You had asked in your last letter to give an overall summary of the story given in the Bible, and here it is.

Creation came into existence through the will of God. There was a progression as more complex creatures came into existence with the final appearance of the most complex – man. And here complications begin.

This problem is called the Fall and many interpretations have been given but the most accepted is that man failed to keep God’s command. Some have rebelled against this view saying that it is unfair and unjust. Whatever interpretation is proposed there is one indubitable fact – the world is not as it should be because something is terribly wrong.

Humans were given a vocation to bring creation into a loving relationship with God, to fulfill the image of God in humanity and thereby bring creation to worship and adoration of God. Adam and Eve failed in this and we have a creation which is out of joint with God’s wishes and plans. The main point isn’t that humans failed morally, although they did this, but that they failed in being mediators between God and creation. They instead pursued the created such as natural forces, animals and other things and created from them idols to worship. And by doing this, they introduced death into creation, death whose main feature is separation from the source of all life – God.

So starts the effort to redeem creation and God initiates this through Abraham and his family which become the nation of Israel. This is a long and tortuous road with many twists and many failings but it is supported by God’s providence and guidance. And much of the Old Testament is a description of this journey. Throughout this journey, there is a haunting refrain, a reminder that Yahweh has abandoned His people but He will come back.

Now, why did God create at all if it were to end up in this mess? The answer slowly starts to come out with the call to build the Temple, and this was accomplished by Solomon. The Temple was to be the abode for God on earth. This was where God would “sojourn” as His people tried to correct the creation that had fallen into a chaotic existence of violence and idol worship. You will certainly question how the master of the universe could be confined within the walls of the Temple. Solomon answers this objection by saying that God cannot be limited by buildings such as the Temple. “But will God indeed dwell with men on earth? If the heaven and the heaven of heaven will not be sufficient for You, how much less even this temple I built in Your name?” (3 Kingdoms 8:25) What does it mean that God will dwell amongst people?

There are two important messages being developed in the call to build the Temple. God’s goal for creation is to be present in creation and to be with His creation. God is love and this immeasurable love expresses itself in creating creatures and creation to love. And we will see later what this means more fully. But there is something else going on here and that is that the Temple is merely a symbol of another type of presence of God within creation but, the exact meaning of this was still shrouded in mystery.

It was with the prophets that a new outline of God’s plan becomes evident. They point out that the redemption of creation may be happening through Israel but it encompasses all of creation including peoples who were not Jews. This point is brought out time and time again – Gentiles are included in God’s plan. This point is accompanied by the idea of Resurrection which although on the periphery in much of the Old Testament, through the prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel, comes to the fore in God’s plan. The Resurrection is starting to take on a major importance in some branches of Judaism.

Another concept that starts to come to Jewish consciousness is the idea of the Messiah. The prevailing view was that this would be a national hero who would restore political greatness to Israel by freeing it from oppressors and from exile. Jews would finally have a say in governing their future. All the ideas mentioned above were accompanied by prophecies and the wise teachers would pour over those prophecies to see when these various factors would come together. These expectations were very high around the time that Herod ruled Palestine as it seemed that the prophecy made in Genesis was finally coming true. In speaking of Judah, Israel (Jacob) prophecies: “The sceptor shall not depart from Judah….until Shiloh comes.” (Gen 49::10) The Messiah would come when the ruler over Judah would be a non-Jew and this was what Herod was. As a result, there was a palpable sense of expectation that something big was about to happen happen.

It is into this world that Jesus of Nazareth was born. We know very little historically about Jesus during his early years. Our main information comes from the time that he starts his mission. The moment of dawning occurs when Jesus is baptized by John and Jesus starts to realize that the hopes that Israel was to carry out in pushing forward God’s plan – this was now to happen through the person of Jesus. Notice the first thing that happens to Jesus. We may interpret the confrontation in the desert in a variety of ways but the underlying message is quite clear and unambiguous. Doubt is cast on Jesus’ vocation and what he is to accomplish and, in a sense, of who he really is. From studying Scripture, Jesus came to realize that he was to do what the prophecies had foretold and what Yahweh would carry out. And so, he sets out on his mission throughout Israel by constituting anew the twelve tribes of Israel in the twelve apostles.

And so, for three years Jesus teaches, discusses, performs miracles, heals. And the authorities are biding their time waiting to destroy someone who had brought a challenge to the smugness of accepted religiosity. And we see all this coming to a culminating point for Jesus in the week before the last Passover. Jesus makes it very clear that he is the new Temple and he predicts that if Israel continues on its chosen path, this will bring it into collision with Rome and the destruction of the Temple will ensue. (Interestingly, in all of the Gospels and in the Epistles there is no clear and open confirmation that the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD had occurred. If the Gospels and the Epistles had been written after 70 AD the destruction of the Temple would surely have been something so important that they would have commented on it, especially in light of confirming Jesus’ foretelling.)

We are all familiar with the events that transpire during that momentous week – the Last Supper, the betrayal, the mock trials, and the crucifixion. For the disciples who almost all had fled, the events were totally disheartening and Jesus’ mission was seen as a complete and utter failure. Jesus had been crucified and this was the end of all the dreams and aspirations that they had held.

But, to their astonishment and disbelief, this was not the end. On Sunday, the first day of a new week, they learn that the tomb is empty and that Jesus has been resurrected. Out of a nadir of despair they now are given the good news of the Resurrection and in the reports, you can almost sense their incredulity that something so wonderful has indeed happened. As Matthew writes: “When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted.” (Mt 28:16) But the evidence of meeting Jesus in the flesh convinces them that God has performed a mighty work in Resurrecting Jesus, thereby vindicating Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah and even more than that, acting as the representative of Yahweh on earth. This was an astounding revelation and something totally unexpected for the disciples. There was confusion about what had happened and especially, what it meant. Everyone knew that dead men did not come back to life so what was going on here? It is obvious that many questions flooded their minds as they tried to come to terms with the incontrovertible fact that Jesus was back among the living and meeting with them. Judaism knew of the general Resurrection but that was to take place at the end of time but here, in the middle of history, someone was resurrected. This was totally unexpected. They had to be re-taught and shown what the Scriptures really say. On the road to Emmaus Jesus does exactly that – he goes over the scriptures with the incredulous disciples to show them that what had occurred was in accordance with what was prophesied.

There is now a new and final chapter opening in the grand story of creation and this is something that we will be looking into in the next letter. I am sure that you will have many questions and I will get to them as soon as I have completed telling the story that the Bible presents for us.

Sincerely,
Bar-Abbas