Category Archives: Red Letter Words

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 161

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Passion Week ~ Yeshua’s Final Discourse ~ Part 3

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that occurred on Thursday Evening (now early on Friday in the Jewish culture).

Yeshua Tells His Talmidim the Reason He Has to Go Away

5 But now I am going to the One who sent Me. “Not one of you is asking Me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Instead, because I have said these things to you, you are overcome with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don’t go away, the comforting Counselor (obviously, this is another label for the Ruach HaKodesh) will not come to you. However, if I do go, I will send Him to you.

8 “When he comes, he will show that the world is wrong about sin, about righteousness and about judgment – 9 about sin, in that people don’t put their trust in Me;

The world is wrong … about sin in that people don’t put their trust in Me. Instead, they have other theories about sin that downgrade sin’s horribleness and upgrade their own holiness. Thus, they find no need to accept Yeshua’s atoning death.

10 about righteousness, in that I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me; 11 about judgment, in that, the ruler of this world has been judged.

God comes to consider sinners righteous only because Yeshua has done His work on earth and is now with the Father, alive and interceding with Him on our behalf (see Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, 1 Yochanan 2:1).

The Ruach’s Guidance

12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own initiative but will say only what he hears. He will also announce to you the events of the future. 14 He will glorify Me because He will receive from what is Mine and announce it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is Mine; this is why I said that He receives from what is Mine and will announce it to you. [1]

The Messianic life is lived by attentiveness to the Ruach. Moreover, by telling His talmidim that the Spirit of Truth will guide them into all the truth and announce future events (see Ac 11:27N, 1C 12:8–10), Yeshua virtually pre-authenticates the Brit Hadasah, which they will write as the product of the Ruach.

Next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the week’s end and continue to explore Yeshua’s Final Discourse.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan 16:5–15.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 160

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Passion Week ~ Yeshua’s Final Discourse ~ Part 2

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that occurred on Thursday Evening (now early on Friday in the Jewish culture).

Yeshua Prepares His Talmidim for Persecution

The world’s hate for Believers and Messianic Jews stems from its hate for the Messiah. The Jewish religious leaders were already plotting to arrest and kill Yeshua. Those of whom Yeshua was speaking saw and experienced what He did and hated Him anyway because they did not want to give up their sin and live righteously, which we learn in our next topic. (16:7–11).

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world; therefore, the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

Even though the Jewish leaders who killed Yeshua claimed to follow God’s will, they neglected to acknowledge Yeshua’s part of His will and thus showed their love for their own positions over God’s work.

The Talmud asks, “Why was the Second Sanctuary destroyed, seeing that in its time they occupied themselves with studying Torah, obeying mitzvot and practicing charity? Because in it prevailed hatred without a cause.” (Yoma 9b)

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.

16 1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

They will put you out of the synagogues. (See Yochanan 9:22). Most Jewish people are staunch supporters of the principle of free speech. But in many synagogues, if a Jewish Believer in Yeshua makes his faith public, speaks about it, and attempts in conversation to persuade others to acknowledge the Messiah, he may be asked to leave the synagogue and not come back. In fact, as a Gentile, I once attended a synagogue for the first time and, in a private conversation beforehand, told its rabbi about my faith; his response was to make it clear I would be welcome to return as long as I wouldn’t proselytize. The price a Messianic Jew is asked to pay for worshipping God with his own people is often silent about God’s most important historical work! The reason for such behavior is given in the next verse.

3 They will do these things because they have understood neither the Father nor me. 4 But I have told you this, so that when the time comes for it to happen, you will remember that I told you. I didn’t tell you this at first, because I was with you. [1]

Next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the week’s end and explore Yeshua’s Final Discourse.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan 15:18-16:4.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 159

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Passion Week ~ Yeshua’s Final Discourse ~ Part 1

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that occurred on Thursday Evening (now early on Friday in the Jewish culture).

Introduction

The Last Supper is completed, and He and His talmidim are headed toward the Mount of Olives. Yochanan alone records the Final Discourse of Yeshua with His chosen talmidim (minus Y’hudah). Yeshua’s teaching occurs in the Kidron Valley, which forms the eastern border of Yerushalayim. Each word Yeshua speaks reflects His burden in leaving these men to finish the work He has begun. He encourages them in their faith and promises that in His name, they will perform great works. He calls them to mutual love to withstand the inevitable persecution which awaits them. He assures them that the Ruach HaKodesh will be with them and guide them in their mission. [1]

As modern-day Believers, we need to take these teachings to heart!

The Vine and The Branches

1 “I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.

I am the real vine. Isra’el is also God’s vine or vineyard (see Isaiah 5:1–7, 27:2–6; Jeremiah 2:21, 12:10; Ezekiel 17:5–6; Hosea 10:1; Joel 1:7; Psalm 80:8–16) and compare Yeshua’s parables at Mattityahu 21:33–43, Mark 12:1–12, Luke 20:9–19. The fact that the vine describes both the Jewish people and its Messiah reinforces the close identification of Isra’el. The Messianic Jewish remnant (Romans 9:6ff., 11:1–10) will obey Yeshua’s commands, stay attached to the genuine vine, and have the genuine vine’s power and strength to bring forth good fruit (Mattityahu 7:16–19). And so will the grafted-in Gentile Believer’s branches (Romans 11:17–24).

Fruit is what grows naturally out of a plant or situation. Galatians 5:22–23, fruit refers to character qualities given by the Ruach, at Mattityahu 13:1–23, perhaps to other people who trust Yeshua, at Romans 6:21–22 to righteousness. Prunes. The Greek word means, literally, cleans. To clean of excess foliage is to prune, but the context also calls to mind cleansing from sin.

3 Right now, because of the word which I have spoken to you, you are pruned. 4 Stay united with Me, as I will with you—for just as the branch can’t put forth fruit by itself apart from the vine, so you can’t bear fruit apart from Me. 5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who stay united with Me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from Me, you can’t do a thing. 6 Unless a person remains united with Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up. 7 “If you remain united with Me, and My words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. 8 This is how my Father is glorified – in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be My talmidim.

Love One Another

9 “Just as my Father has loved Me, I too have loved you; so stay in My love. 10 If you keep My commands, you will stay in My love – just as I have kept My Father’s commands and stay in His love.

I have kept my father’s commands. This probably refers to Yochanan 14:31. The context gives no ground for considering it an assertion that Yeshua obeyed the Torah perfectly.

 11 I have said this to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy be complete. 12 “This is My command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves because a slave doesn’t know what his master is about, but I have called you friends because everything I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Yeshua’s talmidim are no longer his slaves but his friends. Later, the talmidim (nd that includes us ladies and gentlemen) are His brothers, God’s sons by adoption (Romans 8:14–17, Galatians 3:27–4:8).

16 You did not choose me, I chose you; and I have commissioned you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that whatever you ask from the Father in My name He may give you. 17 This is what I command you: keep loving each other!  [2]

Go and bear fruit. Staying (vv. 1–8) and going are consistent with each other: the Messianic lifestyle is, on one hand, passive and receptive and, on the other, active, transmissive, and productive.

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the week’s end and explore Yeshua’s Final Discourse.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order by F. LaGard Smith.
[2] Yochanan 15:1–17.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 158

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 7

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that may have occurred on Thursday Evening (now early on Friday in the Jewish culture).

Yeshua Predicts His Return

25 “I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything; that is, He will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The Father will send the Holy Spirit in My[Yeshua’s] name. At Yochanan 15:26, we read, “I [Yeshua] will send you [the Holy Spirit] from the Father.” Whether the Ruach HaKodesh proceeds from the Father and the Son jointly or from the Father alone seems an issue somewhat removed from everyday life. Nevertheless, over this point of doctrine, the Greek Orthodox Church, headquartered in Constantinople, and the Roman Catholic Church, headquartered in Rome, finally split apart in the year 1054.

27 “What I am leaving with you is shalom – I am giving you my shalom. I don’t give the way the world gives. Don’t let yourselves be upset or frightened.

I am giving you my shalom, my peace. “If Yeshua is the Messiah, where is world peace?”

The question is often asked as if the implied negative answer proves Yeshua’s false claim to Messiahship. The swords have not yet been beaten into plowshares, and nations still learn war (Isaiah 2:4). The answer is that Yeshua is indeed fulfilling His promise, but not all at once. Peace does not come to those who refuse it, to those who, as it were, fight peace, but to those who gladly receive it. Within every believer is a shalom (which means not only “peace” but also “health, wholeness, integrity”) that comes from God Himself. It is not a self-satisfied false peace that ignores suffering but a compassionate peace that longs for God’s shalom to be present with everyone and motivates action to help bring it about. When the Messiah returns to rule with a staff of iron (Revelation 12:5, 19:15), He will compel cessation of hostilities between nations. Meanwhile, where is world peace? In the life of Believers, so that in Yeshua, blacks and whites, Israeli Jews and Palestinians, indeed members of any groups at enmity can experience Yeshua’s shalom in themselves and in each other. [1]

28 You heard me tell you, ‘I am leaving, and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would have been glad that I am going to the Father; because the Father is greater than I. 29 “Also, I have said it to you now, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will trust. 30 “I won’t be talking with you much longer because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me; 31 rather, this is happening so that the world may know that I love the Father and that I do as the Father has commanded me. [2]

The Father is greater than I. Yeshua here speaks of Himself in His limited capacity as a human being. For as the Word He had glory equal to the Father’s (Yochanan17:5), but as a human being He humbled Himself (Philippians 2:6–8) – there were times when He grew tired (Yochanan 4:6) and things He did not know (Mark 13:32). Yet in His essence, He and the Father are One (Yochanan 1:1–3, 5:23, 6:62, 10:30; 14:9).

Fulfillment of Prophecy

35 He said to them, “When I sent you out without wallet, pack, or shoes, were you ever short of anything?”“Not a thing,” they answered.36 “But now,” He said, if you have a wallet or a pack, take it; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your robe to buy one. 37 For I tell you this: the passage from the Tanakh that says, ‘He was counted with transgressors,’ has to be fulfilled in me; since what is happening to me has a purpose.” 38 They said, “Look, Lord, there are two swords right here!” “Enough!” he replied. [3]

To the Mount of Olives

30 After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives. [4]

Singing the Hallel. This translates to one Greek word, literally, “hymning.” But since this was the Seder, we know the hymn being sung must have been one of the Hallel (“praise”) Psalms recited at festivals, Psalms 113–118 or 136.

“Get up! Let’s get going! [5]

31 Yeshua then said to them, “Tonight you will all lose faith in me, as the Tanakh says, ‘I will strike the shepherd dead, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil.” 33 “I will never lose faith in you,” Kefa answered, “even if everyone else does.” 34 Yeshua said to him, “Yes! I tell you that tonight before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” 35 “Even if I must die with you,” Kefa replied, “I will never disown you!” And all the talmidim said the same thing. [6]

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue to Yeshua’s Final Discourse.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary: A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament.
[2] Yochanan 14:25–31.
[3] Luke 22:35–38.
[4] Mattityahu 26:30.
[5] Yochanan 14:31.
[6] Mattityahu 26:31–35.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 157

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 6

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that may have occurred on Thursday.

Yeshua Promises the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands; 16 and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another comforting Counselor like Me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever.

Greek paraklêtos means “counselor, comforter, exhorter,” or “one called alongside.” There are two words in Greek for another – “allos“ (“another of the same kind”) and “eteros“ (“another, of a different kind”). Here the word is “allos“: a comforting counselor like Yeshua, namely, the Ruach HaKodesh.

17 The world cannot receive Him because it neither sees nor knows Him. You know Him because He is staying with you and will be united with you.

The Spirit of Truth, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, … will be united with you. This is an amazing promise for a Jewish person to read because the Tanakh speaks of only a few persons as having the Holy Spirit “with” or “upon” them (among them Moshe and the seventy elders (Numbers 11:17–29), Gid’on (Judges 6:34), Yiftach (Jephthah in Judges 11:29), Shimshon (Judges 14:6), Sha’ul (1 Samuel 11:6), David (1 Samuel 16:13, Psalm 51:13(11)), and Sha’ul’s messengers (1 Samuel 19:20)), and even fewer as having the Holy Spirit “in” them Yosef (Genesis 41:38) and Betzal’el (Exodus 31:3).

18 I will not leave you orphans – I am coming to you. 19 In just a little while, the world will no longer see Me; but you will see Me. Because I live, you too will live.

When Yeshua says because I live, He is prophesying His appearances after His resurrection.

20 When that day comes, you will know that I am united with My Father, and you with Me, and I with you. 21 Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me, and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to Him.”

Y’hudah Is Puzzled

22 Y’hudah (not the one from K’riot) said to Him, “What has happened, Lord, that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words—and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me. [1]

This Judas (not Iscariot) is probably “Judas the son of James,” mentioned in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13, not Judas, the half-brother of Yeshua (Mattityahu 13:55; Mark 6:3). Make Our home with him recalls God’s dwelling among His people in the Tabernacle (Ex 25:8; 29:45; Lev 26:11–12) and the Temple (1 Kings 8:10–11; Acts 7:46–47), and points forward to the time when the Ruach would come at Shavu’ot (Pentecost) (Acts 2).

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue in The Upper Room.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan 14:16–24.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 156

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 5

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that may have occurred on Thursday.

The Way to the Father

Yeshua reiterates to His talmidim that faith in Him alone will bring salvation. He uses another metaphorical “I am” statement – this time that He is the way, the truth, and the life.

1 “Don’t let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many places to live. If there weren’t, I would have told you; because I am going there to prepare a place for you.

In My Father’s house refers to the heavenly abode, where God the Father sits enthroned (Isa 6:1–6). Yeshua had already declared God’s symbolic earthly dwelling, the Temple, to be insignificant in comparison to God’s work through His new Temple, Yeshua. This and Yeshua’s condemnation of the conduct of the earthly keepers of His Father’s house establishes Yeshua as a better, heavenly alternative (see Yochanan 2:16).

3 Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with Me; so that where I am, you may be also. 4 Furthermore, you know where I’m going; and you know the way there.” 5 T’oma said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Yeshua said, “I AM the Way – and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. 7 Because you have known Me, you will also know My Father; from now on, you do know Him – in fact, you have seen Him.”

Yeshua said,“I AM the Way – and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” This challenge strikes at the heart of non-Messianic Judaism’s denial of Yeshua as a Messianic mediator. Some try to ignore this challenge by denying its authenticity: either the Gospel of Yochanan is historically untrustworthy, or the words are not Yeshua’s but were placed in His mouth by early church theologians. This view, of course, denies the divine inspiration of the Brit Hadashah.

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us.” 9 Yeshua replied to him, “Have I been with you so long without your knowing me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. This apparently contradicts Yochanan 1:18 (“No one has ever seen God”) and Yochanan 5:17–30, focusing on the distinctions between the Father and the Son. The paradox is resolved by Colossians 2:9: “In Him,” Yeshua, “bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is.” The human mind is stretched beyond its limits in trying to cope with the idea that the Creator of the Universe and one of His creations, a human being named Yeshua, are to be identified with each other. The language of the Brit Hadashah, as it treats this issue, shows that God has great respect for our difficulty in apprehending this. The Brit Hadashah NEVER says directly, “Yeshua is God.” Nor does it say, “Yeshua is only a man and not God,” except in the mouths of His opponents. The Brit Hadashah adds insights in one place and another, “line on line, precept on precept, here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:10, 13).

 10 Don’t you believe that I am united with the Father, and the Father united with Me? What I am telling you, I am not saying on My own initiative; the Father living in Me is doing His own works. 11 Trust Me that I am united with the Father, and the Father united with Me. But if you can’t, then trust because of the works themselves. 12 Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever trusts in Me will also do the works I do! Indeed, he will do greater ones, because I am going to the Father. 13 In fact, whatever you ask for in My name, I will do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me for something in My name, I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.  [1]

If you ask me for something in my name, I will do it. Elsewhere Yeshua instructs His followers to pray to the Father (Yn 16:23, Mt 6:9). But here, Yeshua has just taught that He is one with the Father, who is living in Him and doing His own works through Him (vv. 10–11; also 10:30, 17:21–23); we also know that Yeshua does just what the Father tells Him to do (5:17–30). So petitioning Yeshua is tantamount to petitioning the Father. Yeshua, the divine Son, is the divine agent of the Father, no less God than the Father, and therefore justifiably addressed in prayer. We are to make our requests in Yeshua’s name, that is, as His followers, on His authority. This is necessary because He alone is sinless (Romans 3:23); except for prayers of repentance, God does not obligate Himself to hear the prayers of sinners (Isaiah 59:1–2, quoted in Ro 3:23N). Finally, we know from 1 Yn 5:14 that to expect our prayers to be answered, the things we ask for must accord with God’s will.

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue in The Upper Room.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan14:1–15.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 155

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 4

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that may have occurred on Thursday.

Yeshua Sends Y’hudah Out

“What you are doing, do quickly!” Yeshua said to him. 28 But no one at the table understood why he had said this to him. 29 Some thought that since Y’hudah was in charge of the common purse, Yeshua was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or telling him to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as he had taken the piece of matzah, Y’hudah went out, and it was night.

Yeshua Calls for Love

31 After Y’hudah had left, Yeshua said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If the Son has glorified God, God will himself glorify the Son and will do so without delay. 33 Little children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and, as I said to the Judeans, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ now I say it to you as well. 34 “I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. 35 Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love for each other.”

Why is this a new commandment? Doesn’t Leviticus 19:18 already say, “Love your neighbor as yourself”? The difference is this: Leviticus says, “as yourself”; Yeshua says, “In the same way that I have loved you,” presupposing that God’s way of loving can be ours. Humanly this is impossible. But Yeshua gives us a new nature and spirit, fulfilling the Tanakh promises (Ezekiel 36:26, 37:14; Jeremiah 31:32(33), God’s Ruach. This is how we can love as God loves; God makes it possible.

Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love for each other. I personally bear witness to the truth of this statement. I became willing to investigate the truth claims of the Brit Hadashah not because I was overwhelmed by irrefutable arguments but because I met Believers whose love for each other went beyond what I had experienced. It was not even their love toward me which impressed me (although they treated me well), but their self-sacrificing and cheerful willingness to give themselves entirely for each other without any trace of self-serving motivation. Those who claim to be trusting Yeshua are called to do this and can expect God’s power to enable them to do it. God can be counted on to fulfill His promise that the world will recognize such people as the true talmidim of Yeshua.

Kefa Makes a Request

36 Shim’on Kefa said to Him, “Lord, where are you going?” Yeshua answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow later.” 37 “Lord,” Kefa said to him, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” [1] 31 “Shim’on, Shim’on, listen! The Adversary demanded to have you people for himself, to sift you like wheat! 32 But I prayed for you, Shim’on, that your trust might not fail. And you, once you have turned back in repentance, strengthen your brothers!” 33 Shim’on said to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go with you both to prison and to death!” 34 Yeshua replied, “I tell you, Kefa, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me.” [2]

To sift you like wheat means to put you through trials as He did Job. In sifting, the wheat is shaken as the chaff is separated; Yeshua alludes to future testings for the talmidim. Once you have turned back in repentance, literally, “when you have turned again,” or “turned around,” or “turned back.” In Judaism, “turning” (t’shuvah) is not conversion but repentance. Here it refers to Kefa’s returning to unshakable trust after denying Yeshua three times later.

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue in The Upper Room.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan13:27b-37.

[2] Luke 22:31–34.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 154

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 3

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that may have occurred on Thursday.

Yeshua Predicts & Identified His Betrayer

18 “I’m not talking to all of you – I know which ones I have chosen. But the words of the Tanakh must be fulfilled that says, ‘The one eating my bread has turned against me.’”

I know which ones I have chosen. Yeshua references all of His talmidim present, but not Y’hudah Ben-Shim‘on from K’riot.

19 I’m telling you now before it happens; so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM [who I say I am]. 20 Yes, indeed! I tell you that a person who receives someone I send receives me and that anyone who receives me receives the One who sent me.” 21 After saying this, Yeshua, in deep anguish of spirit, declared, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that one of you will betray me.” [1]

Yeshua is obviously feeling the weight of His imminent suffering and death.

22 They became terribly upset and began asking him, one after the other, “Lord, you don’t mean me, do you?” 23 He answered, “The one who dips his matzah in the dish with me is the one who will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man will die just as the Tanakh says He will, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him had he never been born!” [2]

Dips his matzah in the dish... The dish may have contained charoset and/or maror (bitter herbs, usually horseradish) used in Seder services today. Charoset is a sweet paste made of fruit, nuts, spices, and wine; numerous recipes are used today in various Jewish communities. Its function in the Seder is to recall the appearance of the mortar the enslaved Israelites made in Egypt. Maror reflects the bitterness of Israelite slavery to Pharaoh. Rabbi Hillel, in the generation before Yeshua, inaugurated the custom of eating a “sandwich” consisting of a piece of the Passover lamb and matzah and maror.

The Son of Man will die just as the Tanakh says he will. The Tanakh includes the following prophecies of the circumstances and manner of the Messiah’s death at his first coming. The Brit Hadashah citations or allusions (considered by many to be fulfillments of these prophecies) are given for reference. [3]

22 The talmidim stared at one another, totally mystified – whom could He mean? 23 One of His talmidim, the one Yeshua particularly loved (Yochanan), was reclining close beside him. 24 So Shim‘on Kefa motioned to him and said, “Ask which one He’s talking about.” 25 Leaning against Yeshua’s chest, he asked Yeshua, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Yeshua answered, “It’s the one to whom I give this piece of matzah after I dip it in the dish.” So He dipped the piece of matzah and gave it to Y’hudah Ben-Shim‘on from K’riot. 27 As soon as Y’hudah took the piece of matzah, the Adversary went into him. [4] 25 Y’hudah, the one who was betraying him, then asked, “Surely, Rabbi, you don’t mean me?” He answered, “The words are yours.” [5]

Prophecy: The Messiah would be Location in Tanakh Fulfillment in New Testament
Hated without a cause Isaiah 49:7 Yn 15:24–25
Rejected by the rulers Psalm 118:22 Mt 21:42, Yn 7:48
Betrayed by a friend Psalm 41:9, 15(12–14) Mt 26:21–25, 47–50; Yn 13:18–19; Ac 1:16–18
Sold for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11:12 Mt 26:15
Subject to having his price given for a potter’s field Zechariah 11:13 Mt 27:7
Forsaken by his talmidim Zechariah 13:7 Mt 26:31–56
Struck on the cheek Micah 4:14(5:1) Mt 27:30
Spat on Isaiah 50:6 Mt 26:67, 27:30
Mocked Psalm 22:8–9 (7–8) Mt 26:67–68; 27:31, 39–44
Beaten Isaiah 50:6 Mt 26:67; 27:26, 30
Executed by crucifixion (i.e., having hands and feet pierced; Masoretic text: having a lion at hands and feet) Psalm 22:17 (16) Mt 27:35; Yn 19:18, 37; 20:35
Executed without having a bone broken Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:21(20) Yn 19:33–36
Thirsty during his execution Psalm 22:16(15) Yn 19:28
Given vinegar to quench that thirst Psalm 69:22(21) Mt 27:34
Considered a transgressor Isaiah 53:12 Mt 27:38
Buried with the rich when dead Isaiah 53:9 Mt 27:57–60
The one whose death would atone for the sins of humanity Isaiah 53:5–7, 12 Mk 10:45; Yn 1:29, 3:16; Ac 8:30–35
Raised from the dead Isaiah 53:9–10; Psalms 2:7, 16:10 Mt 28:1–20; Ac 13:33; 1C 11:4–6
Ascended to the right hand of God Psalms 16:11, 68:19(18), 110:1 Lk 24:51; Ac 1:9–11, 7:55; MJ 1:3
“Cut off, but not for himself,” 69 x 7 years after rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem Daniel 9:24–26 Ro 5:6, 1 Ke 3:18

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue in The Upper Room.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan 13:18–21.
[2] Mattityahu 26:22–24.
[3] The table is from the Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern.
[4] Yochanan 13:22–27.
[5] Mattityahu 26:25.

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 153

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 2

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post continues to explore the events that may have occurred on Thursday.

Yeshua Washes the Talmidim Feet

1 It was just before the festival of Pesach, and Yeshua knew that the time had come for Him to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved His own people in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 They were at supper, and the Adversary had already put the desire to betray Him into the heart of Y’hudah Ben-Shim’on from K’riot. 3 Yeshua was aware that the Father had put everything in His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So He rose from the table, removed His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist. 5 Then He poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around Him.

He began to wash the feet of the talmidim. Foot washing was a courtesy shown to guests in a home, usually performed by a servant or the host’s wife when the guests entered the house or while they were reclining at the table (see Lk 7:44, Mk 1:7). Here, Yeshua acts out his teaching of Mark 10:43–44 that the greatest must be a servant.

6 He came to Shim’on Kefa, who said to Him, “Lord! You are washing my feet?” 7 Yeshua answered him, “You don’t understand yet what I am doing, but in time you will understand.” 8 “No!” said Kefa, “You will never wash my feet!” Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 “Lord,” Shim’on Kefa replied, “not only my feet but my hands and head too!” 10 Yeshua said to him, “A man who has had a bath doesn’t need to wash except his feet—his body is already clean. And you people are clean, but not all of you.” 11 (He knew who was betraying Him; this is why He said, “Not all of you are clean.”)

Compare Exodus 30:20: “Aharon and his sons are to wash their hands and feet … when they come near the altar to minister …, so that they will not die.” The cohanim were already cleansed from impurities, but even so, they had to wash their hands and feet. Once sins of the past have been forgiven, we need not have them forgiven again; the initial confession and immersion that washes away past sin need not be repeated. But there is a continual need to repent of newly committed sins, make reparation for them and seek forgiveness for them. Compare these verses with the more explicit teaching at 1 Yochanan 1:5–2:2.

12 After He had washed their feet, taken back his clothes, and returned to the table, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because I am. 14 Now if I, the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you. 16 Yes, indeed! I tell you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is an emissary greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. [1]

A talmid is not above his rabbi but can become like his rabbi. This pattern was standard in both the first century and later Judaism.

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue in The Upper Room.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Yochanan 13:1-17

The Red-Letter Words of Yeshua ~ Part 152

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Passion Week ~ The Upper Room ~ Part 1

In our last post, we continued to examine the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This post explores the events that may have occurred on Thursday.

Introduction

With the plot to kill Yeshua taking its final form and with the clamor for His life reaching a crescendo, an Upper Room in Yerushalayim becomes the calm before the storm. Here Yeshua and His talmidim withdraw to await participation in the Pesach meal. Recall from our last post that Kefa and Yochanan had been tasked with preparing the room on Wednesday afternoon. After sundown and before the meal, Yeshua expresses His love for His talmidim.

Importance of the Occasion

14 When the time came, Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, 15 and He said to them, “I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I die! 16 For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.” 17 Then, taking a cup of wine, He made the b’rakhah (blessing) and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink the ‘fruit of the vine’ until the Kingdom of God comes.” 19 Also, taking a piece of matzah, He made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of Me.” 20 He did the same with the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by My blood, which is being poured out for you. 

Thankfully, we know from Jewish tradition that those blessings date back to the very first Seder. For the bread:

Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai, Eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lehch ha-oh-lahm, ha-mo-tzee leh-chehm meen ha-ah-retz. "This is my body, which is for you. Do this as a memorial to me."

For the cup:

Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai, Eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lehch ha-oh-lahm, bo-ray p'ree ha-ga-fen.

"This cup is the New Covenant effected by my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, as a memorial to me."

Personally, I still recite these blessings in Hebrew whenever I take Communion. The literal translation of both prayers is: Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth, and Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Yeshua Hints of His Betrayer & The Talmidim Get in a Dispute

21 “But look! The person who is betraying me is here at the table with me! 22 The Son of Man is going to his death according to God’s plan, but woe to that man by whom he is being betrayed!” 23 They began asking each other which of them could be about to do such a thing.

The Son of Man is going to his death according to God’s plan, literally, “as it has been determined.” See Mt 1:22 on the significance of prophecy fulfillment; Mt 26:24 lists not less than twenty Tanakh passages prophesying that the Messiah would suffer and die for the sins of humanity and be raised from the dead. His death establishes the New Covenant, which itself fulfills a Tanakh prophecy.

24 An argument arose among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 But Yeshua said to them, “The kings of the Goyim lord it over them; and those in authority over them are given the title, ‘Benefactor.’ 26 But not so with you! On the contrary, let the greater among you become like, the younger and one who rules like one who serves. 27 For who is greater? The one reclining at the table? or the one who serves? It’s the one reclining at the table, isn’t it? But I Myself am among you like one who serves. 28 “You are the ones who have stayed with Me throughout My trials. 29 Just as My Father gave Me the right to rule, so I give you an appointment, 30 namely, to eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom and to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Isra’el. [1]

Yeshua resolved the argument about which of them should be considered the greatest with two points. First, the Kingdom of God functions differently from worldly kingdoms; those who would be great must be not power-seekers but servants (vv. 25–27) like Yeshua Himself. Second, those who have been loyal (v. 28) will indeed be rewarded with power (vv. 29–30). Yeshua does not condemn ambition, only its worldly aims and methods.

In our next, we continue to follow Yeshua into Yerushalayim for His Crucifixion by the end of the week and continue in The Upper Room.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Luke 22:14–30.