The above quote below the photo is one of my most favorite quotes in my book review of, The Resurrection of the Jewish Messiah. If you or your study group are looking for a most wonderful book to use for this Fall Bible study, I highly recommend this book for your personal or group study at this transitional time of 2019 as well as our fastly approaching traditional New Year of 2020.
Key Observations
One of the major strengths of this very short but powerfully and well-researched book is the author’s quest at maintaining the foundational spiritual, Biblical, and theological integrity throughout his study.
Why is this so important?
Our worldview is often-times distorted by our own experiences, customs, beliefs, and places of origin. Eric Chabot does a masterful job in mending the “reluctant parting of Christianity from Judaism” throughout his book. Our faith should not be based upon feelings, emotions, tribalism, or religious persuasion. As clearly and correctly presented in this book, our Biblical faith is centered in the Jewish Messiah.
By keeping The Messiah within His culture, traditions, Jewishness, this book powerfully is able to effectively minister to the Jewish, Chrisitan, Hebrew-root followers/and or audiences, while having enough potency to effectively and apologetically challenge those who are non-believers. An impressive feat for a book with 117 pages!
The next outstanding feature of this book is the strategic manner in which the author argues both the Jewishness of The Messiah and the miracle of the resurrection from cover to cover of his book. The vastness of primary and secondary evidence that is presented in this book, speaks for itself.
Mr. Chabot is very intentional as well as mindful to not only list some of the most common arguments against the Messiahship of Jesus and the resurrection, he scholastically, Biblically, and theologically refutes these claims within the context of the major theme or topic of discussion per chapter.
Using twelve different chapters, various well researched Biblical, extra-Biblical sources and oppositional opinions of naturalist and critics of the supernatural, it is my opinion that the burden of proof of not on the believers to prove what is clearly factual, it is on the unbelievers to disprove! For me, this is the greatest take away from my analysis of his work in this book.
Throughout my review of this book, the presentation of Mr. Chabot’s material communicated to me, the reader, this theme of The Messiah of all Nations as a Prophet, Priest, and King who successfully ushered in the New Covenant and the Messianic Age which has a very real and present sensibility about it that is often-time overlooked by followers.
This notion is communicated very well in the book when the discussion of the importance of the Jewish Messiah’s resurrection is examined as a “Now reality and a future expectation.’ Most followers only grasp the future aspects of Jesus’s resurrection, which perhaps never experiencing the new-life benefits of the role and ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives at present.
I would be amiss by not quoting one of the most powerful quotes from Micheal Bird’s discussion about the nowness of the Resurrection of The Messiah:
“The resurrection constitutes the inauguration of the new creation. Jesus’ resurrection also brings with it the beginnings of a new world. The raising of Jesus implies an ultimate state with a renewed heaven and earth.
A Resurrection is really an act about and for creation. God made the world, He made it good, it has gone bad, and so God intends to renew creation through a cosmic resurrection. That cosmic vivification was intimated in Jesus’ own resurrection, and its fulfillment will make the end of dystrophy, death, and decay in the created world.“
This book applies the present benefits of Messiah’s resurrection for the follower in that eternal life is a quality of living that begins in our being yoked in discipleship with Messiah now, as it carries over into eternity.
The follower’s spiritual life as a disciple of The Master, as noted in the book, is empowered by the resurrection due to the ministry of The Holy Spirit. The very uniqueness of our faith is that in all the world, it is not subjective to ideas of men whom Christ will judge, but instead grounded in historical and objective facts.
Closing comment
It is based upon my observations of these many historical and objective facts that Eric Chabot has critically and systematically presented in his wonderful book, The Resurrection of The Jewish Messiah, that demands your support, attention and soulful consideration.
Don’t just take my word, let me let Brother Eric Chabot speak on his own behalf:
About the author.
Brother Eric Chabot has an MA from Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is the Midwest Representative for CJF Ministries and is the director of two apologetic ministries at The Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College.
Eric is also an instructor at The Messianic Studies Institute in Columbus, Ohio, and speaks on college campuses, churches, and apologetic conferences.
Mr. Chobot lives with his wife Lucy and his two children in Columbus, Ohio, and a personal friend, disciple, and colleague in The Kingdom of God. Grace and Peace
Micah 6:8
Alonzo E. Thornton, D.Min.