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Alive to God: How Jesus Reframed Covenant and Death

Alive to God: How Jesus Reframed Covenant and Death When Jesus told the Sadducees, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32), He was making a radical claim in the context of both Israel’s Scriptures and the wider Ancient Near Eastern world. His point was simple but profound: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still “alive to God” because His covenant promises did not expire with their physical deaths. But what did this mean in its cultural setting?  Ancient Near Eastern Views of the Dead In the broader world of the Ancient Near East (ANE), the dead were rarely thought of as truly gone. They continued to have a role, and often needed to be sustained by ritual or remembered through cultic practices. Mesopotamia (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XII): Enkidu, speaking from the underworld, describes the condition of the dead based on family and lineage. The dead still had awareness and relationships, with their fates tied to how they were honored by the living. Ugarit (R...
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Paul, Martyrdom, and the Misreading of Jesus

Paul, Martyrdom, and the Misreading of Jesus When we read Paul, we have to remember that he stood at the crossroads of Jewish tradition and Greco-Roman philosophy. His letters are filled with imagery borrowed from Jewish martyr texts like Maccabees and Wisdom of Solomon in the Apocrypha, but also reshaped by the Platonic and mystery-cult categories of his time. Paul interpreted Jesus through this lens—casting him as a cosmic redeemer whose death functioned as a universal ransom. But here we need to pause: Paul, influenced by Hellenism, got Jesus wrong. Jesus was not teaching a Greek-style immortality of the soul or an afterlife realm in the sky. He was a Jewish apocalyptic prophet announcing the kingdom of God—the renewal of Israel, the vindication of the oppressed, and an enduring life rooted in covenant faithfulness. Martyrdom as Communal Atonement in Jewish Tradition Jewish martyr texts provide the backdrop.  In 2 Maccabees 7 , brothers die under torture, claiming their deaths ...
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Resurrection Language Idioms in the Ancient Near East: Nations Rising from the Dust

R esurrection Language Idioms in the Ancient Near East: Nations Rising from the Dust When most readers hear the word "resurrection," they immediately think of individuals being raised from the dead. But in the Ancient Near East (ANE), the language of resurrection often worked as an idiom for national restoration, vindication, and renewal. Cities and peoples that had been destroyed, shamed, or conquered were poetically described as “dead,” while their rebuilding and return were portrayed as a kind of “resurrection.” The Hebrew prophets tapped into this shared cultural imagery, including Isaiah, who used it to describe Israel’s return from exile. Let’s explore some examples. 1. Mesopotamian City Laments The Sumerian laments after the fall of cities like Ur (c. 2000 BCE) describe destruction in death-like terms: “Ur is destroyed, its people lie in the dust.” Yet hope of renewal is voiced: “May the city rise from its ruins, may the people live again.” Here, the fate of a city is ...
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Did Jesus Ever Say We Must Believe in Him as a Sacrifice?

  Did Jesus Ever Say We Must Believe in Him as a Sacrifice? When people talk about Christianity today, it’s often assumed that the gospel boils down to this: “Believe that Jesus died as a sacrifice for your sins, and you’ll be saved.” But when we step back and look at the Gospels themselves, the story is much more layered. Jesus’ own words and the way each evangelist presents Him don’t line up neatly with this later doctrinal formula. Instead, the idea of salvation through belief in Jesus as a sacrifice seems to emerge later, shaped by Greek-influenced theology more than by the Hebraic roots of Jesus’ teaching. The Synoptic Gospels: Repentance and Following, Not Sacrificial Belief Matthew and Mark preserve Jesus’ saying that the Son of Man came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45). At the Last Supper, Jesus speaks of His blood as the covenant poured out for many. These texts use sacrificial imagery, but notice: Jesus never commands His disciples, “You...
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The Jewish Apocalyptic View of Matthew 22:23-33

The Jewish Apocalyptic View of Matthew 22:23-33 Matthew 22:23 "The same day the Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question." Apocalyptic perspective: The Sadducees reject resurrection, reflecting a worldly, Torah-only view. In apocalyptic thought, death is temporary for the righteous; God’s power will vindicate them. Their question tests whether resurrection life can preserve human structures, which apocalyptic literature treats as transient. Matthew 22:24 "Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.’" Apocalyptic perspective: They invoke levirate law to argue from continuity. Apocalyptic texts, however, treat earthly laws as temporal. Resurrection life transcends social and legal structures—God’s future world is governed by vindication and restoration, not inherited roles. Matthew 22:25–28 "Now there were seven brothers among us; the first ma...
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