From resurrection to restoration: The Gospel comes full circle in Jerusalem

On April 20, 2023, Christians from around the world came to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter. Believers in Jesus recognize that his preordained death, burial, and resurrection were given to us as a gift - payment for our sins and a ticket to enter an eternal kingdom. If it weren’t for God’s love and sacrifice for all mankind, we would be lost in a sea of confusion and continual failure with no hope in sight. 

Resurrection is the foundation - the cornerstone - of our hope and faith in God’s plan to redeem the world through His only begotten son, Jesus (Psalm 2:7, Luke 3:22). It’s a universal invitation to anyone of any nation who accepts Jesus’ death as a sacrifice, to cover the debt owed to our creator and Father for our rebellious self-destructive nature.

Paul explains in the New Testament book of Romans that the open door we have to salvation through Jesus is an undeserved act of grace, one that requires simple acceptance of the account of the resurrection and witness to God’s love within our heart.  

"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-12

Yet there’s more involved in this story of redemption and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In the next chapter, Paul continues to explain that Israel has been foreordained to experience rejection, death, and then resurrection from the dead. 

"For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" Romans 11:15

When the apostle penned those words, the Jews were still in the land, and Temple sacrifices were still being made to Yahweh in Jerusalem. But that was about to change. 

Jesus had clearly explained to the disciples weeks before the upcoming events in Jerusalem that what was about to happen in Jerusalem would fulfill what the prophets had written of him long ago.  

"Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished." Luke 18:31

The disciples had already seen enough over the past few years to know that they were on the path to messianic fulfillment with the Messiah himself. But it was the next part they struggled to grasp..  

“For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." Luke 18:32-33

This wasn’t the first time Jesus had explained the gruesome end that awaited him. Peter had rebuked him for saying it before (Matthew 16), in a vain attempt to persuade him to be the kind of Messiah he expected. Luke later comments that they struggled to understand because a spiritual restriction was in place.   

"But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken." Luke 18:34

Everything would continue according to plan. And as Luke wrote the disciple’s eyes remained closed to the whole truth. It was hidden from them purposely until the appointed time. 

While on the Mount of Olives, they admired the beauty and construction of the Temple complex across the valley. He told them that not a stone of it would be left standing on another. Jerusalem, he went on to say, would be destroyed and the Jewish people would be led away captive to the nations. 

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." Luke 21:20-24

It happened just as he had said. The death of Judea, the Jewish state, and its exile was on the horizon, some 130 or so years later. The disciples were being equipped to understand the prophetic and how the resurrection story of Jesus and Israel was a testimony to the nations of God’s sovereign plan.

The many prophetic scriptures of Israel’s exile and return were beginning to come into focus for the disciples. From Moses and the prophets, their eyes were being opened to the preordained path the Jewish people were destined to follow. 

They were sent out to the nations to be witnesses of Jesus’ triumph over death and assurance that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life (John 3:16).

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14

That brings us to today. In response to the gospel message that first went out from Jerusalem, Christians from around the world now come here to celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus. They come to Jerusalem with the understanding that God has brought the Jewish people back from exile among the nations, and that the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled according to the aforementioned verse in Luke 21.

"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." Romans 11:25

On Thursday, May 15, we celebrated the 77th birthday of the State of Israel. This is the final chapter of the Gospel message. Now that Israel has been returned to the land, their blindness to the resurrection of the messiah that has been hidden from them will be healed when he returns to take away their sins. 

As a messianic Jewish Israeli living outside Jerusalem, it’s a privilege to witness today’s events as distressing as they are at times, knowing that the return of the Messiah is near, very near…  

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn." Zechariah 12:10