Will Gabriel's Revelation revolutionize Christology?

Leshloshet yamin khayeh, ani Gavriel, gozer alekha, sar hasarin: In three days, live, I, Gabriel, command you prince of princes.

The NYTimes has a piece about a stone tablet that was discovered a decade ago in the Transjordan and which happened to be rediscovered a few years ago in the basement of a Swill collectors attic.

This stone of course is no insignificant find as it contains text from the first century BCE, text that may elucidate the minds of modern scholars on the nature 1st century Jewish belief and custom, and has significance to scholars of Christianity as well because of the implications of the above quote.

From chemical testing and other scholarly works which are pending and those which have been available since last year there suggest at least one thing, that there is little doubt about the authenticity of the tablet and its "aging." The only questions looming for academics is if they can determine that the information on the tablet is sect specific, such as many of the Dead Sea Scrolls are presumed to be or if they offer insights into transsectarian beliefs and practice of 1st century Judaism.

For some scholars though it is already answering at least one question which is whether or not the idea of a catastrophic messianism was a peculiar ideology to the early Christians or a part of the wider Jewish theology. The dating of the tablet and it's text lend credence to the latter says Israel Knohl,

...it is connected to the Jewish revolt in the Land of Israel following the death of King Herod in 4 B.C.E. This Jewish insurrection was brutally suppressed by the armies of Herod and the Roman emperor Augustus, and the messianic leaders of the revolt were killed. These events set the slain Messiah Son of Joseph tradition into motion and paved the way for the emergence of the concept of "catastrophic messianism." Interpretations of biblical text helped to shape the belief that the death of the messiah was a necessary and indivisible component of salvation. My conclusion, based on apocalyptic writings dating to this period, was that certain groups believed the messiah would die, be resurrected in three days, and ascend to heaven...

Mr. Knohl and other scholars disagree on who the messianic figure in the text referenced to is, Mr Knohl asserting that this stone being found in the Transjordan is very much in line with the rebellion of messianic figure named Simon in 4BCE, others being more cautious in because of the lack of text and missing text and illegible text.

The Times though concludes their article with a powerful statement

Mr. Knohl said that it was less important whether Simon was the messiah of the stone than the fact that it strongly suggested that a savior who died and rose after three days was an established concept at the time of Jesus. He notes that in the Gospels, Jesus makes numerous predictions of his suffering and New Testament scholars say such predictions must have been written in by later followers because there was no such idea present in his day.

But there was, he said, and “Gabriel’s Revelation” shows it.

“His mission is that he has to be put to death by the Romans to suffer so his blood will be the sign for redemption to come,” Mr. Knohl said. “This is the sign of the son of Joseph. This is the conscious view of Jesus himself. This gives the Last Supper an absolutely different meaning. To shed blood is not for the sins of people but to bring redemption to Israel.”

His concept of course has always been a concept shared by the church, that Jesus' salvific act was meant for the redemption of Israel, and that it was later divinely revealed and handed down to be an open act of love for all mankind, or at least that's what the rest of the New Testament outside of the Gospels suggest.

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