our deeds against the Word and the Word made flesh.

To say, “I would never …” is tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet to the Enemy of our souls, an invitation for Satan to test our resolve. How many times have you heard the words, “Well, I’d never” do such-and-such, only to see that very vow overturned in their life. We are all, in some way or another, like Peter.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed (Matthew 26:26-37).

Yeshua takes with him Peter, James and John to Gat-Sh’manim in the Hebrew, Gethsemane in its English approximation: the oil press.

In Job 24, we read about the wicked and their sins, and that they produce oil within their walled cities, as at Gethsemane, but in verse 13 we find that they, “rebel against the light; They do not want to know its ways, Nor abide in its paths.”

Here, in the place of the oil press, the Light of the World would feel squeezed. In one hand he held the unswerving loyalty of a heavenly host, and in the other, the impending doom of anguish and humiliation for being nothing other than a healer, a teacher, and a restorer of the Scriptures. God’s unrivaled ambassador, heralding the kingdom of heaven with all its glories, was to face such torture and pain as our modern sensitivities can scarcely imagine.

Messiah celebrates his final Passover on earth, teaching us much about His own identity as the Paschal Lamb.

And it came about that when Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming …” (Matthew 26:1-2a).¹

Passover: the overriding event in Israel at the time of Yeshua’s² crucifixion receives scant attention in the gospel accounts. Hundreds of thousands of fathers and husbands, often with their 12-year-old sons, would travel to Jerusalem to make the Paschal sacrifice required in Exodus 12. But in the period when Matthew was written, among the Jewish people, little needed to be said. Matthew’s audience was well acquainted with the traditions, symbols, and significance of Passover and the weeklong observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For such an audience, Pesach—as Passover is called in the Hebrew—required no exposition.

2,000 years removed from Israel and the temple, from young innocent lambs and the ritual slaughter, from the weeklong observances of matzah bread and the inherently Hebraic perspective, our modern understanding and therefore, appreciation of events in Israel may be lacking.

In this section of The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, we return to the root and core—the very foundation if you will—upon which the entire structure of redemption was built. This foundation—yesod in the Hebrew—is rich with imagery, and a testimony to the awesome foresight and design of its Great Architect, the Almighty Father, who built so firm a foundation. “Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed’” (Isaiah 28:16).

Every year, in Jewish homes around the globe, it is expected to not merely participate in the Seder, the order of service for Passover, but to engage in the observance as if actually participating in the events. May this be true for us as well, as we step into the culture and history of biblical Israel.

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“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion” (Matthew 26:2).

Yeshua’s execution was a foregone conclusion. Not only had Yeshua told them on more than one occasion, 1 Peter 1:20 reminds us, “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world.” The plan of salvation had been set in motion long before Matthew, Moses, or Adam.

Yet with every perfect work of God, the Adversary of our souls contrives counterfeits to distract and derail men and women of otherwise good conscience. Out of this divine promise that “the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion” came the fabricated lie of the Jews as “Christ Killers,” a bitter root in Church history that has defiled too many for too long. This deceit became a rationalization for the Church to persecute the Jewish people and remains a blot on our religious history that should not be overlooked or forgotten.

As Jewish men, women, and children were marched into Nazi concentration camps, they read signs that said, “You killed our God, now we kill you.” Even today, some still live who read those signs in their lifetime and have endured “Christian” hatred.

Does Messiah pay taxes? Journey through the Gospel to the Hebrews with Kevin Williams and find out.

The Olivet Discourse can be compared to a fine painting by one of the masters. That might sound odd, but everyone can look at the same piece of artwork from very different perspectives with opinions that range from matters of personal taste to the highly educated evaluation of each individual brush stroke. Eschatology is much the same.

With so many end-time theories and theologies from which to formulate an opinion, this portion of Scripture can be very polarizing. When you consider the views on how the end times will unfold: from pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, pre-wrath, and post tribulation theories, as well as amillennial doctrines—the palette is loaded with numerous hues and tones. Many love God’s Masterpiece—His picture of the last days—but everyone does not appreciate it equally or from a singular perspective.

This series, The Secret Codes in Matthew, operates on the premise that Matthew’s gospel was written as evidence to the Jewish people that Yeshua (Jesus) was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. It is with that continuing premise in mind that Matthew 24 is examined, attempting to understand Yeshua’s words as his contemporaries did.

How the rapture will or will not occur, or in the preterists’ case “already occurred” will not be discussed here, but rather will be left to others. For this author, how things unfold are keenly interesting but minimally important. The crux of the life of a disciple is to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,” to “love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37),¹ and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), all of which—of course—are timeless principles established millennia before in the Old Testament. Being occupied means that when the events of Matthew 24 arrive—whatever your theological bent—you will be found faithful.

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And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many” (Matthew 24:4-5).

It is interesting to note that some of our Christian brethren 500 years ago—in the throes of the Reformation—viewed this passage thusly: “The Church will have a continual conflict with infinite miseries and offences, and furthermore, with false prophets, until the day of victory and triumph comes.”² Indeed, with 1,500 years behind them already, these commentators—already in the thick of polarizing change that shook the foundations of Europe—were experiencing the truths of some of Yeshua’s prophecies in Matthew 24 on a daily basis.