{"id":5858,"date":"2003-07-16T16:22:55","date_gmt":"2003-07-16T21:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?page_id=5858"},"modified":"2019-07-16T20:56:02","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T01:56:02","slug":"jesus-was-an-old-testament-israelite","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/jesus-was-an-old-testament-israelite\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Was an Old Testament Israelite"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

2.4 Jesus Was an Old Testament Israelite<\/h1>\n

Quote:<\/h2>\n

“Jesus was an Old Testament ‘Israelite’ — not a New Testament ‘Christian.’ Jesus lived the life of a Jew under the Law of Moses; Jesus was not a New Testament ‘Christian’ and did not live the ‘Christian life.'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Answer:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. This argument states that Christ was not a Christian. We agree. Did Jesus become a \u201cChristian\u201d after the cross? Do we listen to Jesus after the cross because Jesus, the \u201cIsraelite\u201d became a New Testament \u201cChristian\u201d? Of course, if He were a Christian, He would have to be a follower<\/i> of Christ. A Christian is someone who belongs to Christ, is in Christ, and follows Christ. Thus, in order for Jesus to be a Christian, someone else would have to be the Christ. Then, Jesus could follow the Christ, and be a Christian. Of course, this is absurd. Jesus did not need to be a Christian. He needed to be the Christ, the role model, the pattern that \u201cChristians\u201d would need to follow. Since He intended for His words He had been speaking to Jews only to be preached \u201cin all the world\u201d (Matthew 24:14; 26:13), then He intended His pre-cross words and actions to be a part of that which would be a model for \u201call the world\u201d to follow.<\/li>\n
  2. The fact that He was an \u201cIsraelite\u201d by nationality did not prevent Him from \u201cgiving an example that you should do as I have done<\/em>\u201d (John 13:15). His disciples were given the example of service in John 13, and then in John 15:20 they were told to \u201cRemember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.\u201d <\/i>(KJV). They were to take that lesson (given before the cross) and remember it when they got into the kingdom age and began to suffer persecution. They were to be Christians and remember <\/i>Christ as having set the pattern for Christians to follow. They were not just to restrict their memory to what Jesus said in the 40 day period that he was with them after the cross.<\/li>\n
  3. But Jesus was much more<\/i> than an \u201cIsraelite,\u201d He was the Christ, the Son of God, and the Mediator of the New Testament (Hebrews 9:15). Hebrews 9:19 compares the NT to the OT mediated by Moses. It says Moses first \u201cspoke\u201d the precepts (but did not give \u201call\u201d of the OT, the rest to be revealed by the Spirit through the prophets), and then \u201cdedicated\u201d it with blood. So, while the Patriarchal Law was still \u201cin effect\u201d for Moses and Israel, Moses \u201cspoke every precept of the law\u201d and then \u201cdedicated\u201d it with blood. He did not first offer the blood and then tell them the precepts of the new law He was enjoining upon them. He first \u201cspoke\u201d the law, then dedicated it with blood. At this point, it (the Mosaic Law) came into effect. Likewise, \u201cthe prophet like unto Moses\u201d (Jesus) spoke of many precepts that He expected of His disciples who would enter the kingdom. He told them that there were other things He wanted to say, but the Spirit would complete it (John 16:12-13). Thus, Jesus mediated the New Testament, speaking some of it and promising the Holy Spirit\u2019s help in revealing \u201call\u201d truth. Moses spoke the precepts and the rest of the OT was revealed in time by the Spirit through the prophets. After speaking the precepts, Moses dedicated it with blood. Likewise, Jesus spoke the kingdom precepts and then dedicated the New Kingdom law with His own blood.<\/li>\n
  4. Being an Israelite by birth in no way implies that He was forbidden to speak New Kingdom precepts, or that He had to be a \u201cChristian\u201d before we can follow what He taught. Moses spoke the new Sinai precepts while the Patriarchal Law was still \u201cin effect,\u201d and then afterward \u201cdedicated\u201d it with blood.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Section\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament?\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Section\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    2.4 Jesus Was an Old Testament Israelite Quote: “Jesus was an Old Testament ‘Israelite’ — not a New Testament ‘Christian.’ Jesus lived the life of a Jew under the Law of Moses; Jesus was not a New Testament ‘Christian’ and did not live the ‘Christian life.’” Answer: This argument states that Christ was not a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5797,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5858","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5864,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/jesus-was-the-last-old-testament-prophet\/","url_meta":{"origin":5858,"position":0},"title":"Jesus Was the Last Old Testament Prophet","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"2.6 Jesus Was the Last Old Testament Prophet Quote: \"Jesus was an Old Testament 'prophet' not a New Testament 'evangelist.' Jesus never preached the New Testament 'gospel' in MMLJ -- before the cross. He never produced one New Testament 'Christian.'\" Answer: Jesus was more than an OT \u201cprophet,\u201d He was\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5867,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/no-christians-in-matthew-mark-luke-and-john\/","url_meta":{"origin":5858,"position":1},"title":"No Christians in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"2.7 No Christians in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Quote: \"The word \"Christian\" was not used by Jesus and his Jewish disciples under\u00a0the Law of Moses in MMLJ -- before the cross. The word \"Christian\" is not\u00a0found in MMLJ -- before the cross\" Answer: Once again, we see that an\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":5858,"position":2},"title":"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament? (Benton and Brown)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament? A Discussion of this Question in Light\u00a0of Scriptural Teaching by Terry W. Benton and\u00a0Dave Brown January 29, 1999 Preface The Basic Argument Proposition 1: Law Went Forth Proposition 2: When Did Jesus Cease Teaching the Law? 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He returns to the subject to emphasize that we must hold firm to our confession (Romans 10:5-10) because\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/only-one-law-in-force\/","url_meta":{"origin":5858,"position":4},"title":"Only One Law in Force","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"2.2 Only One Law in Force Quote: \"The Old Testament Law of Moses was the only covenant law in force during the time of MMLJ -- before the cross. The New Testament of Christ was not revealed or did it come into force before the death of Christ (Heb. 9:16-17).\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5855,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/only-acceptable-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":5858,"position":5},"title":"Only Acceptable Worship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"2.3 Only Acceptable Worship Quote: \"The only acceptable worship of God during the time of MMLJ -- before the cross -- was under the Law of Moses and in the Jerusalem temple.\" Answer: No angels or mere prophets were allowed to be worshiped under the OT system of worship. But,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5858\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}