Jesus Autobiography

All philosophical, theological and political discourse concerns from a presuppositional matrix. The communicator's concepts are characterized, influenced, and motivated by such a preexisting corpus of antecedent suggestions, or embraced truth. I begin using the presupposition that Jesus understood perfectly and obviously who he was.His auto-noetic frame was precise and comprehensive. From such a substratum his ipssissima verba would proceed. Filtered via an Occidental mindset, in certain, a pragmatic philosophy, the words of Jesus have already been denuded of their intrinsic authority and regenerative energy. The context in which we read the words of Christ have to adjust, from a late Twentieth Century, techno-centric, hedonistic, materialistic, democratic state to a matrix of 1st Century Judaism. Once the words of Christ are heard within the context of his day, and understood against the backdrop of Rabbinic Judaism, his words blaze with unsurpassed authority and reduce like a two-edged sword (Isa. 49:two). He spoke with an authority unprecedented within the history of Israel (Ps. of Sol. 17:36, 43, Matt. 7:29, 24:35, Mk. 1:22, 27, Lk. four:36).

Utilizing a Messianic designation from the Old Testament along with a title rich in apocalyptic color, Jesus would identify himself to his Judiac planet. Jesus' "autobiographical designation", utilized 81 occasions inside the gospels, was the title "Son of Man." By means of this Messianic prism we shall see the transcendent dimension of Jesus' nature as defined by him. "Jesus chose it [title "Son of Man"] because the excellent expression for progressively and, to some extent, retrospectively, revealing the nature of his particular person and perform." (D. A. Carson, professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 213) Jesus adopted and repeatedly alluded to the figure "Son of Man" from Daniel 7:13-14, "I kept hunting in the evening visions, and behold, with all the clouds of heaven one particular like a Son of Man was coming, and He came as much as the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was offered dominion, glory plus a kingdom, that each of the peoples, nations, and males of each and every language may well serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." Daniel in vision sees 4 empires in succession depicted as bestial, verses 1-12, characterizing the savage, rapacious nature of their rule. But one more figure comes upon the scene, he is performed for the "Ancient of Days", the "Son of Man." In Hebrew, the phrase "Son of Man" is bar enosh. "Enosh" emphasizes the mortal, frail, creaturely, incurable nature of man inside the bondage of corruption, in stark contrast to the 4 preceding images depicting the arrogant brutality of totalitarian power. Power exercised in the establishment and continuance of an empire's reign. Dictatorial violence that stamps out any residue of resistance. But this figure (Son of Man) has acquired a kingdom not by military might or dictatorial tyranny, but via humiliation and suffering. Inside the title "Son of Man" there is certainly a unitive exegetic presented, the multi-faceted significance of the humiliation and glorification in the Messiah is revealed. "...even though Daniel 7:13-14 indeed speaks with the glorification from the Son of Man, it is in context a glorification and vindication by way of suffering. Each elements of 1) humiliation and suffering, on the 1 hand, and 2) vindication and glory on the other, are signaled by the expression 'Son of Man'..." (Richard N. Longenecker, professor of New Testament, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, The Christology of Early Jewish Christianity, p. 87-88)

In Rabbinical literature a lot is stated relating to the passage in Daniel 7:13 as describing the Messiah. Within the Talmud of Babylon Sanh. fol. 98.1, Daniel 7:13-14 is reconciled with Zechariah 9:9. Joshua ben Levy said, "If Israel are worthy, the Messiah comes with all the clouds of heaven; but if they're not worthy, he comes poor, and riding on an ass." Samuel ben Nachman (270 C.E.) mentioned that based on Daniel 7:13, the angels accompany the Messiah as far as their precincts let, although God then conducts him to Himself, according to Jeremiah 30:21 (Midrash on Ps. 21:7). In Zohar, Gen. folio 85.4, reference is produced to Daniel 7:13 as referring to the Messiah. The Hebrew name "Anani" which means "clouds" is really a name for the Messiah (alluding to Daniel 7:13) inside the Targum translation of I Chron. 3:24. Mention is created of the name of someone, Anani, it is added, "Who will be the Messiah that is certainly to become revealed,"-a direct reference to Daniel 7:13. Within the Talmud of Babylon Sanh. 96b the Messiah is named Bar-Naphle, the cloud-man. Rabbis Jarchi, Saadiah, Gaon, Aben Ezra, and R. Joshua expounded the text of Daniel 7:13 as referring for the Messiah. Outside of Rabbinical literature, Justin in his Dialogue 32.1 reports that the "one like a son of man" of Daniel 7:13 was identified together with the King Messiah in mid-Second Century Judaism.

"For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost." (Matt. 18:11)

Jesus mentioned unequivocally that he had the authority to forgive sins because he was the Son of Man (Matt. 9:two, 5-6, Mk. two:five, 9-10, Lk. 5:23-24, 7:47-48). The word "authority" could be the Greek word exousia, its root which means is literally "out of substance or nature," indicating an intrinsic appropriate and energy of execution. The exousia was his due to the fact he identified himself because the "Son of Man." As the long-awaited Savior of Israel, Jesus would embody the saving nature of God, forgiving sins on the merit of his personal intrinsic nature. "...All of the great which I will do unto you I do through the merit of the Messiah who was kept back all these years. He is righteous and filled with salvation." (Zech. 9:9) (Pes. R. 146b, 159b.) Jesus exercised an atoning authority in forgiving sins redemptively, a salvational act regarded as exclusively Divine. The Jews unwaveringly believed that "God keeps Salvation in His own power." (Talmud of Babylon Sanh. 113a) "But there's forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." (Ps. 130:4) "Forgiveness is solely with all the Lord; He alone is capable of forgiving. The mouth of a mortal who, right after all, is himself in need of forgiveness, can't pronounce the sinner pure, much less render him pure. Only He, Who's as omnipotent as He is gracious, inside the abundance of His grace and almighty energy, can execute for man that miracle of miracles, the blotting out from the consequences of his previous blunders." (Samson Raphael Hirsch, The Hirsch Psalms, pg. 396)

"And behold, they had been bringing to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said for the paralytic, 'Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven.'" "For that is less difficult, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, and walk'? 'But in order that you just may understand that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins'-then He stated to the paralytic-'Rise, take up your bed, and go property.'" (Matt. 9:2, 5-6, Mk. 2:5, 9-10, Luke five:20, 23, 24, 7:47-48). No sinful mortal can pronounce a condemned sinner forgiven and free of charge from sin's consequences. A sinner can share his understanding of a savior however the saving act of forgiveness and pardon is exclusively Divine. To forgive sins is solely a Divine prerogative that Jesus unhesitatingly asserted, a salvational act no Rabbi, priest, or prophet would have dared imitate for worry of committing blasphemy. (Luke 5:21, Matt. 9:3, Mk. 2:6-7) "...the word employed in Hebrew for 'forgiven' may be the Hebrew salach, literally, nislechu lecha chatoteicha (forgiven are your sins). These days, in Hebrew, someone could say to an additional, 'Ani soleach lecha' (I forgive you), but inside the time of Jesus this expression for forgiveness was only employed of God's forgiving an individual (cf. Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35). "...inside the healing of a paralyzed man he employed words of forgiveness reserved strictly within the Law to God." (Dr. Robert Lindsey, Hebrew scholar, from 1945-1990 Pastor of the Narkis Street Baptist Congregation, Jerusalem, Israel, Jesus Rabbi and Lord, p. 48, 50.) The concept that the redemptive act of forgiving sins is within the human domain, "Is alien towards the thoughts of Judaism and of early Christianity." (Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to Saint Mark, p. 199) Jesus recognized His personal saving process as summed up in his words at the house of Zaccheus, "Today salvation has come to this house, due to the fact he as well can be a son of Abraham for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Lk. 19:9-10)

To exercise the authority to forgive sins, as illustrated in the healing of the paralytic (Matt. 9:two, 5-6, Mk. 2:5, 9-10, Lk. 5:20, 23, 24, 7:47-48), was not a salvific function foreign to his nature as the Son of Man. Every Jew, confronted together with the ministry of Jesus, understood the implication from the salvational acts of forgiveness that he singularly supplied, "...the early Jewish believers in Jesus appreciated the reality that as the Messiah, he was the 1 who had embodied and effected the salvation promised of old..." (Richard N. Longenecker, The Christology of Early Jewish Christianity, p. 103). The healing and redemptive operate of forgiving sins was an workout of authority more than the physical and spiritual realm of human malady preadumbrating the Son of Man's function because the eschatological judge of guys and nations. "This expression [Son of Man] goes beyond self-reference and, seen in the light from the post-resurrection period, surely indicates that the eschatological judge had already come on earth using the authority to forgive sin." (D. A. Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 222) As the holder from the intrinsic right and energy of execution as the Universal Judge (Matt. 16:27, 25:31-46), to heal a physique and forgive sins did not tax his authority.

"The a single like a man [the Son of Man] who sits upon the throne of God's glory, the sublime eschatological judge, will be the highest conception from the Redeemer ever developed by ancient Judaism."-David Flusser, Jesus, p. 103

In the Jewish Apocalyptic book, The Parables of Enoch, the date of authorship is deemed to be pre-70 C.E. (see James Charlesworth, Jesus Within Judaism, p. 40, ff), the "Son of Man" is presented as pre-existent from all eternity, he is specially associated to God, in that he shares both the heavenly glory of God and is God's chosen agent of vengeance and judgment. The picture of his exalted greatness and authority is overwhelming to behold. "And there I saw One particular who had a head of days, and His head was white like wool, and with Him there was one more whose countenance had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like among the list of holy angels. And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all of the hidden issues, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, and why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and mentioned unto me: 'This will be the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all of the treasures of that which is hidden, since the Lord of Spirits hath selected him, and whose lot hath the pre-eminence ahead of the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever. And this Son of Man whom thou hast observed shall place down the kings and mighty from their seats, as well as the powerful from their thrones, and shall loosen the reins in the robust and break the teeth of sinners. And he shall place down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms since they don't extol and praise Him, nor humbly acknowledge once the kingdom was bestowed upon them. And he shall put down the countenance with the robust, and shall fill them with shame. And darkness shall be their dwelling, and worms shall be their bed, and they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, simply because they do not extol the name in the Lord of Spirits.'" (I Enoch 46:1-6) "And the kings along with the mighty and all who possess the earth shall bless and glorify and extol him who guidelines more than all, who was hidden. For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, along with the Most High preserved him in the presence of His may, and revealed him to the elect. Along with the congregation of the elect and holy shall be sown, and each of the elect shall stand ahead of him on that day. And each of the kings and the mighty and also the exalted and individuals who rule the earth shall fall down just before him on their faces, and worship and set their hope upon that Son of Man, and petition him and supplicate him for mercy at his hands." (I Enoch 62:3- "And he sat on the throne of his glory, and also the sum of judgment was offered unto the Son of Man, and he triggered the sinners to pass away and he destroyed from off the face of the earth, and individuals who have led the world astray. With chains shall they be bound, and in their assemblage-place of destruction shall they be imprisoned, and all their performs vanish from the face with the earth. And from henceforth there shall be nothing corruptible; for that Son of Man has appeared, and has seated himself on the throne of his glory, and all evil shall pass away prior to his face, and the word of that Son of Man shall go forth and be powerful just before the Lord of Spirits." (I Enoch 69:26-29) In the above cited passages the Son of Man is shown seated on the Throne of Glory, existing prior to the sun and stars had been created, executing universal judgment, and bringing salvation at the end of ages, when he is going to be enthroned as king with the planet. "The son of man has a superhuman, heavenly, sublimity. He is the cosmic judge in the end of time; seated upon the throne of God, he will judge the whole human race using the aid in the heavenly host, consigning the simply to blessedness and sinners to the pit of hell; and he will execute the sentence he passes." (Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 15, p. 160) The authority of this figure "Son of Man" far transcends any anointed workplace within the Old Testament or the whole angelic order. He stands signally alone in all Judaism because the final arbiter from the destiny of men and nations. "The image of this Bar-Enosh is fascinating and distinctive. It really is the figure of an almost super-human judge, who's to sit on the throne of God and to separate the righteous from the wicked. He will be to deliver the righteous to everlasting life and the wicked to everlasting punishment." (David Flusser, professor of early Christianity, Hebrew University, Jewish Sources in Early Christianity, p. 56) In attempting to define the nature of this One particular, the Gordian Knot, consisting merely of a human evaluation, looms large in Judaism. Can he be a cosmic judge of such unbounded authority and be simply super-human, or is this description a trivialization of his accurate character?

The authority that the Son of Man is portrayed as becoming invested with, as cited in the above passages, far transcends any delegated authority to adjudicate legal disputes, to wage war, or to interpret the Torah. For the Son of Man's judicial exercising encompasses the entire earth, and in its execution the complete justice of God. The Father has vested all judiciary powers inside the Son of Man (see Targum on Genesis 49:11, Targum on Isa. 11:four, ten:27, 14:29, Targum on Ps. 72:1-2, Psalms of Solomon 17:21-30, II Baruch 72:2-6, John 5:22-24, 27-30). "Thus it seems that the concept [the eschatological figure Son of Man] preceded the final identification in the Son of Man together with the Messiah, which became typical in the finish of the second temple. It was so applied in the time of Jesus, who utilised to speak from the Son of Man because the heavenly judge and it appears that finally he identified himself with this sublime figure." (Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 15, p. 160)

Jesus states unequivocally that he has an all-encompassing judicial authority. "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has provided all judgment towards the Son. In order that all could honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and doesn't come into judgement, but has passed out of death into life." "...and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, simply because He will be the Son of Man. Usually do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming in which all who are inside the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; people who did the great deeds to a resurrection of life, individuals who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." (John 5:22-24, 27-30) The above cited passages are startling in their boundless import. Jesus claims that he has universal judicial authority as the Judge of all, simply because he will be the "Son of Man." No prophet, priest, scribe, or rabbi has ever executed such a judicial authority. No mere man or angelic getting operates in such a realm. Within the Old Testament, the prerogative of judgment belongs exclusively to God (Gen. 18:25, Judges 11:27, Ps. 9:eight, 50:60, 82:eight, 94:2, 98:9, 110:6, Isa. 33:22, I Chron. 16:33, Aboth 4:29).

Jesus' use with the Messianic title Son of Man encompasses the complete breadth of his nature: preexistent, exaltation, suffering, atoning death, glorification, enthronement, coming King and Judge. Consequently, no devised category can contain Jesus. He bursts forth and declares that he is illimitable. Prerogatives which might be solely Divine are affirmed by him. A trilemma confronts any person who undertakes a critical investigation with the Particular person of Jesus. Either he was a fraud, self-deceived, i.e., nut or he was who he says he was. There can be no other options. The "good moral teacher" category, utilized to neatly dismiss Jesus, demands by definition truthfulness and sanity, which, if his declarations are untrue, would nullify such a classification. "The concept of a fantastic moral teacher saying what Christ stated is out with the query. In my opinion, the only individual who can say that sort of factor is either God or even a total lunatic affected by that type of delusion which undermines the entire thoughts of man. In the event you believe you're a poached egg, when you're searching for a piece of toast to suit you, you might be sane, but should you assume you might be God, there is no chance for you personally." (C. S. Lewis, essay: "What Are We to make of Christ?" God within the Dock, p. 158) A rubicon selection is demanded by him, "But who do you say that I'm?" (Matt. 16:15) He leaves no one within a moral no-man's land. Could his spirit grace us with a vision of his nature, a Divine unveiling from the Father. "And Simon Peter answered and stated, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son from the Living God.' And Jesus answered and mentioned to him, 'Blessed are you currently, Simon bar Jona, since flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'" (Matt. 16:16-17)

"For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost." (Matt. 18:11)

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