Seeing Jesus Christ: Part 2: a branch of righteousness

[michaelvpardo]

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.'' Matthew 1:20-21

The gospels according to Matthew and according to Luke both speak about the birth of Jesus Christ. Luke gives more details, but mostly in explaining the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist.

Matthew ties his account to the fulfillment of scripture given through the prophet Isaiah, and it was Isaiah who probably wrote more about the Messiah, the Son of David, and future King of Israel than all the other prophets combined. Matthew talks about Jesus' birth in terms of Isaiah's prophecy of a sign given by God: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,'' which is translated, "God with us.'' Matthew 1:23

Luke gives more detail about the birth of John the Baptist, and identifies him as the prophet of the Lord, promised by Malachi, and as the return of Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.'' Malachi 4:5-6

Matthew also tells us that Joseph was visited by an Angel in a dream, and that this Angel, explaining Mary's conception, tells Joseph to name the child "Jesus" as in the first quote given in this part of our study. Luke tells us that Mary was also visited by an Angel, who explained to her that she would conceive and bear a Son and that this Son would be called Jesus. Matthew gives us a reason for the name, but doesn't tell us anything about its significance in the light of Old Testament prophecy. A casual reading of the Bible will never reveal this. The English translations of the Bible we commonly read give us the name "Jesus" translated from Greek texts of the New Testament scriptures, but the Hebrew version of the name of Jesus is "Joshua," which was the name given to our Savior.

If you search the Old Testament for the name "Jesus," you generally won't find it unless you are searching a version of the scriptures translated to English directly from the Septuagint, which was itself a Greek translation written for the Jews of the Diaspora. However, you will find the name "Joshua" written many times. In fact, the name Joshua, along with its variants, was relatively common and still is today.

According to Strong's concordance of the Bible, the name Joshua has the meaning "Jehovah - saved". Modern messianic Jews that have received Jesus as their Messiah use the name Yahshua or Yashua, pronounced "Yah- shoo- ah," a modern Hebrew pronunciation of "Joshua," when speaking of our Savior. There is some modern controversy about the pronunciation of the covenant name of God, generically referred to as the Tetragrammaton, because the Jews considered it blasphemous to speak the name of God out loud when not used in solemn prayer or invocation by the priesthood.

The earliest Hebrew writing didn't include vowel sounds, because these were understood through use. It is however, a fair bet that the name Joshua or Jehoshua is a close variant in pronunciation of the name given by the Father, as the Son is intended to be identified with Him.

We still haven't looked at what the Old Testament says in regard to the name Joshua. The passage of prophecy that I would consider most significant regarding the name of the messiah comes from the book of Zechariah. Zechariah was a prophet in the days following the Babylonian captivity and when the Jews were permitted to depart from Babylon and the Persian districts to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city and the temple.

At that time the Jewish high priest was named Joshua. Chapter 3 of the book of Zechariah gives a description of a vision concerning Joshua and one of the greatest messianic promises given to Israel: Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts: `If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here. `Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription,' says the Lord of hosts, `And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. Zechariah 3:6-9

This passage identifies the person of Joshua (and his companions) as a wondrous sign of the servant of the Lord referred to as the Branch. This name "the Branch" has associated with it a prophetic line which goes back at least as far as the prophet Isaiah: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:1-4

Although King David’s name is not mentioned, David was the son of Jesse and this passage was and is understood to be messianic and in reference to the Son of David that was promised to King David in the seventh chapter of 2 Samuel. There is a second reference to the "branch" in chapter 11 of Isaiah, which is again messianic, but more applicable to the second coming of our Lord and His millenial kingdom: "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.'' Isaiah 11:10

 

[michaelvpardo]

The prophet Jeremiah also gave us prophecy about the Branch in at least two chapters: "Behold, the days are coming,'' says the Lord, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jeremiah 23:5-6

and: `Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, `that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: `In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jeremiah 33:14-16

As you should see, these are parallel passages about the Messiah and Son of David from the same prophetic book. I believe that the passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah are sufficient to allow us to recognize that the references to God’s servant the Branch are made in reference to the Son of David, the Messiah, or Christ.

But there is a second passage in the book of Zechariah that identifies the name of the Branch: "Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. "Then speak to him, saying, `Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: "Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord; yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.'' ' Zechariah 6:11-13

In this passage we see the high priest Joshua being used as a sign of the messiah to come “whose name is the Branch” and of the ministry of Jesus as both our High Priest and our King. You have to remember here, that in Israel under the Old Testament law, there were two separate blood lines for priest and king.

David, the second king of Israel and God’s choice rather than man’s choice, was a descendant of Judah. When Abraham made his blessings upon his sons, he named Judah as the one who would bear the scepter, the symbol of rule and leadership, and this blessing was a messianic promise as well: "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Genesis 49:8-10

Saul, the first king of Israel was of the tribe of Benjamin, but in the case of Saul, God gave Israel the kind of man they wanted as a king. King David however was called a man after God’s own heart, and God chose David not because of external appearances, but because of what was in David’s heart, a sincere desire to serve and to glorify God with his life.

The priestly line, however, was promised under the covenant of law to the descendants of Aaron: "And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. Exodus 29:9

When God chose to use the high priest Joshua as a sign of His messiah and king, He demonstrated that Jesus would be both High Priest and King, but Jesus was not a direct descendant of Aaron.

The author of the book of Hebrews explains this in chapter 5, showing that Jesus was made a High priest according to the order of Melchizedek and not of Aaron. The sign given by God through the prophet Zechariah and by the person of the High priest couldn’t be understood by Zechariah’s contemporaries, because it was a contradiction of God’s word for a man to be both king and priest.

The author of Hebrews gives a clear explanation that makes the contradiction disappear, and points further to the finished work of Jesus upon the cross, also pointing to the end of the covenant of law and the establishment of a new and better covenant: For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. Hebrews 7:26-28

There are some very significant theological issues regarding the birth of Christ that I haven’t looked at here at all, but I welcome the participants in the forum to add their comments and explore those other issues.

The main theological point I want to make here, comes from the name of Jesus being associated with the passages that I’ve quoted and the ministry that it points to. Jesus’ ministry as High priest refers both to His one time act of sacrifice on the cross, by which He brings to perfection all that the Father has chosen to receive Him by faith, and to His continuing intercession with the Father on behalf of those that He is sanctifying through His word. Jesus’ ministry as King refers to His Lordship over us, His rule and His judgment with regard to our works, and primarily upon whether or not we have believed Him.

I have heard many sermons given upon the topic of Jesus’ Lordship, essentially stating that you must receive Jesus as your Lord as well as your savior in order to be saved. I believe this to be true, though I typically hear the message given with respect to those who would use the gospel as a free ticket to escape destruction without ever making a move toward repentance from sin.

The scripture however, can be a two edged sword, and it is just as true to say that one must receive Jesus as Savior as well as Lord in order to be saved. That is, a person could fear God and seek to serve Him, believing that Jesus is indeed Lord, without having ever received Jesus as Savior.

To receive Jesus as Savior, means to give up any notion that your own righteousness or righteous works can earn your entry into the kingdom of heaven. In order to receive the righteousness of God, you must trust that Jesus’ sacrifice upon your own behalf is sufficient to pay the price of all your sin. Jesus told Nicodemus that “you must be born again” to enter into the kingdom of heaven. As we have no control over being born physically, neither do we have control over being reborn spiritually. This is entirely the work of God on our behalf.

In either case, the essential element remains genuine belief. All those that come to faith in Jesus Christ through the power of the gospel are made perfect in eternity through the work of God, but while we still wear our fleshly bodies we remain imperfect according to our old nature which battles continuously with the new and divine nature of the Holy Spirit within us.

We go through a process of sanctification, through which God, the Holy Spirit, uses His word to convict us of sin and bring us to repentance. Our Salvation rests upon God’s faithfulness and not upon our own. The work of the Holy Spirit within us brings out the fruit of repentance as well as the fruit of righteousness, but there can be no good fruit unless you’ve become part of the good vine. This again, is only by receiving Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, by faith.

I have more to say about the name Joshua and how God used history to give a prophetic picture of the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, but that will have to wait until the next part of the study.

 

[michaelvpardo]

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6