The Finished Word

Depois de prever sua morte, dois discípulos começaram a disputar posições de alto status no reino de Cristo vindouro. Pensando de acordo com os caminhos deste mundo, eles não entendiam que tipo de Messias Jesus era e, portanto, o que significava segui-lo. No entanto, em Jerusalém, ele demonstraria exatamente como alguém se torna “ grande ” no Reino de Deus.

The promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, “ IN HIM ,” they find their “ Yea ” and “ Amen .” The things formerly “hidden” are revealed in his life, words, death, resurrection, and exaltation. He is the One in whom all the shadows and types prefigured in the Hebrew Bible are actualized. All the “ mysteries ” of God are laid bare for men to see in the Nazarene, especially in his Death and Resurrection.

O Evangelho de João identifica Jesus como o Logos , a “ palavra ” através da qual Deus fez todas as coisas. Este é um tema-chave de João . Ele usa idéias tradicionais da Bíblia hebraica sobre como Deus criou o universo, especialmente a vida através de sua palavra falada. Jesus de Nazaré é a expressão última dessa palavra e o Deus vivo.

The theme of fulfillment is threaded throughout the Gospel of Matthew . With the arrival of the Messiah, the time of fulfillment had commenced. But what were the implications for the Law of Moses? In his ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’, Jesus provided clear answers. He did not come to adjudicate the interpretive disputes between competing Jewish sects over the details of the Law but to FULFILL the “ Law and the Prophets .”

Jesus exhorted us to become “ perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect ,” yet how can we emulate the perfect righteousness of God? His explanation was clear - By performing acts of mercy, ESPECIALLY to our enemies. Self-sacrificial love goes to the heart of his message and reflects the nature of the merciful God. Was he not the Messiah who submitted to an undeserved death for us even when we were the “ enemies of God ”?