The “I Am” Sayings, Part 1
Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. –John 8:24 Raymond Brown discusses the grammar of the “I am” (ego eimi) sayings in the Fourth Gospel (see The Gospel According to John, I-XII,...
View ArticleInterpreting the Temptation
What is the main issue in the Temptation narrative? Is it about Yeshua’s messianic mission? Or is it something else? Aside from the many connections to Moses’ and Israel’s story, the temptation account...
View ArticleBirth Issues
This is a transcript for today’s “Yeshua in Context Podcast.” Note that I never recorded and posted last week’s podcast on “Yeshua’s Burial.” Life had other plans. I should and will record the...
View ArticleHidden Corners and Disciples
This is the greatest liability of Yeshua-faith: that God does his work quietly and in hidden corners while the world is looking for noise and spectacle. Luke 10:21-24 is material not found in Mark. It...
View ArticleWhy Yeshua? A Jewish Question.
Here is another mini eBook in the making: Why Yeshua? A Jewish Question. This is also the basis of a podcast that will be posted today on iTunes and at DerekLeman.com. A friend recently said to me,...
View ArticleRevealed to Little Children
In “Why Yeshua? A Jewish Question,” I listed nine elements of Yeshua’s identity and purpose that add something new to Judaism (see it here). The first of these nine elements has captured my attention...
View ArticleBirth of Messiah, Video
Isn’t it curious that the oldest gospel, Mark, doesn’t include the birth of Messiah stories? Have you considered that the gospels may have been written “backwards”? All of this might help us understand...
View ArticleList: Healing Miracles
There are twenty-six distinct healing miracles. I exclude exorcisms here (that list is next). I made this list long ago, based on some source I no longer remember. The idea was to list the healing...
View ArticleList: Exorcisms by Yeshua.
There are no exorcisms in the Bible before Yeshua (note: unless you are in a church that reads the Apocrypha as scripture, in which case Tobit has the first exorcism). The few exorcisms in Acts seem to...
View ArticleList: Nature Miracles of Yeshua
In some cases these miracles are curiosities, like the coin from the fish (some think this may be a parable rather than a literal event). But in others, these are among the most majestic portion in the...
View ArticlePODCAST: Divinity1
To some people, the idea of Yeshua’s divinity was probably something developed late. It must have involved a departure from Jewish thought. It must have been the result of syncretism, mixing pagan...
View ArticleREVIEW: The Jewish Gospels by Daniel Boyarin
Daniel Boyarin is Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture and rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. In the foreword by Jack Miles, he is called “one of two or three greatest rabbinic...
View ArticleLow and High Versions of the Yeshua Story
THE YESHUA STORY, LOW VERSION At last, in the days of the Second Temple a great Son of Israel arose in Galilee. He was a Hasid whose piety and Spirit-endowment worked healings. He was a teacher who...
View ArticleYeshua’s Exalted Identity (Synoptic Gospels)
Many think the idea of Yeshua as an exalted figure (prophet, Holy One of God, Messiah, divine-man) is primarily the domain of the Gospel of John. But in the synoptic gospels (Mark-Matthew-Luke) we read...
View ArticleEarly Divinity in John 5
Many have argued that the idea of Yeshua’s divinity was a late development. This is commonly applied to the Fourth Gospel as a principle for detecting layers of sources. What I mean is, people will say...
View ArticleEternal Messiah
The mysterious nature of God is not something new to the New Testament. Time and time again, from Creation through the history of Israel, God interacts with this present world in ways that are the...
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