Yeshua Taught in their Synagogues

Luke 4:14-15

After their two days staying with, and teaching the Samaritans, Yeshua and his talmidim then continued on to Galilee.

Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. John 4:43 NKJV

So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. John 4:45 NKJV

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.      Luke 4:14-15 NKJV

The word “synagogue” is a Greek translation of the Hebrew ‘Beit Knesset’, meaning ‘House of Assembly‘.  Other Hebrew terms, less frequently used, describe the synagogue as a ‘House of Study‘, or a ‘House of Prayer‘.  Whereas the structure and function of the priesthood and tabernacle (later replaced by the temple) were commanded by God through Moses, synagogues grew organically out of the Jew’s desire to maintain their identity as a community of God regardless of who ruled over them.  Since the synagogue belonged to the local community that built and maintained it; there never was a higher authority that determined its policy, namely how it should be built, decorated, administered, or what sort of liturgy was to be used in it.  Thus, the diversity among synagogues so evident in the first century (1).   It was, therefore, not until well after the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD that the structure and governance of the synagogues was standardised.  

Synagogue – the centre of Jewish community life

During Yeshua’s day each was structured according to the needs of the local community and functioned according to the teachings accepted by the local community, hence there was variety in architecture and how they operated.  They were multi-functional institutions answering the many needs of the entire Jewish community in each location: schools (Josephus, Antiquities  16.43), hostels, courts (Acts 22:19), a place to collect and distribute charity (Matt 6:2), for political meetings (Josephus, Life 276-289), for communal meals (Josephus, Antiquities 14.214-216), and for worship which focused on prayer, reading and interpreting the Hebrew scriptures.

The synagogue was the social, intellectual, spiritual, political and legal centre of the Jewish community’s life in that village. (2) (3) Worship and study, friendship and community celebration, schooling, collection and distribution of charity, governing of the community and court proceedings were all done in the synagogue and by the synagogue rulers.  The synagogue was thus the heart of every Jewish community and being a member in good standing was essential to being accepted in the Jewish community. (4) (5) (6) 

Synagogue architecture…

Architecturally, synagogues were public buildings constructed, where possible, near a body of water for a mikveh and for the Tashlikh ceremony on Rosh HaShanah, or on the highest point in town, or on a raised platform.  They had a large hall for Shabbat services and many also had smaller rooms for study. 

They generally had a Mikveh (ritual bath / baptismal pool) for ritual washings, and this had to contain enough water for a person to walk down into it, squat and be completely submersed with water.  The Mikveh had one set of steps for people to walk down into it as ceremonially ‘unclean’ and another set of steps for them to walk up out of the water ceremonially ‘clean’.  Synagogues also had kitchen facilities for community feasts, and accommodation for visitors.  

In some cases, the front façade of the main hall had three doors.  Inside there were benches, made of wood or stone, along three or sometimes four sides of the room, with a break for the door of course. (7) 

Within Jewish tradition one stood to read from the Torah and Prophets (t. Sukkah 2.10), so the centre of the room would have a small platform for the readers to stand on, and it is possible that a small menorah (seven-branched candlestick), like the one in the Temple, also stood on that platform.  The floor was usually dirt or flagstones, and common people probably sat on mats on the floor, while the important people sat on the stone benches (Matt. 23:6).  There was a seat for the reader of the Torah called the Moses Seat (or the Seat of Honour), because the Torah recorded the words of Moses so the reader was taking Moses’ place (Matt. 23:2). The Torah scrolls and the writings of the prophets were either kept in a portable chest and brought to the synagogue for worship or were kept in the Synagogue itself in a permanent Torah cabinet. (8) (9)

A Greek inscription dating to the first century dedicating a synagogue gives us some insight into their architecture and functions, as well as the importance that the people placed on lineage:

Theodotos, son of Vettenus, priest and ruler of the synagogue, son of a ruler of the synagogue, grandson of a ruler of the synagogue, built the synagogue for the reading of the Torah and the teaching of the commandments, and also the guest chamber and the upper rooms and the ritual pools of water for lodging for those needing them from abroad, which his fathers, the elders and Simonides founded.

Three sacred spaces in Judaism

In Yeshua’s day there were three sacred spaces in Judaism, each of which had its own ordered rituals: Temple, Synagogue and Home (10).   Yeshua attended and ministered in each of these spaces.   For the Jews the Temple was the place of the presence of the transcendent God on earth and so the daily Temple worship involved sacrifice accompanied by worship in music and song.  It was patterned after 1 Chronicles 16:4-6 where David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD with lyres, harps, cymbals and trumpets, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD.  Twelve was the absolute minimum number of musicians the Mishnah deemed appropriate for the daily psalm, and there was no maximum number. (11) Whereas the temple was governed by priests and its functions undertaken by priests, the synagogue was governed by local elders of the community and all but one optional function was undertaken by the laity.  Priests and Levites were welcome to participate in synagogue life but they had no special role except that only priests could offer the blessing of Aaron from the Torah (Num. 6:23-27) at the end of the service. (8)

Synagogue as centre of community justice…

The Synagogue provided the structure whereby a qahal (community) became rooted in God.  Its primary purpose was the dispensation of justice, which was defined as the study, teaching and application of the Tanakh (Torah (Law of Moses), Nevi’im (Prophets) and K’tuvim (Writings) – ie what we refer to as the Old Testament) and the Oral Law.  Jewish tradition placed the roots of the synagogue in Jethro’s advice to Moses (Exodus 18) to select able men who feared God as rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens to judge the people.  In light of that and Boaz’ gathering of ten elders of Bethlehem to witness the legal transaction that gave him possession of the land that belonged to Naomi, and Ruth as his wife (Ruth 4:2-12) Jewish tradition demanded a minimum of ten persons for any public or official religious gathering.   Less than ten persons was not a community and did not qualify for a communal gathering.  The Mishnah preserves the ruling concerning this required minimum number:

If there are less that ten present, the congregation may not recite the Shema with its benedictions, nor may one go before the ark [to lead the prescribed congregational prayers], nor may priests lift up their hands [in pronouncing the blessing], nor may one read the portion of the Torah or the Prophets, nor may one observe the stations [when burying the dead] or say the mourners’ benediction or the mourners’ consolation, or the benediction over newlyweds, nor may one mention the name of God in the invitation to recite the blessing after the meal. Also [the redemption value of dedicated] immovable property [is assessed] by nine and a priest, and similarly, [the valuation vow] of a person. (Megillah 4:3)

The importance of this religious quorum cannot be overestimated. Rabbi Eliezer, a member of the generation that witnessed the destruction of the Temple, freed one of his slaves so that there would be a quorum of ten for the “Eighteen Benedictions,” the central prayer of the synagogue service. (12)

First Century Jewish society was communal, not individual, and that community was defined as being more than ten people.  At this time women could be counted among the ten for a quorum to enable a Shabbat Synagogue Service to go ahead.   The wellbeing of the individual, the family and the community were intimately tied to the proper functioning of the Synagogue and its officers.  

Synagogue Officials

Rulers of the Synagogue, הכנסת ראש ro’sh ha-keneseth, governed the community.  They formed the בית דין Bet Din, bench of three judges, who dispensed justice to the community.  They were also empowered to collect taxes, buy and sell public property such as Torah scrolls, pay for the construction and maintenance of the synagogue, and pay the salaries of town officials – agronomos (market inspectors), Chazzan (synagogue officers), city guards and teachers.  Ro’sh ha-keneseth had to be tsadiqim (righteous men), that is men who knew Torah and Halakha (the collective body of Jewish religious laws derived from both the “Written Torah” and the “Oral Torah”) and followed these as the pattern of their lives.  These synagogue rulers were also responsible for the conduct of the synagogue services.  When the congregation had assembled it was the ruler’s duty to select the various persons to take the leading parts in the service on that day and send the Cḥazzān to notify them what part they were to perform – prayer, reading from the Scriptures, preaching or translating.   

חזן Cḥazzān (attendant) was the other regular official of the Synagogue.  They were generally provided with a salary for their service.  Their primary role was to keep the synagogue clean and appropriately lit and to care for its sacred scrolls.  At the proper stage of the service the attendant would take the appointed scroll out from the ‘ark’ where they were kept, unwrap it and give it to the person chosen to read, then return it to its rightful place when they were finished reading.   He also blew the shofar at sunset of Friday to announce the arrival of Shabbat.  All work would cease and the people gather in their homes to eat the Sabbath meal which had been prepared that afternoon. The same word, Cḥazzān, was used for the synagogue police who would bring those accused of Law breaking to be judged by the Bet Din and were responsible for whipping synagogue members found guilty.   This scourging was carried out in front of the Bet Din who proclaimed during the scourging “If do not carefully observe all the words of this Law…” (Deut. 28:58). 

Except in an occasional large synagogue the following positions were not permanent appointments and did not attract any salary, but were just filled on the day by those chosen by the Synagogue ruler from the congregation gathered once a quorum had been reached.

מתרגמן Meturgeman (interpreter or translator) would be appointed for each service. This man was skilled in languages and stood by those that read, to translate the Hebrew reading into the vernacular language of the synagogue so everyone could understand the message.

שליח צבור Sheliach Tzibbur (angel – or messenger – of the assembly) were required to be humble, be knowledgeable of the rules of prayer and the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew text, have an agreeable voice, proper dress and a beard.  They would recite the prayers on behalf of the congregation, often with musical intonation – representing the community before God in prayer.  They could also be called upon to be messengers of the Bet Din and under their authority transmit Halakhah (Jewish community law), supervise the conversion procedure and lay hands. 

פרנסים Parnassim (administrative officers) were responsible for the care of the poor, and often included at least one woman.   They were in charge of the Mikveh, collection of alms for the poor administration of these funds, visiting the sick, attending to the orphans and widows.  According to Pe’ah 8,7, the collecting was to be done by at least two persons and distributed by three. 

דרשן Darshan (expounder) was the preacher who expounded the Torah in a sermon, delivered after the reading from the Prophets.  This office was also in charge of helping anyone plead their case before the Bet Din.  Some would be travelling preachers, visiting many different communities with their messages.

בעל מסרה  Ba’al Masorah (master of the tradition) was responsible for teaching proselytes in their process of conversion and integration into the Jewish community.  He would also help defend against any deviation from the accepted doctrines and practices of the community as defined by the Bet Din.  (13)  (14)

A Shabbat Service

On Saturday morning the community gathered in the synagogue, then the Ro’sh ha-keneseth (there could be one or more of these synagogue rulers) appointed members of the congregation to various roles in the service.  There was no uniform set order of service that synagogues followed, but most often their pattern was similar to the following:

  • Their service began with blessings offered to God, prayers read with musical intonation by the Sheliach Tzibbur appointed for that day and possibly responses by the congregation. 
  • The whole congregation recited the Shema:  “Sh’ma, Yisra’el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra’el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one];(Deut. 6:4) 
  • More structured prayers read by the Sheliach Tzibbur and there may also be responses by the congregation or some spontanious prayers.
  • The Torah scrolls would be brought out by the Chazzan and would be read by the one(s) appointed that day.  In some synagogues one person would be appointed to read while others might have as many as seven readers of different portions.  If Hebrew was not understood by the congregation then a Methurgeman would be appointed to targum (translate) after each verse of the Torah and every three verses of the Nevi’im. 
  • Following the Torah portion, a selection from the Nevi’im (prophets) would be read by the same or another reader. 
  • After all the readings, the one appointed Darshan for that day would teach on what had been read.  The teaching incorporated open responses by those assembled (questions and answers) rather than being a strict monologue. 
  • The service ended with a benediction using the Aaronic blessing found in the Torah (Num. 6:24-26), if a priest was present to offer it. (8) (15) (16)

Music in Jewish Worship

The Tanakh (Jewish Scriptures) clearly exhorts, and gives honoured examples of, praising and worshipping God with musical instruments, song and dance:

Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider, He has thrown into the sea. Exodus 15:20-21 NKJV

Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.     Leviticus 25:9 NKJV

After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.   1 Samuel 10:5-6 NKJV

Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. 2 Samuel 6:14-15 NKJV

Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said,  “Long live King Solomon!” 
And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound. 1 Kings 1:39-40 NKJV

Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.       1 Chronicles 13:8 NKJV

Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren,  Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari,  Ethan the son of Kushaiah;  and with them their brethren of the second  rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze;  Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to  Alamoth;  Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the Sheminith; Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he  was  skilful;  Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark. 1 Chronicles 15:16-24 NKJV

David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps. 1 Chronicles 15:27-28 NKJV

And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God. 1 Chronicles 16:4-6 NKJV

…and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.    1 Chronicles 16:42 NKJV

Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service  some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should  prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was: Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied according to the order of the king. Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord. Of Heman, the sons of Heman: … … All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to exalt his horn. For God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the authority of the king. So the number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the Lord, all who were skilful, was two hundred and eighty-eight.                  1 Chronicles 25:1-7 NKJV

 …and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—  indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,  For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.   2 Chronicles 5:12-14 NKJV

And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.  2 Chronicles 29:25-31 NKJV

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord:
“For He is good,   For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”

Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.    Ezra 3:10-11 NKJV

 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps.                                               Nehemiah 12:27 NKJV

Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.  Sing to Him a new song; Play skilfully with a shout of joy. Psalm 33:2-3 NKJV

Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy;    
And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.     
Psalm 43:4 NKJV

They have seen Your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
Bless God in the congregations, The Lord, from the fountain of Israel. Psalm 68:24-26 NKJV

Also with the lute I will praise You — And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.        
Psalm 71:22 NKJV

Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute.
Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.        Psalm 81:1-3 NKJV

Sing to the Lord with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.                         Psalm 98:5-6 NKJV

Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.      
Psalm 108:2-3 NKJV

I will sing a new song to You, O God;
On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,       
Psalm 144:9 NKJV

Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.             
Psalm 149:3-4 NKJV

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
                         Psalm 150:3-5 NKJV

And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.
    Isaiah 30:32 NKJV

Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
  Jeremiah 31:4 NKJV  

Since the beginning of the nation, back in Exodus, music had been an integral part of Jewish worship of God.  Something happened during the second temple period which would change all that, and it had nothing to do with what was thought proper for worship.  Rather it was the laws that they built around Shabbat which brought an end to playing musical instruments in Jewish worship.   Influential Pharisees feared that a musician might be tempted to replace a string or otherwise repair or tune his instrument when playing on the Sabbath, and they classed such an act as falling into the forbidden category of work called “repairing a utensil”, and so prohibited the playing of any musical instrument on the Sabbath. This ruling of the Sanhedrin affected the synagogue services, rendering their worship devoid of music.    Only in the temple did the prescribed instruments for worship continue to be played, on Shabbat, and every day.

Shabbat Laws

Keeping Shabbat (the Sabbath) was the fourth of the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses.  Here is what God said about it:

By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.       Genesis 2:3

“Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. You have six days to labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work – not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property.  For in six days, ADONAI made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why ADONAI blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.            Exodus 20:8-11 CJB

“On six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is to be a holy day for you, a Shabbat of complete rest in honour of ADONAI. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.  You are not to kindle a fire in any of your homes on Shabbat.”        Exodus 35:2-3 CJB

“You are to take fine flour and use it to bake twelve loaves, one gallon per loaf.  Arrange them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure table before ADONAI. Put frankincense with each row to be an offering made by fire to ADONAI in place of the bread and as a reminder of it. Regularly, every Shabbat, he is to arrange them before ADONAI; they are from the people of Isra’el, as a covenant forever.     Leviticus 24:5-8 CJB

“On Shabbat offer two male lambs in their first year and without defect, with one gallon of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and its drink offering. This is the burnt offering for every Shabbat, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.”         Numbers 28:9-10 CJB

Happy is the person who does this, anyone who grasps it firmly, who keeps Shabbat and does not profane it, and keeps himself from doing any evil.  Isaiah 56:2 CJB

“If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI’s holy day, worth honouring; then honour it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.  If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI – I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya’akov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken.”  Isaiah 58:13-14 CJB

Thus says the LORD, “Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.”   Jeremiah 17:21

In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.  So I admonished them on the day they sold food. Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem. Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the Sabbath day?
“Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”   
Nehemiah 13:15-18

In order to enforce regulations against work on Shabbat, the Jewish religious leaders created a legal definition of what work was prohibited.  They concluded that what God ceased from in Genesis 2:1-3 was creating, and saw a connection between this and construction of the tabernacle. From that, they defined thirty-nine categories of activity needed for the construction and use of the Tabernacle, which were thus designated as ‘creating’ and therefor forbidden on Shabbat (and could receive the death penalty from the Sanhedrin).  The thirty-nine categories of forbidden activities, based on the Oral Torah which was being developed and debated in Yeshua’s day are:

  1. Planting (Hebrew: זורע Zorea) Not only planting is included in this category; other activities that promote plant growth are also prohibited. This includes watering, fertilizing, planting seeds, or planting grown plants.
  2. Ploughing (Hebrew: חורש Ḥoresh) Included in this prohibition is any preparation or improvement of land for agricultural use. This includes activities whose purpose is not agricultural such as dragging chair legs in soft soil thereby unintentionally making furrows, or pouring water on the ground or making a hole in the soil.
  3. Reaping (Hebrew: קוצר Koṣer) Removing all or part of a plant from its source of growth is considered reaping. Climbing a tree is forbidden, for fear this may lead to one tearing off a branch. Riding an animal is also forbidden, as one may unthinkingly detach a stick with which to hit the animal.  (Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28)
  4. Gathering (Hebrew: מעמר Me’amer) Initial gathering of earth-borne material in its original place. E.g. After picking strawberries, forming a pile or collecting them into one’s pockets, or a basket. Collecting rock salt or any mineral (from a mine or from the Earth) and making a pile of the produce. However, a bowl of apples that falls in a house can be gathered as 1) they do not grow in that environment and 2) they were already initially gathered in the orchard.
  5. Threshing/Extraction (Hebrew: דש Dosh) It refers to any productive extraction and includes juicing fruits and vegetables and wringing (desirable fluids) out of cloths, as the juice or water inside the fruit is considered ‘desirable’ for these purposes, while the pulp of the fruit would be the ‘undesirable.’ As such, squeezing (S’ḥita) is forbidden unless certain rules are applied. 
  6. Winnowing (Hebrew: זורה Zoreh) Sorting undesirable from desirable. The separation of chaff from grain, or any separation of intermixed materials which renders edible that which was inedible.  Rubbing a couple of grains in your hand to remove the husks before eating them would be considered “winnowing” and therefore forbidden.  (Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28)
  7. Sorting/Purification (Hebrew: בורר Borer) Any separation of intermixed materials which renders edible or desirable that which was inedible or undesirable. Thus, filtering undrinkable water to make it drinkable falls under this category, as does picking small bones from fish. Or, if there is a bowl of mixed peanuts and raisins, and one desires the raisins and dislikes the peanuts: Removing (effectively sorting) the peanuts from the bowl, leaving a ‘purified’ pile of raisins free from unwanted peanuts, would be Sorting/Purification as the peanuts are removed and therefor considered a serious transgression. However, removing the desirable raisins from the peanuts does not purify the mixture, as one is left with undesirable peanuts (hence unrefined), not a refined component as before, and is thus permissible.
  8. Dissection Hebrew: טוחן (Toḥen) Dissection can arise in simply cutting into pieces fruits or vegetables for a salad. Very small pieces would involve ‘Dissection’, therefore cutting into slightly larger than usual pieces would be permitted, thus avoiding cutting the pieces into their final, most usable, state.
  9. Sifting (Hebrew: מרקד Meraked) This is essentially the same as Sorting / Purification (see above), but performed with a utensil specifically designed for the purpose of sorting, such as a sieve, strainer, or the like.
  10. Kneading/Amalgamation (Hebrew: לש Losh) this prohibited activity is the combining of solid and liquid together to form a paste or dough-like substance.
  11. Cooking/Baking (Hebrew: אופה/בישול Bishul/Ofeh)  Any method of heating food to prepare for eating is included in this prohibition.
  12. Shearing (Hebrew: גוזז Gozez) Severing/uprooting any body-part of a creature.
  13. Scouring/Laundering (Hebrew: מלבן Melaben) Cleansing absorbent materials of absorbed /ingrained impurities.
  14. Carding/Combing Wool (Hebrew: מנפץ Menafeṣ) Separating/disentangling fibres.
  15. Dyeing (Hebrew: צובע Ṣovea) Colouring or enriching the colour of any material or substance.
  16. Spinning (Hebrew: טווה Toveh) Twisting fibres into a thread or twining strands into a yarn.
  17. Warping (Hebrew: מיסך Meseḥ) Creating the first form for the purpose of weaving.
  18. Making Two Loops/Threading Heddles (Hebrew: עושה שתי בתי נירין Oseh Sh’tei Batei Nirin) Forming loops for the purpose of weaving or the making of net like materials.
  19. Weaving (Hebrew: אורג שני חוטין Oreg) Forming fabric (or a fabric item) by interlacing long threads passing in one direction with others at a right angle to them.
  20. Separating Two Threads (Hebrew: פוצע שני חוטין Poṣe’a) Removing/cutting fibres from their frame, loom or place.
  21. Tying (Hebrew: קושר Kosher) Binding two pliant objects skilfully or permanently via twisting.
  22. Untying (Hebrew: מתיר Matir) The undoing of any tied (see Tying) or spun (see Spinning) binding
  23. Sewing (Hebrew: תופר Tofer) Combining separate objects into a single entity, whether through sewing, gluing, stapling, welding, dry mounting, etc.
  24. Tearing (Hebrew: קורע Kore’a) Ripping an object in two or undoing any sewn connection.
  25. Trapping (Hebrew: צד Ṣad) Forcible confinement of a living creature, the confining of a creature to make it easier to capture in one’s hand.
  26. Killing (Hebrew: שוחט Shoḥet) Ending a creature’s life, whether through slaughter or any other method.
  27. Flaying/Skinning (Hebrew:מפשט Mepashet) Removing the hide from the body of a dead animal.
  28. Curing/Preservation (Hebrew: מעבד Me’aved); sometimes referred to as “Salting” ( מולח Mole’aḥ). Preserving any item to prevent spoiling for a long period of time.
  29. Smoothing (Hebrew: ממחק Memaḥek) Scraping/sanding a surface to achieve smoothness.
  30. Scoring (Hebrew: משרטט Mesartet) Scoring/drawing a cutting guideline.
  31. Measured Cutting (Hebrew: מחתך Meḥateḥ) Cutting any object to a specific size.
  32. Writing (Hebrew: כותב Kotev) Writing/forming a meaningful character or design.
  33. Erasing (Hebrew: מוחק על מנת לכתוב שתי אותיות Moḥek [al menat lichtov shtei otiyot]) Cleaning/preparing a surface to render it suitable for writing.
  34. Construction (Hebrew: בונה Boneh) Contributing to the forming of any lasting structure. The action of joining different pieces together, e.g. inserting the handle of an axe into the socket is a derived form of this activity.  Also, making a protective covering (or a ‘tent’) is forbidden.
  35. Demolition (Hebrew: סותר Soter) Demolishing for any constructive purpose. For example, knocking down a wall in order to extend or repair the wall would be demolition for a constructive purpose. Combing a wig to set it correctly and pulling out hairs during the procedure with a metal toothed brush or comb would be constructive ‘demolition’, as each hair that is removed in the process of the wig (a utensil) is progressing its state towards a desired completion.
  36. Extinguishing a Fire (Hebrew: מכבה Meḥaveh) Extinguishing a fire/flame, or diminishing its intensity. While extinguishing a fire is forbidden even when great property damage will result; in the event of any life-threatening fire, the flames must be extinguished, by the principle of pikuaḥ nefesh.
  37. Ignition (Hebrew: מבעיר Mav’ir) Igniting, fuelling or spreading a fire/flame. This includes making, transferring or adding fuel to a fire. This is one of the few Sabbath prohibitions mentioned explicitly in the Torah (Exodus 35:3). Judaism requires Sabbath candles to be lit before the Sabbath; it is forbidden to light them on the Sabbath. They are intended to take the place of candles which cannot be lit on the Sabbath.
  38. Fine-tuning / Repairing a Utensil (Hebrew: מכה בפטיש Makeh Bapetish). This activity refers to completing an object and bringing it into its final useful form.  This is the prohibition by which instruments cannot be tuned nor a string replaced which lead to the prohibition on any playing of a musical instrument on Shabbat and thus barred instruments from the synagogue.
  39. Transferring Between Domains / Carrying (Hebrew: הוצאה Hotza’ah) Transferring something from one domain type to another domain type, or transferring within a public thoroughfare. All areas are divided into four categories: a private domain, a public thoroughfare, an open area and an exempt area.  Transferring an object from a private domain to a public thoroughfare, or the reverse, is forbidden. Transferring an object between an open area to a private domain or public thoroughfare is prohibited. Transferring an object between an exempt area and any other domain is permissible. In addition, transferring an object for a distance of four cubits (or more) in a public thoroughfare or open area is forbidden.

In Yeshua’s day, some of this had been handed down through the generations as “traditions of the elders”, and some was still being newly formed and debated.  Yeshua joined in such debates and even called into question traditions of the elders when these brought forth actions which were contrary to the intent of Scripture.  In 1st Century Jewish society, the job of protecting Shabbat, and defining the other laws of the community,was ascribed to the members of the Sanhedrin – hence all the political intrigues engaged in to get a majority representation on the Sanhedrin.  For each of these thirty-nine prohibitions they made rulings as to what the Jewish people were commanded or forbidden to do in keeping with the prohibition – and such rulings were the “Law”, sometimes even referred to as the “Torah” of the Jewish people.  Breaching these rulings was considered to be breaking God’s law, even when the ruling had little relationship to what God had written for us in Scripture.  

Thus, despite all the exhortations in Scripture for the Jewish people to praise and worship God with instruments, they were forbidden to be played as part of the Shabbat Service in the Synagogue.  In another context Yeshua said of the religious leaders: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commandments of God in order to observe your own traditions!” (Mark 7:9)   Music did, however, remain an essential part of services in the Holy Temple. This kind of rabbinical enactment—a prohibition designed to prevent desecration of Shabbat—is called a shvut.  In general, a shvut was deemed not to apply in the Holy Temple.  Music accompanied even those Temple rituals that were deemed not to essentially require musical accompaniment in order to be obedient to Torah.  However, when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, this left the Jewish people totally devoid of music in their worship as they had enculturated the prohibition against such in their Synagogues on Shabbat. (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23)

Reference List

1. Levine, Lee I. The First Centurary Synagogue: New Perspectives. Arg. 77 : Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift, 2001.
2. Lacey, Ian. Synagogue Services. Israel & Judaism Studies. [Online] NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, 2007. [Cited: 3rd Dec. 2016.] http://www.ijs.org.au/Synagogue-services/default.aspx.
3. Spigel, Chad. First Centurary Synagogues. Bible Odyssey. [Online] [Cited: 3rd April 2019.] https://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/places/related-articles/first-century-synagogues.
4. The First-Centurary Synagogue – New Perspectives. Levine, Lee I. Jerusalem : Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift. Arg., 2001, Vol. 77.
5. Laan, Ray Vander. He Went To Synagogue. That The World May Know. [Online] [Cited: 25th July 2019.] https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/he-went-to-synagogue.
6. —. He Went To Synagogue. That the World May Know. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Dec. 2016.] https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/he-went-to-synagogue.
7. Spigel, Chad. First Century Synagogues. Bible Odessey. [Online] [Cited: 2nd April 2019.] Chad Spigel, “First Century Synhttps://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/places/related-articles/first-century-synagogues.
8. Turnage, Marc. Exploring the Practices and Customs of the First Century Synagogue. [Online] 9th August 2016. [Cited: 19th April 2019.] https://news.ag.org/features/exploring-the-practices-and-customs-of-the-first-century-synagogue.
9. Synagogues – Before and After the Roman Destruction of the Temple. Hachlili, Rachel. May/June, s.l. : Biblical Archaeology Society, 2015.
10. Matthews, Doc. History of Christianity: Early Christian Worship. Youtube. [Online] [Cited: 17th April 2019.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw56BWL2cn4.
11. The Exclusion of Musical Instruments from the Ancient Synagogue. McKinnon, James W. s.l. : Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 1979, Vol. 106, pp. 77–87.
12. Sauter, Megan. Ancient Synagogues in Israel and the Diaspora. Biblical Archiology. [Online] 3rd September 2016. [Cited: 11th November 2019.] https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/temple-at-jerusalem/ancient-synagogues-in-israel-and-the-diaspora/.
13. Killian, Greg. The Synagogue – Bet HaKnesset. Bete Munah. [Online] [Cited: 9th November 2019.] https://www.betemunah.org/synagog.html.
14. Gafni, Professor Isaiah. Jewish Life in Palestine at the Beginning of the Christian Era. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 29th July 2019.] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/their-love-for-tilling-the-soil-is-truly-great/.
15. The Ancient Synagogue Service. Burton, Ernest De Witt. The Biblical World, Vol. 8, pp. 143-148. 01903578.
16. Hegg, Tim. The Public Reading of the Scriptures in the 1st Century Synagogue. s.l. : Torah Resource, 2007.
17. Shurpin, Yehuda. Why can’t we connect to G-d through music on Shabbat? Chabad. [Online] [Cited: 9th November 2019.] https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/965540/jewish/Why-no-music-on-Shabbat.htm.
18. Activities Prohibited on Sabbath. [Online] [Cited: 11th November 2019.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activities_prohibited_on_Shabbat.
19. EISENBERG, RONALD L. Shabbat’s Work Prohibition. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 11th November 2019.] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/.
20. Palatnik, Lori. Laws of Shabbat for Beginners. Aish He Torah. [Online] [Cited: 11th November 2019.] https://www.aish.com/sh/l/48971331.html.
21. OU Staff. The 39 Categories of Sabbath Work Prohibited by Law. OU. [Online] 17th July 2006. [Cited: 11th November 2019.] https://www.ou.org/holidays/shabbat/the_thirty_nine_categories_of_sabbath_work_prohibited_by_law/.
22. Melamed, Rabbi Eliezer. Laws of Shabbat – Volume 1. s.l. : Yeshivat Har Bracha Maggid Books.
23. Lizorkin, Ilya. Aspects of the Sabbath in the Second Temple Period. 2006.

In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…

* In what ways was worship in the Synagogue like worship in your church, and in what ways was it different?
* What were the functions that the synagogue fulfilled in Jesus’ time, and what functions does your church fulfil now?
* Compare the rolls of the synagogue officials with the roles of leaders within your church.
* What do you think of the 39 laws that the Jews made to ensure their people kept the Sabbath as God had commanded? Can you think of any instances when Jesus commented on any of their Sabbath rules?
* What are your thoughts on their reasons for excluding the playing of musical instruments in their synagogue worship and the ultimate result of such being that after the destruction of the second temple in 70AD, all Jewish worship has been without musical instruments? Is this practice of excluding instruments from worship in agreement with the scriptures?


The Harvest is Ripe, Where You Least Expect It

Read John 4:1-42

Spring had turned into summer.  The rains had ceased and the heat was increasing as the new life that had sprung forth was starting to produce fruit, the fields were getting white for harvest.  Yeshua took His disciples on from the baptismal doorway of the Kingdom of Heaven, to the path of learning what it is to live as citizens in this Kingdom.  Each place that Yeshua took them, every action that He did and every word He said, was part of the rabbinical teaching process – it was the scope and sequence of His curriculum.

 As Yeshua headed north from Judea towards Galilee, He diverted from the usual Jewish route along the Jordan River, which carefully skirted around Samaria, and instead at Alexandrium turned to take the rough north-western track up out of the Jordan valley towards Sychar.  It would have been a long and tiresome days’ walk in the summer heat, 32kms over somewhat difficult country to reach Jacob’s Well. (1)  The disciples may have wondered if Yeshua really knew what He was doing or where He was going.  This was not the traditional route, nor was it the easiest.  But it was the necessary path to their next lesson.   

“He had to pass through Samaria.” John 4:4

The spiritual significance of this land…

They emerged from the rough climb onto the rich plain of Samaria. All around, the fields ‘were already white unto the harvest.’  There is some contention between scholars as to whether time in the Fourth Gospel is reckoned according to the Jewish mode, making their arrival around midday, or according to the Roman civil day, making their arrival around 6pm.  Since this gospel was likely written by a priest or Levite from Jerusalem, they would have used Jewish timing and shunned that of the Romans, so it is most likely that the group arrived around midday. (1)  

As Yeshua and His disciples came up to Jacob’s Well, they found themselves standing at the entrance of a narrow valley. This whole region had spiritual significance for both Jews and Samaritans, but the Jews had been avoiding it for centuries because of the Samaritan presence here.  

It was to this valley, wherein had been the ancient city of Shechem, that the Israelites had carried Joseph’s bones when God brought them up out of Egypt:

The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. Joshua 24:32 NKJV

Shechem was also one of the cities that had been given to the Levites (priests) and designated as a city of refuge where a person who had killed someone accidently was provided with a safe haven in Israel:

And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim. For they gave them Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer) … Joshua 21:20-21

It was in this place that Joshua, just before he died, had gathered all the tribes of Israel to present themselves before God and covenant with Him:

And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.”
Joshua 24:24-27 NKJV

To the left was Mount Gerizim and to the right rose Mount Ebal, stretching even higher than Mount Gerizim.  Both of these mountains figure prominently in the Torah (first five books of the Bible and the basis of both the Jewish and Samaritan religions), as do the city of Shechem, Joseph’s tomb and Jacob’s well, which were all located in this valley where they now stood.

It was on Mount Ebal, according to the Jewish Torah, that Moses had commanded the children of Israel to build an alter to the Lord and offer burnt offerings when they crossed over the Jordan. And it was on this mountain that the tribes were to stand to curse any disobedience to the Law:

Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. And it shall be, on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you. Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them. You shall build with whole stones the altar of the Lord your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God.  And you shall write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.”
“…and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.” Deuteronomy 27:1-8, 13 NKJV

The Samaritan Torah (first five books of the Bible written in the Samaritan alphabet) holds that the instruction actually mandated the construction of the altar on Mount Gerizim, not Mount Ebal. Samaritan tradition held that the tabernacle was pitched on Mount Gerizim after the Israelites crossed over into the promised land. Mount Gerizim was also, according to the traditions of the Samaritans, where Abraham took Isaac for sacrifice and God had provided the substitute. This mountain spoke of God’s provision for redemption, that God Himself would provide the sacrifice that was needed. 

It was also on this mountain that Moses had commanded the children of Israel to stand to bless the people when they crossed over the Jordan:

And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin” Deuteronomy 27:11-12

On the basis of all this, the Samaritans believed that Mount Gerizim was the sacred place that Yahweh had chosen for the people to worship Him.  Archaeological evidence shows that the Samaritans had built a temple on Mount Gerizim around 450 B.C., during the Persian period. They had expanded their temple complex during the Hellenistic period, around 200 B.C., and continued having it as the centre of their worship of Yehweh until John Hyrcanus of the Hasmonaean dynasty (the Maccabees) destroyed it in around 128/9 BC . (11)

Huge staircase that led up to the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim
Staircase leading up to the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim

Mount Gerizim remained a major point of divergence between the Samaritans, who believed it to be the only place chosen by God for His worship, and the Jews, who believed Jerusalem was the only place chosen by God for His worship. According to rabbinic literature, in order to convert to Judaism, a Samaritan must first and foremost renounce any belief in the sanctity of Mount Gerizim.  (2) (12)

Samaritans marking Passover on Mount Gerizim

On Mount Ebal, Joshua had gathered the Israelites after the capture of Ai.  There they had offered burnt offerings to the Lord.  

Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.  And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. Joshua 8:30-32 NKJV

Then, with half of the congregation connected to Mount Gerizum, and the other half connected to Mount Ebal, Joshua had read the whole Torah to the people. (3)

All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had given command at first to bless the people of Israel. Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them. Joshua 8:33-35 NASB

This was the heritage that the Samaritans claimed as their own. This was the basis of their faith and traditions. This is where they believed that God had commanded people come to worship Him. Yeshua had brought His disciples right up into the very heart of Samaritan religious society. Despite the shared heritage both Jews and Samaritans had in this place, it had come to represent the basis for all the vehement religious conflict between the two.

A woman of Samaria came…

Up ahead lay Sychar, resting at the foot of Mount Ebal.  It was to this town that the disciples went to buy their food while Yeshua rested wearily on the low parapet which enclosed the well.   The author of the fourth gospel had likely stayed with Yeshua, and so was able to give us a first-hand account of the conversation that was about to take place.  He may well have been older than the others, who had been with Yochanan the Immerser before the priests and Levites arrived from Jerusalem, and so been in greater need of rest than those young men.  

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  John 4:7a NKJV

This woman came alone.  It was not the time of day when the women from the surrounding areas all gathered at the well to draw their water and catch up on the latest gossip.  Unlike her sisters this woman chose, or perhaps was forced, to come at a lonely time in the middle of the day.  Her company was not welcomed, her history and current lifestyle left her as an outcast, looked down upon and despised. In this she was like Joseph, whose bones were buried in this area and considered to be a witness to all these things.

So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. … …So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. … …

… But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.”
But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.  
… …So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”
So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused.  Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
Genesis 37:23-28 & 39:10-20

“Give me a drink”

Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”    John 4:7b NKJV

From His exhaustion and thirst came Messiah’s ministry to this woman, and her whole city.  Yeshua was comfortable expressing weakness and need, He was not compelled to wear a mask.  Nor did He feel compelled to keep all the Mitzvot d’rabbanan (laws that were enacted by the rabbis), which included the minhag (long standing customs of the community), even though the Pharisees considered these to be as binding as the Torah laws that God had spoken to Moses and recorded in the scriptures.   

Yeshua’s sole concern was doing the will of the Father (John 5:19), and He would not let any man-made rules, conventions or expectations stop Him from doing this fully.  Yeshua obeyed the rules of His community whenever they did not restrict obedience to His Father, but the Father’s will at any moment always took precedence – another basic value of this apostolic reformation of Judaism.   In His simple request Yeshua broke three Jewish customs: first, he spoke to a woman in public; second, he spoke with a Samaritan; and third, he asked her to get him a drink of water.   To receive a drink from her would have made Him ceremonially unclean from using her cup or jar.   Ceremonial cleanliness was not as important to Yeshua as ministering to others in purity of heart. (4)

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”
For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. John 4:9

For more on the Samaritans, and the relationship between them and the Jews, go to: http://blog.renewal.asn.au/2020/03/02/israel-replaced-with-samaritans-the-kingdom-of-god-prophesied-931-627-bc/

Both Torah believing groups, Jews and Samaritans, considered the other to be imposters. The difference between these two groups was not whether the Torah of Moses must be obeyed, but HOW it should be obeyed. To both groups, that difference meant everything. Yet, as we are beginning to see, these differences were not so important to Yeshua. (10)

Yeshua saw that this woman had an open, hungry heart. His willingness to cross the divide between them had captured her attention. So He ventured straight in to discussing spiritual things with her, even as He had done with the Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10 NKJV

The Samaritan woman recognised that Yeshua was someone extraordinary, and was talking about things that she did not understand. This was a woman schooled in the Torah, it dominated the landscape in which she lived and dictated every aspect of life for these Samaritans. So she questioned Him further, drawing the comparison with Jacob (Israel), the father of them all.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” John 4:11-12 NKJV

Are you greater than our father Jacob?” It was not an accusation, but a searching for the truth. Yeshua’s answer was in the affirmative.

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13-14 NKJV

This woman’s faith was grounded in practical realities. She walked the land that the patriarchs had walked. She drew water from the well that Jacob had dug, and that had provided for her people since ancient times. She lived in the shadows of the mountains on which Joshua had constructed an alter and the whole Torah had been read out to Israel as the covenanted with God to obey it. So, in her response, this Samaritan woman tried to connect Yeshua’s words with the practicalities of life.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” John 4:15 NKJV

Messiah revealed

With invitation and prophetic utterance Yeshua gently exposed this woman’s life to truth and guided her to a revelation of the Father’s heart.

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” John 4:16 NKJV

It was a scary invitation, one that we so often resist. An invitation to go to the source of her greatest pain and shame. Would this woman have the courage to open up and let Yeshua touch such vulnerable places in her heart? Or would she, like so many do, try to keep her pain hidden from He who sees it all?

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” John 4:17a NKJV

She could have feigned obedience at this point, said “ok”, run off and just never returned. But this woman was hungry for the truth. Even though she was uncomfortable with where this conversation was going, she stayed and kept engaged with Yeshua. There was something in this man that let her know that it was safe to stay, and safe to get personal.

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” John 4:17b-18 NKJV

Without fear, intrigue or condemnation Yeshua laid bare this woman’s life. The pain and shame she had carried was brought out into the open without rebuke or patronizing. Yeshua knew her, He had known her all along, and still He had chosen to talk with her. We do not know if her five husbands had each died, or if she had suffered rejection and divorce, if she had been unable to give any man a child, if she had been beaten or abused. Was she considered by her people to be immoral for the choices she had made, or cursed for the unfair things that seemed to keep happening to her? Yeshua would often confront sin and, even in the most loving and redemptive encounters, command “go, and sin no more”, yet He never said such to this woman. Was her situation more that of unjust suffering, like Joseph’s had been, than of deliberate sin? We don’t know. What we do know is that her life had been full of pain and that she did not run away from Yeshua in that pain, but kept pressing in and seeking to engage more deeply with Him so she could learn of God.

Having seen Yeshua‘s intimate knowledge of her miserable situation and felt His compassionate empathy, this woman felt secure enough to broach the subject of greatest controversy between the Jews and Samaritans. (10) This was a subject that would arouse men’s anger and hatred. Many seemed convinced that they need to prove their loyalty to God and His truth by vehemently attacking anyone who expressed an alternate view. To ask the following question of a Jew is something no Samaritan was likely to do, unless they were looking for trouble. But Yeshua was so much more than just a Jew, He had proven that already in this conversation, and this woman was so hungry to learn the truth of God that she was willing to venture onto unspeakable territory.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” John 4:19-20 NKJV

Yeshua’s response was not the angry tirade that would normally be expected to such a statement. His answer was kind and gentle and unexpected. His answer neither confirmed nor rebuked either theological position, instead it shifted the focus totally.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:21-24 NKJV

Yeshua challenged the whole focus of the Jewish-Samaritan divide – the Mount Gerizim Vs Mount Zion theological controversy. He dismissed it as irrelevant.

What would you do if Jesus came along and dismissed your most cherished and strongly argued doctrine as irrelevant? What if He didn’t even bother to argue with it, just stated, “that’s not what it’s all about“. The whole basis on which you and your church and your community decided who was a true believer and who was a heretic; who God would accept and who He would reject. That is what He did to this woman, and in so doing, to His own community as well.

In Hebrew, which would have been the language of this conversation, this would have been worded “neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem … but… in spirit and truth“. Both places, both doctrines, both sets of firmly held beliefs and practices, were contrasted with being in God’s desire.

With His statement, Yeshua also exposed her need to learn more “you worship what you do not know“, and the unlikely (for a Samaritan) way to salvation “for salvation is of the Jews“. Yet, in this pointing to the Jews He is not excluding the Samaritan woman, but inviting her, as He refers her back to the Torah. “The Jews” were named after the tribe of Judah, from which had come king David to whom Yeshua’s heritage could be traced, and we find this verse in both the Judean and Samaritan versions of the Torah:

“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you. … …  

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”
Genesis 49: 8& 10

Domination of enemies and guarantee of security were the essential elements of the ancient concept of salvation. Judah would lead and rule until someone rises up from within these people (the Lion of Judah), whom even the nations will joyfully serve. (10).

Yeshua’s talk of salvation, and focus on true worship of the Father, stirred within this Samaritan woman the longings and expectations she had of a coming messiah from what Moses had written in Deuteronomy 18:18 “ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”     John 4:25 NKJV

Her messianic expectations were not like the Jewish Zealots, of a warrior who would destroy the Romans and place all the world under Jewish rule, but of the true prophet-teacher who would come to tell them all things.  Someone who would explain the things of God plainly to them and remove the charge of ignorance that the Jews laid against them.   Someone who would reveal to them the Father’s will and ways.

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” John 4:26 NKJV

How quickly this most unexpected conversation had turned, and indeed this woman’s whole life had turned.  A hope grew within her soul the likes of which she had never known before.  Could she, who was despised by all her kin, actually have met the Messiah and been accepted by Him?  Wonder and awe, excitement and expectation stirred within her as she pondered His words until she felt compelled to go and tell everyone and bring them to meet this man.

The Question
no one wanted to ask…

And at this point His disciples came, and they marvelled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”   John 4:27 NKJV     

None of the disciples asked Yeshua what He was doing or why.  Maybe they didn’t want to know, they weren’t ready for this lesson yet.   Asking questions was a very Jewish thing to do, especially between a rabbi and his talmidim. It was an essential part of the learning process, but no one dared ask, no one wanted to learn. 

This aspect of kingdom living was just too radical, too counter-cultural, too totally opposed to everything they had been taught their whole lives about what ‘good Jewish men’ did and refrained from doing.  A strict rabbi would not be seen talking even to his own wife on the street or in public.  A saying of Rabbi Jose ben Yochanan is recorded in the sayings of the Fathers (1.5):

Talk not much with womankind. They said this of a man’s own wife. How much more of his fellow’s wife. Hence the Sages have said: He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself, and neglects the study of the Law, and at last will inherit Gehenna (hell).” “It is forbidden to speak to woman in the street, even one’s own wife” (Yoma 240 a) (5).  

One did not violate the customs of their people – it looks bad, it will earn the distain of religious and civic leaders alike, the Pharisees say it’s unlawful and will lead you to hell, surely God Himself disapproves.  How could this man who embodied the Kingdom of Heaven possibly do such a thing?  

A diversionary tactic, “Rabbi eat” they urged Him.   Maybe such unorthodox behaviour was due to hunger, He was just weak and famished and did not really know what He was doing.  We can fix that problem, get some food into Him, and pretend we didn’t see Him talking with a Samaritan woman.  

Lift up your eyes and look at the fields…

As with the Samaritan woman, now with His disciples, Yeshua started with where they were at, their stated concern, and answered it in a way to elicit, at least among themselves, a questioning heart:

But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”         John 4:32-33 NKJV

A questioning heart is open to learn, so now Yeshua answered the questions they had been refusing to ask and prepared them for what was about to transpire – all the men of the city coming to Him to see if indeed He was the Christ:

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’   I sent you to reap that for which you have not laboured; others have laboured, and you have entered into their labours.”    John 4:34-38 NKJV

Disciples make disciples.  Talmidim produce more talmidim. A basic principle in first century Judaism, here affirmed by Yeshua: “I sent (apostéllō) you to reap”.  

This was the first time Yeshua had declared that He had apostéllō (an official, authoritative commissioning to accomplish a task) His talmidim.  They were apostéllō to the task of reaping the harvest.   What harvest had He sent them to reap?   The people of the city of Sychar, where they had just been to buy food. 

The disciples had thought only of their need to buy food in this city, but Yeshua was saying he had apostéllō them there to reap the harvest, to bring them into the Kingdom.   How could this be – wasn’t the Kingdom of Heaven a Jewish kingdom, and these were Samaritans?  It may have been that “a commandment which the Samaritans follow they observe much more scrupulously than do the Jews” (Ber. vii. 1) but they rejected all the Jewish books except the Pentateuch, and totally failed to acknowledge or observe so many of the first century Jewish community’s commands and customs. (6)  Why would Yeshua take His talmidim to these backward people and commission them to reap a harvest for the Kingdom from these whom they thought were so far from being ready for it?

They were on their way back to Galilee where the Jews were renowned for being deeply traditional and committed in their religious observance, even more so than those in Jerusalem.   Why this detour to these outcasts whose ancestors tried to hinder the building of the walls of Jerusalem and who even now refused to acknowledge the need to worship in the temple there?  Such surely could not be wanted in, nor ready for, the Kingdom of Heaven.  Because of their own prejudices Yeshua’s disciples had judged the Samaritans as not being ready to receive eternal life, and so had failed to recognise Yeshua’s first commissioning (apostéllō) of them – to reap a harvest among these people. 

They were about to find out how wrong they had been:

The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”  
Then they went out of the city and came to Him…
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”   So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.         John 4:28-30 & 39-40 NKJV

Yeshua invested in these Samaritans.  Despite all the history of hundreds of years of animosity between Jews and Samaritans, it was the will of the Father to reap the harvest and invite them into His Kingdom.   Jews would only travel through Samaria if the urgency of their mission required taking the shortest route from Jerusalem to Galilee, otherwise they would travel the extra miles to skirt around this territory.  Whenever possible Jews avoided having any dealings with Samaritans at all (John 4:9).  Yeshua had taken a detour to go through Samaritan territory, and stopped at the place which represented the source of the conflict between the Jews and Samaritans, chose to rest in the very heart of the Samaritan’s religious life, and there chose to talk with a Samaritan woman about personal and spiritual matters (unheard of!!!), and now chose to stay in this Samaritan city with these Samaritans, responding to their hungry hearts eager to be taught ‘all things’.   Nothing draws and sustains His presence like hungry hearts.

And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”        John 4:39-42 NKJV

Wow, what a depth of revelation those Samaritans had. Those ones whom the disciples had thought were not ready.   They so eagerly received the revelation that Yeshua was indeed the Christ (anointed One) who was the saviour of the whole world, not just the Jews or just the Samaritans, but everyone who believes. The devout Jewish Torah scholar, rabbi and teacher of rabbi’s, Nicodemus, had struggled to grasp even part of this revelation but these despised ‘ignorant’ Samaritans got it straight away.

Everything is about making more disciples.  Every interaction is an opportunity for the Kingdom.  Both those who sow and those who reap receive the reward and many whom we think are unlikely may already have the word sown into them and are white for harvest, just waiting to be reaped.   The ones whom God chooses to reveal Christ to are not necessarily the ones whom man thinks should be chosen or the ones we think would be open to receive such revelation.  How many, like the disciples, fail to recognise their first apostéllō, authoritative commissioning by Christ to a task for the Kingdom, because of prejudice against those they are called to serve?

Fruits of their labours…

According to Eastern Orthodox Church tradition this Samaritan woman at the well was named Photini when baptised, and is celebrated as a saint of renown who continued to  bring so many to Christ, before she was eventually martyred by Nero, that she is described as “equal to the apostles”.  In Greek sermons from the fourth to the fourteenth centuries she is called “apostle” and “evangelist”, with many suggesting that she surpassed even the male apostles in her devotion to Christ and evangelism of the nations. (7) (8) From the details in Stephen’s testimony in Acts 7 some scholars believe that he also was a Samaritan, possibly one who was touched directly by Christ during these two days. (9)

Reference List

1. Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Grand Rapids, Ml: : Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1886.
2. Gibson, Shimon. GERIZIM, MOUNT. Jewish Virtual Library. [Online] [Cited: 17th Nov. 2016.] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07198.html.
3. Stevenson, John. Ministry in Samaria. Angle Fire. [Online] [Cited: 17th Nov. 2016.] http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/jn04-01.html.
4. Chapman, Gary S. Woman at the Well – Bible Story Summary. About Religion. [Online] [Cited: 17th Nov. 2016.] http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/a/Woman-At-The-Well.htm.
5. Barclay, William. Women and Marriage in Jesus’ day The Jewish attitude on both. Resitution of all Things. [Online] 1973. [Cited: 3rd Dec. 2016.] http://www.keithhunt.com/Mariage1.html.
6. A. Cowley, Joseph Jacobs, Henry Minor Huxley. SAMARITANS. Jewish Encyclopedia. [Online] 1906. [Cited: 13th Nov. 2016.] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13059-samaritans.
7. St. Photini, the Samaritan Woman. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. [Online] [Cited: 20th Nov. 2016.] http://www.antiochian.org/st-photini-samaritan-woman.
8. Topping, Eva Catafygiotu. St Photini, The Samaritan Woman. Orthodox Christian. [Online] Light and Life Publishing Company. [Cited: 20th Nov. 2016.] http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/photini.htm.
9. Moyes, Gordon. Discovering The Young Church – Chapter 4: Stephen the Martyr. Gordon Moyes. [Online] [Cited: 20th Nov. 2016.] http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2009/07/07/discovering-the-young-church-%E2%80%93-chapter-4-stephen-the-martyr/.
10. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg. The Samaritan woman RECONSIDERED. ISBN: 9781713300366. 2019
11. Megan Sauter. The Temple on Mount Gerizim—In the Bible and Archaeology. Biblical Archaeology Society. August 26, 2019 [Online] [Cited: 18th April 2020] https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/the-temple-on-mount-gerizim-in-the-bible-and-archaeology/
12. Jewish Encyclopedia , by Funk & Wagnalls of New York, 1906
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson

In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…

* Jewish custom and tradition stated that they had to avoid going through Samaria. Why did Jesus lead His disciples to violate this custom?
* Jewish religious practice at this time forbade speaking to Samaritans (the Eighteen articles), or having any interactions with them, and drinking from something they used was thought to defile one, so why did Jesus go against all of this?
* Jewish religious practice of this day also forbid a man to talk to a woman in public. What do you think of how Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, and the effects of that conversation?
* How do you think Jesus’ disciples would have felt about what He was doing?
* The purpose of all these Jewish laws and restrictions was to keep the Jews pure and acceptable to God – did following these rules accomplish this?
* What does Jesus’s example teach us about what is needed to be pure and acceptable before God?
* Is there any tribe, or denomination, or group of people, whom your group despise like the Jews despised Samaritans – how do you think Jesus would treat these people?
* Are there any of your strongly held doctrines or beliefs or practices that Jesus might treat as irrelevant to what the Father is seeking?
* Is there anyone whom we should be avoiding and not sharing the gospel with? In your church culture are there any people who are avoided or hated, and how can our actions be more like Christ?

Yeshua’s 2nd lesson – Passover

Read John 2:12-3:36
Pink almond tree in Israel

Soon it was time to go south to Jerusalem for the festival of Pesach (Passover – 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan), commemorating the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  It was spring time.  The apricot and almond trees were showing off their beauty.   Spring is when the weather is at its most unpredictable.   This month has much sunshine but very heavy winds.  It is characterised by heatwaves (“hamsin” – when hot dusty desert winds blow in from North Africa) followed by suddenly cold weather or even storms.   Sometimes the month of Nissan (March/April) would receive the heaviest rainfall, in Scripture referred to as the “latter rains”, which supplied nourishment to the barley and wheat crops as they become “white for harvest.”   (1) (2) (3) (4)

During the weeks leading up to Passover a “full-out spring cleaning search and destroy mission” is undertaken by Jewish families to rid their homes of chametz (leavened grain). This culminates in a ceremonial search for chametz on the night before Passover and then a burning of the chametz ceremony on the morning before the feast begins. (4) This removal of chametz from their homes was symbolic of removing evil and corrupt inclinations from within the people.

Central to the Passover feast is the sacrifice of the paschal lamb – a one year old male lamb or kid without blemish (Exodus 12:5) that was slain in the temple and its blood caught by a priest and sprinkled on the alter.  On the first Passover night in Egypt the blood had been sprinkled on the doorposts of each Israelite house (Exodus 12:13).  Now, the slaughtered lamb was hung upon special hooks or sticks and skinned, the abdomen was then cut open, and the fatty portions intended for the altar were taken out, placed in a vessel, salted, and offered by the priest on the altar, while the remaining entrails likewise were taken out and cleansed.   In the evening the lambs would be taken home and roasted on a spit of pomegranate-wood, then set on the table for the evening Seder meal.  No bones were to be broken (Psalm 34:20), either during the cooking or during the eating of the lamb, and the sacrifice had to be consumed entirely that same evening, nothing being allowed to remain overnight (Numbers 9:12). (5)

Following from the night of the Passover feast is the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread during which a flat unleavened bread, matzah, is eaten instead of any chametz, reminding the people both of the haste with which they left Egypt and that having been cleansed they needed to continue living in the purity of being free from all human evil and corruption. 

It was time for purification…

Going with the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” to the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem for Passover – eager anticipation of joyfully worshipping God.

Now Yeshua’s talmidim were going with their joyous, celebration saving, miraculous wine producing rabbi to Jerusalem for the annual celebration of God’s deliverance of their people from bondage and slavery.   They were travelling with their messiah, their deliverer, to this celebration of deliverance.  Eager expectation filled their hearts as these zealous young men approached Jerusalem.

The disciple’s joyous time together after the wedding suddenly shifted as they entered the temple courts in Jerusalem. The magnificent outward appearance of the Temple was not matched by the activities taking place within it.  A storm was brewing.   This apostolic reformation, this Kingdom of Heaven manifest on earth, was not all just fun, family and abundance of fine wine.  Yeshua was as fiery a reformer as Yochanan who had pointed them to Him, and the leaven had to be removed from His Father’s house before Passover could be celebrated:  

In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”                                                                      John 2:14-16 BSB

If you have ever been to a livestock auction you would have some idea of the cacophony of sounds that accosted them as they entered the temple courts to worship and pray. Cattle bellowing, sheep bleating, doves cooing and men shouting over the din of it all to attract customers to their stall.   Yes, all those things were needed for the sacrificial system of worship, but the sacrifices and offerings were never meant to be a substitute for inviting people into God’s presence through worship in prayer, song and Torah reading and discussions.  All this buying and selling belonged in the marketplaces of Jerusalem, not in the temple’s very courts drowning out any attempt to pray or worship. 

Corruption, greed, racism and fear exposed…

So, why was it being allowed?  The high priestly family in Yeshua’s day were no more committed to the purity of the temple nor worship than Elishib, the high priest in Nehemiah’s day, had been. There are Talmudic references to the unworthiness of the High Priests in this period. (6)  The income generated from hiring out the temple court as a marketplace helped move things along nicely.  The Pharisees were vitally concerned with the ritual purity of the people and temple but since Hillel’s death and the massacre of Hillelites opposed to the Eighteen Measures they had been dominated by Shammai and his followers.  Bet Shammai were opposed to the Jews having any contact with Gentiles and had forbidden even the most basic of trade between them.  Gentiles were considered unclean and their worship of God had no value, according to the doctrines of Bet Shammai, while ever they remained Gentiles.   So it seemed appropriate to have the temple’s “Court of the Gentiles” filled with Jews buying and selling all the things the Jews needed for their sacrificial worship.  As long as the temple guard remained vigilant at the doors to the rest of the temple to ensure that any Gentile who attempted to pass from the noisy marketplace of the Court of the Gentiles into the inner sacred Jewish space was immediately killed, Bet Shammai cared little what was done in that court already defiled by the very presence of Gentiles.

Between Bet Shammai and the Sadducees linked to the High Priest’s family, they had a firm majority in the Sanhedrin and easily drowned out the voices from Bet Hillel who considered the whole temple precinct as sacred unto God and encouraged Gentiles to turn to the one true God and worship Him alone. 

Just as Nehemiah had removed Tobiah from the place the High Priest had given him in the temple storeroom, so Yeshua now removed this noisy market from the place the High Priest’s family and Sanhedrin had allocated to them in the temple courts. 

“How dare you turn My Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16b NIV) Yeshua charged them.

But Nehemiah had political authority, being appointed governor of Judea by the Persian emperor.  Yeshua had neither political, religious nor legal authority, He had not been appointed by Rome as Prefect or High Priest, nor had He risen to any position of power within the Sanhedrin.   His only claim was to spiritual authority “My Father’s house”, reminiscent of His answer to his mother as a twelve-year-old “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49b NIV).  So, they challenged Yeshua to prove He possessed such spiritual authority:

“What miraculous sign can you show us to prove you have the right to do all this?”           John 2:18 CJB

Yeshua’s answer, although misunderstood by his examiners at that time, revealed something of why he as a single individual was able to enforce what the whole school of Hillel could do nothing about.   He was willing to die for His convictions.  Yeshua had no fear of death and even now at the beginning of His ministry knew that the time would come when they would kill Him, but that He would overcome death and rise again:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
The Judeans said, “It took 46 years to build this Temple, and you’re going to raise it in three days?” 
But the “temple” he had spoken of was his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his talmidim remembered that he had said this, and they trusted in the Tanakh and in what Yeshua had said.      John 2:19-22 CJB

This was another essential component of the original apostolic reformation.  It was a character trait that Yeshua expected his talmidim (disciples) to emulate:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”  Mk 8:34-35 NIV

Those in the leadership of Bet Hillel who were willing to die for their convictions had been massacred that fateful night for their refusal to endorse Bet Shammai’s Eighteen Articles.  The Bet Hillel survivors had concluded that staying alive was a good thing and that more pragmatic ways of exerting positive influence would be wise.  Their efforts to avoid bloody conflict with both the Shammaites and Zealots on their right, and with the Romans on their left, along with their generally more lenient Mishna (Oral Law), led to many in this now highly polarised society considering them weak and compromised.   History would prove them to be the strongest, most enduring Jewish sect (apart from Yeshua’s own) as Bet Shammai, the Zealots and the Sadducees all came to naught after the destruction of the temple in 70AD and Bet Hillel became the foundation upon which rabbinical Judaism was built, but for now the pragmatism that would later become the strength of their position appeared to be wishy-washy weakness.   Thus those of strong, unyielding character and passionate in their convictions were easily drawn away to Bet Shammai or the Zealots who were so committed as to kill for their convictions.  Like Bet Hillel, neither Yochanan the Immerser nor Yeshua of Nazareth ever endorsed killing for their convictions, but they both demonstrated a willingness to die for their convictions.  They lived fearlessly.

Worship in the Temple

When Yeshua and His talmidim passed through the well guarded gates from the Court of the Gentiles into the sanctuary where only Jews were allowed, they entered an atmosphere of worship and sacrifice. It has been estimated that about 18,000 lambs were sacrificed in the Temple each Pesach. (7) Throughout the entire time of temple sacrifices, the band was playing and the Levitical choir was singing songs of praise, an integral part of the offering service. (8) In this atmosphere of praise Yeshua did miraculous signs and many believed in His name.

The Jewish sages have written:

“Why were the Levites selected to sing in the Temple? Because the name Levi means cleaving. The soul of him who heard their singing at once cleaved to God.”            (Zohar 2:19a)

The Levite’s principal service was to sing over the offerings brought to the temple.   There would never be fewer than twelve Levites standing on the platform to utter song over an offering; and more could be added without limit.(‘Arachin l3b) Others would also be standing there, who played on musical instruments – lyres, flutes, harps, trumpets and cymbals.   Some of the musicians were Levites and some were Israelites of distinguished lineage who were acceptable to intermarry with the kohanim. (MT ibid. J.)   By the time of Yeshua, Temple tradition required at least two lyres but nor more than six; never less than two flutes, nor more than twelve; never less than two trumpets, nor more than one hundred and twenty; never less than nine harps, but their number could be increased without limit. There was only one set of cymbals. (‘Arachin 13a)  

On all Festival Days and on New Moon Days the priests would blow on the trumpets at the time of the offering and the Levites would sing. The trumpet was made of a bar of silver. If it was made of pieces of silver, it was fit; but if made of any other metal, it was unfit. The pipe of the flutes upon which they played was a reed, for its sound is sweet. (Ibid. lOa.) A song would always end with a lone flute, for it makes a pleasant finale. (9)

On twelve days during the year the flute would be sounded in front of the Altar: at the slaughtering of the first Pesach [Passover] offering; at the slaughtering of the second Passover offering; on the first Festival Day of Passover; on the Festival Day of Shavuot (Pentecost); and on the eight days of Sukkot (the feast of Tabernacles).

Temple Worship wins out over ‘Oral Law’

Of interest is that the Oral Law now forbade the playing of instruments on Shabbat (the Sabbath), but because it was required for the offering it was allowed in the Temple, since Temple service was deemed to supersede the Sabbath.  This Mishnah declaring the playing of musical instruments to be work and therefor forbidden on Shabbat did mean, however, that no playing of musical instruments accompanied the Sabbath-Day worship in any Jewish synagogue. (9)

The Pascha Seder (Passover Meal)

Having completed the offering, Yeshua and His talmidim, along with the other pilgrims, left the Temple Mount with their lambs and placed them on a spit of pomegranate-wood in clay ovens specially prepared for the occasion, in courtyards all throughout Jerusalem.  After sundown every chavurah (predetermined group of people assigned to each offering) would gather round, performing the well-known Passover Seder, with the roast lamb as the centrepiece of the service. The Pascha Seder concluded with the singing of the Hallel, a collection of Psalms praising God for His deliverance of Israel from the Egyptian oppressors. The celebrants climbed up to the rooftops in Jerusalem where they could sing God’s praise in full sight of the Holy Temple. (8)  Maybe Yeshua did some of His miraculous signs up on those rooftops as God’s praises rang out throughout the city.

Miracles in Jerusalem

Each day, for the seven-day feast of Unleavened Bread, Yeshua was back in the temple worshipping and teaching the people and doing miracles.   Although Yeshua had no interest in performing a sign to prove to the religious leaders that He had the authority to do what they should have done, cleanse the temple, He none the less performed many miraculous signs in meeting the various needs of the Passover worshippers (John 2:23).  His was a power moved by compassion to meet human need.  In this one visit to Jerusalem, His talmidim saw both the strong severity and the tender compassion of their rabbi Yeshua.   He had indeed brought them to Jerusalem to see their people delivered, but the Roman soldiers were not the target of Messiah’s wrath.  

Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in His name.       John 2:23

Nicodemus comes by night

Interestingly the author of this gospel saw no reason to give us any details of what miracles Yeshua performed on this occasion and we are left to assume they included healings and deliverances as attested to in the rest of the gospels.  Whatever those signs were, they attracted the attention of at least some of the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin.  One of them, Nakdimon (Nicodemus), found where Yeshua was staying at night (possibly in the home of an unnamed talmid, maybe in the home of this gospel’s author) and came to Him to engage in that depth of discussion which was typical in rabbinical circles as they sort to understand fully the implications for life of the teachings of scripture (John 3:1-21).   Nicodemus may have been sent by the Pharisees, possibly by their currently less powerful sect, Bet Hillel, whose teachings were generally more aligned with those of Yeshua than the dominant Bet ShammaiYeshua does not disappoint this learned rabbi, this teacher of teachers, but immediately launches into a depth of discussion that impacts not only Nicodemus but also His young talmidim who work on memorising every word their rabbi is teaching.

You Must Be Born again…

Yeshua begins with something that both sounds very familiar to Nakdimon and yet, in this context, very strange:

“Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”   John 3:3 BSB

The general theological position of Jewish rabbis such as Nicodemus was that “to be born of water”, a rabbinic idiom for physical birth, as a Jew ensured their entry into the kingdom of God. Based on Isaiah 60:21 the Pharisees had developed this doctrine as recorded in the Mishnah (oral law) Sanhedrin 10:1 and in the Talmud, Sanhedrin 90a:

All Israelites have a share in the world to come. For it is written, Thy people shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

Over the years the rabbi’s developed a list of specific exemptions for Jews who rebelled against their God and heritage, but the basic doctrine was that if one was born a Jew he would enter the kingdom of God.  So to suggest that a Torah observant, God seeking, faithful Jew such as Nakdimon could not see God’s kingdom without being born again sounded incredulous.  What kind of new birth was Yeshua talking about?  

It was not that the concept of being ‘born again’ was foreign to Judaism. Pharisaic Judaism taught that there are eight ways to be born again.

There were two for which Nicodemus did not qualify. Proselyte conversion and becoming the Jewish king. When a Jewish man became king, he is said to be “born again.” He started a whole new life. Before, he was just a citizen of the nation, now he is the leader, with very different responsibilities and powers.   When a gentile converted to Judaism, he was said to be “born again” or “new-born”.  He moved into a whole new realm of life. He moved out of being Gentile and into being Jewish. He took on new responsibilities. He did not have responsibilities to the Mosaic Law before; now he is committed to the Mosaic Law and the traditions of first century Judaism. 

Nicodemus qualified, and had undertaken, the four chronological re-births available to studious Jewish men.  The first was when a young man entered adult responsibility, later called Bar Mitzvah and undertaken at 13 years, but during this earlier time referred to as “becoming obedient to Torah” and undertaken at 12 years.  The next one chronologically was marriage, as he is ‘new-born’ onto a new life with new responsibilities of being married instead of single.   We know that Nicodemus was married because it was one of the requirements for being a member of the Sanhedrin.  The next re-birth that a rabbi undertook was when he was about 30yo, became a ‘Rav’ and took on responsibility to teach the masses the doctrines of the rabbinic school to which he belonged.   At around 50yo he could be born again as a ‘HaRav’, head of a Yeshiva, rabbinic school, and responsible for developing doctrine. (10) (11)

In addition to these there were two recurring re-births undertaken by Pharisees such a Nicodemus.  The first was t’vilah (immersion).  Total immersion was, according to the developing Oral Law, required for most cases of ritual impurity decreed in the Torah. Immersions were required especially of the priests, since they had to be in a state of purity in order to participate in the temple service or eat of the holy things. Other individuals had to be ritually pure to enter the temple beyond the court of the Gentiles.  It became customary among the Pharisees to maintain a state of ritual purity at all times, which required frequent full immersions (baptisms), and so it was that many synagogues had mikveh’s (baptismal pools) attached to them.  Each immersion was considered a re-birth because he went from a state of ritual impurity to ritual purity.  The final way that Nicodemus had been born again was through repentance.  Repentance was also considered to be a new birth because it involved a new way of life, changing one’s mind from walking in unrighteousness to walking in righteousness.   Nicodemus may have expressed repentance frequently, and certainly would have done so at least yearly on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). (10) (11)

Yet it was clear that Yeshua was not talking about any of these means of being ‘born again’.  So Nicodemus expressed his incredulity that a faithful Jew could need anything more than all these in typical rabbinical style, by asking a question intended to expose the fallacy of Yeshua’s argument:

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”    John 3:4 BSB

Now it was set up beautifully for Yeshua to drive home his message:

“Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. John 3:5 BSB

Nicodemus’ confidence in being born of water, born as a Jew, was misplaced when it came to entering the kingdom of God.   Something other than this was needed.  Something other than coming of age or marrying or becoming a rabbi or the head of a rabbinical school or ceremonial immersions or even repentance or anything that man can do.   What was needed to enter the kingdom of God was something that only God’s Spirit could do.  Both men knew by heart such scriptures as Ezekiel 36:27: “I will put my Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them”; Ezekiel 37:14a “I will put my Spirit in you; and you will be alive”; Jeremiah 31:33 and Job 33:23-30 which closely parallels much of what Yeshua is saying in John 3:1-21. (12)

Yeshua continued:

Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind (Aramaic word play – ‘Rucha’ also = Spirit) blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.           John 3:7-8 BSB

Nicodemus wanted to know how.  How could it be that this most basic doctrine was false, that being a Jew did not ensure entrance into the kingdom of God?   How did being born of the Spirit work?  If everything he was as a Jew and everything he could do to live in the righteousness of Torah and ‘Oral Law’ obedience could not bring it about how could he be born again and fulfil his life-long hope and desire of entering into God’s kingdom?  It appeared that Yeshua was putting Nicodemus in an impossible situation where everything he had so confidently relied on for entrance into God’s kingdom was deemed inadequate and there was nothing he could do to make up the difference.

Yeshua questioned how Nicodemus could not understand this after all his years of studying and teaching the scriptures, even rising to the position of one who teaches other rabbis (Vs 10).   He then takes Nicodemus through scriptures he knows so well to help him see them with new eyes and understand how they relate to what is needed for him to be born of the Spirit.  Answering Proverbs 30:4 and referring to Daniel 7 Yeshua explained His deity and His origin in heaven, and therefore His authority as the Messiah, the Son of Man (Vs 11-13).  Then Yeshua adds to this lesson on Messiah from Numbers 21:8-9, what happened physically with Israel in the wilderness when they looked in faith on the uplifted serpent will happen spiritually with the Messiah – when Yeshua is lifted up on the cross those who look in faith on Him will be healed from spiritual death and be born again.  Just as the Israelites could not heal themselves of the snake bites, all their medical skills were unable to save their own lives, so also are they unable to save themselves, all their religious works are unable to achieve the needed spiritual birth. But what they could not do for themselves God did for each and every one who looked to the serpent Moses raised up in the wilderness for their healing.  The cause of their physical death was the serpents’ bite so it was a representative of these serpents that was raised up for their healing.  Even so the cause of mankind’s spiritual death is man, his own sinful nature, thus it is a representative of man, the Son of Man, who will be raised up for all to look to for the new birth and eternal life (Vs 14-15).  Then, while affirming God’s love for all peoples and desire to save them (Gen. 18:18, Psalm 107:1, Jer. 31:3) on to Ezekiel 18 about individual responsibility for sin, regardless of nationality, and therefor responsibility to look on and believe in the Messiah who will be lifted up for that sin (Vs 16-18).  This is the part that is man’s responsibility, not earning the spiritual birth but looking to the one who is able to give it.  Through Psalm 27:1, Psalm 89:14-18, Psalm 130, Isaiah 2:5 & 60:1-2 the need to come to and delight in the Light is espoused.  Yet Psalm 51 concedes even those born as Jews are brought forth in iniquity and love darkness to hide their sin and so live under condemnation, but those who practice the truth come to the light and look upon the One raised up for them. (13) (14)

Yeshua’s talmidim baptising followers…

After this time in Jerusalem for the eight day festival of Pesach (Passover), which foretold his upcoming death as the Lamb of God, Yeshua returned east to the Jordan region with his young talmidim and started immersing (baptising) people in water, even as Yochanan had been continuing to do.  

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptised.  Now John also was baptising in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptised.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.     John 3:22-24

Just as the miracles Yeshua had done in Jerusalem sparked Nicodemus’ interest in speaking with Him, so they also stirred many to come and be baptised by Him.  In fact now even more people were going out to Yeshua and being immersed by His talmidim than to Yochanan the baptiser.

Evidence of being apostéllō from God
He must Increase but I must decrease“…

They came to Yochanan, and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same immerses, and everyone is coming to him.”
Yochanan answered, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but, ‘I have been sent (apostéllō) before Him.’ 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. This, my joy, therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.”       John 3:26-30 HNV

Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) gives us an example of one who is truly operating in the authority of being apostéllō from God.  He is not jealous over “his ministry” to baptise, nor envious that more people are now flocking to Yeshua than to himself, but rather humbly views this as his great joy to see the many now bypassing him to go directly to the Son of God.   Yochanan’s apostolic mantra was: “He must increase but I must decrease”    Anything other than this, anything self-promoting or claiming that others must in some way come through us to get to Christ is not of the apostéllō of God.   This original apostolic reformation was one of practical love for others and rejoicing when they bypass us to go directly to God themselves.  Yochanan continued with this prophetic declaration:

He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His witness.  He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.   The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.  One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
John 3:31-36 HNV

This message brought joy and hope to many of the Jews, but was unsettling to the religious leaders, as was Yohanan’s levelling the same charges against them as against the ‘common people’:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his immersion he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance!  Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. I indeed immerse you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:7-12

Disciples doing the work of the ministry…

Meanwhile, there had already been a shift if what Yeshua was doing.  It was no longer Yeshua doing the baptising, but his young disciples.  How quickly He got them into doing the work of the ministry.  They did not know much yet, but they could do what they did know and learn through the doing.   There is no indication that Yochanan ever had his disciples doing the baptising for him, every record is of Yochanan being the one in the water getting everyone fully immersed, as well as the one preaching the fiery sermons and prophetically calling the people to repentance.   Yochanan’s disciples were learning everything he said but not yet doing what he did.   After all, the evidence suggests that Yochanan had only been preaching and baptising people for about 6 months when Yeshua came to be baptised, and the Passover was only about 3 months after that, so Yochanan had been ministering for less than a year (15) and his most promising disciples had left to follow Yeshua.  It is not surprising then that Yochanan’s disciples had not yet graduated to doing what their rabbi was doing in baptising people.  Normal Jewish practice would have them learning from their rabbi, John the Baptiser, for over a decade more, until they were around thirty years of age, before they would be considered ready to teach or baptise others.  Yet, in such a few short weeks of following him, Yeshua had his disciples doing the ministry, doing the baptising for Him.   And still the people kept coming, even though they would only be touched by Yeshua’s talmidim and not directly by Him, more and more people kept coming to be baptised as Yeshua’s talmidim.    

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptised more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptise, but His disciples)     John 4:1-2 NKJV

Yeshua’s disciples were doing the ministry of baptising the people for Him, to initiate them into being disciples of Yeshua.   Right from the beginning they understood that their calling was to bring people into following Yeshua, not following themselves.  So soon after they had begun to follow Yeshua, His disciples were beginning the process of making disciples for their rabbi.

As the word spread to the Jerusalem authorities that Yeshua was immersing more people than Yochanan, He left Judea with His disciples and headed back up towards Galilee.   Their next lesson was about to begin, and it was one that they were most unprepared for.

Reference List

1. Seasons and Months in Israel. Bible History. [Online] [Cited: 19th Nov. 2016.] http://www.bible-history.com/geography/seasons_months_israel.html.
2. When to Go. David’s Land. [Online] [Cited: 19th Nov. 2016.] http://davidsland.com/when-to-go-israel/.
3. Israel Weather and When to Go. Trip Advisor. [Online] [Cited: 19th Nov. 2016.] https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g293977-s208/Israel:Weather.And.When.To.Go.html.
4. What Is Passover? Chabad. [Online] [Cited: 19th Nov. 2016.] http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/871715/jewish/What-Is-Passover.htm.
5. Lauterbach, Jacob Zallel. Passover Sacrifice. Jewish Encyclopedia. [Online] 1906. [Cited: 19th Nov. 2016.] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11934-passover-sacrifice.
6. Jacobs, Rabbi Louis. High Priest Head of all priests had special rights and privileges. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 5th Oct. 2016.] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/high-priest/.
7. Coulter, Fred R. Chapter Seventeen – Later Passover Practices as Recorded by Jewish Historians. Truth of God – restoring original Christanity for today. [Online] [Cited: 22 April 2019.] https://www.cbcg.org/booklets/the-christian-passover/chapter-seventeen-later-passover-practices-as-recorded-by-jewish-historians.html.
8. Institute, The Temple. Facebook. [Online] 6th April 2015. [Cited: 21st April 2019.] https://www.facebook.com/22738684968/posts/the-levitical-choir-the-pesach-oven-seder-night-hallel-praise-to-g-dthroughout-t/10150531562509969/.
9. The Music of the Beth Hamikdash (the Jerusalem Holy Temple). Power of the Nigun. [Online] [Cited: 21st April 2019.] http://www.nigun.info/hamikdash.html.
10. You Must be Born Again. HaDavar Messianic Ministries. [Online] [Cited: 17th Oct. 2016.] http://www.hadavar.org/getting-to-know-god/you-must-be-born-again/.
11. Scott. Jewish Roots. Chosen People. [Online] [Cited: 17th Oct. 2016.] http://chosenpeople.com/main/jewish-roots/180–a-jewish-view-of-john-3.
12. Does the idea of being “born again” have a root earlier than John/Peter (or Jesus)? Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange. [Online] [Cited: 17th Oct. 2016.] http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/9338/does-the-idea-of-being-born-again-have-a-root-earlier-than-john-peter-or-jesu.
13. Santala, Risto. STUDIES IN THE LIFE OF JESUS. [Online] [Cited: 18th Oct. 2016.] http://www.ristosantala.com/rsla/Nt/NT13.html.
14. Trimm, James. John 3:3 — Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek? [Online] 26th Dec. 1998. [Cited: 18th Oct. 2016.] http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-hebrew/1998-December/000827.html.
15. Andrews, Samuel J. Date of the Lord’s Baptism, The Life of Our Lord Upon The Earth, Christian Classics. Bible Study Tools. [Online] [Cited: 18th February 2019.] https://www.biblestudytools.com/classics/andrews-the-life-of-our-lord-upon-the-earth/date-of-the-lords-baptism.html.

Yeshua Introduces God’s Kingdom as a Wedding

Yeshua’s teaching of His talmidim (disciples) was not just in the words He used. Every place He chose to go and every action He did was just as much a part of His teachings as His words were. If we want to learn what the scope and sequence of Yeshua’s curriculum was, then we need to follow Him step by step as He travelled around Israel, and beyond, teaching His followers.

Read John 2:1-11

Yeshua’s teaching of His talmidim (disciples) was not just in the words He used. Every place He chose to go and every action He did was just as much a part of His teachings as His words were. If we want to learn what the scope and sequence of Yeshua’s curriculum was, then we need to follow Him step by step as He travelled around Israel, and beyond, teaching His followers.

The days were starting to get brighter and warmer, the almond trees beginning to blossom and the late barley seeds were being sown when Yeshua and his talmidim were invited to a wedding back up in the Galilee region, in the town of Cana.  News must have travelled from the Jordan to Galilee for the wedding hosts to know that Yeshua now had a group of talmidim.  It was usual in Jesus’ day for talmidim to go everywhere with their rabbi in order to learn how to imitate his ways in every circumstance.  Judaism was, and is, faith in action. It is a whole way of life, it is what one does, it is one’s culture, not just a set of beliefs.  Yeshua affirmed such whole of lifestyle faith in His life and teaching. He also followed the first century Jewish rabbi-talmid model for transferring what He knew and how He lived to others who could then transfer it to still others.

Map of journey from John's baptism to the wedding in Cana

What it Means to be a Talmid (Disciple)…

  Jewish Rabbi-Talmid Relationship for Training Leaders

In this “religious leader training” model each talmid (disciple/learner) was a committed, lifelong student of his rabbi (teacher) who undertook, not just to gain knowledge from his rabbi, but to become like his rabbi through: 

1. Dedicating his entire life to his rabbi.  The first and most important responsibility of a talmid (disciple) was that of devotion to his rabbi, a willingness to forsake all for his rabbi.  This relationship between the disciple and his rabbi was the foundation upon which everything else was built.  The Jewish Talmud was later to record that Jewish law gave the rabbi precedence even over a parent “because the parent only brings the child to the life of this world, whereas the rabbi brings him into the life of the World to Come.” 
Yeshua made a similar demand in Luke 14:26-27 HNV: “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple.”  

2. Memorizing, and transmitting, the teachings of his rabbi.  In order to truly learn the teachings of one’s rabbi, a talmid (disciple) would first memorise his teachings, just as he had memorised the Torah during his early schooling, by reciting his rabbi’s  words over and over and over again until he knew them by heart.   Not only was a disciple to memorise the teachings of his rabbi, he was also to learn his rabbi’s scriptural interpretations and traditions. He needed to learn and transmit not only the words of his rabbi, but also his rabbi’s meaning in those words and how he lived them out.

3. Imitating the life of his rabbi. The mission of a rabbi was to be a living example of what it means to apply God’s Word to one’s life.  A talmid (disciple) apprenticed himself to a rabbi because the rabbi had not just filled his mind, but had also saturated his life, with scripture and had become a true follower of God.  The disciple sort to study the text, not only of scripture but of the rabbi’s life as well, for it was there that he would learn how to live out the Torah.  Even more than acquiring his master’s knowledge, he wanted to acquire his master’s character, his internal grasp of God’s law. As they headed to Cana the disciples were beginning on a journey of learning how to live like Yeshua.

4. Raising up more disciples. Pirkei Avot (“Ethics of Our Fathers”), one of the best-known and most-cited of Jewish texts, begins with example and exhortation to “raise up many disciples”. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)  

Yeshua developed a mentoring relationship with His talmidim (disciples), who dedicated their lives to him, learned His teachings by heart and followed His example as apprentices of life, while also learning to do this with others, teaching them how to follow Yeshua as they had learnt to follow Him.  Before He ascended into heaven Yeshua likewise commissioned His talmidim to:

Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim (disciples), immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and theRuach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit),and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.. Matthew 28:19-20 CJB

Yeshua our Unique Rabbi…

Here was a fundamental difference between Yeshua and every other rabbi, and an essential characteristic of this original apostolic reformation.  Every other Jewish rabbi eventually left his talmidim through death.   So as talmid (disciple) became rabbi they would raise up disciples after themselves.  Hillel and Shammai had both been talmidim of Shemayah and Abtalion, yet they each established their own school with their own teachings and lifestyles, and thus raised up disciples after their own likeness, not the likeness of Shemayah and Abtalion.   Yeshua gave His commission after conquering death and included in it the exhortation to remember that He is with us always, through all generations.  Therefore, those who follow Jesus are not to make disciples after ourselves but after Him, not in our likeness but in His, not to follow us but to follow Him. Thus, He would exhort His talmidim:

“But you are not to let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi’; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other’s brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ because you have one Father, and He is in heaven. Nor are you to let yourselves be called ‘leaders,’ because you have one Leader, and He is the Messiah!” Matthew 23:8-10

Yeshua‘s first lesson – a wedding…

All this was to come, and the journey was just beginning as Yeshua’s first disciples travelled with Him to a wedding, that His mother was also attending, in Cana, Netan’el’s hometown (John 21:2).  These first disciples were the brothers Andrew and Shim’on (Simon) Kefa (Peter), from Capernaum, Philip, from Bethsaida (where Andrew and Shim’on had also grown up), Nathaniel, from Cana, and several unnamed disciples (we know from Acts 1:21-23 that two of these were Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias). This first lesson from their rabbi included an affirmation of the importance of family, community and celebration.   Yeshua was just starting his ministry yet he ‘took time out’ to join with the rest of his family in this wedding celebration. 

Miriam (Mary), being a Jewish mother, would have been eager to hear all that had happened since Yeshua had left their home in Nazareth to go down to the Jordan where Yochanan was baptising.   Well she remembered that day when she first saw her relative Elisheva (Elizabeth) pregnant in her old age and heard her prophetic exclamation (Lk 1:41-45).  How often she had wondered what would become of their two sons and what would take place if their paths crossed again.  Now it had happened, and she knew it had been profound. There was something different about her Son, His ministry had begun.   So, when the wine ran out her expectation rose that this was the moment her Son would be revealed as the Son of God.   “They have no wine” she informed Him, and then to the servants “whatever He says to you, do it”.

Jesus’ disciples’ first lesson was profound on so many different levels.  They had seen with Yochanan the dire spiritual state of their people, even respected religious leaders did not escape the sharp sword of his prophetic exposure of their hearts.  The austere conditions, the need for all to publically humble themselves, confess their sins, repent and be washed, fully immersed, in the waters of Yochanan’s baptism, had made a lasting impression.   All this was needed because the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.   What was this Kingdom like?  What had Yochanan the Immerser’s ministry been preparing them for?   Yeshua was the living reality of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, and the first place He took them to so they could learn the nature of this Kingdom was a wedding.   The Kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding, a jubilant celebration of covenant love, full of singing and dancing, good food and fine wine, fun, joy and laughter, family, community and belonging. 

In such a place it was easy for these first disciples to forget the troubles of the nation and just enjoy this joyous celebration with their rabbi, as two families joined together as one.   That was until anxious glances caught their eyes and they heard the whispers: “They have no wine”.   

What sort of wedding was it that ran out of wine?   Something in it sounded like Yochanan’s warnings, like Isaiah 24, like their nation that had run out of the wine of joy in relationship with God under the corruption in the governing class and priestly aristocracy, the blatant despising of Torah of the Hellenises and the suffocatingly strict Eighteen Articles imposed by Bet Shammai.  

stone jars

Six stone jars for purification water stood empty.  Yeshua told the servants to fill them with water.  Would they need to go through more ritual washings and purifications to demonstrate a greater level of repentance?  The jars were filled to the brim.  

Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquetYeshua instructed, and the servant obeyed (John 2:8).

Quietly, without fanfare or announcement, with only the lowly servants as participants in the miracle, Yeshua had turned water into an abundance of the finest wine.  

Everyone heard the master of the banquet loudly complement the groom on this superior quality wine and marvel that it had been left to last.   As the joyful celebrations continued a sense of awe settled over the talmidim – the Kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet where the best is left to last, where the eve of despair becomes the morn of jubilation, where the water for purification is transformed into the wine for celebration, where Yeshua is the heavenly bridegroom and He ensures that there is no lack of the wine of joy.

Meeting family…

After the wedding celebrations Yeshua, his mother, brothers and followers walked east to Capernaum, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  This was where the brothers Shim’on (Simon) called Kefa (Peter), and Andrew, were now living and conducting their fishing business.  Kefa was married and his mother-in-law is mentioned later. Yeshua was introducing His family to theirs, in typical middle eastern style where an individual was not considered to be known unless you knew their family. (11) (12) (13) (14)

Shim’on and Andrew probably spent some time back in their fishing trade, providing for their family, even as they continued discussing and reflecting on what they had seen and heard thus far.  As Jewish rabbis were forbidden to receive payment for their teaching, and many students did not come from wealthy families, both rabbi and talmidim often plied their trade between teaching sessions in order to provide for themselves and their families. The named disciples had each now been afforded an opportunity to introduce their families to this new rabbi, Yeshua, whom they had begun following and whose ways they were committed to learning.

Reference List

1. Jacobs, Rabbi Jill. Pirkei Avot: Ethics of Our Fathers. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 13th Oct. 2016.] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/pirkei-avot-ethics-of-our-fathers/.
2. MJL Staff. Pirkei Avot- Ethics of the Fathers Chapter 1. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 13th Oct. 2016.] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/pirkei-avot-ethics-of-the-fathers-3/.
3. Huckey, Darren N. The Four Responsibilities of a Disciple. Arkansas : Emet HaTorah, 2013.
4. Laan, Ray Vander. Rabbi and Talmidim. That The World May Know. [Online] [Cited: 21st February 2019.] https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim.
5. Bivin, Roy B. Blizzard & David. Study Shows Jesus as Rabbi. Bible Scholars. [Online] [Cited: 21st February 2019.] https://www.biblescholars.org/2013/05/study-shows-jesus-as-rabbi.html.
6. Greenwold, Doug. Being a First-Century Disciple. Bible.org. [Online] 28th February 2007. [Cited: 21st February 2019.] https://bible.org/article/being-first-century-disciple.
7. Isidore Singer, Isaac Broydé, Joseph Jacobs, Judah David Eisenstein, Kaufmann Kohler, Max Landsberg. RABBI. Jewish Encyclopedia. [Online] 1906. [Cited: 21st February 2019.] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12494-rabbi.
8. Hyndman, Rob J. How old were the disciples of Jesus when they joined him? BibleQ. [Online] 5th November 2011. [Cited: 21st February 2019.] http://bibleq.net/answer/4801/.
9. Thiessen, Rick. How Old Were The Disciples? Ask Anything. [Online] 18th April 2017. [Cited: 21st February 2019.] http://ac3askanything.blogspot.com/2017/04/how-old-were-disciples.html.
10. Cary, Otis Cary and Frank.How Old Were Christ’s Disciples? 1, Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, July 1917, The Biblical World, Vol. 50, pp. 3-12.
11. Capernaum. Bible Walks. [Online] [Cited: 6th Oct. 2016.] http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/capernaum.html.
12. Easton, Paul S. Taylor & Matthew G. Capernaum. Bible Encyclopedia. [Online] [Cited: 6th Oct. 2016.] http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/capernaum.html.
13. Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. Peter’s House. Bible Odessey. [Online] [Cited: 11th Aug 2019.] https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/places/related-articles/peters-house.
14. Schneider, Wolfgang. Where was Simo’s and Andrew’s home? Bible Centre. [Online] 2009. [Cited: 11th Aug 2019.] http://www.biblecenter.de/bibel/widerspruch/e-wds25.php.

In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…

* Why do you think the first place Jesus took His disciples was a wedding?
* How do you begin your teaching of new believers?
* What did the disciples learn from the wedding?
* Why do you think Jesus’ first miracle involved turning water into wine – huge amounts of wine?
* Discuss the importance of family in your culture and in Jesus’ Jewish culture.
* Why do you think rabbi’s were forbidden to receive payment for their teaching? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this? What are the advantages and disadvantages of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers continuing to work in a trade to support themselves like Paul did?

Yochanan & Yeshua as God Sent Jewish Reformers

With reformation, the purpose is not to destroy the old but to set it back on the right path, to restore to original purity.

Read Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3 and John 1

Reformers are often popular with the people but never with the authorities whose power, status and security are based on the status quo.  With reformation, the purpose is not to destroy the old but to set it back on the right path, to restore to original purity.  Judaism had a long and proud history of reformers which included Moses, the judges, prophets, kings such as Josiah, priests such as Ezra, civic leaders such as Nehemiah, and movements such as the Hasidim from which had also come Pharisees, Essenes and Zealots

Now two new reformers stepped onto the stage. The first was Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist), a Nazirite from birth, as had been Samson and Samuel.   Although a Levitical cohen (priest), Yochanan, like the Essenes, had withdrawn from all the priestly and political power structures to seek God in the wilderness. There in the desert he waited for his commission from God to fulfil the prophesy that the angel had given to his father in the temple, and the prophesy that his father had spoken over him at his brit milah (circumcision and naming ceremony): 

…You, child, will be called a prophet of Ha‘Elyon (the Most High); you willgo before the Lord to prepare his wayby spreading the knowledge among his people that deliverance comes by having sins forgiven through our God’s most tender mercy… ”   Luke 1:76-78 CJB

God apostéllō Yochanan to prepare the way…

At last it transpired, in the autumn of his thirtieth year God spoke to Yochanan and, during the days of repentance leading up to the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Yochanan was apostéllō (sent with a commission to fulfil the task).

There came a man, sent (apostéllō) from God, whose name was Yochanan. John 1:6 HNV

Luke provides historical details to help us pinpoint time and chronology:

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to Yochanan, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He came into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming the immersion of repentance for remission of sins. As it is written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. All flesh will see God’s salvation.’” (Isaiah 40:3-4) Luke 3:1-6 HNV

Mark provides the prophetic background from the Tanakh:

As it is written in the Prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. (Malachi 3:1) The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!’” (Isaiah 40:3-4)

Yochanan came immersing in the wilderness and proclaiming the immersion of repentance for forgiveness of sins.          Mark 1:2-4 HNV

Matthew gives us a summation of his message:

In those days, Yochanan the Immerser came, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”       Matthew 3:1-2 HNV

Jewish Mikveh and baptism…

There was also a cultural context in which Yochanan’s baptism was proclaimed.  For the observant Jew tevilah (full body immersion) in a mikveh (Hebrew מִקְוֶה – literally translated as a “collection” of “gathering”, a body of ‘living’ water) had become the accepted way of attaining the ritual purity needed as God’s people.

Jewish Mikveh and John’s Baptism

Beginning in the late Hasmonean period, around the end of the second century BC or very early in the first century BC, Jews started developing a very distinctive practice of purification within water installations known as mikva’ot (plural of mikveh).  By the time of John the Baptist there were large numbers of especially constructed mikvah.  These have been found in excavations in Jerusalem, in outlying villages, and in rural areas.  There were even several in the temple and in Herod’s palace.  They were attached to synagogues and many larger homes.  This was part of the Mishnah (Oral Law) being formed during this period to guide the people in keeping the Torah.  (1)

The scriptural basis on which this practice was built begins on the third day of creation where the word ‘mikveh’ is first used in Genesis 1:10: “… to the gathering (mikveh) of waters, He called seas.”

The reasoning then follows to the Jew’s ‘baptism’ as they passed through the Red Sea in coming out of Egypt and being separated from the Egyptians (Exodus 14:15-22) with the waters piled up higher than their heads on their right and on their left.   Then to the injunction that before the LORD would come down on Mount Sinai to give them the Law the people had to consecrate themselves and wash their clothes, ascribed as a ‘baptism’ by these rabbis (Exodus 19:1-11).  When God instructed Moses on building the tabernacle He included the making of a bronze laver to be filled with water for Aaron and his sons to wash their hands and feet before going near the alter to minister or entering the tent of meeting (Exodus 30:1-21).  Not only did the priests need to be ritually clean (tahor) in order to serve at the tabernacle, but Leviticus 15 also prescribed the need for any Israelite who became ritually unclean (tamay) to bath and wash their clothes for ritual cleansing so as not to defile God’s dwelling place through their uncleanness.  

So it was, that the scholars of the Law came to insist that everyone be fully immersed in a mikveh to become ritually clean before entering the temple and that each man should immerse himself in a mikveh before praying or studying (activities of the synagogue), and some schools of the Pharisees also decreed that all the pots and utensils that the Jews ate or drank from also had to be first immersed in the mikveh, particularly if they had been made, sold or touched by a gentile.  The mikveh came to be seen as offering the individual, the community and the nation of Israel the remarkable gift of purity and holiness.  Even for the ritually pure, ascension to a higher level of spiritual involvement or holiness necessitated immersion in a mikveh.  So it made perfect sense for Yeshua to be baptised before his higher level of spiritual involvement of beginning his ministry.  

Several Jewish groups at this time, including the Essenes, observed ritual immersion every day to assure readiness for the coming of the Messiah.  What are we doing to make ourselves ready for the coming of the Messiah?  Are we living in that same expectancy of Christ’s return?

Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)  Revelation 19:7-8 NIV

Such was the perceived importance of this cleansing that Jewish law would come to state that constructing a mikveh take precedence even over building a synagogue or having a Torah scroll.

Another use of symbolic purification through immersion in water became part of Jewish tradition in the decades leading up to Yochanan’s immersion (John’s baptism) – that was immersion of Gentile converts to Judaism.  Debates on the subject of proselyte baptism are recorded between the rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel.   Whereas the school of Shammai stressed circumcision as the point of transition from Gentile to Jew, the Hillelites considered immersion (baptism) most important because it portrayed spiritual cleansing and the beginning of a new life.  The conversion to Judaism has been summed up as follows:

          “By three things did Israel enter into the Covenant: by circumcision, and baptism and sacrifice.  Circumcision was in Egypt, as it is written: ‘No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof’ (Exodus 12:48).   Baptism was in the wilderness, just before giving of the Law it is written” ‘Sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes’ (Exodus 19:10).  And sacrifice, as it is said: ‘And he sent young men of the children of Israel which offered burnt offerings’ .      (Exodus 24:5)… When a gentile is willing to enter the covenant… He must be circumcised and be baptised and bring a sacrifice.”  (Maimonides, 12th C)

Judaism regards the mikvah as personifying both the grave and the womb.  For the new convert, immersing fully into the water of the mikveh is both representative of descending into a grave in leaving the old pagan life behind, and of re-entering the womb, the place of mercy and God’s creative power.  Rising out of the water is a coming back to life as a newborn child, a new creation, with an entirely new identity as a Jew.  They are in essence reborn.  The Mishnah (Oral Law) states, “When he comes up after his immersion, he is deemed an Israelite in all respects.”  (Yevamot 47b)  “The individual who descends into the mikveh as a gentile emerges from beneath its waters as a Jew.” (2)

Rabbinical Judaism stressed that the entire body must come in contact with the water of the mikveh so no clothing or individual could touch the candidate when they descended under the water.  The person baptising was not present to dunk the candidate but to witness their profession of repentance and faith and to pronounce exhortations and benedictions over them.   The candidate would walk into water that was somewhere between chest to chin deep, and stand with feet apart and hands held out in front while making their professions, totally immerse themselves by squatting in the water then come straight away up out of the water.   Jewish baptismal candidates were often immersed three times because the word mikveh occurs three times in the Torah.

Not all mikva’ot were constructed.  Indeed those considered of the highest order were created by God.  The Mishnah (Mik. 1:1–8, ed. Danby) indicates that there were at least six grades of acceptable mikva’ot, listed from the worst to the best: (1) ponds; (2) ponds during the rainy season; (3) constructed immersion pools containing more than 40 se’ah of water; (4) wells with natural groundwater; (5) salty water from the sea and hot springs; and (6) natural flowing “living” waters from springs and in rivers.   So it was that Yochanan chose the highest grade of mikveh in which to immerse (baptise) the people who responded to his message – the flowing living waters of the Jordan River.

Yochanan’s message of repentance, teshuvah, is a familiar message during the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and the following “10 Days of Awe”, a period of introspection, repentance and good deeds in preparation for Judaism’s most sacred day of the year Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).  It was a yearly time for the whole nation to assess their spiritual condition and turn back to God, just as Yochanan was preaching.  Being immersed (baptised) during these days was a sign of inward cleansing in spiritual preparation for the Holy Days.  Yet, Yochanan did not cease baptising after the Day of Atonement, for his mission was not to prepare the people for the High Priest to enter into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, but to prepare the people for God to enter into their presence as the Messiah, to “make ready the way of the Lord”. (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

Yochanan was not introducing a new concept to the Jewish people with his immersion (baptism), but rather tapping in to something that had become strongly imbedded in their culture and religious practice – the exercise of fully immersing in water to become pure to enter God’s presence, whether that was entering the synagogue, entering the temple, or preparing to meet Messiah.

Yochanan as prophet…

Like the prophets before him, Yochanan was not a man who used flattering words to try to get the people to like him.  His message was uncompromising and his words sharp and to the point, removing every excuse and false sense of spiritual security:  

He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be immersed by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones! Even now the axe also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.” Luke 3:7-9 HNV

Yet, despite what might appear at first glance to be harsh insults, there was something about this man, a holiness, a genuineness, a total lack of hypocrisy, and a real love for the people that just kept drawing them to him even when his words were confronting.   Yochanan’s instructions on how they needed to change did not involve performing religious rites or endless purification ceremonies or bringing honours to himself, but a simple returning to the basics of their faith in living with integrity and demonstrating practical love for one another:

The multitudes asked him, “What then must we do?”

He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.”

Tax collectors also came to be immersed, and they said to him, “Rabbi, what must we do?”

He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.”

Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?”

He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”            Luke 3:14-18 HNV

Now Yochanan himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him. They were immersed by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. Matthew 3:4-6 HNV

To be baptised by Yochanan was a humbling experience, it involved acknowledging and confessing one’s sins.   This man could spot a phoney a mile away, no self-righteous religiosity earned any credence with him.  Only those willing to admit that they were sinners, that they had been failing to live as the people of God, and to confess the sins they had committed, would be baptised by Yochanan.   Just as the developing Jewish Oral Law demanded that the baptismal candidate strip naked so that no clothing could hinder the water from contact with every part of their body, so Yochanan demanded that they be stripped spiritually naked, every stitch of pride, self-righteousness and dependence on their Jewish heritage discarded to come before God in need of His forgiveness, cleansing and new life.

So many from all over Judea and even up in the Galilee were gathering to hear Yochanan and having their lives changed through their encounter with him that questions started arising.   “Who is this man?  Could he be the messiah we’ve been waiting for?” 

As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning Yochanan, whether perhaps he was the Messiah, Yochanan answered them all,
“I indeed immerse you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. Luke 3:15-18 HNV

He preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen.  I immersed you in water, but he will immerse you in the Holy Spirit.”     Mark 1:7-8 HNV

Yeshua comes to be immersed by Yochanan

The Jordan River after heavy winter rains
The Jordan River after heavy winter rains

It was now winter, the wet season in Israel, which brings with it dark and gloomy days and heavy rainfalls, ensuring a good flow in the Jordan River.  Yet not all was dark and gloomy, the clouds would clear and bright sunlight shine through, warming up the land.   The second reformer was about to be revealed, just as Yochanan was prophesying to all the people who came to him:

It happened in those days that Yeshua came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was immersed by Yochanan in the Jordan. Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”   Mark 1:9-11HNV

Map of Jesus' travel form Nazareth to John's baptism, then to the wilderness...

Then Yeshua came from Galilee to the Jordan to Yochanan, to be immersed by him.  But Yochanan would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be immersed by you, and you come to me?”
But Yeshua, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfil all righteousness.”
Then he allowed him. Yeshua, when he was immersed, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.  Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17 HNV

Now it happened, when all the people were immersed, Yeshua also had been immersed, and was praying. The sky was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In You I am well pleased.”   Luke 3:21-22 HNV

Yeshua is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit…

Jordean wilderness

Yochanan had come from the wilderness call Israel to repentance and baptise them, now Yeshua had been baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit He went into the wilderness for forty days in preparation for His ministry.   In the wilderness, He whose ministry would set people free from sin and the consequences thereof was tempted by Satan, the accuser:

Immediately the Spirit drove Him out into the wilderness.  He was there in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving Him.           Mark 1:12-13 HNV

Yeshua, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days.    Luke 4:1-2a HNV

Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  When He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry afterward.             Matthew 4:1-2 HNV

Matthew presents the three scriptural passages cited by Jesus (Deut 8:3, Deut 6:13, and Deut 6:16) not in their order in Deuteronomy, but in the sequence of the trials of Israel as they wandered in the desert, as recorded in Exodus.  Both Matthew and Luke describe that tempting in the wilderness and Yeshua’s response to each one with “It is written” and Torah obedience.  Throughout his life and ministry Yeshua placed heavy reliance on “it is written”.  It was the ‘Written Torah’ (ie the Tanakh – Hebrew scriptures) that He acclaimed as divinely inspired and needing to be followed in daily life.  Unlike the Sadducees, Yeshua attested to the divine inspiration of all three sections; Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and K’tuvim (Writings).  

Delegation of religious leaders from Jerusalem question Yochanan…

John testifies about Jesus, and then He returns from the wildness in the power of the Holy Spirit and John points everyone to the Lamb of God.

While Yeshua was winning the battle in the wilderness, the religious leaders in Jerusalem sent some of their own to question Yochanan.  The impact he was having on the Jewish people was such that they felt that they needed to know what he was about. 

Here is Yochanan’s (John’s) testimony: when the Judeans sent cohanim (priests) and L’vi’im (Levites) from Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) to ask him, “Who are you?” 
He was very straightforward and stated clearly, “I am not the Messiah.”      John 1:19-20 CJB

It is possible that this fourth gospel was written by one of those priests or Levites, as it provides no account of Yeshua’s baptism, which happened before they arrived, but detailed descriptions of what happened after they came from Jerusalem to question Yochanan (see blog on ‘Who Wrote the Gospels?’).

“Then who are you?” they asked him. “Are you Eliyahu (Elijah)?”
“No, I am not,” he said.
“Are you `the prophet,’ the one we’re expecting?”
“No,” he replied. 
So they said to him, “Who are you? — so that we can give an answer to the people who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?” 
He answered in the words of Yesha`yahu (Isaiah) the prophet, “I am The voice of someone crying out: `In the desert make the way of ADONAI straight!'” 
Some of those who had been sent were P’rushim (Pharisees). They asked him, “If you are neither the Messiah nor Eliyahu (Elijah) nor `the prophet,’ then why are you immersing (baptising) people?” 
To them Yochanan replied, “I am immersing people in water, but among you is standing someone whom you don’t know.  He is the one coming after me — I’m not good enough even to untie his sandal!” 
All this took place in Beit-Anyah (Bethany), east of the Yarden (Jordan River), where Yochanan was immersing.      John 1:21-28 CJB

Yeshua returns from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit…

Luke describes Yeshua as being “full of the Holy Spirit” after His baptism (Lk 4:1) and being “in the power of the Spirit” after his fasting and overcoming the temptations in the wilderness through Torah quotation and obedience (Lk 4:14).   In that power Yeshua was about to start preaching and performing miracles.

Yeshua (Jesus) returned to Beit-Anyah (Bethany), east of the Jordan, where Yochanan (John) was with his talmidim (disciples) continuing to preach and immerse (baptise) the people and testify to those sent from Jerusalem.  Yochanan now knew exactly what he had been apostéllō from God to do – prepare the way for the people to come to Yeshua:

The next day, he saw Yeshua coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came immersing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.”

Yochanan testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him.  I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to immerse in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who immerses in the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:29-34 HNV

Yeshua’s first followers…

It was from Yochanan’s talmidim that Yeshua’s first followers came.  They had witnessed Yeshua’s baptism, seen the dove, heard the heavenly voice and now their own rabbi, Yochanan, was testifying that this man was indeed the One he had been preparing them for, the Messiah, the Son of God. 

The Gospel’s Silence on the Names of all Disciples
Except the Twelve

All four gospels adopted the practice of only naming as disciples the twelve whom Yeshua also chose as foundational apostles.  Whenever others of His disciples are mentioned in the gospels they are not named, so that the focus remains on the twelve – such was the profound significance of having a group of twelve as foundational to the church.  

…God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.    Ephesians 2:19b-20  BSB

Since the gospel accounts focus on the twelve whom Yeshua would later choose out of the multitude of talmidim to be foundational apostles (Luke 6:12-16) it can be easy to miss the fact that others also followed Him, and were discipled by Him, throughout His ministry.  Acts 1:21-23 gives us the names of two of these faithful other talmidim (disciples) of Yeshua who were not recorded by name in the gospel accounts – Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthiah.  They are named in Acts only because they were both nominated as potential replacements for Judas Iscariot so that the twelve could be restored to being a foundation of twelve.  

Let us enter into the talmidim’s journey as they learn what it is to be a follower of Yeshua and become part of His apostolic reformation (God-sent restoration and fulfilment of Judaism).

Again, on the next day, Yochanan was standing with two of his talmidim, and he looked at Yeshua as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
The two talmidim heard him speak, and they followed Yeshua.     John 1:35-37 HNV

The scripture then goes into more detail about what following Yeshua involved in a practical sense on that day.

Yeshua turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?” 
He said to them, “Come, and see.”
They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.          John 1:38-39 HNV

This detail the gospel writer gives us about it being the 10th hour (about 4pm) is not only suggestive of intimate knowledge of the event but also ties in with Yochanan’s proclamation of: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”   The Passover lamb for each household was chosen on the 10th day of the first month (Exodus 12:3) and the Day of Atonement, on which the Israelites were cleansed from all their sins, was on the 10th day of the seventh month each year (Leviticus 16:29-30).

One of the two who had heard Yochanan and had followed Yeshua was Andrew the brother of Šimʻôn Kefa (Simon Peter).        John 1:40 CJB

Andrew (Ἀνδρέας, Andreas, in Greek), unlike his older brother, did not have a Hebrew name but a Greek one.  Giving your child a Greek name may not have been significant when Andrew was born as Bet Hillel still dominated the Sanhedrin with their open stance towards Gentiles and eagerness to proselytise them, but all that changed on the day when the Shammaites and Zealots triumphed over the Hillelites and the Sanhedrin adopted the “Eighteen Articles” which prevented all communication between Jew and Gentile by prohibiting the Jews from buying any article of food or drink from their heathen neighbours.  Andrew was likely just a young boy when this took place and the politics of hate escalated.   Having a Greek name during such a time could easily attract bullying in the schoolyard and derision from religious zealots who measured their own holiness by their disdain for all things heathen.   The name Andrew means “manly” and carries with it connotations of “brave”, “strong”, “courageous” and “warrior”.  This young man may have felt that he needed all these attributes to cope with the “religious” attitudes towards his name as he was growing up.  No doubt big brother Simon helped defend Andrew in many a youthful spat.  There were rabbis who would not have countenanced having a talmid with a Greek name, but neither Yochanan nor Yeshua were put off by Andrew’s name, nor did Yeshua see any need to give him a new name.  For these reformers true holiness did not rest on how exclusively Jewish one could claim to be, but on one’s demonstrated love for God and others.  Andrew was accepted by Yeshua just as he was, Greek name and all.

The other one who followed Yeshua that day remains unnamed.  This is in line with the convention in all four gospels of only ever naming as talmidim those who were numbered among the twelve.  Such was the significance and theological importance of the twelve that every other talmid (disciple) of Yeshua is either named but not referred to as a talmid, if the story necessitates the naming of those involved, or referred to as an unnamed talmid.  There is speculation that the other talmid with Andrew could be the author of this gospel, or maybe Joseph called Barsabas (whose surname was Justus) or Matthiah whom Acts 1:21-23 declares accompanied the twelve all the time that Yeshua walked among them from His baptism by Yochanan until His ascension even though their names are never mentioned as talmidim in the gospels.   It is impossible to know the identity of this talmid because we are given very few clues.    Some who walk with Yeshua have a public role to fulfil and are thrust into the spotlight of human records, while others have a more private role impacting those they walk with but hidden from the spotlight.   Here in this anonymous disciple is our first glimpse of the unknown and unnamed ones who walked with Yeshua. (12) (13) (14) (15).

Andrew was the first of Yeshua’s talmidim to engage in evangelism.   It was his natural and primal instinct.  When he is mentioned in the gospels Andrew is generally bringing someone to Yeshua.   He was a believer and an evangelist.  (16) (17) Not only did Andrew immediately believe Yochanan the Immerser and follow Yeshua, but scripture tells us that:

The first thing He did was to find his brother, Šimʻôn Bar-Yochanan (Simon son of John / Jonas in some versions), and take him to Yeshua with exclamations of “We have found the Messiah!”       John 1:40-41 CJB 

Šimʻôn was to have a major role in the spotlight.  Such roles display the individual’s strengths, and weaknesses, for all the see.  None except Yeshua can remain in the spotlight for long without being exposed as very flawed.  Reading the lives of those in the spotlight encourages us that God can do great things even through people as full of weaknesses and failures as ourselves.  Šimʻôn was a common Hebrew name which means “listen”.  Every time his mother called his name she was also calling for him to listen to her, but he did not have to carry his younger brother’s burden of having a foreign name.  Yet, Yeshua chose to give Šimʻôn a new name the very first time they met.  It was a prophetic name, speaking of the identity that Yeshua would be building into Šimʻôn to enable him to fulfil the task he would be given.  

Looking at him, Yeshua said,  “You are Šimʻôn Bar-Yochanan (Simon, son of John); you will be known as Kefa.(Peter)” (The name means “rock”).     (John 1:42b CJB)

Yeshua was determined to leave for Galilee the next day but took the time to search for Philip first.  The Good Shepherd seeks His sheep.  Plans were not more important than the people those plans involved and the Father’s will was for the unnamed talmid, Andrew and his brother Simon Peter, and Philip and his friend Nathaniel, and possibly others who are not named in this account, to accompany Yeshua to Galilee to be introduced to the Kingdom of God there.

The next day, having decided to leave for the Galil, Yeshua found Philip and said, “Follow me!”               (John 1:43 CJB)

The Greek text makes it clear that this was not just a call to casual acquaintance or a brief journey, but the present imperative tense commands ongoing action that calls for an ongoing lifestyle – a regular, long-term way of acting, a call to discipleship.   

Philip had grown up with Šimʻôn Kefa (Simon Peter) and Andrew in their fishing village of Beit-Tzaidah (Bethsaida), on the north-eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Being on the east side of the Jordan River, Bethsaida was in the territory of Herod Philip.  Like Andrew, Philip had a Greek name – Φιλιππος (Philippos) meaning “friend of horses”.  This distinction may have helped bind them close together growing up.  Also like Andrew, Philip’s first response to having been found by Yeshua was to seek out someone else and bring them to the Messiah.  Thus, Philip was the second of Yeshua’s talmidim to engage in evangelism and the first to do so outside of his immediate family.  It is unclear how Philip knew Natan’el, they may have become acquainted through their time with Yochanan the Immerser.

Philip found Natan’el and told him, “We’ve found the one that Moshe (Moses) wrote about in the Torah, also the Prophets — it’s Yeshua Ben-Yosef from Natzeret!”    (John 1:45 CJB)

Natan’el (Nathaniel) is a Hebrew name meaning “God had given”.  He came from a different more western town in the Galilee, Cana.  Most scholars believe that Natan’el is called Bar- Tôlmay (Bartholomew) in the synoptic gospels, which means “son of Tolmay” or “son of the furrows” which could mean that he was the son of a ploughman or farmer. (18) (19)  Natan’el retained some scepticism, even prejudice against anyone from Nazareth, which Philip responded to with the simple words “come and see”.  Yeshua’s declaration of Natan’el’s character upon seeing him, followed by a description of where Natan’el had been when Philip had called him was all that was needed to convince this earnest seeker and elicit the first declaration by any of the talmidim of Yeshua’s deity:

“Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” (Jn 1:49).

The baton passing from Yochanan to Yeshua

Less than a year after Yochanan had begun his ministry, the passing on of the baton of reform from Yochanan to Yeshua had begun.  Yochanan’s talmidim were becoming Yeshua’s talmidim (disciples).  At least five of them were now following Yeshua to Galilee (more if we believe the testimony of Acts 1:21-23): the unnamed disciple who may have been the author of this gospel, Andrew, Šimʻôn Kefa (Simon Peter), Philip, and Natan’el

Both Yochanan and Yeshua preached the same reformation message “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:1 & 4:17)  It was a message with strong messianic overtones.  It fitted with the expectations of many of the Jews at that time that there was something they needed to do to help usher in God’s kingdom on earth.  Unlike the Zealots, this reformation was not about raising an army against the Romans, or murdering gentiles who dared occupy the Holy Land or fellow Jews accused of associating with such gentiles; it was not purifying their land of evil (i.e. ‘others’) but purifying their own hearts and lives of evil.  Repent, turn back to God.  Stop living as rebels against Him and start living according to His ways, which are the ways of love.   In both Yochanan and Yeshua’s preaching, such repentance was to be evidenced in very practical ways in how they treated others.  This apostolic reformation was not focused on ritual purification or political power but on what these reformers saw as being of far greater importance, how each person treated others created in the image of God:

“He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.”      Luke 3:11

With this emphasis on practical love in action being central to the whole Jewish faith as God had ordained it, Yeshua and Yochanan were not far from the Pharisaic School of Hillel who had, at that time, been reduced to a minority party of the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin.  Hillel is recorded as saying:

Don’t do unto others what you would not want done to you – that is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary – go study” Babylonian Talmud, Shabbos 31a. (20) (21) (22)

Yeshua stated:

Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the Torah and the Prophets.     Matthew 7:12 HNV

And when a Torah scholar asked him “which is the greatest commandment in the lawYeshua answered:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.  A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’  The whole Torah and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”          Matthew 22:37-40 HNV

Jewish Rabbis only chose the best and brightest as talmidim.   As we have seen,the academic and intellectual testing for admittance was gruelling and only those with the sharpest wit and most exacting understanding of both Written and Oral Law would be accepted to take a Rabbi’s ‘yoke’ (teachings) upon them.   Yet both Yochanan and Yeshua appeared willing to accept anyone, regardless of family background, theological knowledge or capacity to provide a witty and insightful reply.

Reference List

1. Judaica, Encyclopaedia. Mikveh. Jewish Virtual Library. [Online] 2008. [Cited: 29th July 2019.] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/mikveh#4.
2. Slonim, Rivkah. The Mikvah. Chabad – The Jewish Woman. [Online] 29th July 2019. https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikvah.htm.
3. Editors, History.com. Yom Kippur. History. [Online] 21st August 2018. [Cited: 4th August 2019.] https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/yom-kippur-history.
4. Moseley, Ron. Mystical Mikveh Immersion – The Jewish Background of Christian Baptism. Essene. [Online] 2016. [Cited: 19th August 2019.] http://essene.com/B’nai-Amen/MysticalImmersion.htm.
5. Schiffmen, Lawrence H. From Text to Tradition – A History of Second Temple & Rabbinic Judaism. Brooklyn, NY : KTAV Publishing House, 1991.
6. Friedlander, Marty. Why Jews Immerse in the Mikveh. Haaretz. [Online] 1st Nov 2015. [Cited: 4th Aug 2019.] https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/why-jews-immerse-in-the-mikveh-1.5416019.
7. Slonim, Rivkah. The Mikvah. The Jewish Woman. [Online] 28th Dec 2017. [Cited: 4th Aug 2019.] https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikvah.htm.
8. Editors, One for Israel. The Jewish Roots of Baptism. One for Israel (Messianic Jews in Israel). [Online] [Cited: 4th Aug 2019.] https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/messianic-perspective/was-baptism-originally-jewish/.
9. Rosen, Ceil. Baptism: Pagan or Jewish? Jews for Jesus. [Online] [Cited: 4th Aug 2019.] https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/issues-v02-n10/baptism-pagan-or-jewish/.
10. Editors, Bibles for Israel. Mikvah (Baptism): The Connection Between Immersion, Conversion nd Being Born Again. The Messainic Prophecy Bible Project. [Online] [Cited: 4th Aug 2019.] https://free.messianicbible.com/feature/mikvah-baptism-the-connection-between-immersion-conversion-and-being-born-again/.
11. Peterson, Dr. Galen. Baptism. The Remnant. [Online] 2017. [Cited: 4th Aug 2019.] http://www.remnant.net/baptism.htm.
12. Biblical Hermeneutics. Stack Exchange. [Online] [Cited: 17th Oct. 2016.] http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/15372/in-john-135-who-were-the-two-disciples-of-john-the-baptist.
13. Iverach, James. John, The Apostle. Bible Study Tools. [Online] [Cited: 17th Oct. 2016.] http://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/john-the-apostle.html.
14. Phillips, J. The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved. Lockport, IL : TheDiscipleWhomJesusLoved.com, 2011, Fifth Edition. ISBN 13: 978-0-9702687-3-0.
15. Hulen, Amos B. The Call of the Four Disciples in John 1. 2, 1948, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 67, pp. 153-157.
16. Wellman, Jack. The Apostle Andrew Biography, Life and Death. What Christians Want to Know. [Online] [Cited: 10th Aug 2019.] https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/the-apostle-andrew-biography-life-and-death/.
17. Andrew, the First Apostle. 12.eu. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 10th Aug 2019.] http://www.12.eu/andrew.
18. Wellman, Jack. Who Was Bartholomew In The Bible? What Christians Want to Know. [Online] [Cited: 11th Aug 2019.] https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/who-was-bartholomew-in-the-bible/.
19. Zavada, Jack. Nathanael – The ‘True Israelite’. Learn Religions. [Online] 25th January 2019. [Cited: 11th August 2019.] https://www.learnreligions.com/nathanael-the-true-israelite-701068.
20. Astor, Yaakov. Loving Thy Neighbor: Judaism’s Unique Approach. SimpleToRememer – Judaism Online. [Online] 1st June 2012. [Cited: 15th Oct. 2016.] http://www.simpletoremember.com/jewish/blog/loving-thy-neighbor-judaism/.
21. Jacobs, Rabbi Louis. Hillel – The preeminent rabbi of first century Palestine. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 15th Oct. 2016.] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hillel/#.
22. Philologos. The Rest of ‘The Rest Is Commentary’. Forward. [Online] 24th Sept. 2008. [Cited: 15th Oct. 2016.] http://forward.com/culture/14250/the-rest-of-the-rest-is-commentary-02564/.

In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…

* Who are some of the people that God called to reform His people?
* How did John the Baptist prepare for his calling? What has God used to prepare you for your calling?
* What propelled John into his ministry? What propelled you into your ministry?
* What was John the Baptist’s message?
* How had the development of the Jewish Mikvah prepared the people for John’s baptism? What has God implanted in your culture to prepare your people for what God is calling them to do?
* Which two of Jesus’ first disciples immediately reached out to invite others to follow Him? What do you think of the other first disciples who didn’t immediately evangelise, and what do you think Jesus’ reaction to them was?
* What did the repentance that both John and Jesus preached involve?

Yeshua’s Youth

Yeshua grew up in a devout Jewish family in the strongly religious region of Galilee.

Read Luke 2:40-52

At the beginning of Archelaus’ reign over Judea he was faced with sedition by some of the Pharisees, incensed at a despised Samaritan ruling over them, and crushed it with great severity.  This incited increasing anger and hatred among the general population, strengthening the hand of Bet Shammai and reinforcing their fear of all those associated with Rome.

Life in Galilee…

It was in the district of Galilee, under the Tetrarch Herod Antipas, that Yeshua grew up among this strongly religious and culturally conservative rural Jewish population. The name “Galilee” comes from the Hebrew word galil which means “circle” or “region”. The region of Galilee in the first century CE was encircled by Syro-Phoenicia stretching along the eastern Mediterranean coastline and northwards, by Gaulanitis to the north-east, by the Hellenistic settlements of Decapolis to the south-east, and by Samaria to the south which separated Galilee geographically from Judea.

Even though Galilee was encircled by Greek-speaking pagan cities, Scythopolis, Hippos, Caesarea, Philippi and Kadesh, and was under the authority of Greek-speaking rulers, most Galileans spoke Aramaic, or possibly Hebrew. Archaeologists have found only a few Greek inscriptions in the villages of upper Galilee, most being Aramaic/Hebrew, and there is little clear evidence Greek was spoken in the villages of lower Galilee. In first-century Galilee, Greek was mainly the language of those with political and administrative power. The evidence shows that it only made serious inroads in the second century CE, while Latin is virtually unattested in the region. In general, it seems that first-century Galilee was not as Hellenised as Judea, possibly because most Galileans were rural dwellers.

Herod the Great’s building programs had not reached into this area and it was without the Greco-Roman architecture prominent in other districts.  His son, Herod Antipas, focused on building up this district. He was not as cruel or capricious as his father or elder brother. He was an able leader and sought the good will of the Galileans so did not antagonise their sensibilities by building ostensibly Hellenistic or Roman structures. Antipas’ reign brought a period of peace and calm with no significant violent conflicts recorded between him and his subjects.  He completely rebuilt the city of Sepphoris, only 4 miles from Nazareth, where Yeshua grew up, and made it his capitol.  Galilee, however, remained without the common icons of Greco-Roman culture: no amphitheatre, no gymnasium, no stadium and no nymphaeum (large, elaborately decorated fountain).  The only public buildings were the synagogues.  Yet, while not forcing Hellenism on the independent and deeply religious Galileans, Antipas showed little interest in adopting their personal piety or living according to Torah

Schooling…

Jews were the only people in the ancient world who made educating your children a religious requirement.

Galilee surpassed even Judea in its schools of learning, and most of the famous rabbis of Yeshua’s day were from Galilee (Johnanan ben Zakkai, Hanina ben Doda, Abba Yose Holikufri, Zadok, Halaphta, and Hananian ben Teradyon).   Yet socially Galileans were considered simple rural folk who spoke a backward dialect.   Yeshua’s education in Judaism, like that of all children of pious Jewish families, began at home as a way of life, every aspect of which was governed by Torah and the increasing regulations that the Pharisees were adding to it.  At five years of age Yeshua would have joined the Bet Sefer (House of the Book) in the local synagogue, to begin his formal studies.  There the young children learned to read, write and memorise the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) over the next five years.  It is contested whether girls also attended the Bet Sefer.  (1) (2) 

And the child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.    Luke 2:40 NIV

Schooling in 1st Century Judaism

All Jewish boys attended two levels of schooling in their local synagogue.  From ages 5 – 9 they attended Beit Sefer (House of the Book) and from 10 – 14yo they attended ‘Beit-Talmud’ (House of Learning).   Very different teaching styles were used for the two different age groups.

On the first day of Beit Sefer the teacher asked each student to lift up their slate. Then he put some honey on each slate. He then asked the children to lick off the honey from their slate. While they did, the teacher quoted from Psalm 119:103 “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! [yea, sweeter] than honey to my mouth!   The teacher or scribe read from the Torah in Hebrew, and when needed an interpreter, known as the meturganim (one skilled in languages), then shouted the scripture back in Aramaic so the children could repeat it in their spoken tongue.   Scripture was often chanted musically to help with memorisation.  The expression “the chirping of children” referred to what people heard when walking past the synagogue as the children were reciting their verses in song.  In eastern education repetition was the key to learning and these early years of schooling involved continual repetition as the words of the scripture had to be firmly implanted before the meaning could be explored.   Lessons took place every day of the week, including Shabbat (Sabbath –ie from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday), the difference being that no new material was presented on this day, they just repeated what they had been learning through the week.  As it was the Pharisees who had a passion for all the boys of the Jewish masses to be educated in Torah, they were the ones who organised and ran these Synagogue schools throughout Israel and the diaspora.

The next stage of Jewish education was ‘Beit-Talmud’ (House of Learning) for boys aged 10-14.  At home they were also learning their father’s trade during this time. In ‘Beit-Talmud’ Yeshua and his classmates memorised the rest of the Tanakh ( תַּנַ״ךְ, Hebrew Bible) and learnt the art of rhetorical debating of questions and answers, as they also begun studying the Mishna (Oral Law) and interpretations.  Instead of giving a rote answer that was simply learned as knowledge, the young Hebrew pre-teen had to give thought to the question and then answered the question with another question.  (3) (4) (5)

It was this training that prepared Yeshua for his visit to the temple for the “fulfilling of the commandments”when he was 12 years old.  After the destruction of the second temple in 70 A.D. this was replaced in Jewish culture with what we know today, the Bar Mitzvah – a formal ceremony where a Jewish boy, at the age of 13, transforms from a boy into a man, having the full religious rites and responsibilities of an adult male.   (6) (7) 

12yo Yeshua in the Temple…

His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. Luke 2:41-45 HNV

A pilgrimage from the Galilee to the Temple in Jerusalem was so expensive and time-consuming that many pious Jews did not make it every year, some only once in a lifetime.  Although Exodus 23:17, 34:23 and Deut 16:6 all command every Jewish male to appear before the Lord three times a year – for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Booths (Sukkot), schools of Pharisees had re-interpreted the scriptures to mean that pilgrimage was associated with these festivals and ruled that “to appear” meant instead that when one made a pilgrimage they were to bring an “appearance” sacrifice to the Temple and not come empty handed (Mishnah, Hagigah 1:6)  (8) (9).    Joseph and Mary were both exceptionally devout in making this long pilgrimage every year, and it appears that they took the scriptures much more literally than the ‘sages’ of their day whose rulings are recorded in the Mishnah.

When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Yeshua stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it, but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.      Luke 2:42-45 HNV

As Matthew 1:25 records, Joseph had no union with Mary until she gave birth to Yeshua.  Once Mary had gone through her ritual purification from childbirth and the associated bleeding, she and Joseph fulfilled the final part of their nissuin (wedding) – the consummation of their marriage.  From this point on they continued to fulfil the Biblical command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28).  Scripture describes Yeshua as having four brothers – James, Joseph (Joses), Jude and Simon – and some sisters (Matthew 12:46-50 & 13:55-56; Mark 3:31 & 6:3; Luke 8:19; John 2:12 & 7:3; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:5; and Galatians 1:19).  It is possible that His family travelling to Jerusalem for this special occasion included up to six younger siblings on this occasion.  For Mary and Joseph to be focused on the care of the younger, more vulnerable, ones as they started travelling back home and assumed that the eldest was with the wider group of their relatives and neighbours would not have been unusual.  They had undertaken this journey for the last 12 years and Yeshua had never given them any cause for concern before.

It happened after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the rabbis, both listening to them, and asking them questions.  All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Luke 2:46-47 HNV

There is intriguing speculation that Yeshua may have been talking with Hillel and/or Shammai during these three days in the temple, but it is more likely that it was with younger rabbis who had been trained by them.   They were clearly engaging in the rhetorical debate in which every Jewish boy was trained.   What was remarkable in these exchanges was not that Yeshua engaged in such debate, but the depth of understanding he demonstrated with the questions that he answered them with.  Also of note was that such discussions were more important to him, as a 12 year old, than all the attractions a large city like Jerusalem would have for a boy from rural Galilee.  When his parents eventually found him Yeshua’s response to his mother carried a strong sense of identity and divine mission even at this age:

He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”    Luke 2:49 HNV

Most Jewish young men continued working in their father’s trade to help support their family after their “fulfilling of the commandments” in Jerusalem. 

Tertiary Education in 1st Century Judaism

Only the most gifted scholars went on to ‘Beit Midrash’ (House of Study) after reaching 13-15 years of age, in order to train to become a scribe or rabbi.    To do so the young man needed to find a rabbi that he respected and request to become his תלמידם – talmid (disciple).  Rabbis did not usually go and seek out their own talmidim (disciples); they were few in numbers and their prestige and honour was such that ambitious young men came to them requesting admittance into their Beit Midrash.  It was important that the talmid follow the teachings of their particular rabbi because each rabbi carried different interpretations of the Tanakh ( תַּנַ״ךְ, Hebrew Bible) and Mishna (Oral Law).  If a rabbi thought that the prospective talmid was worthy of consideration, he would quiz him to see how committed he was, how well he knew the Tanakh and Mishna and how well he was able to put it to debate in line with the interpretations of that particular rabbi.  The testing was gruelling. Critical thinking and the art of answering questions with questions were heavily engaged.  

If the young man passed, and the rabbi thought he had it in him to become a scribe or a rabbi like himself, he was then told to “take my yoke upon you.”  Those were the words that every Jewish young man ambitious to enter into the Beth-Midrash longed to hear.  He was now accepted into higher education. To take his rabbi’s yoke meant the talmid (disciple) was willing to take on that rabbi’s interpretation of the Torah as his own, become his student in all aspects of life, and do all the work that was required ahead of him in learning how to live the Torah in the exact same way that his rabbi lived it. The young man was then obliged to leave his father, mother, synagogue, community, and family business to devote his life to following his rabbi – everywhere. Rabbis demanded honours of first rank, even surpassing those bestowed on parents.  If the rabbi travelled, his talmadim (disciples) travelled with him. Every detail of the rabbi’s life was copied, including his walk, talk, and mannerisms. The rabbi’s job was to teach his students along the way, testing them continuously, to become just like himself.  There is a prayer that comes from the Mishnah that says: “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi,” meaning you followed your rabbi so closely that you get covered with the dust his sandals flung up as he walked, which was considered a great honour.  

Although we cannot categorically say that He did not, there is no evidence that Yeshua took this next step of formal education, even though His performance in the temple proved that He was eminently qualified to do so in terms of ability.   Yeshua may have felt that to commit to taking another rabbi’s yolk (interpretations) upon Himself as His own was not compatible with His mission of bringing a distinctly heavenly perspective to Torah.   There may also have been more earthly considerations.  We know from scripture that Yeshua had at least six siblings, all younger than himself.  The evidence of scripture also suggests that Mary’s husband, Joseph, had died before Yeshua began his ministry.  If Joseph died while Yeshua was a teenager, then as the oldest son He would have taken responsibility for His mother and younger siblings, providing for them until the youngest had finished their education and was able to provide for themselves, and then ensuring that His mother would have her needs cared for before He left to begin His ministry.   Doing this as His first priority, in honouring His father and mother, could have meant that Yeshua aged out of being eligible to study with a rabbi before he was relieved of this family responsibility.  What would have been considered in that society as unfortunate for a talented young man like Yeshua was in actuality part of the Father’s perfect plan for the Son to live and teach His own, and not another rabbi’s, interpretation of the scriptures. (4) (10)

Yeshua’s later teaching supports this:

And He said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commandments of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, “Honour your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is ‘Corban’ (that is, devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.  Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”     Mark 7:9-13a NIV

Anti-Semitism and Hellenization …

There were many other currents in the surrounding society as Yeshua was growing up.  Anti-Semitism and Hellenization were clashing with traditional Judaism and the proselytization of their heathen neighbours even while the two dominant schools within pharisaic Judaism were engaged in increasingly bitter conflict with one another.  All of these were shaping the world that He was preparing to minister to.   

Anti-Semitism in the 1st Century

Anti-Semitism already had deep roots in the prevailing Greeco-Roman culture. History wars were continuing between Jews and Egyptians while culture wars raged between religious Jews and Hellenists. The political and philosophical concern for tolerance, sociability and co-operative citizenship was a central feature of the Hellenistic era as the founding of new cities, the new mobility of populations, and the cultural mixing among the civic elite created new ‘virtues’ and their corresponding vices.  Thus the Jewish virtue of remaining faithful to their God and culture, preserving themselves as a distinct people, was to Hellenistic thinking a terrible vice which Plato had designated as a sign of feral character.  The dominant culture of the time demanded mutual acceptance and respect for others’ gods and customs, along with reciprocal hospitality. These were considered the fundamental social virtues supported by the Stoic notions of a universal humanity.  They lay in stark contrast to the Pharisees’ Essenes’, Hasidim’s or Zealot’s way of life and teachings about the need to be separate from the gentiles, to worship only Yahweh as God, observe the Jewish dietary laws, refrain from participating in other’s religious practices and keep pure from intermarriage.  By Roman times the worst vice and most unpardonable sin in the eyes of the dominant culture was that committed by the Jews, wherever they were found throughout the empire, of social aloofness and failure to integrate into the pagan civic life of the rest of the population.  The Jews thus became the antitype of the values of tolerance and social reciprocity considered in Hellenism as necessary for the well-being of civilization as a whole. (11) (12)

Apion (25 BC – 48 AD), a Hellenized Egyptian grammarian, sophist, and commentator on Homer, rose to prominence in Alexandria.  He was renowned for his exceptional oratory skills, his vast knowledge, his ostentatious vanity and his bitter hatred for the Jews.  Apion was consciously part of a Graeco-Roman anti-Jewish intellectual tradition that had included Manetho, Posidonius, Apollonius Molon, Cicero, Horace, Hecataeus, Chaeremon, Lysimachus and Tacitus. Over the centuries a set of standard charges had been developed to lay at the door of the Jews.  These included that their ancestors were lowly, leprous and diseased slaves who ate animals that represented the gods and thus angered them, causing the Egyptians to drive them out of their country.  Jews were depicted as carriers of disease, physically, intellectually and culturally inferior, antisocial, and as atheists who denied the gods.  Circumcision was a constant subject for coarse jokes. Sabbath-observance described as an indulgence in idleness, only the upper classes of other peoples had any such indulgence.  Also causing particular angst with their neighbours was the Jewish attitude of superiority, social separation from non-Jews, rejection of all the pagan religions, proselytization and efforts to replace Greek and Roman laws with Jewish ones.   Apion was a master at inciting hatred for ‘the other’ and worked to rouse the fanaticism of the populace against the Jews by coming up with additional charges against them.  “Every year”, he said, “it was the practice of the Jews to get hold of some unfortunate Hellene, fatten him for the year and then to sacrifice him, partaking of his entrails and burying his body, while during these horrible rites they took a fearful oath of perpetual enmity to all other peoples”.   Under such influence the educated Roman regarded the Jew with a mixture of contempt and hatred, bitter that this despised race confronted him everywhere, with a religion so uncompromising as to form a wall of separation, and with rites so exclusive as to make them not only strangers but enemies. Yet still Romans were turning to Judaism in increasing numbers, even among the elites, and this aroused even greater fear and suspicion among the populist masses.  Apion’s orations roused the citizens of Alexandria to riot against the Jews, attacking individuals, homes and businesses. (13) (14) (15) (16) (11)

Philo Judaeus (25 BCE – 50 CE), a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher from one of the leading Jewish families in Alexander, also rose to prominence at this time.   When Apion led a delegation from Alexander to disparage the Jews to Caesar it was Philo who led the Jewish delegation to clear their name and seek Roman protection from the riots incited against them.  Philo is considered the epitome of how intellectual Jews of the Dispersion, isolated from Palestine and their native culture, allowed Hellenistic influences to shape their theology and philosophy.  He tried to fuse and harmonize ancient Greek philosophy and Judaism, using a composite of Jewish exegesis and the art of allegory he had learned from Stoic philosophy. Philo was thoroughly educated in Greek philosophy and culture with a superb knowledge of classical Greek literature. He had a deep reverence for Plato and referred to him as “the most holy Plato” (Prob.13). Philo’s philosophy represented contemporary Platonism which was its revised version incorporating Stoic doctrine and terminology, as well as elements of Aristotelian logic and ethics and Pythagorean ideas.  Philo put forward the teachings of Moses, as “the summit of philosophy” (Op. 8), and followed the earlier Hellenistic Jewish tradition of considering Moses to be the teacher of Pythagoras and of all Greek philosophers and lawgivers. For Philo, Greek philosophy was a natural development of the revelatory teachings of Moses.  

Philo attempted to achieve a twofold purpose through his writings:

  1. He endeavoured to justify the Jewish religion to the cultured people of Greco-Roman society. In view of the deterioration of pagan society and religion, he had a splendid opportunity to portray the Jewish faith as fulfilling ‘the desire of all nations.’
  2. He tried to show and persuade his strict coreligionists that Greek philosophy and learning were not actually hostile and opposed to the tenets of the Hebrew religion but that each stood for practically identical principles.

Philo thus adopted an eclectic viewpoint, one in which he blended the theological concepts of the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) with Greek philosophical principles.   .   (17) (18) (19) (20)

Middot – Hillel’s Seven Rules for Biblical Interpretation

Such synthesis of scripture and Greek philosophy was abhorred in Judea.  The Tanakh was to be interpreted with reference to itself and the thinking of the great Jewish sages, not to Greek philosophy.  Hillel (60 BC – 10-20 AD?) established seven rules of biblical interpretation called middot (measures / norms). These rules aim at moving from peshat (literal sense) to remez (legally binding principle) for applying Torah to everyday live.  They were exemplified in the Tenach (Hebrew Scriptures) and, being the ‘norm’ for scriptural interpretation in Israel during NT times were used by both Yeshua and the NT writers. They did not, however, ensure unanimity of interpretation.  Hillel’s Seven Rules were:
1. Kal vachomer” (light and heavy / minor and major).  What applies to a less important case will certainly apply in a more important case.  A kal vahomer argument is often, but not always, signalled by a phrase like “how much more…”  Tenach examples include: Prov. 11:31, Jeremiah 12:5a, Jer. 12:5b, Deut. 31:27, 1 Sam. 23:3, Ezekiel 15:5 & Esther 9:12.  Examples of Yeshua’s use include: Mt. 6:26,30, Lk 11:13, Mt. 12:11-12, Jn 7:23, Mt. 10:25, Jn 15:18-20 and Jn 7:23.   Shaul (Paul) studied under Hillel’s grandson, Gamilel, and also frequently used kal vahomer (eg. Rom. 5:8-9, 10, 15, 17; 11:12, 24; 1Cor. 9:11-12, 12:22; 2Cor. 3:7-9, 11; Philippians 2:12; Philemon 1:16; Heb. 2:2-3; 9:13-14; 10:28-29; 12:9, 25.)  
2. Gezerah shavah” (equivalence of expressions).  If the same word occurs in two Biblical passages, then the law applying in the one should be applied to the other.  Tenakh example: By comparing 1 Samuel 1:10 to Judges 13:5 using the phrase “no razor shall touch his head” we may conclude that Samuel, like Samson, was a nazarite. This found far less use in the NT.  We have the opening of Mark’s gospel where he links Malachi (3:1) and Isaiah (40:3) through the shared term “way” (1:2-3) and Mat. 15:1-9 where Yeshua links Exo 20:12 & 21:17 about honouring father and mother.

3. Binyan ab mikathub echad” (building up a “family” from a single text). One explicit passage is used as a foundation or starting point so as to constitute a rule for all similar passages or cases.

4. Binyab ab mishene kethubim” (building up a “family” from two or more texts). A principle is established by relating two texts together: The principle can then be applied to other passages.  The writer of Hebrews uses these two in establishing principles for blood and showing the Messiah to be of a higher order than angels.

5. Kelal uferat” (the general and the specific).  A general principle may be restricted by a particularization of it in another verse – or, conversely, a particular rule may be extended into a general principle. A Tenach example: Genesis 1:27 makes the general statement that God created man. Genesis 2:7, 21 particularizes this by giving the details of the creation of Adam and Chava (Eve).
6. Kayotze bo mimekom akhar” (analogy made from another passage).  Two passages may seem to conflict until a third resolves the conflict. Examples from the Tenach: Lev 1:1 & Ex. 25:22 resolved by Num. 7:89; 2Sam. 24:9 & 1Chr. 21:5 resolved by 1Chr. 27:1.  In Romans Shaul (Paul) uses Gen. 15:6 to resolve Ps. 62:12 & Ps. 32:1-2.

7. Davar hilmad me’anino” (explanation obtained from context). The total context, not just the isolated statement must be considered for an accurate exegesis.

The men who penned the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) participated in the Hebraic thought pattern of the sages and rabbis of their time period in interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures.   From Hillel’s rules for interpretation we can see three fundamental principles in Torah hermeneutics: logic, analogy and comparison.  These were the underpinnings of all Tenach interpretation by the Jewish sages and Torah scholars, including Yeshua and the NT writers.  In contrast, Hellenistic thinking reduced everything to logical interpretation alone and so lost much of the richness of the Hebraic way of thinking and Torah understanding. (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27)

Jewish evangelism …

This was also a time of Jewish proselytization.   The prophets during the exile had brought a greater emphasis on the reality that God is not just a tribal God of the Israelite nation but a universal God of all humanity.   With this emphasis on Judaism as a universal faith, formal proselytization developed, especially through the dominant Pharisaic school, Bet Hillel.  Jewish teachings and ways exerted a fascination among both the aristocracy and the common people of the Roman Empire and their proselytization was so successful that ten percent of the population became Jewish. (28)

Change in Leadership Over Judea…

After ruling for 10 years with a brutality rivalling that of his father, but without his father’s nation-building capacity, Archelaus was removed by the emperor Augustus in 6 A.D. and replaced by a Roman Prefect.  Ananias, son of Seth, was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Judaea that same year.  Ananias officially served as High Priest for ten years (6–15 CE), when at the age of 36 he was deposed by the procurator Gratus.  He remained as one of the nation’s most influential political and social individuals, aided greatly by the use of his five sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas as High Priests.  There are Talmudic references to the unworthiness of the High Priests during this period. (29) (30) (31)

Origins of Tax Collectors…

After the banishment of Archelaus, the Roman procurator, Coponius, attempted to directly tax the Jews and ordered a strict census for that purpose. B oth major pharisaic schools, Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai protested. They stigmatised the new measure as being so outrageous as to justify all schemes by which it might be evaded.   Both schools also promoted abhorrence of every Jew who was officially concerned in carrying it out – even their testimony before any Jewish court was deemed worthless.

Hatred of “the other”…

In this atmosphere of heightened discontent with Roman rule Judas of Galilee (son of Hezekiah whom Herod had executed) and Zadok, of the Shammai school, united in forging the Zealots into a significant political league whose objective was to oppose by every means the practice of Roman laws and exercise of Roman governance.  ‘Hatred of the other’, primarily directed at the Romans but broadened to include all Gentiles, gained the ascendency and with it Bet Shammai gained political ascendency over Bet Hillel.  Viewed through this lens, anyone who fraternized with Gentiles was compromising the purity of God’s people, corrupting the holy Torah and unworthy of any respect.   An incident is recorded of Hillel going up to the temple to offer a burnt offering and being accosted by several students of Shammai.   Rather than risk confrontation in the very Temple courtyard, Hillel offered a lie that they accepted and moved off (b.Betazh 20a).  These two houses of Pharisees grew so bitterly opposed to each other that even in public worship they would no longer unite under one roof. (32)

The Eighteen Articles and a Violent Shift of Power within the Pharisees

In order to build a sufficient fence around the Torah to maintain Jewish purity the Shammaites and Zealots proposed a more strict interpretation of the laws of purity and association.  Known as “The Eighteen Articles”, these measures included prohibiting the Jews from buying any article of food or drink from their heathen neighbours.  The Shammaites placed such significance of ritual purification of the hands before eating, after the manner of the priest’s purification before serving at the altar, that one who ate bread without engaging in this ritual washing of his hands was considered “as if he had sexual relations with a whore”.  It needs to be understood that for the Jews ritual purification was not about washing dirt off but was an additional ritual washing after the hands, or item, were physically clean in order to demonstrate one’s spiritual purity.  Another example of adding more stringent articles to the rules of ritual purity related to objects which had become ritually unclean.  Now even melting metal objects down and using the molten metal to make new objects was deemed to be insufficient to remove their ritual uncleanliness if they had been forged by a gentile. 

The Hillelites were not in agreement with such sharply defined exclusiveness or such rigidly applied ritual purity laws that would have the effect of splintering the people even more than they already were, to the point where even a Pharisees could not eat with other Pharisees.   They could see the detrimental economic effects of such trade restrictions and also the difficulties such would pose for continuing their proselytizing of the Gentiles if all contact with them was prohibited.

The Sanhedrin was basically a democratic body, so with both the Sadducees and the Hillelites against their new measures there was little chance of the Shammaites and Zealots getting them passed into Jewish law as things stood.   Eleazar ben Ananias conceived a plot to change the way things stood.  He invited the disciples of both schools of Pharisees (Hillel & Shammai) to meet at his house. Armed men were stationed at the door, and instructed to permit everyone to enter, but no one to leave. During the discussions that were carried on under these circumstances, many Hillelites are said to have been killed with swords and spears; and there and then the remainder adopted the Shammaites’ Eighteen Articles.  On account of the violence which attended those enactments, and because of the radicalism of the enactments themselves, the day on which the Shammaites thus triumphed over the Hillelites was later regarded as a day of misfortune (Tosef., Shab. i. 16 et seq.; Shab. 13a, 17a; Yer. Shab. i. 3c). 

Many of the measures had been repealed by the time Rabbi Judah HaNasi penned the Mishnah, but while the Shammaites retained the ascendancy (which now lasted until after the destruction of the second temple) these measures remained fixed in the Jewish law. It was now unlawful for the Jew even ‘to keep company, or come unto one of another nation.’  To quarrel with this was to find fault with “the law” and the religion which made one a Jew. 

With this increasing polarisation of society the radical centre of Bet Hillel had shrunk from a broad way that carried most of the people to an endangered narrow path, under threat from both Romans and Zealots.  When Hillel died, sometime between 10 and 20 AD, the leadership of Bet Hillel passed to his son, but the leadership of the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin was now firmly in the hands of the stringent separatist Shammai. (33) (34)

New Capital for Galilee…

In 18 AD, Antipas built the city of Tiberias to replace Sepphoris as his capital. He named it to honour the Roman Emperor who was his close friend and patron. The urban cities built by Antipas were cosmopolitan and opulent, and quite unlike the traditional towns of Galilee. Furthermore, the city of Tiberias had been built over a cemetery making it “unclean” for Jews.   Interestingly, the gospels never recount that Yeshua, a devout Jew, travelled to either Tiberias or Sepphoris, even though Sepphoris is only a few kilometres, and even visible, from the village of Nazareth where he spent his childhood. (1)

The stage was now set for this much needed reform to begin.  A reform that would be, as the Gospel of Matthew keeps reminding us, a fulfilling of God’s purposes for Israel.

Reference List

1. Galilee in the First Century CE. New Life. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://newlife.id.au/early-jewish-history/galilee-first-century-ce/.
2. Chancey, Mark A. How Jewish Was Jesus’ Galilee? s.l. : Biblical Archaelogy Society, 2008.
3. Stolebarger, Dan. Discipleship vs. Talmidim. Koinonia House. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.khouse.org/articles/2005/616.
4. Erickson, Joyce A. 2-Jesus as Rabbi-Jewish Roots. The Online Bible School. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://theonlinebibleschool.org/courses/141-contents-jewish-roots/241-2-jesus-as-rabbi-jewish-roots.html.
5. Bivin, Roy B. Blizzard and David. Study Shows Jesus as Rabbi. Bible Scholars. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.biblescholars.org/2013/05/study-shows-jesus-as-rabbi.html.
6. Rabbi and Talmidim. That the World May Know. [Online] [Cited: 18th Sept. 2016.] https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim .
7. Bivin, Roy B. Blizzard and David. Study Shows Jesus as Rabbi. Bible Scholars – Question the Answers. [Online] May 2013. [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.biblescholars.org/2013/05/study-shows-jesus-as-rabbi.html.
8. Safrai, Shmuel. Pilgrimage in the Time of Jesus. Jerusalem Perspective. [Online] Sept/Oct 1989. [Cited: 3rd November 2019.] https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2392/.
9. Safrai, Chana. Jesus’ Devout Jewish Parents and their Child Prodigy. Jerusalem Perspective. [Online] [Cited: 3rd November 2019.] https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2673/#note-2673-8.
10. Andrews, Samuel James. How Many Brothers and Sisters Did Jesus Have – The Life of our Lord on Earth. Christianity.com. [Online] [Cited: 5th Aug 2019.] https://www.christianity.com/jesus/life-of-jesus/youth-and-baptism/how-many-brothers-and-sisters-did-jesus-have.html.
11. Armin Lange, K.F.Diethard Römheld, Matthias Weigold. Judaism and Crisis: Crisis as a Catalyst in Jewish Cultural History. Oakville : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011.
12. Barclay, John M. G. Pauline Churches and Diaspora Jews.
13. Radl, Karl. Apion of Alexandria on the Jews (Part I). Semitic Controversies A Daily Blog About Jews and Judaism. [Online] 2nd Oct. 2012. [Cited: 2nd Oct. 2016.] http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/apion-of-alexandria-on-jews.html.
14. Kohler, Kaufmann. APION. Jewish Encyclopedia. [Online] 1906. [Cited: 2nd Oct. 2016.] http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1641-apion.
15. Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Grand Rapids, Ml: : Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1886.
16. Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong, Henry Louis Gates. Dictionary of African Biography, Volume 6. New Tork : Oxford University Press, 2012.
17. Hillar, Marian. Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 B.C.E.—40 C.E.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [Online] Center for Philosophy and Socinian Studies. [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.iep.utm.edu/philo/.
18. Kirby, Peter. Philo of Alexandria. Early Jewish Writings. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/philo.html.
19. Mastin, Luke. By Individual Philosopher >Philo of Alexandria. The Basics of Philosophy. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_philo.html.
20. Nash, Ronald. Was the New Testament Influenced by Philo? CRI. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.equip.org/article/was-the-new-testament-influenced-by-philo/.
21. DelHousaye, John. Hillel’s Seven Rules of Interpretation. Academia. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] https://www.academia.edu/7080532/Hillels_Seven_Rules_of_Interpretation.
22. Louis Jacobs, David Derovan. HERMENEUTICS. Jewish Virtual Librry. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0009_0_08805.html.
23. What are the seven middoth (Hillel’s rules for interpretation)? Biblical Hermeneutics. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/4346/what-are-the-seven-middoth-hillels-rules-for-interpretation.
24. The Seven Rules of Hillel, and the Thirteen Rules of Ishmael. Upper Biblical Studies for All. [Online] 6th Dec. 2013. [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] https://mjseymour1959.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/319/.
25. Chapter 10: Hillel’s Seven Principles of Bible Interpretation. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://web.oru.edu/current_students/class_pages/grtheo/mmankins/drbyhmpg_files/GBIB766RabbLit/Chap10_7Princ/index.html.
26. Trimm, Dr. James. The Seven Rules of Hillel. Nazarene Space. [Online] [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://nazarenespace.com/page/the-seven-rules-of-hillel.
27. Trimm, James. HHMI Newsgroup Archives. Hebraic Heritage Ministries International. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 3rd Oct. 2016.] http://www.hebroots.org/hebrootsarchive/0207/0207s.html.
28. Apple, Rabbi Dr Raymond. Jewish attitudes to Gentiles in the First Century. OZ Torah. [Online] [Cited: 15th Nov. 2016.] http://www.oztorah.com/2008/07/jewish-attitudes-to-gentiles-in-the-first-century/.
29. Greene, T.E. Timeline. Tegworlds Total Context. [Online] 2nd Feb. 2016. [Cited: 7th Sept. 2016.] http://timlynn2.wixsite.com/tegworlds/timeline.
30. Biblical Archaelogy Society Staff. Herod’s Death, Jesus’ Birth and a Lunar Eclipse. Bible History Daily. [Online] 29th Nov. 2015. [Cited: 7th Sept. 2016.] http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/herods-death-jesus-birth-and-a-lunar-eclipse/.
31. Jacobs, Rabbi Louis. High Priest Head of all priests had special rights and privileges. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 5th Oct. 2016.] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/high-priest/.
32. Marcus Jastrow, S. Mendelsohn. Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai. Jewish Encyclopedia. [Online] 1906. [Cited: 9th Sept. 2016.] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3190-bet-hillel-and-bet-shammai.
33. Bugg, Rabbi Mikha’el (Michael). The Eighteen Measures, Part 2: Another Upper Room. Return of Benjamin. [Online] [Cited: 9th Sept. 2016.] https://returnofbenjamin.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/the-eighteen-measures-part-2-another-upper-room/.
34. —. The Eighteen Measures, Part 3: The Measures and Ritual Purity. The Return of Benjamin. [Online] [Cited: 9th Sept 2016.] https://returnofbenjamin.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/the-eighteen-measures-part-3-the-measures-and-ritual-purity/.

In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…

* How did the Jewish school system prepare the people to hear Jesus’ message?
* In what ways is your schooling system like it was in Nazareth, and in what ways is it different? What impact do you think that has on the children’s learning, moral and spiritual development?
* Why were the people in Galilee, and especially in Nazareth looked down on?
* Why would God have chosen that place for Jesus to grow up?
* In what ways is your community like Nazareth, and in what ways is it different to Nazareth?
* Is there ‘hatred of the other’ in your community? If so, which people are hated, and how do you think Jesus would relate to them?

A Child Is Born

Read Matthew 1 – 2 & Luke 1 – 2

Here is how the birth of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) took place. When his mother Miryam (Mary) was engaged to Yosef (Joseph), before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) Matthew 1:18 CJB

There were three distinct stages to Jewish weddings during this time.  The first, shiddukhin, involved promise and negotiation of terms, while the second and third stages were wedding ceremonies celebrating a two-part process in getting married, kiddushin and nissuin.  Because marriage is covenantal, both components, kiddushin and nissuin, were initiated with the blessing over wine. (1)

Long before any wedding ceremony, the two families came together in שִׁדּוּכִין,   Shiddukhin (mutual commitment).   In Jewish law Shiddukhin was the mutual promise, generally between the parents of the young couple (older, previously married individuals could make the promise on their own behalf) to contract a marriage at some future time.  It was the preliminary arrangements prior to the legal betrothal and included formulation of the terms (tena’im) on which the marriage would take place.  If one party committed a breach of promise, i.e., by not marrying the other party, then penalties could be imposed but no divorce was required at this stage.  (2)

Betrothal Ceremony קידושין, Kiddushin (sanctification)

The first part of the process of getting married was the betrothal ceremony קידושין, Kiddushin (sanctification).  There are several parallels between this and our sanctification as the bride of Christ. Through this ceremony the bride becomes sanctified (set apart) to the groom.

Traditionally, in preparation for this betrothal ceremony, the bride (kallah) and groom (chatan) were separately immersed (baptised) in water for a ritual purification called the mikvah, which was symbolic of spiritual cleansing.

A Jewish mikvah

After the immersion, the couple entered the chuppah (marriage canopy) – symbolic of a new household being planned, to establish a binding contract by kichah, the “taking” of a woman by a man before two Jewish men appointed as witnesses.  As that phrase suggests, the man was the active agent in the ceremony while the woman was the silent recipient.  Yet she was not without agency as her consent was required for the marriage to be legal.  The man’s “taking” of the woman involved giving to her.  He declared a blessing over the wine that was to be shared to seal his covenant vows and then the bircat erusin (betrothal blessing), as he gave his bride a coin of stipulated value: “You are hereby betrothed unto me with this gift in accordance with the laws of Moses and Israel.”  The woman demonstrated her consent to marrying the man by accepting the money and drinking the wine.  In return for her consent the groom presented his bride with a ketubah (covenant), in which he recorded his binding obligations to her.  In Jewish law consent is required of both parties, but only the groom gives the contract, and only the bride receives it. (3)  (4)

Under the entered the chuppah (marriage canopy)

Once kiddushin was complete, the bride was betrothed and legally belonged to the groom.  The relationship created by kiddushin could only be dissolved by death or divorce, and any sexual relations outside of that relationship were subject to the laws of adultery and punishable by death (Deut. 22:23-24).  However, the spouses did not become physically intimate or live together during their time of betrothal, the mutual obligations created by the marital relationship did not take effect until about a year later when the final stage of the wedding ceremony, nisuin, was completed.  During their engagement the groom was to prepare a place for his bride, generally this was done by building an extra room for them onto his father’s house.  While the groom was doing this, his bride focused on her personal preparations: wedding garments, lamps, and all that was required to be ready when the groom’s father gave the word and he came to lift her up and take her to the wedding feast at his home.  It was during this time of her betrothal to Yosef that Miryam was found to be pregnant. (5)

Scandal in Nazareth…

Can you imagine the scandal in the little religiously conservative town of Nazareth when one of their teenage girls got pregnant during her betrothal?  “The law says she should be stoned!”  Everyone had thought Miryam (Mary) was a good and devout young woman who would make a suitable wife for the pious carpenter Yosef (Joseph), to whom she was engaged.  That was until they found out that she was pregnant.  Word travels quickly in a village. The whole town felt betrayed.  This was a close-knit community and their young women remained chaste.  How many people would believe a young woman’s defence that she had not been with a man but was impregnated by God Himself?  As far as they were concerned, Miryam had brought shame upon herself and upon them.   With her pregnancy the only proof needed of her guilt, the pressure mounted for Yosef to avenge his good name by having her stoned, but this righteous man would have none of that.

Her husband-to-be, Yosef, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame.  But while he was thinking about this, an angel of ADONAI (the Lord) appeared to him in a dream and said,

“Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).  She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means `ADONAI saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.” 

All this happened in order to fulfill what ADONAI had said through the prophet, 

“The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him `ImmanuEl.” (The name means, “God is with us.”) 

When Yosef awoke he did what the angel of ADONAI had told him to do — he took Miryam home to be his wife, but he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Yeshua.   Matthew 1:19-25 CJB

נישואין Nissuin – Joseph took Mary home as his wife…

The final step in getting married was נישואין, Nissuin (to take, from naso, to lift up as in an elevation of status), the actual marriage.  At this time the groom, with much noise, fanfare and romance, carried his bride home to the place that he had prepared for her and the feast he had prepared for all their guests.  The couple would again stand under the chuppah (wedding canopy) while an officiant recited the seven marriage blessings.  The groom again recited a blessing over the wine (a symbol of joy) and they would both drink from the cup before retiring to the privacy of a room to consummate their marriage.  In contrast to kiddushin, the transformation of nissuin was accomplished in a private room.  Nissuin was not about giving promises in front of witnesses or establishing a legal bond in the community, but about fulfilling those promises through the couple’s togetherness in the hidden place, yichud.  As opposed to kiddushin, nissuin positively permits – indeed commands – sexual intercourse between bride and groom.   Once this was accomplished the wedding feast, seudah, might continue in great joy for days of feasting, music, dancing and celebrations. (6) (7)

After an angle of the Lord appeared to Yosef, not only did he refuse to seek revenge against Miryam, hestepped up to be Miryam’s protector and defender, taking her home to be his wife and thus covering her shame of being pregnant outside of wedlock.  Yosef undertook nissuin in carrying his bride home to be his wife but did not yet complete the process.  No doubt there were some tongues that would not be so easily quietened in their gossip and backbiting.  The snide remarks whispered condemnations and disparaging glances likely continued.  The transformation of nissuin was not yet accomplished.  Yosef had no sexual relations with Miryam until after Yeshua was born.  And so it was that Luke wrote of Miryam still in terms of being pledged to Yosef in marriage, because the marriage had not yet been consummated, even though they had celebrated both public ceremonies of marriage and were now living together as husband and wife in every other way.

To Bethlehem …

Mary & Joseph travel together to Bethlehem
Yosef took Miryam to Bethlehem with him

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  This was the first census to take place whilea Quirinius was governor ofb Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the City of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.                     Luke 2:1-5
a Or ‘This was the census before’
b Or ‘governing in’

There was no legal requirement for Miryam to accompany Yosef to Bethlehem, but it provided the perfect opportunity to escape the bitter tongues and veiled threats to her “bastard child” from those in the village of Nazareth who were still scandalised by her presumed adultery while engaged.  Few would believe that a teenage girl had encountered God, and not a teenage boy.  The angel in Yosef’s dream had convinced him, but how many others remained unconvinced?  The only way for Yosef to protect Miryam was to take her with him to Bethlehem.  There she could simply be presented as his wife and all would rejoice at the impending birth of ‘their’ child.

It was a walk of about 130km and, for safety’s sake, would have been undertaken with others who also had to travel for the census.  The evidence suggests that they were planning this to be a permanent move, so they likely carried all their worldly possessions with them, particularly Yosef’s tools for his trade as a carpenter (builder). The walk included a particularly steep and rough climb from Jericho down in the Jordan valley, 258m below sea level, up the mountain range to Jerusalem, 754m above sea level, and then another 10km over the fertile limestone hills to the south of the city until they arrived at Bethlehem, another 30m higher, on a hilltop ridge near the edge of the Judean desert.

The Roman Census…

There were at least two Roman censuses towards the end of Herod’s reign – one in around 8 – 7 BC and one around 2 BC   (N.B. there is contention among historians over the exact year for almost everything during these ancient times – different sources give slightly different years).

The ancient Jewish historian, Josephus, recorded in Antiquities of the Jews, XVI, ix 3, that Caesar Augustus was furious with Herod in 8 BC and threatened to treat him no longer as a friend (“client” – collecting his own taxes and paying a tribute to Rome from them), but as a subject (subject to Roman taxation).  It has been suggested that Augustus, scandalized by Herod’s outrageous reputation and increasing madness, began the movement toward making Judea a prefecture in 8 BC, and part of that preparation was a registration of all citizens. Quirinius was a high official in central Asia Minor in 8 BC, and in charge of the army in Syria.

The second census, this one associated with an oath of allegiance, was ordered throughout the Roman Empire in preparation for Augustus’ silver jubilee in February, 2 BC.  This celebration marked the 25th anniversary of Augustus’ elevation to supreme power by the Senate and people of Rome. It was also the 750th anniversary of the founding of Rome. At this celebration, the Senate conferred upon him the title Pater Patriae (“Father of [his] Country”). The year before, Augustus sent out a decree requiring “the entire Roman people” throughout the empire to register their approval for the bestowal of this honour (T. Lewin, Fasti Sacri [1865] 135). This registration was required of all Roman citizens and others of distinguished rank among Rome’s client kingdoms such as Judea.  In Antiquites 17, Josephus mentions that at this time “all the people of the Jews gave assurance of their good will to Caesar, and to the king’s government.”  This suggests that the pharisaic school of Bet Hillel still held sway in the Sanhedrin at this time, with their middle path of honouring both God and their heathen rulers for the sake of their nation’s safety and freedom of religion. Josephus further records that there were six thousand Pharisees who refused to swear the oath.  We have already noted that the Shammaites would not bow to Roman rule. This becomes significant as the scene is prepared for Christ’s ministry. (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

In Bethlehem Christ is born…

Luke records that Yosef and Miryam travelled to Bethlehem (the City of David) because Yosef’s family came from this hilltop town where King David had also been born (Ruth 4:18-22 & 1 Samuel 1:12) and anointed as king (1 Samuel 16:1-13).   

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,and she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (κατάλυμα).  Luke 2:6-7 NIV

Yosef and Miryam had arrived in Bethlehem well before she was due to give birth.  They had been welcomed by Yosef’s family and community, taken up residence and started settling into community life when it came time for Miryam to give birth. κατάλυμα (‘kataluma’), the Greek word that is translated as “inn” here, is translated “guest room” everywhere else that it is used in scripture (Mark 14:14 & Luke 22:11).

Floorplan of a Jewish home

Significantly, the Arabic and Syriac versions of the New Testament, which reflect more of a Middle Eastern context, have never translated kataluma as meaning an inn, but instead as a guest room.  Furthermore, Luke elsewhere in his Gospel when referring to an actual inn (Luke 10:34) uses the Greek word pandokheion, not kataluma.  As Kenneth Bailey, a Middle Eastern and New Testament scholar points out, “This translation [of the word as ‘inn’] is a product of our Western heritage.” (14) 

Alternate floor plan of Jewish home

While Romans and other foreign travellers often stayed in roadside hostelries or ‘inns’, Jews stayed in the homes of relatives or other Jews when travelling so as to avoid contact with pagan foods and customs (see Leviticus 11:1-47).   Another reason for doubting that Yosef and Miriam sort shelter in an inn is that, for commercial reasons, these were situated on the major trading routes, and no such route passed through the little town of Bethlehem. Thus, no inn.  Most importantly, when Yosef returned to Bethlehem with Miriam he was honour bound to seek out his relatives and stay with them.  When a Jewish son returned to his village, the village of his fathers, it brought much joy and warm welcoming into the home of his relatives. (15)

Although there was some variation in floor plan, peasant houses in Yeshua’s day generally catered for the family’s livestock as well as the people, all under the one roof.   Often the family’s living area was just slightly raised from the area for their livestock.  Sometimes it was on a second story.   When they could afford it a guest room (kataluma) was added, either to the side or above the family’s quarters.  There was usually a manger (feeding trough) for the larger animals towards the end of the living room floor next to the lower level where the animals were kept.   The animals were brought in at dusk, then let out first thing in the morning and their area cleaned-out for use by the family during the rest of the day. (16)

Finding that there was no room left for them in Yosef’s family’s guest-room – it being already filled with other relatives who had earlier returned to Bethlehem for the Census – Yosef and Miryam would have been asked to share the family area next to where animals were normally kept.   Having them stay anywhere other than with Yosef’s family would have been unthinkable, regardless of how crowded the conditions there might be. (17) (18)

While they were living with Yosef’s relatives in Bethlehem the time came for Miryam’s baby to be born (Luke 2:6).   Birthing was woman’s business.  The midwife would have been called and all the female relatives gathered around to help with the delivery, while Yosef was sent off to a neighbour’s house with the men.  The midwife may have brought a birthing stool with her, otherwise one or two of the women would have performed the role of the birthing stool with Miryam on their lap, supported and held during the contractions, while the midwife sat on a low stool facing her to check on progress and catch the baby.  They may have used the ledge from the slightly raised living room to the lower animal area to provide the somewhat upright, somewhat seated position for birthing, with the midwife sitting on her low stool down in the animal area to monitor the baby’s progress and receive him into the world.  Other women would have been applying wet cloths, heating water, massaging and encouraging.   To make delivery easier, “all the ties and knots in a woman’s garments were undone and all doors in the house were opened wide.” (19)

After the umbilical cord was cut, the baby was washed with water and rubbed with finely ground salt, then warm olive oil was applied and he was powdered with pulverised myrtle leaves.  His limbs were then straightened “so they would grow properly” and he was wrapped firmly in swaddling bands.  Since there were no nappies, being swaddled like this would not last for long.   Right next to where Miryam gave birth was the manger, animal’s feed trough, with fresh soft hay, so when she had fed her new-born baby and held him, marvelling at this perfect new life, and Yosef had been brought back in and introduced to ‘his’ son, Miryam laid Yeshua in the manger.

An Angel Announces the Saviour’s Birth…

In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, when an angel of ADONAI appeared to them, and the Sh’khinah of ADONAI shone around them. They were terrified; but the angel said to them,
“Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.”    Luke 2:8-12 CJB

Sheep grazing on the hills near Bethlehem

The “glory of the Lord” shone around the shepherds. This glory of the Lord is known in the Hebrew Scriptures as the Shechinah Glory and Ezekiel 8-11 describes it leaving the First Temple before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587/6 BC.  Nowhere in Scripture, nor in extra-biblical Jewish literature, is it stated that the glory of the Lord, His divine presence, filled the Second Temple as it had the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35) and the First Temple (1K. 8:10-11; 2Chr. 5:13-14; 2Chr. 7:13).  Rather, Jewish sources such as the Tosefta made a point of its absence.  The Shechinah Glory had not been seen for over 580 years. It enveloped these fields on the night of the birth of the Lord Jesus, and those privileged to witness this glory were not the priests in the Temple at Jerusalem but the shepherds on watch in the fields at Migdal Edar, the Tower of the Flock.  No wonder they were terrified, for no one may see God and live (Exodus 20:33).

Migdal Edar was close to Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem.  The first time this landmark is mentioned in scripture is in the Genesis 35:16-21 account of Rachel dying during the birth of Israel’s twelfth son, whom she named Ben-oni “son of my sorrow”, but his father renamed him Benjamin “son of my right hand”.   After burying Rachel, “Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.”   This ancient watchtower had been used for centuries by shepherds watching out for any threat to their flocks; bandits, wild animals or marauding raiders.   Such towers were common in agricultural areas that lacked the protections of a city wall.

Yet, for many pious Jews at this time the ‘Tower of the Flock’ held a greater significance and expectation.   Micah, whose prophesies led to the anticipation that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:5 with Micah 5:2), had also prophesied:

And you, O Tower of the Flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.  Micah 4-8

This had led to the belief that the announcement of the arrival of Messiah would come first to the Tower of the Flock.  Such was expressed in Targum Yonatan’s paraphrase of Genesis 35:23 and Micah 4:8 as: “He spread his tent beyond Migdol Eder, the place where King Messiah will reveal Himself at the end of days.”  

Targums are Jewish Aramaic translations of books of the Hebrew Bible. The targumic genre combines literal renderings of the biblical text with additional material, ranging in size from a word to several paragraphs. The additions provide important insights into ancient Jewish biblical interpretation. Targum Jonathan (Hebrew: תרגום יונתן בן עוזיאל), otherwise referred to as Targum Yonasan/Yonatan, is the official eastern (Babylonian) targum.   The Talmud attributes its authorship to Jonathan ben Uzziel, a pupil of Hillel the Elder. According to this source, it was composed by Jonathan b. Uzziel “from the mouths of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,” implying that it was based on traditions derived from the last prophets. 

These sheep, pastured so close to Jerusalem, were probably destined for sacrifices in the Temple – as long as they remained without blemish.   The Mishnah: Shekalim, Chapter Seven, Mishnah Four, makes specific reference to Migdol Eder (the tower of the flock):

Beasts which were found in Jerusalem as far as Migdal Eder and within the same distance in any direction: Males are [considered as] burnt-offerings; Females are [considered as] peace-offerings.  Rabbi Judah says: that which is fit for a pesach (Passover) offering, is [considered as] a pesach-offerings [when found] within thirty days before the pilgrimage [of Pesach]. 

The Mishnah or Mishna (/ˈmɪʃnə/; Hebrew: מִשְׁנָה, “study by repetition“, from the verb shanah שנה, or “to study and review”, also “secondary”) is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the “Oral Torah“.  Every aspect of how the Jews were to obey the Law (according to these Pharisees) was recorded in the Mishnah – it supplements, complements, clarifies and systematizes the commandments of the Torah. The Torah, for example, commands: “When you eat and are satisfied, give thanks to your God for the good land which He has given you” (Deut. 8:10). The Mishnah spells out specific blessings to be recited before and after each kind of food, and what to do if the wrong blessing is recited by mistake. It also extends the recitation of blessings to areas other than food, detailing blessings to be recited before and after the performance of commandments, blessings of praise and thanksgiving, even establishing a regular order of daily prayers.  The Mishnah was written after the time of Christ but it contained much of the Oral Law espoused by the Pharisees during his lifetime and helps us understand how many of the Jews were thinking during this time.  The Mishna comprises six major sections, or orders (sedarim), that contain 63 tractates (massekhtaot) in all.   Shekalim is the fourth tractate in the second order, Moed (Festivals), and so deals principally with matters connected to the Temple in Jerusalem and the temple taxes and offerings.

Those shepherds who first heard tidings of the Saviour’s birth, who first listened to angels’ praises, who beheld the glory of God, were watching flocks destined to be offered as sacrifices in the Temple, a temple that was a magnificent structure but lacked God’s Sh’khinah glory.  How many baby sheep had they seen come into the world and checked to ensure that they were male and without blemish so they could grow up to become Passover Lambs?  Now they were to witness that the Lamb of God had come into the world, the one who would be the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. (20) (21) (22) (23)

There is a teaching being propagated that these were no ordinary shepherds but were Levites and that they would take any ewes who were about to lamb into the ground floor of Tower of the Flock to give birth, and inspect the lambs when born and if they were fit to be a Passover sacrifice they would wrap them tightly in swaddling clothes and lay them in the mangers within the tower’s ground floor so that they would not struggle and inflict any blemishes upon themselves, and that this was actually the place of Jesus’ birth, the same place where the Passover lambs were born and swaddled, so the shepherds knew exactly where to go to find the Lamb of God and assess Him as fitting for sacrifice as God’s Passover Lamb. (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30)   While this is a beautiful story to illustrate the spiritual truth of Jesus being born as the Lamb of God to pay the price for our sins, I can find no source material to support it.   Most often it seems to be drawn and exaggerated from the following oft-quoted passage from Alfred Edershiem’s classic “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” (Vol., I; Pg. 186 & 187) which makes no mention of birthing in the Tower or swaddling the lambs and placing them in Tower mangers:

And yet Jewish tradition may prove here both illustrative and helpful, that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, was a settled conviction.  Equally so was the belief, that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, ‘the tower of the flock.’ This Migdal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheepground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds. 

Whether people around them thought of these shepherds as ordinary shepherds or special temple shepherds, God chose them for the extra-ordinary task of testifying to the appearance of His glory with the birth of His Son into this world.

Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God: 
“In the highest heaven, glory to God! And on earth, peace among people of good will!”    Luke 2:13-14 CJB

The angel’s declaration of Messiah’s birth in the ‘town of David’ (Bethlehem) had been accompanied by a manifestation of the glory of God and was now followed by the appearance of a multitude of the heavenly angel army proclaiming God’s glory and declaring peace.

No sooner had the angels left them and gone back into heaven than the shepherds said to one another,

“Let’s go over to Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem) and see this thing that has happened, that ADONAI has told us about.” 

Hurrying off, they came and found Miryam (Mary) and Yosef (Joseph), and the baby lying in the feeding trough.  Upon seeing this, they made known what they had been told about this child; and all who heard were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. 

Miryam treasured all these things and kept mulling them over in her heart. 

Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen; it had been just as they had been told.  Luke 2:15-20 CJB

It would not have been difficult for the shepherds to find out in which house a baby had just been born in this small town of Bethlehem.  Everyone knew everyone else’s business in such towns, and the joyous news of a birth would travel quickly indeed as an air of celebration filled the streets.  They arrived at the house during that brief interval of time when Yeshua was still wrapped in His swaddling cloths and lying in the manger – just as the angel had said. 

The shepherds were not the first people outside of Yosef and Miryam to see Yeshua after his birth, but they were the first to look upon Him as saviour, Messiah and Lord.   Their testimony of God’s glory and the angel’s proclamation concerning this baby impacted everyone who had been involved in, or heard of, the birth.   Now Miryam and her baby were surrounded by a whole community of people who knew that He was God’s promised Messiah on the testimony of the shepherds.  Gone was the guilt and shame that some in Nazareth had tried to put onto her, in Bethlehem they were honoured and exalted.

Yeshua circumcised…

Yeshua’s parents followed the Jewish law and customs of their time.  In obedience to the Biblical commandment (Gen. 21:4 & Lev. 12:3) they had Yeshua’s b’rit-milah (circumcision) on the eight day after his birth.  In accord with Jewish custom at that time they also had a public naming of their baby boy as part of the celebrations on this day.   All this would have been done in their local synagogue in Bethlehem, surrounded by Yosef’s family and neighbours.

When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Yeshua, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  Luke 2:21 HNV

Yeshua Presented in the Temple…

After another 33 days they travelled the 10km to the temple in Jerusalem for Miryam’s purification sacrifice (Lev. 12:1-8) and Yeshua’s presentation to the Lord and redemption payment to the priests as her first-born boy (Exodus 22:28-29, 34:19-20 & Num. 18:15-16).

When the days of their purification according to the Torah of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord(as it is written in the Torah of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the Torah of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”   Luke 2:22-24 HNV

If Yosef had been planning to return to Nazareth after registering in Bethlehem for the Census, now would have been the time to do so.  They had fulfilled their duties in the temple following the birth of their first-born son, so the way was open for them to continue on the long walk back to Nazareth for Yosef to resume his business there.   They did not head back, but continued living in Bethlehem.   Maybe Yosef thought it best to stay here, were everyone honoured his wife and her baby boy, rather then return to the ignorant judgments of some in Nazareth.   Yosef, being a carpenter/builder, likely built an extra room onto his relative’s house during that time, so he and Miryam would have their own living quarters.  

There were various and diverse messianic expectations in the Jewish community at the time of Yeshua’s birth.  The more brutal Herod’s reign became, the more widespread and eager became the hopes and expectations for a Jewish Messiah to deliver the people from Herodian and Roman rule.  For some it was a wistful hope, for others it was intense, theologically charged and very detailed.  Those details varied within the different Jewish groups at the time.  Some who studied Daniel’s prophesies saw in them that they were in the age of the fourth beast and the time was near.  

There were mixed hopes, pre-conceived ideas and pre-built eschatologies.  And then there were those who walked with God and headed the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.   It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Yeshua, that they might do concerning him according to the requirement of the Torah, then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,        

“Now You are releasing Your servant, Master, according to Your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples; a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

Joseph and his mother were marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning him and Simeon blessed them, and said to Miriam (Mary), His mother,

“Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.  Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” 

There was one Hannah, a prophetess, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshipping with fastings and petitions night and day. Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.                   Luke 2:25-38 HNV

Magi Come a Long Way to Worship…

There was no single and uniform description of the messianic task.  Some considered the Messiah to be a purely natural in-history political leader (albeit more powerful than the Romans). Some considered the Messiah to be super-natural/super-angelic. Some considered him to be an after-history universal King/Son of God. Then there were some (notably the Sadducees who accepted only the Torah as inspired), who did not expect one at all.  Such variety, intensity and pervasiveness of messianic beliefs led to several different men during Herod’s reign rising up, making messianic claims and drawing a following. The expectation that most haunted King Herod and played on his paranoia was that of a descendant of King David who would conquer all who oppressed Israel and rule as king of the Jews.  If such a one was identified by the people, even as a baby, the masses might rebel against Herod and declare the infant their king. (31) (32)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking,

“Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”      Matthew 2:1-2

Who Were the Magi?
Magi first appear in the historical record in the seventh century B.C.  They were priests of a monotheistic religion now known as Zoroastrainism and were considered “wise men” who observed the stars and interpreted dreams, signs and omens for the kings.   As there was, in the Eastern World View, no separation between the spiritual and the mathematical or scientific, Magi were expected to excel in both and use both together in advising their king.   According to Herodotus’ account they predicted that the Median king Astyages’ young grandson from his daughter’s marriage to a Persian would eventually rule all of Asia.  The boy grew up to be Cyrus, who led a revolt of Persians against Astyages and overcame the Medes, captured Babylon (who were at that time ruling over Judea) in 539 BC and built the largest empire the world had yet seen. It was during the first year under Persian rule that an elderly Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den and God’s deliverance of him lead to the decree that everyone reverence the God of Daniel.  It was also during this time that the Messianic revelation of Daniel 9 was given.  In 537 BC, 70 years after their captivity, following the Magi’s advice, Cyrus sent the Jews home to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. 

It is widely believed that records of Daniel’s wisdom and prophesies were maintained and consulted by the Magi.  There were enough similarities between Zoroastrainism and Judaism for Daniel to be honoured as chief among the Magi and his prophesies to be highly regarded by them even though Daniel never compromised in his devotion to Yahweh.  Both were monotheistic religions that were founded on prophetic revelation and contained a good versus evil world view.  Most of all, Zoroastrainism, exalted the prophetic and Daniel had proven over and over to be the most accurate prophet they ever encountered, whose relationship with God was real and powerful.  This was a man whose words they were keen to weave into their traditions and expectations for the future.   Thus, the Gathas, the sacred hymns attributed to Zoroaster, speak of a future figure called the Saoshyant or “future benefactor” who will be sent by God (called Ahura Mazda by the Zoroasters) to lead righteousness to triumph over wickedness.  It appears that this group of Magi had high expectations that the time for the birth of this coming righteous one, who would be the king of the Jews, of Daniel’s people, was almost upon them and so had been scanning the heavens for a sign to confirm it.   

Both Greek and Parthian empires had exalted Magi to positions of prominence and political power.   The Parthians ruled from 247 BC to 224 AD, creating a vast empire that stretched from the Mediterranean in the west to India and China in the east.  In 53 BC Crassus, the Roman triumvir had invaded Parthia and been utterly defeated, and the Roman standards taken, a huge psychological blow for Rome.  Then, in 32 BC the Parthians had defeated Mark Antony and regained Armenia, bringing Rome to the negotiating table.  In 20 BC Augustus secured a peace agreement with the Parthian King, Phraates IV. 

While there was a diversity of religions within the Parthian Empire, Zoroastrianism was widespread, and Magi held prominent positions of influence and power.  So, having Magi from anywhere in that vast empire come to Jerusalem, which was part of the rival Roman Empire, and speak of a King who had been born whom they wanted to worship, raised all sorts of concerns for those in Jerusalem, not least Herod himself.  Fears stirred that the Magi might use this as some pretext to advise Phraates to break the agreement with Rome, and Jerusalem could become the epicentre of another great battle of empires, under attack from both sides.  Herod had established his reign over Jerusalem by laying siege and defeating the Parthian backed Antigonus in 37 BC, resulting in a mass slaughter of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so was especially fearful that they were planning some form of revenge. (33) (34) (35) (36)  

When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.When he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired where the Christ was to be born.    Matthew 2:3-4

This assembly of all the chief priests and scribes was likely the Sanhedrin, consisting of Sadducees (chief priests) and Pharisees (scribes).  The Pharisees in the Sanhedrin at this time were led by Hillel and included many from his school, as well as those from the school of Shammai.

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’” Matthew 2:5-6

Interestingly, Matthew does not record them as quoting the scripture directly, but rather giving a Midrash (Jewish method of interpretation that brings out the meaning and application of the text) in answer to Herod’s question.  This midrash drew from two scriptures: Micah 5:2 (v.1 in Hebrew) “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” KJV and 2 Samuel 5:2b “And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’” NIV.   This Jewish understanding of where Messiah would be born is also reflected in the Jerusalem Talmud, Berakoth 5a, “The King Messiah… from where does he come forth?   From the royal city of Bethlehem in Judah.

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.  And sending them to Bethlehem, he said:
“Go, search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.” Matthew 2:7-8

We are not told the exact time the star appeared, and thus how long they had been travelling, but we are later told that Herod killed all the male children in Bethlehem and surrounding countryside from two years old and under “according to the date which he had learned from the magi.” (Matthew 2:16 AMP).  If the Magi had been travelling for two years since the star first appeared they likely had come from a great distance, possibly even from the far reaches of the Parthian Empire.  Some western traditions suggest they came from Persia, India and Babylonia.  ‘Revelation of the Magi’, a Syriac manuscript the earliest versions of which have been suggested to have been written in the mid-second century, numbers the Magi at 12 to several score of monk-like mystics from a far-off land called Shir (possibly China).  They had been travelling for long enough to have come from far away eastern China.  Others have suggested that the Magi came from the ancient kingdom of Sheba, located on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, since that kingdom grew rich on three commodities: gold, frankincense and myrrh.  The Queen of Sheba had brought gifts of gold and spices when she came to pay homage to Solomon (1 Kings 10:2) and Yeshua refers to her in Matthew 12:42, saying that she brought gifts to Solomon, but “one greater than Solomon is here”, which has been interpreted to imply that officials from the same country had come to pay homage to Him.   Isaiah had declared “A multitude of campel shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall some.  They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.”  (Isaiah 60:6 NRS) To get to Jerusalem from Sheba the route passed through the kingdoms of Midianites and Ephah.  Ultimately, we don’t know how many Magi came to worship Yeshua, nor where they had travelled from.  We do know that they considered their quest for this new born king to be of utmost importance, that their arrival caused a great disturbance in Jerusalem and that they honoured Yeshua with three of the most expensive commodities of that era. (37) (38) (39) (34)

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight. Matthew 2:9-10

These Magi who came from the east had, when in their homeland, seen something different and significant in the heavens, “his” star “en te anatole” (Gk) which was a technical term used in Greek mathematical astrology to describe when a planet first ‘reappeared’ from being hidden by the sun’s brightness, as it rose above the eastern horizon just before the sun would appear (heliacal rising) and hide it once more in the bright glare of the sun as it rose in the morning sky.  As the planet gradually got further ahead of the sun over the ensuing weeks and months it would be seen earlier in the night and more towards the southern sky (for viewers in the norther hemisphere).  The Magi had interpreted what they saw in the sky as the omen they had been looking for to confirm that the righteous Jewish king they had been expecting and longing for had been born.  

There are many theories but no consensus or proof of what the Magi saw.  Some have suggested that it was a triple conjunction between Jupiter (known as the king of the planets) and Saturn – with the two planets coming close together in the sky three times over a short period, something that only happens about every 900 years.  Astronomer Michael Molnar contends that it was a pattern of movement in the skies that began with the heliacal rising of Jupiter on the morning of April 17th in 6 BC, followed at noon by its lunar occultation (hidden by the moon being in front of it) in the constellation of Aries and lasted until December 19th of 6 BC when Jupiter stopped moving to the west, stood still briefly, and began moving to the east (in comparison with the background stars). Others have suggested that it was the bright comet which appeared in the constellation of Capricorn and was recorded by Chinese astronomers in 5 BC.  Others suggest it was a nova, a new star, one of which was recorded in the northern constellation of Aquila in 4 BC by astronomers in the Far East. (40) (41)   Here is the first indication that the star the Magi had followed was not a natural star, for no normal star, or comet or conjunction of stars moves and then stands over a single house – they are too far away.   Thus, all attempts to date the Magi’s journey based on astronomical records could be futile. 

On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.      Matthew 2:11-12 NIV

Seeking Refuge in Egypt…

This gave Yeshua’s family a bit of extra time in safety but would not be sufficient to protect them from Herod’s paranoia for long, he already knew too many details and would become enraged when he realised that the Magi had failed to conform to his murderous plans.  God uses different means to protect us from an untimely death, according to His infinite wisdom, plans and purposes.   Yosef was a simple carpenter, a godly man who walked his faith, but not a scholar.  He did not understand the necessary significance of taking his young family to Egypt so that his wife’s vulnerable young child would live out the fulfilment of their nation’s redemptive history in God – such would only be recognised in hindsight as inspired scholars reflected on their lives.  But there was one thing that Yosef did know how to do – recognise God’s voice and obey Him fully even when he could not understand much of what was happening or why. 

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

“Out of Egypt I called my Son.”      Matthew 2:13-15 NIV

So it was that this family fled for their lives from their native land and sort refuge in a foreign nation – like so many other refugees have done.   Yosef was not given time to contemplate all the implications of what the angel was telling him.  The command was urgent, the action required was immediate.  Leave all the people he knew and loved in Bethlehem, leave everything he had been building there in his business and for his family.   Leave right then, in the middle of the night, without a word to anyone, because they would try to convince him to stay and telling them anything could put them in greater danger from Herod’s men.  Taking only what they could carry with no preparation time – and GO. With their gifts from the Magi this family was not destitute as the fled, but they were in need of a safe refuge from Herod’s impending decree.

Herod’s Bethlehem Slaughter…

When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.    Matthew 2:16 NIV

Despite his own impending death, Herod was still desperately paranoid and trying to cling to power.   So when the Magi had told him of a new born king of the Jews, then failed to return to report on his identity and exact location, Herod ordered all the infants of Bethlehem murdered.   He did not want anyone to be able to say that the King of the Jews had somehow been missed in the massacre so ordered even those up to two years old to be slain.   Without warning Herod’s troops suddenly fell upon the tiny town of Bethlehem and carried out their gruesome task as desperate mothers wailed and fought and tried to hide their little boys. As Bethlehem at this time had a fairly small population this would have been a minor atrocity numerically compared with so many of Herod’s other mass-murders.  But to the families of those murdered infants it was catastrophic and many years before Jeremiah (Ch.31:15) had captured their pain:

Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’    Matthew 2:17-18 NIV

It had been in giving birth to Benjamin that Rachel died, and was buried and her monument still stood not far out from Bethlehem.  The inhabitants of Bethlehem and surrounds were descendants of Benjamin, the tribe from which King David had come.  Rachel, the mother of them all, was representative of all the mothers weeping and refusing to be comforted. 

More massacres were to come.

Herod’s Death…

Herod wanted more than to remain king – he wanted a Herodian dynasty to rival the Hasmonean dynasty that he had replaced.  Herod divided his kingdom between three of his remaining sons and they began reigning under his authority as his health declined:

  • Archelaus – his eldest son by his fourth wife Malthace the Samaritan, received the lion’s share of the kingdom; Idumaea, Judea and Samaria, and the title of Ethnarch (“ruler of the people”).
  • Herod Antipas – another son of Malthace the Samaritan, became Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea.
  • Philip I – a son by his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem, became Tetrarch of the northern part of Herod’s kingdom, east of Galilee.
Map of Herod's Kingdom and how it was divided between his remaining sons

Herod was 70 years old at his death, which some historians have placed at 4 BC, and others at 1 BC. (37)   With the death of this tyrant several saw an opportunity to fight for their people, or for their own aggrandisement. The result was some very turbulent times, and thousand more deaths.

Both Josephus and the Roman historian, Tacitus, record that at Herod’s death, without waiting for Roman imperial decision, a certain Simon who had served in Herod’s court, usurped the title of king. He raised an army of followers and burnt down the royal palace at Jericho, plundering what was left in it. He also set fire to many other of Herod’s houses in several places of the country, utterly destroyed them, and permitted those that were with him to take what was left in them for a prey. The commander of Herod’s infantry, Gratus, with the backing of some Roman soldiers, chased after and defeated Simon. 

There were hopes of a new regime under Herod’s Roman appointed successor over Judea, Archelaus (who was then just 19). Some of the Pharisees stirred up the crowds assembled to demand that the new ruler punish those who had been favourites of Herod, and that the high priesthood should be given to a new incumbent. They also wanted their taxes reduced. Archelaus was terrified of open revolution, all the more so given the approach of Passover, when the city would be filled with outsiders from the countryside. Josephus wrote:

“But those that were seditious on account of those teachers of the law, irritated the people by the noise and clamours they used to encourage the people in their designs; so they made an assault upon the soldiers, and came up to them, and stoned the greatest part of them, although some of them ran away wounded, and their captain among them; and when they had thus done, they returned to the sacrifices which were already in their hands.”

Archelaus responded by sending out the whole army upon them, and slew three thousand men, then issued a proclamation cancelling the Passover feast. Similar disasters followed at Pentecost. “A countless multitude flocked in from Galilee, from Idumaea, from Jericho, and from Peraea beyond the Jordan, but it was the native population of Judea itself which, both in numbers and ardour, was pre-eminent.” The mob besieged the Roman garrison, leading to another bloody battle, in which the Jews were alarmingly undaunted by their Roman enemies.

According to Josephus: “at this time there were ten thousand other disorders in Judea, which were like tumults, because a great number put themselves into a warlike posture.

Trouble also brewed in Galilee, and it centred around the city of Sepphoris, just an hour’s walk from Nazareth. Back in 47 BC, when Herod had been appointed by his father as Prefect to Galilee, his first act had been to capture and executed a Hasidim named Hezekiah who had been leading a band of rebels in attacking gentile outposts in Galilee. Now with Herod’s death, Hezekiah’s son, Judas, together with the Pharisee Zadok, headed a large number of Zealots in attacking the city of Sepphoris. Judas made an assault upon the Roman garrison, and seized all the weapons that were laid up in it, and with them armed every one of those that were with him, and carried away what money was left there. These Zealots did not only attack Roman soldiers, but also any Jews whom they considered to be in league with the Romans or not sufficiently devout in their Judaism. The Romans called for the governor of Syria, Varus, based in Antioch, to assist in crushing this rebellion. He brought a very substantial force of two legions, plus allied and auxiliary forces into Galilee, attacked the Zealots and retaliated by crucifying 2,000 Jews as a disincentive to such revolts.  (46)

Sepphoris was burned to the ground, and its inhabitants were sold into slavery. After Herod’s son, Herod Antipas was made tetrarch, or governor, he proclaimed the city’s new name to be Autocratoris, and rebuilt it as the “Ornament of the Galilee” (Josephus, Ant. 18.27). The new population was loyal to Rome.

Did those invading troops also plunder Nazareth as they continued marching down through Samaria towards Jerusalem? It is possible, Roman soldiers were not known to be very circumspect when reeking revenge. Although, it’s more secluded position, away from the main road south, may have afforded it some protection. Varus continued marching his army down through Samaria, stopping en route to burn Emmaus, a storm centre for Athronges’s rising. Athronges was another who tried to rise to power and remove Herod’s family from the throne over Israel. Like King David, Athronges had been a shepherd. He was a tall, strong man. Josephus wrote of him:

He had four brothers, who were tall men themselves, and were believed to be superior to others in the strength of their hands, and thereby were encouraged to aim at great things, and thought that strength of theirs would support them in retaining the kingdom. Each of these ruled over a band of men of their own (for those that got together to them were very numerous). They were every one of them also commanders; but when they came to fight, they were subordinate to him, and fought for him. After he had put a diadem about his head, he assembled a council to debate about what things should be done, and all things were done according to his pleasure. So, this man retained his power a great while; he was also called king, and had nothing to hinder him from doing what he pleased. Together with his brothers, he slew a great many of both of Roman and of the king’s forces, and managed matters with the like hatred to each of them. They fell upon the king’s soldiers because of the licentious conduct they had been allowed under Herod’s government; and they fell upon the Romans, because of the injuries they had so lately received from them.  Once, they attacked a Roman company at Emmaus, soldiers who were bringing grain and weapons to the army, and fell upon Arius, the centurion, who commanded the company, and shot forty of the best of his foot soldiers. The other Romans panicked after this slaughter, left their dead behind them, and were saved by Gratus, who came to their assistance with the king’s troops that he commanded. 

When Varus entered Jerusalem, Jewish leaders managed to cast most of the blame onto extremists and agitators, pledging allegiance once again to Rome, and thus saving their city from destruction.

Returning to Nazareth…

Yeshua’s family may not have been in Egypt for long before an angel of the Lord appeared again in a dream to Joseph, instructing him to return to Israel.  Their time as refugees had been relatively brief, but vital for the purposes of God.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 

“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”

So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee.   Matthew 2:19-22

It is interesting that each time God spoke to Joseph it was through an angel appearing in his dream.  Yet to Zechariah God spoke through an angel who appeared in the temple when he was burning incense in the Holy Place.  Mary, likewise, was awake and alert when the angel Gabriel came to Nazareth to give her God’s message.   He speaks to each of us in different ways, but the important thing is that we believe and obey Him when He speaks.

So, what was the prophetic significance of Yeshua going down to Egypt in his infancy and being called out of Egypt when he was still young?   Matthew 2:15 NIV states:   This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”       Yeshua, even as an infant and through circumstances that this little boy had no control over, was fulfilling (was the fulfilment of) God’s redemptive historical purposes for His people Israel.   Matthew’s quote is from Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”   Here God is referring to the nation of Israel as His son whom He loved and called out of Egypt when it was “a child” nation that did not even know who to govern itself.  The following verses in Hosea speak of Israel’s failure to fulfil God’s purposes in calling them out of Egypt: “The more I called Israel, the further they went from me…  It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realise it was I who healed them.”  So Yeshua, like Israel – or rather as a fulfilment of Israel – was taken down to Egypt as an infant and then called out of Egypt by God and into the Promised Land where He would fulfil Israel’s calling, in living as the obedient Son to the Father and blessing to all nations. (38) (39) (40)

The family’s time in Egypt was so brief that Luke could write:

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.    Luke 2:39 NIV

Nazareth was a small village (possibly less than 200 people) built upon limestone rock, not far from mount Tabor and within sight of the city of Sepphoris. The country about it abounding in wheat and fruits of all kinds; wine, oil, and honey were produced there. Yet it was a place held in contempt by many Jews.

The ancient settlement of Nazareth was never large, since it had only one spring. It has been described as a rich and beautiful fiend in the midst of barren mountains. Nazareth was overshadowed by the city of Sepphoris, just 3.5 miles to the northwest, and the conflicts that had emanated from there. This whole region had been soaked in the smell of death as the roads were lined with thousands hanging rotting on Roman crosses.

Matthew makes an interesting claim that has perplexed commentators:

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”      Matthew 2:23 NKJV

Such an emphasis on fulfilled prophecy is prominent in Matthew, occurring over a dozen times in his Gospel.  In all of the four quotations before this one, Matthew either mentioned a prophet by name or said “the prophet” (singular) in connection with a quotation which can be easily found almost exactly as quoted.  

  1. All this happened in order to fulfill what ADONAI had said through the prophet, “The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him `ImmanuEl.” (The name means, “God is with us.”) Matthew 1:22-23 referring to Isaiah 7:14.
  2. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’” Matthew 2:6 referring to Micah 5:2 combined with 2 Samuel 5:2b .
  3. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my Son.” Matthew 2:15 referring to Hosea 11:1.
  4. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’ Matthew 2:18 referring to Jeremiah 31:15.

Yet nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures do we find the statement, “He shall be called a Nazarene”, so what was Matthew referring to?  Ray Pritz, who has taught at the Caspari Centre for Biblical and Jewish Studies, directed the Bible Society in Israel and been assigned to the Translations Department of the United Bible Societies, provides the following explanation:

The challenge is to find a scriptural prophecy or prophetic idea which yet maintains a connection with the town of Nazareth. One long-standing candidate has been Isaiah 11:1 which says, “A shoot will come forth from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” The word for “branch” is נֵצֶר (netser), which contains the same three consonants that form the root of the name Nazareth.

When we look in the Targum at the Aramaic translation of this verse, we see that the verse was interpreted messianically: “There shall come forth a king from the sons of Jesse, and a Messiah will grow from the sons of his sons.” The Targum goes on to read the Messiah into verses 6 and 10. The first ten verses of this chapter of Isaiah were almost always interpreted in Jewish midrashic literature as referring to the Messiah.[7] One interesting baraita[8] shows disciples of Jesus using Isaiah 11:1 in arguing with the rabbis about the messiahship of Jesus.

An attractive feature of Isaiah 11:1 as the source for Matthew’s statement is that not only is the verse itself messianic, but it also can be connected to a broader messianic context. The idea of the Messiah as a branch is found elsewhere in the prophets, although using other words than netser for branch. So, for example, Isaiah 53:2 speaks of a יוֹנֵק (yonek, tender shoot) and a שֹׁרֶשׁ (shoresh, root) out of dry ground. In Jeremiah 23:5 we read: “Behold days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous צֶמַח (tsemakh, plant) for David, and a king will reign and will bring about justice and salvation in the land.” Tsemakh is also used of a messianic figure in Jeremiah 33:15 and Zechariah 3:8 (“my servant, the Branch”) and 6:12.

When Matthew says that in going to Nazareth, Jesus was fulfilling something spoken by “the prophets,” perhaps he intended to point to the one idea which most unifies the biblical prophets, the idea of the Messiah. Here, then, we have a solution to the puzzle of Matthew 2:23, which connects with “the prophets” while still linking to one prophetic verse that bears an etymological tie to the name of the town where Jesus went to live. (41)

Another possibility is that Matthew uses the word Nazarene in reference to a person who is “despised and rejected.” In the first century, Nazareth was a small, insignificant town about 55 miles north of Jerusalem, and it had a negative reputation among the Jews. Galilee was generally looked down upon by Judeans and the religious elite who resided in Jerusalem, and Nazareth of Galilee was especially despised (see John 1:46). If this was Matthew’s emphasis, the prophecies Matthew had in mind could include these two passages concerning the Messiah:

“But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads” (Psalm 22:6–7).

It’s true that Nazarenes were “scorned by everyone,” and so one could see this messianic prophecy as an allusion to Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:3).

Again, in Jesus’ day, Nazarenes were “despised and rejected,” and so Isaiah’s prophecy could be viewed as an indirect reference to Jesus’ background as the supposed son of a carpenter from Nazareth.

If Psalm 22:6–7 and Isaiah 53:3 are the prophecies that Matthew had in mind, then the meaning of “He shall be called a Nazarene” is something akin to “He shall be despised and mocked by His own people.” Jesus not only identified with humanity by coming to our world; He also identified with the lowly of this world. His upbringing in an obscure and despised town served as an important part of His mission.

Reference List

1. Gordis, Rabbi Daniel. Nissuin: The Second of the Two Ceremonies. My Jewish Learning. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/nissuin-the-second-of-the-two-ceremonies/.
2. Encyclopedia Judaica. Betrothal (Heb. Shiddukhin). Jewish Virtual Library. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/betrothal-jewish-virtual-library.
3. Lamm, Maurice. The Jewish Betrothal (Kiddushin). Chabad. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/465163/jewish/The-Jewish-Betrothal-Kiddushin.htm#Acquisitionby.
4. —. The Jewish Nuptials (Nissuin). Chabad. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/479942/jewish/The-Jewish-Nuptials-Nissuin.htm.
5. Issues in Jewish Ethics – Marriage. Jewish Virtual Library. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/marriage-in-judaism.
6. Messianic Bible. Ancient Jewish Wedding Customs and Yeshua’s Second Coming. The Messianic Prophecy Bible Project. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://free.messianicbible.com/feature/ancient-jewish-wedding-customs-and-yeshuas-second-coming/.
7. Lamm, Maurice. The Jewish Marriage Ceremony “Accordig to the Laws of Moses and Israel”. Chabad. [Online] [Cited: 2nd November 2019.] https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/465162/jewish/The-Jewish-Marriage-Ceremony.htm.
8. Kilmon, Jack. HISTORY AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. Works of the Scribe – The Scriptorium . [Online] [Cited: 16th Sept. 2016.] http://www.historian.net/newindex.html.
9. Esposito, Lenny. Is Luke Wrong About the Time of Jesus’ Birth. Come Reason. [Online] [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] http://www.comereason.org/roman-census.asp.
10. Historical Evidence for Quirinius & the Census. Bible History. [Online] [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/quirinius.htm.
11. Pursiful, Darrell. When Was Jesus Born – The Census. Dr. Platypus Darrell J. Pursiful’s Bible and Faith Blog. [Online] [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] https://pursiful.com/2006/12/15/when-was-jesus-born-the-census/.
12. Sarfati, Jonathan. The Census of Quirinius – Did Luke Get It Wrong? Creation Ministries International. [Online] 29th December 2011. [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] http://creation.com/quirinius-census-luke.
13. Caesar, Steve. A Brief Comment on the Census in Luke 2. Biblical Archeology. [Online] [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2008/10/16/A-Brief-Comment-on-the-Census-in-Luke-2.aspx.
14. Bailey, Kenneth. s.l. The Manger and the Inn: the Cultural Background of Luke 2:7.  : Bible and Spade, Fall 2007, Vol. P. 103.
15. Blincoe, Bob. A Clear View of Christmas. Bob Blincoe. [Online] 16th December 2010. [Cited: 30th October 2019.] https://bobblincoe.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/a-clear-view-of-christmas/.
16. Taylor, Chris & Jenifer. The Birth of Jesus. The Bible Journey. [Online] [Cited: 29th Oct 2019.] https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney1/3-jesuss-childhood-journeys-b/the-birth-of-jesus/.
17. PhD, Kenneth Bailey. The Manger and the Inn. Bible Archaeology. [Online] 8th November 2008. [Cited: 29th October 2019.] https://biblearchaeology.org/research/new-testament-era/2803-the-manger-and-the-inn?highlight=WyJiaXJ0aCIsImJpcnRoJyIsIm9mIiwiJ29mIiwib2YnIiwiamVzdXMiLCJqZXN1cyciLCJqZXN1cydzIiwiJ2plc3VzIiwiJ2plc3VzJyIsImJpcnRoIG9mIiwiYmlydGggb2YgamVzdXMiLCJvZiBqZXN1cyJd.
18. Chaffey, Tim. Born in a Barn (Stable)? Answers in Genesis. [Online] 30th November 2010. [Cited: 28th November 2019.] https://answersingenesis.org/holidays/christmas/born-in-a-barn-stable/.
19. Stern, Safrai . The Jewish Peoplr in the First Century. P. 765.
20. Simcha, Kehilat Kol. Let us Camp in Migdal Eder. Kol Simcha Messages. [Online] 16th November 2013. [Cited: 31st October 2019.] http://www.kolsimcha.org/messages/2013/111613M.pdf.
21. Gill, John. Commentary Genesis 35:21. Study Light. [Online] 1999. [Cited: 31st October 2019.] https://www.studylight.org/commentary/genesis/35-21.html.
22. Clarke, Adam. Commentary Genesis 35:21. Study Light. [Online] 1832. [Cited: 31st October 2019.] https://www.studylight.org/commentary/genesis/35-21.html.
23. Buehler, Dr. Juergen. The Tower of the Flock. International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. [Online] 22nd November 2012. [Cited: 29th October 2019.] https://int.ice.org/news/commentary/tower-flock.
24. Horn, Dr. Christine Van. The Tower of the Flock: The Christmas Story. s.l. : WestBow Press, 2017.
25. Pope, Johnny. Mary Had a Little Lamb. FaceBook. [Online] 16th December 2013. [Cited: 31st October 2019.] https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152150326100452&id=35270290451.
26. McCracken, Charles E. Pinpointing Messiah’s Nativity. Charles E McCracken Ministries. [Online] [Cited: 31st October 2019.] https://charles-e-mccracken-ministries.org/2016/12/23/pinpointing-messiahs-nativity-luke-215/.
27. courage42day. A Lamb’s Tale and a Mysterious Tower. Mini Manna Moments. [Online] 19th December 2017. [Cited: 31st October 2019.] http://www.minimannamoments.com/a-lambs-tale-and-a-mysterious-tower/.
28. Lenard, Joseph. Jesus’ Birth – The Case for Migdal Edar. Truth in Scripture. [Online] 21st January 2017. [Cited: 31st October 2019.] https://truthinscripture.net/2017/01/21/jesus-birth-the-case-for-midal-edar/.
29. —. Jesus’ Birth – The Significance of Migdal Edar. Truth in Scripture. [Online] 24th January 2017. [Cited: 29th October 2019.] https://truthinscripture.net/2017/01/24/jesus-birth-the-significance-of-midal-edar/.
30. Cantor, Ron. Unlocking the Mystery of the Tower of the Flock. Messiah Mandate. [Online] 22nd December 2018. [Cited: 29th October 2019.] http://messiahsmandate.org/unlocking-the-tower-of-the-flock-mystery/.
31. Miller, Glenn. Messianic Expectations in 1st Century Judaism – Documentation From Non-Christian Sources. Christian Think Tank. [Online] 24th March 1996. [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] http://christianthinktank.com/messiah.html.
32. chab123. Is Jesus Really the Messiah? Three Messianic Expectations at the Time of Jesus. Think Apologetics. [Online] 17th October 2014. [Cited: 15th Sept. 2016.] https://chab123.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/is-jesus-really-the-messiah-three-messianic-expectations-at-the-time-of-jesus/.
33. Smith, Patrick Scott. Parthia (Empire). Ancient History Encyclopedia. [Online] 22nd July 2019. [Cited: 30th December 2019.] https://www.ancient.eu/Parthia_(Empire)/.
34. Jones, Christopher. “Magi from the East”. Gates of Nineveh. [Online] 24th December 2011. [Cited: 30th December 2019.] https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/magi-from-the-east/.
35. Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Phraates IV King of Parthia. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Online] [Cited: 30th December 2019.] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phraates-IV.
36. —. Phraates V King of Parthia. Encyclopaedia Britannica. [Online] [Cited: 30th December 2019.] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phraates-V.
37. Biblical Archaeology Society Staff. Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi?”. Biblical Archaelogy . [Online] [Cited: 30th December 2019.] https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/bible-scholar-brent-landau-asks-who-were-the-magi/.
38. Landau, Brent. The Revelation of the Magi – A summary and introduction. Tony Burke. [Online] 20th June 2016. [Cited: 30th December 2019.] http://www.tonyburke.ca/wp-content/uploads/Landau-Revelation-of-the-Magi.pdf.
39. Longenecker, Fr Dwight. Where Did the Wise Men Come From? Pathos. [Online] 5th January 2014. [Cited: 30th December 2019.] https://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2014/01/where-did-the-wise-men-come-from.html.
40. Gill, Victoris. Star of Bethlehem: The astronomical explanations. BBC News. [Online] 23rd December 2012. [Cited: 31st December 2019.] https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20730828.
41. Weintraub, David. Can astronomy explain the biblical Star of Bethlehem? The Conversation. [Online] 24th December 2014. [Cited: 31st December 2019.] https://theconversation.com/can-astronomy-explain-the-biblical-star-of-bethlehem-35126.
42. GERTOUX, Gerard. Herod and Jesus: Historical and Archaeological Evidence. s.l. : PhD candidate in Archaeology and histroy of Ancient World, 2015.
43. DeYoung, Kevin. Out of Egypt I Called My Son. The Gospel Coalition. [Online] 9 December 2010. [Cited: 31st Aug 2019.] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/3133/.
44. About Bible Prophesy Editors. Did Matthew Misinterpret Hosea 11:1? About Bible Prophesy. [Online] [Cited: 31st Aug 2019.] http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/q36.htm.
45. Yeulett, Paul. ‘Out of Egypt I called My son’. Banner of Truth. [Online] 21st Dec 2012. [Cited: 31st Aug 2019.] https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2012/out-of-egypt-i-called-my-son/.
46. Paul Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies, George Fox University. Can Any Good Thing Come From Nazareth? The Hometown of Jesus. Huffpost. [Online] 22 March 2017. [Cited: 29 March 2020.] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/can-any-good-thing-come-from-nazareth-the-hometown_b_58d1f758e4b062043ad4ae1a.
47. Pritz, Ray. “He Shall Be Called a Nazarene”. Jerusalem Perspective. [Online] 01 November 1991. [Cited: 5th November 2019.] https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2608/.

In the comments section below share your thoughts on what you have read and answer some of the following questions…

* What are the similarities and differences between a Jewish wedding in Jesus’ time and weddings in your culture?
* In what ways does the ancient Jewish wedding provide a picture of our relationship with Christ?
* What are the similarities and differences between peasant houses in Bethlehem and those in your area?
* When you return to your home village/area where are you expected to stay and what are you expected to do? How is this alike, or different to, Joseph’s situation when he arrived in Bethlehem?
* What are the birthing practices in your culture, and in what ways are they like or different to those in Joseph and Mary’s culture?
* If your people have suffered through war or violent attacks during your lifetime, what effects has that had on them?
* What can we learn about God’s ways from Jesus’ birth and early life?

The Apostolic Reformation Begins ~ Jesus (Yeshua) as a Jewish Reformer

In Section 2 we take an in-depth look at Yeshua’s life in the context of this culture which we have seen develop in the centuries leading up to His birth.

As we have seen, there were many wonderful, and many problematic, ways in which Judaism had been developing.  Through it all the expectation of a coming Messiah and messianic age had continued growing in the general population.  Those who had been counting knew that it was getting close to Daniel’s 69th ‘seven’, during which Messiah would be revealed.  

They needed deliverance from Roman occupation, and Hellenising influences, which clashed with maintaining the purity of the Jewish people and their religious practice.  Not long before they had needed deliverance from self-rule, which had degenerated under the Hasmonaean dynasty into such bitter conflict that all sides had called for Roman intervention.   Yet still there were many who glorified in the Maccabean revolt and engaged in guerrilla warfare, seeking to re-live such a victory in their day and hoping that their courage in battle would induce Messiah to come to their rescue and supernaturally destroy the Roman army and all heathens in the way of establishing their glorious kingdom.  

Messianic hopes and expectations were many and varied.   The religious practice of much of the population was fervent and genuine.  The wall the Pharisees were building around the Torah was becoming ever higher and thicker and governed every conceivable aspect of devout Jewish life.   These were a people in need of seeing the reality of their God.

In Section 2 we take an in-depth look at Yeshua‘s life in the context of this culture which we have seen develop in the centuries leading up to His birth.

As with all Bible studies and commentaries, what is presented here is not infallible, that designation belongs to scripture alone. While every effort has been made through years of research to present as accurate an account as possible, there are many things that we do not know and many areas that even the best Bible scholars, and historians, disagree on. If you disagree with anything written in these blogs please feel free to do so, but don’t dismiss what I have written until you have first searched the scriptures afresh to see what God has to say on it – then please share with us what He reveals to you through His word. The purpose of this work is not to establish doctrine, a standard by which other works are judged, but to provide a perspective that broadens and deepens your understanding of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Messiah / the anointed one) so as to grow in your love for Him, in your discipleship of Him, and in your effectiveness in discipling others in Christ Jesus.

As language is an essential part of culture, names will often be written in their original Hebrew (along with the English translations that most of us are more familiar with).

We also have a grouping of seven blogs (in the section ‘INTERLUDE‘) on the authors of each of the four gospel accounts. Again, the purpose of studying such is to help deepen our understanding and appreciation of our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Now to “A Child is Born“…