The Jewish Studies Blog

The book of Jeremiah was treated with various degrees of attention as various concerns and circumstances were brought to its reading, reflecting various outlooks and presuppositions. One conclusion that I derived from my studies is that biblical research has by no means arrived at its final stage. More commentaries ought to be written, more contemporary issues explored in the light of the book’s message; more data needs to be assessed by the scholarly and pastoral communities of the world. A great danger exists, however, in that in this holy enterprise the academia will be divorced from the church, university from seminary, theoretical from practical. It is important that those two scholarly communities with different emphases would seek the merger for the benefit of God’s Kingdom.

This new edition of David Flusser’s classic study of the historical Jesus, revised and updated by his student and colleague R. Steven Notley, will be welcomed everywhere by students and scholars of…

Most of publications dealing with the New Testament collection of Ancient writings come out under the authorship of Christian scholars or those scholars whose versions of faith expression in some way are…

The chapter that relates the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in John 4 begins by setting the stage for what will take place later in Samaria and…

John the Baptist makes a statement strikingly similar to Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus. You will recall that Jesus said to Nicodemus: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (Jn. 3.16-17) John the Baptist says to his followers: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (Jn. 3.34-36)
It’s essential to note that both John the Baptist and Jesus (as well as John the Zebedee who likely authored the Gospel) expected the Jewish Nicodemus and the Jewish disciples of John the Baptist to understand and relate to the language of the supremacy of the Son of God. In other words, to be used so openly and freely, it must not have been a new or foreign concept to them as we normally think. After all the Sonship of God concept was the very argument that both Jesus and John the Baptist employed to prove their point. The Samaritan Israelites just like John’s disciples struggled to accept supremacy of Jesus. However, they needed to do so, because Jesus was the Chosen King with legitimate authority from above. He was the Son of God – His royal appointee. To listen to Jesus meant to listen to God himself. To disobey Jesus meant to disobey God himself. Jesus was not optional for John’s disciples, for Israelite Samaritans, or for anyone else who might stumble over these words in years to come – His capable rule of God’s people was unavoidable necessity.