The Messiah Has Come

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 1 Lesson 1

This week in Sunday school, we begin our chronological study of the New Testament. Our first lesson will focus on connecting the two testaments, recognizing Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, and appreciating what it means that Messiah finally had come.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

hey beginning our study of the New Testament yes we’ve spent more than two years getting a sense of the Old Testament a chronological study through the Old Testament now we come to the New Testament and the life of Christ life and Ministry of his apostles and the fully revealed mystery of God’s redemptive plan this is an exciting time hope you see that as an exciting time how are we exactly going to proceed these next four quarters well give you a little preview here so our quarter themes are listed on the right of this slide our first theme is going to be the Messiah arrives that’s our first quarter and the second quarter we’ll be talking about the authority of Jesus that’ll be a focus on the Ministry of Christ actually let me back up for a second talk about the first quarter first to the on the left side are all the lessons we’re going to be talking about this quarter you can see from this list I won’t read through all the lesson titles but roughly half the quarter we’re going to spend on introductory and apologetic material regarding Jesus and the New Testament and then the other half we’re actually going to start studying what the Gospels have to say and a little bit of the rest of New Testament about Jesus actually coming into the world and then preparing for his ministry so that’s the first quarter that a messiah arrives second quarter the authority of Jesus that’s our theme there we focus on the actual Ministry of Jesus in the Gospels looking at both Jesus miracles and is teaching the end of the third quarter we have our theme the church begins in this quarter we see the death and resurrection of Jesus and the establishment of his church in the book of Acts and in our fourth and final quarter the last quarter of our answers Bible curriculum is living as Christians and they’re we’re going to focus on the missionary journeys appalled the missionary ministry of Paul the teaching of the New Testament epistles and then the second coming of Christ so that’s our upcoming steady I say this is a really exciting time not only because we get to talk directly about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but because I hope you appreciate by now the Old Testament has increasingly foreshadowed and foretold and demonstrated everything that’s going to happen old test has been building our tissa patient we should be feeling just like Israel did in the days of Jesus when’s God’s plan going to come to pass when will Redemption move forward when will God send his Savior when will God remember his people when I meant to show you a slide last week during our review this is a base on some of the questions that I asked you here’s the historical outline that covers many of the important events that we’ve talked about so far in the Old Testament and again I’m not going to you through this slide I hope that maybe this will be useful to you but as you just look at it think about how history has shown both man’s obvious and great needs and God’s promises to meet those needs right at the beginning at Eden at the fall we saw that man brought about through sin speaker his own spiritual death his physical death and total separation from God and since the fall man has continually manifest his rebellion and deserve an asst to receive the unending and holy angry punishment of God even Israel God specially chosen nation continually turned towards wickedness no matter how many judgments got sent on his people no matter how much he disciplined them no matter how many blessings he gave them no matter how many privileges he gave them they would not remain faithful to him indeed if the Old Testament has taught us anything it teaches us the total depravity of man man will not turn to God so how could such a wretched and rebellious creature ever be saved from death and be restored to God yet amazingly in the Old Testament that’s precisely what God has promised will happen God will save a remnant and restore him God will save mankind and then think of the promises that we’ve seen Genesis 3 the seed of the woman will crush the Serpent’s head and that seed will only have his heel bruised Genesis 22 where God said to Abraham in your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed second Samuel 7 God says to David your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever how are these going to come to pass think of the other promises that we’ve seen given to Israel I will circumcise your heart God says I will bless you I will restore you i will give you prosperity i will give your dominion i will pulverize your enemies i will cause you to return to me and to love me make a new covenant with you I will forgive your sins i will establish justice all over the world i will draw all nations to worship me with true worship how I mean these are just incredible promises but when we look at mankind we’re look at mankind in general and Israel in particular throughout the Old Testament we don’t see that they’re going to be able to be blessed like this they are hopeless and helpless how do how does man and Israel particular move from this hopelessness and helplessness to forgiveness salvation and blessing well the answer gets clearer and clearer in the Old Testament and what is the answer God is going to send is Messiah one is going to come who’s going to bring these things to pass it’s given different descriptions throughout the Old Testament God’s prophet God Davidic King God’s priest God’s messenger of the Covenant God suffering servant God’s anointed one even God Himself God says I will come so mankind in Israel and us in our study have been waiting for the unveiling of this one not knowing when he would come but knowing that is that you would come and that his coming was getting closer and closer and closer now if you lived back in that time and you realize that God’s one had finally come how would you respond what would be the appropriate response well that’s the subject of our lesson today our title is let’s go back a slide here or two slides here the Messiah as calm as part of this lesson today we’re going to be looking at three different accounts here’s our outline we’re going to first look at the account of Simeon and Anna and Luke 221 238 well then look briefly at the words of Andrew the disciple Andrew and John 1 42 42 and then we’ll examine the opening of the book of Hebrews 1 verse 12 chapter 2 verse 4 we want to ask the question if Messiah has come how should we react how should people react and also as we’re moving through these passages today we’re going to make some comment about how to recognize and appreciate old testament quotations that appear in the New Testament that’s our plan let’s pray our Father I thank you for the revelation of your word that you have revealed what you have done not just what you are going to do but also what you have done in sending your son sending Jesus Christ sending the Messiah what a great great truth that you have revealed I pray that the people would appreciate just how wonderful it is that that Messiah has come I play loved you to help me be able to explain helping to be able to communicate that in Jesus name Amen okay let’s start with our first passage as we look answer the question how each reactant Messiah’s coming let’s go to I won’t show the slide yet let’s go to Luke chapter 2 verses 21 238 Luke chapter 2 so that’s page 1021 if you’re using the pew Bible Luke chapter 1 are Luke chapter 2 verses 21 238 just few words at background you probably know a bit about the Gospel of Luke but just in case this text is part of an account of the life and Ministry of Jesus as recorded by a Gentile physician the man Luke and he wrote this account after much research in fact checking and he also wrote it under the oversight of the Apostle Paul so this is a trustworthy account and of course is an inspired account but Luke was very careful in the way you put this together and he wrote this gospel to Gentile Christians most specifically this gospel is addressed to a Gentile named Theophilus probably a nobleman or a magistrate of some kind but this is a word to Gentile Christians all right let’s actually look at our passage starting in verse 21 to chapter 2 and we’ll read down to verse 38 please follow along with me as I read and when eight days had passed before his circumcision his name was then called Jesus the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb when the days for their purification according to law of Moses were completed they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and she’ll offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons and there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon this man was righteous and devout looking for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ and he came into this and he came to the spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the Child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law then he took him into his arms and blessed God and said now Lord you are releasing your bond servant to depart in peace according to your word for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared and the presence of all peoples a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel and his father and mother were amazed at the things which are being said about him and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother behold this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed and the sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed and there was a prophetess Anna the daughter of Phanuel the tribe of Asher she was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then as a widow to the age of 84 she never left the temple serving night and day with castings and prayers at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem ok so we’re continuing to use our inductive bible study method as we consider text of the Bible and the first step of that method is observation so let’s observe notice our people in this passage we’ve got Joseph Mary Jesus Simeon and Anna and notice where we are in the chronology of Jesus life Jesus was recently born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem Jesus is now now named and circumcised and then Joseph and Mary come into the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill God’s law now notice some quotations in verses 22 and 24 your Bible might have these words in small capital letters from where do these quotations come you Old Testament yeah this is from the law that’s why the phrase the law of the Lord appears right before those quotations these come from the Old Testament now how can we find from where in the Old Testament these quotations come recognize you sir quotations but how do we know where they come from well if you’re using a steady Bible you should see a small letter at the beginning of each of these quotations in the text a small letter raised as a superscript we might see a small letter A at the beginning of the quotation in verse 23 this letter is a mark for cross-referencing so you can find that cross reference or references in the center column of your steady Bible just look for the number 23 and then the letter A and if you do so for verse 23 you should see three references exes 13 2 and verse 12 numbers 3 13 and numbers 8 17 so your Study Bible has told you this is where you can go to see where this verse comes from if you’re using the N electronic bible if you’re using a bible app you might similarly see letters next to these quotations if you didn’t click on the verse if you just tap it click on the verse that has that letter your app will then display for you the various cross references as hyperlinks that’s probably what your app does and you can just click on one of those references and the Bible app will take you directly to their cross reference how about that but if you don’t have a steady Bible or a Bible app well it’s not so easy but still not that hard if you’re not using a Bible study bible a bible app how could you find where these verses that are quoted here how could you find where they come from in the Old Testament yeah run okay yes if you are just very familiar with the Bible or have various sections of the Bible memorized you can say oh yeah I remember that that’s over an exodus yes that’s one way you might know how else could you find where these come from yes you could use a concordance now I guess it’s becoming less and less common for people to use concordances today because of electronics but your Bible probably or may have ate a small concordance in the back which lists words various key words in the Bible and the verses that they appear so you might go back and look at one of the keywords and this in the verses that are quote and say all right where else in the Bible is this used for an even better more comprehensive search you can use an exhaustive concordance you have to actually go buy one have one use one in the UM I’ll use one somewhere and it’ll give you an even more comprehensive look you say I’m looking for the term first one and then you just go to the word first born in concordance and see all the different places it’s listed and look for it in the concordance it’ll give a little bit of words around the word firstborn as it appears in each text you say okay which one matches the one that I see here our most closely matches the one you can do some other things too besides consulting the concordance you can do an internet search especially using a Bible website like bible gateway you can just type in the exact words that you see here or some of the key terms that you see here and that will give you all the verses in the scriptures that have these terms oh you can ask a knowledgeable brother or sister who might have her own I might have his own knowledge of where these comes from or how to get to it so plenty of ways that you can know where these Old Testament Scriptures come from now why is that important well when you’re studying the New Testament and you see a quotation you Old Testament you’re going to benefit greatly in your understanding and in your appreciation if you actually look at the original if you look at where this quotation is coming from because the author is bringing it up the author knows about it so when the author wrote it if you want understand the office intention it’s useful for you to know what verses he’s actually talking so let’s actually do this for well at least one of these verses look at verse 24 one of the cross references in Luke through 24 is Leviticus 12-8 Leviticus 12-8 so let’s actually turn there keep your finger and Luke 224 but turn over to little bit cos 12 8 i’ll turn there too just to make sure I have the right passage for you Leviticus 12 8 all right then a few Bible that’s page 114 no pig 115 so Leviticus chapter 12 was actually kind of a short chapter I’m not going to read this chapter but scan these eight verses for a few moments now the passage in Luke mentioned days of purification he says after the days of purification Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple according to Leviticus 12 what are the days of purification yes it’s 33 days I think Roy maybe you said that why do we need to have these 33 days of purification what’s being purified or who’s being purified there is a ceremonial uncleanness that that someone needs to have purified and then in this case it is the not the child itself but actually the mother the mother is considered to be unclean whenever she gives birth and depending on whether she has a boy or a girl there’s a certain number of days that she needs to be purified for uncleanness there’s seven days and then add 33 days to that for a total of forty days if you have a son it’s a little bit longer if you have a daughter total of eighty days I think or know a little bit a little bit less than that so the day is the purification of the day for the mother after she gives birth and for a son it would be about forty days now a sacrifice is then required at the end of the days of the purification for the woman’s atonement and cleansing that’s what Leviticus 12 says normally what animals should be offered Leviticus 12 tells us what animals should be offered normally for the for the mothers cleansing a lamb and what other animal well we’ll get to the to the two turtledoves into your opinions but normally it’s just a lamb and then one of those birds either a Turtledove or a young pigeon a lamb for a burnt offering in the bird for a sin-offering but then there’s a provision that would allow some couples to offer just two birds instead two turtle doves or two young pigeons when is this substitution allowed one they can’t afford it one they’re poor now this is an important background for what we see back in Luke to you can turn back to Luke to now because when Luke is it is a quoting what is quoting from the Old Testament and next to what Mary and Joseph are doing in the temple it doesn’t mention a lamb and a bird he says they came to offer the sacrifice of two turtle doves or two young pigeons so basic inference here what does this indicate about Joseph and Mary they can’t afford the regular sacrifice their poor they have to give the the two birds instead when they offer the sacrifice for atonement of purification for Mary for the mother so that’s what they’re doing in the temple at least partly love what they’re doing we don’t have time to investigate the cross reference for verse 23 but if we did go back and look at the verses from Exodus and I think laviticus there we would see why were the people of Israel required to present or dedicate their firstborn to the Lord it is in commemoration of what event what specifically in the Exodus yes soon that’s right one God passed over the people of Israel did not kill their first one but slew all the first one of you if God says I want you to remember this and I want you to make this as a memorial for you and your children tell them or dedicate your firstborn children to me and when they ask about it tell them what happened in the exodus tell them how I spared your firstborn so we see Joseph Mary they’re being obedient to these Old Testament commands that’s why they’re in the temple they’re doing these things now let’s keep going with observations in Luke to you see Simeon notice how the man Simeon is described here he’s righteous devout looking for the consolation of Israel that is the comforter or solace of Israel rabbis use this term to talk about the Messiah the coming one and the Messiah would bring consolation is real comfort Israel after all Israel had been through so he’s looking for the Messiah and we also hear that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon and then there was something quite unique about Simeon despite no profits in Israel giving new prophecy for about 400 years since Malachi the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that Simeon would see God’s coming one before Simeon died now imagine being in simians place God gives him this miss notice and it’s like Simeon says herself you mean Messiah is coming in my lifetime I’ll be allowed to see him with my own eyes you can imagine simians create anticipation when when will I see him when a spirit leads Simeon into the temple and then Simeon sees Jesus and his parents now notice what simian does it takes the child he takes Jesus into his arms again can you imagine that Israel’s been waiting you’ve been waiting if you’re one of them you’ve been waiting year after you here for God’s in his Messiah and now he’s here he’s right in your arms a little baby but the coming one that God said you would he would bring and Simeon blesses God and noticed him younes prayer of blessing Simeon tells God that Simeon can die totally in peace because Simeon has seen the Lord salvation and this child Simeon says will be a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of God’s people Israel now you may notice your Bible also indicates or probably through capital letters that the first half of verse 32 is an old testament quotation or an old testament illusion not illusion with an eye but illusion with an a that is it is a reference to an Old Testament text and this is actually to a reference to multiple verses in Isaiah which describe God’s coming as light to those in darkness God’s not not only God’s coming but God’s servant coming remember those things are actually the same most directly Isaiah 49 verse 6 says this speaking of God’s Messiah it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel I will also make you a light to the nation’s so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth now that word for nations and Hebrew usually refers to the Gentile nations so this is exactly what Luke is saying here a light to the Gentiles liked the gentile nations that’s what God promised his Messiah would be now notice Joseph and Mary’s response so at Simeon’s words they marvel they’re filled with Wonder Simeon also blesses the parents may you be blessed Joseph and Mary but he warns marry this one will cause the rise and fall of many in Israel he will be a sign opposed and a sword will pierce your own soul and to what end that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed notice at the same moment that Simeon declares these things too Joseph and Mary the Holy widow Anna comes up also notice what she does she gives thanks to god she can and she continues to speak of Jesus to all those who are looking for the redemption of Jerusalem I noticed how that phrase of dimension of Jerusalem is very similar to what we heard earlier simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel that’s the same thing as looking for the redemption of Jerusalem waiting for Messiah waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled all right so we made these observations that step one step two of our three steps of Bible interpretation or yeah Bible study we interpret so let’s interpret why does Luke our writer explain Mary and Joseph actions Joseph’s actions by quoting the law of Moses you didn’t have to make reference the Old Testament you didn’t have to bring up those verses why do they do that in the back ok I think that’s definitely part of it it does show something about the righteous character at Joseph and Mary that they’re fulfilling the law in every way and that’s consistent with Jesus own fulfillment of the law but there is another reason why else might Luke find it necessary to quote the Old Testament as part of showing what Joseph and Mary are doing set another hand yeah good let’s see that indication that this was the Messiah everything about that I don’t know if there’s anything necessarily messianic about this particular commands that they’re fulfilling from God in the law it is consistent with what Messiah and maybe even messiahs parents would be expected to do I think we’re actually looking at something a little bit more basic remember who he’s talking to he’s talking to Gentiles he’s not talking to people who were that familiar with the law and so when he says okay they came to Jerusalem to the temple to offer sacrifices gentle might be wondering for what why did they have to do that oh well you understand because in the old testament law there there’s some purification that they needed to do and they needed to offer these particular sacrifice you see they were they were not just going to the temple friend reason they were fulfilling the law this is an explanation this is a clarification for his Gentile readers but I think you’re right Roy that there’s a there’s connection here about showing the righteousness of Joseph and Mary and even the the pattern of righteousness that will characterize messiahs life another question here how would you describe Simeon and Anna’s emotions upon seeing the Lord’s coming one what emotion characterizes Simeon and Anna yeah joe joy yeah we don’t see terms that are that are explicitly joyful but we see Simeon blessing God we see Anna giving thanks we see Simeon telling God I can die now because I’ve seen your salvation and I don’t think it takes much imagination to imagine what they were feeling think we’re excited they were really just glad I think even elated they’re just filled with joy God’s Messiah has come and that’s totally consistent with what we actually see in in the first couple chapters of Luke there’s just joy joy joy joy all all over the place now that Messiah has come so yes they’re filled with joy filled with thankfulness filled with contentment now what does simian mean by his various warnings to marry it’s going to be a sign opposed fall and rise of many a swords going to pierce your soul what is he talking about what is Simeon referring to exactly he’s referring to Christ rejection even Christ’s death at Christ’s birth God has given enough understanding to see me enough for him to reveal to Mary Mary understand that even though it’s so wonderful that he’s here he’s going to be rejected he’s going to suffer and you’re going to suffer you’re going to suffer as you see his rejection as you see even his death a sword will pierce your own soul he’ll be filled with grief when you see all this happen and we know later in John 1925 John tells us that Mary was there at the cross when Jesus was being crucified doesn’t say anything about what she felt at that instance but we can imagine how she felt and Jesus told John at that point take care of my mother now that I won’t be able to now why simians word given only to marry the the warnings given only to Marian not Joseph I mean shouldn’t Joseph be 12 yeah that’s exactly right we kind of see Joseph drop out of the gospel narrative kind of about any explanation and the implication seems to be that Joseph died Joseph wasn’t around by the time that Jesus had completed his ministry he’s not there at all and there are other indications that Joseph had died because they don’t refer to Joseph either they’ll talk about Jesus’s mother and his brothers and his sisters but they won’t talk about Joseph so he seems to have died before Jesus went to the cross which makes sense why he’s not being worn here because he’s not going to experience the sorrow that Mary would of course there’s nothing here about Mary being a cobra temptress I experiencing the sorrow or I’m doing any sort of salvation work he’s just wanting her you’re going to be sad based on what’s going to happen to your son the Messiah but despite that the overall attitude of Simeon and Anna is joy and amazement and the Anna also declares the message or declares something about this Messiah to everyone who’s there in the temple everyone who’s looking for the consolation of Israel the redemption of Jerusalem she starts talking about him to other people now by sending his Messiah what attributes is God displaying yeah shows the sovereignty he waded into the exact right time what else his faithfulness right he promised he would come and now he has come and of course this is also a sign of God’s love and kindness Wow the Redeemer is here the one who’s going to save and deliver deliver deliver mankind all those who would believe in the Messiah has now come that is a great kind gift of God so God is putting his own character on display also so to see these things in Luke let’s jump over from Luke for a moment to where we see another person react to the coming of God’s Messiah and this is going to be in the book of John look at John chapter 1 verses 42 42 so John is right after the book of luke john chapter 1 verses 42 42 now the Gospel of John was written by john the apostle he writes to jews he writes to probably both unsaved jews and maybe new jewish believers now listen what John says about Andrew when Andrew heard John the Baptist declared that Jesus was a lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world here what the Apostle John says Andrew then did so John 1 verse 41 of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew simon Peters brother he found first his own brother Simon and said to him we have found the Messiah which translated means Christ he brought him to Jesus Jesus looked at him and said you are Simon the son of john you shall be called Cephas which is translated Peter okay small passage here but are some interesting things for us to notice what does Andrew do when Andrew finds out that the Messiah has arrived yeah joe yeah yeah he goes and gets his brother and the whole idea is I want to bring you we found the Messiah Simon look messiahs here let’s go see him he brings Simon to Jesus he tells Simon about Messiah and then he brings Simon to Jesus and there are some interesting things here regarding the term Messiah we see the term reverse 41 the term comes from the Hebrew word mushiya which means Anointed One or anointed in the Old Testament who was it that was anointed with holy oil yeah joe David was not just David who else actually types of people were anointed with holy oil two main types the priests were anointed and the Kings priests and the Kings originally according to the law was it was just a priest but when is jewel started having Kings the Kings also became anointed with the Holy oil and that did start with David or that that did include david i think saw was also anointed and many other Kings were but this anointing of holy oil was associated with God’s priests and gods Kings over time though the trauma anointed one while it did refer to the king of Judah and Israel it came to be a synonym for God’s future king the ordained Davidic King that God would bring in the future the Messiah what we call the Messiah the one who would restore Israel so the term Anointed One Messiah that was the term that meant the one who’s going to come and accomplish the things that God’s promise for Israel now remember that the book of John though is not written in Hebrew it’s written in Greek as is the rest of New Testament and so the word for Messiah and verse 40 41 is not the Hebrew meshach but it’s actually a Greek transliteration macias it sounds very similar macias it’s just the taking the Hebrew word and putting Greek letters on it now this word is almost never used in the New Testament this is one of the two times I think instead the New Testament normally uses a Greek word which also means Anointed One and it’s the term that we see at the end of verse 42 if the term Christ so John therefore is making clear to his readers Messiah equals Christ that’s why you can says Messiah can be translated into Greek as Christ when Andrew went and got his brother we found the Messiah the messy us that means Christ we found the Christ now we’re very familiar with the word Christ we use it as a synonym or an alternate name for Jesus but technically Christ is not a name it’s a title it means Messiah Anointed One God promised Davidic King so whenever we hear the term Christ basically hearing the word Messiah and all that that connotes in a Hebrew his mind now by the way you may notice that the Apostle John also does another translation for his readers he says that John called Simon Cephas orc efes I think it’s kev oz and then he says which is translated Peter a Cephas comes from the Aramaic word for stone while Peter Petros is the greek word for stone now remember at this time in Palestine many people especially in northern Israel around Galilee they spoke Aramaic which is a Semitic language similar to Hebrew popular in the Middle East they spoke Greek what they spoke both that was their normal language so let’s ask a little interpretation question back to step 2 of our method why does the Apostle John take time to translate these Hebrew and America Aramaic terms into Greek for his readers why would he want to do that era I think you’re on the right track rub it’s possible that there’s something going on here with what his audience and normally speaks what kind of language but if it were simply oh they didn’t recognize Hebrew then why mention the Hebrew term at all he could have just used the word Christ or we could have just used the word Peter so why mention Cephas and messy Yas I think there’s something further going on here it’s actually that his audience it may be a mixed audience but his audience is familiar with both of these terms but john wants to clarify they actually mean the same thing those of you Jews because remember John’s writing the Jews you’ve heard all about the Messiah in the Old Testament you’ll get confused that’s not a different person from Christ they are the same thing so what I’m talking about Christ John is clarifying for his readers I’m talking about the Messiah that you’ve heard and know all about from the Old Testament I’m using a different term but it means the same thing Messiah that you know from the Old Testament is Christ and the same thing is going on with the Cephas and Peter yes this is what Cephas means in Hebrew I want to clarify that there are two different people there’s not Cephas and then Peter they’re the same person and I think we could actually probably fall into the same error if you’ve ever read one of the epistles that mentioned Cephas or maybe for the first time you ready you’re like who seek this oh no it’s just Peter that’s just another way to say Peters name anyways so John’s clarification is helpful for those who otherwise might not be sure that those terms mean the same thing the Messiah is Christ that they mean the same thing but again let’s notice what Andrew did when hearing about Messiah’s coming you went found his brother Simon told him about Messiah and then brought him to Messiah now let’s look at one other passage to continue to hear one more answer about how we ought to react that Messiah has come let’s now turn to Hebrews Hebrews chapter 1 we’re going to be reading the whole chapter just a little bit into chapter 2 so Hebrew towards the end of the New Testament roos Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 down to chapter 2 verse for now just a quick word on Hebrews the author of Hebrews is unknown though most conservative evangelical commentators and interpreters would say was it was either or certainly a apostle or apostles associated probably Paul himself or someone associated with Paul there’s definitely an apostolic ring to this book even if the author cannot be determined for certain but anyways let’s now read our passage chybas 112 chapter 2 verse 4 here’s what he says God after he spoke long ago to the father’s in the prophets and many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power when he had made purification of sins he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high having become as much better than the Angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they put too much of the Angels did he ever say you are my son today I have begotten you and again I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me and when he again brings the first point into the world he says and let all the angels of God worship Him and of the Angels he says who makes his angels wins and his ministers a flame of fire but of the Sun he says your throne O God is for ever and ever and the righteous cetera is the scepter of his kingdom you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions and you lord in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands they will perish that you remain and they will all become old like a garment and like a mantle you will roll them up like a garment they will also be changed that you are the same and your years will come to an end but to which of the Angels has he ever set sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet having not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation for this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it for if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation after it was at the first spoken through the Lord it was confirmed to us by those who heard God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and buy gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will ok back to step one of our study method let’s observe notice verse 1 I writer points out that God has spoken to the father’s in in old days in the prophets in many portions and ways but there’s a contrast in verse 2 in the present in the last days however God has spoken to people through whom well that was the old days the prophets in the old days but now they’re his son yes through Jesus and then we get a number of momentous declarations the writer gives about God’s Son the one who’s given God’s revelation now vs. true 24 say the Sun is the heir of all things the Sun made the world that’s the Sun the one who came from the father I’m sorry they’re the one yeah like the family relationships on not the burning ball of fire the son is the radiance for the brightness of God’s glory the very brightness of God’s glory the Sun is the exact representation of God’s nature the Sun upholds all things with his powerful word the sun made purification of sins the Sun sat down at the right hand at the Majestic father on high the Sun showed himself better than the angels of god and the son inherited a more excellent name than any angel now vs. 5 or 13 feature a number of quotations the Old Testament but only had time to investigate each or each of those and explain them I recommend you check those out later but notice how the writer uses these verses he’s drawing what the old testament says contrasting angels and the Sun verse 5 no angel has ever called God’s Son verse 6 angels were told to worship the Sun verse 7 angels are ministers to and servants of God while verse 8 the Sun actually reigns as God vs 10 to 12 the Sun created the world but isn’t but is eternal unlike the world and verse their team the Sun not angels will receive all the kingdoms of the earth verse 14 also says angels are servants to those who will inherit salvation now notice the outcome of this discussion in chapter 2 verse 1 for this reason from what I’ve just said we must pay much closer attention to what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift away the author then explains is reusing a little more for if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable unchangeable and disobedient to that message which punished severely how shall any of us escape if we neglect the Salvation spoken by the Sun and confirmed by God to men by various signs and wonders so we’ve made these observations let’s go back to step 2 interpretation what is the past revelation to the fathers by the prophets mentioned in verse 1 of chapter 1 yes this is just shorthand for talking about the Old Testament yes not every single rider was a in the office of prophet in the Old Testament but they counted as prophets as they reveal God’s Scripture and as they wrote it down so when he says they spoke to our fathers to their profits he’s talking about the Old Testament Scriptures which is what he actually sites in most of chapter one another question if the Sun is the brightness of God’s glory and if he’s the exact representation of God’s nature what does that make the Sun he’s equal with God if you have the very glory of God if you’re the brightness of his glory and if you exactly represent his nature you have to be God because no one else can do that the Sun is God you make sec he’s making that clear now what is the point of contrasting the Sun with the angels he does this repeatedly in chapter one why is he contrasting this what is the point of it or I’m sorry what is the conclusion of his contrast of the Sun verse the Angels how does the Sun compared to the Angels yeah he’s way better is way higher he’s way more exalted the Sun is better than any created angel which makes sense because he’s got now according to Hebrews 11 22 in chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 what did both the angels and the Sun do even though they’re different and the sun is better what did they both do historically they they both ministered in a way angels are particularly known as ministers but what did they both bring to the world yeah Rob yeah they they were messengers that brought about God’s revelation now sometimes this is really explicit the Old Testament regarding angels and angel will convey a vision to Daniel or another one of the prophets even where it’s not explicit the angels were connected with the revealing of God’s Old Testament but there’s a difference in the New Testament it’s not angels who review it’s the son himself they’re both revealing god they’re both revealing what God has they’re both arguing God’s message but it’s the Sun in the New Testament and it’s it’s just angels in the Old Testament now who’s revelation is most important well they are in a sense yes they’re they’re all important they all have the same kind of character but he’s making a distinction one’s going to be more important for his readers than the other and that’s the revelation of the Sun now this is not to say that the revelation the Sun cancels out the revelation the angel is not at all they saying he’s going to make a he makes a contrast based off of that the author asserts the superiority of the Sun over the angels and he warns his listeners listeners to listen to the sun’s message and not drift away from it why would he need to do that why show the Sun superior to any angel and you’ve got to pay attention to the sun’s message and not drift away why why would you need to say that yeah this is there salvation is certainly at stake if they were to drift away but if he has to give this excitation and this is a principle that we can exercise to some extent throughout the Bible if someone has to give an excitation in certain situation there’s a reason for that that means if he’s saying don’t drift away you better pay attention that means the people being tempted to drift away and not pay attention they were tempted to downplay neglect or even reject the revelation of the Son and the writer of Hebrews is trying to point out them look how much better the Sun is than any angel in the Old Testament respect old testament revelation as you ought but how much more on YouTube respect Revere and fear the revelation given by God’s Son if you are going to be punished for altering rejecting or disobeying the revelation of angels how much more god himself in the Sun don’t dare think that you can just ignore or reject the revelation of Jesus don’t drift away pay close attention to Messiah and Messiah’s word you’re being tempted to but I’m warning you don’t neglect so great a salvation so we can bring together some thoughts from this passage and from the other passages today regarding our initial question how are we to react to Messiah is coming Simeon shows us we ought to celebrate we ought to bless God we ought to give thanks we ought to feel peace if we’re trusting income because Messiah has come Anna and Andrew they also show us we have to tell others tell them about this great news bring them to the Messiah and then the writer of Hebrews shows us a little more soberly we’ve got to pay attention two messiahs message we’ve got to beware drifting away from it this is serious Messiah has come this is a critical message we’ve got to pay attention now these these reactions they weren’t simply for the time of these people they’re still true today we should be reacting in this way so the question is are we do we the world has long awaited the coming I’m see if I have this on the next slide yes I do this is step three of our inductive bible study method remember step one observation step to interpretation step three application let’s think about application the world has long awaited the coming of a savior for helpless rebellious men which is what we are without God’s intervention are we elated that Messiah has finally come that our deliverance has finally been revealed that light has come to the Gentiles and to Israel are we a week glad about that are we so glad that we want to tell others about Messiah bring others to Messiah that is the way that you rejoice in good news isn’t it you share with others also have we understood the seriousness of Messiah is coming messiahs arrival is not simply a cause for celebration but a notice that a critical message has come and we’ve got to pay attention to it do we pay attention are we careful not to drift away from it have we already drifted away from have we downplayed have we neglected have we modified what Messiah revealed about God do we neglect so great a salvation and therefore bring wrath upon ourselves truly the fact that Messiah has come is such a great cause for joy so brothers and sisters at Calvary let us celebrate the arrival of God’s coming one and paid close attention to what Messiah has revealed about God questions or comments about today’s lesson let me for sale well in the original text I can only answer this answer to some some respect sense yet have the great analyzing capabilities for Greek but I do know this in the original text that be the text is written in all capital letters and there were no spaces so it’s not going to be any indication to Greek like oh this is capitalized that this is God and this is not capitalized that this his does not refer to God so when we see things capitalized like his in our Bibles that’s a help from the translator saying the sense of this passage dramatically and contextually is this has to be God here I think that we can appreciate that even if we don’t have a great knowledge of Greek because we can say well if you’re the exact representation of or the he in context that has to be referring to someone else besides the Sun and the only other one mentioned here that makes sense is God specifically the Father but God has a triune God if he is the exact representation of that God and the brightness of his glory he has to be gone so the way it’s been the way that he that his is capitalized it is justified in these verses any other questions or comments that’s a good question bill okay well thank you for being in class today that brings us to the end of our lesson next time we’re going to look at why we can trust the New Testament as it has been handed down and preserved for us let’s close in prayer what God we thank you that Messiah has come thank you so much Lord you are spirit no one can see you no one can ever find you and yet you by sending your son Jesus you took on flesh you became one of us you came to deliver us that is so amazing that’s incomprehensible that the God who is was so great in glorious took on human flesh came to save a helpless and hopeless people but thank you thank you for coming to save us thank you for being so merciful thank you for keeping your promises thank you for revealing it to us that it wasn’t simply something that happened and we never knew about but you’ve told us you’ve given the message to us thank you for sending messengers but by raising up evangelists by raising it faithful people to pass on this message to us so that we can hear it so we can believe it so that we can rejoice in it but I pray that we would be rejoicing in this message today that your Messiah that Jesus you have come and God I pray that we would do all these things that these men in the scriptures men and women in the scriptures did celebrating bringing others to hear this good news and paying close attention I pray that you would do more of that at calvary today in Jesus name Amen all right thank you guys see you next week or maybe not next week the week after have a good easter