#13 in Christian orthodoxy books
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Reddit mentions of The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death
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Reddit mentions: 3
We found 3 Reddit mentions of The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death. Here are the top ones.
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There are a few underlying issues for your questions. I'll try to address these first and then answer your 3 questions. Didn't expect this to be that long but please bear with me.
The popular understanding of the whole prophecy thing is this:
Of course that's not how it happened at all...
The first two points are correct though... Jews did have a pre-conceived notion of what the messiah would do. But if you take a look at this notion, it actually does not fit Jesus!
They never thought the Messiah would be crucified (and obviously thought the Messiah would not raised from the dead). They thought the Messiah will rid them of their Roman oppressors and will "restore the kingdom to Isreal" (Acts 1:6) as Israel's new ruler and king. The list goes on...
What happened with the early Christians though is that what happened to Christ (his death and resurrection) was for them a completely unexpected turn of events. Through the events of ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, pentecost, etc.. the early Christians believed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, despite him not fitting their pre-conceived notions of him. They allowed their starting points to be challenged. Their starting points were their OT scripture, but it became Christ himself. He was their starting point not their pre-conceived notions of what he might look like or what he might do.
After that Christians (out of their belief that Christ was the Messiah) started to re-interpret the OT in a new light.
For example you see John 3:14 talking about the snake that was lifted up by Moses to be a type of Christ. Was that a prophecy? No. It was simply something that happened a long time ago, but it is now understood in a new light: the light of Christ.
All the NT writers do this, and all this is portrayed very beautifully in Luke 24:
>Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
>And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
>Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
>And He said to them, “What things?”
>So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
They're talking to the risen Christ! They know about the empty tomb! But they still don't get it and they still don't know him! Their pre-conceived notions are stopping them from seeing the real Christ.
>Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Scripture is not vague prophecies where we can draw a checklist of things we think the Messiah would do. Scripture talks about Christ.
>Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
>Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
Scripture was opened. The bread was broken. Now they see him! Opening the scripture and breaking the bread is what is done in the liturgy... That's how we get to know and see Christ.
Does not mean infallible. Does not mean dictated by the voice of God or some inner voice.
It means it was both God and man working together to produce such work. And that's not unique to the Bible. Some fathers (I can get you references later if you wish, just let me know) said some books were inspired even though these books never made it to the NT canon for example.
Inspiration is the continuous work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. There are still books written today that are inspired. Inspiration is not limited to the Bible.
For references to the above do yourself a favour and check out The Mystery of Christ - John Behr and Reading Backwards -
Richard Hays. both are absolutely brilliant.
>1) Matthew misunderstood Zechariah 9:9
Maybe he did. After all how does a man ride two donkeys? Maybe he meant something like first half of the journey Jesus rode one donkey, and the second half of the journey Jesus rode another? Maybe. Either way, why would it matter?
>2) Matthew misatributes a prophecy to Jeremiah, but the "thirty pieces of silver" prophecy is from Zechariah.
Maybe he does. But this one is interesting actually because there is a manuscript in the Coptic language that attests to this prophecy being in Jeremiah. Find more info and the full text here.
>3) Hebrews 10:5 "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:"
Not sure about this one. It is very likely though that the author of Hebrews knew Hebrew, he (or she?) seems to be very well versed in Judaic law and custom.
If you really want to wrap your head around what Fr. Behr means by this, you need to read his books, particularly this one: https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Christ-Life-Death/dp/0881413062
(FWIW, giziti's answer is a succinct tldr, although I see you still have questions)
More recently, Panagiotis Nellas (Deification in Christ is incredible) and Fr John Behr (The Mystery of Christ is a great place to start).
Not so recently, St Dionysus the Areopagite and St Maximos the Confessor (though I've read less of him so far, unfortunately). With some St Nicholas Cabasilas thrown in for good measure.