The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 4

Yeshua Calls His First Talmidim

The early ministry of Yeshua is reported solely by the Apostle Yochanan. His account shows the Yeshua’s teaching quickly appeals to ordinary people and results in many faithful talmidim.

³⁵ The next day, [1] Yochanan (the Immerser) was again standing with two of his talmidim. ³⁶ On seeing Yeshua walking by, he said, “Look! God’s lamb!” ³⁷ His two talmidim heard Him speaking, and they followed Yeshua. ³⁸ Yeshua turned and saw them following Him, and He asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi!” (which means “Teacher!”) “Where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” So, they went and saw where He was staying and remained with Him the rest of the day – it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰ One of the two who had heard Yochanan and had followed Yeshua was Andrew, the brother of Shim’on Kefa. ⁴¹ The first thing he did was to find his brother Shim’on and tell him, “We’ve found the Mashiach!”(The word means “one who has been anointed.”)

Mashiach …. The word means “one who has been anointed. This is one of the two places in the Brit Hadashah where the Hebrew word for Messiah is transliterated into Greek as Messias (the other is at 4:25). It shows that the author wanted to reflect the Jewish or Hebraic character of the speaker’s words. ^[2]

⁴² He took him to Yeshua. Looking at him, Yeshua said, “You are Shimon Bar-Yochanan; you will be known as Kefa.” (The name means “rock.”)

⁴³ The next day, having decided to leave for the Galil, Yeshua found Philip and said, “Follow Me!” ⁴⁴ Philip was from Beit-Tzaidah, the town where Andrew and Kefa lived. ⁴⁵ Philip found Natan’el and told him, “We’ve found the one that Moshe wrote about in the Torah, also the Prophets – it’s Yeshua Ben-Yosef from Natzeret!”

The one that Moshe wrote about in the Torah. See Deuteronomy 18:15–18 and Acts 3:22, which quotes this passage. Yeshua fulfills Moshe’s prophecy. Also the Prophets wrote about Yeshua.

It has always amazed me that all Yeshua had to say to Philip was Follow Me! He said the same thing to Mattityahu. In both narratives, there is no indication that Yeshua had any prior exposure to these two talmidim. According to my Logos software, thirty-nine times Follow Me is used by Yeshua in the Gospel’s.

Natan’el is not mentioned as one of the Twelve in the Synoptic Gospels but is usually identified with Bartholomew (whom Yochanan never mentions by name). Natan’el means “God has given.”

⁴⁶ Natan’el answered him, “Natzeret? Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see,” Philip said to him. ⁴⁷ Yeshua saw Natan’el coming toward him and remarked about him, “Here’s a true son of Isra’el – nothing false in him!” ⁴⁸ Natan’el said to him, “How do you know me?” Yeshua answered him, “Before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Natan’el said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Isra’el!” ⁵⁰ Yeshua answered him, “you believe all this just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” ⁵¹ Then He said to him, “Yes indeed! I tell you that you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man!”  ~ ~ Yochanan 1:35-51

Yeshua Performs His First Miracle

In chapter 2, Yochanan (the Apostle) presents a series of signs or miracles designed to prove Yeshua’s identity as the Messiah and Son of God. In this first sign, Yeshua turns water into wine at a wedding in Kanah attended by His family and talmidim.

¹ On Tuesday, there was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. ² Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with His talmidim. ³ The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.” ⁴ Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me? – or you? My time hasn’t come yet.”

My time (literally, “my hour”) hasn’t come yet. Yochanan’s Gospel often has Yeshua speaking about His time (7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1), and each occasion has a reason. Here the reason is that Yeshua’s mother had been informed, even before He was born, that He was meant for greatness (Luke 1:35, 43); she had heard others prophesy about Him (Luke 2:25–38); she had observed His development (Luke 2:40, 51), although not always with understanding (Luke 2:41–50); and she had known that future generations would bless her (Luke 1:48). Yeshua’s comment is meant to aid her in the transition from seeing Him as her child to seeing Him as her Lord, to keep her from undue pride, and to indicate that He as Lord sovereignly determines when He will intervene in human affairs. He does not perform miracles on demand merely to impress His friends. ^[3]

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

From Miryam’s response, Do whatever he tells you, it is evident that she was neither dissatisfied nor put off by her son but received his communication in the right spirit.

⁶ Now, six stone water jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. ⁸ He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet,” and they took it. ⁹ The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” ¹¹ This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, (emphasis added) He did at Kanah in the Galil; He manifested His glory, and His talmidim came to trust in Him.

This verse states the purpose of Yeshua’s miracle: to anchor the trust of His new talmidim in the glory of God as manifested through Him.

¹² Afterwards, He, His mother and brothers, and His talmidim went down to K’far-Nachum and stayed there a few days. ~ Yochanan 2:1-12

Our next post will examine Yeshua’s Driving Merchants for the Temple, and He Has an Encounter with Nicodemus.

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^[1] The day after His Baptism.

^[2] Stern, D. H. (1996). Jewish New Testament Commentary.

^[3] Ibid.