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93. What the Bible Says About the Rejected Messiah (pt1)
What The Bible Says.
Fortnightly bible study.
Episode 93 - 16/01/25
Led by Tim Clark
This opening session launches a new “Israel-focused” series by framing the question: if Jesus came first to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” why has Israel, in large measure, rejected Him? The group begins with a short evangelistic video showing Jewish witnesses using the Tanakh to point fellow Jews to Messiah—highlighting how passages like Isaiah 52–53 and Isaiah 9:6 sound “New Testament” to many, even though they are in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The study then lays a biblical foundation for why Jewish evangelism is not optional. Matthew 28:19–20 and Acts 1:8 are read to show the gospel’s outward movement—beginning at Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, then “to the end of the earth.” Romans 1:16 is used to emphasise the pattern “to the Jew first,” and the group notes Paul’s repeated habit in Acts: entering new cities, going first to the synagogue, and only then turning outward when rejected.
From there the discussion stresses continuity: Gentile believers are not a replacement people, but are brought in—“other sheep” gathered into “one flock” under “one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jeremiah 31:31–34 is read to underline that the New Covenant is explicitly made with “the house of Israel” and “the house of Judah,” with Gentiles grafted in, sharing a Jewish root rather than becoming a separate root. This sets a humble tone: the faith is inseparable from God’s promises to Israel and from Israel’s Scriptures.
The group then turns to the central problem: what went wrong, and why do many Jews reject Jesus as Messiah? Several contributing themes are raised—expectations of a warrior-king, confusion about one coming versus two, and the danger of reading Scripture through the lens of what we most want. The study warns Christians not to be smug: hardness of heart is not uniquely “Jewish,” and the only reason any of us see Christ rightly is God’s gracious illumination and mercy.
Objection #1 is explored: “Jesus did not fulfil the Messiah’s promises.” Isaiah 2:1–4 and Ezekiel 37:25–28 are read to show the messianic hope of worldwide peace, nations streaming to Zion, Torah instruction going out from Jerusalem, and God’s sanctuary established among His people. The group notes that Jewish readers naturally expect these to arrive with Messiah’s appearance—so they ask, “Where is the peace? Where is the King on David’s throne? Where is the Temple?” The biblical response offered is that the Tanakh contains both a suffering-servant motif and a conquering-king motif—fulfilled in one Messiah, but in two comings.
Objection #2 follows: “God cannot be a man” (Numbers 23:19). The study answers by pointing to Tanakh episodes where God is encountered in a recognisably personal, embodied manner—Genesis 18 (the LORD appearing with “three men”), the “Angel of the LORD” narratives (e.g., Judges 13:21–22), and prophetic titles like Isaiah 9:6 (“Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father”) applied to a child. The point is not to force a foreign idea onto Israel’s Bible, but to show that Scripture itself contains categories that make incarnation intelligible, preparing the way for the Messiah revealed in the New Testament.
Objection #3 is introduced: “Christianity contradicts the Torah.” The group reads Matthew 5:17 (“fulfil,” not abolish) and Romans 3:31 (“we uphold the Law”), then distinguishes between being under the Law as a condemning covenant and living in the New Covenant where God writes His Law on the heart (Jeremiah 31). The discussion stresses that Christ fulfils the whole Law as the perfect Israelite, and that the Old and New Testaments are one story—without the sacrificial system and its logic, we cannot grasp why John calls Jesus “the Lamb of God.” The session pauses here, setting up the remaining objections for the next study.
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By WTBS - What The Bible SaysWhat The Bible Says.
Fortnightly bible study.
Episode 93 - 16/01/25
Led by Tim Clark
This opening session launches a new “Israel-focused” series by framing the question: if Jesus came first to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” why has Israel, in large measure, rejected Him? The group begins with a short evangelistic video showing Jewish witnesses using the Tanakh to point fellow Jews to Messiah—highlighting how passages like Isaiah 52–53 and Isaiah 9:6 sound “New Testament” to many, even though they are in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The study then lays a biblical foundation for why Jewish evangelism is not optional. Matthew 28:19–20 and Acts 1:8 are read to show the gospel’s outward movement—beginning at Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, then “to the end of the earth.” Romans 1:16 is used to emphasise the pattern “to the Jew first,” and the group notes Paul’s repeated habit in Acts: entering new cities, going first to the synagogue, and only then turning outward when rejected.
From there the discussion stresses continuity: Gentile believers are not a replacement people, but are brought in—“other sheep” gathered into “one flock” under “one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jeremiah 31:31–34 is read to underline that the New Covenant is explicitly made with “the house of Israel” and “the house of Judah,” with Gentiles grafted in, sharing a Jewish root rather than becoming a separate root. This sets a humble tone: the faith is inseparable from God’s promises to Israel and from Israel’s Scriptures.
The group then turns to the central problem: what went wrong, and why do many Jews reject Jesus as Messiah? Several contributing themes are raised—expectations of a warrior-king, confusion about one coming versus two, and the danger of reading Scripture through the lens of what we most want. The study warns Christians not to be smug: hardness of heart is not uniquely “Jewish,” and the only reason any of us see Christ rightly is God’s gracious illumination and mercy.
Objection #1 is explored: “Jesus did not fulfil the Messiah’s promises.” Isaiah 2:1–4 and Ezekiel 37:25–28 are read to show the messianic hope of worldwide peace, nations streaming to Zion, Torah instruction going out from Jerusalem, and God’s sanctuary established among His people. The group notes that Jewish readers naturally expect these to arrive with Messiah’s appearance—so they ask, “Where is the peace? Where is the King on David’s throne? Where is the Temple?” The biblical response offered is that the Tanakh contains both a suffering-servant motif and a conquering-king motif—fulfilled in one Messiah, but in two comings.
Objection #2 follows: “God cannot be a man” (Numbers 23:19). The study answers by pointing to Tanakh episodes where God is encountered in a recognisably personal, embodied manner—Genesis 18 (the LORD appearing with “three men”), the “Angel of the LORD” narratives (e.g., Judges 13:21–22), and prophetic titles like Isaiah 9:6 (“Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father”) applied to a child. The point is not to force a foreign idea onto Israel’s Bible, but to show that Scripture itself contains categories that make incarnation intelligible, preparing the way for the Messiah revealed in the New Testament.
Objection #3 is introduced: “Christianity contradicts the Torah.” The group reads Matthew 5:17 (“fulfil,” not abolish) and Romans 3:31 (“we uphold the Law”), then distinguishes between being under the Law as a condemning covenant and living in the New Covenant where God writes His Law on the heart (Jeremiah 31). The discussion stresses that Christ fulfils the whole Law as the perfect Israelite, and that the Old and New Testaments are one story—without the sacrificial system and its logic, we cannot grasp why John calls Jesus “the Lamb of God.” The session pauses here, setting up the remaining objections for the next study.