We have already seen that in Luke’s Gospel Jesus continuously forbids his countrymen to speak of his messianic status and his miracles. On the other hand, in the book of Acts, right from the beginning, Peter loudly proclaims the messiahship of Jesus to the house of Israel. Nothing is hidden anymore in Acts: the messianic status of Jesus is declared loudly and publicly.
In order to explain this sudden change, we need to suggest two things: First, that some crucial event happened between these two pieces, and second, that for some reason, after this event the messiahship of Jesus was revealed. We all know the obvious answer to the first part: the crucial event that happened between the main part of the Gospel and Acts was the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Then, our question would be: why? Why did His death and resurrection become such a clear-cut border, such an obvious demarcation line between “before” and “after”? Why did Jesus have to remain the hidden Messiah during his earthly life, only to be revealed after His resurrection?
I know that many of you are waiting patiently (or impatiently) for the answer. It will come in a due time. Have you noticed a key in the pictures attached to these posts? We will definitely need the key to unlock this mystery. Thankfully, Luke provided this key, and we will use it, beginning from next week. For now, let us finish building the case and describing the mystery we have to unlock
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The theme of revealing of some hidden secret is very important for Luke. For instance, the statement: There is no secret which will not be revealed, occurs only once in Mark and in Matthew, while in Luke we hear it twice.[1] In Luke 10, Jesus says: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.[2] What hidden things does Jesus refer to? Does He mean His messiahship?
Luke places these words of Jesus after the return of the 72 disciples. He thanks the Father and then, turning to his disciples, says to them: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”[3] This statement seems to be connected directly to the first one: the things that many prophets and kings desired to see … and to hear – they are the very same things which are hidden by God from the wise.
Let me elaborate. Different Targums describe the desire of the prophets to see the days of the Messiah. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 49:1, we read: as soon as the Glory of Shekinah of the Lord was revealed, the time in which the King Messiah was destined to come was hidden from him. Targum Neofiti paraphrases it slightly: As soon as the mystery was revealed to him, it was hidden from him. We have already seen that, in spite of the late dates of these texts, they often reflect the ideas and expectations of Second Temple Judaism. It is only natural to suppose that Jesus was familiar with these religious ideas. After his words in Luke 10:21-22 Jesus turns to His disciples privately and refers to a common idea of His time: that the kings and the prophets were waiting for the days of Messiah – waiting to see and hear what they are seeing and hearing – and now these long-awaited days are happening right before their eyes. The Messiah has come!
However, if the Messiah has come right before their eyes – what then is the secret? Why does this whole theme of hidden remain so important for Luke? And what are the hidden things that Jesus is thanking the Father for?
Here I would like to quote again from some rabbinic writings: “Our Masters taught: When the King Messiah appears, he will come stand on the roof of the Temple and will make a proclamation to Israel saying: Meek ones, the day of your redemption is come.”
What does this remind you of? I think the answer is obvious – it sounds very similar to the description of Jesus’ temptation:
Luke 4:9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here”.
For years, I’ve been wondering about the strange nature of this temptation – third in Luke or second in Matthew. In the two other temptations, Jesus is tempted by something very understandable, by the bread and by power – but here the Satan is not even saying what he is offering. “Throw yourself down from here” – what is Jesus actually being tempted by? If it was to work, and he did not die, what would his reward be? What is the temptation in this?
The passage we just read is taken from Piska 36 of tractate Pesikta Rabbati[4]. Read again Luke 4:9, and in the light of this rabbinic text, probably you would agree that Jesus was tempted to reveal himself as King Messiah before the appointed time.
Now, together with Jesus – who just withstood this temptation – we can enter the synagogue of Nazareth, still in the same chapter 4. Up until now, every time in this Gospel when some heavenly news was revealed to various elected people, they received it – like the shepherds, who stood up and immediately went to Bethlehem. But here we see something very different: Jesus is opening the scroll of Isaiah, reading the amazing words, proclaiming the good news and bringing a message from heaven, – but the people gathered are not able to receive His message. Though the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him, there is a veil separating the people from seeing and understanding the mystery of His messiahship: as Messiah, He remains “hidden” from them and for them. Why? This is yet another piece of this big puzzle, another glimpse of the mystery of Jesus being not recognized by his own people: Jesus who came to His own and His own received Him not. We need to unlock this mystery – and it means that from now on, we will need the key.
[1] Lk.8.17, Lk.12.2
[2] Lk.10.21
[3] Lk. 10.24
[4] This Midrash was composed much later, of course, – but once again, a big part of the ideas and expectations reflected there, belongs to the Second Temple Judaism. The source material all comes from the Land of Israel. Modern scholarly opinion tends to view the Pesikta Rabbati as a Palestinian work of the sixth or seventh century.
Thank you. In Jesus’s ministry was the fulfillment of Him defined already in the Oracle’s of God. At Nazareth He said , Today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. To John’s disciples He said, Go tell him what these fulfillments are…in short. To individuals, as in John 4, He declared Himself as Messiah. Weeping over Jerusalem, He grieved the people missed His visitation. So, if hidden, it was after Isaiah’s declaration Jesus stated in Matt 13. The priesthood was corrupted and Pharisaic Judaism looked inward for righteousness exalting tradition. So He was hidden by many things. Self proclamation wasn’t for God’s Servant. John
The pinnacle of the Temple was the closest place to the heavens, and to its God on this earth. “Throw yourself down from here” might have been a temptation to separate Himself from His Father and His Father’s purposes. Declare/reveal yourself to be Messiah, and in your power, assume your role as Israel’s true and rightful king. Of course, if He had done this, He needn’t have suffered, but this wouldn’t have accomplished God’s higher purpose for His Messiah as redeemer of His Creation.
I agree, Lisa. When we see this temptation it in the light of this Mirdrash and the whole Hidden Messiah theme, it brings a whole new understanding of it. Indeed, it might have been a temptation to fulfill His mission in “an easy way”: to reveal Himself as Messiah at this point already and therefore, to avoid the cross and the suffering. It must have been the most difficult temptation then, don’t you think?
This is truly eye-opening, food for thought and for further study. I am looking forward to the key.
Thank you for your articles. I have enjoyed reading them and thinking on them. Yes I am excited about your next post.
It´s an interesting wiev. I´ve been across some similar thoughts before. There is no doubt for me that the cross is the pivot point. But the interesting thing is that it wasn´t immediatly after the ressurection but 50 days later after the ascention and the giving of the holy spirit that Peter so proudly made his declarations and from that point nothing about Jesus Messiahship was hidden. To me it talks about preparations, fullfillment, regrouping and a new start.
I am really enjoying your gift for teaching. You feed us just enough to make this even more enticing and then leave us hanging. I’m actually irritated (in a good way:)) that I have to wait for the next installment!
🙂 Thank you Duncan! By the way , the new post is there already (I just published it) – so don’t be irritated (even in a good way :)), just go to the blog . It’s there, and I hope you’ll like it.
Dear Dr Blum: I am so glad to meet your writings through eTeacher here. You have captured me as your reader of your magnificent presentation of Yeshua. I love Him dearly and love hearing His own (such as yourself) express Him and your Hebrew understanding in the Holy Spirit is captivating my heart waiting eagerly to hear and read more from you!
“11For He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11-12. I have believed that the Satan-one wanted Yeshua to present His powers as an awesome man to “WOW” the audience in signs in wonders to bring attention to Himself by jumping off the Temple ledge and let the legion of angels come to His rescue. “Show and tell Yourself! Why hide behind your humanity! Show them You are God! You really are something!” Thank goodness He didn’t! He is our Pioneer through the temptations of Satan. Yeshua could not have saved us in His Humanity if He fell for that “Exhibit Yourself ploy!” It is “Take up your cross and follow Me. Deny yourself!” What a Leader and Savior! If we find ourselves in this situation, better get off the Temple ledge and fast! It is all false advertisement of Christ Living in me drawing attention to ourselves and not pointing it all to Him! I can hardly wait till you give us more keys with the Hebrew thinking of God our Father for creating this glorious Man who now is inhabiting our hearts! What a joyful heart and high gladness we have everyday!
Thank You Julia. I always thought that the hidden Messiahship was in fact the Great mystery mentioned in the bible. It was Yah’s plan to have Yahshua to unite all things in heaven and on earth. As such Yahshua’s role had to be kept secret.
In the book of Enoch. Enoch sees a human conversing with Yah. Enoch knew every man on the planet but not this man. Enoch’s angelic companion did not reveal the name of this man, telling Enoch that his name must be kept a secret. Which I assume this man to be Messiah.
Wonderful comment re the book of Enoch. Thank you, Danny. I fully agree.
I already feel the Ruach Ha Kodesh, within your intricate teachings. Toda raba Julia! for being a servant of the Most High
Shalom Julia,
A wonderfully insightful piece whereby we await with expectation the ‘key’.
In the interim, I am curious about ‘the Pesikta Rabbati’. I realise that as per your note, it was written in the sixth or seventh century, however in the body of your commentary, we have the phrase, ‘Our Masters taught….’., which assuming I have read your commentary correctly, is suggesting(?) a (much?) earlier source of (oral?) inspiration.
I am therefore interested in:
1. Who were these ‘masters’?
2. Where did they draw their inspiration from (in the Tanakh or elsewhere?)?, &
3. Around what point in time did these ‘masters’ begin to teach this, such that it was eventually entered into written text in the 6-7th century?
I am curious about this point for it seems that for the adversary to initiate this temptation, where did he get his ‘material’ from to tempt Yeshua with the third temptation? Was it from the ‘masters’ some decades or centuries before & if so, where did these ‘masters’ drawn their inspiration from to make such a proclamation? Is there an implied or explicit reference in the (canonized) Tanakh or something extra-biblical?
I recognize that the authors of the NT were inspired by the Holy Spirit, drawing from the Tanakh & as such, putting various pieces of the puzzle together. However, there are a myriad of commentary in the epistles whereby the ‘source material’ doesn’t seem to have any implied or explicit Tanakh ref., therefore they could well have been in the same position as David, who as moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote a great deal of prophetic material, much of which is still being debated today, as it was in Yeshua’s time, perhaps even by the adversary himself. This has therefore piqued my curiosity which is reflected in the above 3 questions, which may or may not lead to more questions:).
Shalom,
Todd
Thank you , Todd, for your encouraging words and for your interesting questions. As I wrote in my note, the midrash itself was completed in the sixth or seventh century ( and some scholars think that even later than that); however, the main part of its sources can be traced back to 4-5 century and even earlier, and most of the sources come form the Land of Israel, not from the Diaspora. We can’t be sure that they reflect the expectations of the first century – bu we can’t exclude it either. The midrash speaks, of course, of the destruction of the Temple – and the roof of the Temple on which the Messiah will appear, belongs to the rebuilt Temple and complete the apocalyptic time-line from the beginning of the Temple to the day of the final judgment. The word Masters, or Sages, stands for Rabboteinu in Hebrew (רבותינו), it means “our Rabbis” , and there is of course a long list of those Rabbis, those teachers of the oral law whose teachings are contained in the different Rabbinic writings. This list usually starts with the Shammaites (Bet Shammai) and the Hillelites (Bet Hillel) from the first century CE.
By the way, in order to answer your questions, I checked again the Hebrew text of the Midrash and discovered there something amazing that I missed completely in my previous article. I will share it in my next post. So – thank you so much!
Thank you Julia for your considered & informative reply.
I shared this with my finace on the phone this morning & she pondered whether standing on the temple roof is something associated with what the Kohen haGadol might do? Or perhaps it has something to do with the sighting of the new moon? Or something else altogether that you have since discovered in the Midrash?
The question still therefore remains though as to how standing on the temple (roof) connects with Messiah & His appearance, & from where was this (possible?) connection made (Tanakh?) & when was it made, such that haSatan would (first?) utilise this in the third temptation? This is the nub of the ‘source’ question.
If this is a shadow picture, wherein Yeshua was taken to the top of the temple (ironically) by haSatan, how do the sages interpret Messiah’s coming appearance on the rebuilt temple i.e. what are the sages connecting the appearance on the top of the temple with ie Rosh Chodesh of the seventh month, a task by the Kohen haGadol, or both, or something else?
Sorry for the rephrased question, but the ‘standing on the temple roof’ & the third temptation & the Midrash piqued my interest, esp. in regards to what the connection is & from where, & when. I am generally trying to understand the significance of ‘standing on the temple roof’. Is it, as my finace put it, that Messiah is over the temple made of human hands or something else? What is the significance of this matter?
And just as importantly, where was this understanding of standing on the temple roof sourced from (in the Tanakah or a non-canonised reference?), such that haSatan was aware of it & used it in his third temptation & then (sometime later?) the sages prophetically apply it to the coming of Messiah?
Additionally, Yeshua noted that He will return the way He left – to Bethany/the Mount of Olives(?), so how to reconcile the Sages midrash of appearing on the (rebuilt) temple & Yeshua’s own Words of returning the way He left, or was Yeshua simply referring to His descending on the clouds, being the opposite of His ascending? Or is this an ‘and’ covering both the Mount of Olives (it’s splitting), & the rebuilt temple, & coming on the clouds?
This also perhaps begs the question as to whether this ‘standing on the temple roof’ can be counterfeited by the adversary, esp seeing as it was used the first time to tempt Yeshua, so why not intervene & act (prematurely?) in an attempt to deceptively attempt to fulfill messianic prophecy, esp. if the (Rabbinical?) Jews are expecting this as a sign? This even makes me ask the question as to how much weight is placed on this prophetic Midrash of standing on the temple roof by today’s sages?
And connected with the above note, it also begs another question pertaining to the Temple Institute & the desire for a third temple. For in as far as I can tell, their plans do not resemble the temple described in Ezekiel 40-44 (please correct me if I am wrong here:). I think you might see where this line of thought might go, as far as the potential for deception is concerned for those looking for a sign of the coming/returning Messiah.
As you can tell, one question leads to another:). Perhaps some or all of these questions will have answers in your next installment:) ?.
Shalom
Wow , Todd, so many questions – and so profound questions! I don’t think I can give all the answers, especially here, in this format. I think, it requires separate study – and it would be a great topic for the study, by the way: I have to double check, but I don’t think there is any research connecting standing on the Temple roof with the third temptation and answering (or even asking) the questions you are asking. Your questions made me really curious, I believe, I am going to study it more – and of course, I would be happy to hear from you if you have some discoveries. Let’s keep thinking about it together.
And by the way, I am really impressed by your fiancee and by the depth of your conversations! Wonderful!