“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” John 1:11. Why didn’t the Jews receive Jesus as the Messiah? To many Jewish people Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection was never accepted. So you have to ask, why? Why with all they saw Jesus do could they not receive Him as Lord?
“Behold I have come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.” Hebrews 10:7. Jesus came and filled every office they had – Prophet, Priest and King. But their traditions blinded their eyes so they did not receive Him in any of their offices. In Jewish law the volume of the book was from Genesis all the way through their laws of the prophets.
Let’s consider some of the ways they missed seeing him.
ARTIST – to the artist He is seen as the one altogether lovely,
ARCHITECT – to the architect He is the chief corner stone,
ASTRONOMER – to the astronomer He is the son of righteousness,
BAKER – to the baker He is the living bread,
BANKER – to the banker He is the hidden treasure,
BIOLOGIST – to the biologist He is the life,
BUILDER – to the builder He is the sure foundation,
CARPENTER – to the carpenter He is the door,
DOCTOR – to the doctor He is the great physician,
TEACHER – to the teacher He is the great teacher,
ENGINEER – to the engineer He is the new and living way,
FARMER – to the farmer He is the sower and the Lord of the harvest,
FLORIST – to the florist He is the rose of Sharron, the lily,
NURSERY MAN – to the nursery man He is the true vine,
JUDGE – to the judge He is the righteous judge of all,
JUROR – to the juror He is the faithful and true witness,
JEWELER – the jeweler He is the pearl of great price,
LAWYER – to the lawyer He is the counsel, the law giver, advocate,
NEW MAN – to the new man He is the good tiding of great joy,
OPTOMETRIST – to the optometrist He is the light to the eye,
PHILOSOPHER – to the philosopher He is the wisdom of God,
PREACHER – to the preacher He is the word of God,
SCULPTOR – to the sculptor He is the living stone,
SERVANT – to the servant He is the good master,
STATESMAN – to the statesman He is the desire of all nations,
STUDENT – to the student He is the incarnated truth,
THEOLOGIAN – to the theologian He is author and finisher of our faith,
TOILER – to the toiler He is the giver of rest,
SINNER – to the sinner He is the way, the truth, the life, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of all,
TO US – to us He is the living God, our saviour, our redeemer, and our Lord.
Now we know that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. Hebrews 9:22. In Jewish law, the sacrificing of animals was done with great care being sure to carry out their rituals exactly. The knife that was used had to be devoid of notches so the blood would flow freely to prevent even the slightest unnecessary suffering. Once the animal was killed, it was examined and declared “Kosher”, meaning fit for food, or “Terefar”, meaning unfit.
The Jews marked Jesus the messiah (the slain lamb) “Terefar” unfit. His death was marked unfit because it did not follow their traditions and rituals. In God’s eyes, Jesus had to become unfit in man ways before he could become fit by God as the sacrifice for our sins. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peach was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” Isaiah 53:5-11.
Jesus met the demand of justice on our behalf, God saw it and was satisfied. Even though he was rejected by his own, and they marked Him as Terefah unfit. Thank God our eyes are opened to recognize Him as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We see Him and mark Him “Kosher”. Our life as a believer is an exhibit of the fact He is Lord.