Jesus

Jesus is shown here at the Last Supper — the night before his crucifixion — knowingly breaking bread and sharing the cup with his disciples, establishing the meal the Corinthians have been mishandling.

Jesus is named here as the ultimate litmus test for spiritual authenticity — any genuine work of the Holy Spirit will consistently point toward and honor him.

Jesus is presented here as the 'firstfruits' — the first person through the resurrection door, whose rising from the dead is not just his own victory but the guarantee and prototype of resurrection for all who belong to him.

Jesus is invoked here in the Aramaic cry 'Maranatha' — Come, Lord — Paul's closing prayer expressing the earliest Christian hope for Christ's return as the letter ends.

Jesus is presented here as the ultimate 'yes' — every promise God has ever made finds its fulfillment in him, which Paul uses to anchor his own reliability not in perfect follow-through but in the unchanging character of the one he proclaims.

Jesus is invoked here as the theological pattern behind Paul's ministry — crucified in weakness but raised in power, and Paul says his own apostolic pattern mirrors that same arc of weakness-then-authority.

Jesus is referenced here as the one in whom Paul and his co-workers stand and speak — their authority and sincerity are grounded not in self-promotion but in being commissioned by and accountable to Christ.

Jesus is the object of the unveiled gaze described in the chapter's final image — it is by keeping one's eyes fixed on him, unfiltered and unobstructed, that transformation into his likeness occurs.

Jesus is identified here as the fulfillment of Moses's prophecy — the Prophet like Moses who arrived centuries later, teaching with unprecedented divine authority and bearing God's words in his own mouth.

Jesus is identified as the one this law unwittingly foreshadowed — crucified on a wooden cross, he was 'hung on a tree' and thus, by this very statute, became a curse so that others would not have to bear one.

Jesus is referenced here as the one who stepped between an accused woman and a stone-throwing crowd, his response providing the New Testament counterpoint to the severity of these Mosaic penalties.

Jesus is cited as the one who later built on this principle in the Sermon on the Mount, teaching that straightforward speech — letting your yes mean yes — fulfills the deeper intent behind Israel's vow laws.

Jesus is referenced here as the one whose blood was the currency of redemption — the price paid to buy back humanity, with God's grace poured out generously through him.

Jesus is presented here as the one through whom believers are raised and seated in heavenly places — the co-participant in resurrection whose position believers now share by grace.

Jesus is named here as the singular access point through whom Gentiles and Jews alike receive the same inheritance, the same standing, and full membership in God's family.

Jesus is depicted here in a dramatic descent-and-ascent movement — he went to the very bottom through incarnation and death, then rose above all things, and from that exalted position distributes gifts to his people.

Jesus is described here in deliberately physical terms — someone who walked dusty roads, shared meals, and was bodily raised — directly countering teachers who wanted to reduce him to a spiritual idea.

Jesus is presented here as the believer's defense attorney before God — his righteousness is the grounds on which sin is covered, not the believer's own moral record.

Jesus is referenced here as the one the world failed to recognize, explaining why believers also face misunderstanding — and as the one whose future appearing will complete their transformation.

Jesus is the doctrinal litmus test in this passage — any spirit that refuses to confess his genuine physical humanity is identified as false, making him the dividing line between truth and deception.

Jesus is referenced here as the fulfillment of the unbroken-bones detail — centuries after this Passover regulation, not a single bone of Jesus was broken at his crucifixion, marking him as the lamb this meal always pointed toward.

Jesus is referenced here as the one whose betrayal price — thirty pieces of silver — precisely echoed this ancient law's valuation of a servant's life, a detail the New Testament writers saw as theologically significant.

Jesus is invoked here as the forward echo of this moment — centuries later he would take a cup at the Last Supper and use nearly identical language ('the blood of the covenant'), deliberately linking his death to this Sinai ceremony.

Jesus is named at the chapter's close as the one who ultimately fulfills what Moses only pointed toward — where Moses offered to be blotted out but wasn't taken, Jesus' substitution was actually accepted.

Jesus is identified as the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic covenant — the one whose throne actually endures forever, making sense of the four-fold 'forever' language that no merely human king ever satisfied.

Jesus appears here as the second and greater figure associated with Bethlehem — the chronicler's record of the town's founding by Hur's descendants points forward, centuries before the fact, to the birthplace of the Messiah.

Jesus is referenced as the one John the Baptist came to prepare the way for — the ultimate destination of the providential thread that runs from David's roster to Gabriel's announcement.

Jesus is named here as the ultimate destination of Judah's family line, centuries downstream from the names being listed — the one who gives the whole genealogy its ultimate significance.

Jesus is introduced here as the risen, returning Son — the one the Thessalonians now wait for, whose resurrection from the dead is the grounds for their confidence in facing coming judgment.

Jesus appears here as the eschatological anchor of Paul's prayer — his return is the horizon against which Paul asks God to make the Thessalonians' hearts blameless and their love complete.

Jesus is the theological ground of Paul's resurrection argument — because Jesus died and rose, the fate of believers who have already died is not abandonment but inclusion in his return.

Jesus is referenced as the returning Lord whose coming prompted the Thessalonians' question about timing — the event Paul's entire closing chapter is oriented around.

Jesus is the object of the Colossians' faith — the specific anchor of their trust that Paul highlights as one of three qualities (alongside love and hope) that mark a genuinely healthy church.

Jesus is presented here as the one the Colossians already said yes to at the beginning — Paul's argument being that the Christian life is about going deeper with him, not upgrading to something newer.

Jesus has just been established across chapters 1–2 as the image of the invisible God who holds all things together — the foundation Paul now builds his ethical teaching upon.

Jesus is the subject of the entire letter Paul is now closing, the cosmic figure whose supremacy Paul has spent three chapters establishing before turning to practical life application.

Jesus is presented here as the one mediator between God and humanity — the single bridge in a culture saturated with competing gods and spiritual brokers.

Jesus is identified here as the ultimate reason leadership character matters — the church exists to carry and protect the confession of who he is, making every role within it consequential.

Jesus is invoked as the standard against which a believer's behavior is measured — claiming to follow him while abandoning a vulnerable family member is a contradiction Paul calls worse than unbelief.

Jesus is referenced here prospectively — the author notes that this act of enemy care by Samaritans prefigures Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan by centuries, showing the same principle in action.

Jesus is referenced here as the one whose death centuries later would tear this very veil — the curtain Solomon wove becomes a foreshadowing of the moment God would remove the barrier between himself and humanity.

Jesus is cited here as the fulfillment of what Solomon anticipated — Solomon's prayer for the nations foreshadows by a millennium the welcome Jesus would extend to Gentiles.

Jesus is the telos of Paul's closing prayer — Paul asks that Jesus be glorified in the Thessalonians and that they in turn share in his glory, framing mutual glorification as the ultimate goal of their suffering and faithfulness.

Jesus appears at the climax of the restraint passage as the one who effortlessly destroys the lawless one — not through battle, but simply by arriving and speaking.

Jesus is invoked here as the authority behind Paul's command — Paul issues his instruction about idle living explicitly "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," grounding work ethic in theological obedience.

Jesus is referenced here as the one whose resurrection, centuries later, would confirm what Daniel's vision declared — that waking from death is real, not metaphor.

Jesus is connected here to Daniel's cloud-riding figure — the text notes that at his trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus quoted this exact passage to identify himself as the one receiving eternal dominion.

Jesus is identified here as the most widely held fulfillment of the 'anointed one' in Gabriel's timeline — the one cut off after sixty-nine weeks, whose death and the subsequent Temple destruction in 70 AD align with the prophecy's sequence.

Jesus is invoked here as the source through whose righteousness all believers — eyewitnesses and later converts alike — receive equally valid and weighty faith.

Jesus is the final object of Peter's last command — growing in knowledge of him is the singular direction Peter leaves as his parting charge, the finish line of the Christian life.

Jesus is identified here as the one who abolished death and revealed immortality — Paul presenting him not as a moral teacher but as the one who ended death's reign through his appearing.

Jesus is named here as the one in whom Timothy's godly life is rooted — and Paul's sobering warning is that living faithfully to Jesus guarantees persecution, not comfort.

Jesus is referenced here as the one who centuries later cited this very incident to argue that human need takes precedence over ritual law, validating Ahimelech's compassion retroactively.

Jesus is at the center of the theological crisis John addresses: false teachers denied his physical incarnation, and John insists this denial unravels everything — his death, resurrection, and the entire basis of salvation.

Jesus is invoked here as a forward echo — his feeding of thousands centuries later follows the same pattern as this miracle, connecting Elisha's act to the ministry of the one who is the ultimate fulfillment of all prophetic provision.

Jesus is identified here as the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic promise — the descendant through whom God's steadfast love to David's line reaches its greatest and final expression.