Can I share something?

Can I share something with you? So I was reading this great British historians book on Jesus and I came across a great section on how Jesus was not just doing something completely out of the ordinary. I mean, dying on a cross and resurrecting is pretty rare but a close study of Jesus will show you that he was actually following a model. Actually several models. Jesus actually copies people when he does his ministry. Its not all original. Have you ever heard this before or thought about it?

Here’s what I mean. Jesus is considered a prophet and called a prophet by people around him, his own followers and even himself. In fact, this historian, NT Wright in his book Jesus and the victory of God, says that it “seems the most secure point at which to ground our study of Jesus’ public career.” Ok big deal… but actually its really cool.

Check this out. Jesus models prophets… even strange ones like Micaiah ben Imlach in 1 Kings 22:17 when He calls them ‘leaderless sheep.’ He models Ezekiel when he predicts that God’s glory will leave the temple Ez 10:1-5/Matthew 23:38. Like Jeremiah he risks being called a traitor to Israel’s desire to rule a nation and says that he is the true spokesman for God. Jesus acts like Jonah when he predicts imminent judgement on Ninevah. Jesus even overtly points to Jonah in Luke 11:29-32. He acts like Elijah and Elisha as pointed out by Wright many different times.

SO what again? Well, Jesus considered his ministry simply a continuation – and bringing to a climax – all that God was doing in the Old Testament. It reminds me of Seinfeld where all the stories come together in the end no matter how detached they are. There always seems to be this GREAT divide between the old testament and the new, but God is continuing to work in the same fashion throughout history – just more significantly through Jesus.

I thought that was interesting.