Musing – Who Was Jesus? Who is Jesus?

 Hebraic Musing – Who Was Jesus?   Who is Jesus?

This is a critically important question, as demonstrated by this recent FaceBook meme.  Our culture deals with a variety of mis-understandings of who Jesus is; and there’s a “Hollywood-ization” of who Jesus is/was.  Meanwhile we have worldly and cultish teachings permeating doctrines!  Does the public understand who Jesus really is? 

Did the Jews whom Paul encountered in his travels understand who Jesus was?  Paul was invited to speak at Antioch in the synagogue service in Acts 13:13-14.  He begins by explaining how God's work in history culminated in Jesus.  He is speaking to both Jews and interested Gentiles.  Paul starts with a succinct recap of a thread through their Torah & Prophetic writings which we can read in Acts 13:16-23 – this historical recap contains a series of familiar Covenant promises which the Jews would readily understand!   “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:  The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it.  Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness.  And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, …. After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.  And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul ….  And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’  From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—”  NKJV 

In this purposeful recap of God’s Covenant promises to His people from Israel's history, Paul notes a series of important, covenantal events which the Jews would readily understand. 

·      Adamic Covenant in Gen.3:14-24 – Sin is committed and God begins to define the need for a redeemer.

·      Noahic Covenant in Gen.9:1-18 is unconditional, God’s promise to never again to destroy all mankind.

·      Abrahamic Covenant in Gen.12:1-3 – To Abram: “…  I will make you a great nation; … I will bless those who bless you, … And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

·      Mosaic Covenant is in the commandments, ordinances and judgments which condemned man, but expired on the cross when Jesus died for the sins of men, which started the "New Covenant."

·      Davidic Covenant was an unconditional promise of an eternal dynasty with three everlasting components: a Throne, a King; and a Kingdom.  David's lineage was traceable to Jesus Christ, a descendant of David.

After reminding his audience of these well know Covenants, Paul then declared that Jesus was that Promised Messiah.  “But God raised Him from the dead.  He was seen for many days by those … who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus.” Acts 13:30-33

Paul then clarified three known but ignored statements in the TaNaK that had always puzzled the Jews:
 - “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” Psalm 2:7     God’s Son has now been revealed!
 - “I will give you the sure mercies of David.”  Isaiah 55:3       As David received mercy, so can we!
 - “You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” Psalm 16:10    Jesus is that sinless Son!

Did everyone accept Paul’s message?   Gen. 13:42-44 tells us “…the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.”       “…many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul… to continue in the grace of God.”      “next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.”  
BUT in vs.45 “But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.”  Doubters and nay-sayers will always be with us.

Are people today like the 1st century Jews with cultural and societal concepts of gods whom they recognize and/or worship, instead of understanding and accepting Jesus for who He really is? 

Points to ponder

Can these Scripture references help people understand Who Jesus Really Is?

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”  Isaiah 7:14 NKJV

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                       December 28, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”    Weekly “Hebraic Musings”     insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com

Note – Inspired by and excerpted from my Pastor Tom Hatley’s message “The Son of David”, Dec.26,2021 

Christmas 2021 to my Hebraic Musing Friends

 

^To      My Hebraic Musing Friends      

^From    Joe (& Irene) Brusherd     December 2021

Believe it or not, 2021 was even less normal than 2020.  Maybe that helps us realize what really matters in life.  We’ve all gone through another year of mandates, lockdowns, travel restrictions, masking, vaxxing and listening to stirred up divisiveness.  So let us begin agreeing to obey the mandate that Jesus Christ Himself gave us when He commanded “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” In Mark 16:15.  Both Irene and I have found ourselves focusing on that charge as the world around us becomes more & more challenging. 

The celebration of the birth of our Savior & Lord, Jesus Christ, takes on more significance as the beginnings of persecution are being felt this side of the pond, thus, all the more reason that …

We wish you a very Merry Christmas
    and many Blessings in the New and Better 2022 Year ahead!

The traditional greeting to all y’all takes on even more significance than ever before in our lifetime! 

Wishing our friends, and their families, a “Happy New Year” takes faith because our world seems to be changing.  But Our Lord is still on the throne.  As a friend said recently “Christian, what do you have to be afraid of?”  Let us hope, trust & pray that the “worldly” events draw us all closer than ever to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

On October 13^th we celebrated nine years of marriage.  Irene’s “Glass Orchids” jewelry has expanded into other flowers and helping our Daughter Beth with bug preservations in poly-resin.  She’s also involved in Immanuel Baptist Church’s Women’s Prayer Group.  Irene frequently comments about how the Brusherd family has adopted her, when actually she’s the one who adopted them.  One day Joe went alone to spend time with the GG’kids at John & Joy’s.  Their #2 Arabelle gave him real hugs & kisses and then Arabelle backed up a step and said angrily “Where’s Grandma Irene?”  It was cute!

Every week for 12 years now the Holy Spirit has provided Joe with Weekly “Hebraic Musings.”  Because of the times we are in, some issues have pointed out OT messages with applications to our world’s current affairs; thus some of the “Musings” have not been “Amusing”.  The Men’s Bible Study and the Saturday Breakfasts are Joe’s bi-weekly accountability sessions.  We still reflect on Pastor Mario’s statement “It’s about winning souls for Christ; it’s not about winning arguments!”

Thanksgiving season was topped off on Saturday with 18 family members, four generations, dining at Smokin’ Joe’s Ribhouse.  It doesn’t get any better.

In our frequent meals out, our favorite habit is to have our servers join us in prayer.  They always ask, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” and we say, “Yes, join us in prayer.”  Most often they do; and wonderful relationships develop, and on occasion there are salvation prayers and accepted invites to church!!!   We’ve also thanked them for their good service and ask, “I want to tell your boss.  Who’s your boss?” And they give a name or point.  Then we point up and ask, “Isn’t Jesus your boss?” That opens doors!

 

Our travel bucket list has not changed much from last year due to all the uncertainties in 2021:

·     Chicago area – Irene’s cousins; Joe’s family and many many more friends in the Chicago area.

·     Tucson – Granddaughter Julie and Irene’s GreatGranSon Darrel Mark and Randy & Jackie Rice.

·     California – Friends at Calvary Lighthouse in Escondido; Josiah & Briana; and more out West.

·     East Coast – Families of Joel & Liz & Caitlyn, Andrew & Jackson  in VA &  
      Jonathan & Courtney & Asana in NC

·     And we have friends all across the states and the globe we’d love to see.

We are really getting tired of being home-bound, that’s not normal for us seasoned travelers.  Please pray for our severe cases of Wander-lust, Stir-craziness and Cabin-fever!!! 

Meanwhile, why are we so blessed?

With their spouses  &  our Grand  &  our GreatGrand children,
  our immediate family has grown again to a total of 47!
(7 Children + their 5 Spouses + 22 Grandchildren + 11 GREATGrandChildren + Ourselves)

 

 

Why is Christmas the most important celebration of all?

 

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman,
    born under law, to redeem those under law,
        that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
    the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”   Galatians 4:4-6 NIV

 

   Irene   &  Joe  Brusherd

Joe & Irene Brusherd

710 Summit Loop, Rogers, AR 72756

479-644-5262    Brusherd@cox.net

479-531-6081    GlassOrchids@cox.net

Musing – Do You Realize the Power of Your Testimony?

 Hebraic Musing – Do You Realize the Power of Your Testimony?

Sharing your own personal testimony is the most powerful tool in you Soul-Winning toolbox. 
Three parts – Life before; What happened the moment you accepted Christ; What’s life been like since. 
Here’s mine; hoping you will bless me by sharing yours back to me; and that’ll sharpen your Soul-winning tool.

Hi, my name is Joe Brusherd; I’m a retired CPA, International consultant, CFO/COO for a variety of companies.

Some 80+ years ago I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, as the oldest of eight children.  After college, my career started as a CPA.  My first wife and I raised six children which has since multiplied to a growing family of well over 40!

During the first 37 years of my life I had a limited understanding of God and never tried to figure out His purpose for my life despite the Three questions & answers from my first grade catechism class that always bugged me:

Q. – Who made me?                          A. – God made me.
Q. – Who is God?                              A. – God is the Supreme Being  …  who created all things.
Q. – Why did God make me?           A. – God made me to worship Him; and to praise Him forever.

During those years my selfish ways, my anger, my unclean thoughts plagued me; and in desperation I agreed to go on a Marriage Encounter weekend to enrich our marriage, which desperately needed enrichment.  After that experience in 1976, I became a curious seeker of the God I had known as a child.  I enjoyed fellowship with other couples and there was one couple I especially admired and respected.  Bill and Mary Blessing had something I wanted; and they frequently referenced their “Cursillo” experience. 

On a Thursday in August 1977 friends of Bill Blessing drove me the 80 miles for a three day “Cursillo” retreat.  As I got out of the car I asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”  They answered, “No, we were just giving you a ride” and they drove off.  That act of sacrificial love was just the beginning.

On the second day a priest, Father Tony Tascheta, spoke and his message and presentation style was awesome!  I kept thinking that he missed his calling; he should’ve been a VP of Sales.  I was in a daze, so we went to the Chapel.  As we walked into the Chapel, I saw Father Tony Tascheta on his knees praying and thanking Jesus for all the words Jesus gave him for “the men out there.”  My knees gave out and I found myself kneeling, crying crocodile tears with pools of tears on the terrazzo floor and saying almost out loud “Jesus Christ, you are real.  I need to learn more about you.”  

At that moment I knew I would never be the same.  My inner peace was unimaginable; no more feelings of desperation from knowing I was a sinner and, most of all, that I had been hiding them from God, my Creator.

At the closing ceremony we entered big hall and I saw Bill and Mary Blessing there; they cut their vacation short in order to be there for me.  I fell apart.  As part of the closing ceremony we each were to stand up as the Spirit led to tell what the week-end meant to us.  Eventually I went to the podium, froze, fell apart, finally blurted out “I talked to Jesus!”  That’s all I could say!  Not much of a speech but it meant volumes; I was never so choked up in my life.

Very late Sunday night the Blessings gave me a ride home and I immediately woke up my wife and said, “Peggy, guess what happened to me on the week-end?”    She said “What?”     I told her “I talked to Jesus”.   And she said “Does that mean you’re ‘born again’?”    I answered “I don’t know what you call it, but all I know is that I talked to Jesus. … And I want you and all our kids to experience what I experienced.”   She replied, “Too late Joe.  We already have.  We’ve all been praying for you.”  (And she could have added “…for 10 years.”)

I found out why Jesus told Nicodemus “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”    That’s how Jesus came into my life.     

How did Jesus come into your life?     What’s your testimony?

Points to ponder

On August 25^th, 1977, I was 39 years old so…
I know how blind a man, a husband, a religious non-believer can be.

Never stop praying for loved ones who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord
and don’t underestimate the leveraging power of prayer.

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” 1 John 5:11 NIV.

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      December 21, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”  Weekly “Hebraic Musings” http://insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/

Musing – Does their TaNaK give the Jews a Hope of Christmas?

 Hebraic Musing – Does their TaNaK give the Jews a Hope of Christmas?

How was the birth of Jesus foretold to the Jews in the Old Testament?  

·      Gen.3:14-19 “The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’  So the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, You are cursed …And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity … between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel….’” NKJV   Interesting that her “seed” will come to defeat the “serpent” (Note – “Seed” is singular!)

·      Gen. 12:1-3  Promises to Abram – “…I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” There is a blessing coming for Everyone!

·      Gen. 17:19 “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, … Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant…”  The Seed’s everlasting covenant is still coming through Abraham’s lineage.

·      Gen 28:14 “Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread …and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Everyone is still to be blessed!

·      Gen 49:10 “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.”  Confirmed by genealogies in Matt.1 & Luke 2.

·      Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”  And the Virgin birth did come, and God will be with us!  And in Matthew 1:21-23 “Joseph, … 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,…”    

·      Micah 5:2-5 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel,…” The birthplace of Bethlehem is foretold!  In the N.T. when Herod inquired of them “…where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, …”  Matt.2:4-6

·      Isaiah 11:1-5 contains a meaningful description of Jesus – “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, … counsel and might, … 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, … But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, …; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.  Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.”
In Matt. 2:23 “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets…”  In O.T. Hebrew “Branch” is Neeetser, which sounds like Nazareth!

·      2 Sam. 7:12-16, Nathan told David “… I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  … I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. …I will be his Father, and he shall be My son…. “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.’”   Then in the N.T. an angel spoke to Mary of the future.  “He will … be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  Luke 1:31-33

The New Testament book of Titus describes our Christmas present from God.  “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14 NKJV

Even before the first century the coming Messiah was being fore-told!  Did the Jews recognize Jesus?  In first century and still today many did; and many do even now; and many do not; and many avoid the scriptures above; and many haven’t even tried to apply the scriptures above.

Points to ponder

Can these Scripture references from the OT (Their TaNaK) be used to witness to Jews?

Was God arranging for us to have a “Merry Christmas” ever since He created us?

♫  Joy to the world! The Lord is come,  Let earth receive her King!
             Let every heart prepare Him room,  and heaven and nature sing…. ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      December 7, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”  Weekly “Hebraic Musings”  http://insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com

 

 

·      Hosea 11:1 “…And out of Egypt I called My son.”  In Matt.2:14 “…Joseph… took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,” 

·      Jer.31:15 from the LORD: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”   When Herod heard about events, he said “put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem …, from two years old and under, … fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah …: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation,’” Matt.2:17-18