Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20111225.htm

CHRISTMAS INTERLUDE
The TRUE Angel Gabriel's TRUE Christmas Message of Hope
Part IV: God's TRUE Messiah To All TRUE Believers
(Luke 1:36-37 with 1:5-17 et al.)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    The Angel Gabriel plays a key role in three major religions -- in Christendom, in Islam and in Judaism. However, though Judaism believes what the Angel Gabriel in the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures announced in Daniel 8 and 9, it does not accept the Luke 1 KJV Christian New Testament's claim that Gabriel said Jesus was the "Son of the Highest", and that the "Lord God" would "give unto him the throne of his father David" to "rule over the house of Jacob forever" as Israel's Messiah in a "kingdom" that would have "no end":

    (1) Rocco M. Pugliese's letter to the editor in the Waterbury Republican-American (December 19, 2011, p. 6A) explained Judaism's position when he wrote: "For Jews, the oneness of God is sacrosanct and indivisible; Jesus was at best a charismatic rabbi of prophetic stature who suffered an ignominious death . . .", but that He was not as "Christians believe" the "Son of God" and "Messiah"!

    (2) Accordingly, centuries of differences between Christians and Jews over Jesus' identity have led to tragic evils that have spawned distrust among many Hebrews. This was seen in a recent article by Stamford, Connecticut Rabbi Joshua Hammerman titled, "My Tebow Problem" in The Jewish Week. (Ibid., Linda Chavez, "The bigotry of Tim Tebow's legion of critics") Reacting to NFL quarterback Tim Tebow's public testimony of his evangelical Christian faith, the rabbi wrote: "If Tebow wins the Super Bowl, against all odds, it will buoy his faithful, and emboldened faithful can do insane things, like burning mosques, bashing gays and indiscriminately banishing immigrants.'"

    These words were heavily criticized by some of his readers, so the rabbi replied in his blog that Tebow's "entire life's work is also predicated on saving my soul for Jesus . . . I have issues with anyone determined to save my soul, be that person Christian or Jewish,'" Ibid.



    So, to discern the truth in this Jewish-Christian debate over Jesus' identity, we ask, "How do we know if the alleged Angel Gabriel's words in Luke 1 about Jesus being the Messiah and Son of God are true in view of Judaism's refusal to believe they came from the true Old Testament Angel Gabriel?!"

    Need: "If Judaism does not believe its Old Testament Angel Gabriel also claimed in Luke 1 that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God, how can we know the truth about Jesus' identity?!"

  1. Judaism errs in underestimating the New Testament Jesus, for He alone fulfills the Old Testament Angel Gabriel's messianic oracles:
    1. Gabriel spoke twice in the Old Testament, both in a messianic focus:
      1. In Daniel 8:15-27, Gabriel predicted the rise and fall of Antiochus Epiphanes, a type of the final antichrist (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1358-1359), and mentioned the "Prince of princes," the Messiah.
      2. In Daniel 9:20-27, Gabriel foretold the rise and fall of the actual antichrist, and described events concerning the life of the Messiah.
    2. Amazingly, Gabriel's Daniel 9 depiction of Messiah fits only Jesus:
      1. In Daniel 9:25-26 KJV, Gabriel said "Messiah the Prince" would be "cut off," a term "used of executing the death penalty on a criminal" (Ibid., p. 1364), and Jesus died condemned as a criminal!
      2. Gabriel said the Messiah at his death would have nothing (Daniel 9:26b NIV), He would have no kingdom! Jesus did not then have the kingdom, but predicted its postponement in Matthew 23:37-39!
      3. Gabriel also gave a timeline for Messiah that fits only Jesus:
        1. In the context, Gabriel predicted Messiah would die after 69 weeks of years (Daniel 9:1-2, 24-26 with 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 as further explained in Leviticus 26:34 and 25:4).
        2. Figuring a year to have 360 days as Genesis 7:11; 8:3-4 shows the ancients did, Gabriel said Messiah would die 483 years after Artaxerxes' March 5, 444 B. C. edict that Jerusalem be rebuilt, a period ending March 30, A. D. 33, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in His Triumphal Entry to offer Himself as King, Zech. 9:9. (Harold Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 136-139; Ibid., B. K. C., O. T., p. 1363)
        3. Jesus was crucified just after this 483-year period ended like Gabriel predicted in Daniel 9:25-26a. (Luke chs. 19-23) In fact, Luke 22-23 reports Jesus died on Passover at full moon (cf. Ex. 12:1-6), and from astronomical and mathematical calculations made of lunar syzygies (movements of the earth, sun and moon) between 1001 B. C. and A. D. 1651, a full moon occurred on April 3, A. D. 33, four days after Christ's Triumphal Entry. (Herman H. Goldstine, New and Full Moons: 1001 B. C. to A. D. 1651, 1973, p. 87)
      4. Gabriel predicted in Daniel 9:26b NIV that Jerusalem would then be destroyed by the people of the antichrist to come, the Romans (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Dan. 2:40; Dan. 4:40-45), and this occurred in A. D. 70, and until antichrist arrived on the scene, Jerusalem would experience war and desolations, a prediction being fulfilled today!
  2. However, Judaism has even erred on the Angel Gabriel himself: in Luke 1, Gabriel critiques the views Hebrew teachers had about himself, showing they underestimated his own person and role:
    1. The Hebrews of Jesus' era taught that the Angel Gabriel of Daniel 8:16 and 9:21 was inferior to the Angel Michael of Daniel 10:21, A. Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 2004, p. 100.
    2. Thus, they claimed Gabriel stood to the less-honored left and Michael to the more-honored right of God's throne in heaven, Ibid.
    3. The Hebrews also taught that Gabriel chiefly administered justice while Michael administered mainly mercy, Ibid.
    4. However, these views were critiqued by Gabriel in Luke 1:
      1. Gabriel appeared to the right of the altar of incense in Luke 1:11, correcting the Hebrew teachers who had underestimated Gabriel's person as a lesser angel in relation to God!
      2. Though Gabriel administered justice, announcing discipline on Zacharias for not believing his words (Luke 1:18-20), he also administered mercy, announcing Messiah's forerunner would be born to a childless, elderly Zacharias and Elizabeth (Luke 1:11-17), correcting the Hebrews who had underestimated Gabriel's role!
  3. So, just as Judaism underestimated the role and person of the Angel Gabriel, Judaism also underestimates the role and Person of Jesus , for He alone fits Gabriel's Old Testament prophetic focuses on the Messiah, requiring us to believe Gabriel's New Testament word that Jesus is not only the Messiah, but also the Son of God!
Application: (1) May we believe the Angel Gabriel's Luke 1 words that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God to be saved, John 20:21. (2) Be assured of the validity of our faith in Christ as His validity is rooted in Old Testament prophecy, John 5:39. (3) Know that Judaism has erred in handling its own Scriptures, even regarding the Angel Gabriel, and put Scripture above man's interpretations!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 In our sermon introduction, we cited a letter to the editor of the Republican-American by Rocco M. Pugliese who noted: "For Jews, the oneness of God is sacrosanct and indivisible" for the reason they could not accept Jesus as God along with the Father as do we Christians.

However, the Christian view on this subject is validated by use of only the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures (as follows):

(1) First, as Judaism asserts, Deuteronomy 6:4 claims: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." There is truly only One God.

However, Jesus also held this view in John 10:30: there He told His Hebrew audience, "I and my Father are one." What Jesus taught by this statement is that "(t)he Father and Son are in perfect unity in their natures and actions, but the neuter form of one' [in the Greek New Testament] rules out the meaning that they are one person." (Ibid., ftn. to John 10:30) Thus, Jesus said He and the Father were one in the divine essence, but there are at least two persons in the godhead.

(2) However, the HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT ALSO teaches there is MORE THAN ONE PERSON in the GODHEAD, and that David's SON, the MESSIAH, is also GOD:

(a) Psalm 110:1 KJV states: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Since the psalm's author was David, Israel's king, and there was no "lord" over David as Israel's king but God, David shows his "Lord," his human descendant, the Messiah (in the context), Who is then also God, speaks to another Person of the godhead, calling Him "Lord." Thus, according to this Hebrew Old Testament passage, ((1)) there are at LEAST TWO Persons in the godhead, and ((2)) One of them is the human Messiah, or God Incarnate! [((3)) The third divine Person is the Holy Spirit named as such in Genesis 1:2.]

(b) Furthermore, Jesus taught these truths by citing this Psalm 110:1 passage in Matthew 22:41-45, and His conservative Hebrew listeners, the Pharisees, were unable to answer Him a word!

Thus, the Angel Gabriel's Old Testament messages validate the New Testament's record of Gabriel's words in Luke 1 that Jesus is God's Hebrew Messiah and Son of God.

May we then believe on Him for salvation and live expectantly for His Kingdom!