Chapter 5 - Why Didn't Jesus Say It?

In the last chapter, “Righteousness unto Holiness” Paul had revealed to the Romans that salvation was a process. He said, “…the benefit you reap (righteousness) leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life”.[1] Does Jesus give us any instruction that resembles Paul’s statement? Let us take a look at some Old Testament prophecy to gather some insight into how Jesus’ message was delivered, and what God required of those who received it.
Some Old Testament prophecies are not easily understood and require some work in deciphering their meaning. Usually, going to the original language reveals a wide range of meaning for certain words that give us difficulty in our own language. Since Israel was the recipient of these prophecies, and they were recorded in their language, why then did they have difficulty with receiving them? If they did understand the prophecies, what kept the people from accepting those which were to serve as a warning? Or, what about accepting Jesus as the Messiah when He arrived? There are at least two reasons for Israel’s struggle with scripture and the Messianic prophecies.
One: God instructed His prophets to communicate to Israel that He would not speak to them in plain logic.

“My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with harp I will expound my riddle.” (Psalm 49:3-4 NIV)

The Psalmist’s confession above, regarding the understanding of wisdom, was reminiscent of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 2:8,10,and 14;

8 “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
10 “But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.”
14 “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (NIV)

These verses lend to the understanding as to why God had not poured out His spirit. Those who were given understanding had it because God willed it to them. Understanding was given to those who truly sought after God. Beginning at Matthew 13:34, Matthew quoted Psalm 78:2:

“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” (NIV)

God instructed Isaiah to pronounce a curse on Israel:

“And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10 KJV)

The Septuagint, Greek Old Testament, says of this same passage:

“You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
This peoples’ heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.”

The second reason Israel struggled with understanding is tradition.
If Israel understood, they still did not know how God was going to make a new covenant[2] that would replace the Deuteronomic covenant of Mosaic law and its sacrifices, offerings, abolitions, and participation of feast, festivals and Sabbath days. Of course they would imagine their current traditions taking shape in the new covenant when it was to come. The new covenant is conveyed so clearly in Isaiah 53:4-12. Israel, not yet seeing God’s role in atonement, would be left horrified and appalled at Yahweh with the thought of the Day of Atonement[3] coming annually and the sacrifice is a man! The author of Hebrews explains this sacrifice will occur once for all[4].
God requires mercy (checed [5] which benefits the human family) and the knowledge of God, not sacrifice. He requires that man seek him earnestly.
In the opening verse to Isaiah 53, Isaiah’s words speak throughout time. He says:

“Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (KJV)

"Arm" may be the word zeroah[6] meaning mighty, power. Arm can also be an extension. If the intended meaning of zeroah refers to Jesus as an extension of God’s reach then we may understand the passage to speak figuratively as referring to a man of power with his ability to fulfill the requirements of the law.
Jesus searched His disciples in the way that Isaiah asked. He said, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” [7] His disciples responded by telling Him that people thought He was John the Baptist incognito, Elijah had come back by divine influence, or that He was one of the other prophets.
Jesus then asked them who they thought He was[8]. Simon Peter stepped forward, “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.” [9] Jesus called Peter blessed, because it was revealed by God[10]and not by man.
Peter testified to the other disciples as to the mission and identity of Jesus by calling him the Christ, Greek for Messiah. But for the Jews, the mystery of the covenant to come and the ambiguities would continue. Jesus warned the disciples in John 16:20 to not tell anyone He was the Christ because He had to fulfill the requirements of the law and what was spoken of by the prophets. He does this repeatedly in Mark as well. If He had truly been accepted as the Christ, He would not have finished His work by becoming a sacrifice for sin[11] Also, the conception of Messiah in the Jewish mind was of a human figure whom would set-up a political dynasty that overthrew all oppressors of the Israelites.—so Peter’s confession was right in content, but wrong in understanding—which is why Jesus rebuked him. People who were not totally in service to God and earnestly seeking Him would not know Jesus was the Christ. They did not know their atonement had been made until they accepted the message that the Holy Spirit spoke through all men and women at the time it had been poured out at Pentecost[12].
Who would be at Pentecost to announce the commencement? The one to whom Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: Peter[13].
Jesus never said righteousness being made perfect is holiness, which saves you, as Paul said. Jesus never said “faith without works is dead” as James penned. He couldn’t. God foretold it through the prophets for what appears to be as punishment for apostasy[14]. God was requiring that man would sincerely search for a relationship with Him. Possibly, a deeper hidden secret for Israel was the Christ would come undetected. Jesus, coming unannounced enabled Him to fulfill the law, be a man of sorrows, and die on a cross as an atonement offering as the prophets foretold.
Jesus told the parable of the vine and the branches[15] for those who were earnestly seeking. Telling this parable may have satisfied a need in Jesus to tell the Jews and the world of the requirement of Love in order that each individual would complete the requirements of the law. In this parable, Jesus tells us that our love for one another unites us to the Son. In being united to the Son we are united with the Father. Jesus identified Himself as the vine and His disciples as the branches of the vine. [16]
John 15:1-4 tells us that without our connection to Christ we would not have access to the Father (The Gardener), and cannot be pruned to become more fruitful.

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in Me. (John 15:4 NIV)

In verses 5-8 Jesus tells the disciples that they and God benefit from the vine.

“This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8 NIV)

God is edified by a person’s acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the work of Christ to atone for our sins, and our love for one another as we show ourselves to be Christ’s disciples.
The phrase

“Love one another. As I have loved you…” (John 13:34 NIV)

…is similar to the parable of the vine and branches:

“Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 NIV)

John 13: 35 quotes Jesus as saying “…if you love one another”. It is important that all men know that we are Christ’s disciples. Jesus tells us “all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Having love for one another demonstrates a life of doing what God’s will is: for us to be God’s family. It is love for God in the way that obeying the one simple rule of “do not eat from the tree” would also have been love for God. The simple rule that was broken by Adam and Eve is replaced with another simple rule, “love one another”. God had made a way for us to come back into fellowship with Him as Adam was. He made it simple and fitting to those who are seeking to be God’s family. Making up your mind that you are going to love, because God loves His creation is reflective of the image of God. Still, more concerning love is revealed to the disciples.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you.” (NIV John 15:13-15)

In John 13:7 Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and said to them:

“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (NIV)

He went on to tell them that He had set an example for them to do to one another. Washing their feet was an act of friendship. They would remember that when in John 15:13 and 14 Jesus called them His friends and mentioned that greater love is found in laying one’s life down for them[17]. Those words left ringing in their ears would be recalled when Christ hung on the cross. Jesus could not fulfill the commandment for us, because “love for one another” is a command that is personal to the individual toward his neighbor. It requires that the individual seeking atonement through Christ should complete his atonement in fulfilling the commandment of “love your neighbor as yourself”. Christ qualified us to do this by His example. He said “love one another as I have loved you”.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the preserving element (from chapter one) in Adam’s love for God. Through Christ, the preserving element in our relationship with God is ‘love for one another’ – a large part of what it means to be holy; sanctified, morally pure, set apart from the world and the way the world behaves. Jesus instructed us and led by example. Fulfilling the command to “love your neighbor as yourself”, He surpassed it and sanctified Himself[18]. Jesus came in the form of sinful flesh through the genetics of Mary. Jesus still had to overcome the sinful human nature that comes to us all as a result of Adamic nature. If Jesus could not live a sinless life, He could not save Himself (He was perfect, and continued to be as he died on the cross. This is the point. The Bible says Jesus could have called down 10,000 angels [to relieve his suffering and free him from the cross] ), and thus not save others. Jesus had to resist the temptation to ease His suffering. Resist not following through with God's plan in order to remain the Perfect Lamb of God. The Perfect Sacrifice for Atonement.
[1] Romans 6:22 NIV
[2] Jeremiah 31:31- “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
[3] Yom Kippur
[4] Hebrews 10:10
[5] Chapter two, Abraham’s Righteousness, Page one
[6] Hebrew language – zer-o-aw
[7] Matthew 16:13 NIV
[8] Matthew 16:15
[9] Matthew 16:16 NIV
[10] Matthew 16:17. I Corinthians 2:14 says, “The man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
[11] I Corinthians 2:8, “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
[12] Foretold by the prophet Joel in Joel chapter two.
[13] Acts chapter two.
[14] I.E., Isaiah 6:9-10 (See page two of Why didn’t Jesus say it?)
[15] John 15:1-17
[16] John 15: 5 “ I am the vine; you are the branches.”
[17] Literally, Jesus gave up His life blood for those whom He calls His friends. The significance is magnificent. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For us, to lay down our lives for our friends is not so intensely dramatic. God is only requiring that we not live our lives for ourselves. But, live our lives for one another. We are to be God’s family. Not individuals.
[18] “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Hebrews 2:10 NIV