You then re-state the fundamental Paulinist principle that, “[Jesus] was the long-expected Messiah; Emmanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” … Again, my dear Friend, this statement is misleadingly inaccurate on so many fronts …

Please consider the following responses thereto:

 

*First of all, the “Emmanuel” mentioned in Matthew 1:23 just as readily (and far more appropriately) means “God within us”; a definition that resonates far more harmoniously with Jesus’ own words & teachings in the Gospels (see Matthew 10:7 + Matthew 24:12-14 & Matthew 28:20 & Luke 17:20-21 & John 14:20-26 et al).
*Secondly, it is absolutely critical for the serious student of the Scriptures to realize that the author of Matthew uses the name “Emmanuel” to hearken back to the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14 – one of the only times in the entire Bible where the phrase “the Son of Man’” does indeed refer to the singular Davidian Messiah … Of course, what that same serious student will realize when he then reads that Gospel is that Jesus was not this Messiah at all – that not only did Jesus himself directly renounce that title in Matthew 22:41-45 (also in Mark 12:35-37, in Luke 19:42, in Luke 20:41-44, in Luke 22:50-51 & indirectly in John 6:15), but that Jesus also symbolically renounced all such claims in Matthew 4:1-10 – where he openly rejected & even repudiated the rewards tempted him by Satan; the very same rewards that were accepted by the DavidianMessiah in Daniel 7:14!!!
Indeed, this is why Jesus “sternly ordered his disciples to not tell anyone that he was the Messiah” in Matthew 16:20 (& Mark 8:30, & Luke 9:21), and this is why he “passed through the midst” of all those who incorrectly assumed that he was raising himself up as a Messiah (often after he had announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was already “at hand” – right here & right now; available each & every one of us in every single moment of our lives – see Matthew 17:5-9, Luke 4:18-30, John 8:57-59 et al).

Filed under: Burnishing Bigotry by Scaughdt