JESUS - FACT OR FICTION

A DVD Critique

David Ben Yakov

This past Christmas both my sister and I agreed not to exchange gifts. We did this for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is that we were both financially strapped and didn't need to go into debt in order to celebrate our Lord's birth.

My mother is a different story. With her it's almost a commandment to exchange gifts. I don't mind though because parents go through a lot of sacrifices for their kids and mine was no different. She deserves the best that her kids can get her. In return my mom sent me some small trinkets to show her love. One of those items was a movie/documentary titled, "JESUS - Fact or Fiction." The movie part of the DVD is called, "The Jesus Movie." The movie was sort of a disappointment because it was quite a quite abbreviated version of the Gospels. I guess it is okay for someone who just wants to know the basics about Yeshua and His ministry, but for those of us who like meat and potato's rather than milk it can seem a bit lacking.

The DVD has many features and some of them are questions and answers. There is a short narration before the actual movie begins and this is where I encountered a problem. The narrator both before the movie and after makes the statement, "Jesus was the Son of God only in a spiritual sense." Let me tell you, when you're a delusion hunter like me (and I know many of you are), and I hear such a thing, my radar picks up on it right away. I couldn't believe what my ears heard so I listened to the whole narration again and watched the movie again. Sure enough, the narrator said what I thought he said. He didn't even go around the issue but just made the blatant statement. So, let's endeavor to look at his claim and see what the Bible says about it. But first, let' look at basic human biology and anatomy.

CHROMOSOMES AND DNA:

Every one of us who are born of human parents were created when the sperm of our father entered the egg that our mother bore. We all learned this in grade school in our biology classes. Please forgive me because I don't mean to insult your intelligence by reiterating what you've already learned; but I believe that the makers of the production I mentioned above must think that some people are morons and unschooled. I want them to know that no member of the Delusion Resistance recently fell off the turnip truck.

Now, getting back to the biology lesson. That one special day that you were conceived your father's 23 chromosomes got together with your mother's 23 chromosomes and you became 46 chromosomes; the beginning of a human being. After nine months of gestation you were born, a unique individual. As you grew older you noticed that you perhaps you had your father's eyes and your mother's nose and there was evidence that you, although a separate entity, are composed of traits and characteristics of both parents. And yes, this goes for the bad stuff too. For instance, bad knees run in my family on my father's side and I got them.

But what about Yeshua Ha Mashiach? Miriam (Mary) was a virgin when she conceived her Son and the Bible makes it quite clear that God was the Father who, through some sort of miraculous way used the Holy Spirit to fertilize that one special egg in her womb.

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:26-35

So, since there was no human (nor any other created nor evolved) male responsible for the fertilization of Miriam's egg, God had to be the father. The scripture is quite plain about all of this. Half of the chromosomes had to come from God, so physically, Yeshua was half man and half God. For further clarification, we go to the Gospel of John where we read:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 1:1-18

For those who might not be aware, when John speaks of "The Word," he's speaking of Yeshua in His pre-incarnate state. So, to make the passage easier to read, go back and substitute Yeshua every time you see "Word" where it is capitalized; then proceed on with this document.

God tells us, through the Prophet Isaiah the following:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:6-7

It doesn't get any clearer than what is written above. A child is born denotes that the individual is a human, and God proclaims through Isaiah that this individual is actually God, The everlasting Father Himself. Again, we have God in the flesh. Some people who might have a problem with the triune character of God might be troubled by the scripture above, but that is another subject for another time.

And we have the words of Yeshua Himself when He says:

I and my Father are one. John 10:30

And:

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? John 14:9

Now some might write to me and tell me that in John 14:9 Yeshua is telling Philip that He (Yeshua) was just a attributable representation of God. Well, that is true because had God the Father come down to Earth to testify of Himself everyone on Earth would have instantly died because man in his sinful nature cannot be in the presence of a Holy God. But I go one step farther and proclaim that Yeshua had to be God in The Flesh because there is no way that He could accurately represent the Father then by having spent countless eons with the Father and having been God Himself. Here on earth, I look like my father because I bear his genes, I act like my father because I spent many years with him and acquired his ways and in essence, I am my father because I carry the family line. In the same way my father represented my grandfather and so on, back through all the generations.

These things really aren't hard to comprehend if one goes into the thought without any bias or preconceived notions. That is why God made up the family unit and gave it as a gift to mankind. That is why God spoke out so adamantly against homosexuality and other sins that involve come against normal healthy family family lifestyles. Those sinful ways pervert a very important institution that was meant to show God's character and His love for His creation.

So, by the testimony of Yeshua, the Apostles, parts of the Old Testament and practically the whole New Testament, we know that Yeshua was both God and man.

SACRIFICES WERE FLESH, NOT SPIRIT:

Sacrifices have been a part of Bible tradition from Genesis right through Revelation. Almost all ancient cultures sacrificed to their gods. The first Biblical sacrifice is seen in the early part of Genesis, where Abel brings a sacrifice of an animal to the Lord. Note that his brother Cain brought an offering which consisted of grain which God found unacceptable.

The second mention in the Bible is the sacrifice that Noah made to the Lord. It was a prayer of thanksgiving to honor God for the salvation of his family from a deluge that destroyed all flesh that wasn't on the Ark and changed things on earth to this very day.

The third sacrifice we can read about is when Abraham in Genesis, chapter 22, follows God's commands and attempts to sacrifice Isaac; only to be stopped by God when God saw Abraham was faithful. Then God supplied a ram for Abraham to use in lieu of Isaac. Something noteworthy about this is that God was hinting here that someday in the future, He Himself would provide His only Son as a sacrifice.

We move ahead in time to where Moses, while leading the people out of Egypt is given many laws for the people to follow. Part of those laws were the sacrifices for the atonement for sin. God first told the people what sin was, by giving them the law, then He gave them the way to cover the sin with sacrifice. The sacrifice for sin was always animal in nature.

The Apostle Paul, when writing to the Hebrew Church in Jerusalem lectured them about certain aspects of the faith. He further enforced that flesh had to be used for the remission of sins:

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Hebrews 9:22

So again we have an affirmation that the sacrifice to atone for sin, although it covered man's fallen spiritual condition, was not a spiritual sacrifice, in the sense that the animal's spirit was substituted for man's, but one of the flesh. God didn't create animals with spirits; that is a trait that is unique on earth to human beings.

GOD'S FLESH WAS SACRIFICED:

During the Biblical times, there were religions that used to try to appease their deities by performing self mutilation. Their thought was that if they were to cut themselves in various fashion that they would find favor in their god's eyes. Though they were degenerated in their religious beliefs, they knew that blood sacrifice could only appease a deity. Some of the same societies also would sacrifice animals and sometimes other people to their deities. Today, in our so-called "enlightened age," we tend to brush that aside. As believers in Yeshua, we know that it is by the shedding of his blood and the mistreatment of His body that we are saved and healed. God knew that there was no way that man could appease Him. Though there was the sacrifice of animals that he ordained, it only covered the sins and didn't remove them. He also knew that mankind could not save itself because all flesh is corrupt, but He Himself as He says in Isaiah:

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our grief's, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace 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 shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in 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. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

Now the word "soul" in the highlighted section of the above scripture is transliterated from the Hebrew as the word "nephesh." Strongs concordance lists the following meanings for the word "nephesh"

soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion

a) that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man

b) living being

c) living being (with life in the blood)

d) the man himself, self, person or individual

e) seat of the appetites

f) seat of emotions and passions

g) activity of mind

The word is used 753 times in the Old Covenant; the usage breaks down as follows:

soul 475, life 117, person 29, mind 15, heart 15, creature 9, body 8, himself 8, yourselves 6, dead 5, will 4, desire 4, man 3, themselves 3, any 3, appetite 2, misc 47; Total uses = 753

The scripture in Isaiah speaks exclusively about the torment that Yeshua would experience in His body. It talks about his visage being marred more than any man's features would ever be. That's a physical attribute, not a spiritual one. It talks about Him sprinkling many nations, meaning that His physical blood would forgive the sin of anyone in the world who accepted His physical sacrifice. It talks about Yeshua being bruised and wounded; both things done to the flesh and not the spirit. Granted, it is possible to have a bruised spirit or perhaps a wounded one, but in the context that Isaiah presents, the wounds are physical. So, Yeshua, God in the Flesh had His flesh wounded for our redemption.

Now what the narrator of the "Jesus Movie" was in essence saying is that Jesus was God's Son in Spirit only. But if God demanded sacrifice by blood, then according to what they (the producers of the DVD) are saying, Yeshua's sacrifice was that of just a person, much like you (if you're born again) and I are today; humans filled with the Spirit of God. That makes no sense, seeing that aside from Yeshua's sacrifice, we're like filthy rags. Have you ever tried to clean up a mess with filthy rags? It only spreads the mess around and sometimes even makes the mess worse than it was before the attempt at cleaning started.

Yeshua was perfect in every way, even in His flesh. In order to be in that condition, He had to be God in the flesh. Only God's perfect flesh could satisfy the sacrificial atonement specifications that God Himself set forth. God's flesh was whipped and flailed. God's beard was plucked from His face. God was beaten by the soldiers. And finally, God was crucified on the cross.

Another note to ponder is that the spirit of man is eternal. It survives death and will live in one of two places after a man physically dies. By the author (of the DVD) saying that Yeshua was God's Son only in a spiritual sense he would have to be implying that God's Spirit died on the cross. Again, spirits can't die.

Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:1-28

In the chapter of Hebrews above we have some very interesting (exciting) verses where Paul tells us about the two aspects of priestly ministry. In the first paragraph he describes is the Hebrew priestly duty. The second paragraph talks about the sprinkling of the Blood of Yeshua; that's the physical blood of Yeshua, is of much more value than that of the animals that were used by earthly priests. Some might make mention that the same paragraph says that the Eternal Spirit, mentioned in the same paragraph would be an argument for Yeshua being a Son of God only in a spiritual sense, but that would be out of context of what Paul was trying to convey. The key word in the passage is "through" the eternal Spirit. A word study shows that the best usage of the word "through" would be, the ground or reason by which something is or is not done. In other words, the passage is saying that it was God's will (pleasure) to use His Holy Spirit to present Yeshua as a sacrifice that was without spot or wrinkle.

One must note that Paul talks about testaments only being in force when the testator is dead. For those who don't know what a testament is, it is in this passage better known by modern people as a "will." Modern language calls such a parchment a "will and testament." Basically, it dictates the wishes of the dearly departed once they are deceased. Yeshua talked about His will at the Last Supper during the Passover. He said that drinking the wine and eating the bread was a "remembrance" of that will and testament. Basically, taking the communion emblems is akin to a heir of a will opening the will and reaffirming the will through reading it again. But the key of the passage is that the testator (Yeshua) had to die a physical death for the testament to be in force.

In the Old Covenant God always spoke covenants into existence. He spoke to Noah and made a covenant with him. He spoke to Abraham and made a covenant with him. He spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai and made a covenant with the Jewish People, inscribing it in stone with His own hand. The reason why God always makes the covenants is because He can alone fulfill a covenant. When I think of God's covenants with mankind I think of a mortgage. Most people who are buying a house will tell me that they own their home. I ask them if they are still making payments to the bank and they will always tell me that they are. So, they are purchasing a home and won't own it until the last payment is made. During the Old Covenant the sacrifices made by the people and the priests were payments on the mortgage. But the problem was that the house could never be paid for by the buyers because they would never have enough money to afford to pay it off. God saw the dilemma and sent His Son in the flesh, to be the ultimate sacrifice which would pay off the mortgage. Now God owns the house and He lets us live there free with no more payments to be made ever. There will never be a bill collector calling on us and there will never be a delinquency notice in the mail because our account is stamped, "PAID IN FULL."

Now, getting back to the will of God to cause His Only Son to become the seal on that testament, Yeshua had to be put to death as a physical sacrifice from God. Again, Isaiah, chapter 53 confirms this:

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 53:10

So what does that mean? Well, it's quite simple. Since Yeshua was flesh and blood, he was subject to all of the temptations and frailties of the flesh. Satan tried to temp that flesh when Yeshua had spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness. On several occasions the learned elders tried to press Yeshua to the point of frustration but He did not succumb. Time and time again he was tempted to fall or fail, but He never did. That is because Yeshua, God in The Flesh, had the Holy Spirit to guide Him. Since He was God He had an easier time that you and I do at communing with the Holy Spirit.

You know, we can sort of equate this condition to the relationships that we had with our own parents. Yeshua, before his incarnation had spent eternity with God the Father. They were inseparable. Many here on earth say that those who are married tend to take on the ways of each other the longer they live together. I don't think that we'll ever understand how well Yeshua knew the ways of the Father. Now, with our own parents, I can still remember how they brought me up. I can remember the lessons learned but sometimes, in times of weakness I struggle to know the right thing to do in a time of strife or trouble. So what do most kids do when things go bad? They call their parents to get advice.

Yeshua the Son of God was in constant communion with God The Father while He was incarnate here on earth. This was done through the Holy spirit and by others. Yes, there were others. There are two occasions that I can think of right off the cuff where angels ministered to Him. The first was after He had accomplished defeating the temptations of Satan while in the wilderness; the Bible says that the angels of God ministered to Him. The second was when He was under tremendous stress in the Garden of Gethsemane before His trial and crucifixion. In another instance He took Peter, James and John with him to a high mountain where He became transfigured and talked to Moses and Elijah. While it's not known what was said on that mountaintop, I can only surmise that perhaps the two prophets were comforting Yeshua and giving Him instruction on what was to come. My curiosity has me adding to my list of millions of questions I'll ask of Yeshua, what exactly happened on that mountain.

And finally, we have the words of Yeshua Himself where He talks about laying down His life:

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep... Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
John 10:15 & 17

Again we see that Yeshua is laying down His FLESH. Only flesh that was without spot or wrinkle could suffice for the requirements needed. No other human who ever lived could meet the requirements, for as Isaiah says:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

And Paul says:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Romans 3:10

So no one in the past, present and future could meet the requirements. Only one who was sinless could be the sacrifice for you and me. Now perhaps I'm starting to sound redundant, but I just can't keep silent when people who purport to represent the truth are in error over the main focus of that truth. But the truth can be summed up with the resurrection of Yeshua.

And for those who will still insist that Yeshua was "God's Son in a Spiritual Sense Only," let's look at a scripture in Psalms:

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Psalm 16:10

We see two things in the scripture. First of all, Yeshua went to Hell, but not as a punishment, but to preach to those who had been in hell ever since the first man died before the flood. This can be found in First Peter:

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 1 Peter 3:18-20

The scripture in Psalms says that God would not leave Yeshua's soul in hell, and the scripture in 1 Peter says that Yeshua went to hell to preach to those who waited patiently for His coming. God is so fair that He even went to hell so that those there would have a chance for salvation. Both scriptures above point to the God's divine flesh being talked about. The scripture in Psalms calls Yeshua "God's Holy One," therefore being Holy he must have been God in the flesh. That scripture too says that the flesh of the Holy One would not see corruption, meaning that it would not decay like the flesh does on all rotting corpses. And, the scripture in 1 Peter says that God's flesh was put to death, but it was raised by His Holy Spirit. There are more illustrations, but we have to consider time and the length of this article.

As a side note, before we move on to the next subject I'd like to mention another thing. In every sacrifice there had to be a person who performed the sacrifice. During the Temple Period it was the priest who killed the animal for sacrifice and once a year that priest would sprinkle the blood of the animal on the Mercy Seat on the Ark of The Covenant. But the interesting thing about Yeshua's sacrifice is that the characters who performed the sacrifice that God offered weren't just the Jewish Priests, but the Gentile Romans. In other words, the Jewish elders had Yeshua condemned, which was like them bringing the sacrifice lamb to the temple, and the Romans were like the priests who actually sacrificed the lamb when they whipped, abused and nailed Yeshua to the cross. This would forever open the doors for both Jews and Gentiles receiving redemption through the sacrifice of Yeshua because both groups were participatory.

THE KINSMAN REDEEMER:

The resurrected Yeshua was our symbol of every believer's triumph over the grave. I like to compare the Old Covenant to a person who has cataracts. They can make out figures, lights and some features, but things are not very clear. The New Covenant is like a person who has had corrective surgery. They can see clearly and what they see is crisp with vibrant colors and hues. But things were still a bit dark right after the resurrection. Their new eyes weren't quite clear yet, that is until Doctor Yeshua helped them to see clearer:

And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. Luke 24:36-43

Now, if the narrator in the video is correct then it would stand to reason that when Yeshua would have risen from the grave he would have only resurrected in the Spirit and not the flesh. But as the scripture above illustrates so wonderfully, there was a flesh and blood Yeshua who stood before the apostles. Another scripture shows a physically resurrected Yeshua:

And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass therein these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. Luke 24:13-31

Again we have a physical Yeshua walking along with these men. They entreated him to join them and He ate with them and spent time with them. Now I'm sure that there are those who will retort that since Yeshua just disappeared before their eyes that perhaps He was just a spirit, but a cursory look at the passage shows that he was flesh and bone. It should be a comfort to everyone in Messiah that we will someday be resurrected to have bodies just like Yeshua has.

One interesting note on His appearances in the two preceding passages is that those who communed with him didn't at first recognize Yeshua. How could people who spent three years in constant contact with Him not recognize Him? The answer is quite simple actually. Remember that He clearly made the point that He was real by showing the apostles the nail prints in His hands and feet. Yeshua will forever bear the wounds that He received to redeem you and I. But why didn't they notice him?

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 50:6

We read earlier in this document about how the scripture describes Messiah's visage as being abused more than any other man. But a look at the Old Covenant Messianic prophecies will expound on this a bit. Again, Isaiah tells one more tell of Yeshua's appearance at the time of the resurrection. The degenerates who scourged Yeshua also pulled the beard out of his face. I've sported a beard since my teen years and have been around a lot of children. Children have a tendency to want to pull on my beard, probably because they find it unusual; I don't know. Anyway, when a child yanks on my beard it hurts. I can't imagine the pain that Yeshua felt when his beard was actually plucked from His face. So, my contention is that one of the reasons the apostles or disciples couldn't recognize Yeshua was that he was so disfigured that He couldn't be recognized. Even when John the Apostle gives us an account of what he saw in Heaven, he described Yeshua as:

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Revelation 5:6

So Yeshua will always bear the scars of His act of redemption for us.

In the Book of Ruth we find something that is called a "kinsman redeemer." Back in the days of the Judges of Israel there was a tradition that close relatives could redeem land or items for relatives who were less fortunate. In the story in Ruth there is a person named Naomi who was married to a man named Elimelech. They had two sons who each married women from the land of Moab. Ruth was one of the daughters in-law of Naomi. Naomi ran into a terrible period where her husband died and then her two sons died also. Both Ruth and the other daughter in-law decided to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem but Ruth was the more serious about going with her mother in-law. To encapsulate the story; Boaz, a close relative of Naomi was quite wealthy and found out about Naomi's return and also took a liking of Ruth. When he found out that Naomi and her now dead husband once had land in the area he searched out a closer relative to buy the land back for Naomi. The closer relative declined, stating that the purchase would jeopardize his inheritance. So, Boaz, being a righteous man, and one who was interested in Ruth redeemed the land for Naomi. His act earned him the title of a Kinsman Redeemer.

We have a kinsman redeemer in Yeshua. His humanity made Him a relative of all of us. His position of God in the flesh made Him a righteous rich man. By His death by sacrifice on the cross, He redeemed us back to God. For all of eternity He will stand as a human who represents us in Heaven. When God sees us, He sees us with our Kinsman Redeemer's eyes and finds us faultless. Having bought (redeemed) us with His death we now belong to Yeshua and therefore we belong to God the Father Himself. Had Yeshua been merely a human indwelt with the Holy Spirit then He could have never been able to afford the price needed to redeem us. And if we need to be reminded again, as John so aptly wrote:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14

The WORD (God), Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) was made flesh and dwelt among us. So simple is the scripture that we know that Yeshua was God in the flesh; and not some man made conjecture that Yeshua was God only in a spiritual sense. Those who purport that Yeshua wasn't God in the flesh should keep in mind what scripture tells about how to test spirits:

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:2-3

Now I'm not attempting to judge those who have produced the DVD titled, "Jesus, Fact or Fiction." But like anything else in life, we have to rightly divide the truth from lies we have to listen to what people say. If anyone says that Yeshua isn't God in the flesh, then scripture points out that they are operating under the spirit of antichrist. The Bible says this and I merely point it out.

The scripture is also interesting because of the wordage. When you think about it, everyone that is born comes in the flesh. So, the scripture can't possibly be talking about any human who is born naturally, coming from a human father and human mother. No, John is specifying that the true believer is one who proclaims that Yeshua was God in the flesh.

I realize that I've probably made the same point several times in this document. This wasn't done to bore the reader and I hope it hasn't. I wrote all the content so that one can plainly see that God goes out of His way in His Word to show us that Yeshua is God in the flesh. He still is in the flesh too, a resurrected and uncorrupted flesh and He's in heaven interceding for all of those who trust in His Name. If you have never accepted His free gift of salvation and would like to do so then click here to find out how this is done and how your life can change only for the better.

Some day soon those of us who believe in Him with all of our hearts will be translated into our new glorified bodies; all because God cared enough to make Himself a man, to dwell among us and become our propitiation. May we never forget that nor be persuaded by any other being, whether human, angelic or demonic that Yeshua's coming was anything else.. May the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, be with you always until the day of Messiah Yeshua. AMEN

David Ben Yakov