Why Jesus Came (Part 1): “He Came Unto His Own”

✍️ Draft — Post #1

Why Jesus Came (Part 1): “He Came Unto His Own”

Most Christians, if asked why Jesus came to earth, would answer without hesitation:
“To be my Savior.”

That statement is true — gloriously true — but it may not be complete.

Before Jesus ever died for the sins of the world, before the gospel went out to the nations, and before Gentiles were brought near by grace, Scripture tells us something very specific about who He came to first.

“He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.”
— John 1:11

John’s words are simple, but they are often read too quickly. Jesus did not arrive as a generic spiritual figure or a timeless symbol of love. He came to a people, within a covenant, under a law, and according to promises already spoken.

This is not a minor detail.

When Jesus sent out the twelve during His earthly ministry, His instructions were unmistakable:

“Go not into the way of the Gentiles… but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
— Matthew 10:5–6

Later, when approached by a Gentile woman seeking help, Jesus said plainly:

“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
— Matthew 15:24

These statements can feel uncomfortable if we’ve been taught that Jesus’ mission was primarily universal from the start. Yet the discomfort comes not from the text, but from our assumptions.

The Gospels present Jesus as Israel’s Messiah — the promised Son of David, born into the law, walking among His own people, calling them to repentance, and keeping the promises foretold by the prophets.

This does not diminish salvation by grace.
It explains its origin.

If Jesus had not come to Israel as their Messiah, there would be no confirmed promises, no fulfilled covenants, and no foundation upon which the gospel could later go out to the nations.

The tragedy of John 1:11 is not merely rejection — it is missed recognition. Israel’s Messiah stood in their midst, fulfilling Scripture, yet largely unreceived.

But Scripture does not end there.

That rejection becomes the turning point through which God reveals something previously hidden — a mystery that would later be made known through the apostle Paul.

Before we can understand salvation for the world, we must first understand why Jesus came to Israel.

That is where the story begins.

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Dead Men Who's Influences Are Still With Us Today Episode 4: John Dewey

 

If Nietzsche dismantled truth philosophically, John Dewey operationalized that dismantling culturally.

Dewey did not write manifestos against God or morality. His influence was far more practical — and therefore far more enduring. He reshaped how people are taught to think, learn, and judge truth. And once education changes, culture follows.

Truth Becomes What Works

Dewey was a leading voice in pragmatism. In this framework, truth is not something fixed or revealed, but something tested by results. What matters is not whether something is true, but whether it works.

This sounds modest. It even sounds reasonable.

But once truth is reduced to usefulness, it loses permanence. What works today may be discarded tomorrow. Principle yields to preference. Stability gives way to experimentation.

Education Without Anchors

Dewey believed education should be freed from tradition, authority, and fixed moral frameworks. Schools were no longer to transmit truth, but to facilitate experience. Students would construct meaning rather than receive it.

In this model, teachers become guides instead of authorities, and learning becomes a process of adaptation rather than formation.

The cost of this shift is rarely acknowledged.

When education abandons objective truth, it cannot produce conviction — only opinion. It cannot shape character — only competence.

Religion as Social Tool

Dewey did not deny religion outright. Instead, he redefined it. Faith was no longer about revelation from God, but about social cohesion and shared values.

Religion, in this view, is useful — but only insofar as it serves democratic goals. Once it stops working, it can be revised or removed.

Scripture under this framework is no longer authoritative — it is instructional material, open to continuous revision.

Why Dewey Still Rules

Dewey rules from the grave every time education prioritizes skills over truth, feelings over facts, and adaptability over conviction. He rules wherever belief is treated as provisional and certainty as dangerous.

Most people influenced by Dewey have never read him. His legacy lives in classrooms, curricula, and assumptions about what education is for.

Scripture and Formation

The Bible does not treat truth as experimental. It forms before it informs. It shapes character before it imparts knowledge.

When Scripture is brought into a pragmatic framework, it feels rigid and outdated — not because it has failed, but because it refuses to be tested like a hypothesis.

Where This Leaves Us

When truth is defined by usefulness, Scripture will always lose the argument — because it refuses to justify itself on pragmatic terms.

And when the Bible will not cooperate with a culture trained to ask only “What works?”, it is blamed — rather than the framework that demanded the wrong question.

Stay with me.

In the final installment, we’ll look at the thinker who helped dissolve meaning altogether — leaving modern culture fluent in critique, but unsure how to believe anything at all.

All set.

Episode 6: John Dewey is now written and live in the canvas.

This one is important because it shows how ideas become systems:

• Nietzsche breaks truth philosophically

• Dewey installs the break into education

• What was once debated becomes assumed

• Culture stops asking “Is it true?” and asks “Does it work?”

Why this episode really matters

This is where readers usually recognize their own experience:

• school

• classrooms

• training

• church curriculum pressures

• “practical” Christianity

This series is not intended to critique people — it's intention is to expose the frame they were trained in.

The arc is now very clear

1. Hegel — meaning drifts

2. Marx — society redefined

3. Darwin — origins reframed

4. Freud — guilt internalized

5. Nietzsche — truth collapses

6. Dewey — collapse normalized

1. Get the book  7 Men Who Rule The World From The Grave HERE

Israel’s Cycles and Our Walk: Why the Prophets Still Matter

 As we read through the prophets, a clear pattern emerges in Israel’s history. Long seasons of prosperity and comfort are followed by pride, disobedience, and injustice. God sends warnings through His prophets, judgment looms, repentance briefly appears, and then the cycle begins again. With only a few short respites, Israel experiences centuries of spiritual indulgence — a prolonged “party” that eventually leads to exile.

This pattern is not recorded merely as national history. The New Testament makes it clear that these cycles were preserved for a reason.

Paul explains that Israel’s experiences serve as examples, written down for instruction. Hebrews takes the wilderness generation and turns it into a warning addressed directly to the reader. Peter and Jude use the same historical failures to caution believers against complacency, false teaching, and rebellion. What was once corporate becomes personal.

The prophets show us what happens when privilege replaces obedience. Israel assumed covenant security while ignoring covenant responsibility. The apostles apply that same warning inward: knowledge without faithfulness leads to spiritual stagnation; familiarity with truth can dull obedience if unchecked.

This is why dismissing the Old Testament distorts New Testament understanding. Without the prophets, the apostles’ warnings sound abstract or severe. With the prophets in view, their words become sober, grounded, and necessary. The same God who patiently warned Israel calls believers to self-examination, perseverance, and humility.

The cycle remains recognizable:

• Blessing can breed neglect

• Comfort can dull watchfulness

• Repetition of warning can lead to resistance

Yet the prophets also show something else: God’s mercy persists. Judgment is never His first word. Intercession delays wrath. Restoration follows repentance. These truths echo through the Gospels and into the letters of Paul, Peter, Jude, and Hebrews.

The takeaway is not fear, but clarity. Scripture reveals patterns so they do not have to be repeated blindly. Israel’s history is not distant — it is diagnostic. When read carefully, it helps believers recognize the warning signs in their own walk before discipline is required.

The prophets tell us what happens to a nation that forgets God; the apostles remind us that the same dynamics apply to the heart.

Understanding this connection keeps Scripture unified, guards against shallow theology, and anchors faith in the full counsel of God — not fragments.

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From Corporate History to Personal Lessons: What the Apostles Teach Us

 When we read the Old Testament, we often see Israel as a nation: a people repeatedly warned, disciplined, and restored. From the Exodus through the kingdoms and into exile, Israel’s story is a long pattern of blessing, rebellion, judgment, and mercy — what could almost be called 400 years of a “party,” broken only by brief revivals under a few faithful leaders.

But the New Testament writers take this corporate history and make it personal. Paul, Peter, Jude, and Hebrews draw on these stories not just to recount Israel’s failures, but to teach, warn, and encourage individual believers.

• Paul shows that Israel’s history warns us about temptation, disobedience, and the need for endurance (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11).

• Peter uses examples of God’s judgment to remind believers to remain faithful, even under persecution (1 Peter 5:10).

• Jude cites historical events, like the rebellion of Korah or the destruction of Sodom, to warn against false teaching and rebellion.

• Hebrews turns the wilderness generation into a mirror for readers, emphasizing faith, obedience, and entering God’s rest.

The lesson is clear: what happened to Israel corporately is written as a guide for the believer personally. The warnings, patterns, and promises in the prophets and histories are not distant tales; they are mirrors reflecting our own spiritual walk.

By seeing these patterns, we can recognize the same dynamics in our lives: the danger of pride, the need for faithfulness, and the hope of God’s mercy and restoration. Just as Israel was called back from their long cycles of indulgence and rebellion, each believer is invited to respond, obey, and endure.

The failures, trials, and judgments of Israel become mirrors for us, highlighting the importance of faith, endurance, and obedience — showing that God’s lessons are as personal as they are historical.

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"Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology: A Book by Book Guide to Archaeological Discoveries Related to the Bible"

Dead Men Who Are Still With Us Today Episode 3

 If Freud moved authority inside the self, Nietzsche removed authority altogether.

With Nietzsche, the modern world crossed a line. God was no longer reinterpreted, psychologicalized, or marginalized — He was declared unnecessary. And once that declaration was made, everything built on Him was suddenly up for renegotiation.

Nietzsche did not merely critique religion. He diagnosed Western culture and concluded that its moral framework could not survive the loss of God. His famous announcement that “God is dead” was not a celebration — it was a warning.

The Death of Objective Truth

Nietzsche understood something many of his followers missed: if God is removed, objective truth cannot remain. Moral claims become expressions of power, preference, or perspective.

Truth, in this framework, is no longer discovered — it is created.

This was a decisive shift. What had once been received is now asserted. What had once judged humanity is now judged by it.

Power Replaces Morality

With no transcendent standard, Nietzsche argued that values are produced by the strong and imposed upon the weak. Morality becomes a strategy. Compassion becomes suspect. Humility becomes a weakness disguised as virtue.

The goal is no longer faithfulness, but dominance — not submission to truth, but the will to power.

This way of thinking did not remain confined to philosophy. It flowed into politics, education, art, and eventually everyday assumptions about right and wrong.

Why Nietzsche Still Rules

Nietzsche rules from the grave whenever truth is treated as personal, morality as flexible, and conviction as oppression. He rules wherever certainty is mocked and clarity is treated as dangerous.

You don’t need to quote Nietzsche to live downstream from him. His influence shows up whenever the question is no longer “Is it true?” but “Who gets to decide?”

Scripture in a World Without God

The Bible cannot be neutralized by Nietzsche’s framework. It either stands as revelation or is dismissed as power language. When Scripture claims authority, it is no longer debated — it is accused.

This explains much of the modern hostility toward the Bible. The issue is not interpretation alone, but authority itself.

The Consequence of Refusal

When God is removed, man kind does not become free — it becomes responsible for inventing meaning it cannot sustain. The burden of authorship is heavier than it first appears.

Nietzsche saw this clearly. The tragedy is that many who followed him embraced the critique without counting the cost.

Where This Leaves Us

Once truth is reduced to power, dialogue collapses. Persuasion gives way to force. And when Scripture refuses to cooperate with this framework, it is blamed — not the assumptions brought against it.

Stay with me.

In the next installment, we’ll look at a thinker who took Nietzsche’s ideas out of philosophy and embedded them into education and culture — shaping not just what people believe, but how they are taught to think.

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