The Jesus of the Bible - Lines & Precepts

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2). These two verses are enough to let a person know that Jesus has been around for a long time. But there are those who still insist that Jesus was just another prophet, or some guy that started and put forth his own philosophy. Some even say that he never came.

Before we embark on proving the longevity of Jesus, I would like to make a few things clear. This publication is based totally on the Bible, and is written solely for those who believe in the Bible. We do not try to persuade people to think the way we do. We show the scriptures to people and let them be persuaded through their own research. If the scriptures cannot convince them, we certainly cannot.

In order to find out about Jesus, we must follow his instructions. He told his servants to “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (St. John 5:39). We will begin our search at Genesis 1:26; “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” To whom was he talking? Was it the angel? We find that some of the angels have four faces, four wings, and calf’s feet. (Ezk. 1:4-10). It is evident that there are no such people among us. Therefore, one must ask, to whom was God talking? We will leave the question open and see if the answer surfaces by the time we reach the end of this publication.

Now, let us look at the book of Psalms (2:1-12). (1) ‘Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? (2) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, (3) Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us…(7) I will declare the decree: the Lord has said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee…(12) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled just a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” Who is this that’s called the Lord’s Anointed, and why are the statements such as us and their and Kiss the Son made if it is not speaking of Jesus before he came in the flesh through Mary? Also notice, that this person is speaking of himself when he said, “The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son.” Certainly King David was not speaking of himself, because David has never been called the son of God, neither have God and David entered into any joint venture to control the nations. Now, let us go to Psalm 16: 8-11. (8) ” I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (9) Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. (10) For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (grave); neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption (deteriorate or decompose)”.

Again this person is speaking of himself. This is not David speaking of himself, but Jesus speaking of himself through the mouth of David. To prove this point, let us take a look at the book of Acts. (Acts 2: 22-35) Read these verses and the Apostle Peter will tell you that David was speaking of the resurrection of Jesus, and that David is both dead and buried and his sepulcher (grave) is still with them. He stated also that David has not ascended into heaven. Therefore David was not speaking about himself here, nor in Psalm 110:1, where he said, “The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Peter knew that in order for David to sit at the right hand of God, he would have to have been raised from the dead. Plus David spoke of two persons other than himself when he said “the Lord said unto my Lord.” Let’s look further in the scripture before we continue in Psalm.

In the book of Genesis, before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, there was a war between those cities and some other kings of that region. Sodom and Gomorrah and their allies lost the war and some of their citizens were taken captive and were carried back to the lands of the kings that won the war. Among the captives was Lot, Abram’s brother. When Abram was told about Lot’s capture, he armed himself and his servants, pursued those kings, fought against them, and won. He brought back Lot and everything that those kings had taken. Upon his return, he was met by the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, which had run away to avoid death and capture. He was also met by a king that was not of the region; neither was he of any kingdom nor any region of the earth. That King was Melchizedek.

This Melchizedek was King of Salem, and he was also Priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14). This Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine (the same thing Jesus and the Apostles had at the Passover). He blessed Abram and received tithes from him. In order to find more information on Melchizedek, let us go to the book of Hebrews (Chapter 7). In this chapter we find out that the name Melchizedek means “King of Righteousness”. He was also the King of Salem (which means “King of Peace”), as well as the Priest of the Most High God. It is further noted that Melchizedek was (Hebrews 7:3), “Without father, without mother, without decent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” If you read the 7th chapter of Hebrews you will see that there can be only one High Priest at a time, and the only way for him to leave the office of High Priest is to die; and considering the fact that Melchizedek will never die, he will always be High Priest. The apostle Paul explains clearly in this chapter that there were many High Priests among flesh and blood men because they could not continue to hold office “by reason of death” Paul also explains that Jesus was promised the office of High Priest, and he quoted the 4th verse of the 110th chapter of Psalms, where it is written, “The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” By taking all of these scriptures into consideration and realizing the fact that Melchizedek cannot die and God cannot lie, one is compelled to acknowledge that Melchizedek and Jesus are, and always were, the same Person.

If you need an example of how the priesthood works, look at the office of the Pope of Rome. It was set up on the order of the High Priesthood. The Pope only leaves office by dying out of it. If there had been any that retired from office, it is an irregularity.

Let us go back to the book of Psalms (45: 1-7). In this chapter at first glance, you would think that this is talking about King David. But pay attention to the statements that are made, such as, “Thou art fairer than the children of men: Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O Most Mighty with thy glory and thy majesty.” Especially note the 6th and 7th verses where he says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” At no time and not under any circumstances has David been referred to in this manner. In this scripture, it is the Father talking to Jesus. To make it even clearer that the Father is talking here and that he is talking to Jesus, return to the book of Hebrews, and read Chapter 1 in its entirety, for Paul will explain in depth and quote the 45th chapter of Psalm.

We cannot copy all of the scriptures to which we are referring you; however, we can point out a few highlights. Therefore, we ask you to take your Bible and read it along with this publication. The last scripture in Psalm to which we will refer you is the 22nd Chapter. Read the whole chapter and you will see that Jesus foretold of his crucifixion, all of the acts that took place and even the words that were said by him and the people who mocked him. Afterwards, read the 27th chapter of St. Matthew and you will almost think you are reading the 22nd Chapter of Psalms.

Now we will have a look at the book of Isaiah and see just who it is that is talking to the prophet (Isaiah 57: 11-15). In particular, note verse 15. It says, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with Him also that is of a contrite one.” Most people would read right over this 15th verse, but if you take a closer look at its contents, you will see two beings or persons that inhabit eternity (live forever), who dwell in the High and Holy Place, and by now we should know who they are.

Let us turn to the 61st Chapter of Isaiah (Isaiah 61: 1-2). This scripture says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, (2) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” The prophet Isaiah is not speaking of himself, but Jesus is speaking through the writings of Isaiah, and letting us know that the Lord had sent him to do a job. Notice that he was speaking in the first person as if he was talking directly to us. To get a clearer understanding of this, let us go to St. Luke 4: 14-21. Here in St. Luke it tells us about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. How he had finished forty days of fasting, and was being tempted by Satan the Devil. He then went into the synagogue and they handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah, he opened it to the 61st Chapter and read the 1st and 2nd verses and closed it up. “And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” The fact that Isaiah wrote “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed Me, instead of using the word Him tells us that Jesus is the One that dictated this scripture to Isaiah. To further prove that Jesus is the One that gave the scriptures to the prophets; let us go the book of Zechariah (Zechariah 2: 8-1). (8) “For thus saith the Lord of host, after the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoil you, for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye (9) For behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants; and ye shall know that the Lord of host has sent me. (10) Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. (11) And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shall know that the Lord of host has sent me unto thee.”

Now let us understand what Zechariah has written, for the first thing, the Lord did not send Zechariah to the nations. Secondly, Zechariah will not and did not shake his hands over the nations; and thirdly, Zechariah is not the Lord, but he wrote, “I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.” Who is this Lord that was sent by the Lord of Host? It is none other than the one who gave Zechariah the message, Jesus himself. Let us go further in the book of Zechariah 12: 1- 10. In particular, we will look closely at verse 10, for it says, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me, who they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first born.” If you read the verses that precede verse 10, you will observe statements such as, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling; I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. None of these acts can be attributed to Zechariah, only the Lord has power to accomplish them, and the Lord that gave Zechariah this message is also the on that was pierced; and even the least of scholars that study the Bible will tell you that no one, at any time has pierced the Father.

There are many scriptures that tell of Jesus’ betrayal, death and resurrection and even of his receiving the Kingdom from the Father. We will take a look at just a few.

First let us see his betrayal foretold in Zechariah 11:12-13. (12) “And I said unto them, if ye think good give me my price; and if not, forebear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter, a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” By just examining this scripture, it doesn’t make sense, but by knowing that Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and how he gave it back to the chief priest, once he realized they were going to kill Jesus; and the chief priest took the thirty pieces of silver and bought the potter’s field. It makes a lot of sense. See St. Matthew 26: 14-16 and 27: 1-10, and you will understand what you have read very clearly, and you will know that the Lord was telling Zechariah the prophet about his betrayal, way back in the days of the Medo-Persian Empire. Now let us look at his death and resurrection told in the form of a Holy Day, turn to Leviticus chapter 16, verses 1-22. This Holy Day is called The Day of Atonement. On this day, the people would take two live goats and the High Priest (which was Aaron at the time) would kill one for a sin offering (which was for the sins of the people), and would leave the other one alive to be the scapegoat and confess all the sins of the people over him, putting all their sins upon the head of this goat. Why two goats? Because God would not raise a goat from the dead. Therefore it was necessary to use one goat to show the death of Jesus and one to show his resurrection. For a clearer understanding, turn to the book of Romans, chapter 5, verses 8-11). It says (8) “But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him (10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (11) And not only so, but we also joy in God by our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. The Apostle Paul knew the importance of the Day of Atonement and the reason for the two goats. So should all true believers and worshipers of God. We could go to so many other scriptures, such as Exodus the 12th chapter, where it tells of the Passover. How the Lamb without blemish was killed and his blood was put over the door posts to protect the people when God killed all the firstborn in Egypt. He said when He saw the blood he would pass over that house and not kill anyone in it. That Lamb and that Blood represented Jesus and His blood.

We will look at one more scripture and it should tell all: l Corinthians 10:1-4. (1) “Moreover brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea; (2) and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; (3) and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ.”

“IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. THE SAME WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD.”

“And God said; let us make man in our image.”

We wish all true servants God’s speed.

Author: The Israel of God

Watch: Jesus, God of the Old and New Testaments