Jesus

Jesus Preaching at Nazareth

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In the account of the sermon Jesus delivered in his hometown, three necessary elements of preaching are evident. First, there is the liturgical element: Jesus’ sermon was in the context of worship. Second, there is the exegetical aspect: Jesus interpreted a text. Third, there is the prophetic element: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” These three elements—worship, exegesis, and prophecy—have figured significantly in the history of preaching; they constitute the essential framework for the sermon.

Jesus Preaches in His Hometown

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14–21)

Holy Places, Holy People in Biblical Worship

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Although holiness belongs to God, it may be imparted to objects, or even to people, which become the bearers of the holy.

The Holy Place

The men and women who first received the biblical revelation were acutely conscious of the ways ordinary things could take on an extraordinary, numinous quality as bearers of the sacred. The concept of the sanctuary, or holy place, comes readily to mind. The Old Testament records many occasions when the fathers of Israel worshiped at holy places. Some of these places were already sacred sites for the Canaanites, but they became Israelite sanctuaries as the result of a theophany of Yahweh God. When he appeared to one of the fathers to give or reaffirm the promise of the land, the patriarch would mark the site by erecting some holy object such as an altar or a memorial stone.

Altars. At Shechem Abraham “built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him” (Gen. 12:7). This location continued to be a holy place where Joshua later led the people in the renewal of the covenant with the Lord, erecting a stone as a memorial to this event (Josh. 24:1–8). Thus, the Israelite sanctuary was “a token of the covenant and a guarantee of its blessing” (Johannes Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 2nd ed. [1959], Vols. III–IV, p. 214). A classic expression of the significance of the holy place occurs in the account of Jacob’s dream at Bethel, in which he sees a ladder reaching to heaven on which messengers of God are descending and ascending; the Lord appears and pronounces his promise of blessing, land, and descendants. Awakening, Jacob exclaims, trembling, “Surely the Lord is in this place.… This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:16–17). Before leaving, Jacob sets up a sacred pillar, the stone on which he had been sleeping, and anoints it as a bearer of the holy, “God’s house” (Gen. 28:10–22). The sanctuary is a place where earth and heaven meet, where “angels ascend and descend”; for this reason, ancient temples were usually erected on hills or, in flat country, on artificial elevations. Ascending Zion in pilgrimage, the later Israelite worshiper cries, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven” (Ps. 123:1). The sanctuary is a place bearing a numinous aspect where the divine can break through into the ordinary, where man can sense the presence of the holy and communicate with him.

Mount Sinai. The archetype of the holy place in the biblical narrative is the desert sanctuary of Sinai. Here, the Lord appeared to his people in full and fearful theophany, in a presence of such intensity that only the specially consecrated could approach the mountain. After the Lord had set forth the stipulations of the Book of the Covenant (Exod. 20–23), Moses and the priests and elders of Israel went up the mountain to meet with Yahweh and to eat the covenant meal; there, in a further manifestation of the numinous, they “saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself” (Exod. 24:10).

Ark and Tabernacle. These numinous aspects of the Sinai sanctuary were transferred to the ark of the covenant, where Yahweh was “enthroned between the cherubim” (Pss. 80:1; 99:1), and to the tent of meeting, as the place where Moses “entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him” (Exod. 34:34). Not only the sanctuary structure with its altar, but all its furnishings and utensils, as well as the offerings presented there, were consecrated as “holy,” set apart for the exclusive use and service of the Lord.

The Temple on Zion. Before Israel’s entrance into Canaan, Moses spoke of “the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling” (Deut. 12:5). This unnamed place turned out to be Jerusalem and Mount Zion, which David captured as a center for Israel’s worship (2 Sam. 5:7). Zion had long been a Jebusite holy place, the “Salem” where Abraham had paid a tithe to Melchizedek, the king and “priest of God Most High” or ’El ‘elyon (Gen. 14:18–20). But when David transferred the ark to Zion and when Solomon’s temple assumed the role of the tabernacle, the sanctuary on Zion became, in effect, a continuation of Sinai, where the Lord “appeared” in theophanic majesty in the worship of Israel. Several of the psalms celebrate the numinous appearance of the Lord in his temple or in Zion with imagery that reminds us of the giving of the covenant on Mount Sinai (Ps. 50:1–6). Exactly how the Lord “appeared” in the worship of the temple is not clear, but there are indications in the Psalms that the liturgical recitation of the covenant Law, associated with a procession of the ark of the covenant, was a high moment when worshipers might experience the Lord’s presence in an especially compelling way.

“Holiness adorns your house,” sang the Israelite worshiper (Ps. 93:5). Israel’s theologians understood, of course, that the sanctuary was inadequate as a bearer of the sacred. “But will God really dwell on earth?” asked Solomon. “The heavens, even the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27; cf. Isa. 66:1). In the New Testament we meet with the concept of the heavenly sanctuary, of which the earthly one is but a copy (Heb. 8–9; cf. 2 Cor. 5:1; Rev. 11:19). No human edifice can convey the fullness of the presence of the holy. As Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman, the deepest and most authentic worship of the Father could occur “neither on this mountain [Gerizim] nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21). Although Christ spoke of Jerusalem as “the city of the Great King” (Matt. 5:35), he foretold the impending desecration and violent destruction of its sanctuary (Matt. 24:2), a judgment on a religious establishment that had violated the Lord’s covenant.

Jesus and the Holy Place. Nevertheless, Jesus understood and accepted the concept of the holy place in its deepest sense. He questioned the focus of the Pharisees, who swore by the gold of the temple or by the offering on the altar—in other words, by the products and symbols of man’s religious commitment. To the contrary, said Jesus, it is the temple that sanctifies the gold and the altar that sanctifies the offering (Matt. 23:16–19). Jesus’ language, incomprehensible as it may seem to us, was not incomprehensible to the early church, which continued to respect those places where God had manifested his presence in a numinous experience. Thus Peter speaks of that time when the apostles were with Christ “on the holy mountain,” by which he meant not Sinai or Zion but the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16–18). The proliferation of holy shrines in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, however fanciful it may seem in Protestant perspective, is a witness to the persistence of this biblical concept.

The Numinous Aspect of the Church

When we appreciate the importance of the sanctuary in biblical worship, we can understand why the New Testament authors draw upon the imagery of Jerusalem and its temple to convey the significance of the church. Addressing Christian believers as a body, the apostle Paul asks, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:16–17). Again he declares, “we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16). (In both these passages he uses the plural form, speaking not to individuals but to the church collectively.) As a temple, the church of Jesus Christ is “a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). These are not simply moralistic expressions; they point to a reality that transcends the idea of the church as a mere human association.

John the Revelator most fully develops the picture of the church as “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2). As the bride of the Lamb, the new sanctuary displaces the harlot “Babylon,” the old temple, and its religious establishment. The appearance of the new holy place brings a renewal of the covenant, in the declaration that “the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people” (Rev. 21:3), words that echo the covenant formula of the Israelite prophets. The sanctuary is a picture of the covenant God living among his own, enthroned on the praises of his people (Ps. 22:3). As John takes the concept further, we are brought face to face with the numinous brilliance of the Holy City (Rev. 21:10–11), “for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev. 21:23). So overwhelmed is John by the vision that his description strains at the limitations of language. The Holy City is a temple yet not a temple: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22). There is a numinous, awesome aspect to the church as a bearer of the holy, a vehicle through which we may encounter the fearful presence of the King of kings.

Holy People

The mortal who would trespass into the territory of the sacred runs the risk of wrathful outburst and sudden destruction. It is paradoxical, then, that human beings can serve as bearers of the holy, vehicles through whom the numinous makes its presence felt. Study of the history of religions brings to light many instances of “holy” men and women, people whose presence is “larger than life,” awesome, commanding, not to be trifled with. In such personages, the worshiper senses the workings of the divine. Biblical faith, too, is familiar with the concept of people as bearers of the holy.

Priests. The Pentateuch takes pains to spell out the procedures of vesture, sacrifice, anointing, and life-style by which a priest may become and remain consecrated, in order to enter the Lord’s presence (Exod. 28–29; Lev. 8; 21). Through his consecration, some of the holiness of the Lord is imparted to the priest, enough to “inoculate” him against an outbreak of the wrath of the numinous. A special aura of holiness rested upon the high priest. He alone could enter the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary containing the ark of the covenant, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). A person accused of manslaughter was protected from the avenger of the deceased, provided he remained in a city of refuge until the death of the high priest then in office (Num. 35:25–28).

Prophets. The Scripture often calls the prophet a “man of God”; the term is applied to Moses (Deut. 33:1), Samuel (1 Sam. 9:6), Shemaiah (1 Kings 12:22), Elijah (1 Kings 17:18), Elisha (2 Kings 4:40), David (2 Chron. 8:14), and to a number of unnamed prophets or messengers of the Lord (Judg. 13:6; 1 Sam. 2:27; 1 Kings 13:1). In these instances the term man of God (or woman of God) does not mean a righteous person but one of special endowment, a bearer of the numinous, even one to be feared. The people’s reaction to Moses when he returned to them after speaking with the Lord was one of great fear because “his face was radiant” (Exod. 34:29); as a result, he had to wear a veil whenever he came out from before Yahweh. The biblical narrative ascribes miracles to prophets such as Elijah and Isaiah as the distinguishing mark of the “man of God” (1 Kings 17:24). Especially noteworthy is the numinous aura associated with the person of Elisha; he raises the dead son of the Shunammite woman by lying upon him, body member to member (2 Kings 4:32–37), and even after his death a corpse, thrown hastily into his grave, returns to life upon contact with Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20–21). The earlier prophets seem to have been distinguished by special appearance, having a tonsured head in a manner similar to later Christian monks (1 Kings 20:35–42; 2 Kings 2:23). A man or woman of God can make mistakes, disobey the Lord, and pay the penalty but still be known as a man or woman of God (1 Kings 13:26; 2 Kings 23:17). Samson was consecrated to God by the Nazirite vow (Judg. 13:7) and was moved by the Spirit of the Lord (Judg. 13:25); even when he turned away from the Lord, he remained an awesome man, capable of exploits larger than life.

The Apostles. Although the New Testament uses the expression “man of God” more in the sense of a godly person equipped for the service of the Lord (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:16–17), it also portrays the apostles, like the prophets, as bearers of the numinous. People laid their sick friends in the street in the hope that Peter’s shadow might fall on them (Acts 5:15); it was enough for Peter to confront Ananias and Sapphira with their duplicity, and they fell dead at his feet (Acts 5:1–11). The people of Lystra acclaimed Paul and Barnabas as gods and were prepared to sacrifice to them (Acts 14:11–13). Handkerchiefs or aprons from Paul’s body were carried to the sick, and they were healed (Acts 19:11–12). In recording such incidents, Luke is not simply chronicling the ignorant superstition of ancient peoples. The awe-inspiring aspect of the apostles, despite their lack of formal education, is a recognizable quality in their lives, the result of the fact “that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Jesus Christ. The powerful, wondrous impact of the holy is evident throughout the gospel portrait of Jesus Christ himself, from his birth to his resurrection and ascension, and requires no lengthy demonstration here. To those already mentioned, we would add only a few examples. As a woman, suffering from a persistent hemorrhage, touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, Jesus immediately sensed that “virtue,” or power (dunamis), had gone out from him (Mark 5:25–34). Led to the edge of a cliff at Nazareth by a mob angry at his indictment of their lack of response to the love of God, Jesus was able simply to pass through their midst and go on his way. When soldiers came asking for Jesus the Nazarene to arrest him, Jesus replied, “I am he,” and “they drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). The first preachers of the Resurrection referred to the miracles of Jesus, familiar to their audience, as acts that attested him as specially endowed and set apart by God (Acts 2:22). In his own preaching, Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, a realm breaking into present time and space in supernatural manifestation. We can understand much about the principles and operation of the kingdom of God when we view it as another expression for God’s covenant with his people. As to its inner dynamic, however, the kingdom is a mystery. It cannot be completely comprehended in rational argument and detail; its principles of growth can only be hinted at through picture and comparison, its power suggested through miracle and sign. Above all, it is present in the person of Jesus himself, as the bearer of the holy.

Like the prophets before him and the apostles afterward, Jesus was opposed, vilified, and persecuted by those who could not, or would not, look beyond the external to the reality of the unseen. Yet the final vindication of Jesus’ identity as the incarnate revelation of the holy is that most awesome of all events, the Resurrection, which not only displays the workings of the Creator in the person of his Son, but releases in his worshipers some measure of that same quality of sacred and mysterious power. Thus, the New Testament frequently refers to the body of believers collectively as “the saints” or “the holy ones” (Greek hagios, equivalent to Hebrew qadosh). Scripture makes it clear that the entire covenant community is “a kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6), “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), consecrated to approach the Presence in worship. The awesome encounter with the living God is not the preserve of a spiritual elite but the inheritance of all who call on him.

Conclusion

This survey has attempted to demonstrate that in biblical worship there is a numinous dimension of awe, dread, majesty, transcendence in the presence of the Holy One. The worship of God is not confined to the flatness of the rational, the sentimental, or the moral. The error of much of both orthodox and modernistic Christianity is that it has tried, by default or by design, to constrain worship within these limits. Religion has been reduced, in the words of the nineteenth-century theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, to a “feeling of dependence,” or more crudely, to “morality tinged by emotion” (On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers [New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1958]). Or it has become a matter of words and statements, precise definitions, carefully crafted confessions. Or it has degenerated into a mere social ritual, an exercise in group identification. In such a domesticated form, it lacks the intensity, depth, mystery, and abandon of biblical worship and so fails to speak to the deepest instincts of the soul.

Covenant Worship in the New Testament

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In the New Testament, the concept of covenant is often subsumed under other metaphors that describe the relationship between the Lord and his people. The most important of these is the “kingdom of God,” which was the primary theme of Jesus’ teaching and preaching. The new Israel is also called God’s temple (Eph. 2:21; 1 Cor. 3:16–17), Christ’s body (Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12–27; Eph. 2:16; 4:15–16), and the city of God (Matt. 5:14; Rev. 21–22). The numerous references to God as Father, to believers as brothers, and to the church as a household portray the church in terms of a family. There are, however, many references to the covenant itself. The brief covenant formulary of the Old Testament—I will be their God and they shall be my people—is applied to the church by several New Testament writers (Heb. 11:16; 1 Pet. 2:10; Rev. 21:3).

Covenant in the Gospels and Acts

The Gospels narrate the coming of the Servant. In some cases they explicitly state that the stories they tell verify Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy; at other times, they simply recount events that make it obvious. In his teaching, Jesus appears as a spokesman for the covenant in much the same way as Moses is portrayed in the Pentateuch. For example, in response to a questioner he states the basic requirements of the covenant in language borrowed from Moses (Deut. 6:4; Lev. 19:18); the stipulations to love the Lord with one’s entire being and to be loyal to one’s brother servant of the Lord lie at the heart of the concept of the treaty-covenant (Mark 12:30–31).

The Gospels present the events of Jesus’ passion and crucifixion in order to make the point that he fulfills the old covenant and institutes a new one. On the night of his arrest, Jesus offers the new covenant to his disciples in the upper room. The Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist, is the Christian “Passover,” or covenant meal (Matt. 26:26–29); it calls to the remembrance of the new Israel its deliverance by the sacrifice of Christ, the Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). As Christians eat the body and drink the blood of the sacrifice, they reaffirm their covenant relationship with the Lord in an act of worship.

At Jesus’ death on the cross, the rending of the temple veil discloses the absence of the ark of the covenant in the temple; the Lord of hosts is no longer with the old institutions but with his new people of the kingdom. Clearly, the Gospel writers intend to emphasize that Jesus fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies that relate to the coming of the Messiah, or anointed Servant, in whom the covenant of the great King is fully realized. This theme is continued in the preaching of the apostolic church. In his sermon after the healing of the lame man, Peter tells the Jews gathered at the temple that all the prophecies from that of Samuel onward were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Servant of God (Acts 3:24).

Covenant in the Epistles of Paul

Paul’s letters are replete with references to the covenant; indeed, his working out of the theology of salvation through Jesus Christ cannot be adequately understood apart from an understanding of covenant terminology.

Romans. From the outset, Paul’s letter to the Romans has the covenant as its underlying theme. Worship, the acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over all things, is a requirement laid upon all people; those who refuse to give thanks to God are given up, or excluded from the covenant, becoming subject to its curses (Rom. 1:21–24). Paul picks up the imagery of marriage with Yahweh, which the Israelite prophets used as an analogy to the covenant, in order to explain the end of the old economy and the onset of the new. A marriage, he tells the Romans, is in force only as long as both partners are alive. If one dies, the other is free from his covenant and can legitimately marry another. A person who has acknowledged Jesus as Lord has identified with him in his death, becoming, as it were, dead along with Christ, in order to be raised with him into a new life. Thus Christian baptism, as an act of worship, has profound covenantal foundations. The death of the believer with Christ renders him free from the old covenant and places him within the new covenant nation, or bride of Christ (Rom. 7:4). The old covenant was not able to produce righteousness, being only a picture of the new, in which Jesus Christ, who embodies the covenant, becomes righteousness for the believer. This righteousness, the life that embodies the covenant, shines through the church to the world, as God’s people “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4 kjv).

Paul uses the olive tree as a figure for the blending of the old and new covenants in Jesus. Gentiles who acknowledge Jesus as Lord are grafted into the tree alongside believing Jews. Together they make up the people of God under the new covenant. Blindness has come upon part of the Jewish people until the full proportion of Gentiles can be grafted into the olive tree. “And so [that is, ‘in this way’] all Israel [both Jews and Gentiles] will be saved” (Rom. 11:26, italics added). Using an image taken from Old Testament symbolism of the exchange of clothing in a covenant, Paul urges his readers to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,” as one wears a garment (Rom. 13:14). He summarizes by admonishing both groups to receive one another and be like-minded in order to glorify God as one people (Rom. 15:5–12).

Corinthians. The remarkable passage in 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1, which appears to break the continuity of thought in its context, may be a fragment from an earlier letter of Paul’s, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9. The thrust of this passage is that Christians are to separate from unbelievers. Paul presents this admonition in the form of a prophetic declaration of the covenant, in the name of “the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:16–18), which makes use of a chain of quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures. Here the Lord declares that he will dwell among his people, citing the covenant formulary—I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Lev. 26:12; Ezek. 37:27). He then summons his people to separate from uncleanness and to be gathered to him (Isa. 52:11). Extending the language of the Davidic covenant to all his people, the Lord declares that he will be their Father (2 Sam. 7:14), and they shall be his sons (Hos. 1:10) and daughters. Paul’s Corinthian readers would have understood the covenant terminology underlying this passage, for (contrary to what is often said) the Corinthian church was mainly a Jewish congregation (cf. Acts 18:1–17).

Galatians. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul makes a particularly strong statement about the old and new covenants. Certain teachers who would require Christians to return to the old covenant were creating problems in Galatia, and Paul writes to address the subject. He uses the terms “the Law” and “Book of the Law” to refer to the old covenant and says that it cannot bring people into relationship with God. Even those who are born Jews, he asserts, cannot come to the Father except through Christ; how much less those who are Gentiles to begin with (Gal. 2:15–16).

Paul goes on to refer to Abraham, who was justified, or placed in a covenant relationship with the Lord, through faith and not through observing regulations. The law that came later could not invalidate God’s covenant with Abraham, which promised that in him all nations of the earth would be blessed (Gal. 3:17). The promise was made, Paul explains, to Abraham’s “seed” and not his “seeds,” and that “seed” (singular) is Jesus Christ. The old covenant was to serve only until the Seed came (Gal. 3:19), but it was not the promised blessing. The Seed comes to both Jews and Gentiles, because both are under sin and need the anointed Servant to be the covenant on their behalf. When a person is baptized into Christ, he or she is clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27); here Paul again refers to the exchange of clothing in the enactment of a covenant. As a result of being clothed with Christ in the new relationship, no physical distinctions remain, whether of race, gender, or social status (Gal. 3:28–29). Paul uses the analogy of Hagar and Sarah to illustrate that the children of the promise are those who are born into the covenant relationship through faith, while the earthly Jerusalem and its old covenant inhabitants are children of the slave girl and will not inherit the promises (Gal. 4:21–31).

Ephesians and Colossians. Writing to the church in Ephesus, Paul adopts the style of the Hebraic blessing, a form of worship ascribing honor to the Lord; the hymnic quality of the opening passage is marked by the recurring refrain “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12, 14; cf. 1:6). He reminds the Ephesians that the people God has chosen to create and adopt are those redeemed by Jesus Christ, both Jews and Gentiles together. Both groups are in need of God’s life-giving power. Jesus Christ himself has broken down the wall between Jew and Gentile and united them in a new creation. This created people is the mystery that Paul has been commissioned to make known; this was God’s plan from the beginning, “his eternal purpose which [God] accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11). The church, or “new man,” is the culmination and crown of the new creation, just as mankind was in the old. It represents God’s ultimate and eternal purpose in the earth. As he concludes, Paul uses the image of the exchange of weaponry between covenant partners; he presents his readers with a listing of the armor of God and admonishes them to wear it in their battles against the enemy (Eph. 6:10–17).

Paul assures the Colossians that they exhibit the sign of the covenant, a spiritual circumcision made evident by water baptism (Col. 2:11–15). They should not submit to the regulations of the old covenant, which is only a shadow of the reality that is Christ (Col. 2:16–23).

Covenant in Hebrews

The letter to the Hebrews is dedicated almost entirely to a discussion of the new covenant (see especially Heb. 8:1–13). The writer identifies Jesus as the one who has appeared “in these last days” (Heb. 1:2) and has been appointed heir of all things. He is the “firstborn,” or King (Heb. 1:6, 8), who has “provided purification for sins” (Heb. 1:3) as the covenant sacrifice and is the anointed Servant (Heb. 1:9) who was promised. He calls those in the new covenant “brothers” (Heb. 2:11–18); he is the seed of Abraham (Heb. 2:16) and the builder of God’s house (Heb. 3:1–6). He embodies the Sabbath, the rest that is promised to God’s people (Heb. 3:18–4:11). Jesus is our high priest (Heb. 5:1–8:6) who administers the new covenant (Heb. 8:6ff.). This new covenant is the one of which the prophets spoke, wherein all its adherents would know the Lord (Heb. 8:8–12). It takes the place of the old covenant, completely absorbing and superseding it (Heb. 8:13ff.). Christ is the covenant sacrifice (Heb. 9:24–28), removing by his death the need for animal sacrifices under the law (Heb. 10:1–22). Again and again the writer of Hebrews contrasts the two covenants, emphasizing that the new is far superior to the old and has taken its place; by it one enters “Mount Zion,” the “heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God,” to an assembly of angels and of one “firstborn,” to God the judge, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 12:18–24). Neither are the sacrificial ceremonies of the Jewish sanctuary relevant (Heb. 13:10–14); in place of animals, new covenant people are to “offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb. 13:15).

Covenant in the Revelation

The Revelation to John is a covenant document of the first magnitude, a dramatic portrayal of the enactment of the curses inherent in the covenant against the unfaithful. The proliferation of sevens is a clue to the book’s covenant content, a reminder of the taking of a covenant oath, which in Hebrew is literally “to seven oneself.” The Revelation is also a picture of covenant worship in the response of God’s new people to his mighty acts of deliverance on their behalf. John has given the church a pattern to follow in his descriptions of the twenty-four elders falling down before the Lamb, the white-robed saints playing harps, and the great congregation shouting, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!” (Rev. 19:6–7). In the worshiping church, “the holy city, new Jerusalem,” the covenant finds fulfillment: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them” (Rev. 21:3).

Jesus Is the Covenant

Summarizing the witness of the New Testament authors, we see that Jesus himself takes on all the elements of the covenant in order to keep it for those who are “in him.” He is Servant (Phil. 2:7), Lord (Phil. 2:11), and Shepherd (Heb. 13:20–21). He is the witness to the covenant (Rev. 1:4–5). He is the covenant sanctions, the blessing (Eph. 1:3) and the curse (Gal. 3:13). He is the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14), the text of the new covenant in a language able to be understood, now deposited in the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:19–22). He is the sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7) and the covenant meal (John 6:48–54), which enact the covenant. He is the garment put on in token of the covenant (Gal. 3:27). He is the sign (Luke 2:34), our peace (Eph. 2:14), and our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). He has formed his people (Eph. 2:10) and named them in order to establish ownership (Eph. 3:15). In grateful recognition of God’s covenant blessing in the person of Jesus Christ, the church as his royal priesthood is commanded to demonstrate loyalty to the covenant through worship that brings glory to the Lord (1 Pet. 2:9–10).

The Covenants Compared

From Genesis to Revelation, the covenant theme shines through the Bible, sending out a clear light for the believer’s walk with God. The covenant is the basis of God’s dealings with creation in general and with his created people in particular. The old covenant with its regulations was a guardian over God’s chosen people until Jesus came. Christ, the “last Adam,” entered into covenant with the Father and keeps it on behalf of those who trust in him. All who are identified with him are also in covenant with God, having Jesus’ righteousness imputed to them.

Under the Israelite covenant it was Moses’ faithfulness through which Israel had access to Yahweh. Moses was the one who entered the presence of God, spoke with him face to face, and interceded for his rebellious and unfaithful nation (Exod. 32:1–14). This picture is fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus as mediator of the new covenant. His faithfulness ensures the covenant for those who remain in him. As Moses interceded for Israel, so Jesus intercedes for his church, he himself being the sacrifice that makes the intercession acceptable (Heb. 10:1–10).

Response to the Covenant

The covenant people are called to acknowledge God’s kingship and to respond with worship. When Israel violated the covenant by abandoning the worship of Yahweh and turning to idols, God rejected his treaty with them and abandoned them to defeat and captivity. Covenant blessings were withdrawn, and curses were released on the people (Ps. 78:21–22, 58–64). When they worshiped in song and dance before the Lord, he brought prosperity and victory over their enemies (2 Chron. 20:18–22).

In giving the covenant, the Lord delivered instructions for worship, which was to have been the chosen people’s special ministry to him. In fact, it was his original intention that the whole nation and not the tribe of Levi alone be a worshiping priesthood (Exod. 19:3–6). Although they drew back out of fear (Exod. 20:18–21; Deut. 5:23–27), the Lord instituted for Israel a system of worship by which they maintained their identity as his covenant people and through which they were to reflect his glory to the nations.

As in the covenant of Israel, so in the Christian covenant it is incumbent upon the recipients of God’s covenant love to worship him. In describing life under the new covenant, Isaiah declares, “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations” (Isa. 61:11). The first act of the newborn church on the day of Pentecost was a spontaneous outpouring of praise, with the disciples “declaring the wonders of God” (Acts 2:11). Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God seeks worshipers (John 4:23). As the people of Israel expressed their praise and thanksgiving to God through joyous festivals, the church celebrates in the Christian Eucharist, or “thanksgiving” feast. Peter writes that the body of believers has been made into a people for the express purpose of “[declaring] the praises of him who called [them] out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9). The worship of the covenant people delights the Lord, as the psalmist writes:

Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. (Ps. 149:1–4)

Names of God the Son in the Bible

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Paul encouraged his readers to “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). The Christian performs all aspects of his or her ministry and witness in the name of Jesus, and it is in his name that the church assembles for prayer and worship (1 Cor. 5:4) and offers thanksgiving to the Father (Eph. 5:20). The New Testament uses several titles to describe the meaning of God’s action through his Son. Many of these expressions (such as “Son of Man,” “Servant,” and “Anointed”) are applied in the Old Testament to significant leaders of the covenant people—prophets, priests, kings. As applied in the New Testament to the Lord Jesus, they are titles for God the Son.

Jesus

Jesus’ name, which in Hebrew is Yeshu‡‘, is equivalent to Joshua, and means “Yahweh is salvation.” A messenger of the Lord revealed this name to Joseph (Matt. 1:21) and to Mary (Luke 1:31) before the birth of Jesus. It conveys the purpose for which he has come into the world: “for he will save his people from their sins.” The biblical concept of salvation is not an abstract idea but a concrete image of God’s action in behalf of his people. It means deliverance: the rescue of people from danger and from their enemies, and their release from that which enslaves and binds. Jesus’ ministry, culminating in his death on the cross and his resurrection and exaltation, was not only a deliverance from the condemnation of sin and disobedience to God; it was also a release of the people from the strictures of a religious tradition that had lost sight of its foundations in the covenant granted by the Lord. Jesus, the Deliverer, taught a new ethic of the kingdom of God that was not new at all but went to the heart of the Hebrew Scriptures, “the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5:17; 7:12).

The name Jesus, then, has special significance in its own right. But it takes on infinitely more meaning when equated with the many titles by which he is known in the worship and proclamation of his church. The church confesses that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3), its authority and head in the covenant. The apostles preach that “God has made this Jesus, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). They write of Jesus who, though humanly speaking a descendent of David, “was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). The gospel writers tell his story to the end “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).

Jesus of Nazareth

This phrase differs from “Jesus” in being the name by which Jesus was known to the general public; New Testament evidence does not indicate that it was used within the church. Jesus is addressed in this way by demons (Mark 1:24); a blind man is told by the crowd that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by (Mark 10:46–47), and the crowds at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem describe him as “Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matt. 21:11). After the crucifixion, two of Jesus’ disciples refer to him as Jesus of Nazareth in speaking to a stranger on the Emmaus road, not realizing that Jesus has been raised from death and is, indeed, their traveling companion (Luke 24:19). In the period immediately following the resurrection, the apostles heal in the name of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 3:6) and so identify him in preaching to the crowds (Acts 10:38; cf. 26:9). At the discovery of the resurrection, the women were told, “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here” (Mark 16:6). Perhaps the messenger’s words anticipate Paul’s statement that although we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we do so no longer (2 Cor. 5:16).

Christ (Christos)

The word is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew mashi‡ḥ, or Messiah, meaning “anointed” or literally “oiled.” In ancient Israel, olive oil was a staple of the economy and therefore a symbol of prosperity and blessing. Important leaders were commissioned by having special sanctifying oil poured over them. The high priest was anointed (Num. 35:25; cf. Ps. 133:2), and Elijah the prophet was told to anoint Elisha as his successor (1 Kings 19:16). Most importantly, the kings were anointed. Saul was so commissioned by Samuel the prophet (1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13) and David spoke of him as “the Lord’s anointed” (mƒshi‡ḥ Yahveh, 1 Sam. 24:10; 2 Sam. 1:14). David himself, anointed by Samuel while Saul was still reigning (1 Sam. 16:13), became the paradigm for the Mashi‡ḥ, and the concept of the enduring Davidic dynasty, first enunciated by Nathan (2 Sam. 7:12–16), was celebrated by prophets and psalmists. In theory, every descendant of David installed in Zion was a “David” and hence a “messiah.” As the ruler ascended the Judean throne, he might be proclaimed the adopted son of Yahweh through a decree (Ps. 2:7), the Lord’s vice-regent in the governing of his earthly dominion. Several of the prophets looked forward to the restoration of the ideal commonwealth symbolized by David’s rule (Isa. 9:1–7; Jer. 30:1–9; Amos 9:11).

Such exalted language applied to the Judean ruler forms the background for the messianic hope of Judaism at the time of the birth of Jesus. Although it is common to speak of the Jewish expectation of an ideal Davidic ruler who would restore the glory of Israel, delivering it from its foreign oppressors and governing it with justice, in truth there was great divergence in the eschatological expectancy of first-century Judaism, which was split into many sectarian movements. The scribes of the Dead Sea community, for example, wrote of two messiahs, the priestly “Messiah of Aaron” and the lay “Messiah of Israel,” due to these sectarians’ bad experience with the Maccabean rulers, who had united the priestly and kingly offices. It has been said that Jesus’ own unique contribution to the concept of messiahship, and that of his apostles, was to combine the office of Messiah with that of the “suffering Servant” prefigured in the prophecy of Isaiah. Recent research involving the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, suggests that this idea was present in sectarian Judaism of the time.

When the New Testament writers call Jesus the “Christ,” they make the claim that he is the fulfillment of Israel’s messianic expectations: the instrument of God for their restoration as his people and their ultimate deliverance. But the exact nature of this restoration and deliverance did not conform to any one program in the contemporaneous Jewish scene. The fact of Jesus’ messiahship preceded its interpretation; the crucifixion and resurrection verified that Jesus was the Anointed of the Lord (Acts 2:22–36; 10:34–43; 17:31), but what this meant was left largely for the apostles to develop under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The central fact was that Jesus is the Christ, the Deliverer of the faithful; because of this, the title was attached to his name and became one with it, as “Jesus Christ” or “Christ Jesus.”

Head (Kephalē)

The word head conveys not only the ideas of authority and summation, but also the concept of source, as in the expression “fountainhead.” As “head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18), Jesus is the Lord of his people and also the source of their life and growth (Eph. 4:16). Not only the church, but “all things” are summed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10). The apostolic proclamation is that, as head of the church, Christ is also “head over all things” (Eph. 1:22 nasb), the “head over every power and authority” (Col. 2:10). In this figure, Paul gives the church a powerful image of universal scope of Christ’s dominion.

Lord (Kurios)

The earliest Christian confession is, “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3). The title “Lord” (Kurios) was the term substituted for the divine name Yahveh in the Greek version of the Old Testament, used in many communities of the Jewish diaspora. It is the Greek equivalent of ’Adonai, with all the implications of this term for the understanding of covenant loyalty to the great King. The heart of the apostolic proclamation is that, in the resurrection from the dead, God has made Jesus “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The title Kurios, when applied to Jesus, in effect equates him with God; the confession of Jesus’ lordship, therefore, was what set the earliest Christians apart from their traditional Jewish contemporaries, who could abide no human claim to equality with God (John 5:18). In this, of course, they were quite correct. But, as Paul insisted, Jesus also made no such claim, even as the preincarnate Christ (Phil. 2:6); the Father exalted him to lordship because of his obedience to the point of death on the cross (Phil. 2:8–9). As Lord, Jesus will receive the oath of covenant allegiance from people of all times and places (Phil. 2:9–11), “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

The Christian confession, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” means that for the believer and for the corporate church, Jesus is the sole authority in life. The Scriptures are the written authority, but the church receives them from the hand of the Lord and interprets them with a focus on God’s action in Christ by the quickening guidance of the Spirit of Christ. Although it is through faith that a person is brought into the family of God (Eph. 2:8–9), this faith is accompanied by confession of the lordship of the risen Jesus (Rom. 10:9–10). Nor is this a vocal confession only (though it must be that), but a confession made with the whole of one’s being in a life of obedience, as the New Testament makes clear throughout.

Son (Huios)

In classical Christian theology, the Son is the second person of the Trinity. In the Semitic languages of the Bible, the word son (Hebrew ben, Aramaic bar) has a wider meaning than in English. It indicates not only biological or genealogical descent, but also things belonging in a certain class or representing something. A Hebrew speaker expresses his age by using the term; if he is 30 years old, he says “I am a son of 30, ” that is, “I belong to the class of those who are 30 years old.” In this way we understand expressions such as “sons of thunder,” Jesus’ epithet for James and John (Mark 3:17), perhaps because of their combative attitude (Luke 9:51–56); “sons of iniquity,” (Hos. 10:9 nasb) describing a rebellious Israel; and “Son of Encouragement,” the literal sense of the name Barnabas (Acts 4:36). The meaning of Jesus’ sonship, as ascribed to him both by himself and by the New Testament authors, is clarified in relation to the various qualifiers that attach to the term Son.

Son of God (Huios tou Theou), Son of David (Huios tou Dauid). These titles of Jesus are interrelated, and also relate to the concept of the “Anointed.” It is the idea of the covenant that imparts to them theological importance. In ancient treaties, a more powerful king would establish a treaty or covenant with a lesser one, who agreed to its terms as the representative of his people. Great kings were sometimes called “fathers,” while their vassals were known as “sons.” The Davidic ruler, as the anointed king, was the representative of Israel or Judah in the covenant with Yahweh and is thus termed the “son” (Pss. 2:7, 12; 72:1; Isa. 9:6). As a symbol of this mediatorial role in the covenant, when kings ascended the throne they were presented with the “Testimony,” or Book of the Law, a statement of the covenant between the Lord and Israel (2 Kings 11:12). Although all the people of Israel were called “sons of God” (Exod. 4:22–23; Deut. 1:31; 8:5; Jer. 3:19; 31:9, 20; Hos. 11:1; Mal. 1:6; Ps. 80:15), the king was viewed as the son par excellence in his role as their representative. This mediatorial position was an inheritance from Moses, who also functioned as “king” and the one who maintained Israel’s covenant relationship with Yahweh.

David was the symbol of the ideal royal son, whose appearance would bring a restoration of the covenant and the salvation of the people of the Lord. In identifying Jesus as the Son of David (Matt. 1:1; 21:9, 15; 22:42; Mark 11:10; John 7:42; Rom. 1:3; and others), the New Testament writers assert that he is also the Son of God, the agent and mediator of divine deliverance. Indeed, God declares Jesus’ sonship before his birth (Luke 1:32–33), at his baptism (Mark 1:11), and on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7). At his crucifixion it is an awestruck centurion who says, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54b). In the gospel proclamation of the apostolic church, it is by his resurrection from the dead that Jesus is “declared with power to be the Son of God” (Rom. 1:4).

Son of Man (Huios tou anthrōpou). The phrase “Son of Man” (which some scholars translate as “the human being,” taking “son” in the sense of “representative”) is familiar from the prophecy of Ezekiel, whom the Lord repeatedly addresses in this way in imparting his visions. Its use in Daniel (Dan. 7:13–14) is more cosmic in scope, describing one who is to rule with “an everlasting dominion” granted by the Ancient of Days. It is at this more exalted level that the New Testament employs it as a title for Jesus Christ. As the Son of Man, Jesus is the representative of mankind, able to enter and maintain the covenant on behalf of all humanity. The title is not a reference to Jesus’ ordinary human nature but to the extraordinary nature of his authority. Jesus healed the paralytic by forgiving his sins so the disciples would understand that he had that authority (Matt. 9:6; Luke 5:24). He declared that as Son of Man he was Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8; Luke 6:5), the keeping of which was a sign of the covenant (Exod. 31:13). In his prophecy of the destruction to come, Jesus borrows Daniel’s imagery to speak of the coming of the Son of Man to judge the unfaithful and gather his elect from all over the earth (Mark 13:26–27).

The Son. John employs the expression “Son of God” somewhat differently from the other gospel writers, often using the unqualified title “the Son.” In his interpretation, Jesus is the Son of God because he is one with the Father and therefore equal to him (John 5:18). In this sense, Jesus is not only the servant king who enters into covenant with the Lord as representative of the nation, maintaining its requirements in the nation’s behalf. He is also one with the great King, and as such is the granter of the covenant who lays down its terms. In divine paradox, Jesus the Son becomes both sides of the relationship between God and the people of God; he is the covenant.

Savior (Sōtēr)

Luke records that Mary, the mother of Jesus, calls God her Savior (Luke 1:47). But at his birth, Jesus also assumes the title, as confirmed by the name given him by the angel (Luke 1:31; 2:11, 21). After the Resurrection, the apostles herald Jesus’ exaltation as Savior (Acts 5:31; 13:23). The New Testament church looks forward to the appearance of its Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:13), but at the same time recognizes that he has already appeared (2 Tim. 1:10), delivering his people from bondage to the evil one through the mighty victory effected by his death and resurrection (Col. 2:15).

Servant (‘Eved, Pais)

The word, as applied to Jesus, is not the usual word translated “servant” (doulos), which is often applied to Christian workers and means “slave” or “bond servant.” Rather, it is the word pais, usually translated “child.” In covenant terminology “servant” is another title given to a ruler who enters into covenant with the great King. It is a title not of servility but of authority, for the servant is his ruler’s representative. Thus the Old Testament calls leaders such as Moses (Num. 12:7–8; 1 Chron. 6:49; Neh. 10:29), David (Ps. 89:20; Ezek. 34:23–24), and Zerubbabel (Hag. 2:23) the servant (‘eved) of God. In the “servant songs” of Isaiah, the Lord’s servant is sometimes an individual (Isa. 42:1–4; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12; 61:1–2), sometimes Jacob or Israel (Isa. 44:1–2, 21), sometimes both (Isa. 49:1–6). The New Testament portrays Jesus as the suffering servant described by Isaiah (Matt. 12:18); Jesus himself inferred this identification in the synagogue of Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry (Luke 4:21). Jesus’ designation as Yahweh’s servant reinforces his role as covenant mediator on behalf of his people; he is the Servant-King. Peter, in his second sermon recorded in Acts (3:26), applies the title Servant (Pais) to Christ, as the one sent by God to turn the descendants of Abraham back to him, and the apostles in a prayer for God’s protection refer to Jesus as God’s “holy Servant” (hagios Pais, Acts 4:27, 30).

The Word (Logos)

Christ is directly called the Word only in the writings of John (John 1:1, 14; “the Word of Life,” 1 John 1:1; “the Word of God,” Rev. 19:13). In Hebrew culture, one’s word is the extension of his person; it is the mechanism through which the “soul” or life force impacts others, so that in effect there is no distinction between one’s word and one’s being (Johannes Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 2nd ed. [London: Oxford University Press, 1959], vol. 1–2, 166–168). Biblical theology builds on this idea; the word of the Lord extends the force of his being into all contexts. It is by his word that the Lord moves affairs of history, particularly the sacred history of his deeds of deliverance (cf. Ps. 107:20). In the saga of the Israelite kingdoms recounted in the books of Samuel and Kings, events occur according to the word of Yahweh through his prophets. In fact, the creation itself comes into being by the spoken word of God (Gen. 1:3; Ps. 33:6). Thus, in several passages of hymnlike or doxological character, the New Testament celebrates Christ as the Word through whom all things have been made and are sustained (John 1:3; Heb. 1:1–3; cf. also Col. 1:15–18, where the idea is present without use of the term logos).

But the concept of the word also has covenantal associations; in the Sinai covenant, Yahweh spoke “these words” of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:1). In the ancient treaty, the “word” was the text of the covenant, standing as a sanction against its violators. As the “Word of God,” Christ appears at the head of the armies of heaven, executing the judgments of the Almighty against the rebellious (Rev. 19:14–15).

These two functions of Jesus as the Word—creation and covenant—are really one. Jesus, the incarnate Word, brings people into the family of God (John 1:12); through the “washing with water through the word” (Eph. 5:26) he prepares a church to be presented to God. By the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17), men and women enter into the new covenant, which is the “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Immanuel

After telling of Joseph’s dream, in which an angel announces the coming birth of Jesus, Matthew’s gospel indicates that his appearance was to be a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: “A virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). The Hebrew phrase ‘immanu-’El means “with us is God.” Isaiah used the imminent birth of a child as a sign for King Ahaz that the attacking enemies of Judah would soon cease to be a threat (Isa. 7:15–16); the expression occurs again in Isaiah 8:8. It is rooted in the very character of Yahweh, who had revealed his name to Moses (Exod. 3:13–15) as one known historically through his covenant with his people. As King, Yahweh often reassures Israel that he will be with them to protect and provide (for example, Josh. 1:9). Solomon’s benediction at the dedication of the temple expresses the concept well: “May the Lord our God be with us [‘immanu] as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us” (1 Kings 8:57).

Despite Matthew’s citation of the Isaiah passage, Jesus is never actually called Immanuel in the New Testament. The name, however, is a powerful expression of the doctrine of the incarnation, consistent with such New Testament declarations as John’s, that the Word, who is one with God (John 1:1), “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14), or Paul’s statement that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:19). Further, Immanuel aptly sums up the Christian’s awareness of the presence of Christ with his church. Declaring his authority over all things, the risen Christ pledges his faithfulness to the covenant: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus remains continuously with the church through the Spirit, “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” dwelling amid his people (Rev. 21:3; 22–23).

High Priest

The writer to the Hebrews consistently uses this title in reference to Jesus, calling him “the apostle and high priest whom we confess” (Heb. 3:1). The title “high priest” was a messianic one, having been applied to the Davidic ruler in Psalm 110:4, using Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem, as the pattern (Gen. 14:18). The author uses this title as part of his demonstration of the superiority of the new covenant to the old. The Aaronic high priest of the old covenant, who was from the tribe of Levi, was subject to death. But Jesus is “a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:20), whose priesthood came before the Mosaic priesthood, and who had received tithes from Abraham, the ancestor of the Israelite nation. The point is that Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, not Levi, and a change in priesthood means a change in the law (Heb. 7:12). Therefore a new covenant supersedes the old (Heb. 8:7, 13); God “sets aside the first to establish the second” (Heb. 10:9).

As the “great high priest” (Heb. 4:14), Jesus is the “mediator of a new covenant” through his own blood (Heb. 9:13–15), having offered the sacrifice of the heavenly sanctuary of which the earthly was only a copy (Heb. 9:23–24). Being the “great priest over the house of God” (Heb. 10:21), Jesus lives forever to make intercession for those who approach God through him (Heb. 7:25). Believers have come, not to Sinai but to Zion, the place of celebration, to a “heavenly Jerusalem,” which is not an ethereal and future reality but the worshiping church, “the general assembly [panēguris, ‘festal gathering’] and church [ekklēsia] of the first-born” (Heb. 12:22–23 nasb). The theme of the high priesthood of Christ is therefore an incentive for the church to reflect in its worship the high celebration of the new covenant.

Rabbi; Teacher (Didaskalos)

In the Gospels, people sometimes address Jesus by the title “Rabbi,” which means “great one,” in the sense of master or teacher. These are usually people who are not yet believers (Nicodemus, John 6:25; a blind man, Mark 10:51; the crowds, John 6:25). However, Nathanael the disciple confesses his faith with the words, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (John 1:49). At the empty tomb, Mary cries, “Rabboni!” when she recognizes the risen Christ (John 20:16), using a more honorific form of the title. Jesus applies the title “Teacher” (Didaskalos) to himself, telling his disciples, “One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers” (Matt. 23:8 nasb).

King (Basileus), King of Kings (Basileus Basileōn)

Although the kingship of Jesus is implicit in his role as Lord and Christ, the title “King” is not often ascribed to him in Scripture. Jesus is acclaimed King by his disciples at his entry into Jerusalem, according to Luke’s account (Luke 19:38), and after Jesus’ arrest Pilate scornfully calls him King (John 18:37; 19:15, 19). The phrase “King of kings,” meaning “supreme king,” is more common in the church’s worship, as a title of the risen Christ. It is similar to the expression “Lord of lords,” with which it is paired in all occurrences in Scripture. The title does not appear in the Old Testament but is attributed to Jesus Christ alone as the manifest Sovereign (1 Tim. 6:15, in the form Basileus tōn basileuontōn), as the Lamb (Rev. 17:14), and as the rider on the white horse (Rev. 19:16). As King, Jesus reigns as coregent with the Father; in the Resurrection, God exalted Jesus to his right hand (Acts 2:32–36); the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom “of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).

Prince of Peace (Sar Shalom)

The church worships Jesus as the Prince of Peace, although the title does not occur in the New Testament. The expression is one of the titles ascribed to the Davidic king in the familiar oracle of Isaiah (Isa. 9:2–7), which may have been composed for the coronation of an actual Judean ruler but later took on a messianic significance. Peace in the Bible is more than the absence of strife; it is shalom, a positive state of wholeness, prosperity, and blessing, which is the benefit of the covenant. The Prince of Peace is the one whose dominion brings this quality of life. In the New Testament, the peace of the covenant is extended beyond Israel to all people; in Christ, both Jew and Gentile have been united. Thus, Paul states, “He himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14), having broken the dividing wall between cultural groups.

Ruler (Arkhōn)

As a synonym for “King,” John the Revelator calls Jesus “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5).

Author, Originator (Archēgos)

This word has the meaning “ruler” but in the sense of one who begins or originates something. The apostolic preachers refer to Jesus as “the author of life” (Acts 3:15), for new life and forgiveness have been released in his resurrection (Acts 5:31).