The Gentile Jesus

Bird argues that Jesus was attempting to achieve and enact the restoration of Israel, and in continuity with other strands of Jewish belief, Jesus conceived of the restoration of Israel as resulting in the salvation of the gentiles. Jesus' mission was Israel-centric, but he espoused a view of restoration that was indebted to certain strands of Israel's sacred traditions where the gentiles are implicit beneficiaries of Israel's salvation. Since this restoration was already being partially realized in Jesus' ministry, it was becoming possible for gentiles to begin sharing in Israel's salvation in the present. Additionally, Jesus understood himself and his followers to be the new temple and the vanguard of the restored Israel who would appropriate for themselves the role of Israel and the temple in being a light to the nations. Thus, a gentile mission has its germinal roots in the aims and intentions of Jesus and was developed in a transformed situation by adherents of the early Christian movement.

Who is Jesus Christ today? Is He still the Messiah of the Gospels? Or is He the exalted, born again Gentile Jesus'? Does the Bible say that today, so long after his resurrection, we can still know Christ as He once was on earth? So, who is your Saviour now, Jesus the Messiah or the Lord of glory and grace from heaven? Has the church been wrong about who Jesus really is for nearly 2,000 years? This book answers these questions and uncovers many other surprises about who scripture reveals the Lord Jesus to really be today.

Who is Jesus Christ today? Is He still the Messiah of the Gospels? Or is He the exalted, born again ‘Gentile Jesus’? Does the Bible say that today, so long after his resurrection, we can still know Christ as He once was on earth? So, who is your Saviour now, Jesus the Messiah or the Lord of glory and grace from heaven? Has the church been wrong about who Jesus really is for nearly 2,000 years? This book answers these questions and uncovers many other surprises about who scripture reveals the Lord Jesus to really be today.

Although the roots of Christianity run deep into Hebrew soil, many Christians remain regrettably uninformed about the rich Jewish heritage of the church. Our Father Abraham delineates the vital link between Judaism and Christianity, exemplified by the common ancestry of the two faiths traceable back to Abraham. Marvin Wilson calls Christians to reexamine their Semitic heritage to regain a more authentically biblical understanding of what they believe and practice. Wilson, a trusted voice among both Jews and Christians, speaks to both past and present, first developing a historical perspective on the Jewish origins of the church and then discussing how the church can become more attuned to the Hebraic mindset of Scripture. Drawing from his own extensive experience, he also offers valuable practical guidance for salutary interaction between Christians and Jews. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter make this book especially suitable for use in groups—Christian, Jewish, or interfaith—as readers strive to make sense of their own faith in connection with the other. The second edition of Our Father Abraham features a new preface, an expanded bibliography of recent relevant works, and two new chapters: one that discusses Jewish-Christian relations after the Holocaust and another that reflects on Wilson’s own fifty-plus-year career as an evangelical Christian deeply committed to interfaith dialogue. As Christians and Jews feel a growing need for mutual support in an increasingly secular Western world, Wilson’s widely acclaimed book will offer encouragement and wise guidance toward this worthy end.

Dr Wilson examines Jesus' attitude to Gentiles and concludes that not only did he fail to anticipate a historical Gentile mission, but that his eschatological expectations logically disallowed it.

This fresh look at the Gospel of Matthew highlights the unique contribution that Matthew's rich and multilayered portrait of Jesus makes to understanding the connection between the Old and New Testaments. Patrick Schreiner argues that Matthew obeyed the Great Commission by acting as scribe to his teacher Jesus in order to share Jesus's life and work with the world, thereby making disciples of future generations. The First Gospel presents Jesus's life as the fulfillment of the Old Testament story of Israel and shows how Jesus brings new life in the New Testament.

Who is Jesus Christ today? Is He still the Messiah of the Gospels? Or is He the exalted, born again ‘Gentile Jesus’? Does the Bible say that today, so long after his resurrection, we can still know Christ as He once was on earth? So, who is your Saviour now, Jesus the Messiah or the Lord of glory and grace from heaven? Has the church been wrong about who Jesus really is for nearly 2,000 years? This book answers these questions and uncovers many other surprises about who scripture reveals the Lord Jesus to really be today.