CHAPTER 12
1. Then six days before the Passover, Yeshua came to Beyth-Anyah, where El’azar, who had been dead, was (whom he had raised from the dead).
2. There they made him a feast, and Martha was serving. Now El’azar was one of those reclining at the table with him.
3. then Miryam took a liter of very costly perfume—nard—and poured it on Y’shua’s feet, and wipes his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the aroma of the perfume.
Liter: not the modern equivalent, but in this case 12 ounces (340 grams)—the size of a soda can. This incident should not be confused with the repentant prostitute in Luke 7:36ff. This was apparently a sign of honor, as well as one of humility and generosity. (Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg, The Jewish Gospel of John)
4. But Yehudah of the Sicarii, one of his students who was about to betray him, said,
5. “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?!”
6. However, he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and since he held the moneybag, and he would pilfer what was put into it.
7. So Yeshua said, “Leave her alone, so that she can keep it for the day of preparation for my burial,
Leave her alone: or, let her go. Keep it: the remainder of it. My burial: His arrest and death were now a foregone conclusion. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
8. for you [will] always have the poor with you, but you [will] not always have me.”
The poor: Not an excuse to be unconcerned for the poor, but a place-specific statement. Bethany (the house of the poor) was the place where the poor would always be. See note on 11:1. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
9. So when a crowd of many from among the Judeans realized that he was there, they came, not only because of Yeshua, but so that they might see El’azar, whom he had raised from [among] the dead.
10. But the chief priests resolved to “bump El’azar off”
Bump off: get him out of the way; i.e., kill him.
11. because on account of him, many were going out from under the Judeans’ [teaching] and were putting their trust in Yeshua.
Putting their trust: Not in the sense that people today mean in the context of the “Gospel”, but were pinning their hopes of political victory over the Romans on him, since he was, of course, the rightful heir to the throne of David.
12. The next day, upon hearing that Yeshua was coming to Yerushalayim, a great crowd
13. took the branches from palm trees and went out to meet Him, and were crying out, "Please deliver us! Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of YHWH, the King of Yisrael!"
To meet Him: Literally, "a meeting with Him", suggestion that a great many did recognize the appointment YHWH had with them that day, though most of the religious leaders did not. See note on Lukas 19:44. Palm trees: This kind of branch would recall the festival of Sukkoth, when the palm lulav is waved. Sukkoth is, among other things, a prefigurement of the Messianic Kingdom, so they were more than hinting that its time had come.
14. And finding a donkey's colt, Yeshua sat on it, just as it had been written,
15. "Do not be afraid, O daughter of Tzion; look! here comes your King, sitting on a donkey's colt!" [Z’kharyah 9:9]
“When a city welcomed a victor with open arms without an exercise of power, it was expected that the victor would enter on a donkey and not on a horse…In the Book of Revelation, the world is being judged and this time [Messiah] arrives as a conqueror to whom the people did not submit willingly…[ He] arrives symbolically on a horse.” His arrival from the Mount of Olives would remind them of the prophecy in Zekharyah 14:1-5. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
16. (Now his disciples did not recognize these things at first, but when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him, and that they did these things to Him.)
17. Then the bystanders who had been with him when he called El'azar out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
18. This is another reason the crowd met him, because they heard about this miracle he had worked.
19. Then the P'rushim said to one another, "If you'll notice, we're getting nowhere. Just look! Our whole civilization has up and followed him!"
20. And among those coming up to worship at the Feast, there were some Gentiles.
21. And they approached Filippos (the one from Beyth-Tzaida in the Galil) and made a special request of him, saying, "Sir, we would like to see Yeshua."
22. Filippos came and told Andreas, and then they both came and told Yeshua.
23. But Yeshua responded to them by saying, "The hour has come when the Son of Man must be given [greater] authority.
“Now that Now that Yeshua had followers not only in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, but also in the Greek diaspora…, he declared that the time…to be glorified had finally come.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg) This would sound like he was about to take his throne! But it had to be accomplished in an indirect way…
24. "Know for certain that unless a wheat seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains just one seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Yeshua was saying, "I may indeed be something worth seeing, but I am about to take that from your eyes so that something far greater may result: I am doing what it takes for my nature to multiply itself in people all over the world." YHWH even created the laws of biology as pictures of His greatest work, redemption through Y’shua.
25. "Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates the life he has in this world will actually keep it in reserve for a life that lasts forever.
Life: Literally, soul or psyche; i.e., whoever spends his time arranging his circumstances and his image so that things are just right in this world will neglect the things that could guarantee him a secure position in eternity; on the other hand, those who pursue spiritual purity even to the point of neglecting their present circumstances, will find when the dust clears that they have in reality lost nothing and maintained what really mattered.
26. "If anyone serves me, let him follow me in this. And if anyone serves me, my Father will honor him.
27. "Now my soul is troubled, but what should I say? 'Father, deliver me from this hour?' On the contrary; for this very reason I came into this hour!
28. "Father, bring honor to Your Name!" Then a voice came out of the heaven: "I both have honored it, and I will honor it again!"
29. Then the crowd that stood there and heard it said, it had thundered. But others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."
30. So Yeshua responded by saying, "This sound has not occurred for my sake, but for yours.
31. "Right now is the time for a verdict to be given on this world order; right now the arch-commander of this order will be cast out!
32. "And as for me, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself."
Lifted up from the earth: i.e., on his execution-pole (cf. v. 33).
33. (Now He said this to give a sign about what kind of death by which he was about to die.)
34. The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the Torah that the Messiah is to remain forever; what do you mean by saying the Son of man has to be lifted up?"
35. Then Yeshua told them, "The Light will only be with you for a little while longer. Walk while you still have the Light, so the darkness won't overtake you. In addition, whoever walks around in the dark can't tell where he is going.
36. "While you still have the Light, put your confidence in the Light, so that you may become sons of light." Y’shua said these things, then went away and was hidden from them.
This time around, the Light of the Messiah was only there as a brief preview of what was coming. Those who did not "get on board" during this window of opportunity would surely be swallowed up with bitter cynicism and swept away by the agony of the events that would soon follow, from the destruction of the Temple and the dispersion of the Chosen People to the holocaust. Those who grabbed the opportunity to "board the train" this time around, however, would receive the perspective needed to weather the long storms that had to come before Messiah's permanent arrival, to which the Scriptures they cited referred.
37. Despite so many of his signs having been done right in front of them, they did not trust him,
Signs: “red flag” actions that were meant to make them notice and prove that he was doing something that only YHWH could have initiated through him.
38. in order that the word of Yeshayahu the prophet might be given fuller meaning—[the one] which said, “Master, who has believed our report? And to whom has the Arm of YHWH been revealed?
This is from Yeshayahu Isaiah) 53:1. Revealed: or uncovered; i.e., He “rolled up His sleeve” through Yeshua’s signs. Arm: a symbol of strength, but also an “extension” of Himself into the visible realm, like Philo’s and Yochanan’s logos (1:1ff).
39. Because of this they were not able to believe, since Yeshayahu said further,
40. “He has blinded their eyes and made their hearts callous, in order that they might not see with the eyes or apprehend with the heart and change direction, so that I would heal them.”
Yeshayahu 6:10 actually tells Yeshayahu to make their hearts overgrown with fat and shut their eyes. But it is noteworthy that, while some critics theorize that there were two different writers of the book of Yeshayahu, since the first 39 chapters are so different from the latter 27, Chuck Missler pointed out that Yochanan credits both this (from the “first” writer) and verse 38 (from the “second Yeshayahu”) to the same person:
41. Yeshayahu said these things because he perceived his importance and spoke concerning him.
But why would YHWH not want the hearers to understand? Because He needed them temporarily blinded in order that no well-meaning person (like Kefa in Mat. 16:22-23) might try to stop the only sequence of events that could possibly ransom apostate Israel and many others throughout the nations.
42. However, although many even from among the pre-eminent ruling elders had [been persuaded to] believe in him, still, on account of the P’rushim, they did not admit to it, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue;
43. in fact, they preferred the esteem of human beings over the honor from Elohim.
44. Nevertheless, Yeshua called out [with a piercing voice, urgently], “The one who puts his trust in me is not trusting [only] in me, but in the One who has sent,
Urgently: he knew the time to get his message out to all who needed it was short. (13:1)
45. “and the one who watches me intently is experiencing the One who dispatched me!
46. “I have come into the world as a light, so that everyone who puts his trust in me may not remain in the darkness.
The world: in mystical Judaism, this “world of action” in which we operate most often is the lowest of the worlds in which YHWH operates, and is the one most in need of this light.
47. “And if anyone hears my words and is not diligent to keep them, I do not pass judgment on him, for I did not come in order to condemn the world but in order to salvage the world.
Keep: or guard, protect, preserve, but this is best expressed by observing them (putting them into practice). Salvage: to rescue out of danger and bring to a place of safety, and to preserve from destruction. I.e., his assignment was to keep the creation from being a total loss, and to judge it at this point would guarantee that outcome instead, because the world was not in a position to escape the effects of Adam’s fall until Yeshua acted.
48. “The one who ignores me and does not lay hold of my words [already] has something that judges him: the word that I spoke is what will judge him on the final Day,
Ignores: or disregards, passes over, sets aside, considers unimportant.
49. “because I did not speak from my own initiative; rather, the Father who sent me has given me orders, what I may say and what I should speak,
YHWH promised to put His own words into the mouth of a prophet He would raise up from among Israel, and that he would speak all that YHWH ordered him to speak. (Deut. 18:18; compare Yoch. 7:16)
50. “and I know that His commandment is unending life, so whatever I say is just [the same as] what He has told me to say.”
Know: or have seen (by experience). This is an allusion to Deut. 30:19; 32:46-47, where the Torah is called our “life” because to follow it should preserve us from an untimely death, but being in the right standing before YHWH also means we can receive our lives back even after death.
CHAPTER 13
1. And before the Feast of Passover, Yeshua, knowing that his hour had come to "pass over" from this world to the Father, remained committed to the ones in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the fullest extent.
Remained committed…loved: the same word both times, thus translated to show the connection. That, not a warm, fuzzy feeling, is what love is about. But it is when we know that we are taken care of, that the Father has us in His hands and will not let us go, that we have the confidence to sacrifice everything that is perishable for one another’s sake, knowing that “not a hair of our head will be lost”. (Luke 21:18)
2. And after the supper had taken place, when the adversary had already put it into the heart of Yehudah of the Sikkarioth to betray him,
3. Yeshua, knowing that his Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from Elohim and was going back to Elohim,
4. got up from the supper, laid aside his clothing, and took a towel and wrapped himself in it.
5. Then he put some water into the washbasin and began to wash the students' feet and to wipe them off with the towel in which he was wrapped.
The result of a true awareness of security (v. 3) will be servanthood, not self-aggrandizement.
6. Then he came to Shim’on Kefa, who said to him, “Master, are you [really going to] wash my feet?”
“Jerusalemite leaders were known for not caring for the needs of others…They fought tooth and nail with each other for their own privilege and status… Yeshua’s washing the feet of his disciples…was a way of expressing to them that their leadership over Israel must be very different from that of the current leaders.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg) This was a complete reversal of how it should be; the master deserved honor, not the menial job!
7. Yeshua answered and said to him, “What I am doing you don’t understand right now, but after these [events], you will understand.”
This was a complete reversal of how it should be; the master deserved honor, not the menial job!
7. Yeshua answered and said to him, “What I am doing you don’t understand right now, but after these [events], you will understand.”
8. Kefa said to him, “No way will you ever wash my feet!” Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.”
Ever: literally, “into the age”. Wash you: He probably meant not the physical act he was about to carry out, but the fact of what he would be able to do to remove his sins from him from the next day onward, but the physical act was symbolic of this, and also of the service to one another that Yeshua wanted to demonstrate so that they would know “how”—again, not the method of scrubbing each other’s feet, but the attitude they needed to have in each putting others ahead of himself.
9. [So] Kefa said, “Master, not just my feet, but also my hands and my head!”
In his typical all-out enthusiasm—probably one reason he was chosen for this task—he quickly shifted gears and said, “Don’t just clean a small part of me, but all of me!”
10. [But] Yeshua told him, “One who has bathed has no need to wash, if it weren’t for his feet; rather, he is completely clean. And you are pure, but not all of you.”
He knew he was getting ready to accomplish the major cleaning of their hearts, but by virtue of our still having a proclivity to be selfish and rubbing up against all the unclean things that we encounter in life, we constantly need minor cleansings, but mainly of the soul, our conscious mental state, because our spirits have been wholly purified already once we are reborn through accepting his “one offering forever” as applying to ourselves, but we are still in this world and so we are still “being made holy”. (Hebrews 10:14) Yeshua keeps shifting of one aspect of the metaphor to another, seeing connections on many levels, but not until all of these things played out could his students catch the allusions.
11. (Because he had become aware of the one who was [in the process of] betraying him; that is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”)
12. So when he had washed their feet, and gotten his garments and sat back down, and said to them, “Do you realize what I have done to you?
Sat: literally, reclined, the form of sitting or lying still used at Passover with one’s head propped on one’s hand to symbolize that “on this night we eat like kings, for we are free men”, fully at ease and no longer oppressed. Yeshua would give much new meaning to that idea on this very Passover. Realize: or, understand.
13. “You call me teacher and master, and you speak appropriately, because [that is what] I am.
14. “So if I, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you certainly owe it to one another to wash [each other’s] feet!
Owe it: On their way into Yerushalayim, they had been arguing with one another about which of them was the greatest. (Luke 9:46) This was the way to live out the “apology” they owed one another for dong so—by showing deference to one another and each placing the other before himself.
15. “I gave you an example, so that just as I did to you, you should do the same [thing].
Example: model or pattern to follow.
16. “I tell you the truth—and this is reliable: a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
As great as he is, Yeshua often speaks of himself as such a messenger, and directs our attention to YHWH, not himself. Sadly, much of what he taught has been lost to the personality cult that grew up around him.
17. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you carry them out.
Just knowing will not count for anything; acting on what we know (if we know the right things) is the very definition of wisdom, but who is rewarded for simply what he knows if he does not apply it practically?
18. “I’m not talking about all of you. I am aware of whom I have selected, but in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, ‘the one who eats my bread has raised his heel against me.’
This Scripture is Psalm 41:9. Interestingly, it is the heel of the woman’s seed that the serpent’s seed is said to bruise while it is in the process of crushing his head. (Gen. 3:15) But “Judas’ sin was not that he ‘sold’ Yeshua for 30 silver coins, but that he actually lifted up his heel over Yeshua’s neck [like the victor on a battlefield], by trying to force him to do his will.” He was apparently trying to force Yeshua’s hand to revolt against the Romans by having him arrested and thus cornered so he would have to use his power for political reasons, as the Sicarii constantly did. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg) But this was not his purpose now, and thus to insist on it was to assert that his own method was more appropriate than Yeshua’s.
19. “I’m telling you from this point—before it comes about—so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am [he].
The final “he” is present in the Aramaic version. Its antecedent appears to be “the one the psalmist is speaking about” and maybe “the one with the bruised heel”.
20. I tell you the truth—and this is reliable: the one who receives anyone I send receives me, and the one receiving me receives the One who sent me.”
21. Having said these things, Yeshua became upset in spirit and said, “I tell you the truth—really—that one of you is going to betray me.”
Upset in spirit: or emotionally troubled. Betray me: literally, hand me over.
22. The students looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he was talking about.
The man in question had kept the secret well, and Yeshua, though he knew, had done nothing to embarrass him.
23. One of the students whom Yeshua favored was reclining close to Yeshua’s chest.
Favored: or loved, but the term is often used in Hebrew to indicate one having been chosen over another when it was necessary to choose. Because he is mentioned anonymously, many think this was Yochanan, who was writing this account, and 21:7 may substantiate this.
24. Shim’on Kefa therefore motioned to him and told him to ask whom it was he was talking about.
25. In keeping with this, that [man] leaned back against Yeshua’s chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?”
Leaned back: though all were reclining at the table, he leaned especially close to whisper his question, because apparently no one else heard the reply:
26. Yeshua therefore answered, “It is the one to whom I give the piece [of bread] when I dip it.” When he had dipped the piece [of bread], he took it and gave it to Yehudah, [son] of Shim’on [of] the Sicarii.
Rabbinic sources consider Yehudah (ben Yaaqov) to have been the one responsible for the betrayal of Yosef, so it is notable that the betrayer of Yeshua has the same name. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
27. And after [he had eaten] the piece [of bread], the Adversary entered into that [man]. Yeshua therefore said to him, “What you are doing, do without delay.”
Without delay: or quickly, in rapid succession. Yeshua had an appointment to keep the next afternoon, and there were several intervening steps that had to occur in order first. As we see in the book of Iyov, the Adversary or Accuser is restricted by the limits YHWH (in this case, through His spokesman) puts on him.
28. But none of those reclining toward [the table] were familiar with what he was discussing with them.
Apparently no one else connected this event with the conversation mentioned just before this. “It was customary to take a piece of bread, dip it in something tasty, and give it to another person nearby.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg) Thus this act would go unnoticed by any who did not realize what it signified in this instance.
29. Some indeed thought that since Yehudah held the moneybag, Yeshua was saying to him, “[Go into the market and] buy the things we need for the Feast”, or that he should give something to the poor.
Moneybag: literally “tongue that receives”, apparently a colloquial idiom emphasizing that it swallowed up the donations put into it! Apparently Yehudah was the treasurer for the itinerant band. The Feast: But were they not already at the feast? In the common terminology of the day, at that season, the Passover meal was not called “the Feast”, but only “unleavened bread”, whereas rather the seven days of unleavened bread were called “the Feast of Unleavened Bread” to distinguish the two, which contemporary readers would have understood without such a length explanation. They thought he wanted to go out and purchase something for the High Day while it was still possible, as the Sadducean Passover took place at this time (as the 14th of Aviv began), but the Pharisaic one would not be observed until the following afternoon, as the 14th transitioned into the 15th, when the Feast officially began, and the shops owned by those of the Pharisaic persuasion would still have been open. (Avi Ben Mordechai)
30. Therefore, having received the piece [of bread], he went out right away, though it was night.
Night: an unlikely time to go buy anything or even go to the Temple to make a charitable donation.
31. So when he had gone out, Yeshua said, “At this time the Son of Adam has been magnified in honor, and Elohim has been magnified in honor through him.
“While we normally ascribe the term glorification to Yeshua only after his resurrection, …it seems that Yeshua viewed betrayal, death, resurrection and ascension as one package, so much so that when the events that ultimately led to his death and resurrection began”, he considered the entire accomplishment to be completed. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
32. “If Elohim is magnified in honor through him, [then] Elohim Himself will also magnify him in honor, and will honor him right away.
Elohim Himself will: or, Elohim will magnify him in honor in His sphere or realm.
33. “Little children, I am only with you a little while longer. You will search for me, and, as I told the Judeans, ‘Where I am going, you are not able to come’, I am saying the same thing to you now.
Was he speaking about his journey to the nether parts of the earth (Ephesians 4:9)? To the heavenly altar (20:17; Heb. 13:10)? One answer appears below. (v. 36)
34. “A new commandment I am giving you: that you should love one another just as I have loved you, in order that you can also love each other.
Just as: or, to the same extent. This is what is “new” about it; no one had ever seen that kind of love lived out before, though Moshe was willing to try. (Ex. 32:32) He uses his example in regard to how far they should go to love, but also says that only because he has gone to that extent are we able to have the same degree of inner motivation, for he paved the way for the promise of Y’hezq’El of a new spirit that would replace our heart of stone with a softened heart.
35. “This is how everyone will know you are my students: if you have love among one another.”
36. Shim’on Kefa said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Yeshua answered him, “Where I am going you are not able to follow me now. But later you will follow.”
Follow: or accompany, attend. Yeshua had to go through this alone as the “father” of a new “race”, the restored race that had been ruined by Adam’s fall. But Kefa was to be killed in the same way as Yeshua, though as it turned out he asked to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to die in the same way this Master did. On a more positive note, however, he would follow Yeshua both in carrying on his work in this age and by his arrival in the Kingdom in the Age to Come.
37. But Kefa said to him, “Master, why can’t I follow you right now? I will lay down my life for your sake!”
38. Y’shua answered him, "Will you indeed lay down your life for me? It is absolutely certain that the crier will definitely not call out until you have denied me three times!
Crier: See note on 18:27.
CHAPTER 14
1. "But do not let your hearts be disturbed. You trust in YHWH; trust in me too.
2. "In my Father's house are many dwelling-places. If it were otherwise, I would have told you so. I am going to prepare a place for you.
3. "And if I am going to prepare a place for you, that means I am coming again to take you unto myself, so that wherever I am you may also be.
Yeshua is speaking here in wedding terminology. At their betrothal ceremony, a bridegroom would tell his bride, "I am going away to prepare a wedding chamber for you." The second stage of the wedding would come an indefinite amount of time later when the groom's father decided that all was ready (cf. Mark. 13:32), then he would go to bring his bride to his father's house for the second ceremony. After they stayed in their wedding chamber seven days, they would go back to the bride's home for the wedding feast. Yeshua's Father created these cultural patterns to foreshadow the seven years during which we will be in His house before we return with Yeshua to our house (i.e., earth) to reign with Yeshua after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).
4. "And you know where I am going; you also know the way.
5. Thoma said to him, "Master, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?
6. Yeshua told him, 'I am the way—and the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through me.
“These words…were not pronounced within the context of Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Hindu-Buddhist…polemical settings [but] intra-Israelite. All of them claimed thattheir way was the way to God. Judean authorities, since they were playing the central role in opposing Yeshua, were naturally the main focus.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
7. "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also, and from now on, you do know Him—and you have seen Him!
8. And Filippos said to him, "Master, just show us the Father, and that will satisfy us."
9. Yeshua said to him, "Philip! Have I been with you for this long a time, and still you haven't perceived who I am? Whoever sees me has seen the Father. So how can you still say, 'Show us the Father'?"
This statement must be understood within the boundaries set by 1:18. "The Logos is what is knowable of YHWH; the Logos is YHWH insofar as He may be apprehended and experienced...It is only in and through the Logos...that YHWH even begins to enter within the range of man's perception." (Dunn on Philo).
10. "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The very words I say to you I am not speaking on my own, but the Father who dwells within me is the One producing the works I do.
11. "Believe me when I tell you that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or if this is not enough, believe me because of the works themselves.
12. "Have confidence that what I say is true: He who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and indeed, he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.
13. "And whatever you may request in my name, that I will do, in order that the Father may be honored through the Son.
“To ask something I the name of Yeshua is to ask because of who he is, of what he says, and of what he does…It is not a simple addendum, or a ‘send button’, to our prayers…We can pray in Yeshua’s name without actually ending our prayer with the well-known phrase, ‘In Jesus’ name, Amen’.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
14. "If you request anything in my name, I will do it.
15. "If you love me, then keep my commandments.
His commandments are no different from his Father’s.
16. "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another like me who is called alongside of you so that you'll have one who can stay with you forever—
Called alongside: Gk., Parakletos: one who is helping another bear the weight of his burden, and indeed bearing most of it himself. The Hebrew equivalent of this term is ha-m'nahem, "the comforter" (in the Latin sense, not English: the one who is "strong along with us"). Another: In Jewish understanding, the Messiah is called a “comforter” because m’nahem has the same numerical value as “offshoot”, which Messiah is called in Zkh. 6:12. So Messiah is the first comforter, and he promises a replacement when he leaves. Josephus says there was also an Essene Jew in Jerusalem named M'nahem a generation before this who prophesied that Herodus would become king. He claimed to be the Messiah and presented himself as the “Suffering servant” of Yeshayahu 53, and because of his wild claims, he was eventually killed, but his followers claimed his suffering and death were part of YHZWH’s plan and that he arose after three days. Israel Knohl suggests that Yeshua can be seen as an alternative to M'nahem, who succeeded in opposing the system of the Judean leaders where the first Menahem failed, and he promises yet another M'nahem.
17. "the Spirit of Truth, which the world is not able to take hold of, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He dwells with you, and will be among you.
18. "I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming back to you.
19. "In just a little while, the world will no longer be aware of my presence, but you can still perceive me here. Because I am alive, you will also live.
20. "In That Day you will understand that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
21. "The one who takes hold of my commandments and hangs onto them is the one who really loves me; and the one that loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself known to him."
22. Yehudah—not of the Sikkarioth—asked him, "Master, what has occurred that you are going to show yourself to us but not to the world?”
23. Yeshua answered and told him, “If a man is committed to me, he will pay careful attention to [and guard] my words, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him.
24. “Whoever is not committed to me does not guard my words—and the word that you hear is not mine, but that of the Father, who sent me.
25. “I have said these [things] to you while still alongside of you,
26. “but the one called alongside [to help]—the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and bring back to mind all [the] things I have said to you.
In our case, we have to familiarize ourselves with all he has said so the Holy Spirit can bring it back to our memory.
27. “Peace [is what] I leave to you; I give you my [own] peace—[and] I don’t give to you in the same way the [order of the] world gives. Don’t let your heart be disturbed, and don’t let it shrink back [with timidity].
You/your: plural, but “heart” is singular—a shared purpose. Same way: His peace is not something that is only present when our surroundings are calm and our worries have been resolved, but also when there is great confusion and terror around us, as there soon would be for the men he was talking to.
28. “You heard how I said to you, ‘I am leaving, then I am coming [back] to you.’ If you had been committed to me, you would have been glad, because I am going toward the Father, since the Father is greater than I [am].
29. “So now I have told you before it comes about, so that when it has come about, you may trust [me].
“He knew from the beginning that the Cross lay in his path, but he was not going to his Cross passively. He was in control.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg; compare 10:18)
30. “I will not be speaking with you much longer, because the chief commander of this world [order] is coming, but he has nothing [by which to retain a] hold on me.
Or, “he has nothing in me”—i.e., to latch onto, and therefore, I will slip back out of his grasp, though he sends me to where I am going by his instruments of death. Unlike every other human being since Adam, haSatan has no claim on Yeshua; his is not required to die, but the rival lord will get his body anyway, appearing to be the victor, but because of this unjust death, will legally become a murderer in the process and thus lose all right to not only Yeshua but anyone else in the human race who sides with Yeshua, as well as all right to rule the earth after a certain allotted time, because although he is trying to retain his hold forever, the deed will have passed back to the human race from which he swindled it by his cunning, deceitful tactics in the Garden of Eden.
31. "But I do just what the father commands, in order that the world may know that I love the Father. Now get up, let's go get ourselves in position.
CHAPTER 15
1.
"I am the genuine Vine, and my Father is the worker of the soil.
"I am the genuine Vine, and my Father is the worker of the soil.Genuine vine: Of which every physical vine on earth is just an illustration. In "comparing himself to the vine in God's vineyard, [he is] evoking one of the greatest Israelite prophetic symbols… Joseph was pictured in Genesis 49:22 as the unstoppable vine that overcomes obstacles… Yeshua is shown here as the ultimate Joseph, who is the blessed vine. This is the vine to which all members of Israel, especially its leaders, must be connected so that they may survive, be blessed, and bear fruit…Blessing can flow to all branches of the vine…because of God’s blessings on the vine…These new heads must behave differently than the originaltribal heads; these new leaders must love one another." (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg; see Isaiah 5:1-16; Ezekiel 15:6-8)
2. "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He He lifts up, and every one that bears fruit He prunes so it may bear more fruit.
Compare Yirm. 5:10; 11:16; Rom. 11. Lifts up: possibly propping it up or putting it in a better position so it can have better conditions to bear fruit.
3. "You are already pruned clean because of the collective teaching [that] I have communicated to you.
4. "Remain in me, and let me remain in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit from within itself unless it remains anchored in the vine, in the same way, you can't either unless you remain lodged in me.
5. "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me (and I in him), that's the one who will bring forth lots of fruit, because apart from me you are not able to do anything.
Branches: A grapevine, unlike a tree, could be said to be either all vine or all branches; the Body of messiah is made up of all of us, and the "vine" courses through all its "veins", sustaining them with sap. Disconnect any branch and it has no power supply, like an unplugged electrical appliance. It works just fine when connected, but just let it try to turn itself on when not connected to a power source. We are not asked to live a Messiah-like life isolated from him; all he asks is that we keep letting him live out his own life through us moment by moment. Y’shua bore the same relationship to the Father (5:19, 30; 14:10).
6. "Unless someone remains connected with me, he'll fall off and dry up like a branch—the kind they gather, thrown onto the fire, and burn as firewood.
7. "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you can ask what you wish, and it will come about for you.
The two conditions are crucial to the promise coming true, because we only have a right to ask for the things that he (and actually the Father before him) has initiated. As he told his disciples, the rulings they made had to line up with rulings that had already been made in Heaven if they were to stand on earth. (Mat. 16:19) If we have let his words have their rightful place in us, what we wish for will be the things we ought to want, and since they are what YHWH already wants, He will be more than glad to grant them.
8. “By this my Father is given weighty honor: that you should bear much fruit, thus becoming my disciples.
9. “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love!
10. “You will remain in my love if you pay careful attention to my orders, just as I have guarded my Father’s commands, and I remain in His love.
11. “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be brought to its full capacity.
My joy: or, my source of joy, cheerfulness, or calm delight. They were about to have their whole world rocked by a severe blow from the evil one, but he had prepared them in advance to withstand even that kind of attack.
12. “This is my order: that you love one another in the same way that I have loved you.
Love: or be committed, look out for one another’s best interests. One example of how is shown in 13:12-16, 34.
13. “No one has greater love than this: that someone should lay down his [very] life for his dear friends.
No one who is fallen, that is; that is all one could hope for. (Compare Romans 5:7-8) Yeshua actually was capable of more—laying down his life for some of us who were still set in stubborn opposition to him, and in the process, turned us into his friends. (5:10)
14. “You are my dear friends if you do what I instruct you.
15. “I no longer call you servants, because the servant does not understand what his master is doing. Instead, I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
“In ancient times, especially in this Jewish setting, …a student of a religious leader…was also his servant… He began the final preparation of his disciples for the very challenging task of being his representatives during a foundational period that would prove incredibly unstable. The time had come for them to be included in his council…and commit to what one day would become one of the core Jewish values:…love of all Israelites.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
16. “You did not choose me; rather, I picked you and appointed you, so that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit might last, so that whatever you might request of the Father in my name, He may give you.
17. “I am instructing you in these things so that you may be committed to one another.
The kinds of orders he gives us (just as his Father did when giving the Torah) are the very things that will equip us to truly love one another I the ways that count most.
18. “If the world order hates you, recognize that it has hated me before [it hated] you.
The reason? “You are of Elohim, and the whole world order lies under the power of the evil one.” (1 Yochanan 5:19)
19. “If you had come from the world order, it would love you as its own, [belonging to it], but because you are not [part] of the world order (instead, I picked you out from [among] the world order)—on account of this, the world order hates you.
The powers that have driven the rebellion since the Garden of Eden, and especially since the Tower of Bavel, have affected everyone since Adam, and now Yeshua was confirming and establishing forever the counter-history begun when YHWH called Avraham out from the pagan system, making him enemy number one to that system, and the same attitude extends toward anyone who works along with him to subvert and undermine that monopoly. “John uses this word kosmos not as created order…[but as] something adversarial to God’s order (7:7; 9:39; 12:31; 15:18-19)…the order of things/beings that oppose God…At the time of Yeshua, the opposing force was the Judeans. When John was writing the Gospel, and certainly his letters, the main opposing force…was already the Roman Empire. This opposing order is, nevertheless, an object of his redemptive love, attention, and restoration (1:29; 3:16; 6:33; 14:31; 17:23) because it was once created by God…The world is not simply an evil force. Opposing force? Yes. Satani? No. Why? Because it was very important to Yeshua that this world be persuaded that Israel’s God sent Yeshua…It was very important to him that this world order stop being oppositional and start being submissive.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
20. “Remember the concept I told you [about]: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecute me, they will persecute you too. If they paid attention to what I talked about, they will also pay attention to what you say.
He is alluding back to the teaching he began in 13:16, which took place earlier the same day.
21. “On the contrary, they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they have not known the One who sent me.
Known: or recognized, appreciated, understood.
22. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be considered as having missed the target, but as it is now, they have no excuse in regard to what they are doing wrong.
If Yeshua had not “recalibrated the instruments” so that the original goal could be properly measured again, those who were at least aiming toward some semblance of righteousness would have been excused for their slight deviation from it due to mitigating conditions. But he cleaned the lenses and reset the components of the tools we had been given, so that they should work perfectly again, but we wanted toi keep using them in the way we had become comfortable with.
23. “Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
Many who claim to worship YHWH yet doubt Yeshua because of how his words have been misconstrued and even used against them might be off the hook if it were not for this statement. But YHWH has chosen to place us all under condemnation so that He might show mercy to everyone, not just those who are clearly far off course. (Romans 11:32)
24. “If I had not effected works among them that no one else had done, they would not have been counted guilty, but now they have seen [them] and rejected both me and my Father.
25. “But [this is] so that the saying, ‘They hated me for no reason’, which was written right in their own Torah, might be brought to its fullest meaning.
For no reason: something freely done, without "cause"; undeservedly, not because of anything he had done or out of obligation or compulsion. This is a reference to Psalm 69:4—not in the Torah as we define it today (the five books of Moshe), but in the broader sense, the Scriptures any Jew would recognize as authoritative, but not a Samaritan, and thus this explanatory note since some of his audience were Samaritan also. Brother hating brother for no reason is why Jews today say the Temple was destroyed. (Compare Ps. 35:1-8.)
26. “When the one called alongside to help comes (which I will send to you from the Father’s presence—the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father), that will provide evidence concerning me.
27. “You, too, will testify concerning me, because you are with me since the beginning.
Since the beginning: i.e., you have seen firsthand the things others will only be able to pass on because of their witness.
CHAPTER 16
1. “I have told you these things so that you might not be tripped up.
Told you: in advance. Tripped up: made to stumble—i.e., by the shocking nature if the events that were about to take place.
2. “They will excommunicate you from the synagogues. However, a particular time is [even] coming when everyone who has killed you will think he has offered a [spiritual] service to Elohim!
Once the rabbinical “coup” that replaced the Levitical order YHWH Himself had set up had reached a critical mass (redefining “Torah” as the traditions of the elders that had been passed down for generations but which, contrary to Torah, added burdens unsustainable by all but the wealthy), anyone who, like the prophets before him, tried to point us back to the original design, there were just too many vested interests at stake to take seriously the call back to YHWH had established, so anyone who stood in their way had to be eliminated. They had come to think of this as the religion YHWH desired, when in fact He had laid down far fewer outward actions but intended the cultivation of an inner attitude that the physical commands had provided examples of. In addition, now that someone had come who could actually change us from the inside out, this called their bluff, and the evidence that the Pharisees’ religion could indeed be superseded (Mat. 5:20) had to be done away with.
3. “And they will do these things because they know neither the Father nor me.
4. “But I have alerted you to these things, so that whenever their time might come, you may remember them, since I have told you. But I didn’t say these things to you since the beginning, because I was with you.
5. “But now I am going to the One who has sent me—yet none from among you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
6. “Rather, because I have told you these things, the grief has filled your heart!
7. “But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I should go away, because if I don’t go away, the one called alongside [to strengthen you] will by no means come to you; however, if I do make the transfer, I can send it to you.
It: though parakletos in Greek and m’nahem in Hebrew are both masculine terms, a spirit (especially one of empowerment from YHWH as opposed to a messenger as such) does not have a gender as if it were a separate person. In fact, the alternate term he uses for it in v. 13—the spirit—is a neuter term, and in Hebrew it is feminine, so we should not put so much emphasis on the pronouns. Such gender in regard to objects is something we have very little of in English, but which most other languages have for every noun. The derivative concept of the spirit’s separate “personhood” has caused much confusion about the nature of YHWH, and is especially a foreign concept to Jews, who have thought of YHWH’s spirit in very different terms since long before this. But in any case, this was to be a move from Yeshua being near them as an example (v. 10) to something actually motivating and empowering them from within.
8. “And, having come, it will convict the world concerning error, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment--
Convict: rebuke and expose their guilt. (See notes on v. 2 and 15:22-23.)
9. “concerning error indeed, because they do not have faith in me;
10. “concerning righteousness, because I am going away to the Father, and you can no longer watch me;
He was the living demonstration of what righteousness means and what the Torah intended; they would now need a different means of being shown what the right course of action was.
11. “but [also] concerning judgment, because the chief commander of this age’s order has been tried [by the tribunal] and condemned.
Condemned: see note on 14:30. However, when he knows his days are numbered, he will thrash out with great violence against anyone and anything that is associated with his Judge. (Rev. 12:12) Hence the problems he warned us about at the beginning of the chapter.
12. “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them just yet;
Handle: tolerate, bear the weight of, stand, or support—because you do not yet have that inner source of strength that I am telling you about:
13. “However, when that one—the spirit of Truth—arrives, it will guide you within the [sphere of operation of] every [kind of] truth, because it will not communicate of its own accord, but whatever it ‘hears’, it will communicate, and will make you aware of the things that are coming.
Spirit of truth: In Hebrew, spirit is the same word as wind, so this is probably an allusion to Ezekiel 37, where the wind brings resurrection to the whole House of Israel. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg) Guide: lead, direct (like the wind), show the way. As we need any aspect of truth, we will be given direction; we don’t need a body of knowledge in advance; that would be too burdensome and probably also puff us up with arrogance. Of its own accord: Aramaic, what it figures out for itself.
14. “That one will bring me weightier honor, because it will receive from what is mine and will disclose [it] to you.
I.e., it will not bring honor to itself as a separate entity. That was never the intent, though some people have sought to experience the Holy Spirit as an end in itself.
15. “Everything—as much as the Father has—is mine; that is why I said that it will receive from what is mine and will disclose [it] to you.
16. “A little [while] and you will no longer [be able to] see me, then again a little [while] and you will [be able to] see me, because I am going to the Father.”
See me: or watch me (as if a spectator).
17. Some of his disciples therefore said, “What is this that he’s saying to us—‘A little [while] and you will no longer [be able to] see me, then again a little [while] and you will [be able to] see me, because I am going to the Father’?”
18. So they were saying, “What is this ‘little while’ that he is talking about? We don’t get what he is saying.”
19. Yeshua realized that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Is this what you are trying to figure out—that I said, ‘A little [while] and you will no longer [be able to] see me, then again a little [while] and you will [be able to] see me’?
20. “It’s really true, I tell you: you will weep [uncontrollably] and [loudly] lament, but the world will be glad; you will be distressed, but your grief will turn into joy.
21. “The woman, when she is giving birth, has pain, because her time has come, but when she has brought forth the child, she no longer remembers the distress on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world.
22. “Therefore you, too, will now indeed have sadness, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one [can] take your joy away.
Yeshayahu described what Yeshua was about to go through as “the labor of his soul”, which would bring him satisfaction. (53:11) The first birthpangs of the kingdom would occur at this time; the “labor” will resume in a later stage in the days yet to come. (Yirmeyahu 30:6-10; Mat. 24:8)
23. “And in that day you will not ask me anything. This is true and reliable, I tell you: whatever you may ask the Father in my name, He will give you.
24. “Up till now you have not requested anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be filled to complete capacity.
25. “I have said these things to you in riddles; a time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in cryptic language, but I will bring you information about the Father plainly.
Plainly: literally, with complete openness, frankness, and boldness. Part of the reason he spoke in allegory was to keep from giving away YHWH’s plans so that His enemies could not derail them.
26. “In that day you will make requests in my name, and I’m not saying to you that I will put in a word for you to the Father;
Put in a word: the term implies doing so as someone in a more preferred or privileged position.
27. “the Father Himself loves you because you have come to love me and believe that I came forth from the Father.
He was the “Son of Adam”, “the concealed one”, that even Hanokh, “the seventh from Adam”, saw already exalted in the presence of the Ancient of Days in his day. (1 Hanokh 46:1-2; 48:1-6; 61:10-12; compare Daniel 7:13)
28. “I did come forth from the Father and came into the world; I am leaving the world again and going [back] to the Father.”
29. His disciples said, “See, now you are speaking plainly and not in riddles.
30. “Now we see that you are aware of everything and don’t need anyone to ask you [about it]. Because of this we do believe that you came forth from Elohim.”
Aware of: or, take everything into consideration. He answered their questions (vv. 17-19) without their even bringing them up to him.
31. Yeshua answered them, “Only now you believe?
Only now: You just now started to believe?
32. “Look: an hour is coming—and has already arrived—when you will be scattered, each to his own [place], and you will leave me alone, though I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Scattered: in the sense of being put to flight and thus dispersed.
33. “I have told you these things so that in me you will have peace. In the world you have [constricting] pressure, but take courage: I have overcome the world [order].
Pressure: the term denotes being hemmed from outside in and feeling that you are confined with no way to escape. Take courage: with the sense of good cheer because one is emboldened from within so he can be both unflinching and radiate confidence in a friendly way, because one is warm-hearted. Overcome: conquered, prevailed, and subdued, having come through a battle victoriously.
CHAPTER 17
1. When Yeshua had spoken these things, he lifted up his eyes into the heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Honor Your son so that the son may bring honor to You,
2. “just as You gave him authority [over] all flesh, so that to all You have given him, he may grant eternal life.
Eternal: or, life in the Age (to come). However, some aspects of it can already be experienced:
3. “But this is the eternal life: that they may know You, the only genuine Elohim, and Yeshua the Messiah, whom You have sent.
Know: by personal experience. Genuine: or true; other elohim known on the earth derive any authority they may have only from Him, and He will withdraw it from many of them, especially based on what Yeshua was about to accomplish. Notice Yeshua does not include himself as part of that Elohim, but as His servant, albeit a very special one.
4. “I have honored You on the earth, having completed the work that You gave me to do.
5. “So now glorify me Yourself, alongside Yourself, with the honor that I had alongside You before the world [came] to exist.
Alongside you: see note on 16:27 for how this was so. He was the Word—the first aspect of YHWH’s creation—and was already a separate entity at that time and participated with YHWH in creating the world (1:2-3), but always in a subordinate role, and he never tried to change that (Phil. 2:5-11) as haSatan did. (Yeshayahu 14;14) He was designed to reveal to us things about YHWH since we could never look directly on YHWH Himself. (1;18; 14:9)
6. “I have been revealing Your name to the people whom You gave me from out of the world. They were Yours, and You have given them to me, and they have paid close attention to what You have said.
At this point in history, YHWH’s name was only heard in the Temple on Yom Kippur ten times, but on no other day of the year. But His “name” also includes His reputation as well as knowledge of His character, which Yeshua has been demonstrating. His name is shorthand for everything he says, is, and does. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
7. “They have now come to know that all things that You have given me have come from You,
8. “because the words that You have given me, I have given them, and they have taken hold of them and have come to recognize that I really did come forth from You, and they have come to believe that You did send me.
Words: or matters, topics, ideas.
9. “I am praying about them. I am not making any requests concerning the world, but rather concerning those You have given me, because they belong to You.
He knows that the world order has to be allowed to continue running under the direction of certain spirits, good or evil, until it has run its course. He will not change that system, though the people allotted to him might influence it for the better. But those he has called out from that system must still live within it, though they no longer belong to it, and he knows they will be special targets, so he asks YHWH to strengthen and provide for them.
10. “All those that belong to me are also Yours, and those that are Yours are mine, and I have been honored through them.
11. “Though I am no longer in the world, they themselves are [still] in it, while I am coming to You. Holy Father, watch over them through Your name, which You have given me, so that they may be one, just as we are [one].
Given me: One of the names by which the Messiah will be called is “YHWH [is] our righteousness” (Yirmeyahu 23:6), just as Yerushalayim, “the city called by His name”, will be. (Yirm. 33:16) One: i.e., in total unity of purpose. He cannot mean “one and the same”, for that would not be something we could emulate, and that is what he is asking here. (See also 5:26-27; 10:30)
12. “While I was with them, I was guarding them through Your name, which You have given me, and I preserved them, so that none of them has perished, except the ‘son of perishing’, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Perishing: being lost or destroyed, but not annihilated. Fulfilled: see 13:18; compare 18:9.
13. “But now I am coming to You, and I am saying these things in the world so that they may have my joy within themselves to the fullest possible extent.
“Yeshua had a mission from the Father to carry out, but there is also a sense of ownership…clearly present. This is not simply a servant who did his job. This is someone who himself is now deeply invested in these people. Yeshua, therefore, asks the Father who commissioned him to do it, to keep them in His name…To be in the world is dangerous…The ultimate price of martyrdom may have to be paid.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
14. “I have given them Your word, and the world has come to hate them, because they do not belong to the world system, just as I did not originate from the world order.
Your word: or your way of thinking, Your “logic”. Their new selves originated from a source outside of and independent of their bodies, as they have been placed into his new (restored) human race, thus while our bodies remain in this environment, we partake of other dimensions the natural order cannot provide, but which depend on YHWH’s direct intervention.
15. “I don’t ask that You would take them out of the world, but that You would guard them from the evil [one].
While in the world, we could be influenced and affected by the things that do belong to the present order, but we need not be, if He keeps them from touching us, at least until the time that we need to be carried across the threshold into the new one through bodily death.
16. “They are not of the world [order], just as I am not of the world [order].
17. “Set them apart through the truth; Your word is truth.
Set them apart: from the system that runs the governments of this age; consecrate them, make them dedicated to something different, make them holy. Your word: what You have said, and in particular that which has been written down as Scripture to be preserved for all generations. By “hiding it in our hearts” (Psalm 119:11), we can be guarded from the evil influences that bombard us daily.
18. “Just as You have sent me into the world, I have also sent them into the world,
19. “and on their behalf I set myself apart, so that they may also be truly set apart.
“Making and keeping them holy is of primary concern to Yeshua… If his disciples are not sanctified, they will not be able to lead God’s people into a new redeemed direction, Yeshua’s mission must not fail. To ensure this, he asks his Father to see that it is done.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
20. “But I don’t ask only in regard to these, but also for those who put their trust in me through their communicating,
That would be us, the heirs to their message, also passed down through the ages.
21. “in order that all may be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I [am] in You, that they may also [come to] be in us, so that the world may believe that You sent me.
22. “I have also given them the honor that You gave me, so that they may be one, just as we are one--
23. “I in them and You in me—so that they may be brought into complete unity, in order that the world may recognize that You sent me and loved them just as You loved me.
Like a continuous electric circuit, if we remain “plugged into” Messiah, who is like a transformer that “steps down” the power which is too strong for frail “appliances” like us, then we will also have YHWH’s empowering love in us to a degree that can enable us to function properly even in this resistant world.
24. “Father, I want those whom You have given me may also be with me where I am, so that they can see [firsthand] my [splendid] honor, which You gave me before the founding of the world, because You loved me.
Founding of the world: or even, before it was conceived. This may refer to the whole of creation in general, of which Yeshua is the firstfruit (Colossians 1:15), or of the world order that is in place now, but did not begin until after Adam and Chawwah fell.
25. “Righteous Father, though the world has not recognized You, still, I have known You, and these [people] have recognized that You sent me.
Righteous: one who is just and equitable.
26. “I have both been making Your name known to them and will [continue to] make it known, so that the love with which You loved me may be in them, and that I may [also] be among them.”
CHAPTER 18
1. Having said these things, Yeshua left and took his disciples across the Qidron flood-channel where there was an olive orchard, into which they entered.
Olive orchard: A cultivated area (see note on Mat. 26:36). ). In another garden, possibly quite close to or on the same site as the one where the serpent tricked us out of our inheritance, Yeshua was about to undo what had been done in the ancient Garden. The Qidron is what David referred to as the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” (Psalm 23) when he crossed over it when fleeing Avshalom’s murderous intent. Yeshua was following in his ancestor’s footsteps, and the threat of death hung over him as well.
2. And Yehudah, the one who was betraying him, also knew the place because Yeshua had often met there with his disciples.
3. So, obtaining a cohort and subordinate officers from the chief priests and P’rushim, Yehudah came there with torches, lamps, and weapons.
A cohort: normally 600 men! This may have only been a maniple—a force of 200. Still, this is “a massive operation with the use of both Temple priestly guards and Roman soldiers stationed in Jerusalem in the Antonia Fortress…The last time the Temple guards were sent to arrest Yeshua, they failed completely. They seemed to be so impressed with his words…that they too began to doubt the orders from their superiors…This time, extra precautions were taken to prevent another failure… Enemies of Yeshua were fearful of him and his followers in the context of ther approaching Passover. This was the traditional revolutionary time that reminded the Israelites of YHWH’s mighty deliverance from slavery.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
4. Then, knowing all the things that would befall him, Yeshua went forward and asked the priests, "Whom are you searching for?"
5. They answered Him, "Yeshua the Nazarene." Yeshua said to them, "I am he." Yehudah, his betrayer, also stood among them.
6. When He said, "I am he", they reared back and fell to the ground.
They could not believe he would make it so obvious that he was the one to arrest.
7. So He asked them again, "Who are you looking for?" And they said, "Yeshua the Nazarene."
8. He answered, "I told you that I am he, so if it is me you are seeking, let these other men go"—
9. in order that his earlier word might be fulfilled: "Of those whom You gave to me, I did not lose any—not even one."
10. Then Shim'on ("the Rock"), who had a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's slave, who was named Melekh, cutting off his right ear.
Melekh means "king". There may be some symbolic significance in regard to Yeshua holding off His judgment on the kings of the earth until later. Yeshua healed his ear (Luke 22:51), because no one belonging to the high priest would assumedly be permitted into the Temple precinct if his body remained mutilated. (Compare Lev. 21:17ff)
11. Then Yeshua said to "Rock", "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink at all from the cup that my Father has given me?"
12. Then the cohort, the commander of a thousand, and the Jewish leaders' officers together seized Yeshua, tied him up,
That Yeshua was bound shows “the obvious connection with Abraham’s offering of Isaac, [who], like Yeshua was willing to accept his own death and… would (figuratively) be raised from the dead [as] we read in Hebrews 11:19.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
13. and led him away, first to Annan, since he was the father-in-law of Kayafa, who was high priest that year.
That year: See note on 11:49. Annan officially served as high priest from 6-15 C.E.. Though deposed by the procurator Gratus, he remained one of the nation’s most influential individuals both socially and politically, “aided greatly by the use of his five sons and his son-in-law as puppet High Priests.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
14. Now Kayafa was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be advantageous for one man to perish on behalf of the rest of the people.
15. And Shim'on and another disciple followed Yeshua. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, entered with Yeshua into the high priest's courtyard.
The other disciple: This was Yochanan, who leaves out his own name out of modesty. That he was known to the high priest suggests that he may have been from the priestly family himself. (Eusebius quotes Polycrates of Ephesus, who says that he was. Ecclesiastical History, 3.31.3)
16. But "Rock" stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper, and brought "Rock" in.
17. Then the maidservant who kept the gate said to him, "Aren't you also one of this Man's disciples?" The latter said, "I am not."
18. And the slaves and subordinate officers, having made a fire with coals, were standing and warming themselves, because it was cold. And "Rock" was standing with them and warming himself.
19. Then the high priest interrogated Yeshua about his disciples and his teaching.
20. Yeshua answered him, "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and the Temple where the Jews always gather; I said nothing in secret.
21. "So why do you have to ask me any questions? Ask the ones who heard what I said to them. They certainly know what I said!"
22. Upon his saying these things, one of the subordinate officers who was standing by gave Yeshua a slap, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?"
23. Yeshua answered him, "If I said something wrong, state publicly how it was wrong; but if what I said was accurate, why are you hitting me?"
24. Then Annan sent him—still tied up—to Kayafa the high priest.
25. Now Shim'on ("Rock") was standing and warming himself, so they said to him, "Aren't you one of his disciples too?" He denied it, saying, "I am not."
26. One of the high priest's slaves, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive orchard?"
27. Again "Rock" denied it, and immediately a crier called out.
A crier: Traditionally, "a rooster crowed", but since by law no foul odors were to be found in the Temple complex and chickens were ruled to be the only clean animals who in their normal condition exuded a foul smell, they were prohibited. Therefore, this could not have been a literal rooster. However, chickens were nicknamed "criers", the same word used for the priests who announced the early morning tosefta prayers to their companions at the end of the third watch of the night. This must be what Shim’on Kefa heard, being as close as he was to the Temple.
28. Then they led Yeshua from Kayafa into a judgment hall called the Praetorium, and it was early. But they themselves did not enter the Praetorium so that they would not become ritually unclean, but remain fit to eat the Passover.
Early: too early for a lawful trial. But if Y’shua had already eaten the Passover, why would they not have already done so? Andrew Gabriel Roth points out that Josephus notes that at this time, 250,000 lambs would be slaughtered each year for the Passover! They are to be slaughtered “between the evenings”, which Josephus identified as between the 9th and 11th hours (roughly 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at this time of year). This is why all those qualified as priests were expected to be in Yerushalayim at this time, to help complete such a big task. But this left only one hour of daylight for them and whoever was helping them to slaughter and roast their own lambs, which turned out to be unrealistic. The parts of the lamb not eaten are to be burned by the next day (the 15th). Pesakhim 6:4 of the Mishnah says that to allow them until sunset of the 15th, rather than sunrise, to make Hagigah and eat their lambs, so they would not have to wait until a month later, as the Torah allows in an emergency. Therefore, these Galileans had kept the Passover at the normal time, but these priests had not yet eaten it. They would slaughter theirs “between the evenings” on the 15th instead of the 14th. This is why it could still be called “preparation day” (but not be a Friday) when Y’shua died. (Mark 15:42)
29. So Pilatus went out to them and asked, "What accusation do you bring against this man?"
30. They answered and told him, "If this man were not a malefactor, we would not have turned him over to you."
31. Then Pilatus said to them, "You take him and judge him according to your own law!" But the Jewish leaders told him, "It is not lawful for us to execute anyone"—
32. in order that the thing which Yeshua had said to indicate by what kind of death he was about to die might be fulfilled.
33. So Pilatus went back into the Judgment Hall. Calling Yeshua to him, he asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?!"
The only legitimate line of kings that the Jews as a particular part of Israel had was the line of David. Being king of the Jews, then, would give Yeshua the right to call YHWH His Father (Psalm 89:26--but note that that same verse says the Davidic line must also called YHWH their Elohim, so being His Son does not mean he is on equal footing with YHWH, in agreement with 20:17). This also gave Him the right to be called YHWH’s firstborn. (89:27) Because His ancestors the kings sinned against YHWH, they had to be punished with the rod and stripes. It does not say the blows and stipes would come upon those kings in particular; that is why Y’shua had to receive scourging and stripes. (19:1) This allowed the eternal throne of David, on which no one sat anymore (Ps. 89:38ff), to be restored. (89:33-37)
34. Yeshua answered him, "Did you come up with this idea on your own, or did other people say this about Me?"
35. Pilatus replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your priests have handed you over to me. Whatever did you do wrong?"
36. "My kingship is not the kind that arises out of the current world order," answered Yeshua. "If it was, my subordinates would have fought hard to keep me from being turned over to the Jewish leaders. But right now my kingdom is not from this place."
When he said this he was in Jerusalem. One day it will be headquartered precisely there; for now, however, it is ruled from Heaven.
37. Then Pilatus said to him, "So you really are a king, then?" Yeshua answered, "According to your way of speaking, I am a king. The reason I was born and entered into this world order was to let you know about the true one. Everyone who belongs to the true world order can hear my voice."
38. Pilatus said to him, "What is truth?" And, having said this, Pilatus went back out to the Judean leaders and told them, "I can't find in him a single ground for criminal accusation.
39. "However, there is a custom in your favor—that I should release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So you decide: should I release ‘the king of the Jews'?"
40. Then they all cried out again, "No, not him, but Bar-Abbas!" Now this Bar-Abbas was a bandit.
Bandit: or insurrectionist, probably a Zealot (freedom-fighter) who had taken part in a revolutionary uprising against Rome.
CHAPTER 19
1. So at that time Pilatus took Yeshua and flogged him.
Flogged: scourged with a whip embedded with sharp bones or pieces of metal, while tied to a post with one’s back exposed. Our sins were responsible for this.
2. And the soldiers, having braided together a garland-crown of thorns and put it on his head, and threw a purple robe around him,
3. and began coming toward him and saying, “Hail, O king of the Jews!” and kept giving him [hard] slaps on the cheek with their palms.
4. Then Pilatus again came outside and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you so that you may recognize that I find no reason for accusation in him.”
5. So Yeshua came outside, wearing the thorny garland-crown and the purple robe, and he said to them, “Look at the human being!”
Human being: possibly to try to stir up some compassion and humane feelings within them, as he was their own relative. But the word is the equivalent of the Hebrew adam, reminding them of the first Adam, for her before them was indeed the first complete human being anyone had seen since Adam and Chawwah were diminished. Here was the progenitor of a “new” (restored) race, the loss of which YHWH had expressed in His anguished call, “Adam, where are you?” Here he was again, and Pilatus unwittingly alerted Yeshua’s people to that fact. But Ben Burton also points out that there is also here a hint to anyone who could pick up on it: Z’kharyah 6:12, speaking of a high priest named Y’hoshua (also called Yeshua in Ezra and Nehemyah), says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch” (Heb., tz’makh, universally recognized as a term for the Messiah). He would not know he was alluding to such a similar phrase, but YHWH could certainly arrange for him to phrase it like that.
6. Accordingly, when the chief priests and [their subordinate] officers had looked at him [for a moment], they loudly exclaimed, “Crucify!”
Crucify: to execute someone by mounting him on a large crossbeam in a position where he would have to painfully push against the spikes by which they attached him to it in order to breathe. This would eventually become harder and harder, thus allowing fluid to gradually build up in one’s lungs and asphyxiate him, though it could often take several days. The term “excruciating” comes directly from this practice.
7. The Judeans answered him, “We have a law, and according to the law, he is obligated to die, because he made himself [out to be] the son of Elohim!”
Interesting that YHWH’s law was so twisted or altered so as to condemn the very one YHWH sent as His chief representative. Made: or set, established, showed himself as. By their interpretation, he had to be lying, and therefore was committing blasphemy. But were they more steeped in their added regulations and overlays to the actual Torah and prophets that they could not perceive what he was basing his claims on?
8. When Pilatus therefore heard this, he was even more afraid,
He was already concerned that he might be guilty of an injustice toward an innocent man, but if that man was a demi-god (in his Gentile way of thinking), how much more trouble might he be getting himself into? “In Roman theology, the Caesar himself was the son of God. In the Roman Empire, everyone knew that you don’t call yourdelf the Son of God if you want to stay alive. This title was reserved for the Caesar”, so the Judean leaders played this card. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
9. and he went back into the Praetorium and said to Yeshua, “Where are you from?” But Yeshua did not give him an answer.
He would not derail what needed to be done by making the one in charge of his sentence want to change his mind. Besides, this man would certainly not understand where he was coming from, if even his own people did not!
10. So Pilatus said to him, “You are not speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?
Release: or pardon.
11. Yeshua answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason, the one who delivered me over to you has the greater guilt.”
From above: ultimately from YHWH Himself, but Pilatus probably heard him only in regard to the fact that he had been put in his position by Caesar or someone under him. Guilt: i.e., responsibility and fault.
12. From out of this, Pilatus was seeking to release him, but the Judeans clamored, saying, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar! Everyone who appoints himself as a king is speaking in opposition to Caesar!”
They spoke in terms they thought Pilatus would have to respect, and indeed they craftily put him in a bind.
13. Pilatus, therefore, having heard these words, led Yeshua out and sat down on a tribunal seat in a place called “[The] Stone Pavement”, but in Hebrew, Gav’athah.
Stone Pavement: or possibly, “mosaic”. Gav’athah: raised-up place (imitating a hill).
14. It was now the day of preparation for the Passover, [the time] about the sixth hour, and he said to the Judeans, “Behold, your king!”
Day of preparation: the day immediately preceding the offerings, which would begin being slaughtered as sunset approached. Sixth hour: high noon.
15. They exclaimed, “Away with that one! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilatus said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We don’t have a king—other than Caesar [of course]!”
He turns their manipulation back on them and keeps calling him their king, and essentially says, “You go ahead and do it yourselves!” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg, cf. 18:31)
16. He therefore then delivered him over to them, so that he might be crucified. So they took Yeshua,
17. and, bearing his own crossbeam, he went out into what was called the Place of the Skull, which is to say (in Hebrew), Gulgolethah,
Cross-beam: the crosspiece of a Roman crucis (Latin, patibulum) placed at the top of the vertical stake to form a capital "T." Souter writes, "This transverse beam was the one carried by the criminal." Skull: see photo at left.
18. and there they crucified him, and along with him two others, [one] on this side and [one] on that side, with Yeshua in between.
Even in his death, he was in the position of a mediator.
19. But Pilatus also wrote a title and fixed it on the upright stake. What was written [on] it [was]: “Yeshua the inhabitant of Natzereth, the King of the Jews.”
Title: a common inscription which gave the accusation for which a criminal suffered.
20. Many of the Judeans therefore read the title, because the place was near the city, and it was inscribed in Hebrew, Latin, [and] Greek.
Latin: literally, Roman.
21. So the chief priests were saying to Pilatus, “Don’t write, ‘the King of the Jews’, but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews”.
22. Pilatus answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23. Then, when they crucified Yeshua, the soldiers took his garments and formed four portions, [one] share to each soldier, as well as his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven throughout the whole from the top [down].
24. So they said to one another, “Let’s not divide it, but determine whose it will be by casting lots”—so that the Scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They distributed my garments among themselves, and over my clothing they cast a lot.” So the soldiers indeed carried these things out.
The Scripture: Psalm 22:18.
25. Now beside Yeshua’s crucifixion stake, his mother had been standing, along with his mother’s sister, Miryam the wife of Khalfa’, and Miryam the Magdalene.
Khalfa’: rendered Klopas in Greek, and Cleopas in Latin, but, according to Eusebius, the same as the name rendered elsewhere in Greek “Alphaeus”, the name of the father of Yaaqov, one of his disciples. So that disciple may have been one of his own cousins. Magdalene: from Migdalah, a town built around a fishermens’ “tower”, possibly a lighthouse on the west side of Lake Kinnereth.
26. So when Yeshua saw his mother and the disciple to whom he was committed standing by, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
27. Next he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that time on, the disciple took her into his own [home].
Your mother: i.e., I am giving you the responsibility of caring for her in my absence. Since Yosef is no longer mentioned, it appears that she was a widow by that time. Apparently at that point, he trusted this disciple more than his own younger brothers, to whom the responsibility should naturally have fallen. (This disciple usually considered to be Yochanan, the author, who humbly wished to remain anonymous, but the only male follower Yeshua was ever said to have “loved” was El’azar, whom he had raised from the dead, per chapter 11, along with his two sisters. Whichever it was may have been either more capable or, at that point, still more devoted to Yeshua’s cause, though we later do see his brothers coming around and the eldest, Yaaqov, becoming the prominent leader among his followers, which is only fitting since he would be next in line to be the king in David’s line upon Yeshua’s death.) Though in great agony, Yeshua’s mind was more on others’ welfare than his own pain, and he was careful to obey the fifth commandment even now.
28. With that, Yeshua, knowing that all [other] things had been accomplished, in order to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am really thirsty!”
The Scripture: Psalm 69:21, which reads, “They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.” The flogging (v. 1) would have caused severe blood loss which would in turn result in hypovolemic shock as the heart raced to pump blood that was not sufficient, creating low blood pressure (such as caused him to need someone else to carry the crossbeam the rest of the way. (Mat. 27:32-33) It would cause the kidneys to shut down to preserve body fluids, and this extreme thirst would result as his body sought to replenish the fluids. (More detail.)
29. A vessel full of soured wine had been set there, so they filled a sponge with [the] vinegar; having put it around a stalk of hyssop, they brought it toward [his] mouth.
30. Therefore, when Yeshua had received the vinegar, he said, “It has been accomplished!” Then, having let his head fall back at an inclination, he delivered up his spirit.
Vinegar: a low-grade, inexpensive painkiller given to people condemned to such a death. Received: Per Gleason Archer,"Apparently [Yeshua] was offered two kinds of wine. One wine was mixed with gall, which [he] refused once he tasted it (Mt 27:34, 48)”, having vowed not to drink wine again until the Kingdom (Luke 22:18); the vinegar, having soured, apparently no longer counted as wine in that sense. Also, he would not accept a sedative, wanting to fully drain “the cup” his Father had given him to drink (18:11), but would accept something to ease his thirst, which was a common result of crucifixion. Accomplished: or finished. Arthur Custance writes, “The Greek word [tetelestai] …was written across the bottom of Statements of Account in ancient Greece, and clearly meant PAID IN FULL! (Moulton & Milligan) This…was therefore a cry of triumph, marking the end of his spiritual dying, an end which He could not possibly have foreseen so long as He was locked into the agony his suffering entailed. And because no end had been foreseeable, it had been effectively experienced as an eternity.” The Hebrew word he more likely actually used would be nagmar (fully complete). Delivered up: as a now-completed, perfected gift to his Father. Custance notes that this kind of "delivering" is used in a wide range of contexts such as "handing over (a torch)," "handing down (to posterity)," "handing over” (to justice), but the implication is always and without fail a free-will transfer... This is as true in the Septuagint occurrences as it is in Classical Greek usage. In every case someone deliberately hands over something or somebody to someone else, and the thought of surrender is never found in the context. He became a sinner unwillingly… in the sense that to do so He suppressed his own will in obedience to the Father's.”
31. Therefore, because it was the preparation day, in order that the bodies would not remain upon the crucifixion stake on the Sabbath (because that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilatus that their legs might be broken so they could be removed.
The [single] stake: it seems that all three men were on the same upright, each having only their own crossbar. Breaking their legs would prevent them from pushing their torsos up to gasp for air due to the extreme pain and bring death very quickly. Removed: because it is a curse for a body to be left hanging on a tree until the next day. (Deut. 21:22ff) High day: a Shabbaton rather than a weekly, seventh-day sabbath, thus resolving the age-old puzzle of how Friday afternoon (the usual preparation day) through Sunday morning could be counted as three days and three nights. It was not a “Friday” (sixth day) after all, but had to have been the fifth day of the week, so that Yeshua was in the grave for the entirety of both the first high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the weekly sabbath.
32. So the soldiers came and did indeed break the legs of the first as well as the other who was crucified along with him,
33. but when they came upon Yeshua, seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with his spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
The red and white blood cells in his pericardium had already separated, proving he had already been dead for some time. The sustained rapid heartbeat caused by hypovolemic shock due to major blood loss (see note on v. 28) had caused fluid to gather in the sac around the heart (pericardium) and also around the lungs, called pericardial effusion and pleural effusion, respectively.
35. And one who saw [it] is bearing witness, and his testimony is reliable. And he knows that he is speaking the truth, in order that you, too, might believe,
Yochanan, the author, was an eyewitness; this was not just hearsay that took on the life of an archetypal legend because it sounded good.
36. because these things were written so that the Scripture might be given fuller meaning: “Not a bone of his will be broken”.
Not a bone of the Passover lamb may be broken. (Ex. 12:46) We are not told why, and it is hard to see any practical reason for this after it was dead, unless to alert the perceptive to the connection when they saw the outcome of this incident here.
37. And again, another Scripture says, “They shall look on …the one they have pierced.”
This one is found in Z’kharyah 12:10, in the context of the House of David seeing who Messiah is when he returns to save the city from the Gentiles that have besieged it, and bitterly mourning for him as for an only son.
38. After these things, Yosef of Ramathayim, being a disciple of Yeshua (though secretly for fear of the Jews) asked Pilatus that he might remove Yeshua’s body, and Pilatus granted permission. He therefore came and took away his body.
Ramathayim-Tzofim (also called simply Ramah, Yirmeyahu 31:15) was the Ephraimite (1 Chron. 6:26, 35) hometown of the prophet Shmu’el (1 Shmu’el 1:1), 4 to 5 miles northwest of Yerushalayim.
39. Naqdimon (the one who had come to him by night earlier) also came, bringing a compound of myrrh mixed with aloes—about 100 pounds.
Earlier: a superlative form: literally, at the earliest or at first. Pounds: Roman litras (each of which was about 12 ounces or 327.5 grams in weight). Naqdimon was a leader among the P’rushim.
40. They therefore took Yeshua’s body and bound it with linen bandages along with [these] aromatic spices to prepare it for burial, as is a custom among the Jews.
Prepare: to enswathe in a wax-like, treated cloth as a substitute for embalming, so that the body could be handled long enough to avoid a stench but not to prevent it from eventually decaying (though Yeshua’s body would not even get to that point, per Psalm 16:10).
41. Now in the location where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
Tomb: literally, memorial place. Whole families would usually be buried in such tombs in smaller stone boxes ()ossuaries) after the bodies decayed sufficiently to place just the bones in them, more compactly.
42. Therefore, on account of the Jewish preparation day, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Yeshua there.
Mat. 27:60 tells us that the tomb belonged to the Yosef of verse 38, who had hewn it out himself.
CHAPTER 20
1. On the first day of the week, Miryam the Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
Early: the Aramaic adds “in the morning”. “This leads us to the inescaoable conclusion that Yeshua rose from the dead some time earlier… In a time when women were not allowed to testify in a public assembly by law, the Gospel states that the first witness to the resurrection of Yeshua was a woman… Such a contra-cultural detail testifies to the truthfulness of the account. It would be highly inadvisable of someone merely imagining this story to use a woman as a literary device.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
2. She therefore ran and came to Shim’on “the Rock” and to the other student, whom Yeshua loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Master out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”
Whom Yeshua loved: possibly El’azar, whom Yeshua had raised from the dead, as Yeshua was said to have loved him and his sisters. (Yoch. 11:5) However, a different Greek verb is used here from that passage and the one in 21:7; the one here means he “liked” him, whereas the other term means he was committed to him, so it may or may not be the same individual being spoken of in both contexts. Others think this is just Yochanan’s modest way of describing himself. Since this appears to be a firsthand account, this would also be a reasonable hypothesis.
3. So “the Rock” and the other student went out and came to the tomb.
4. Indeed, the two [of them] ran together, and the other student ran ahead, faster than “the Stone” and arrived at the tomb first,
5. and, stooping down, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not enter [the tomb].
6. Then Shim'on “the Rock”, who was accompanying him, arrived and entered into the tomb, and saw the linen wrappings lying there
7. and the face-cloth that had been over his head was not lying with the linen wrappings, but [was] separate, having been rolled up into another place.
Over his head: Aramaic, bound around his head. Rolled up: or folded, twisted—possibly pushed there by some force that impelled it, but possibly emphasizing the care that had been taken to set it aside neatly. “The author of the Gospel did not imagine the details (burying with a separate cloth for the face); he remembered them. Archaeological finds confirm his story. Judeans indeed buried their dead the way John described.” (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
8. Then the other student who had arrived at the tomb first also came inside, and when he saw [it], he was persuaded,
He had previously stopped outside (v. 5), probably to avoid ritual defilement. One from a high-priestly family would be hesitant to enter a tomb until he knew it had no dead body inside it. (Lizorkin-Eyzenberg) Was persuaded: or believed, based on this evidence. What was it that convinced him that something unusual had occurred here? The linen clothes were mixed with sticky spices (19:39-40) and would have formed a plaster cast around him. If the face-cloth was separate from the body cast, he would have been able to see into the cast and realize it was not only empty, but that Yeshua had somehow passed through it without breaking it as he came out of it. We later see him passing through closed doors (v. 19), having mastered some kind of physics that exceeds what our slowed-down mortal bodies are capable of.
9. as they had not [previously] grasped [the idea from] the Scriptures that he had to rise out of death.
10. The students therefore went away, each back to his own [lodging-place].
Lodging-place: in Aramaic. Most of them were from Galil and would not live in Yerushalayim, but were staying there for the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, a pilgrimage festival when all male adult Israelites are to come to the sanctuary whenever it is present.
11. Miryam, however, stayed outside the tomb, weeping. Then, as she cried, she bent down [to look] into the tomb.
Weeping: possibly out of despair, assuming someone had stolen his body. Avi ben Mordechai sees a parallel with Miryam the sister of Moshe, her namesake, who was said to “cry out” in prophecy, according to Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sotah 11b. But there is also a hint, since this Miryam belongs to the House of Yehudah, she may represent a “fristfruits” of this tribe’s bitter weeping over the one whom they had pierced. (Zklh. 12:10) But she was about to be told something like we find in Yirmeyahu 31:16—“Stop crying!”
12. and she saw two messengers [dressed] in white seated, one toward the head and one toward the feet of the [place] where the body of Yeshua had been placed.
Wearing white represents both purity and festivity; they were not wearing mourning garments.
13. And they said to her, “Lady, why are you crying?” And she told them, “Because they have taken my Master away, and I don’t know where they have put him!”
14. Having said these things, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing [behind her], but had not yet recognized that it was Yeshua.
15. Yeshua said to her, “Lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking he was the garden-keeper, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him off, please tell me where you have put him, so I can take him away.
Garden-keeper: Possibly, in ordinary terms, the keeper of the garden where the tomb was (19:41), but even the fact that we are told there was a garden there evokes a connection with the first garden mentioned in Scripture—the Garden of Eden, to which we are always longing to return. (Gen. 2:8) Adam was assigned to keep it. (Gen. 2:15) Luke 24:5 adds that the messengers asked her why she was seeking the living among the dead. One Adam brought death on the world through his sin (Rom. 5:12) But there was a second Adam now, a restored human being, who made possible the return of many to that Garden. (1 Cor. 15:42-49)
16. Yeshua said to her, “Miryam.” And she turned around and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (that is to say, “Teacher”).
She turned around for a second time, suggesting that there were two men speaking to her. (Ben Mordechai) Maybe these were the same as the two messengers standing there, and that one had spoken first, then she turned back toward the first she had been facing. In regard to Adam, the midrash B’reshith Rabbah (20:10 and 21:7) explains Psalm 17:15 as meaning, “When he who was created in Your likeness (i.e., Adam) awakes, I shall be satisfied and in righteousness I will behold your face, then I will regard him as free of that decree [of having to return to dust].” Rabboni means “my ultimate teacher” or “master teacher”.
17. Yeshua said to her, “Don’t touch me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father; go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am going up to my Father and your Father, my Elohim and your Elohim.”
This is what a priest carrying the blood of an offering to the altar at the Temple would say to anyone who approached him before he had dashed it against the altar, lest the pause allow the blood to coagulate. (Joseph Good). Custance notes, “Since he was now about to present his blood before the divine judgment seat as a visible symbol of his sacrifice, any touching of his body by sinful man could only have fatally defiled him and rendered him unfit to fulfill his office as officiating High Priest…subsequently he not only permitted the disciples to hold him by the feet (Matthew 28:9) but actually invited them to handle him… Brothers: He has now become the firstborn of many brothers who would later be resurrected like him (Hebrews 12:23; Rom. 8:29; Colossians 1:18) and made it possible for them to have the same relationship to Elohim that he has. My Elohim: the one he worships and we must too. This is why Yeshua himself should never be worshipped, except in the older sense of doing homage to one’s king.
18. Mary the Magdalene came, bringing word to the students that “I have seen the Master!” and that he had said these things to her.
19. Then, when it was evening of the same day—the first of the weeks—and though the doors where the students had come were shut due to fear of the Judeans, Yeshua came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace to [all of] you!”
First of the weeks: the first day of the 7-week count-up to Shavuoth, so this would be the day to bring the Firstfruits—the day after the Sabbath following Passover (Lev. 23:15). Yeshua is called the “firstfruits of those who slept” in regard to his resurrection, which occurred that very day. (1 Corinthians 15:20)
20. And, having said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. Then the students were full of joy, since they had seen the Master.
21. Then Yeshua again said to them, “Peace to you! As he Father has sent me forth, I am also sending you [on a mission].
22. And, having said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the set-apart spirit.”
Breathed on them: or, blew into them. This recalls YHWH breathing the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. (Gen. 2:7) He now also became a “life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45), sharing his soul, which had now passed the test the first Adam had not, with that Adam’s spiritually-dead descendants, animating them in a new way—a firstfruits of the promise through Y’hezq’el (11:19-20) that YHWH would put a new spirit within us, enabling us to walk in all His ways, if we will make use of it. That is what is expressed when he says, “Receive” (or take, lay hold of). It is also our responsibility to make new hearts and renewed spirits for ourselves (Y’hez. 18:31) He did his part; now we have to do ours. Set-apart: distinct, different, thus “holy”.
23. “If you should remit the sins of anyone, they are forgiven them; if you retain any, they are retained.
Yeshua was criticized for telling someone his sins were forgiven, because that was thought to be only YHWH’s prerogative (Luke 5:20-21), but Yeshua is showing them that as he, YHWH’s representative, could declare YHWH’s verdict regarding someone’s wrongdoing, they could now do the same as his representatives. This is probably the mission he was speaking of in verse 21 above. In Y’hezq’el 20:33-38, YHWH says He will gather exiled Israel from every country into which we have been scattered (the mission Yeshua was sending his students to carry out), but that though He would bring them all out, not all would be allowed into His Land (the sins of some would be retained and others remitted).
24. Th’om, however, one of the twelve, who was called “Ditto”, was not with them when Yeshua came,
Th'om means the same as “ditto”—a twin.
25. When the other students, therefore, told him, “We have seen the Master!”, he told them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and thrust my hands into his side, I will not believe [it]!”
26. Then after eight days, his students were again inside, and Th’om was with them, the doors having been shut, [but] Yeshua came and stood among them and said, “Peace to you!”
27. The next thing he said was, “Th’om! Bring your finger here and look at my hands! And bring your hand and put it in my side, and come to be not unbelieving, but trusting!”
“When the kingdom comes with its perfected sons, he will be known by the marks of death that [YHWH] chose never to erase.” (Michael Card)
28. Th’om replied and said to him, “My Master--and my elohim!”
Elohim: here, in the sense of “judge” (as used in Exodus 22:28), for he stood corrected. He may also have paused and gestured in a different direction to give honor to YHWH, who clearly could be the only One responsible for Yeshua being alive again. (Acts 13:30)
29. Yeshua said to him, “Have you believed because you saw me? The ones who don’t see, yet still believe, are enviable.”
30. Now Yeshua indeed did many other signs in the presence of his students, which are not written down in this book.
31. These, however, have been written so that you might believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, the son of Elohim, and so that, [by] believing, you might have life through his name.
CHAPTER 21
1. After these things, Yeshua showed himself openly again to his disciples at the Lake of Tiberias. Now this is the manner in which he made himself known:
2. Shim’on (the “Rock”), and Th’om (who was called “Ditto”), and Nathan’el (the one from Kana of the Galil), the sons of Zavdi, and two of his other disciples were together in the same place.
3. Shim’on (the “Rock”) said to them, “I’m going fishing!” They told him, “We’re coming with you too.” They went out and stepped up into the boat, yet throughout the night they caught nothing.
While they were waiting for their next orders, or waiting for Yeshua to meet them where he had told them to go (Markos 16:7), he resorted to an activity that had been very familiar to him, probably to try to clear his head and regain some semblance of “normalcy” amid these life-changing incidents which were, nonetheless, an emotional roller coaster.
4. Morning had already come, and Yeshua stood on the lakeshore. However, the disciples did not recognize that it was Yeshua.
There was the length of a football field to the shore (v. 8) and visibility may not have been good. But verse 12 shows that this is not the only reason they did not recognize him.
5. So Yeshua said to them, “Boys, have you got anything to go with some bread?” And they answered him, “We don’t.”
6. And he told them, “Cast your fishing-net to the right side of the boat, and you will find [some].” So they did cast, and they did not have the strength to drag it back in, due to the huge number of fish!
They used dragnets, not baited lines.
7. Then the disciple that Yeshua favored told “Rock”, “It’s the Master!” When he hear that it was the Master, Shim’on (the “Rock”) bound on his outer garment (because he had been naked), and threw himself into the lake.
8. But the other disciples came in the boat, because they were not far from land, but about 200 cubits away, dragging the net [full] of the fish.
200 cubits: about 300 feet or 100 meters.
9. When they disembarked onto the land, they saw a bed of burning coals set out, with fish laid on top of it, as well as a loaf of bread.
The fact that Yeshua cooked and served fish (v. 13) after his resurrection lays to rest any argument that it is innately wrong to eat meat, though in the Kingdom it appears we will go back, at least in large part, to the mainly-vegetable diet which was all that was authorized prior to Noakh’s flood.
10. Yeshua said to them, “Bring some of the small fish that you have caught just now.”
11. So Shim’on “the Rock” went up and dragged the net (full of 153 large fish) onto the land, and [though] there were so many, the net was not torn.
What is the significance of 153, that he told us exactly, apart from the fact that it was too many to carry? At the end of his life, Moshe gave this order: “[Every seven years] you shall read this Torah aloud in the presence of all Israel.” (Deut 31:9-11). Over the centuries, an annual cycle of readings was adopted to fulfill this requirement. The 1910 Jewish Encyclopedia reports that a three-year Torah cycle used in Israel around the First Century had 153 Torah portions. In First Century Judaism, “Torah” and “Word of Elohim” (1:1) were synonyms: Torah is the Word of Elohim. Again we see Yochanan taking the Gospel as seen in the synoptics to a higher and deeper level: Yeshua promised to bring Torah to its completion (Mat. 5:18); this final Gospel reveals that Torah has become flesh in Yeshua. (Mark Drogin) Ezekiel 47:10 alsoprophesies living water flowing from the Temple and bringing fish back to the Dead Sea, symbolizing the “children of Elohim” who receive life through the water Yeshua offered. (7:37) “Children of Elohim” has the numerical value of 153 in Hebrew. (Lizokin-Eyzenberg) Not torn: With his direction, they had what it took to obey his call (Mat. 4:19) to fulfill the prophecy in Yirmeyahu 16:16.
12. Yeshua said to them, “Come, have breakfast!” But none of the disciples was bold enough to ask him, “Who are you?”, knowing that he was the Master.
Now that they were up close, they still were not sure, based on sight, of who he was, but because of what he had done. Why did he appear different? Was it because he had a resurrected body which did not resemble the man they had spent three years with? That is probably one factor. One more mundane possibility is that his beard had been torn out (Yeshayahu 50:6), at least sections of it, and he may have done like David’s shamed soldiers (2 Shmu’el 10:4-5) and shaved what was left of it so it could grow back evenly. This can make a huge difference in someone’s appearance. (See photos, both of Keith Green, at left.)
13. Yeshua came and picked up the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.
He had multiplied bread and fish near this spot twice before, and serving them the very same things was another witness that this was the same person that they had recently seen die, and in Israel, a matter is established by two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15):
14. This was already the third time Yeshua was manifested to his disciples [after] having been raised from the dead.
15. While they were eating, Yeshua said to Shim’on “the Rock”, “Shim’on, [son] of Yonah, are you more committed to me than these [are]?” He told him, “Certainly, Master! You know that I love you dearly!” He said to him, “[Then] feed my little lambs.”
Than these: the other disciples, since they had been arguing over which was the greatest, and Shim’on had told him that even if everyone were to deny Yeshua, he never would (Mat. 26:33), yet he had done so anyway. Yeshua was tactfully asking him, “Do you still really think you are better than my other students?” Committed…love: two different Greek words are used, the latter meaning more, “I like you.” The Aramaic does not make any distinction in terms.
16. He said to him a second time, “Shim’on, [son] of Yonah, are you more committed to me than these [are]?” He told him, “Certainly, Master! You know that I love you dearly!” He said to him, “Tend my sheep [as their shepherd].”
17. He said to him the third time, “Shim’on, [son] of Yonah, do you [indeed] love me dearly?” Kefa was grieved because Yeshua had said to him, “Do you love me?” the third time. And he said to him, “Master, you know all things. You know that I dearly love you.” Yeshua said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Grieved: as he had denied Yeshua three times, Yeshua gave him three occasions to repent and do the opposite, but he was saddened by the reminder of his failure.
18. “I tell you the truth—this is reliable: when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted; but when you grow old, you will extend your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you to where you don’t want to go.”
19. (Now he said this to indicate by what sort of death he would bring honor to Elohim.) And, having said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Tradition says Shim’on Kefa was crucified also—the very thing he feared when he denied Yeshua. But he refused to let them crucify him upright, saying he did not deserve to die the same kind of death as Yeshua, so he was crucified upside down. Honor: He did not bow to pressure from other sources this time, but remained firm to the finish, even though it meant his death, thus showing that YHWH was more important to him than any other considerations. Follow: or accompany—i.e., “You may indeed stay with me; I forgive you.” But also, “Join me in overcoming everything else, to the point of making the ultimate sacrifice.”
20. When “the Rock” turned back around, he noticed the disciple whom Yeshua favored (who had reclined against his chest at the dinner, and had said, “Master, who is it that is betraying you?”), accompanying them,
21. and, having looked at him, “the Rock” said to Yeshua, “But Master, what about this [man]?”
We all tend to reserve some degree of comparison with others and an attitude of “That wouldn’t be fair!”
22. Yeshua said to him, “If I want him to remain until I arrive, what is it to you? You follow me!”
I.e., “It’s none of your business what I want for him; you deal with what I have given you to do.”
23. Therefore this saying went out among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Yeshua had not told him he would not die, but [only], “If I want him to remain until I arrive, what is it to you?”
Tradition does tell us that Yochanan lived well into his 90s, but did indeed die after having suffered exile and a form of imprisonment for Yeshua’s sake. (Rev. 1:9)
24. (This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things—the one who has written these things [down]—and we know that his testimony is true.)
Yochanan—or a later scribal note vouching for him as a third party--finally does identify himself as “the disciple whom Yeshua favored”.
25. Now there were also many other things that Yeshua did, which, if every one of them were to be written down, I suppose the world itself would not have space for all the books to be written!
This would especially be true if we include the things he did in YHWH’s presence before he was born as the second Adam. The book of Hanokh (1 Enoch) does speak of a few more of them.
THE LIFE OF THE MESSIAH AS RECOUNTED BY
Yochanan
the Envoy
(PART 2: Chapters 12-21)
INTRODUCTION: The four “gospels” correlate with the four faces of the living creatures in Y’hezq’el chapter 1, which were also depicted on the four primary banners of the camp of Israel in the wilderness. Luqa’s account emphasizes Yeshua’s humanness, corresponding with the face of a man. Matithyahu portrays Yeshua primarily as the King, corresponding with the face of the lion. Mark emphasizes his servanthood, corresponding with the ox, and Yochanan corresponds with the eagle—the one who supersedes natural limits (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 40:31) and bears the captives back home (Ex. 19:4). Yochanan is indeed the most mystical of the books, focusing on the spiritual significance behind Yeshua’s words and deeds. It also highlights his fulfillment of the particulars of the prescribed festivals. Notice its parallels also to Genesis 1, including enumeration of what happened each day in sequence. The book is also structured around a series of “I am” statements and signs that accompanied them, demonstrating that many prophets had pointed toward the task he was called to accomplish.
Remains of the House of Kayafa
An alabaster perfume jar similar to a first-century one, found at Hevron
Likely site of the Judgment Hall according to archaeologist Shimon Gibson
Stone referring to Pilatus found at Caesarea, his headquarters.
