The Crucified Messiah

As they approached Jerusalem, Jesus queried his disciples: Who do men say that I am? At least nine times, the  Gospel of Mark  declares that Jesus was “ ON THE WAY .” His march to the City of David echoed the words in the  Book of Isaiah  applied previously to John the Baptist- “ Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare YOUR WAY .”

The reality of persecution raises important questions. How should disciples react, especially when persecuted by the State? Is resorting to expressions of anger or acts of civil disobedience appropriate? Or should they instead emulate Jesus of Nazareth? In his teachings, he warns that all men who decide to follow him will experience “ tribulation ,” and he summons his disciple to follow the same path that he did (“ If they persecuted me, so they will persecute you ”).

Jesus is called the “ Ruler of the Kings of the Earth ” in the present tense in the Book of Revelation . His sovereignty is based on his past death and resurrection, NOT on hereditary rights or military might, and he reigns on the Throne at the center of the Universe. Though at times the “ Kings of the Earth ” do Satan’s bidding, the slain “ Lamb ” even uses their plots to achieve his own redemptive purposes for humanity and the Creation itself.

In the Gospel of John , Jesus is the Logos, the “ Word become flesh ” in whom the “ Glory of God ” resides. He is the Greater Tabernacle foreshadowed by the Tent that Israel carried in the wilderness, the place where the Glory of Yahweh was manifested. John’s declaration anticipates his later passages that link him to the Father. Jesus is the true and full manifestation of the Glory of the Living God who created all things.

Two terms appear multiple times in the  Book of Revelation , namely, “ witness ” and “ overcome ,” themes that are closely related. Beginning with Jesus and the witness he gave in his death on the Roman cross, the Book calls his disciples to persevere in his “ testimony ” regardless of any consequences they may suffer. It is in this way that they “ overcome ” and reign with the “ Son of Man ,” as well as qualify for everlasting life in “ New Jerusalem .” Jesus himself summoned his saints to “overcome, just as I also overcame.”

When certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the righteous, Paul appealed to the past resurrection of Jesus as the precedent and grounds for this coming resurrection. His faithful disciples will be raised bodily from the dead when he “ arrives ” at the end of the age, and Death itself will be terminated.