The Eternal Life Series offers a look at eternal life based on John 17:3 and related New Testament scriptures.
Most or all of the New Testament was written in Greek, so Bible students often dissect scripture by minutely examining Greek words and philosophies. This is natural for Americans because the American education and culture is based on Greek ways of thought.
However, Jesus probably taught mostly in Hebrew, with some of his teachings in Aramaic. Jesus and his followers were well educated in the Hebrew Old Testament. For the first couple of decades after his death, the followers of Jesus were mostly practicing Jews. It seems likely that a better understanding of the teachings of Jesus can be attained by looking at them through a Jewish cultural viewpoint and a better understanding of Hebrew words.
The impetus for this series were some of the episodes of the Bema Discipleship podcast, along with personal study times with Hebrew experts Elle Grove Fricks and Brad H. Young. Working with them, we developed a dictionary of some Hebrew words that you can find in Reference 7 of the Reference section of this website.
Although each episode in this series can be approached individually, the Eternal Life Series is written for viewers to watch all of the episodes in the order in which they are presented.
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Jesus was a dilemma to many of those around him and he remains a dilemma to many today. Who is Jesus?
Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph. As a human, a member of mankind, he was a son of man. This was an obvious use of the term “Son of Man” that Jesus often used to refer to himself. That term was also used by Ezekiel and other prophets to talk about a special person of God.
By the time of Jesus’ adulthood, many Jews were looking for one of those special people of God known as the Messiah. The Messiah was to be a king who would institute a Davidic kingdom in which the Jews would be delivered from all oppressors and enjoy freedom. The Messiah was to be a prophet, miracle worker and healer, and someone who would live forever.
The Jewish leaders and people often asked if Jesus was the Messiah. After his death, Apollos and Paul used the Old Testament scriptures to prove that Jesus was the Messiah.
