Recognition (part 2 of 2)

So when the reader of Scripture comes across something like “Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him,” he or she is swiftly transported to the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke, where there is met two people that are identified as disciples of Jesus (as there were many more than just twelve) that are traveling from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus.  These disciples “were talking to each other about all the things that had happened” (24:14), which was the crucifixion of Jesus, along with the report of His tomb being discovered to be empty.  Luke writes that “While they were talking and debating these things, Jesus Himself approached and began to accompany them (but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him)” (24:16).  Like Joseph with his brothers, who had come to believe that Joseph was dead, Jesus would have recognized these individuals as two of His disciples, though they did not recognize Him. 

In Genesis, after the moment of recognition, Joseph goes on to accuse the men of being spies.  In Luke, Jesus says “You foolish people---how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (24:25)  Joseph’s brothers, taken aback at the accusation, vehemently deny the accusation and declare their innocence of this charge, saying “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers.  We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan.  The youngest is with our father at this time, and one is no longer alive” (42:13). 

It is not difficult to imagine the response of these disciples of Jesus to His words, not knowing Who it was that spoke to them.  They would have protested in much the same way as Joseph’s brothers, thinking and saying something like “No, we followed Him because we did believe the prophets!  In fact, we just came from Jerusalem, where we were with our brethren, His chosen disciples.  He had twelve of them.  One of them, however, is no longer alive.”  

Later on, Joseph would reveal himself to his brothers at a shared feast that he had prepared for them, just as Jesus would reveal Himself to these two disciples, opening their eyes to see Him when “He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them” (24:30b).  Genesis records that Joseph’s brothers would quickly return to their homeland to inform their father Jacob that Joseph was still alive---a veritable resurrection!  The Emmaus road disciples are said to have been hardly able to contain their own excitement at their experience, as Luke’s Gospel reports that their first inclination was to go and speak of the risen Lord (24:34), as they immediately returned to Jerusalem to recount these things to His gathered disciples. 

Reading the Hebrew Scriptures in the light of the Resurrection of the Righteous One, just as Israel read their Scriptures in the light of their expectation of the covenant God’s historical intervention on their behalf which would bring about the resurrection of the righteous dead, is the means by which the Scriptures, both “Old” and “New,” gain the fullness of their meaning.  By this, the reader and the believer gains a fuller and far more complete recognition of Jesus---eyes wide open.  Apart from this manner of reading, it may be well nigh impossible to recognize Him.

Stephen's Trial & Death (part 2)

Sure there was a pernicious and damaging rumor making its rounds that Jesus had been raised from the dead; and though this was of some concern to the council in Jerusalem (which is demonstrated by the fact that Stephen was brought before the council in the first place), the leaders of the people remained quite confident that Jesus had not been the “Righteous One” of whom Stephen spoke.  This position was reinforced by the fact that He had been crucified by the Romans (rather than overthrowing and driving out the Romans), with things in Israel continuing as they had for quite some time. 

Now, one such as Stephen could have certainly argued that Jesus did not have the opportunity to drive out the Romans (though this had clearly not been His goal) because He had been sent to His death by the very men who would now claim that He could not have been the messiah because He was crucified by the Romans, dying at their hands rather than driving them out.  Such an argument, however, would be viewed as somewhat beside the point of the proceedings, and rejected out of hand. 

Had this Jesus truly been the messiah---the long awaited Righteous One and embodiment of Israel’s God---He would not have allowed Himself to be crucified, so the fact that He was, regardless of who instigated the proceedings that resulted in crucifixion, clearly demonstrated that He was not the messiah.  Even if He had been raised from the dead, the thinking would go, His death by crucifixion and the fact that Rome was still in power over the land and people of the Creator God would trump that fact, and thus readily continuing to prove that He was, in fact, not the messiah.  Yes, such thinking could very well have been much self-delusion, as an ongoing attempt to justify themselves and excuse their having brought about the death of the man that might very well have been the messiah, but at this point, there could be no back-tracking. 

Yet with all that under consideration, the anger was there and it was real and it resulted in Stephen’s death.  Indeed, this was not the first time that somebody had spoken to the council in such a way, and it was not the first time that such speaking had resulted in the speaker’s death, as shall be seen.    

Who was that other person to have spoken words to the council that resulted in death?  Well it was Jesus, of course.  In the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus is placed before the Sanhedrin and there was an attempt “to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put Him to death” (26:59b), Jesus was instructed to “under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God” (26:63b).  Jesus replied by saying, “You have said it yourself.  But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (26:64).  When pressed by the council, Stephen, echoing the words of Jesus, said “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:56) 

Upon hearing the words from Jesus, it is said that “the high priest tore his clothes and declared, ‘He has blasphemed!... Now you have heard His blasphemy!  What is your verdict?’” (26:65a,c,66a)  The council answered with “He is guilty and deserves death” (26:66b).  Mark and Luke both provide a similar record, though Luke omits the high priest’s tearing of his clothes.  The beastly response that Stephen’s words received has already been noted, so it does not need to be rehearsed here, but it will suffice to say that it was also determined that he had blasphemed and was deserving of death.  Both Jesus and Stephen, according to the record of Scripture, were ultimately driven outside of the city, whereupon the prescribed sentence was set upon them.