Journey XIV
Jesus Christ

For centuries, Israel had waited.

Kings had risen and fallen.
Prophets had spoken.
Empires had conquered Jerusalem and passed into history.

Yet the promises remained.

A blessing through Abraham.
A King from the line of David.
A ruler connected with Bethlehem.
A suffering servant.
One like a Son of Man who would receive an everlasting Kingdom.

And then, almost unnoticed by the rulers of the world, the story changes.

Not in Rome.

Not in a palace.

But in Bethlehem.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

— Luke 2:11

The waiting was over.

The King had arrived.

Bethlehem — The Promise Becomes a Child

Matthew begins his Gospel with words carrying the reader immediately back into Israel's history:

"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

— Matthew 1:1

Abraham.

David.

Two names carrying enormous promises.

God had promised Abraham that through his seed the nations would be blessed.

God had promised David an enduring house and throne.

And now Matthew introduces Jesus by naming both.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the town associated with David and with Micah's ancient prophecy:

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah... out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel..."

— Micah 5:2

Then wise men arrive from the east.

They have been watching the heavens.

Their question is extraordinary:

"Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east..."

— Matthew 2:2

Before Jesus has preached a sermon or performed a miracle, the question has already been asked:

Where is the King?

The Genealogy — More Than a List of Names

To modern readers, Matthew's genealogy may look like a list to skip.

But it carries the story of the covenant.

Abraham.
David.
The kings.
The exile.
And finally...
Christ.

Matthew deliberately arranges the genealogy into three groups:

"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations."

— Matthew 1:17

The genealogy is therefore more than a family tree.

It connects Jesus with the story we have travelled through during the previous Journeys.

There is also an intriguing chronological observation.

When certain traditional biblical chronologies are constructed from the genealogies and historical periods of Scripture, Christ's arrival falls roughly four millennia after Adam.

Scripture itself never says:

"Jesus was born exactly 4,000 years after Creation."

Different chronological methods also produce different totals.

So this cannot honestly be presented as an exact biblical date.

But the approximate pattern is fascinating.

Creation → approximately 4,000 years → Christ.

For now, we simply mark it.

We will return to this unusual pattern in Gate III.

The Voice in the Wilderness

Years pass.

Then another prophecy begins to move.

John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, calling Israel to repentance.

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

— Matthew 3:3

Then Jesus comes to be baptized.

And suddenly the scene is no longer ordinary.

Jesus rises from the water.

Heaven opens.

The Spirit of God descends upon Him like a dove.

And a voice from heaven declares:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

— Matthew 3:17

This is not merely an inner realization of Jesus hidden from the Gospel narrative.

The baptism is presented as a manifestation.

The Son stands in the water.

The Spirit descends like a dove.

The Father's voice comes from heaven.

Father.

Son.

Holy Spirit.

At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, the Gospel places all three before us in one remarkable scene.

And immediately afterward...

the conflict begins.

The Wilderness — An Old Battle Returns

Jesus is led into the wilderness.

There Satan tempts Him.

Food.

Power.

Glory.

Even Scripture itself enters the confrontation.

But where Adam fell amid the abundance of Eden, and Israel repeatedly failed during its wilderness journey, Jesus remains faithful in a barren wilderness.

Again and again His answer begins:

"It is written..."

Satan departs.

Jesus returns to Galilee.

And His proclamation begins:

"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

— Matthew 4:17

The Kingdom Daniel saw is no longer merely a distant expectation.

Something has begun.

The Kingdom Breaks Through

Jesus teaches with authority and gathers disciples.

The blind see.
The lame walk.
Lepers are cleansed.
The deaf hear.
Thousands are fed.
Storms obey Him.
The dead are raised.

But another pattern appears throughout the Gospel accounts.

The unseen world reacts to Him.

People are still asking who Jesus is.

Yet unclean spirits sometimes appear to recognize Him immediately.

"I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."

— Mark 1:24

Jesus does not bargain with them.

He commands.

And they obey.

When He encounters the possessed man among the tombs, the demons identify themselves as Legion and react in fear before Him.

Jesus Himself explains the significance of His authority:

"But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."

— Matthew 12:28

His miracles are therefore more than spectacles.

They are signs of the Kingdom.

Something is being reclaimed.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Eventually Jesus asks His disciples the question around which the entire Gospel turns:

"But whom say ye that I am?"

— Matthew 16:15

Peter answers:

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

— Matthew 16:16

Teacher.
Rabbi.
Prophet.
Son of David.
Son of God.
Messiah.

But there is another title Jesus repeatedly uses for Himself:

The Son of Man

We have encountered those words before.

Daniel saw "one like the Son of man" coming with the clouds of heaven and receiving dominion, glory and an everlasting Kingdom.

Now Jesus repeatedly uses Son of Man language about Himself.

Something that had appeared in prophetic vision is moving into the Gospel story.

The Mountain and the Glory

Peter, James and John accompany Jesus onto a mountain.

There Jesus is transfigured before them.

His face shines.

His clothing becomes radiant.

And Moses and Elijah appear.

Moses—the Law.

Elijah—the Prophets.

And Jesus.

Then a cloud overshadows them and again comes the voice:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."

— Matthew 17:5

The disciples fall on their faces.

For a moment, it is as though the veil has been pulled aside.

And when they lift their eyes...

they see Jesus only.

The Road to Jerusalem

Then the story takes a direction many did not expect.

Jesus begins speaking about His death.

The Messiah will suffer.

The Son of Man will be rejected.

He will be killed.

And He will rise again.

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey, echoing Zechariah:

"Behold, thy King cometh unto thee... lowly, and riding upon an ass."

— Zechariah 9:9

The crowds shout:

Hosanna.

The King has entered Jerusalem.

But His road does not immediately lead to an earthly throne.

It leads to Passover.

Bread.
Wine.
A garden.
Betrayal.
And a cross.

Passover — The Lamb

This happens in the shadow of Passover.

Long before, during the Exodus, a lamb had been slain and its blood placed upon Israelite doorposts.

Judgment came upon Egypt.

But where the blood marked the house...

death passed over.

Now Jesus takes bread and wine.

"This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

— Matthew 26:28

Remember Jeremiah's promise:

a New Covenant.

And remember the words with which John the Baptist had introduced Jesus:

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

— John 1:29

Passover.

Sacrifice.

Covenant.

The Lamb.

The lines are converging.

The Cross — The Debt He Carried

The cross is not presented by the New Testament merely as the tragic ending of Jesus' life.

Something far greater is happening.

Centuries earlier Isaiah had written:

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities..."

— Isaiah 53:5

Jesus had committed no sin.

Yet the New Testament makes the astonishing claim that He willingly bears the sins of others.

Peter writes:

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree..."

— 1 Peter 2:24

Paul writes:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin..."

— 2 Corinthians 5:21

This is the heart of the Gospel.

Humanity carries a debt it cannot erase by its own strength.

Sin separates mankind from God.

From the rebellion in Eden onward, death follows humanity through our entire story.

But at the cross, Christ takes upon Himself what belonged to us:

Sin.
Guilt.
Judgment.

And through Him is offered what we could never purchase:

Forgiveness.
Reconciliation.
Life.

The Debt is Cancelled

Paul uses extraordinary imagery:

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us... and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."

— Colossians 2:14

Imagine the record standing against us.

Every sin.

Every rebellion.

A debt mankind cannot erase.

And then...

it is nailed to His cross.

But Paul's very next verse opens another dimension:

"And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

— Colossians 2:15

Look carefully.

The cross appears to have two battlefields.

In the visible world, Rome is crucifying Jesus.

His enemies believe He has lost.

His followers scatter.

But Paul describes another reality:

Christ is triumphing over the powers.

What looks like defeat...

may actually be victory.

We will return to that through the next Gate.

"It Is Finished"

Jesus hangs on the cross.

Above Him Rome places the charge:

JESUS OF NAZARETH
THE KING OF THE JEWS

Darkness comes over the land.

And near the end Jesus says:

"It is finished."

— John 19:30

The Greek text gives us one powerful word:

Tetelestai.

Completed.

Accomplished.

Then Jesus dies.

And something happens in the Temple.

"The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom..."

— Matthew 27:51

The veil separating the Holy Place is torn.

From top to bottom.

The King is dead.

His followers believe everything is over.

A stone is rolled across His tomb.

And for a moment...

silence.

The Empty Tomb

Then comes the third day.

Women arrive at the tomb.

The stone has been moved.

The body is gone.

And they hear:

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said."

— Matthew 28:6

The Christian proclamation is therefore not merely:

Jesus died for our sins.

It is:

Jesus died for our sins...

AND HE ROSE AGAIN.

Death appeared to have the final word.

It did not.

Jesus appears alive to His followers.

And before His ascension He declares:

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."

— Matthew 28:18

Notice the scope.

Not merely Bethlehem.

Not merely Jerusalem.

Not merely Israel.

Not even Rome.

HEAVEN AND EARTH.

The King Has Arrived

Look backward across our entire journey.

Eden — rebellion enters.
Abraham — blessing is promised.
Exodus — the Passover lamb.
The Wilderness — covenant, sacrifice and God's presence.
David — the promised throne.
The Prophets — the coming King and suffering servant.
Micah — Bethlehem.
Daniel — the Son of Man and everlasting Kingdom.

And now:

Jesus Christ.

These passages arose in different periods and contexts, and we should not pretend they are all identical predictions.

Yet the New Testament makes an extraordinary claim:

THEY CONVERGE IN HIM.

The child of Bethlehem becomes the teacher of Galilee.
The teacher proclaims the Kingdom.
The King becomes the suffering servant.
The servant becomes the Lamb.
The Lamb carries our debt.
The cross appears to be defeat.
The tomb is sealed.
And on the third day...
the tomb is empty.

But one enormous question remains.

While people watched Jesus walking through Galilee...

WHAT WAS THE UNSEEN WORLD SEEING?

Why did demons recognize Him?
Why did Satan confront Him?
Why does Jesus speak about binding the strong man?
Why does He use the mysterious title Son of Man?
What did Messiah, resurrection, Kingdom, light and darkness mean within the Jewish world of His time?

And what do ancient writings outside the biblical canon reveal about the world into which Jesus stepped?

The Bible has given us our foundation.

Now we open the second Gate.