The Revived Woman Paired with the Resurrected Son

We have gone through portraits of Jesus presented in the Gospels by looking at him through his Jewish lens. In doing so, we have seen two overriding themes.

Jews have led in making contributions to mankind in many fields of activity. However, their story is mixed with immense suffering and sorrow.
Jesus has participated, even headed, this totality of Jewish experience. We see this in the numerous parallel patterns. We review and look at a few more, including the modern revival of Hebrew and the Festivals prescribed through Moses.

Jewish Contributions to Mankind’s Progress

Think about this: the total Jewish population is only 15.2 million people, which is about 0.19% of the world’s 8 billion people.

From 1901 to 2021, Jews have won 22% of all the Nobel Prizes in different areas like chemistry, literature, physics, economics, medicine, and peace.
Jews have won 38% of the US National Medal of Sciences.
In Japan, the Kyoto Prize for arts and science has gone to Jews 24% of the time.
In France, the Grande Médaille of the French Academy of Sciences has gone to Jews 48% of the time.
Since 1901, 26% of the members of the British Royal Society (wiki summary) have been Jewish.

Some famous Jews who changed the world include:

Jews also helped create the first alphabet. They keep bringing new ideas to the world. They have been a light to the nations.

Jewish Sorrows

But the Jewish story is not only about success. It also includes great sadness. Stories like those of Anne Frank, Simon bar Kochba, the Maccabees, Richard Wurmbrand, Natan Sharansky, and the many times Jews were forced out of countries, especially the Holocaust, show this. Humankind has been beset with many problems of racism down through history. People have often treated Jews badly. There is even a special word for hate against Jews: anti-Semitism.

Even when Jews succeed, some people fear and wrongly believe Jews want to control the world. These fears cause hate and attacks.

For example, of the 210 Russian oligarchs worth more than $1 billion, 20 of them, or 10%, are Jewish. This is much more than the small number of Jews living in Russia (0.16% of the Russian population). This causes some to wrongly say all the rich people in Russia are Jewish. This might lead to more hate against Jews.

The Power Shaping Jewish Destiny

How do we explain Jewish success and their troubles? We explored the troubles against them here. The Bible says it is more than just history or luck.

God spoke to Abraham 4000 years ago and said:

²“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
_{Genesis 12: 2-3}

_{Abraham and Moses in Historical Timeline with Jesus}

Then, 500 years later, through Moses, God gave blessings and curses that would shape history.

Later, the prophet Isaiah said God would keep His promise to make Israel a light to other nations:

I, the Lord, have called you in Righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
_{Isaiah 42:6}

Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
_{Isaiah 60:3}

These things have happened in history and are still happening today. This shows God’s plan and power working through time.

Jesus leads the Jewish Experience

Jesus shared the whole Jewish experience—both the good and the bad. His life is like the story of Israel. He represents the nation.

Jesus’ resurrection & the Jewish Hebrew Revival

For example, after the Romans forced Jews out of their land, they stayed away for 1900 years. During that time, they stopped speaking Hebrew as their daily language. But Hebrew was brought back to life.

The revival started with Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who spoke Hebrew again in 1881. He worked hard to teach others, made dictionaries, wrote plays, and published a Hebrew newspaper. At first, few people spoke Hebrew, but over time it grew. Today, over 9 million people speak Hebrew. This is a very rare example of a language coming back to life like this.

The process of Hebrew’s return to regular usage is unique; there are no other examples of a natural language without any native speakers subsequently acquiring several million native speakers,
_Wikipedia

Jesus died and rose from the dead in a one-time event. In a similar way, Israel “died” as a nation but came back to life with the revival of Hebrew.

Jesus and the Torah Festivals

The Jewish people celebrate festivals that Moses gave them 3500 years ago. Jesus underwent his:

These festivals are important to Jewish identity.

Jesus died on Passover, rested in the tomb on Sabbath, rose on First Fruits, and the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. He lived through these festivals in a special way, more than any other Jew.

Jesus did not fulfill the autumn festivals like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot during his life, but he said he would come back. His return will likely match these festivals.

Revived and Returning

The Jewish people longed to return to their land for many years, saying, “Next year in Jerusalem.” Now, they have returned. Jesus also left the land and has been gone for 2000 years, but he promised to come back. He said the Jewish return to their land is a sign that his return is near. So the return of Jesus and the Jewish people are connected.

Reach Out to the Presence at Work

Many people see Jesus only as a figure from old history, like a story or tradition without power today. But the Bible shows Jesus as part of God’s big plan from the beginning to the end.

But the Bible, from its beginning and right to its end, appended thousands of years later, presents him as the offspring of the Woman (Israel). It also presents him as the Christ, destined to return and reign.

From the Beginning…

And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
_{Genesis 3:15 (in writing as far back as we know, more details here)}

To the last pages in the final book of the Bible:

_{Bartolomeo Cesi , CC0, via Wikimedia Commons}

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ²She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth…
_{Revelation 12:1-2}

⁵She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
_{Revelation 12:5 (written 1st Century CE)}

We can see in today’s news that the ‘Woman’ (Israel) is coming back to life. Since Jesus is her Son, connected to her, it makes sense to reach out to Him. Even if we don’t fully understand, we can find His promise true:

…he is not far from any one of us.
_{Acts 17:27}

and

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
_{2 Peter 3: 9}