Recovering the Jewish-Messianic Gospel, Part Two


In this study I will focus on the views of the early church about Jesus.  Who was Jesus exactly? 

Let’s start with Paul’s letters.  Paul’s undisputed letters are 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 + 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians and Philemon.  Paul wrote between 45 and 65 AD. There are serious doubts among scholars about Paul’s authorship of Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 + 2 Timothy, and Titus.  In the ancient world it was not considered morally wrong to write something in the name of one’s teacher or mentor.  The disputed six letters were probably written by disciples of Paul between the years 70 and 100 AD.  They reflect a different Greek vocabulary along with theologies and church government structures not present in the church during Paul's lifetime.  Many of you may not agree with me on that point, but let's move on...


What we see in Paul’s undisputed letters is a Messianic-Jewish gospel that has now opened up to Gentiles becoming part of the people of God.  Paul writes about how Jews and Gentiles are now both included in the covenant people of God through the faithfulness of Jesus in his life, death and resurrection. This was a huge change after centuries of a religion that exclusively belonged to Jewish people.  In these letters Paul explains his gospel – the good news about Jesus the Messiah.  We find one of the best summaries of his belief in Romans 1:3-4.  I have included verses 1 through 5 to give a little more context.  This is from the New American Standard translation:


“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.”


Notice that Jesus is called the son of God two times in the passage.  Paul says that Jesus was descended from King David according to the flesh and he was “declared the son of God with power by the resurrection.”  The Greek word translated “declared” there is the word horidzo, which can also be translated “appointed” “ordained” or “determined.”  It comes from a Greek word meaning “to mark out or bound.”   So Paul is saying that Jesus was a human being descended from King David who was appointed, or marked out, or ordained as the Son of God at his resurrection. So in other words, prior to this point in time, (his resurrection), Jesus had not been designated as the Son of God.  This is Paul’s theology.  

When we study the Jewish OT background of the phrase "son of God", we find that it simply means “the King of Israel” For example, see Psalm 2:6-7, again in the NASB translation:


6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My son,
Today I have begotten You.

This psalm is called a "coronation psalm," and most scholars believe it was spoken over the Kings in Israel when they were set into office.   This psalm is quoted in reference to Jesus in many places in the New Testament.   It is saying that Jesus is the King of Israel.  The term "Messiah" meaning "anointed one" was another Jewish title for the King of Israel.  Son of God, Messiah and King of Israel are all synonymous terms for the ancient Jewish people.

We see the same “son of God” language applied to King David in 2 Samuel 7:14 and Psalm 89:26-27.  The term “son of God” for first century Jewish ears means “King of Israel”, nothing more and nothing less.   We tend to read our 21st century doctrines about Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity back into these passages, but in order to understand the intent and meaning of the writer we must put ourselves into the historical and cultural context of that writer.

Let's read Peter's famous declaration of who Jesus is in the Matthew's gospel:

"Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  (Matthew 16:16, NASB). Christ was the Greek term for Messiah.  We have here an example of Jewish parallelism - saying the same thing twice with different words.  Peter is not saying, "You are the Son of God come down from heaven!"  He is saying you are the Messiah, the King of Israel. He was affirming that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

When we read Paul’s undisputed letters with this understanding in mind (the term son of God to the Jewish mind at this point in history simply meant "King of Israel") we find nothing to indicate the divinity of Jesus. Someone may bring up the Philippians 2:5-11 passage and suggest that in Paul’s mind Jesus was more than human – he was a pre-existent being.  We will look at that in my next post.



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