Jesus is the Way

by

Karl D. Coke, Ph. D

To begin, the issue is not who is right–Jews or Christians. Neither is the issue Judaism versus Christianity. The issue is Messianism. People are either Messianic or not Messianic whether they be Jew or Gentile. Both Jews and Gentiles can be (and are) Messianic. That is, people believe that God has His Messiah, whom He will send to this earth, to redeem mankind. People who believe this are called "Messianics." Unfortunately, religion has placed too much emphasis on the labels "Jew" and "Christian." The correct term for both Jew and Christian was used in Acts 9:2 when Luke called them people of "the Way."

The Messiah is a Jew. The Gospel is about what that Jewish Messiah has done. The Bible clearly reveals God’s Messiah as Jesus. From Adam and Eve up to the time of Jesus, what were Jews and Gentiles concerned about? Since Genesis 3:15, many of them were looking for God’s Messiah. Jewish religious leaders, politicians, businessmen, housewives, children, the poor, the rich and others are all mentioned in the Gospels as looking for and wanting to meet God’s Messiah. Also mentioned are Gentiles who were looking for and wanting to meet God’s Messiah.

Wanting to meet God’s Messiah is in the heart of man–placed there, I believe, by God Himself. Meeting God’s Messiah requires obeying God’s Word. Obedience here means to make a confession. To confess Jesus as God’s Messiah requires faith. The good news is: "The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it" (Deuteronomy 30:14). Mouth and heart must agree when obeying God’s Word. That is why "confessing with the mouth" and "believing in the heart" are required by God for entering into "the Way" of His Messiah–Jesus.

Jesus, firstborn son of Mary and adopted son of Joseph, is the Messiah. Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem of Judea and (following his birth) was taken into Egypt by His parents, is the rightful heir to the throne in Jerusalem. Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried in a tomb for three days, did resurrect on the third day fulfilling prophecy. Jesus, who shed His blood to cleanse the sins of all believers and who died so those believers could live forever, has been actively making the obedience of the nations His (Genesis 49:10). Jesus, who, before ascending into heaven was seen by many, has commissioned His disciples to "make disciples" of all nations. This same Jesus shall one day physically return to this earth to establish His kingdom. I declare this same Jesus of Nazareth–God’s only Messiah–to you as He, the Messiah, Son of the living God.

As recorded in Matthew 16:13, Jesus asked His talmudim (students or disciples), "Who do people say I am?" Peter made the eternally correct confession. He said (in phonetic Hebrew), "Atta hu haMashiach ben Elohim." Accurately translated, Peter said, "You are He, the Messiah, [natural born] Son of God." Jesus called Peter blessed for having God, the Father, reveal this to him, not having been convinced of this by "flesh and blood" [men]. I, too, have had my Heavenly Father reveal this to me. The fact is, no human can make this confession without God the Father revealing Him to them. I write with the hope that God the Father will reveal Him to just one more person. I fully realize that I cannot, should not, nor ever will convince anyone to confess with their mouth "Jesus is Lord" or believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead. That is God’s business. I leave it to Him to reveal His Messiah.

I believe that God has the ultimate "say so" on who is His Messiah. Whatever God says should silence man’s debate. God says about Jesus, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him" (Matthew 17:5). This quotation is comprised of three parts. Part one is "This is my Son, whom I love." This is a quotation from Psalm 2:7 where the Lord says, "You are my Son." Part two is "with him I am well pleased." This is a quotation from Isaiah 42:1, 21 where the Lord speaks of His servant, "in whom I delight" and "it pleased the Lord." Part three is "Listen to him." This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 18:15 where Moses says, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him." From the Psalms (Ketuvim) God says of Jesus as Messiah, "This is my Son." From the Prophets (Nevieem) God says of Jesus as Messiah, "in whom I delight." From the Law of Moses (Torah) God says of Jesus as Messiah, "listen to him." Jesus as God’s Messiah is not just a New Testament idea. It is also made clear in the TaNaK (Old Testament) by God Himself.

By quoting from all three parts of the TaNaK, God validated the authority of all three parts. This is why Jesus told His disciples (Luke 24:44), "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (The reason Jesus used "Psalms" to refer to the third division of the TaNaK instead of Ketuvim is "It is reasonable to infer from this early testimony that the Psalter [Psalms] was looked upon as being the most important among the books of the Ketuvim" (Encyclopaedia Judaica, Volume 13, p. 1305). Further, Jesus said in John 5:39-40, "You diligently study the Scriptures [TaNaK] because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." Conforming to the requirement of the Law (Deuteronomy 19:15), Jesus said in John 5:31-36, "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth [John 1:1-28]. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you might be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me." Three witnesses testify that Jesus is God’s Messiah–God, Jesus’ works, and John.

What must be considered by all is what Jesus says of Himself in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." What about theologians who claim there are many "ways" to God? Jesus, here, is either totally correct or totally incorrect. I say He is totally correct.

Consider the testimony of James, the Jewish pastor of the congregation in Jerusalem. Regarding how both Jews and Gentiles get saved, James said in Acts 15:10-11, "Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we [Jews] nor our [Jewish] fathers have been able to bear? No! We [Jews] believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they [Gentiles] are." The Apostle Paul’s testimony in Galatians 2:15-16 about this matter is, "We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ [Messiah]. So we [Jews], too, have put our faith in Christ [Messiah] Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ [Messiah] and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."

Is Paul doing away with Deuteronomy 6:25? It says, "And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness." Not at all! Paul, knowing the whole TaNaK, was aware of Psalms 14 and 53 which he quotes in Romans 3:10-12. It says, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." The Deuteronomy 6:25 passage requires that a righteous person obey all the law. The key word is "all." Hebrews 4:14-15 says of Jesus, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin." Sin is breaking God’s law. The Apostle John, and close friend of Jesus, said in 1John 3:4, "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." Since Jesus did not sin, He did not break the law. Since Jesus did not break the law, He obeyed all of it. Since Jesus obeyed all of God's law, He fulfilled Deuteronomy 6:25 and became righteousness for all who believe.

Isaiah was right when he said (32:17), "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." "Forever" is the key word regarding salvation. Jesus, the Messiah of God, did a work for mankind that lasts "forever." John calls "forever" "eternal life" in John 3:16.

Regarding this salvation, Paul in Romans 10:1-4 says, "Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." This is not a passage claiming that Jews have rejected Jesus as God’s Messiah in favor of obeying Deuteronomy 6:25. This passage indicates that Jews in the time of Paul rejected Jesus as God’s Messiah in order to establish their own righteousness.

It must also be said here that this is not a passage allowing Gentile Believers to claim that Moses’ Law was put to an "end" by the appearance of Jesus Christ. Christ is the "end" of the law does not mean the Law of Moses ended. Romans 10:4 begins with the two Greek words tevlo" ga;r (telos gar) which are translated "end" in English translations. tevlo" means "wanting nothing necessary to completeness" and ga;r is a conjunction and is a particle of affirmation and conclusion, denoting "truly" therefore, "verily as the case stands" (p. 618, Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, Thayer). This verse says "Christ is the affirmed fulfiller of God’s law who lacked nothing necessary to fulfill God’s law." Jesus did not "end" the law–that is, destroy or do away with it. He truly perfected it. According to Kittle's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume VIII, page 81, "In the NT teleiovw means "to fulfill," to "carry out," e.g., a required course in the sense of a received commission . . . The life of Jesus consists in doing the will of God, i.e., in carrying out the work of salvation, the preaching and the deeds which are given Him by the Father and the performing of which is witness that He is sent by the Father, [John] 5:36 . . . [John] 17:4 stresses that Jesus fulfills only that which is assigned to Him by God."

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume VI, page 286, "Fulfill from the Greek (pleroo) Lit. it means ‘to fill,’ e.g., a bottle with water." Page 287 says, "Pleroo is used about 70 times for forms of; [in the Old Testament Septuagint]." It goes on to say on page 290, "(Hebrew–mah-lah) means ‘full’ or better ‘to make full.’ In other words, Jesus made the Law ‘full.’ The particular content of this word [pleroo] in the NT is determined ‘to fulfill a norm, a measure, a promise,’ ‘to complete or achieve’ something, and the idea of ‘totality’ or ‘fullness’ is decisive." Finally, on page 294 it says, "The goal of the mission of Jesus is fulfillment (Mt. 5:17b); according to Mt. 5:17a this is primarily the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, i.e., of the whole of the OT as a declaration of the will of God. Jesus does not merely affirm that He will maintain them [laws]. As He [Jesus] sees it, His task is to actualize the will of God made known in the OT. He has come in order that God’s Word may be completely fulfilled, in order that the full measure appointed by God Himself may be reached in Him. . . . He [Jesus] actualizes the divine will stated in the OT from the standpoint of both promise and demand." "He said to them [His talmudim], ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms’ "–Jesus (Luke 24:44-45).

The essence of biblical life-style is to be "Messianic." Whether Jew or Gentile, being Messianic decidedly puts one on God’s side. For me, being Messianic fulfills God’s requirement to "act justly [obey Torah] and to love mercy [for all others] and to walk [halakah] humbly with [the person Jesus] my God" (Micah 6:8). "Acting justly" means for me to obey God’s Torah. Having the "living Torah," Jesus, move into my heart (Jeremiah 31:33) made obedience possible. Having Jesus move into my heart circumcised (Deuteronomy 10:16) it in order that I might love Him with all my heart (Deuteronomy 6:5). "To love mercy" was fulfilled in me when Jesus moved into my heart. Now, I am better able to "love my neighbor as myself" (Leviticus 19:18). Loving God with all my heart and my neighbor as myself is "walking humbly with my God." With Jesus as my Messiah, not just God’s Messiah, we walk together through this life right into the life to come. Obeying all 613 Mitzvot does not make me or any other Gentile "Jewish." But, my receiving Jesus as God’s Messiah did birth me (and will birth all others) into His "Way." Come join us. He is the "Way" to righteousness!

Dr. Karl D. Coke is a Hebrew teacher whose understanding of the original languages, the history, and the culture of the peoples of Holy Scripture causes the Bible to come alive for his audiences and readers around the world. He is president of Redirection, a ministry that establishes the home as the center for spiritual development among Christian communions. Karl, his wife Karen, and their daughter Kristin live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dr. Coke offers many tape audio albums teaching details of the Hebrew roots of Christian faith. For a complete catalogue and prices, call or write P.O. Box 10285, Charlotte, NC 28212, USA., Tele (704) 568-KCEA * FAX (704) 532-9990.

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