• Global ministry celebrates 70 years: In 1955, Brother Andrew began a work that this year celebrates its 70^th anniversary, as the organization Open Doors.
• The hidden scale of the need: 380 million Christians face persecution worldwide—1 in 7 believers.
• What Open Doors does today: Open Doors strengthens persecuted Christians worldwide through comprehensive support programs including Bible distribution, discipleship training, pastoral development, and presence ministry in the most restricted and dangerous places.

ORANGE, Calif., July 29, 2025 — In the summer of 1955, a young Dutch missionary named Andrew van der Bijl loaded a suitcase with Bibles and drove toward the Iron Curtain. What he found behind those borders changed everything: Christians who thought the world had forgotten them.

That first journey of “God’s Smuggler” launched what would become Open Doors—and revealed a truth that still drives the ministry as it celebrates its 70^th anniversary. Persecuted Christians need more than just Bibles. They need everything.

When governments or fringe groups restrict religious freedom, they don’t just ban Bibles—they block Christians from jobs, education, and community life. Open Doors’ response has grown to match. What began with Bible smuggling has evolved into a sophisticated global network addressing every aspect of persecution, providing everything from medical care and trauma healing to discipleship training, legal advocacy to economic development.

Beyond Smuggling: Meeting Every Need

Image: Vladimir Zuhovitsky

Brother Andrew, as he became known, began with Scripture. But as his ministry grew across Europe and beyond, other needs emerged that were just as critical. Isolated church leaders needed training. Families driven from their homes needed food and shelter. Children faced with discrimination needed educational support. Believers under surveillance needed safe spaces to gather.

Brother Andrew and his growing network of friends didn’t have anything like the skills and resources for this scale of a challenge. So they started praying, and sought to keep being faithful to the next thing.

This past year alone, the organization they began has achieved things that are a true “loaves and fishes” story when one thinks back to Andrew’s little suitcase full of Bibles. In 2024, Open Doors reached 9.5 million persecuted Christians in 70+ countries. The statistics tell a remarkable story of expansion: 5.7 million people received biblical training and discipleship. 2.5 million received Bibles and Christian literature. More than 535,000 received socio-economic support. Another 542,000 received advocacy support.

“Brother Andrew’s mission has undoubtedly changed the world,” said Open Doors US CEO Ryan Brown. “One man, through Christ alone, made an irreversible impact wherever he went. That’s how Open Doors started—and it’s how it continues today.”

When Faith Costs Everything

The need has never been greater. Today, 380 million Christians—1 in 7 believers worldwide—face persecution for their faith. In some countries, owning a Bible can mean execution or life in a concentration camp. Yet believers still risk everything to read Bibles buried under trees, awakening in the dead of night to gather in secret.

And when people have this kind of courage, Open Doors is there to make sure they aren’t alone — with an approach mirroring the comprehensive nature of persecution itself.

The Legacy Continues

In the biblical verse that launched Brother Andrew’s mission—“Strengthen what remains and is about to die” (Revelation 3:2)—persecuted Christians found hope. In Open Doors’ comprehensive response, they find practical support that helps them not just survive, but thrive as witnesses in their communities.

As Open Doors marks its 70th anniversary, the mission that began with one man’s courage continues through thousands of supporters who understand a simple truth: when someone comes alongside you in your darkest moments, everything changes.

Today, that “someone” continues coming for 380 million persecuted Christians worldwide.

About Open Doors

Open Doors works in the world’s most oppressive regions, strengthening Christians to stand strong in the face of persecution and equipping them to share the gospel in their communities. Since Brother Andrew started the work in 1955, the ministry has mobilized prayer, support and advocacy for Christians living in places where faith in Jesus can be costly. Now working in more than 70 countries around the world, Open Doors is committed to standing with persecuted Christians through Bible distribution, training and socio-economic aid. Learn more at opendoorsus.org.

Amid U.S.-Iran tensions, broadcaster SAT-7 gives Iranian Christians first opportunity to share with millions of viewers, many from extremist backgrounds

EASTON, Md. – On January 27, 2019, pioneering broadcaster SAT-7 announced a virtual, “real-time” television news-talk show – Signal – that is the first program of its kind encouraging Iran’s “secret church” – at a time when U.S.-Iran tensions have ramped up the threat of persecution against Iranian Christians.

Middle East satellite TV network SAT-7 (www.sat7usa.org) is now beaming the live, interactive Persian-language program into thousands of homes across Iran and the entire region for the first time, providing Iranian Christians with an opportunity to share their stories with millions of viewers, including many from extremist backgrounds.

“Inside Iran today, God is causing a commotion,” said Dr. Rex Rogers, SAT-7’s North America president. “The outside world often perceives Iran to be a country filled with hostile zealots. But the reality is that God is building the fastest-growing, most energized church in the world today in Iran.”

Reports from inside Iran suggest that hundreds of thousands of Iranians are turning to Christ as spiritual revival sweeps the Islamic Republic and young Iranians grow increasingly disillusioned with life under the hardline regime.

Current tensions between Iran and the U.S. have increased the risk of persecution against minorities, including Iran’s estimated 800,000 Christians – thousands of whom meet in secret “underground” house churches because of constant fear of arrest and imprisonment.

It is illegal for Christians in Iran to share their faith with non-Christians, or hold church services in Farsi, the country’s common language.

Satellite Broadcasts Evade Censors

Hundreds of thousands of isolated Christians, cut off from other believers, rely on satellite TV and the Internet to connect. Governments cannot censor satellite broadcasts, leaving organizations like SAT-7 free to broadcast into homes 24/7.

“During this uncertain time in Iran’s history – and amidst the fastest growing church in the world – our TV show Signal gives Iranian viewers the opportunity for the first time to call in and share their encouraging stories and experiences live on-air,” said program producer Petros Mohseni.

Jahan, a former Muslim extremist taught to hate Christians, called in to share his story. “Before I gave my heart (to Jesus), I read the Book… and I found the way,” he said. “My heart aches for my father and mother. They don’t answer my calls, and I know if they found me, they’d kill me.”

Another viewer shared live on-air how he became a believer after a taxi driver gave him a Bible. “I read John 15:16: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit’ (NIV)… the very same words that I’d heard in a dream.”

Iran, with a population of 82 million, ranks ninth globally on the 2020 World Watch List “persecution chart” recently published by mission agency Open Doors, which describes persecution of Christians in Iran as “extreme.”

“Often, our viewers aren’t even aware of their basic human rights,” Rogers said. “SAT-7 helps inform people in Iran and other Middle East countries of their rights, and this serves as a starting point to bring about change.”

About SAT-7

Launched in 1996, SAT-7 (www.sat7usa.org) — with its international headquarters in Cyprus — broadcasts Christian and educational satellite television programs to more than 25 million people in the Middle East and North Africa. Its mission is to make the gospel available to everyone, and support the church in its life, work and witness for Jesus Christ. SAT-7 broadcasts 24/7 in Arabic, Farsi (Persian) and Turkish, using multiple satellite channels and online services.

NEW HOPE FOR IRAN’S ‘SECRET’ CHURCH: Middle East satellite TV broadcaster SAT-7 (www.sat7usa.org) is now beaming its live, interactive Persian-language Signal show into homes across Iran and the entire region — giving isolated Christians their first opportunity to connect on-air with other believers in real-time. Click here to watch.

This report adapted from the Press Release from InChrist Communications.

Jonathan Malesic, Secret Faith in the Public Square: An Argument for the Concealment of Christian Identity (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2009), 248 pages, ISBN 9781587432262.

From outward appearance the author, an assistant professor of Theology at King’s College in Pennsylvania, argues for non-public involvement in public affairs with nothing said of the participants’ Christian faith. His expressed concern is that Christian identity be protected from being exploited as a means for political gain. Malesic, in his introduction, writes that “too often in American public life, the light is used to illumine the Christians themselves, bringing glory to the wrong person”(p. 19). The light, in this sentence, refers to “Christian identity.” By concealing one’s own identity, it is easier to bring the identity of Jesus to bear in public life.

In developing his theme, Malesic first explains that what he does not want to do is to create a privacy of Christian life in opposition to anything public. “Most often ‘public’ is set in opposition to ‘privacy’” (p. 21). It is a false dichotomy. His proposal is to define what individual Christians should do “when non-Christian publics, especially the overarching and competitive public spheres of government, work, and the market pose danger to the integrity of the Christian public” (p.23).

The author’s basic premise is based upon Matthew 6:1,6 where Jesus enjoins those listening to him “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them …” The full quotation is printed on the page facing the table of contents. Malesic sets forth his argument in two parts. The first part sets forth both the biblical and the theological rationale for secrecy of identity in the public square. He not only cites Jesus but also the liturgical secrecy set forth by Cyril of Jerusalem in the late fourth century when the life of the church and the life of the empire appeared to be fusing. After discussing the position of Cyril, he moves on to discuss in two succeeding chapters later the contribution of Soren Kierkegaard’s Works of Love which appeared in the mid-nineteenth century. In chapters five and six Malesic devotes attention to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his famous work, The Cost of Discipleship. Melasic’s explanation of Bonhoeffer’s view of discipleship is that “Christians confess their Christian identity in secret and conceal that identity in public” (p. 123). The distinctively Christian form of public life is that of “being for others.” While Christians’ works of love should bear visible fruits, the Christian identity of the one who lives for others need not be intentionally made known.

Part two of Secret Faith in the Public Square which comprises chapters seven through nine takes the arguments from Scripture, Cyril, Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer and takes the idea of concealment of Christian identity as it may work out in contemporary America. Malesic does not rely exclusively on the three men just mentioned. He also relies upon models set forth by Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. The church grew and had influence upon its pagan environment by offering an alternative more attractive: “Seeing the mutual love and support of the Christians and the high moral standards they observed, the pagans sought entrance into the Church.”[1] In this recognition, Malesic’s position is not one of withdrawal from the public square but a quiet lifestyle as opposed to a vocal or visible involvement. He also differs from Stanley Hauerwas, who is close to Malesic in sentiment but who challenges Christians “to stand as a visible social and political alternative to the violent ways of the world, bearing witness to the gospel in works of love and mercy” (p. 28). The key word is “visible” as opposed to “secret.” Yet in reading Secret Faith in the Public Square, it appears that what Malesic is advocating is not a secretive Christianity but a Christianity working “behind the scenes” rather “out front” advertising itself.

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)

In August 2008, the Pneuma Foundation offered a link (on our legacy website page called “News & Current Links”) to a transcript of an Arabic TV [Al-Jazeerah] program: “Rare look at Islam: Muslims discuss the annual exodus of 6 million African Muslims to Christianity.” A few weeks later it was learned that this was deliberate misinformation on the part of the speaker, as pointed out in a report by Patrick Sookhdeo of the Barnabas Fund entitled “Exaggerated Convert Figures Could Cost Lives.” The Pneuma Foundation editorial committee asked Dr. Calvin Smith, editor of Evangelical Review of Society and Politics to comment on the situation of secret believers in Muslim dominated nations.

In an article published by the Barnabas Fund, a charity which raises awareness of and supports persecuted Christians, its leader Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, a Christian expert on Islam, warns against disseminating statistics of large-scale Muslim conversions to Christianity. Sookhdeo believes such figures are often inaccurate, sometimes even exaggerated by some Western Christian organizations “whose financial support depends on the enthusiasm of Christians in their home countries.” He highlights how Islamists, too, engage in deliberate disinformation for their own purposes, citing the following example:

A story that six million African Muslims are becoming Christians every year resulted from claims made by Sheikh Ahmad al Katani of Libya in a televised interview shown on Al-Jazeera. The sheikh’s aim appeared to be to alarm Muslim viewers with high figures of Muslims leaving their faith in order to persuade them to give more generously to Islamic missionary efforts in Africa.

Whether statistics are genuine, miscalculated or exaggerated, Sookhdeo’s point is clear: figures detailing widespread conversions to Christianity inflames Muslim sensibilities and can even cost lives.

It is a sobering warning. Indeed, Christians in many Muslim lands are already in a precarious position. That many Muslims might be converting to a downtrodden religious minority, to the deep alarm of Muslim leaders, makes it doubly so. Thus, in societies built upon a clan system and the need to protect family honour, so-called apostates are ruthlessly rooted out. Even here in the United Kingdom there have been several well-publicized reports of ex-Muslims being targeted for converting to Christianity. An former missionary in Arab North Africa told me of a well-known saying among missionaries to Muslim countries: “Islam follows a Christian convert to the grave”. Imprisonment and killings of even the most elderly Christians testify to this.

All this leaves evangelistically-motivated Western Christians (notably classical Pentecostals, whose pneumatology and eschatology drive their urgent evangelistic activity) with somewhat of a quandary. Repentance is a cause for Christian celebration, a reason to glorify God (Lk 15:10), which is why some Western Christian organizations publish conversion statistics. For them these figures translate into actual, real people who have discovered Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. Indeed, this is why the Pneuma Foundation recently published the statistics in question concerning Christian growth in Muslim lands.

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.

___

“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.

___

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.

In this installment of this unique commentary on the Gospel to the Hebrews, Yeshua asks His examiners a question, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?”

They said to Him, “The son of David.”

He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to My Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet”’?

“If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He His son?” And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question (Matthew 22:41-46).

As we begin part 18 with a cunning yet indirect declaration of Jesus’ messiahship, it seems prudent to remember the purpose of this series. Matthew is out to demonstrate that this man from Galilee was the long awaited Messiah of Israel. His gospel is written for the Jewish people to help them discover the reality of their Redeemer.

Here are a few thoughts on what transpires as Yeshua (Jesus) artfully dissuades the Pharisees from troubling Him with more questions.

First, Yeshua gives us an insight into the character of King David when He states that David was “in the Spirit.” That is an interesting commentary on the 110th Psalm. The Old Testament text does not say that David was “in the Spirit,” but the Messiah—the Word made flesh—clearly establishes that the King of Israel was “in the Spirit.” There is no argument on this point from the Pharisees. Those who might criticize the Pharisees for being “non-spiritual,” need to understand that they do not make Yeshua’s commentary a point of contention. There appears to be a tacit agreement that a person could/can be “in the Spirit.” For those of us today, it also helps establish that before the giving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, there were those who could operate “in the Spirit.”

Next, Yeshua is an artful asker of questions—a very Jewish trait. In our society we have a tendency to talk more than we ask; we lecture more than we engage. In the Hebrew culture—then as well as now—this is not so. The Messiah asks an easy question, “What do you think about the Messiah, whose son is He?” This question is one to which all Jewish people knew the answer, regardless of religious sect. The Messiah (Christos in the Greek) will be the son of David. There is no argument here and thus Yeshua paints these learned men into a proverbial corner.