Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2624 of our trek. The purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

 

Each Tuesday, I will share the messages I have delivered at Putnam Congregational Church this year. This is the second of twelve messages covering a New Testament Orientation. Today’s messages are titled The Story of the New Testament. I pray it will be a conduit for learning and encouragement for you.

Putnam Church Message – 05/04/2025

Last week, we discussed What is the New Testament and concluded that it is the collection of inspired writings in the common tongue, shared among us, and carrying divine authority.

Today, we delve into the very heart of the story these writings tell in a message, ‘The Story of the New Testament,’ with Romans 5:8-11 as our core verses. Let’s read those verses to set the stage for our story today.

Since this is the story of the New Testament, I will present it as a dramatic reading. Let’s picture ourselves living towards the end of the first century, and I am a Rabbi who is a believer in Yeshua. I will tell you where this story is heading, because knowing the destination helps us make sense of the journey. (Blanket) It’s like looking at a woven tapestry – up close, you see individual threads, but when you step back, you see the magnificent pattern emerging. That pattern, that big story, is what gives meaning to all the individual threads. Let us begin with prayer, asking the God of the Story to open our ears and hearts to hear it truly.

As we explore this New Testament story, Challenge our assumptions, deepen our faith, and transform our lives. May we find our place within this divine drama, and live as loyal participants in Your unfolding plan. We ask all this in the name of Yeshua, the one who is the beginning and the end of this chapter, and the hope of the next. Amen.

My friends, as I see it, and as we are coming to understand it through the teachings of the apostles and these new inspired writings, the grand story of the Bible – and specifically the New Testament chapter – revolves around three main themes, woven together by the hand of God: Bulletin Insert

First: The ultimate blessing upon a ‘family’ – a chosen people, now expanded, who choose to be loyal to Yahweh above all other gods.

Second: The ultimate judgment upon certain divine beings who misused the authority God had delegated to them.

Third: Yahweh’s deep love for and the glorious enthronement of Yeshua the Messiah over all His present and future creation.

Let us trace this story together, picking up where the Old Testament left off. The scrolls of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther tell of a remnant of our people returning from Babylonian captivity. They faced immense challenges – rebuilding the Temple, the walls of Jerusalem, and their lives. But even as they returned,/a subtle tension remained. At the end of Ezra and Nehemiah, there’s a strong emphasis on separating from Gentile influence and maintaining Jewish purity. The thinking was, “We must keep ourselves distinct, loyal to Yahweh alone, and this means separation.” There was a waiting, a longing for Yahweh to restore Israel fully, to bring final blessing and establish His kingdom.

Then came centuries of silence. No prophetic voice, no direct word from God that we could all recognize. Yet, during this time, events were unfolding that shaped our world and prepared the way. Israel struggled for independence, leading to the Maccabean revolt and a brief period of self-rule. This era further emphasized Jewish identity and purity – what we ate, how we lived, our Sabbath observance – these became markers of our loyalty to Yahweh and our distinctness from the surrounding Gentile world. This focus on purity, while rooted in the Torah, became a central defining feature of Jewish life. We were waiting for Yahweh, and we believed our careful adherence to purity laws was essential for His favor.

By the time the New Testament story opens, Rome is in charge. Our land is occupied, ruled by a puppet king like Herod, who, despite rebuilding and expanding our Temple into a marvel of the ancient world, paganized it by incorporating foreign architectural styles and even employing priests with questionable loyalties to Yahweh alone. The Temple, meant to be the center of pure worship, was compromised.

Yet, even in this complex time, there were those among us who were “waiting for the comfort of Israel,” as Luke’s Gospel tells us (Luke 1). People like Simeon and Anna, devout individuals living lives of righteousness, eagerly anticipating God’s action. Their righteousness, remember, shows that people could indeed walk faithfully with God even before Yeshua’s arrival. The salvation Yeshua brings is profound, but it builds upon God’s ongoing relationship with humanity.

Then, seemingly out of the wilderness, a voice cries out – John the Baptist (Luke 3, Matthew 3). He is a prophet, a figure reminiscent of Elijah, breaking the centuries of silence. His message is urgent: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” He is announcing that the time we have been waiting is at hand. The Messiah, the Anointed One, the one who would bring Israel back to full loyalty to Yahweh, is coming! But even John doesn’t fully know who He is or what His coming will entail.

The story then introduces us to Yeshua. John’s Gospel (John 1) speaks of Him in breathtaking terms, describing Him as the unique Word of God, existing with God from the beginning, full of grace and truth. And at Yeshua’s immersion by John, the heavens are torn open, and God’s own voice declares, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Luke 3:22 NLT). From the very outset, the story highlights Yahweh’s profound love for Yeshua and His unique identity.

Yeshua’s life unfolds as a model of perfect loyalty to Yahweh. Think of the heroes of our past – Moses, David, Elijah. They were mighty servants of God but stumbled, sinned, and failed to live out God’s desired loyalty perfectly. But Yeshua walks in perfect obedience. Every decision, every action, demonstrates what it truly means to love Yahweh with all one’s heart, soul, and mind. He embodies the Torah’s deepest intent – not just outward observance, but complete devotion to God and love for neighbor.

Then comes a pivotal moment, one often misunderstood. Yeshua is led into the wilderness, not just to be tempted by The Satan in a personal test of obedience, but, as we understand from the narrative in Luke 4, to confront the very authority that Satan had usurped. Remember the story of Babel in Genesis 11, where humanity’s rebellion led to the confusion of languages and the scattering of nations? In most ancient Israelite understandings, God then delegated authority over these scattered nations to various divine beings. Over time, some of these beings became corrupted, misusing their authority and leading people away from Yahweh. As the adversary, The Satan was at the head of this fallen host.

In the wilderness, Yeshua doesn’t just resist temptation; He reclaims the authority that had been misused. He dismantles Satan’s claim, not through a show of force (that would come later), but through perfect loyalty and reliance on God’s word. This act in the wilderness is the foundational victory that inaugurates Yeshua’s public ministry.

Immediately following this, we see Yeshua confronting demonic spirits (Mark 3:11). These are, in our understanding, the agents of those divine beings who had misused their delegated authority. When they encounter Yeshua, they cringe; they fall down before Him, recognizing His supreme authority. His exorcisms are not merely acts of healing; they are declarations of His victory in the wilderness and the inbreaking of God’s kingdom, a kingdom where the powers of darkness are being overthrown.

Yeshua also fulfills the Torah. This doesn’t mean He simply checks off every box of every commandment. It means He lives out its ultimate purpose. He demonstrates that loyalty to Yahweh is not primarily about rigid adherence to external purity codes, but about the condition of the heart and acts of compassion. When He touches a leper (against Levitical law), or allows a ritually impure woman to touch Him, or eats with known sinners, He is not disregarding the Torah. He is showing that sacred space is being redefined in His presence, and God’s priority is not separation from impurity but purification and restoration. He is clarifying what true loyalty looks like under the dawning light of His kingdom.

(Object Lesson): Imagine holding a piece of broken pottery. Under the old understanding, if you were pure and touched this impure thing, you would become impure and need cleansing. It was about avoiding contamination. Now, imagine Yeshua picking up that same piece of broken pottery. In His hands, it doesn’t make Him impure; instead, He makes it whole, cleansed, restored. The power flows from Him outward, overcoming impurity.

(Modern Analogy): This is like the difference between a quarantine zone and a hospital. A quarantine zone is about keeping something contagious out to protect the healthy. A hospital, however, is a place where the sick are brought in to be healed by those with the power to overcome the illness. Yeshua operates like the ultimate hospital, bringing God’s cleansing and healing power into contact with impurity to make it clean.

Yeshua’s parables are central to His teaching (Mark 4:34). He uses simple, everyday stories – farming, fishing, family life – to explain the profound truths of the Kingdom of God. This shows His desire to meet people where they are, speaking in terms they can understand, just as the New Testament would later be written in the common language. His teachings were filled with “witticisms, truisms, aphorisms” – memorable, impactful sayings that stuck with His listeners and challenged their conventional thinking about God and His kingdom.

Shockingly, after demonstrating His authority over demons and disease, Yeshua begins to tell His disciples that He must suffer and die. This was utterly unexpected! How could the Messiah, the one who had just taken authority from Satan, submit to death, the ultimate act of the enemy? Our prophets spoke of a Messiah who would reign, conquer Israel’s enemies, and establish an everlasting kingdom of peace. While some passages, like Isaiah 53, spoke of a suffering figure,/Jewish interpretation had not typically seen this as referring to a suffering Messiah.

Peter, bless his eager heart, exemplifies our confusion and resistance (Matthew 16:21-23). “No, Lord!” he protests. “This will never happen to you!” It was inconceivable. How could death, especially a violent, painful death at the hands of the Romans, possibly fit into God’s plan for His Anointed King? We, too, struggle with this. Death is terrifying. We avoid it, we mourn it. To imagine the Messiah willingly embracing it was bewildering.

Yet, the story continues. Yeshua does suffer, and He does die. And at the moment of His death, a powerful sign occurs: the curtain in the Temple is torn in two, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). For us, this curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, the dwelling place of God’s presence. Its tearing signifies that the old way of accessing God, through the Temple system with its sacrifices and priests, is fundamentally changed. It means that access to God is now open to all, and the Temple, already paganized by Herod, is no longer the central point of sacred encounters.

But the story does not end with death. On the third day, Yeshua is resurrected! (Luke 24). This was another astonishing, unforeseen event. It is the cornerstone of our faith, confirmed by witnesses and the power of God Himself. The resurrection proves that death does not have the final word, and it validates all that Yeshua claimed and did.

Because of His resurrection, Yeshua is elevated to the highest position of authority. As He tells His disciples in Matthew 28:18 (NLT), “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” He is not just the Messiah of Israel; He is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, sovereign over all creation, over all earthly rulers, and yes, even over those divine beings who rebelled. The term “Lord Jesus Christ,” which becomes common in the apostles’ teaching,/signifies this ascended, authoritative status.

With this authority, Yeshua commissions His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. This is the “Kerygma,” the core message they are to proclaim: the story of Yeshua’s death, burial, and resurrection, and His subsequent enthronement as Lord over all. This message, this story, is the key that allows everyone – not just Jews, but Gentiles too – to join Abraham’s family, the family of those loyal to Yahweh.

The book of Acts tells the story of this message spreading. Persecution in Jerusalem scatters the believers, and they carry the message with them (Acts 8). Philip preaches to the Samaritans, people we had long viewed with suspicion and separation. The gospel reaches as far as Antioch in Syria, where believers are first called “Christians.”

A critical turning point comes in Acts 10, with the story of Peter and Cornelius. Peter, a devout Jew, receives a vision telling him to eat foods that were considered unclean according to the Torah. He protests, “Never, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean” (Acts 10:14 NLT). But God insists, “Don’t call anything unclean that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15 NLT). This vision, repeated three times, prepares Peter to meet Cornelius, a Gentile, and realize that God is offering salvation and inclusion in His family, not just to Jews, but to Gentiles as they are, without requiring them to first become Jewish proselytes and adhere to all the purity laws.

The core conflict in Acts is not whether people can be saved, but whether Jews and Gentiles, once saved, can truly come together as one family, sharing table fellowship, overcoming centuries of ingrained separation and purity concerns. The repeated coming of the Holy Spirit upon Gentile believers in Acts (Acts 10, Acts 15) is God’s powerful affirmation that these Gentiles are truly “in,” fully accepted into the family, purifying them not through ritual observance but through the indwelling of His Spirit.

Paul, once a persecutor of believers, becomes the primary messenger of this truth to the Gentile world (Acts 9). He travels from city to city, entering synagogues first, then the marketplace, proclaiming the same ancient story of Abraham, but with a crucial update: because of Yeshua’s Lordship, the family of Yahweh now includes Gentiles by faith, without requiring them to live like Jews. “If you are a Gentile, remain a Gentile,” he essentially says, “and if you are a Jew, remain a Jew, for in Messiah Yeshua, you are one in Him.”

As the apostles and other leaders reflected on Yeshua’s death, they began to understand its profound meaning. It wasn’t just a tragic end but a purposeful act with multiple layers of significance. It was a spiritual victory over the demonic powers, somehow disarming them through His suffering. It was the “Gentile Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7), delivering those under the power of darkness, just as the Passover lamb delivered Israel from Egypt. It was a ritual cleansing, a final and complete sacrifice that purifies those who have faith in Him, addressing the deeply felt need for purity that was so central to our understanding.

As the New Testament story draws to a close, we see the implications of Yeshua’s work for how we live. The intricate details of Torah observance, while still holding spiritual lessons, are no longer the means by which one enters or stays in God’s family, especially for Gentiles. The focus shifts to “righteousness of loyalty” – a life characterized by faithfulness and devotion to Yeshua, lived out in love for God and neighbor, empowered by the Spirit.

Paul clarifies that morality is essential for those who follow Yahweh (Romans 12). For many Gentiles, religion and morality were separate spheres. Paul teaches that serving Yahweh, the truly moral God, must include living a moral life, characterized by the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience,...