While telos can mean “end” or “termination,” it can also mean “goal,” “perfection,” or “culmination.” Paul’s wording is deliberately vague, conveying two ideas at once. Christ is both the goal and the end of the Law.
If the Torah is God’s instructions for how to live, why would Gentiles be excluded from its wonderful truths? In both Romans and Galatians, after Paul has spent a lot of time arguing against their need to observe the Torah, he actually explains how they can “fulfill the Law.”
Why Jesus say he “came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it”? A surprising insight comes from the fact that “fulfill the Law” is actually a Jewish idiom. Along with being found in rabbinic writings, it’s even used several other places in the New Testament.
(An excerpt from my book, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus ) Jesus’s parables fit perfectly into a non-Western, Jewish culture that expressed itself through tangible metaphors. He was engaging in sophisticated theological teaching, but we miss it if we are looking for the deductive abstract arguments of the Greeks. Jesus often based his reasoning […]
(An excerpt from my book, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus ) Jesus’s parables fit perfectly into a non-Western, Jewish culture that expressed itself through tangible metaphors. He was engaging in sophisticated theological teaching, but we miss it if we are looking for the deductive abstract arguments of the Greeks. Jesus often based his reasoning […]
Jesus’ words in light of rabbinic sayings about what happens when people gather to study or pray… God’s Shekinah draws near. Fascinating.
I recently received a question about Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” which I discussed in my book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, page 72. Many read this line as meaning that Jesus promises to be present when his […]
Christians scratch their heads over Jesus’ being raised “on the third day.” Doesn’t Sunday comes only two days after Friday? And what’s so significant about the “third day” anyhow?
Christians should be fascinated that a prominent theme in early synagogues was the fulfillment of God’s prophetic promises. It fits perfectly with Jesus’ ministry of preaching from town to town about the coming of God’s redemptive Kingdom.
(This article is one that I’ve recently posted on the brand new En-Gedi Resource Center website. Under “Jesus’ Jewishness” go to “His Sayings in Context” to read others on this topic.) ~~~~~ . . One key to unlocking many difficult Bible passages is to know that Middle Eastern teachers loved to use irony to make […]
What we find confusing about Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah is that he often combines them with another prediction: that he must suffer and be rejected and killed. How could Jesus connect the Suffering Servant with these prophecies of a glorious king?
Jesus doesn’t seem to describe himself as the exalted Messiah that we find in the rest New Testament, until you read his words in their Jewish context.