In my last post, we concluded our story in Kefa Goes Fishing One More Time ~Part 4. In this post, we examine Yeshua’s Final Instructions Before His Ascension. Although Kefa is only briefly mentioned in the following passages, I thought it beneficial to our understanding of his ministry as we begin to explore the Acts of the Emissaries of Yeshua, the Messiah in my next post.

Yeshua Commissions the Emissaries

¹⁶ So the eleven talmidim went to the hill in the Galil, where Yeshua had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they prostrated themselves before Him; but some hesitated. ¹⁸ Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Ruach HaKodesh, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:16-20 (CJB)

God often revealed Himself on mountains, especially in the narratives about Moshe. According to 1 Corinthians 15:6, this may have been the time when Yeshua appeared to the five hundred. In verse 18, Yeshua alludes to Daniel 7:13-14. Make people from all nations into talmidim must have shocked His hearers, who thought that the Messiah was only, or at least primarily, for Jews. Today the situation is reversed, for many Believers think it wrong to evangelize Jews. But their position is inconsistent, for if they respect Yeshua, they should obey His command to make people from all nations, including the Jewish nation, into talmidim. Immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Ruach HaKodesh would lead us down an extensive “rabbit trail,” so I will leave that for another day. Suffice it to say that this is the closest the Brit Hadashah comes to stating the proposition that the God of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, consists of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One final note, making talmidim, was the sort of thing rabbis would do, but Yeshua’s followers are to make talmidim for Him, not for themselves.

Yeshua’s Parting Instructions

⁴⁵ Then He opened their minds so that they could understand the Tanakh, ⁴⁶ telling them, “Here is what it says: the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day; ⁴⁷ and in His name repentance leading to forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to people from all nations, starting with Yerushalayim. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ Now I am sending forth upon you what My Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been equipped with power from above.” ~ Luke 24:45-49 (CJB)

The Tanakh (the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms) represents the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible. Yeshua now did for the broader group of talmidim essentially what He had already done for the two on the road to Emmaus. He explained the Scriptures. What my Father promised was the Ruach HaKodesh (see Joel 3:1-5; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 16-21). The Holy Spirit gives the power necessary for being witnesses.

Yeshua Ascends to Heaven

⁵⁰ He led them out toward Beit-Anyah; then, raising his hands, He said a b’rakhah over them.  blessing them, He withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. ~ Luke 24:50 (CJB)

⁶ They asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore self-rule to Isra’el?” ⁷ He answered, “You don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under His own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be My witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!” ⁹ After saying this, He was taken up before their eyes; and a cloud hid Him from their sight. ¹⁰ As they were staring into the sky after Him, suddenly they saw two men dressed in white standing next to them. ¹¹ The men said, “You Galileans! Why are you standing, staring into space? This Yeshua, who has been taken away from you into heaven, will come back to you in just the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11 (CJB)

Raising his hands, he said a b’rakhah. To this day, there is a portion of the synagogue service wherein a cohen raises his hands and pronounces over the congregation the Aaronic Benediction of Numbers 6:24-26.

Lord, are you at this time going to restore self-rule to Isra’el? Virtually all Jews expected that when the Messiah came, He would deliver Isra’el from Roman oppression and become king over the Jewish nation reunited and sovereign as it had been under Kings Saul, David, and Solomon. Yeshua’s answer to His talmidim was you don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under His own authority. From this, we learn (contrary to the teaching of Replacement Theology) that the kingdom indeed will be restored to Isra’el. The only question is when, and that still is not presently ours to know.

To be Yeshua’s witnesses in both word and deed means communicating the verbal content of the Gospel and living God’s way and not our own. This is the central task of the people of God, but it can be accomplished only with power from the Ruach HaKodesh. The talmidim are to start evangelizing where they are, in Yerushalayim, the center of the Jewish people. Then they are to move out into all Y’hudah (Judea, the Jewish countryside) and Shomron (Samaria, populated by half-Jews), and finally to go to the ends of the earth, that is, to reach Gentile peoples.

A cloud hid him…. Yeshua… will come back in just the same way, fulfills Daniel 7:13 and Yeshua’s predictions (Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62; Lk 21:27; Rev 1:7, 13; 14:14). In the Tanakh, a cloud often expresses God’s glory (Exodus 13:21), His Sh’khinah (“radiance,” Hebrews 1 3). The reply of the two men dressed in white, evidently angels, supports our hope (Titus 2:13) that Yeshua is coming back and at the same time implies a partial answer to the talmidim‘ question in v. 6: Yeshua will restore self-rule to Isra’el and bring peace to the earth when He comes back to you in just the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

The Emissaries Return to Yerushalayim

⁵² They bowed in worship to Him, then returned to Yerushalayim, overflowing with joy. ⁵³ And they spent all their time in the Temple courts, praising God. ~ Luke 24:52-53 (CJB) ¹² Then they returned the Shabbat-walk distance from the Mount of Olives to Yerushalayim. ¹³ After entering the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. The names of the emissaries were Kefa, Ya’akov, Yochanan, Andrew, Philip, T’oma, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, Ya’akov Ben-Halfai, Shim’on “the Zealot,” and Y’hudah Ben-Ya’akov. ¹⁴ These all devoted themselves single-mindedly to prayer, along with some women, including Miryam (Yeshua’s mother), and his brothers.  ~ Acts 1:12-14 (CJB) ²⁰ And they went out and proclaimed everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the message by the accompanying signs. ~ Mark 16:20 (CJB)

As Yeshua had requested (v. 49), the talmidim returned to Yerushalayim and stayed there until the events of the day of Shavuot (Acts 2). They bowed in worship to him because they now understood who He was, the Son of God, divine and worthy of worship. They spent all their time in the Temple courts praising God. The early Believers had a living faith and a close relationship with God; being Jews, they expressed that faith by praising God at His Temple. We pick them up praising God at Acts 1:14. Note that Kefa is mentioned first in the list of the eleven.

And they went out and proclaimed everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the message by the accompanying signs. Are you witnessing what the Lord has done for you – or are you expecting others to evangelize? Are you serving – or are you expecting others to serve you?

In my next post, we will examine Kefa Calls for the Replacement of Y’hudah.

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