In this preaching series, EVIDENCE, we discover the Jewish understanding of who the Messiah is and why that Messiah must be Yeshua (Jesus). In the New Testament book of Luke chapters 3-4, Yeshua’s first act of “ministry” at 30 years old is chronicled. He is immersed (baptized) by John in the Jordan and then goes into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by Satan. On His return from the wilderness he attends a synagogue service in His hometown of Nazareth. Within these two chapters of the Gospel of Luke are 5 quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures, all of them coming from a specific 7 week period of the Torah and Haftarah cycle called The Seven Messages of Isaiah.
Jewish tradition tells us that the Torah cycle, a weekly system of reading the whole Torah in synagogue over one year, was established by Ezra & Nehemiah in the 5th Century BCE, 500 years before the birth of Yeshua. This unique 7 week period of the reading cycle is commonly known as the Seven Messages of Consolation or the Seven Messages of Isaiah. In these seven weeks, there are seven consecutive readings from the Torah: Deuteronomy 3-30 (Torah Readings) and Isaiah 40-63 (Haftarah Reading).
Luke gives key words and key Hebrew Bible verses to alert the reader that these important events all happened within the same 7 weeks. The events of Yeshua’s life during these 7 weeks, His immersion, His 40 days in the wilderness, and His reading from Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth and are all EVIDENCE of who He really is, The Messiah. The Jewish Messiah. What Luke is saying to us is that Yeshua came IN TIME and ON TIME so that you can spend ALL TIME with Him! It is precisely His interaction with the Torah and Haftarah cycle during these important seven weeks that proves that He is more than just a man. That He is in fact, The Messiah of Israel and, even more than that, He is the God of Israel.
Come discover the hidden EVIDENCE that proves continuity between the Torah, the prophet Isaiah, and the New Testament Gospel of Luke. Come and discover the EVIDENCE that Yeshua came for Israel, the Jewish people, and then instructs His Jewish followers to go and tell the whole world. Come and discover Yeshua for the first time or to have your faith in Him renewed. The proof is in the EVIDENCE!
