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Conditions In Palestine At Christ's Birth

The Lord Jesus was born when Rome dominated
Palestine politically, a foreign governor
exercised control over Jerusalem, and a cold
formalism robbed the worship of God of its power.
It was also a time when many Jews were looking
for the coming of the promised Messiah (Mark 7:1;
Luke 2:25-26, 36-38; John 1:45-47).  But they
were looking for a powerful leader, and mighty
warrior, who would overthrow their enemies, and
bring to reality the visions of glory concerning
which they read in their prophets.

Actually, the Old Testament prophets "testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow" (1 Pet. 1:11), but the
Jews ignored the first, and concentrated on the
second, so that when the Lord did appear as
predicted, they rejected him.  They were not
incorrect in looking for glory, but only in the
time-setting at which it would be brought about.

The prophets had clearly predicted that Christ
would come as the Lamb of God to be offered for
the sins of men in fulfillment of the Edenic
covenant (Isaiah 53).  They had prophesied that
he would die as a sacrifice (Daniel 9:26), that
his executioners would "pierce his hands and his
feet" (Ps. 22:16), and that this would be at the
instigation of the Jews themselves (Zech. 12:10;
13:6-7).

But they also predicted his resurrection and
second return (see Acts 2:29-36), and they
proclaimed the glory and greatness that will
accrue to Israel when its Messiah-king shall
reign upon the throne of David (Jer. 3:17; Isaiah
2:2-4; Amos 9:11-12; Psalm 2).

The Lord Jesus was the personification of all
these promises and prophecies.  He was the Word
which had been proclaimed from the beginning
(John 1:1) "made flesh" (v. 14).  He was the Seed
of the Woman destined to bruise the serpent's
head (Gen. 3:15), the Son of Abraham who will
bring blessings to all nations (Gen. 22); the
Prophet like unto Moses (Deut. 18), whose words
the people will ultimately be compelled to accept
(Acts 3:22-26); the King promised David who was
to be both Son of David and Son of God (2 Sam.
7).

In Jesus Christ there was seen the Law and the
Prophets walking in the midst of the people, and
proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God.


The Jews Are Disappointed In Their Messiah.

But Jesus, who proclaimed that the time was not
then ripe for his manifestation as the promised
mighty leader, and taught that the cross must
come before the crown (see Matt. 16:24-27), was a
complete disappointment to the Jewish people.

They desired a powerful military leader capable
of breaking the shackles of Rome, not a carpenter
preaching that "the meek shall inherit the earth"
(Matt. 5:5); they looked for one who would
destroy their enemies, not one who taught the
doctrine of non-resistance to evil (Matt.
5:11-12, 25, 39); they were impatient for
immediate power and glory, and were not prepared
to set about conquering their own inclination
whilst they waited for the Kingdom so long in the
future.  Even his disciples failed to understand
both him and his mission.  The shame of his
crucifixion finally convinced them that they had
made a mistake in following him. "We trusted that
it had been he which should have redeemed
Israel," they declared (Luke 24:21)


The Crucifixion of Jesus

"Wicked hands" finally nailed Jesus to the stake,
but it was nevertheless by "the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23).
He died, as a sacrifice for sin.  On the cross he
dramatized what is necessary to render perfect
obedience unto God.

His flesh was crucified, so that he died.  But
figuratively he had crucified his flesh day after
day, as he put to death its desires and refused
to submit to them (Luke 22:42).  He taught that
sin came from within (Mark 7:21-23), and is
therefore used as a metonym for the flesh, so
that it is said, "He died unto sin once" (Rom.
6:10).  In that crucified body, the desires of
the flesh were rendered inactive, teaching his
followers what they must do figuratively: "For
they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh
with the affections ("passions" Revised Version)
and lusts" (Gal. 5:24).

His blood was poured out, as a symbol of a
dedicated life.  The Law taught that "the life of
the flesh was in the blood" (Lev. 17:11), and in
sacrifice this had to be smeared upon the altar
as a token that the person's life would be
dedicated to doing God's will.

In the ordinance of the Last Supper, Christ set
forth the significance of his sacrifice (Luke
22:19-20).  The unleavened bread represented his
body that had never sinned; the wine represented
his blood (or life) that had been given in
complete dedication to God.  Now both were to be
offered in sacrifice for the redemption of the
family of God.  The one (the bread) was the token
of a negative offering, the denial of flesh; the
other (the wine) was the token of a positive
offering, the manifestation in life of the
principles of God.

Those who come unto God through baptism into
Jesus Christ, are baptized "into his death" (Rom.
6:3), in that it is a public declaration that
they will seek to follow Jesus in the sacrifice
he offered.

They do not do so perfectly, but in Christ, there
is "forgiveness of sins" and upon the mercy of
God they can lean in confidence (1 John 1:9).

The charges laid against Jesus by which his
accusers procured his death were two: a charge of
blasphemy, and a charge of political
insurrection.

The charge laid against him by the Jews was that
of blasphemy, because he claimed to be the Son of
God (Luke 22:70-71).  For this they condemned him
to death.  But Pilate, the Roman governor,
ordered him to be crucified, not on account of
blasphemy but because he claimed to be the king
of the Jews (John 18:37; 19:14-19).  This was the
accusation placed over his cross: Jesus of
Nazareth the King of the Jews.

The Lord Jesus Christ will yet return to the
earth to vindicate the truth of his claim.


The Return Of Christ

The Jews crucified Christ saying: "His blood be
upon us and upon our children." In A.D. 70 those
words had terrible fulfillment.  The Jews had
revolted against the Romans, and the legions
marched against them, inflicting great cruelty
upon the people.  Jerusalem was besieged and
conditions within the city reduced to a terrible
state.  Internecine strife and bloodshed had
broken out within the walls, whilst the enemy
without inflicted terrible losses and awaited the
inevitable end of the most terrible siege in
history.  Over a million Jews had been destroyed,
and the remnant were scattered throughout the
world.  Jesus had predicted this.  He had
declared:

"They (the Jews) shall fall by the edge of the
sword, and shall be led away captive into all
nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of
the Gentiles, UNTIL the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

It is of the greatest significance that in recent
years, Jerusalem has been cleared of foreign
domination, and after 2000 years of such, that
Jews today occupy it.  Though this is not the
restoration spoken of in the prophets, it is a
token pointing to that time.

Three days after Jesus was crucified, he was
raised from the dead, and forty days later, he
ascended to his God and Father in heaven (Acts
1:3; Mark 1 6:19).  Those days were spent in
instructing his Apostles in divine truth.  Among
other things, he explained that God would restore
the Kingdom to Israel at the time appointed,
whilst meanwhile the Gospel must be preached that
a people might be taken out of the Gentiles for
God (Acts 1:3, 6-8; 15:14).

Then came the time that he must leave them.  As
they conversed together on the Mount of Olives,
he was taken up from them into heaven.  As they
stood watching him ascend, two angels stood by
them, and declared:

"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven?  This same Jesus, which is taken up from
you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner,
as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).


The Establishment Of Ecclesias

With a thrilling message of hope to take to the
people, the Apostles commenced the work of
preaching.  They proclaimed the message of a
risen Christ who would return again to the earth
and set up thereon his universal reign.  They
called upon men and women to believe this message
and to be baptized into the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ.  Thus they fulfilled the mission he
had delivered unto them to do:  "Go into all the
world and preach the gospel; he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved..." (Mark 16:16).

Gradually communities of believers were
established throughout the world.  They were
organized into Ecclesias, a word that has been
rendered "church" in the Bible, but which
signifies when properly translated from the
Greek, "called out ones." These answer to the
description of Acts 15:14: "God did visit the
Gentiles, to take OUT OF THEM, a people for His
name."

The Ecclesias were exhorted to live so as to have
Christ as their example (1 Pet. 2:21-25) to live
in anticipation of his return (2 Thess. 3:5),
when they would reign with him (2 Tim. 2:12).
They were taught that they were spiritual
Israelites (Gal. 6:16), having embraced the
national hope of Israel by baptism into Christ
(Eph. 2:11-13), and constituting the heirs of the
promises made from the beginning (Gal. 3:26-28).

They were taught that outside of this "one faith"
(Eph. 4:5) there was "no hope" (Eph. 2:12), and
that natural Jews had forfeited their claim to
the title of "Israelites indeed" by their
rejection of Christ Jesus (Rom. 11:7).


The Coming Of An Apostasy

But the Apostles also warned, that as Israel had
drifted from God, so also could these Gentile
believers.  In fact, they predicted an apostasy
from the one faith.  Paul warned:

"I know this, that after my departing, shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock.  Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things to draw away
disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30).

"The time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears; and they shall turn away their ears from
the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2
Timothy 4:3-4).

These warning words have had sad fulfillment.  In
course of time, truth became mixed with error.
The proliferation of denominations and sects
in our age attests to the truth of this prophecy.

In the ecclesia at Corinth, there were those
who did not believe in a resurrection of the dead
(1 Cor. 15:12).  The rejection of this fundamental
doctrine was equal to denying the Gospel.  The
members had also divided themselves into cliques,
each thinking more highly of himself than the
other.  There were lawsuits among brethren (1
Cor. 6:6), and sexual immorality (1 Cor. 5:1).
This lampstand, that was supposed to be a witness
of the truth to those around them, was in need of
correction.

At the ecclesia in Galatia, many believers
wanted to return to the Law of Moses, from which
Christ had set them free.

At Smyrna, Sardis, Thyatira, Laodicea, and
other locations, many in the ecclesias had
compromised with the world, and needed to be
rebuked and corrected (Rev. 2-3).

Nevertheless, the Apostles of Christ had
fulfilled their responsibilities in preaching the
gospel among the Gentiles - teaching that men and
women "should repent and turn to God, and do
works fit for repentance" (Acts 26:20).  The
burden is now upon those of us today who have
taken on the name of Christ through faith and
baptism.  We must obey the word which was
preached, and to continue "stedfastly in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in
breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42)

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the midst of the paradise of
God." (Rev. 2:7)