What was so new?

What was so new about the message of Jesus Christ? Was the “good news” preached by the Apostles throughout the world something utterly revolutionary? Two thousand years after the fact, we know the historical Jesus to be a particularly radical figure who preached compassion for the poor and love for one’s enemy; the figure who as a matter of Faith suffered and died on the Cross in order to rise on the third day. Christ’s ministry appears to be drastically different from that of the Jewish authorities of His day. In the Incarnation the same God who had been carrying on an exclusive relationship with the Hebrews since the dawn of Creation seems to have taken matters into a completely different direction. Assuming however, that God is both unchanging and true to His words, perhaps what is really radical in Christ’s ministry is not how vastly different His message was from that which had previously been taught. Perhaps instead, what was so innovative about the Gospel message was how perfectly Christ’s words and deeds embodied and illuminated the Hebrew tradition as handed down through thousands of years of Israel’s covenant relationship with God.

...(more forthcoming)

Steve K.

She'ol: Is Death a place??- CT

In Psalm 89, the wicked of Psalm 1 become "the enemies," and they seem to have the upper hand over the righteous speaker, seemingly, the Messiah. He cries out, "How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?" (Ps. 89:46). He describes his sense of forsakenness in terms of death and the hand or power of She'ol (Ps. 89:48).
She'olis a place name for death — but here, it seems to extend to forsakenness.
The Psalm goes on to proclaim that for "the righteous," She'ol is merely a place of temporary distance from God. The Messiah will not remain in this place of distance from the Lord, because "forever" is in the hands of the Lord, not in the hands of the wicked enemies (Ps. 89:51). The enemies of the Messiah may have a temporary hold, and take him through She'ol. But eventually the Messiah, the paradigm of righteousness, will emerge victorious.
-Rajkumar Boaz Johnson (full article)