In2Freedom: A Journal Journey with Brad Jersak’s “Different” Jesus

Examining "A More Christlike Word" by Brad Jersak

Day 40

“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (Paul’s concern from 2 Corinthians 11:4)

The False Filter	The Biblical Filter
The word OR the Word	The Word THROUGH the word

It is sad, in a way, that I am so aware of how different the biblical Jesus is from the BJs “another Jesus” when it is really that the BJs have made a different Jesus in their own image and likeness instead of the Savior of the world who restores us to the image and likeness of God!

I began my day continuing through Matthew 12. It was one of those days when I was travelling through the scenes at a steady but leisurely pace, capturing the bigger picture of what Jesus was doing. When I got to the section where Jesus presents the contrast between people who are good trees that bear good fruit or bad trees that bear bad fruit, I followed my conscience into some self-examination of how that applied to me. But then a couple of statements stood out that scared me for those who think they are doing God’s will but are not.

First, Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). What’s so scary about that? Simply that I know too many church folk who do not describe themselves as “with Jesus” or “gathering”. And then there’s the question of what people think it means to be with Jesus and to gather. This, of course, is particularly poignant in the book in question since the author believes he is with Christ in what he is doing when every indication is that he is against him with “another Jesus”. The author’s success may delude him into thinking he is gathering when he is really scattering. How many of his readers do not even recognize they are following “another Jesus” by a “different spirit” with a “different gospel” because they think he is making his points when they are so contrary to the breathed-out words of God?

Second, Jesus exhorted his enemies (good religious people), “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). When we apply this to Jesus, the religious elite had to decide if Jesus was a good tree bearing good fruit or a bad tree bearing bad fruit. Was he using the signs and wonders of his ministry to lead people to God or away from him? Was he presenting a “different Yahweh” than was in the Scriptures, or just a “different Yahweh” from the way these hypocrites misunderstood him?

At the same time, he was challenging them to look in the mirror of truth. Were they good trees bearing good fruit, or bad trees bearing bad fruit?

But what about me? This is where it hits hard (as it should). Why? Because Jesus said that many people would stand in the judgment horrified that they did not know God and had not been doing his will.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23).

If “many” will stand before the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ in judgment where they will already be horrified to know they are among the goats instead of the sheep (see Matthew 25), and they will list the things they did for Christ that they were positive were “good fruit” proving they were “good trees”, then what in the world would give me assurance that I am a good tree bearing good fruit?!

I would simply apply this to BJ that he can have all the success in the world, and imagine his “another Jesus” is giving him a “different spirit” experience of God, and that his popularity in proclaiming a “different gospel” must mean God is approving of him when the Scriptures keep declaring him false, a twister of Scripture, a peddler of the word of God for profit. And THAT is SCARY!

The third thing that helped me really understand what Jesus was addressing here is when he said, “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

As I read this, I wondered how BJ factored in “you brood of vipers!” to the “Christlikeness” of his “another Jesus”. I mean, that is quite an insult! The Bible Sense Lexicon defines this phrase like this, “Brood: brood ⇔ offspring n. — the immediate descendants of an animal”, and, “Vipers: viper n. — a snake primarily known for being venomous.”

My first thought was that, if Jesus can refer to his opponents as poisonous and deadly snakes, I must be acting Christlike when I refer to BJ’s false teachings as “poison-in-the-pudding”. Teaching people “another Jesus” so they are scattered from the God who breathed out his words to us, and scattered from the Savior who laid down his life to propitiate God’s wrath and judgment against our sins, is as poisonous as what those religious “elite” were doing by constantly speaking against Jesus because he was different than their view of God. Jesus kept showing how he lined up with Scripture, just as I have been showing in my critique of BJ’s “different gospel” teachings. He kept showing how the religious elite were not lining up with Scripture, pointing out Scriptures they were not taking into account because they didn’t fit the religious system they had created. It is certainly fitting to call the BJs just as much a “brood of vipers” as Jesus declared to those men.

But then there was his clarification of what it meant to be a good tree that bears good fruit instead of a bad tree that bears bad fruit. He asked his piercingly rhetorical question, “How can you speak good, when you are evil?” Speaking “good” rhymes with bearing good fruit. Being “evil” rhymes with being a bad tree. If we are a good tree we will speak what is good. If we are a bad tree we will speak what is bad. Evil speaks evil and good speaks good. Which means that someone can speak/write “well” without speaking/writing “good”!

So, Jesus concludes, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” “Abundance” means, “overflow n. — the liquid that spills or falls out as a result of a container reaching capacity” (BSL). Whatever fills our hearts is what spills out in the words we speak.

What then of someone who speaks words so contrary to the breathed-out words of God as we see in BJ’s book? As difficult as it may be, we must fill in the blanks, apply it honestly, and PRAY FOR THE GUY AND HIS READERS!!! Out of the abundance of what is in BJ’s heart, his mouth speaks against the Scriptures. The fruit (what he speaks in this book) tells us what is in his heart. Proclaiming “another Jesus” who is so different from the one we read in Scripture, and promoting a “different spirit” than the one the Holy Spirit reveals in the Gospels and glorifies in the rest of the New Testament Scriptures, and proclaiming a “different gospel” than what is in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), the Prophets, the Psalms, the four gospels, and the apostolic letters, is the overflow of a heart that is stealing, killing, and destroying instead of leading people to the true Lord Jesus Christ for the abundance of life.

Now that I have laid this foundation for today, that Jesus exposes bad trees by their bad teachings and delights in good trees by their truth-speaking, look at the evil thing BJ says next. After claiming (falsely) that “the vision of penal substitutionary atonement” is “a galaxy away from the nature of God revealed in Jesus” (p. 100), his very next sentence is, “Indeed, the New Testament authors never use any part of Isaiah 53 to teach or imply that God the Father was punishing his Son” (p. 100).

Let’s break this down into its three parts.

1. Did the New Testament authors ever use any part of Isaiah 53?

2. Did the New Testament authors use any part of Isaiah 53 specifically to show that God the Father was punishing Jesus for our sins?

3. Did the New Testament authors affirm that in Jesus’ crucifixion, the Father was punishing his Son for our sins?

So, let’s look at these one by one.

1. Did the New Testament authors ever use any part of Isaiah 53?

In an article titled, “The Seven New Testament Quotations of Isaiah 53” by Robert F. Wall, the author leads us through six New Testament references that contain these seven quotes from Isaiah 53. I encourage you to read the article here.[1]

What do we conclude from the fact that the New Testament Scriptures quote Isaiah 53 without correcting anything that is quoted? When it comes to the New Testament use of the Old Testament (there are whole books written about this glorious gift of the tapestry of God!), we only see one thing, that the whole of the Hebrew (Old Testament) Scriptures (the Tanakh) are affirmed as the breathed-out words of God. Unlike BJ, the biblical writers did not cherry-pick parts of sentences to make it appear something was said that clearly was not.

The fact that Isaiah 53 is referred to with seven quotes means that it was recognized as Scripture. It was speaking of the Christ, and Jesus honored all the Tanakh. As we have already seen in a previous day’s journal journey, on the true Emmaus Road Way, Jesus said to the two men, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). This means that Jesus affirmed the whole of Isaiah 53 as written since “everything written about me… must be fulfilled.”

2. Did the New Testament authors use any part of Isaiah 53 specifically to show that God the Father was punishing Jesus for our sins?

Since what BJ stated there is a trick statement, answering this question must be “No, but Yes”. Did any of the New Testament writers quote the specific parts of Isaiah 53 that speak of God punishing Christ for our sins? No. However, this is like the Muslims loving to ask the question, “Where did Jesus ever say the words, ‘I am God; worship me’?” They know those exact words are not in the Bible, so they think that wording the question that way helps them win an argument against Jesus’ deity. However, when we ask whether Jesus referred to himself as God, the answer is easy: YES!

In the same way, we know very clearly that Isaiah 53 speaks of God punishing Jesus for the sins of his people. So we can say yes, the New Testament authors used Isaiah 53 without correcting what it claims.

We can also say “yes” to this in what Luke tells us about Jesus in Luke 24. The question is whether the New Testament shows Isaiah 53 being used to teach what Isaiah 53 teaches, that “it was the will of the LORD (Yahweh, Jesus’ Father) to crush him (Jesus)”, and, “he (Yahweh) has put him (Jesus) to grief” (vs 10). Yes, we see this from Jesus himself. In speaking to the men on the true Emmaus Road Way Jesus made these statements that show he was speaking of Isaiah 53 in its entirety.

First, when Jesus responded to the unbelief of the two men, he said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (vs 25). The whole of Isaiah 53 is part of the “ALL that the prophets have spoken”!

Second, when Jesus said, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (vs 26), he had just included Isaiah 53 because it was part of the ALL of the prophets, and now he is declaring that it was “necessary” for the Christ to “suffer THESE things”. In fact, in that one sentence we have a wonderful “nutshell” of Isaiah 53 because Isaiah 53 speaks of the Messiah’s suffering and his entering into glory!

Third, the rest of their 7-mile walk is summarized as, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (vs 27). Again, this is very simple: Jesus spoke of “ALL the prophets”, interpreting to these two men “in ALL the Scriptures” what was written about his suffering, death, and resurrection. No part of Isaiah 53 was left out, so yes, the part of Isaiah 53 that speaks of God crushing his Son for sinners is included very clearly.

Fourth, after the two men returned to Jerusalem and added their testimony to the mix, Jesus appeared to all of them and declared, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Here Jesus refers to the three major parts of the Tanakh, Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. And what he says is that “EVERYTHING written about me… must be fulfilled.” Isaiah 53:10 was written about him! Therefore Jesus declared that it had to be fulfilled.

The conclusion is that Jesus DID include the parts of Isaiah 53 BJ is trying to deny, which makes BJ a liar about this. Once we know what Isaiah 53 says about the Father punishing the sins of his people on his Son, we know that was referred to time and again in explaining Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

3. Did the New Testament authors affirm that in Jesus’ crucifixion, the Father was punishing his Son for our sins?

This has two parts: one, was Jesus punished in our place (our substitute)? Two, was this the Father’s good pleasure as indicated in Isaiah 53:10?

Let’s, then, look at the whole package of salvation and answer both these questions.

A. Was Jesus punished in our place (our substitute)?

The prophecy from Isaiah is, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus said this was fulfilled in him, this was recorded by the New Testament authors, so yes, Jesus being punished in our place was affirmed by the New Testament authors.

The rest of the Scriptures are direct quotes from the New Testament writers. They are listed in the order of appearance in our Bibles.

“And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many’” (Mark 14:24)

It is Jesus’ blood, and it is poured out “for many”, meaning other than himself.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Jesus was laying down HIS life for others (his friends).

“who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

Jesus was delivered up, but it was for OUR trespasses and to bring about OUR justification.

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9).

It is WE who have been justified, but by HIS blood. This clearly saves us from the “wrath” of God.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus was MADE to be sin when he had no sin. This was for the result that WE would become the righteousness of God.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).

Jesus became a curse for us to redeem us from the curse on us.

“by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:14–15)

The record of debt “stood against us”. Clearly, the work of Christ took care of this on our behalf!

“who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:6).

Jesus gave himself, but as a ransom for others.

“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

Jesus gave himself, but to redeem us.

“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18–19).

We were the ones ransomed, but with the precious blood of Christ.

“so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28).

Jesus was offered, but to bear the sins of others.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (I Peter 2:24).

Jesus bore our sins, but in his body.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus was the one put to death in the flesh, but to bring US to God.

“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:9).

Jesus was the one slain, but to ransom us for God.

From all these Scriptures (breathed out by God), it is clear that Jesus was punished for our sins. Some already have answered the second question.

B. Was this the Father’s good pleasure as indicated in Isaiah 53:10?

We are considering what the Scriptures say about the Father’s role in fulfilling this prophecy, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

For starters, the next verse in Isaiah 53 reads, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD (Yahweh, Jesus’ Father) has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all” (vs 6).

We have already seen that, contrary to BJ’s high-priced claim that Isaiah 53:10 does not say what it says, the Hebrew text and the many English translations declare that “it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD (Yahweh, Jesus’ Father) shall prosper in his hand.”

And Yahweh’s own testimony of his Son was, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (vs 12). That is a very clear prophecy that Jesus bore OUR sins, and Yahweh is heard prophesying about it 700 years before it happened.

How, then, do we see this shown in the rest of the New Testament writings?

Jesus declared, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Giving his life as our ransom means the way the Scriptures already described this.

Jesus also declared, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This shows us that whatever was needed from Jesus to give us eternal life, it was God who gave his Son for that purpose.

Jesus continued, “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:22-23).

This shows that the Father has given judgment to the Son, and he is the one who sent Jesus to do his saving work.

And, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

Jesus equated believing him and believing him who “sent me”. The Father sent his Son for the purposes described in the prophets and explained in the New Testament.

Jesus was clear five chapters later in John when he said, “do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:36-38).

Not only did Jesus again say that the Father had “consecrated and sent” him into the world, but he also said he was “doing the works” of his Father (also in John 5), and this was to show that Jesus and the Father were one in this work of salvation.

The Apostle Paul showed God’s place in giving his Son as the sacrifice for our sins, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25).

Note that it was “God” who “put forward” his Son “as a propitiation by his blood”. So, yes, God did this.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

Jesus’ suffering and death was God showing his love for sinners. Jesus’ death for us shows GOD’s love, meaning Jesus’ death was an expression of God loving his sinful children.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It is GOD who MADE Jesus to be sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in him.

“who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4).

We can’t separate Jesus giving himself from the Father giving us, but this is clear that it was all “according to the will of our God and Father,” the very thing Isaiah 53 prophesied.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)

What Jesus did was “in the service of God” (fitting that it is God’s plan for Jesus), and “propitiation” is central to what Jesus did in satisfying the judgment of God against our sin.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

Again, it is all about love, God is the one who sent his Son, and propitiating the judgment of God against our sins is clear as clear can be.

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

Everything it means for Jesus to be Savior, we can’t escape that the Father sent him for this, propitiation included.

One of the things I have enjoyed over the last few years is watching videos posted online of Jewish Christians sharing the gospel with fellow Jews. They regularly use Isaiah 53 to show their ancestral brothers how Jesus’ crucifixion was prophesied. It is sad that, while we see them presenting the Tanakh, the Scriptures, to fellow Jews, the BJs are trying to convince people that the Scriptures can’t be trusted because they are a hybrid of whatever man did with whatever God tried to say. You can view an example of Jews sharing their faith in the footnote, along with a few links to articles that address what Jesus did for us as it is written, not as is poisoned with false teachings.[2]

Do you know what is so amazing to me (personally) in this day’s journey? That because a good tree that bears good fruit is someone who speaks what is good out of the abundance/overflow in their hearts of the goodness (and good news) of God, God has settled for me that I am a good tree! I am speaking the truth in love from the breathed-out Scriptures of God while BJ is speaking lies out of rebellion to the harm of so many people. He is stealing, killing, and destroying. He has been proven false by the Scriptures time and again. The Jesus of the Emmaus Road Way indicts him as a false teacher since Jesus affirmed all the Scriptures that spoke about him and BJ keeps twisting and distorting Scriptures to give “another Jesus” than the one we find in God’s word.

Let’s praise the Lord that men like Paul were willing to die to make known “the whole counsel of God” while warning us of the peddlers of God’s word who would twist it however it would best tickle the ears of their listeners. Paul is still bringing people into the abundance of life in Christ; the BJs are still stealing, killing, and destroying the work of God by poisoning the purity of the good news of great joy.

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

Jersak, Bradley. A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the Emmaus Way. Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.

Definitions from the Bible Sense Lexicon (BSL) in Logos Bible Systems

[1] The Seven New Testament Quotations of Isaiah 53, Robert F. Wall

https://biblecentre.org/content.php?mode=7&item=897

[2] "The Forbidden Chapter" in the Tanakh

https://youtu.be/lXSBR047MMk?si=hDcCqYHQVsKA14kJ

What does it mean that Jesus took our place? Got Questions.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-took-our-place.html

What is the substitutionary atonement?

https://www.gotquestions.org/substitutionary-atonement.html

What is the doctrine of penal substitution?

https://www.gotquestions.org/penal-substitution.html