Proclaiming Another Jesus
When certain “super-apostles” began to undermine his teachings, Paul reminded the church that the “serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness,” and he went on to warn against anyone who might appear among believers “proclaiming another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or a different spirit, or a different gospel.”
Disciples of Jesus must remain ever watchful.
After all, Satan himself can appear as “an angel of light.” Likewise,
his earthly agents that infiltrate the church can cloak themselves with the
trappings of apostolic and prophetic authority.
To the Corinthians and Galatians, Paul points
to the same Christ that he first proclaimed as the benchmark against which all
others must be measured. And in his letter to the Galatians, he
expresses his exasperation at how easily the church accepted a gospel that
deviated from the one that he received from Jesus himself:
- (Galatians 1:6-8) – “I marvel that you are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another gospel; only there are some that trouble you and pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach to you any gospel other than that which we preached to you, let him be anathema.”
A CRUCIFIED MESSIAH
Exactly what kind of ‘Christ’ does Paul
preach? He is quite explicit in his first letter to the Corinthians –
He proclaims a crucified Messiah:
- “For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God…For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a scandal, and to Gentiles, folly. But to them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” – (1 Corinthians 1:18-24).
Integral to his theology is the belief that
God achieved victory over sin, death, and Satan by the self-sacrificial death and
subsequent resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his faithful submission
to an unjust death, God exalted him to reign over all things.
Unlike Adam, Jesus did NOT attempt
to “seize the likeness” of God. Instead, he “poured himself out”
and became “obedient unto death,” even death on a Roman cross.
Consequently, “God highly exalted him and gave him the
name that is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and
things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” –
(Philippians 2:9-11).
Indeed, Jesus is, present tense, “before
all things and the head of the body, the church.” All things were created
for him, “whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.”
But he achieved preeminence because he is
the “firstborn of the dead,” namely, through his death and resurrection.
It was ON THE CROSS that he accomplished victory over all
hostile “powers and principalities”:
- “And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross, having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made an open display of them, triumphing over them in it. ” – (Colossians 2:13-15).
Thus, from beginning to end, his death and resurrection
form the center of Paul’s gospel. And like his opponents, ever since Christ’s
resurrection, many deceivers within the church have proclaimed a “different
gospel” and “another Jesus.”
A FALSE GOSPEL
For example, many voices in the church today
are proclaiming a faux gospel of triumphalism rather than the
message of the Cross, preferring the “roaring Lion from the
Tribe of Judah” rather than the “slain Lamb.”
A verse in the book of Revelation is
cited to validate this false “gospel.” But in doing so, its proponents ignore
the literary context and theology of the book. One brief phrase is read out of context
- “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has conquered
to open the book and to open its seven seals” - (Revelation 5:5).
Thus, according to this “gospel,” Jesus as the
conquering “lion” rather than the “Lamb” overthrew his enemies,
thereby demonstrating his right to open the “sealed scroll” and take
sovereignty over the earth.
And apparently, from now on, this “lion”
will be taking no prisoners. He has become the sword-wielding warrior
determined to mete out justice and punishment to all his enemies.
LION TO LAMB
In his vision, John does hear a voice
alluding to the messianic prophecy in Genesis - “Judah is a
lion’s…the scepter will not depart from Judah or a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh comes, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be”
- (Genesis 49:9-10, Numbers 24:9).
But that same voice transforms the
militaristic image of the “lion” into the “sacrificial Lamb.”
John HEARS “lion of the tribe of Judah,” but he SEES a
freshly slain “Lamb.” What he sees interprets what he first
hears.
Jesus IS the “lion of Judah,” but he fulfills that role as the “slain Lamb.” He conquers in ways contrary to human wisdom and expectations, not by slaying his enemies, but by allowing them to slay him - (Revelation 5:5-6).
And this understanding is confirmed in Revelation
by the myriad of voices from around the throne that declare the Lamb “worthy”
to take the scroll:
- “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them for our God a kingdom and priests, and they reign upon the earth” – (Revelation 5:9-12).
Again, it is the “Lamb” who is
declared “worthy,” NOT the “lion.” The one
passage in chapter 5 is the first and last time Jesus is called “lion”
in the book, and from that point forward, “lamb” becomes his primary
designation.
In Revelation, he is called ‘Christ’
seven times, ‘Jesus’ fourteen times, but ‘lamb’ twenty-eight
times. And it is the “Lamb” who ascends the throne to take the sealed
scroll, and it is the “slain Lamb” who breaks open its seals, not the
roaring lion.
So, what does his example mean for the
disciple who chooses to “follow the Lamb”?
WHEREVER HE GOES
The “saints” overcome the “Dragon,”
the “Beast,” and the “False Prophet” by the “blood of the
Lamb, the word of their testimony; and because they love not their life unto
death.” It is by their faithful testimony in “tribulation” and
persecution that disciples “overcome” – (Revelation 7:9-17, 12:11).
In Chapter 14, victorious men are seen standing
on “Mount Zion” with the Lamb. They are with him on
the mountain because they follow him “wherever he goes,” including
into death as martyrs - (Revelation 14:1-4).
When John sees the “woman clothed with
the sun,” she is pregnant and about to give birth. She brings forth the “son”
who is destined to “shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron,”
alluding to the messianic prophecy from the second Psalm.
But in Revelation, the original
Hebrew verb used for “break the nations” is changed to “SHEPHERD the
nations,” and this follows the text from the Greek Septuagint version
of the Psalm.
This suggests an unexpected and paradoxical
fulfillment, a deviation from the popular messianic expectation, and it is THIS “son”
who is “caught up unto God and to his throne.” He does not “smash”
the nations with his “rod,” but he “shepherds” them – (Psalm
2:1-9, Revelation 12:1-5, 19:11-21).
Even after the final victory and assignment
of Satan to the “lake of fire,” Jesus is still called the “Lamb.”
In “New Jerusalem,” John sees no temple since “the Lord God the
Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple.” No longer is illumination provided by the sun and moon - God’s glory illuminates the city and
the “LAMB is its lamp.”
Only those whose names are written in his “Book
of Life” enter the city to spend eternity with the “Lamb,” and the triumphant
roar of the “lion” is not heard anywhere within the city’s walls
- (Revelation 21:22-27).
THE TRUE KING
Thus, from the start, the book anchors
its visions in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. He is the “faithful
witness and the firstborn of the dead,” and the “ruler of the kings of
the earth” because of his obedience unto death.
This is the Messiah who “loosed us from our sins by his own blood.” And because of his death, he now possesses the “keys of death and Hades” and reigns over all things – (Revelation 1:4-6, 1:18).
As their all-powerful king, Jesus
encourages, corrects, and praises his churches. He calls his followers to “overcome,”
not by wielding political power against their neighbors, but by emulating his
faithfulness.
And saints reign alongside him on his
Father’s Throne - “just as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on
his throne.” Believers “overcome” in the same manner as did the “Lamb”
- (Revelation 3:21).
Overcoming believers reign as “priests,”
not warriors. The call to overcome is a summons to persevere through
tribulations while bearing faithful witness. To suffer for the kingdom is what
it means to follow the “Lamb wherever he goes.” This is how believers “overcome”
the “Dragon” and his minions - (Revelation 1:4-9, 5:9-10).
The worldly and even political triumphalism
that is being promoted today by many preachers is “another gospel,” and
they are proclaiming a radically “different messiah,” one incompatible
with the crucified Christ described on the pages of the New Testament.
