Healing Peter’s mother-in-law by John Bridges, 19th century. Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-41 and Matthew 8:14-15.
The following are notes and Materials we used when teaching a class on January 7th, 2015 at Good Samaritan Ministries in Beaverton. The class was on the Healing Miracles of Jesus Recorded in Luke.
For setting, we set the class up with a row of seats back to back in the middle, with a perimeter of seats in the shape of a U around this row. It gave the class a feel that they were in a doctor’s waiting room and served to drive interaction.
We began the class by recounting a recent medical incident that involved a bit of drama. You can use a similar story of your own or borrow ours: Narrative of Medical Incident – Intro
We then handed out the following medical questionaire to the class. As you will see, it was a bit daunting (the attendees did come under the impression that they were attending a Bible class, after all): In Depth Medical History Form
In both cases, it is important to get the class thinking about their family as well, so a Family Medical History Questionnaire is in order: Family Medical History Form
As the class is filling these out, move through the outline, asking questions about recent experiences at the doctor, etc. Try to get people focused on the concept of healing. Key questions: What does healing look like? What form does it take? How do you know when you are healed or have healed someone?
Refer to the class outline “When the Silence Comes, the Healing Takes Place” for a full narrative where the facilitator plays the role of Luke for the audience, telling them about Jesus, the doctor. This outline also contains the key questions to the class for this teaching.
About halfway through this narrative, where Luke refers to the “Last Page” of the forms, direct them to this surprisingly simple and profound “Healing Eligibility Questionnaire.”
You can either have this form at the back of the other questionnaires you have handed them or pretend that you forgot to give it to them, and that it is really the only form that is required. In the class we taught, we pretended to forget it and people were as relieved to see it as they were shocked to recieve the first, exhaustive round of forms.
Raising of Jairus’ Daughter by Paolo Veronese, 1546. Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56
You then will hand out a “Frequently Asked Questions” sheet to the class which will cause them to think deeply about healing in the Biblical context.
Now that the introduction to the material has taken place, the class is prepared to hear the miracles. We have identified the following passages in Luke as containing references to a healing miracle. The teacher is to read them, one by one aloud and allow the Lord to guide them in their teaching one another:
Luke 4:23-27, 31-37, 38-39, 40-41
Luke 5:12-16, 17-26
Luke 6:6-11, 17-19
Luke 7:1-10, 11-17, 21-30
Luke 8:26-39, 40-56
As you ask around the room, you will be astonished at how many people have witnessed a healing miracle. In our class, one women shared that she had seen her daughter raised from the dead in the 1980’s, and that her son, who had a severe developmental disorder, had been dead twice and both times was resuscitated.
Resurrection of the Widow’s son from Nain, altar panel by Lucas Cranach the Younger, c. 1569, in the Stadtkirche Wittenberg. Luke 7:11-17
Luke 9:1-6, 10-11, 37-43
Luke 10:1-12
Luke 13:10-17, 32-33
Luke 14:1-6
Luke 17:11-19
Luke 18:35-43
Luke 19:1-10
Luke 22:50-51
It is astonishing that Jesus healed even as he was being betrayed on the Mount of Olives.
In reviewing these miracles, you can see Luke, as a physician, gave a great deal of importance to the Healings Jesus performed.
Two key insights that were gained when we gave the class on the 7th were, first, that healing can be defined as the continuity/alignment of the spirit, mind, and body. Second, that physical death is a form of healing.
At the end of the class, return to the questions on the Healing Eligibility questionnaire. Ask them again.
To close, we prepared a PowerPoint presentation of artist’s depictions of the Healing Miracles found in Luke. The PowerPoint can be downloaded here: Healing Miracles of Jesus in Luke PowerPoint
You can see the PowerPoint put to music below:
Close the class in prayer.
We pray that this teaching will heal all those who teach and hear it, for it is the power of the Living God within us all to heal, if only we believe.
You can see how the teaching went on January 7th, 2015 at GSM in Beaverton in the video below. We didn’t get to the slideshow, but somehow it did not matter. The healing came to us.
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits,* and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the local governors, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the local governors, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then the herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. 6 Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace the same hour.”
7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews. 9 They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live for ever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; 11 and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not respected you. They don’t serve your gods, and don’t worship the golden image which you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. Then these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered them, “Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good; but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. Who is that god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
“Simeon Solomon – Shadrach Meshach Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego by Simeon Solomon, 1863
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other clothes, and were cast into the middle of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counselors, “Didn’t we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?”
They answered the king, “True, O king.”
25 He answered, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace. He spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!”
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire. 27 The local governors, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies. The hair of their head wasn’t singed. Their pants weren’t changed, the smell of fire wasn’t even on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Today our Pastor gave a profound teaching on this chapter. There are two eternal lessons we can all take from Daniel 3:
When you are in an impossible situation, do not play along, hold true to your values. Further, when they throw you into the fire, know that it is the fire that frees you.
When you are in the fire, don’t miss the fourth man who is there with you. Jews believe it to be the Archangel Michael, Christians believe it to be Jesus, and in both cases it is the Living God who is with us in the trial.
Shana Tova! Today marks the beginning of the Jewish high holiday Rosh Hashanah, a celebration of the new year, a celebration of the creation of the world. Once again, we pause and reflect on what has been, what is, and most importantly, what is to come.
With each new year comes a deeper understanding of what is occurring in the world. This understanding is a gift from God, as we have all been given a unique dose of both wisdom and perspective. As Rosh Hashanah 5775 is upon us, God is calling each and every one of us to use the wisdom and perspective he has given us to carry on in our unique calling.
This year it has been given to us to explore quantam physics, and its how it explains any number of phenomena, such as prayer and eternity, which are often dismissed by natural science. It is a call to believe and walk in faith and courage.
It has also been given to us to present the healing miracles of Jesus presented in the Gospel of Luke, during the first ten weeks of 2015 on the Gregorian calendar.
It is now time to remind ourselves why Rosh Hashanah is especially important for those of us who believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah.
The Feast of Trumpets and the Messiah’s Return
We are convinced that the Messiah, Jesus, is returning. We are equally convinced that it has not been given to any man to know the exact time of his return.
What we do know is that we will know the season of his return. The interpretations which we have heard of Jesus’s declaration recorded in Matthew 24:36 generally center around the premise that some sort of series of great catastrophes will be unfolding and a series of signs will be in some stage of fulfillment, implying that these things will mark the season of Jesus’s return.
Here at The Mint, we subscribe to a much simpler and more profound understanding of this scripture, drawn from an understanding of the Jewish wedding ceremony. Jesus will arrive during the fall season in the Northern Hemisphere.
In fact, based on the timing of His death and resurrection, the Passover, we believe that His triumphant return will logically take place over Rosh Hashanah. The celebrated Feast of Trumpets.
Feast of trumpets by Aleksander Gierymski (1850–1901): Painting of Hasidic Jews performing tashlikh (ritual washing away of sins) on Rosh Hashanah, placed on the banks of the Vistula River in Warsaw.
Not necessarily this fall, mind you. For it is impossible to know for certain. If one were to attempt to pick a specific year, the logical choices would be one of the upcoming Jubilee years, 2018 (starting on Rosh Hashanah 2017 on the Gregorian calendar) or 2068, or the final year of the 6000 year Jewish Calendar, 2240.
Yet it could be tomorrow, or the next day, as Rosh Hashanah has the element of uncertainty as to precisely when the new moon occurs. This detail fits nicely with Jesus’s declaration that we would not know the day or time.
With all of the things that are happening in the world, many have begun to speculate that the end is nigh.
Clearly, the end is always nigh, and calamities such as the ones humanity is currently suffering have always taken place to some degree ever since mankind chose to disobey God and turn their back on their Creator.
Today, with billions of us on the planet, these calamities are multiplied to a staggering degree. The good news is that God’s grace and mercy are experienced in abundance as well, and this will overcome all suffering and calamity as He daily establishes His Kingdom within and amongst us.
Rosh Hashanah may be the most important and least observed/understood holiday for anyone who is not Jewish. However, what occurs over the next nine days will set the tone for the coming year. They occurrences are of such magnitude that the Jewish title, the “days of awe,” may be the only appropriate descriptor.
Under these circumstances, Jesus announced that He would not attend the upcoming Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), or Sukkot, the Jewish Festival which follows Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, which was the holiest day of the year. Jesus’ initial reluctance to attend the Feast, and ultimate decision to attend, has great significance, both for our understanding of the sixth sign and for Jesus’ future second coming.
As you may recall, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, marks a new beginning. The Jews believe that on this day the fate of each person for the upcoming year is written by YHWH in theBook of Life. The days (approximately 9) between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as the the days of awe, are spent in deep reflection, fasting, and prayer. It is a time of confession and repentance, it is a time of recognition that we are but dust, yet infinitely precious in YHWH’s sight.
The Jews believe that the fate which is written on Rosh Hashanah is then sealed by YHWH on Yom Kippur, at which point the Feast of Booths begins. It is our speculation that Jesus made the decision to ultimately attend the Feast of Booths to symbolically seal His fate. He would give His life for humanity on the upcoming Passover.
Yom Kippur is regarded as the Sabbath of Sabbaths, as such, it is only appropriate that the Jewish leaders who were looking for a reason to kill Him, would carefully observe Jesus in hopes of catching Him breaking their observance of the Sabbath.
As Rosh Hashanah begins, we hold fast to our faith, cleanse our minds and spirits, and resolve to love and forgive as God has loved and forgiven us. May this year be filled with a generous portion of wisdom and perspective, and the faith and courage to use it to fulfill our calling. The Messiah is coming, the trumpet is about to sound!
Those who have followed The Mint over the past several years are familiar with an annual assignment which we take very seriously. The assignment is to open the Bible as if we have never seen it before for the first 10 weeks of the year. The assignment is given each year by Bettie Mitchell, the Founder of Good Samaritan Ministries in Beaverton, where the classes are held.
Over the past four years, we have been fortunate to explore Hosea, Matthew, Isaiah, and John. This past February 19th and 26th we were privileged to assist in teaching the book of Deuteronomy, a book of staggering importance.
Below is a clip from the class on the 19th:
You can see the entire teaching at the following link:
If you are interested in teaching on Deuteronomy, you can access our notes, with the introduction and conclusion from James Michener’s The Source, at the following link:
You will quickly notice two things if you take time to watch the video of the teaching and look over the slides. First, you will notice that there are only three slides for what will be four hours of teaching. Second, the pace of speaking may seem slow.
We assure you that you are not imagining things. There are indeed very few slides and our pace is purposefully slow. On the internet, where one is accustomed to information coming at a rapid fire rate, it will feel slow.
The reason is the following: If one is to allow the Word of the Living God to teach them, it must come out of one’s mouth, travel around the room, and be heard back into one’s own ear to assure that it has been heard and understood by all. Only then, when it has been heard and understood by all, can it bring the people in the room together, as they were some 3,500 years ago at Kadesh Barnea, listening to Moses give his bittersweet farewell address to a people who were about to become a nation for the very first time.
It is a nation that has withstood the test of time and distance ever since that moment, and has spread from the Promised Land throughout the world, and yet remains one: Israel.
Regardless of one’s faith or ancestry, Deuteronomy is important, for it holds the key to a number of mysteries. As Bettie Mitchell put it:
In the cities there is confusion, in the wilderness, there is something different, something to be learned. In the wilderness, the question is not about human relationships, it is about God
The New Year has come according to the Gregorian calendar, and we wish our fellow taxpayers a happy and healthy 2014. We can hardly contain our excitement, as the calendar change seems to have awoken the slumbering giants of economic progress who have been holed up the past five years.
As an aside, if you are in the Portland area, tomorrow evening at Good Samaritan Ministries in Beaverton there will begin an important series of Bible classes at 6:30 pm. For those who are just now joining us, at the beginning of each calendar year, we choose approximately ten books of the Bible to be taught on and teach one of them each Wednesday evening until the 10 are complete, wrapping up the series of classes sometime in March.
The classes are unique in that each year we are opening the Bible as if we have never opened it before, throwing out preconceived notions and opinions and letting the Bible study us, not the other way around as is the common practice in much of Christendom, where the faithful study the Bible, as if we had something to add to it or the Bible required our approval. It is a simple juxtaposition of subjects that makes all the difference. We do not study the Bible, the Bible studies us.
Starting from this place, the teaching is fresh and earth shattering every time, for all who are in attendance become both teacher and student in this unique format. Again, the series begins tomorrow evening, January 8th at Good Samaritan Ministries in Beaverton. Our assignment this season is on Deuteronomy, and we will be allowing it to study us in mid February.
Its 2014: Just do it
Janet Yellen becomes the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve
2014 is setting up to be an extremely prosperous year, and, now that Janet Yellen has been confirmed as the Federal Reserve’s first Chairwoman, what could possibly go wrong?
The answer, of course, is many things. The world’s economy is built upon a shaky premise and the obligation to use debt-based currency brings with it a whole slew of unknowns that may become known over the next several months, such as, “what happens when borrowing and lending of a debt based currency become so disjointed that trading in said currency becomes not just unpalatable, but nearly impossible?” or “what happens when a $2.2 trillion dollar corporate cash hoard gets deployed all at once?”
The answers to these and other burning questions are likely to reveal themselves over the next several months.
Here at The Mint, we have been busy churning out proposals and other documents in hopes of attracting a portion of the downpour of cash that awaits those of us just beyond the spigot of the Federal Reserve System, hence the lapses in our faithful correspondence.
As we alluded to above, it will be an exciting year and one in which our broad advice is once again best encompassed in the three words made famous by a neighboring company:
Just do it.
If there is something you have put off, a dream, an idea, a plan, 2014 seems like as good of a time as any to execute it, the wind is at your back in terms of monetary measures. There is more than enough of it to go around, and were the money supplies of the world not centrally managed in what is an essentially Socialist system, it would be more evenly distributed throughout the economy by now.
As this is decidedly not the case, prepare to see large scale dislocations exacerbated by the widespread confusion surrounding the newest provisions of the health care law taking effect which will be most noticeable in the fact that getting an appointment with a medical provider will simply not be as easy as it has been in the past.
In other words, you can give everyone the right to health care but you can’t create doctors and nurses to provide said care out of thin air.
For this reason, we drink to the health of all our fellow taxpayers as the earth begins its latest run around the sun on the Gregorian calendar. The odds are it may be the only thing one needs to maintain in order to prosper this year.
The financial world took a big step closer towards a new currency over the past week. First came revelations that the US Treasury increased its net debt by $1 Trillion in ONE MONTH, which, in and of itself is shocking. Perhaps not coincidentally, Bitcoin prices blew through the $200 mark once again. We have written extensively on why Bitcoin is likely to rise, you can purchase a copy of what is now our most popular ebook on a number of ereading platforms here:
Today, we turn our attention to the area of morality here at The Mint. We must warn you, however, that what you are about to read may turn everything that you once understood about ethics and morality on its head. Read on at your own risk.
Do the Right Thing
“Ask not what you are to do, for you are called to do the right thing, not the expedient thing, not the easy thing, but the right thing. You will know what the right thing to do is when you learn to see your neighbor not as a rival, but as a brother.”
From our youth, when we were confronted with a form of temptation or, perhaps more commonly, the opportunity to choose between selfish gain or pursuing the good of others, we were often exhorted by our elders with a phrase that is both etched in our memory and charged with meaning: “Do the right thing.”
The phrase is alive and well today and continues to drip with authority, for it implies that in the situation that is being confronted, there exists a common body of knowledge which, if consulted, would lead the person confronted with the opportunity to “Do the right thing,” with an obvious course of action.
When this phrase is uttered, more often than not it is uttered by a person whose good intentions are matched only by their complete lack of a direct interest in the outcome of whatever is transpiring. It is also often uttered by someone who, if they were to be in your shoes, would more often than not be completely incapable of “doing the right thing” that they benevolently have advised you to do.
Today, we hear the phrase in discourses by those charged with national government. In this context, even the feigned benevolence which is the hallmark of the way the phrase is delivered in political settings is overshadowed by the fact that by “doing the right thing,” the politician invariably means “submit to my will and ask no questions.”
Imperial governance, which is the form that the world labors under today, is paradoxically predicated on categoric refusal to “do the right thing,” as, at its base, modern governance results in the enslavement of men and women via a myriad of rules and threats in order to convince them to render tribute and allegiance. We have explored this phenomenon thoroughly in our volume entitled “What is Truth? On the Nature of Empire.” The inescapable irony which engulfs every utterance of the phrase by a public official means that, at this point, we cannot hold a straight face when we hear it.
To draw on a recent example, when the President states that Congress must “Do the right thing” and fund the government, the statement may have been the most presumptuous ever to escape human lips, for the underlying assumption is that whatever the government does is right, which is, from most rational and religious standpoints, absolutely incorrect.
Politics aside, at its base, even the seemingly disinterested “do the right thing” offered by a friend,a parent, or colleague is a thinly cloaked act of moral superiority on display, for the phrase is all too often offered as thinly veiled advice which, once decrypted, is read to imply “do what I want you to do.”
If the term has indeed been hijacked to lay claim to the moral high ground in a debate, shaky as it may be, humankind must strive to understand the noble origins of this seemingly important and universal saying.
Life is complicated, and, contrary to what many would say, it does not come with an instruction manual which tells humanity what is categorically right and wrong in all situations which we may encounter.
For this reason, the Bible, which we believe to be the closest thing to a users manual, reads not like a how to or self-help book, but a series of events where people, both individually and corporately, are thrown into unimaginably complex and dire situations (once one looks beyond the surface to understand the Biblical settings) ostensibly to see what they will do. The question that is being asked constantly of the Biblical characters as well as each and every human being today is this:
Will we do the right thing?
Doing the right thing is beyond important, it is imperative that anyone who is genuinely seeking God and His Kingdom Do the right Thing at all times that the circumstances demand them to choose a course of action.
However, what constitutes doing the right thing in any given circumstance is not a matter of democratic preference or legislative action, it is purely a mater left to God and the individual of whom the right thing is required, for it is they and they alone to whom the ability and intuition has been given to make these life and death determinations.
The right thing cannot be legislated or encouraged, it can only be done or not done. Each time it is done, the Kingdom of God draws near to us all. Each time it is neglected, we all suffer the consequences.
So Do the right thing and, more importantly, be close to God, for it is He who is the only judge of such matters. The logic can be carried further to imply that everyone who utters the phrase “do the right thing,” to someone who is faced with a difficult situation is, perhaps unknowingly, both usurping God’s role as well as inhibiting that person’s ability to learn for themselves how to choose the right thing, which is an ability that all of mankind must learn deeply and permanently. The right thing is a lesson that can only be learned through personal experience and exercise of one’s own decision-making processes.
This however, does not mean that the right thing must be learned on the field of battle. There are more often than not subtle clues which will guide us as to which situations demand us to respond by doing the right thing as well as what the right thing to do is. For instance, in our observation doing the right thing often involves an initial sacrifice to be made of time or resources. It is often a choice to pay the cost. While it is not universal, this minor detail is often a clue that one is doing the right thing.
Only those with a perfect knowledge of all of the circumstances involved are qualified to ultimately judge what is right or wrong. Even in the hypothetical case that the actors are in a position to understand all of the circumstances involved, the observation is limited by our über short human timelines which ignore the concept of eternal justice.
Doing the right thing is imperative, and all human judgement as to what the right thing is in any specific circumstance is null and void unless it is agreed upon by all parties who are directly (not indirectly) affected by a course of action.
Perhaps the distinction is best illustrated in the Gospels. While the religious leaders were left legislating the right thing, Jesus was doing it. It is a contrast that is emphasized for a reason, for the doing the right thing is deeply personal and immensely powerful.
There is one thing and one thing only that one can be absolutely certain that is always the right thing to do from an eternal perspective: Forgive
Today marks the beginning of the Jewish high holiday Rosh Hashanah, a celebration of the new year, a celebration of the creation of the world.
We are convinced that the Messiah, Jesus, is returning. We are equally convinced that it has not been given to any man to know the exact time of his return.
What we do know is that we will know the season of his return. The interpretations which we have heard of Jesus’s declaration recorded in Matthew 24:36 generally center around the premise that some sort of series of great catastrophes will be unfolding and a series of signs will be in some stage of fulfillment, implying that these things will mark the season of Jesus’s return.
Here at The Mint, we subscribe to a much simpler and more profound understanding of this scripture, drawn from an understanding of the Jewish wedding ceremony. Jesus will arrive during the fall season in the Northern Hemisphere.
In fact, based on the timing of His death and resurrection, the Passover, we believe that His triumphant return will logically take place over Rosh Hashanah. The celebrated Feast of Trumpets.
Feast of trumpets by Aleksander Gierymski (1850–1901): Painting of Hasidic Jews performing tashlikh (ritual washing away of sins) on Rosh Hashanah, placed on the banks of the Vistula River in Warsaw.
Not necessarily this fall, mind you. For it is impossible to know for certain. If one were to attempt to pick a specific year, the logical choices would be one of the upcoming Jubilee years, 2018 (starting on Rosh Hashanah 2017 on the Gregorian calendar) or 2068, or the final year of the 6000 year Jewish Calendar, 2240.
Yet it could be tomorrow, or the next day, as Rosh Hashanah has the element of uncertainty as to precisely when the new moon occurs. This detail fits nicely with Jesus’s declaration that we would not know the day or time.
With all of the things that are happening in the world, many have begun to speculate that the end is nigh.
Clearly, the end is always nigh, and calamities such as the ones humanity is currently suffering have always taken place to some degree ever since mankind chose to disobey God and turn their back on their Creator.
Today, with billions of us on the planet, these calamities are multiplied to a staggering degree. The good news is that God’s grace and mercy are experienced in abundance as well, and this will overcome all suffering and calamity as He daily establishes His Kingdom within and amongst us.
Rosh Hashanah may be the most important and least observed/understood holiday for anyone who is not Jewish. However, what occurs over the next nine days will set the tone for the coming year. They occurances are of such magnitude that the Jewish title, the “days of awe,” may be the only appropriate descriptor.
Under these circumstances, Jesus announced that He would not attend the upcoming Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), or Sukkot, the Jewish Festival which follows Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, which was the holiest day of the year. Jesus’ initial reluctance to attend the Feast, and ultimate decision to attend, has great significance, both for our understanding of the sixth sign and for Jesus’ future second coming.
As you may recall, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, marks a new beginning. The Jews believe that on this day the fate of each person for the upcoming year is written by YHWH in the Book of Life. The days (approximately 9) between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as the the days of awe, are spent in deep reflection, fasting, and prayer. It is a time of confession and repentance, it is a time of recognition that we are but dust, yet infinitely precious in YHWH’s sight.
The Jews believe that the fate which is written on Rosh Hashanah is then sealed by YHWH on Yom Kippur, at which point the Feast of Booths begins. It is our speculation that Jesus made the decision to ultimately attend the Feast of Booths to symbolically seal His fate. He would give His life for humanity on the upcoming Passover.
Yom Kippur is regarded as the Sabbath of Sabbaths, as such, it is only appropriate that the Jewish leaders who were looking for a reason to kill Him, would carefully observe Jesus in hopes of catching Him breaking their observance of the Sabbath.
As Rosh Hashanah begins, we hold fast to our faith, cleanse our minds and spirits, and resolve to love and forgive as God has loved and forgiven us. The Messiah is coming, the trumpet is about to sound!
In the Bitcoin/USD market, the world is getting a rare glimpse of the power of the monetary premium. Today those who watched witnessed the Bitcoin briefly race up to $147 USD before retreating to around $115, where it stood yesterday.
Over the past few days, we have been participating in a discussion of the merits of the Bitcoin over on Google+ with the Austrian Economics group. It has been interesting to see how we wrestle with the concept of what is money. Trying to pin it down to one thing in the physical world. For if money were just one thing and one thing only, one of the world’s great mysteries would be put to rest, and the rest of the mysteries may even become less mysterious.
However, the concept of money remains elusive. It will remain elusive, and it is good. Here is why.
For the many things that it purports to be, the Bitcoin may be best described as a decentralized digital currency. As such, the only value that can rationally be attributed to it consists entirely of what we call a monetary premium. In our worldview, money is a concept. As such, there is no physical thing or concept that can claim a divine right to being money. Not gold, silver, nor national currencies.
What fools man into clinging to these things and insisting on calling them money is the notion of a monetary premium, which we define as a set of characteristics when make something a chosen store of wealth, medium of trade, and unit of account. For more on this, please read our eBook “What is Money? A quest to answer the question of the ages.”
We return from this shameless plug to the Bitcoin. The Bitcoin is not a physical good. If anything, it boils down to an arbitrary string of the zeros and ones that form the basis of all computing. However, this non-thing is beginning to absorb a portion of the monetary premium.
This partial absorption of the monetary premium by a string of digital numbers serves a proof that money is a construct of man, and for all of man’s efforts to capture it, measure it, and make it his, the concept of money, or what is better understood as the monetary premium, is a fickle and fleeting thing.
For this reason, Jesus warned us,
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon”
Neither YHWH or the monetary premium can be seen, but man must choose to serve one or the other. One is fickle and fleeting, the other faithful and constant. One’s answer as to which is which will reveal whom they serve.
Choose wisely.
Yet the Bitcoin and the fickle and fleeting monetary premium that it is interacting with gives those of us who are paying attention a chance to examine our character. For our reaction to the fluctuations in the Bitcoin / USD ratio may help to reveal hat kind of man or woman we are.
Whether one finds themselves serving the monetary premium or YHWH, they are likely to find themselves identifying with one of three basic examples of behavior and motivations.
These examples were first presented to us in the summer of 2004 at a Kings Kids European summit in Tarragona. Far from the lush EU summits which are the hallmark of today’s famous Troika mismanagement, the Kings Kids operate on a wing and, most literally, a prayer.
With our Castilian Spanish skills still lacking, we spent a mid summer’s week in tents on a high school campus (naturally, school was out) with minimal bath and shower facilities with hundreds of adolescents, young adults, and not so young adults from across Europe and the UK (indeed, we were acquainted with a long lost cousin from Wales at the event). It is in these settings where YHWH moves and provides his most profound lessons and training.
It was in this setting, then, that the examples were presented by our Pastor Curtis Clewett of La Iglesia El Lokal in Barcelona. Each time we recount the impact of this teaching to him, he recalls it as something that he threw together at the last minute.
So it was, on a warm summers eve on the Mediterranean coast in a place which more or less resembled a gypsy camp, we gathered to hear el Reverendo impart the three examples of what we will call spiritual maturity. Read them carefully and please, take no offense at the blanket statements that the descriptions imply. We understand there are many shades of the following professions, and it will quickly become clear that it is the description that matters more than the professional title:
The Soldier: The soldier is in training. He is fit, well equipped, and he is at the ready. However, the soldier does not represent the ultimate in spiritual maturity, for he is lacking two things: Initiative and autonomy.
The soldier is trained to take orders. He does not dare act on his own for fear of retribution or failure. He is limited by not only the rules and regulations of his trade, but also in his physical movements and the ability to act independently of the orders given by his commanders. As such, he cannot act on his own initiative and, if he does, it is in a very small sphere of operations which is dependent upon others following similar orders.
Being a soldier is not a bad thing, indeed, it is admirable, but the path to spiritual maturity demands that he move past this necessary first jaunt down the neverending path towards spiritual maturity.
The Athlete: Unlike the soldier, the athlete is, by definition, acting on his or her own initiative. They may depend upon a coach for guidance and encouragement, but their motivation to obey the coach comes from a desire to improve, not fear, as was the case from time to time with the soldier.
The athlete desires to excel at a certain sport or event, and relies on set intervals of competitions or time trials by which to receive feedback and praise for his or her efforts.
Again, being an athlete is not a bad thing, and the emergence of personal initiative and the desire to train, as well as an increased degree of autonomy represent a further journey down the path to spiritual maturity, however, even if the athlete reach the pinnacle of their chosen field, they are still lacking in one very important aspect, an aspect that is fully embraced by the farmer.
The Farmer: The farmer does not have a drill sergeant yelling at him in the morning, nor is he told what to do and when to do it. The farmer is not restricted in his movements or daily activities.
The farmer does not train on a daily basis and is not accountable to a coach. Indeed, the farmer takes on responsibility not only for his own training regimen, but for understanding when and where to compete.
The farmer knows exactly what to do and waits for signals from his natural surroundings to tell him when to do it. He constantly looks after his surroundings and understands that both the land and the animals within his care have been entrusted to him. Indeed, so have his family and his neighbors. Even those whom he will never meet indirectly may rely upon the success of his efforts to be able to put food on their table.
The farmer’s efforts may appear volatile, oscillating between sloth and frenzies of chaotic activity. When there is nothing to be done, the farmer drives to the café to drink coffee and play cards all day. When there is work to be done, he awakens early and does not rest until his equipment or the lack of daylight put an end to the day’s efforts.
The farmer not only understands what needs to be done, he understands that all efforts, to be effective, must be put forth in their season. He can prepare, and often does, but he understands that the time to exert himself will become known in its due time, but it will not happen on a schedule which he can set.
Still, he accepts the responsibility of his post, both the long days and the stinging boredom, with joy, knowing that ultimately he is doing the work of a master, and is providing for many who live well beyond the county line who he may never personally meet. He may never be thanked by them, or recognized formally for his work, yet in the work itself, he finds life’s greatest contentment.
As you can see from the above examples, to understand one’s own character, it is as important to understand who we are serving as it is to understand how we are serving, for the key to contentment lies in choosing well on both accounts.
The monetary premium currently attributed to the Bitcoin will take wings. If one is a soldier or an athlete, they are likely to get burned by the sudden movements. However, the farmer, in a sloth like manner, will pick his spot and wait patiently for an opportunity to present itself.
Then, in a sudden, measured frenzy, he will then labor day and night until the work is finished.
Pastor Clewett is still in Barcelona. In the true spirit of the farmer, he continues to pastor in addition to his duties at Planting Together, where he is on the Executive team. Planting Together is an organization which organizes tree planting and pruning excursions, where they partner with the government of Senegal and many others to help build up the Great Green Wall, a wall of trees and foliage which is successfully fighting back the encroachment of the Sahara in northwestern Africa.
Thank you, Curtis! Many blessings on your head. May we all learn to sow and reap as you have.
As the Passover nears and we paint the blood of the lamb over our doorway (figuratively, of course, our better half just painted the doorway a gorgeous blue and let’s just say that literal blood would be frowned upon), we await, along with the rest of the world, the promises of our Lord, the I AM, revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
“Ce que voyait Notre-Seigneur sur la Croix” (What Our Lord Saw from the Cross) – by James Tissot
We will celebrate the New Year tomorrow at the GSM Good Friday service, where we step out of time for the three hours that our Lord hung on the cross, pouring Himself out to bring mankind the only thing it truly needs.
The forgiveness of sins.
Yes, on the Passover, our thoughts are Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. Not the forgiveness of just mine or yours, but the forgiveness of the sins of all of humanity.
For three holy hours tomorrow, we will remember, embrace, and look ahead without fear. For the blood of the lamb has washed away the sins of the world.
At 3pm Pacific time, the Shofar Horn will blow, ushering in the new year. There is much turmoil to come, as well as much opportunity. May the Lord’s will be done, and may His Kingdom come.
The stay tuned part speaks for itself, but what does it mean to trust Jesus? The answer to this inquiry is to be found in the immutable truth or ultimate given, if one prefers, which is embodied by the Greek word χαρις, or, as it is more easily read and pronounced in western characters, charis, which is often translated in early Christian writings as grace.
χαρις – the concept of grace revealed
Yet the word grace, as it is understood today, does a great disservice to the concept of charis that the early Christian writers were attempting to convey. So what does charis mean if not grace?
Charis means that you, fellow taxpayer, are the One True God’s greatest delight, joy, and happiness imaginable, and it is His greatest delight, joy, and happiness imaginable to give you, who are His greatest delight, joy, and happiness imaginable, freely, without conditions, your greatest delight, joy, and happiness imaginable in never-ending abundance.
This is what Jesus came to reveal to us, and it is as simple as believing in YHWH and believing in yourself.
For those who are suffering persecution, Jesus says, “I am there with you.”
For those who are trying to please YHWH with their thoughts and deeds, Jesus says “quit trying to please me, because you already do.”
Do you believe it? For if you do, you will live with in peace and freedom with Jesus forever, starting today, no matter what happens. Charis is the only way that mankind can hope to attain peace with God and with their fellow man.
If you believe this, you will quickly begin to understand that the same charis that you live in is available to all of humanity with no strings attached, no matter what they are doing or have done.
More importantly, you will begin to forgive people, no matter what, and this forgiveness will turn your world into a place that your greatest delight, joy, and happiness imaginable occur daily in never-ending abundance.
Our latest ebook on the Seven miracles of Jesus in the Gospel is finally ready. You can pick up your free copy over at smashwords.com for a limited time. Just follow this link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/274564
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Were the the apostle John alive today, what would he say to us? Would we find him wandering alone, like William H. Bonney at the end of Young Guns II? When asked about Jesus, he might say:
“Did I like him? Hell no; I loved {Him}. You asked me if I have scars? Yessir, I have my scars.”
Perhaps he would introduce himself in the following way:
“I had been looking for the Messiah for as long as I knew of Him. In John the Baptist, I saw the same eagerness to know the Messiah, and to prepare the way for His coming, so I followed Him.
When Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan, I knew the it was He, the promised Messiah. I cannot tell you exactly how, I simply knew. From that day on, I arose and followed Jesus.
Many wanted to see a sign from Jesus, and He performed many. For me, they were not necessary. For I knew, from the moment I saw Him, that Jesus was the savior of the world, and that He loved me.”
The Apostle John, witness to the watershed moment in human history. How would he finish the game?
60 years after Jesus had risen, John was contemplating his own earthly mortality. What could he leave behind? What would he say about Jesus? What would he share so that the world would be moved as he had been moved by YHWH’s taking on flesh and dwelling amongst us, teaching us how to live, and then giving Himself as the final sacrifice for sin, so that humanity may be reconciled with Him in eternity? While the seven signs are exceedingly important, John saw it as even more urgent that we focus on Jesus and finish the game.
Again, to quote Billy the Kid in Young Guns II:
“You remember the stories John use to tell us about the the three chinamen playing Fantan? This guy runs up to them and says, “Hey, the world’s coming to an end!” and the first one says, “Well, I best go to the mission and pray,” and the second one says, “Well, hell, I’m gonna go and buy me a case of Mezcal and six whores,” and the third one says “Well, I’m gonna finish the game.” I shall finish the game, Doc.”
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. 6 There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. 9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” 16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
Today, we begin the new year with the conclusion of our series on the seven signs that Jesus performed which are related in the Gospel of John. What is taught through these seven signs is of eternal significance. If you have just now joined us, we recommend reading the following for additional context:
Those who have followed the Mint for any time now know that our word is far from the final one on this or any subject. Rather, we encourage every one of you to allow yourself to be studied by the Holy Scriptures, for if we simply study the scriptures, we will have gained nothing worth saving, but if we allow the scriptures to study us, our lives will be miraculously purified and enriched. We will leave changed by the power of the Living God at work in us.
With this in mind, we encourage those of you in the Portland area to join us at 6:30pm on Wednesday, January 9th, at Good Samaritan Ministries in Beaverton (click here for a map), where we will attempt to present a portion of this series in a two-hour class format. It is little time and we can only hope to scratch the surface, but at the same time, gathering in the synagogue, as it were, allows the Holy Spirit to move among us and transform us in ways that are impossible through individual study.
We now move into the seventh sign, the sign that proved once and for all that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, foretold by the prophets and seen by Isaiah 700 years earlier, and that all of humanity can have eternal life in Him.
Again, Jesus had performed many signs, of which John, the disciple who shared Isaiah’s spirit and was perhaps closer to Jesus than any other disciple, witnessed more than any other person. Of the many, John chose to relate seven of them when he penned his Gospel some 60 years later. While the previous six signs are important, none was more important in John’s eyes than the seventh sign.
It was the sign that proved He is YHWH, and the sign that sealed His fate on earth: The raising of Lazarus from the dead.
After Jesus’ decision to attend the Festival of Booths, it is not clear in the Gospel of John whether or not He ever returned to the Galilee. From what we can tell, His initial reluctance and subsequent decision to attend the Festival of Booths were an indication that Jesus was assenting to complete His mission, the salvation of the world, on the upcoming Passover.
The air in Judea and Jerusalem was thick with tension. In Palestine, politics and religion are deeply intertwined, and it is impossible to understand what is occurring in one sphere without recognizing the influences of the other upon it.
After walking on water to His Disciples and healing the man blind from birth, Jesus had set Himself on a collision course with the Jewish authorities. With the benefit of hindsight, it may seem obvious that the Jews would want to eliminate Jesus.
Why the animosity towards Jesus?
However, to the casual observer, both in first century Palestine and today, it is difficult to understand why the Jewish leadership would seek to kill the Messiah. Was not He the one who would remove the oppressors, set the captives free, and declare the year of the Lord’s favor for them? Was this not the fulfillment of YHWH’s promise which had been proclaimed by Israel’s greatest prophets seven centuries before?
The answer to this question can be found by examining the condition of the Jewish leadership of the day. In the first century, Palestine was under Roman control. The Romans ruled with an iron fist, and moved quickly to squash rebellion. The Jewish leadership, down to the priesthood, which had previously been bestowed by virtue of heredity, was now a post appointed by the Roman authorities. As such, the hand picked Jewish leaders in Judea found themselves responsible for managing the delicate balance of Jewish nationalism and submission to Roman authorities.
Naturally, those appointed were those who had mastered the art of compromise, and used their appointments to play one side off of the other, often to great personal advantage.
As the Maccabeans had done nearly two centuries earlier, Jesus was exposing the hypocrisy and extortion which was rampant in the ranks of the Jewish priesthood. At the same time, He was restoring the faith of the people in YHWH.
The Jewish leaders began to fear another revolt of the type which had temporarily freed the Jews from the Seleucid Empire and overthrew the Jewish elite of the day, who had compromised the Jewish religion to the point of allowing Greek gods to be erected in the Temple and pigs to be butchered on the altar, on the Sabbath.
The Feast of the Dedication: Hanukkah
In 168 BCE, roughly 200 years earlier, Antiochus IV, then ruler of the Seleucid empire, had Judaism outlawed. This sparked a revolt of devout Jews against the empire which would become known as the Maccabean revolt of 167-160 BCE. The Maccabeans were successful in establishing a Jewish commonwealth which would last for 100 years.
A Menorah in Donetsk Ukraine Photo by Andrew Butko
The celebration of the success of the Maccabean revolt is celebrated today. It is known as Hanukkah, the Festival of lights. In Jesus’ day, it was known by its Greek name, The Feast of the Dedication, acknowledging the re dedication of the Temple to YHWH by the Maccabeans.
Then, in 63 BCE, the Romans annexed Judea into their Empire in violent fashion. When Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish elite, not unlike their counterparts under the Seleucid rule of Judea, had assumed a position of compromise, appealing to the people to tolerate the Roman rule in exchange for a measure of religious autonomy. An autonomy that both the Jewish ruling class and the Romans used to exploit the population under the cover of religious observances, among other things.
At this point we call to the reader’s attention the incident where Jesus clears the Temple, related by John in chapter 2 of his Gospel:
12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 15 He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew their tables. 16 To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”✡
18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
Jesus was passionate about Judaism and true worship of YHWH. After the events which took place during the Festival of Booths, is should come as no surprise that Jesus would again show up in Jerusalem at the Temple, openly declaring that He is the Son of God, at the Feast of the Dedication.
Jesus had declared sternly that the religious leaders of the day are, “not my sheep.” He seemed to affirm the line that was already drawn in the sand, pitting the devout Jews against the Jewish elite. In doing so, the devout Jews assumed that Jesus was going to stir up the next Maccabean revolt and once again, “re dedicate” the Temple to YHWH. The ruling elite took this threat of revolt, along with the increasingly personal attacks against them which Jesus explicitly and implicitly implied in His teachings, and began to plot in earnest to eliminate Jesus before He gained a wider following among the people.
For even if He was the Messiah, Jesus, through righteousness and the power of God, posed a direct threat to the status quo, a status quo which had allowed the Jewish elite not only to maintain the semblance of a Jewish quasi state and religious system, but more importantly, their appointed position as religious leaders and intermediaries between the Jewish nation and Rome. It was a system that had made them very wealthy and at the same time extremely vulnerable. Were the system to crash, it would come toppling down directly on top of them.
Enter Caiaphas
This seemingly complex relationship between a nation awaiting their promised Messiah and the leaders of that nation taking great pains to prevent the Messiah from appearing is embodied in a man named Caiaphas.
Christ before Caiaphas by Mattias Stom
Caiaphas was the Roman appointed high priest during this tempestuous time. He was appointed in a semi-nepotistic way, as is the custom in most corrupt leadership structures. While attempting to maintain the status quo and at the same time appear religious, Caiaphas, as high priest, had famously prophesied that:
“…Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” – John 11:52
Such was the state of mind of the Jewish leadership of the day. Their vulnerability and greed had ultimately pitted their will against the will of YHWH, the God whose observances they were charged with carrying out.
It is important to note that Caiaphas, as were most of the Jewish elite of the day, was a member of the Sadducee sect, a line of Judaism which denied spiritual phenomena associated with the afterlife. This put them in opposition to many other branches of Judaism as well as Jesus, as they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, a belief system which lends itself to a situational system of morality in which the right thing is more often than not what is expedient at the moment.
After the Feast of Dedication, Jesus again left Jerusalem, presumably under the threat of detention and physical harm. He went not home to Galilee but beyond the Jordan where John the Baptist had baptized Him just three short years before. It was the place where His earthly ministry had begun. Many people came to Jesus in that holy place, and put their faith in Him.
It is there, in the wilderness, that we find Jesus in the days before He performs what John, and this author believe to be the most important miracle of His earthly ministry. We pick up the narrative in John 11:1-54:
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha. 2 It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.”
8 The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.” 11 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.”
12 The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep. 14 So Jesus said to them plainly then, “Lazarus is dead. 15 I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let’s go to him.”
16 Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus,*{Note: “Didymus” means “Twin”}. said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go also, that we may die with him.”
17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia†{Note: 15 stadia is about 2.8 kilometers or 1.7 miles} away. 19 Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here, and is calling you.”
29 When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” 32 Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?”
They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!” 37 Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?”
The Raising of Lazarus by Duccio di Buoninsegna 1310-11
41 So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me. 42 I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
44 He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
45 Therefore many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done. 47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs. 48 If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with his disciples.
While in Barcelona, we had the opportunity to play the role of Lazarus in a stage adaptation of the book “The Jesus I never knew,” by Philip Yancey. As you can imagine, there was not much to do. The people mourned and I lay there in bandages from head to foot. They filmed a video short which showed one of the disciples kneeling at my side. He then abruptly rose and ran off to locate Jesus. It was a helpless feeling, yet the faith of the disciple, however far fetched, gave us cause for hope.
In this dramatization, we saw that the disciple’s faith in who Jesus was raised us from the dead, and that it was this same faith in YHWH that raised Jesus from the dead.
Will we listen when He calls us out? Will we call others out from death to life?
In raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus put to rest any latent speculation that He was the Son of God. Lazarus had been dead for four days. The situation was so hopeless that Martha, Lazarus’ sister, was compelled to give a canned religious answer, as many of us do when faced with a seemingly impossible situation, in order that Jesus might save face (verses 21-26 above):
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
The resurrection is here and now. The seven signs presented by John bear a unique witness to this, for John had known this all along. Both the religious leaders, who feared Jesus, and the devout Jews, who were disappointed in Him, missed the point, and in the end condemned Jesus and abandoned Him in turn.
In contrast, the disciple that Jesus loved stayed by Him through the trial and to the very end on the cross. Jesus asks John to take care of His mother, Mary, perhaps the highest honor that He could bestow on earth. While Peter got the church and all of its issues, John would get to continue to know Jesus through His mother’s eyes.
Will we stay by Jesus through accusations and disappointments? Will he give us something to care for, or a unique gift of insight?
We pray that you have been both blessed and challenged in your faith as we have in exploring the seven signs.
We leave you with the words or our Lord Jesus:
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
We continue our series on the the seven signs that Jesus performed which are related in the Gospel of John. If you have just now joined us, we recommend reading the following for additional context:
Additionally, we encourage you to subscribe to or bookmark The Mint for updates as we move through this important series.
As expected, the intensity is building as we approach the sixth sign. We have stated here before that the disciple John, who witnessed perhaps more of Jesus’ miracles than anyone else during his earthly ministry, chose to include these seven miracles in his Gospel because, through them, we would be able to see Jesus as he had seen Him, as the Messiah, YHWH come to dwell among us.
After the feeding of the 5000 at Bethsaida and Jesus’ subsequent four mile walk on top of a stormy Sea of Galilee to join them in their fishing boat, His disciples, save John, who already knew, suspected that He was someone very special. The crowds who followed Him were also becoming aware that Jesus was no ordinary rabbi or prophet, and the speculation surrounding Him was increasing.
Also increasing was the ire of the Jewish religious authorities who saw Jesus as a direct threat not only to their religious system, but to the fragile Jewish state which they imagined that they had carved out through a series of compromises with Rome.
Jesus’ open declarations that He is YHWH served as the blunt instrument that the religious authorities used against Him in their religious courts. However, in order to kill Him, which was fast becoming their ultimate solution, they needed to employ the Roman capital punishment apparatus, as the Romans would not allow the Jewish authorities to execute anyone for obvious reasons. When it comes to Empire, the authority to kill must lie solely with the central authority.
Sukkot and the days of awe
Under these circumstances, Jesus announced that He would not attend the upcoming Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), or Sukkot, the Jewish Festival which follows Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, which was the holiest day of the year. Jesus’ initial reluctance to attend the Feast, and ultimate decision to attend, has great significance, both for our understanding of the sixth sign and for Jesus’ future second coming.
As you may recall, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, marks a new beginning. The Jews believe that on this day the fate of each person for the upcoming year is written by YHWH in the Book of Life. The days (approximately 9) between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as the the days of awe, are spent in deep reflection, fasting, and prayer. It is a time of confession and repentance, it is a time of recognition that we are but dust, yet infinitely precious in YHWH’s sight.
The Jews believe that the fate which is written on Rosh Hashanah is then sealed by YHWH on Yom Kippur, at which point the Feast of Booths begins. It is our speculation that Jesus made the decision to ultimately attend the Feast of Booths to symbolically seal His fate. He would give His life for humanity on the upcoming Passover.
Yom Kippur is regarded as the Sabbath of Sabbaths, as such, it is only appropriate that the Jewish leaders who were looking for a reason to kill Him, would carefully observe Jesus in hopes of catching Him breaking their observance of the Sabbath.
The decision to go to Jerusalem
Jesus finally left the Galilee and went to Jerusalem, which was abuzz with rumors regarding Him, in secret.. We are told by John that Jesus began to publicly teach in the Temple in the midst of the feast, which we may assume was after Yom Kippur.
The Pool Siloam Map and the Temple in Jersusalem
With each man’s fate sealed for the upcoming year, the speculation surrounding Jesus erupted upon His appearance. Jesus began to publicly expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders by openly questioning them as to why they were trying to kill Him, if indeed they agreed that He did the works of YHWH? A straightforward question which was met with accusations that He was a lunatic.
Still, we are told that many believed in Jesus on that day.
That night, rather than staying in Jerusalem, Jesus went up to the mount of Olives, a place that was to have great significance for Him just six months later.
The next morning, Jesus returned to the Temple to teach and finds Himself in the midst of the now famous incident regarding the woman caught in adultery. This incident, which John relates in Chapter 8:1-11, is revolutionary as, with one simple phrase, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” Jesus shares with them YHWH’s opinion as to what, on the surface, appeared to be a sentence carried out in His name.
For Jesus was making it known that apart from righteousness, “Go and sin no more,” YHWH requires us to forgive the trespasses of others.
Jesus then openly declares that He is God’s son, the Messiah, and further observes that the religious Jews do not even know YHWH, the God they purported to worship through their ceremonies and rituals. He then begins to offer all freedom from sin in His name.
Naturally, this further offended the religious Jews, who believed that, as they had made it through Yom Kippur, they were once again right with God for the upcoming year. Being told that they were in sin and did not know God went against everything they believed. As such, the rhetoric between them and Jesus became more contentious.
So violent was the debate that the religious Jews, some of whom had just set down their stones in recognition of their own unworthiness and God’s mercy, picked them up again, intending to stone Jesus.
Jesus then did what any peacemaker would do, he left the Temple.
However, this was not the end of the matter, for at the Feast of Booths, which Jesus was at first going to forgo attending, many were to come to know and believe in Him as the Son of the Living God, the Messiah.
The Blind man and the pool of Siloam, the sixth sign
Jesus had not gotten far when He and His disciples came across a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus’ disciples, who were still trying to recover from years of religious abuse, dared to ask Him a question, one that they must have been anxious to ask for some time. Pointing to the blind man, they asked:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?”
When one grows up in, or worse, is formally trained up in a religious system, it is natural to attempt to understand all natural phenomenon through a lens of obedience. If something goes wrong, or is not as it “should be,” it must be because someone has made God upset. As such, if we can understand what made God upset, we can hope to avoid upsetting God in the future. If we did this enough, everyone would understand what God expected and be able to do it. Armed this this knowledge, diseases such as blindness could be cured within a generation Conversely, the existence of such diseases means that the diseased have failed to please God and therefore deserve to live with their punishment.
The Pool of Siloam by Yoav Dothan
This is how the many of the Jews, indeed, much of humanity, of the day thought. It is a scientific thought process which is the hallmark of a religious system. It is what Jesus came into the world to destroy.
To this question, Jesus replied:
“either did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
What is unique about the sixth sign, among other things, is that the man who was healed did not ask Jesus to do anything for Him. Indeed, as He was blind, and may not even have known that Jesus was near Him. It is significant that Jesus chose to heal the man in that instant to teach His disciples that the religious/scientific thought process they were using was invalid.
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” 9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.”
He said, “I am he.” 10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them. 17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
Hezekiahs tunnel
As the man was not seeking Jesus, we can divine that he was not able to exercise faith, as those who had sought Jesus out in the earlier signs had done. The man’s healing depended upon his willingness to obey the command of Jesus to wash in the pool of Siloam.
The pool of Siloam, or Shiloh, was located outside of the city walls. It took a certain amount of discipline for the man to walk away from the entrance to the Temple, past any number of opportunities to wash the mud from his eyes, and to finally wash in the pool of Siloam. However, in doing so, He gained not only his sight, but played an important, and perhaps unwitting role in further exposing the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders.
For rather than marvel that the man’s sight had been restored, the Jewish religious leaders chose to lament the fact that he had been healed on the Sabbath, and declared that the man who was healed was born in sin. An extremely mature stance which must have made the man who could now see chuckle at their infantile reaction and seek out the true source of life, Jesus, whom he promptly confessed once Jesus found him, this time with his eyes open, looking for the Messiah.
The significance of the pool of Siloam
It is also significant that Jesus asked the man to wash in the pool of Siloam. The pool of Siloam was a stone, man made pool which held water which had been diverted from the Gihon spring, Jerusalem’s natural water source, via Hezekiah’s tunnel, which was presumably constructed before the year 701 BCE underneath the City of David.
Hezekiah ordered the tunnel, which at the time was an engineering marvel, to be built in preparation for an imminent invasion of Judah by the Assyrian army. While Jerusalem sits on cliffs and is naturally well defended, the Gihon spring was distinctly vulnerable, leaving the cities water supply an easy target in the vent of a siege. Hezekiah had the spring capped off and the water supply diverted covertly, via his tunnel, to an more defensible position. This position was the pool of Siloam.
It is not coincidental that the pool is mentioned by Isaiah, as we believe that Isaiah and John are kindred spirits.
Isaiah mentions the pool in chapters 8:6, where it is referred to as the “waters of Shiloah,” and in 22:9. The word Shiloh in Hebrew means “gift” or “he who is sent.” It is also charged with meaning in light of the prophecy revealed in Genesis 49:10:
“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.”
Jesus did not simply send the man away to the pool of Siloam on a whim, a detail that was not lost on John, who saw, as I hope we all do, that everything that Jesus did was charged with divine significance.
As the water from the Gihon spring in Hezekiah’s time, the spiritual fount had been covered at the Temple and was diverted to Shiloah, the pool of Siloam, so that all may drink and be filled.
Later, Jesus would say that He had come so that the blind may see, and that those with sight may become blinded. He performed the sixth sign as a living reminder of this truth, and it was not lost on John, or any of those who had witnessed it.
Let it not be lost on us either, as we enter an important new year, full of hope and thanksgiving.
Today, we continue our series on the seven signs that Jesus performed which are related in the Gospel of John. If you have just now joined us, we recommend reading the following posts:
As we observed yesterday, in feeding the 5000, Jesus was not simply solving a large-scale logistical problem, He was leading the crowd and His disciples into his most profound and divisive teaching yet:
The He is the bread of life.
This teaching was so profound that two of the signs which John recorded are associated with it. The feeding of the 5000 at Bethsaida and the sign that we will explore today, Jesus’ walking on water.
After the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, the people had tried to make Jesus King by force, and we can imagine that they may have openly discussed mounting a revolution. While those who were against Jesus believed these types of rumors, and ultimately used them to persuade the Romans to use their capital punishment apparatus against Him, the rumors were without basis.
As His Disciples would find out later, Jesus had no interest in becoming King of the Jews, the title which Pontius Pilate placed upon the cross where Jesus was crucified. Jesus’ sole aim was to bring the Kingdom of YHWH into the hearts of everyone.
For this reason, Jesus departed when the crowd began to plan a revolution on His behalf. They weren’t getting it. The kingdoms of men are less than nothing in the eyes of YHWH, they are, in fact, His mortal enemy. What use is an earthly kingdom to the One by whom all was created?
Jesus’ disciples were perplexed by this, so much so that, when evening came and Jesus did not appear, they decided to get into the boat and head to Capernaum. Little did they know, they were about to witness the fifth sign which John would later choose to relate in Chapter 6:16-21, for it was the first sign in which Jesus clearly revealed his divine nature:
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 and they entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. 19 When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I AM, Don’t be afraid.” 21 They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
The Galilee
By walking, yes, walking, on the surface of the Sea of Galilee from the shore below Bethsaida to a boat that was twenty-five or thirty stadia, which in today’s measures would be 5 to 6 kilometers or 3 to 4 miles, almost at its destination in Capernaum, Jesus allowed His Disciples to witness something that many, save John, had not completely understood before that moment:
That Jesus is YHWH
In the book of Job, chapter 9, verse 8, Job declares the following regarding YHWH:
He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.
However, in a moment of panic, the Disciples may not have been quick to make this connection. Jesus’ salutation, “It is I AM,” was what nailed this truth home for them.
It is interesting that John does not focus on the fact that they thought Jesus was a ghost, nor on Peter’s failed attempt to walk towards Jesus through the waves, as Matthew did. For John knew it was Jesus, and to him, Peter’s failed attempt to walk on the waves was not significant, for he knew that Jesus would save Peter.
John’s laser focus on the Messiah caused him to focus on something entirely different.
Ani hu and Ego eimi
Jesus’ salutation in John 6:20 allows us to highlight something astonishing about the Gospel of John. John’s intentional use of the Greek phrase “Ego eimi” when Jesus is talking of Himself. The phrase appears 24 times in the Gospel of John and is the Greek translation of the Hebrew words “Ani hu”, which appears in the original text of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah used the phrase “Ani hu” as a euphemism for YHWH Himself.
“Walking on Water” By Ivan Aivazovsky 1890
John intentionally uses “ego eimi,” which parallels the translation of Isaiah’s “Ani hu” in the Septuagint {Editor’s note: The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament} to punctuate the Deity of Jesus. This Greek term was synonymous with YHWH to the Jewish listener, this is made obvious by the startled reaction of the religious Jews whenever Jesus used this phrase to refer to Himself.
Though Jesus may have actually been speaking Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic on any of the occasions that John inserts the pronoun ego eimi, in all cases the reaction of the Jews serves as proof that Jesus was declaring the He is God.
Just like Isaiah, 700 years before him, John saw the Messiah, and he knew that Jesus and YHWH are one. While it would take religious scholars centuries to define the concept of the Trinity, John simply knew God, knew Jesus, and knew the gift that Jesus left them. Above all,he knew that Jesus loved him, and theological details were rendered pointless in light of this truth.
The Bread of Life
Once Jesus had established the fact the He and YHWH are one to his Disciples, they were ready to learn a deep truth. The truth that would separate those who would believe in Him and accept the radical, life-giving forgiveness that He was offering freely to them from those who simply wanted to place Him at the center of their religious system.
The Disciples were beginning to understand that Jesus is YHWH, and that He was turning the system which was being carried out in His name completely on its head. It was exciting and terrifying all at once, Just like YHWH Himself.
This truth is so important that it must be read in its entirety, for it has great implications for the Church today. Will we cling to antiquated forms of worship and service, fitting Jesus in when possible? Or will we allow Him to transform our very souls, to remove the root of sin from us, and let Him make of us the Temple that He has desired to inhabit since the dawn of creation?
John 6:22-71:
22 On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. 23 However boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
26 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
28 They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
32 Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
34 They said therefore to him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But I told you that you have seen me, and yet you don’t believe. 37 All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. 40 This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
41 The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of heaven?’”
43 Therefore Jesus answered them, “Don’t murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ ✡Isaiah 54:13 Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. 47 Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. 54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?”
61 But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62 Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life. 64 But there are some of you who don’t believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him. 65 He said, “For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.”
66 At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
70 Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 Now he spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve.
This was taught by Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum, which, as you may recall, is where the official’s son was healed in Jesus’ second sign, which he performed while physically present in Cana, roughly 20 miles away.
Capernaum was the place where Jesus showed us that blind faith is enough. Here, he was probing to see who amongst the crowd possessed this blind faith. We can see this in the way He continues to answer each request for proof of His Deity by the Jews with what seems an increasingly illogical claim, up to the point of declaring that unless they eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, they have no part in Him.
While at the time this may have seemed like an extreme bit of Jewish humor, it became charged with meaning in the context of the Cross. You see, it took the Cross for the Jews to understand how far God would go for them and for all of humanity, so that they might understand the God loves us and forgives us, unconditionally. All that He asks of us is to strive to love and forgive in the same way.
Will we take the assignment? All of creation is awaiting our response!
While God has made it clear that He abhors sacrifice, He agreed to sacrifice His own Son, so that we would understand, once and for all, that sacrifice is finished. There is nothing we can do to please God, apart from believing in Him and moving ever closer to Him.
It is safe to assume that many who witnessed these two signs and then heard Jesus’ teaching at Capernaum afterward had also heard the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus laid out God’s expectations for humanity. Most of them did not get it, or got it and were looking for an alternative, a list of concrete tasks and observances to absolve their conscience before the Holy One.
There are no alternatives. What God requires of us is something that only He can give us, a pure heart. The only way to accept a pure heart is to first realize that we need one, we need God to remove the root of sin from within us. Everything Jesus taught is pointing towards this.
While it is common to celebrate the communion, the truth of Jesus’ bread of life teaching had nothing to do with food, much less cannibalism. The truth is that the food we are to desire is God’s Spirit, which he was pouring out even then. All flesh is wasting away, but the Spirit of YHWH is the fountain of everlasting life. With God’s Spirit moving in us and through us, we can all become the bread of life for those with whom we come into contact, until they, too, look to the source, God Himself, made known to us through Jesus, who was the first to become the bread of life, and the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, so that we may “always have this bread and drink.”
Are we, like the twelve, still with Him? Are we starting to get it? Will we see the sixth sign?
The year is fast escaping us as we continue our series on the the seven signs that Jesus performed which are related in the Gospel of John. If you have just now joined us, we recommend reading:
After relating the healing of the paralytic at Bethesda, John, who had a knack for such things, relates word for word what Jesus said to religious leaders as they rebuked him for healing the paralytic on the Sabbath. What is ironic about this rebuke, and all of the other instances where Jesus is accused of breaking the Jewish Sabbath, is that Jesus did not perform work in the sense that you and I may think of work.
For instance, he simply told the paralytic to get up, take his mat, and walk. To the Pharisees who observed this, they quickly saw that Jesus’ speech had caused something to “generate,” in this case, the paralytic’s ability to walk. In this strict sense, nearly any biological activity undertaken to sustain life would throw one into conflict with the fourth commandment.
As John’s careful choice not to name the specific feast which Jesus is intending implies, Jesus’ specific order to the man to pick up his mat and walk was done in direct challenge of what many rabbis of the day saw at the top of the list of Sabbath violations: Carrying something outside of one’s home.
The Hebrew words used in the Bible when the Sabbath decrees are given which are translated as “work”, kol-m’law khaw, mean “all and any kind of creative ‘generative’ endeavor, changes to the environment or any object.” Given this strict definition, it could be said that taking food or drink could lead to a change in the environment.
Given the impossibility of compliance, the Pharisees and other Jewish sects had taken to interpreting the Sabbath restrictions in a way that suited what they deemed necessary to maintain their particular lifestyle. What they were objecting to, then, was the way Jesus chose to observe the Sabbath.
It is the same today.
For any who struggle with how to obey the fourth commandment, Jesus gave the following advice in Mark 2:27, which is the final word on the subject: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
At this stage in Jesus’ earthly ministry, John began to see what Jesus meant when he declared earlier, in Chapter 2:19 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” For Jesus had come not to destroy the Jewish nation, but their misguided form of worship, of which the Sabbath observance had become a prime example.
As most agreed that everything Jesus did was good, those who opposed Him had to cling onto when He was doing it in order to prove that He was a traitor and working to subvert the Jewish nation. Yet Jesus did not intend to destroy the Jewish nation, nor to save it in its present form, rather, he came that we might know that YHWH loves us, and that His forgiveness is unconditional.
This was to prove exceedingly important when the Romans finally decimated Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Hailing back to Isaiah’s time, some 600 years earlier, the Jewish people had been nearly decimated. The Temple that Solomon had built had been destroyed and along with it, the central focus of the worship of YHWH. This blow would have meant the end of both a religious system and the ultimate loss of the national identity of those who worshiped YHWH. Had it not been for the rich Jewish oral tradition, the writings of Isaiah which were carried into Babylon, and rise of the synagogue system in the exile, the Jewish nation would not have survived.
Instead, the Jews quickly adapted to what amounted to, “the sudden disappearance of this avenue (the Temple) of communing with God,” which was a “tragedy of awesome dimensions,” (quotation of Lawrence H. Schiffman, From Text to Tradition, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken, NJ, 1991) and came out of it stronger as a nation. Judaism took on a new dimension and flourished in the Babylonian exile with prophets such as Ezekiel building upon the understanding that YHWH desired mercy and not sacrifice.
600 years later, with a new Temple funded by Herod, the Jews were falling again down the slippery slope of sacrifice and confining YHWH to the trappings of a building.
Feeding the 5000
After the healing at Bethesda, we are told that Jesus again returned to the Galilee and this time went to the other side of the sea of Galilee. However, as we observed earlier, Jesus had attracted quite a following in Jerusalem. John observes that a great multitude” had followed him because of the healings that He had performed.
While many had been healed, Jesus seemed to be more concerned that people not sin rather than that they eat the the right foods and stay healthy. He did not even seem that concerned with their safety or how they spent their money. His focus was on avoiding sin, yet he seemed to know that people would have trouble doing this.
From a glance at all four the Gospels, it would appear that Jesus passed much time in the Galilee teaching on the mountains surrounding this picturesque sea. It is during this time that He preached the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ longest recorded discourse in which He laid out the central tenets of discipleship. This life changing discourse can be found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7, and must be read and understood by all humanity.
During this time, Jesus receives news that John the Baptist has been killed. This must have shaken Jesus, not because it surprised him, but because He knew that his time was short, and that the scriptures must soon be fulfilled.
In preparation, Jesus withdrew by boat to a solitary place near Bethsaida to seek YHWH. He knew that it was time to go deeper.
Predictably, many people followed him to this solitary place near Bethsaida. Those who followed had come not only to hear Jesus, but in many cases they were there hoping to be healed of a physical ailment, and His hasty withdrawal gave them, too, a sense of urgency. They hurried after him and many did not bother to make adequate preparations for the journey.
Again, it must be understood that curing physical ailments was not Jesus’ primary intention. His intention was to draw people to himself that they might be drawn away from sin. This is what took place at Bethsaida.
Jesus Feeding the 5000 by an unknown artist
It is during this time of deep teaching that Jesus brings out what at the time was his most divisive teaching, one so profound and challenging that it caused a great deal of his disciples to turn back in dismay.
As the multitudes approached Him, Jesus chose to approach this teaching via the fourth sign recorded by John in Chapter 6:5-14:
1 After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick. 3 Jesus went up into the mountain, and he sat there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may receive a little.”
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in that place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 Jesus took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the fish as much as they desired. 12 When they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.” 15 Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
On the surface, the feeding of the 5000 is a miraculous answer to a grave logistical problem caused by the crowds haste to be near Jesus. Yet it had such a great impact that it is recorded in all four gospels. However, Jesus did not intend this miracle to be the focal point of the lesson, He wanted to teach His disciples, the 5000, and all who woul listen the following lesson:
That He is the bread of life.
They didn’t get it, and they tried to make Him King by force. Jesus withdrew again to the Mountain alone to be near to YHWH.
The lesson was so important that it would require a second sign and a challenge, one that would force his disciples to become the first ones to cross the watershed mark of human history.
They had to decide, then and there, who Jesus was to them. Was He a madman, a witch doctor, or the Son of the Living God?
If you have missed part I of the third sign, we recommend that you take a moment to read it to get a sense of the Setting in which Jesus was performing this sign.
We have noted that Jesus was again at the Passover, and that his visit to the bathhouse, which was a healing temple dedicated to the Greek/Roman god of healing, Asclepius and may have been near the birthplace of Jesus’ grandmother, Saint Anne, was to lead to the first of many direct confrontations with the Jewish religious authorities.
As we approach the text, which can be found in the Gospel of John, chapter 5:1-18, it is important to ponder why Jesus was there in the first place. Was he not attending the most holy feast of the Jews? Would not setting foot on the site of what was a pagan temple on the Sabbath have defiled him and prevented him from entering the Jewish Temple? Was this some form of outreach, for which the Jews are not particularly noted? Surely, these questions were going through the minds of the Jewish religious authorities, who appear later in the story.
Yet, as surprising as it is that Jesus was even there, what is even more surprising is the way in which this miracle took place. For once again, rather than praying a certain prayer, reciting a spell, or laying hands on the affected part of the body, Jesus simply gives the paralytic a command, a command that demanded both a decision and action on the part of the paralytic. In the first sign, obedience was the key. In the second sign, blind faith. Is the key to the third sign action? Please read along with us from the World English Bible:
1 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water; 4 for an angel went down at certain times into the pool, and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. 5 A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
9 Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked.
Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.”
11 He answered them, “He who made me well, the same said to me, ‘Take up your mat, and walk.’”
12 Then they asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat, and walk’?”
13 But he who was healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them,“My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
After coming to terms with Jesus going to the bathhouse on the Passover, we must examine what happened carefully, and understand what it may mean for both ourselves and for those whom we are called to serve.
The paralytic had been sick for 38 years, probably most of his life, if we had to take a guess. We do not know how long he had been coming to the pool, hoping to step into the water first when the “angel” stirred up the water in order to be healed. Not unlike the healthcare system today (which takes its symbol from Asclepius), there seemed to be an interminable wait to be healed. Furthermore, due to the large demand for free healing which could only be had, it seemed, via the benevolence of the “angel” at the pool, it seemed that the paralytic may age to the point where it may have appeared to most that a perfectly good healing was wasted on someone too old to enjoy it. As such, there nobody at the pool was willing to lend him a hand.
Christ healing the paralytic at Bethesda, by Palma il Giovane, 1592.
The man may have become dejected by his prospects. However, at the pool, he found a strange sense of satisfaction knowing that indeed there were those there who were worse off than he was. In time, he had given up begging to be placed into the pool, and sat there, each day that spring, comparing his state infirmity to that of others. If he could not be well, he would gain satisfaction knowing that there were others worse off than he was. This is what the human mind resorts to when it has been robbed of all hope, and it is death.
Then, Jesus walks up and asks him, “Do you want to be made well?”
The man surprisingly answers, not in the affirmative, but with an excuse, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.” Again, when a person has been devoid of hope, they tend to spend their time creating emotional defense mechanisms, commonly known as excuses, to explain their inability to change their circumstances, usually by blaming the inaction of others.
Jesus understands from the reply that asking direct questions will only lead to more excuses from the man. Instead, he gives him an assignment, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.” Would the man accept the assignment?
It seems simple, right? But for the paralytic in Jerusalem on the Sabbath (the Passover, no less), it is an impossible task for two reasons. First, the man is paralyzed, he has not “arisen” under his own power for perhaps 38 years. Second, and more importantly, he had been taught from his youth that he was not to take up his mat on the Sabbath.
Jesus was asking the man to not only relinquish his internal defense mechanisms (and swallow his pride), but to do the impossible and break God’s command as interpreted by his religious leaders. This is an extremely difficult assignment.
The man takes the assignment, and is healed.
When considering healing in this instance, it is interesting to note not only what Jesus did to heal this man, but also what he did not do. He did not:
1. Lay guilt upon the rest of the people at the bathhouse for not helping the man get to the pool.
2. Ask people on the behalf of the man to please help him get to the pool.
3. He and his disciples did not take the man down to the pool themselves
4. He did not recommend that the man go to see a real physician
5. He did not pray for the man, lay hands on him, or send him to the religious authorities to be prayed over
What he did do, with few words, was to help the man to understand his problem. The man perceived that his immediate problem, beyond his physical ailment, was that he could not get into the pool. If only he could get to the pool, he would be healed. As getting to the pool proved elusive, he began to blame the lack of action by others for his inability to be healed.
The man’s real problem, as Jesus pointed out, was that he had given up on taking any sort of action on his own for his healing. In a world where there is always a medical solution if “we just had the money,” as well as someone else to blame for our personal problems, this lesson is especially poignant.
In doing this, Jesus not only healed the man of his physical ailment, he began to heal the Jews of the web of rules that they had weaved in a vain attempt to observe the Ten commandments and the myriad of other rules that they attempted to observe.
For the Ten Commandments can only be truly observed when one understands that they are completely incapable of living by them.
For abstaining from lifting certain objects under certain circumstances does not help one observe the Sabbath, but taking daily action to provide for oneself and others allows all to live eternity in the Sabbath rest that Jesus offers.
Denouement
Not surprisingly, the Jewish authorities, upon seeing the man walking with his mat, in complete obedience to Christ’s word; therefore completing his assignment, chastise the man for breaking the Sabbath rules.
Jesus later encounters the man and gives what would become a familiar command to those who he has made well, even today:
“Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
When the Jewish leaders discover that it was Jesus who made the man well, rather than marveling that such a thing should be done for a man lame for 38 years, they take the opportunity to deride Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.
This would be the first of many instances that Jesus would expose the moral impoverishment that in those days passed for observing Gods law. It was for this reason that the Jews sought to eliminate him. For the Golden Rule had no place in their economic or religious system as they played a dangerous balancing act of pleasing the Romans and protecting their heritage.
Jesus was offering them a way out, but they were to far down the road of compromise. They were a nation sitting by the bathhouse, waiting for an “angel” to stir the waters when Jesus walked up to them.
The Apostle John, witness to the watershed moment in human history. How would he finish the game?
A Menorah in Donetsk Ukraine
Christ before Caiaphas by Mattias Stom
The Raising of Lazarus by Duccio di Buoninsegna 1310-11
The Pool Siloam Map and the Temple in Jersusalem
The Pool of Siloam by Yoav Dothan
Hezekiahs tunnel
The Galilee
“Walking on Water” By Ivan Aivazovsky 1890
Jesus Feeding the 5000 by an unknown artist
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