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After
these things Yeshua and His disciples came into
the land of Judea, and there He was spending time
with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing
in Aenon near Salim (and we’re not sure where
that place was), because there was much water
there; and people were coming and were being baptized
for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
There
is a change of location from Jerusalem to Judea,
probably somewhere in the Jordan valley. Yeshua,
either directly, or indirectly, through His disciples,
was immersing those Jewish people who were coming
to Him.
What was
His message? Turn from your sins, and draw nearer
to God, because the time for God’s Kingdom - His
powerful rulership over humanity, is at hand -
it’s happening right now. He was also teaching
them other things as well. The Messiah’s forerunner,
Yochanan the Immerser, the one who was sent to
prepare the way for the Son of God, was also baptizing.
Since
immersion was something that both Yeshua and John
were doing, it is understandable that some questions
would come up about ceremonial washing.
Therefore
there arose a discussion on the part of John's
disciples with a Jew about ceremonial washing.
And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi
(Rabbi was a title that was common at this
point in time in the First Century. Both Yeshua
and John were called “Rabbi - Teacher.”), He
who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you
have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all
are coming to Him.”
Some of
John’s disciples got into a conversation with
another Jewish man about ceremonial washing, and
the fact that Yeshua, the One that John had testified
about - declaring what He knew was true, was now
also immersing, and immersing more people than
their Rabbi, John, came up.
What was
John’s testimony about Yeshua? What truths did
John declare? That his cousin Yeshua, is God's
Lamb, close to God, gentle, humble, sacrificial,
who takes away the sin of the world! Yeshua, the
son of Mary and Joseph, is the One who will be
the Final Sacrifice, the One who will make full
atonement for the sin not only of Israel, but
He will also atone for all the sin of the entire
world, starting with Adam, to the last man who
is born in this world, at the end of that age.
My cousin
Yeshua, who is standing right over there, who
was born six months after I was, is far greater
than I am; He has a much higher place in God’s
hierarchy, because Yeshua existed before I did.
You see, I know about Yeshua's pre-existence,
that B’re-sheet - In The Beginning, Yeshua forever
and always existed. Yeshua comes to us from eternity.”
And even
though He is my cousin, I didn’t know that He
was the Messiah. I didn’t recognize Him on my
own. But God told me that I should immerse all
the righteous in Israel in water, and the Lord
would reveal to me who the Messiah was when I
saw the Holy Spirit coming down and remaining
on that One special individual.
And I
saw with my own eyes the Spirit of God descending
on Yeshua, coming down and resting on Him, like
a dove sent from Heaven, like a dove which is
a symbol of peace, because Yeshua will bring us
peace; like a dove which is a symbol of innocence
- (be wise as serpent, but innocent as a dove),
because Yeshua is perfectly pure and innocent;
like a dove which is a symbol of that which we
love. Yeshua is our beloved, loved by God, and
loved by all those who love God; like a dove which
was used for sacrifices in the Temple for the
poor. Yeshua is the Final Sacrifice for every
human being, even the poorest of the poor.
This is
the One who will immerse people with the true
immersion, when the Spirit of God is given, poured
out like a Jordan River full of water, and that
person is spiritually washed, cleansed, indwelt
by the Spirit of God, and given spiritual life,
the life of God, and a new birth, and forever
joined to God.
I myself
have seen it, with my own eyes, and I now testify
because I know it’s true, that Yeshua is the Son
of God. That does not mean that God created Him,
or that He is younger than God. It means that
Yeshua shares the very same nature as God. He
is deity, divine, eternal, uncreated, with life
within Himself, sharing all the attributes of
God.
That was
John’s testimony about Yeshua. Did John’s disciples
understand everything that John had been a witness
to? No. And now they are concerned that Yeshua
was immersing more people than their Rabbi, John.
It seems to have bothered them that "all were
coming to Yeshua."
And you
know, that’s understandable. You’re a disciple
of a popular rabbi, and suddenly there’s a new
rabbi in the area, maybe even better than your
rabbi, who is becoming even more popular than
your teacher, and some of your friends are leaving
and joining the new rabbi, and the new synagogue
is starting to grow faster than yours, and more
people are going there; but you still love and
are loyal to your old rabbi, and don’t want to
forsake him. You can understand how you might
have feelings of insecurity, and maybe even jealousy
for your rabbi. Is John, this great prophet, jealous?
Does he feel threatened by Yeshua’s growing success?
Let’s see:
John
answered and said, “A man can receive nothing
unless it has been given him from Heaven.
Whatever
I have, I consider it a gift from God. Whatever
talents I have, whatever success I achieve, however
many or however few disciples I have, it all comes
to me from the will and permission and blessing
of God. I serve at the Almighty’s pleasure, in
whatever capacity He wants to use me, doing whatever
He wants me to do, for however long He chooses
to use me.
And you
must understand this next point. You yourselves
are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’
but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ John
reminds his concerned disciples that he had made
it crystal clear before that he was not the Anointed
Leader that God would send to save us and rule
over us, but rather the Messiah’s forerunner,
sent to prepare the Holy People for the arrival
of King Messiah.
And John
knows exactly who the Messiah is. Yeshua of Nazareth
is God’s Anointed Ruler, and the Messiah is far
far greater than His forerunner. John is merely
one of God’s messengers, but Yeshua is not merely
a messenger sent by God, but the Message itself
- the Son of God, the Savior, and the proper object
of our Faith.
Next,
John uses the analogy of a wedding to further
explain his perspective to his disciples: He
who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend
of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices
greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So
this joy of mine has been made full.
Understand
my talmeedeem, that Yeshua is the groom, and the
One who is destined to be united to the bride.
The bride is the believers, God’s beloved sons
and daughters, who will be reconciled to Him and
be joined to God, living in eternal bliss. I am
merely the best man, the one who is there to assist
the groom, Yeshua, and help out at the wedding.
The bride, the believers, the chosen ones, are
certainly not meant for the best man, but for
the groom!
And the
best man, me, is very happy when the groom gets
married, and rejoices with him over his marriage.
And so, I am full of joy that many men and women
are starting to follow Yeshua. That’s the way
it must be, and that’s in fact what I was sent
to accomplish. This is good news! It mans that
I am fulfilling my mission, accomplishing the
purpose which God called me to. He must increase,
but I must decrease. Yeshua’s service to the
Lord, His popularity, Him being the focus of our
faith, our spiritual interest must expand, while
my job, the work of the forerunner, must fade
from the scene.
This is
a very critical attitude that all those who serve
the Lord must have. We serve at His pleasure,
in whatever capacity He thinks best. We serve
the Lord no matter how many followers, many or
few, no matter how much influence - great or small.
We can be successful serving the Lord if we are
like the prophet Jeremiah, who was despised and
rejected, and had few disciples, or King David,
who ruled over thousands.
This is
an important principle in ministry: He must increase,
and we must decrease. Sometimes at first we are
the only thing that people will know about Yeshua.
God help us if that situation stays that way all
the time. He must increase. We must decrease.
We need to fade out of the picture and allow them
to follow Yeshua. We must point people to Yeshua,
to God, and not to ourselves. This is one of the
problems of the "shepherding movements," where
the people become every more dependent on the
earthly shepherd. This is the problem in churches
and Messianic synagogues when the focus is too
much on the pastor, who may be a charismatic individual.
What happens if he sins, he falls, he goes off
into error?
John has
other reasons why it’s good that everyone is starting
to follow Yeshua, rather than himself: He who
comes from above is above all, he who is of the
Earth is from the Earth and speaks of the Earth.
He who comes from Heaven is above all.
John knew
that Yeshua came from Heaven above, from the dwelling
place of God, and Yeshua came from God Himself.
Who is Yeshua? He is the essence of Heaven coming
to Earth, revealing to us what no man who is born
on Earth is capable of communicating.
This statement
is ever more powerful, as we recall that it is
coming from John the Baptist, who was the greatest
man born to women- the greatest man born on Earth.
And yet, this greatest of men understood that
Yeshua was infinitely greater than he was. If
Yeshua was greater than John, then He is certainly
greater than any other religious leader who has
ever, or ever will live.
Yeshua’s
heavenly origin makes Him Israel’s Supreme Religious
Authority - greater than John, superior to Moses
who is of the Earth, greater than any prophet,
sage or rabbi. Is He your Supreme Authority?
What
He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and
no one receives His testimony. Yeshua has
seen and heard God. No other human beings have
had firsthand experience about God and Heaven,
and the ways of Heaven, like Yeshua has. And Yeshua
is an absolutely reliable witness of these heavenly
truths, celestial realities, the mysteries of
Paradise that He has seen and heard. He is willing,
and He is able, and He is in fact telling all
of mankind reliable, accurate, truthful firsthand
information about Heaven, God, and the way to
be reconciled to our Creator, so that we might
live forever, but sadly, so terribly sadly, almost
no one is listening to Him, or believing the truths
that He is communicating.
But there
will be some who do receive the truths that Yeshua
is saying, who will listen to the realities He
is proclaiming: He who has received His testimony
has set his seal to this, that God is true. For
He whom God has sent speaks the words of God;
Yeshua
has come from Heaven, where He has seen and heard
truths we need to know. The Son of God knows these
truths, and He has given His testimony. Like the
Faithful Witness that He is, Yeshua has declared
the truth.
When Yeshua
speaks, He speaks the very words of God. It is
as if God has come down again to Earth, like He
did on Mount Sinai, when He literally and audibly
spoke to all of Israel assembled there. However,
when God spoke at Sinai, the people trembled in
fear and stood at a distance and begged not to
hear God speak again, lest we die.
When Yeshua
speaks, it is also the words of God coming to
us. When Yeshua speaks, we should understand that
it is the God of Israel who is again speaking
to us, not from afar, not from the top of Mount
Sinai, in smoke and fire and earthquake and the
blast of the shofar.
When Yeshua
says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the Kingdom of Heaven,” or “Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God,” these
are the very words of God, for God assuredly sent
Yeshua to speak these very words.
God has
made it clear that Yeshua is His beloved Son,
and that Yeshua was sent by God and that Yeshua
speaks the very words of God. So, when we believe
Yeshua, and receive His testimony, and trust in
His words, we are in agreement with the truth;
we are in agreement with God, who is true; we
are in agreement with Yeshua who was truly sent
by God, and who speaks only the truth. When we
believe Yeshua, and receive His testimony, we
are setting our own individual seal of approval
on these truths.
But, if
we don’t receive Yeshua’s witness; if we don’t
believe in Him or His words, if we don’t listen
to the God who declared, “This is my Beloved Son
- listen to Him!”, then we are not in agreement
with the truth, and we have called God a liar.
John knew
that God has made it clear that Yeshua is His
beloved Son, and that Yeshua was sent by God and
that Yeshua speaks the very words of God. What
else did John know that proves that Yeshua is
the Messiah and Savior? The giving of the Spirit.
For
He - Yeshua - gives the Spirit without measure.
Who is capable of giving the Spirit of God? Can
you measure out God’s Spirit, and give it to another?
Only God can give the Spirit of God, and so, Yeshua
is God! And Yeshua is able to giving the Spirit
of God without measure. He has an infinite supply
of the Infinite Spirit, and is able to give that
life-giving Spirit to anyone who asks Him.
And He
has! For two thousand years, people who have believed
in Yeshua have had their lives transformed. Yeshua
didn't just appear to Paul; He transformed him.
Paul was once a self-righteous Jewish leader who
helped to imprison and kill the truly righteous
Jews, the Messianic Jews, but the living Messiah
transformed Paul into one of the greatest spiritual
forces who ever lived.
And Paul
wasn't the only one Yeshua changed. Simon Peter
had denied Yeshua, but after the resurrection,
he became a courageous leader and teacher. Yeshua's
half-brother Ya’akov, James, along with the rest
of His relatives, had once thought that Yeshua
was out of His mind. But when Yeshua appeared
to His brothers after His resurrection, they believed
in Him, and they became completely different people.
Yeshua makes a difference whenever people put
their faith in Him.
That's
true throughout the history of the Messianic Jewish
movement and the Christian church, and it's still
true today. Physically Messiah has remained in
Heaven since His ascension, but by the written
testimony of His Emissaries and by the giving
of His Spirit, Yeshua continues to convince people
that He is real, and He turns them around and
changes their lives. Millions of people from every
nation and racial background, young and old, rich
and poor, illiterates and geniuses have been transformed
by the Messiah. They have a dynamic, living, vital
relationship with Him that transforms them into
happier, better people.
The fullness
of the Spirit that was on Yeshua, and which He
is able to give to millions and millions of Jews
and Gentiles guarantees that Yeshua indeed speaks
the words of God. We can trust in the reliability
of His words.
John continues
speaking to his disciples: The Father loves
the Son and has given all things into His hand.
The Father has a special relationship with Yeshua,
of Father to Son, a relationship characterized
by oneness of nature, loving trust, intimacy,
perfect closeness, perfect unity of mind and purpose.
God the Father, the Adon Olam, the Master of the
universe, who sits on the throne of the universe,
ruling over all that exists, has entrusted His
beloved Son, Yeshua, with ruling over the universe,
to execute and accomplish God’s purposes for the
universe. God the Father wills it, and Yeshua
His Son carries out that will, so that Messiah
Yeshua also has ultimate power and authority.
If God
loves Yeshua in this way, and trusts Him with
this ultimately power, and has given all things
into Yeshua’s hands, so that Yeshua controls all
things, won’t you trust Him like God does? God
trusts Him, but you won’t? You know better than
God? All things are in Yeshua’s hands, even you!
Will you grab hold of those nail-pierced hands?
Won’t you remain in those crucified, loving, all-powerful
hands?
Rabbi
John concludes this message to his disciples with
a very powerful, clear statement, that may be
uncomfortable for us to hear, but is essential
that we believe.
He
who believes in the Son has eternal life; but
he who does not obey the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Who is
Rabbi John talking to? His disciples - religious,
repentant, Jewish men, the best in Israel. If
John could say this to religious, repentant Jewish
men, members of the Chosen people, sons of the
Covenant, that it was essential that they believe
that Yeshua was the Son of God, what about other
nations, other religions? What about Islam? Hinduism?
Judaism that denies the Messiah?
Yeshua,
along with God the Father, is the proper and legitimate
object of our Faith. We must believe that Yeshua
is the Son of God in order to experience salvation,
Heaven, reconciliation with God, peace with God,
acceptance by God, eternal life. He who believes
in the Son has eternal life.
And, John
makes it even clearer by presenting the other
side: if anyone does not believe that Yeshua is
the Son of God, sharing the same nature as God,
and faith means obeying - not merely intellectual
assent, for Satan and the demons know that Yeshua
is the Son of God, but they will not live forever
- anyone who does not believe in Yeshua and show
it by obeying Him, will not see life - he will
not experience the true and lasting life, life
in the New Jerusalem, where he will eat from the
Tree of Life, and drink those living waters from
the River of the Water of Life, and live forever
and ever. To not believe in Yeshua is to remain
in a state of spiritual death, alienation from
God, estrangement from our wonderful Creator.
And, even
worse, the wrath of God, the Holy Creator, your
Almighty Maker whom you’ve spurned, your Source
of existence, with supreme power, infinite authority,
the Judge from whom there is no appeal - its
His wrath, His anger and displeasure, and fury,
that will abide, dwell, stay with, remain on,
him.
You don’t
think that God is capable of wrath? He can only
love, and be nice, and tolerate our wickedness,
our foolishness arrogance, our rebellion against
Him, and unbelief in His beloved Son that He assuredly
sent to save us, the only Savior on mankind, but
not have anger or wrath?
You don’t
know him very well my friends. The people of Sodom
and Gomorrah could teach you something. You could
learn a lesson from the people of Jericho. The
extinct Amalekites and the Canaanites could enlighten
you my friend, about the wrath of God.
Reject
the Son of God? Deny, after God has sent Him,
that Yeshua is the Messiah? Be forewarned! You
are going to face the wrath of God. Didn’t the
Son of God Himself say, “Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had
occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you,
they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day
of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum,
will not be exalted to Heaven, will you? You will
descend to Sheol; for if the miracles had occurred
in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have
remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you
that it will be more tolerable for the land of
Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you."
He
who believes in the Son has eternal life; but
he who does not obey the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Yeshua
came from Heaven itself and spoke with a higher
authority than anyone on Earth:
Yeshua
spoke from observation, from experience, about
God, about Heaven, not merely from theory:
Yeshua
spoke the very words of God:
The Father’s
love had caused Him to give His Son complete authority
to accomplish His purposes.
These
things made Yeshua superior to John, and to every
other human being who has ever lived, in every
way. Believe in Him, follow Him, obey Him, trust
Him, won’t you? Your very life depends on it!
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