Who is the Messiah? - Solitary Refinement - Part 3

Who is the Messiah? - Part 3

Solitary Refinement

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Video Teaching

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Study Notes and Slides

(Slide) In part 1 we looked at how Messiah fulfilled the prophecy of the shoot that would rise from the stump of Jessy fulfilling the prophecy in Jeremiah 23. “Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will raise up from David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. (Jeremiah 23:5)” 

We looked at the prophetic meaning of his name, being Yah’s salvation that we have cried out for. In Hebrew thought, the name of something always embodies its character and mission and the Son’s name shouldn’t be that greater mystery, but it is. We saw that his name matters. Even in the Tanach, Solomon (Shlomo HaMelech) challenges us to know the Son’s name. “He said to me: ‘Who went up to Heaven and came down, and who is holding the wind in his palms? Who has bound the waters in a napkin and who has established all the ends of the Earth? What is his Name, and what is his Son's Name, if you know? (Proverbs 30:4)’” 

We looked at how Yahshua is the embodiment of the Torah. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)” We looked at how Yahshua is also the testimony, in that his life and mission are a testimony that we cleave to. “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring--those who keep Elohim's commands and hold fast their testimony about Yahshua. (Revelations 12:17)” The difference between the Torah and the Testimony is that the Torah is instruction and the Testimony is the experience of that instruction. 

We looked at how he is the embodiment of Israel and how Israel is the embodiment of him with regard to both Israel and Messiah both being referred to as Yah’s first born son. “(Yahshua and his parents) stayed (in Egypt) until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Adonai had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ (Matthew 2:15)” “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (Hosea 11:1)” Together with Yahweh we are all echad with Yahshua in that compound unity, that complete inseparable wholeness. Echad, which we translate as “one” means a two or more individuals acting as if they are one individual in every conceivable way. Does this mean that attaining this state forfeits our personality? No more than a big toe can become a right eye and vice-versa. In other words, just as there is a diversity in the human anatomy, so to there is a diversity in the body of Moshiach, but all work in complete harmony. 

In Part 2 we saw how Yahshua’s parents took great pains to keep him concealed before his ministry, and how even after his ministry commenced that there were things he didn’t do. Thus teaching us that there is a level of covertness and discernment that we should maintain in our ministry, moving in accordance with the Ruach, which sometimes reveals us and sometimes conceals us. This is why Yahshua says, “Behold, I’m sending you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: therefore be as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)” 

We looked at how he is Moshiach, the anointed one, who is capable of such a great and thorough rescue from sin and death. The concept of an “anointed” or “consecrated one” signifies Yahweh’s special seal of authorisation, separating one from his own desires to do His will. An anointed one carries Yahweh’s Divine emblem. 

We learnt how the term Moshiach carries the root word Moshe, meaning “to be drawn from,” specifically from the Father’s bosom. Messiah was in the bosom of the Father as it says, “No man has seen Elohim at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. (John 1:18)” This use of a specific part of the anatomy denotes that Yahshua came from the heart and was extended out from the Father as His right arm. “Elohim exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. (Acts 5:31)” In other words, Yahweh has His whole heart are set on us and is using His best means, his own right arm to save us. 
We looked at how Yahweh used John (Yochannan) to cultivate the hearts of the masses, preparing souls for the coming of the Deliverer. We looked at Yahshua’s first act of ministry, immersing himself in a gathering of living waters (a mikvah). We learnt quite a bit about a mikvah’s significance and its various applications. Both teachings are available on our website, including video, PowerPoints shows and text format.

The Ruach HaKodesh

(Slide) Once immersed, Yahshua receives the anointing of the Ruach HaKodesh and following this an audible testimony to Yahshua’s identity emanates from the sky. “…and the Ruach HaKodesh descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. (Luke 3:22)” 

What’s interesting is the apparent lack of astonishment by any onlookers at the incident. Two anomalies took place. One is the physical manifestation of the Ruach HaKodesh and the other was an audible voice from heaven. We know that Yochannan was present and that the two manifestations were to confirm to him that Yahshua was the Messiah. “I didn't recognise him, but I came immersing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel. And Yochannan gave this testimony, saying, ‘I saw the Ruach descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (John 1:31-32)’”

(Slide) Yochannan’s water ministry was designed to identify the Messiah. In other words, he knew that eventually someone was going to be immersed by him who would receive a visible manifestation of the Ruach and an audible confirmation from heaven. 

(Slide) Considering the lack of awe from any onlookers, it is reasonable to assume that the audible voice from heaven could have been a “bat kol.” A bat kol is a low level form of Divine Inspiration. It literally means the "daughter of a voice" [or understood as an "echo"]. Normally, a bat kol was only heard by tzaddikim, who were otherwise worthy of prophecy. Nevertheless, when the situation demanded it, it could even be heard by gentiles. In many cases, it was heard by everyone worthy, but in others, it was only heard by a single individual. The bat kol was heard until the Sanhedrin ceased to function (around 361 CE). In Jewish literature the bat kol is often referred to as having “the the voice of a dove.” So the manifestation of a dove descending is possibly visible speech. In other words, fiery Hebrew letters clustered together and fluttering down like a dove emanating with a bat kol. 

The Children of Israel often saw the sound of Elohim’s voice. "And all the nation saw the voices and the torches and the voice of the horn. (Exodus 20:14)” In The Book of Revelation, we also find John seeing the sound of a voice. “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden menorot. (Revelations 1:12)”

(Slide) A bat kol is like a voice heard in the mind. Although it sometimes sounds like a voice from heaven, it is a prophetic, rather than a physical voice, and it is only heard by those for whom it is intended. Regarding the bat kol it is written, "Your ears shall hear a voice behind you. (Isaiah 30:21)” In the Talmud a bat kol is mentioned as complaining like a dove in the ears of a rabbi walking through the ruins of Jerusalem saying: “Wo to the children, because of whose sins I have destroyed my house” – Tractate Berakoth. 3a

The voice of Elohim without the filter of the echo causes trauma and death to a hearer. “ And all the people saw the thunder and the lightning and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moshe, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have Elohim speak to us or we will die." (Exodus 20:18)” In order that people not be killed, the bat kol was required. Whenever the voice of Yahweh is heard and there is no physical harm, it’s reasonable to assume it is a bath ḳōl. In the era of the prophets the bat kol was almost non-existent, becaue the Na’avi was Yah’s mouth-piece, but as prophecy departed the Ruach HaKodesh manifest with the bat kol became widespread. 

(Slide) In the account of the fulfilment of the latter rain prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 in chapter 2 of Book of Acts we see the Ruach being poured out, resembling tongues of fire. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. (Acts 2:2-3)” The “tongues of fire” is a direct reference to Hebrew letters. At this time the talmidim of Yahshua begun to speak of the testimony of Yahshua in languages they did not know. Again, the audible nature of what occurs has a visible manifestation. More than likely, the dove, was “black fire on white fire,” yet another expression of the Hebrew language fluttering in a cluster of Hebrew letters resembling the movement of a dove. 

(Slide) So what is the Ruach HaKodesh? Is it a person, one of a triune G-dhead, or is it the Holy Ghost?

(Slide) Ruach simply means “breath.” Dishonest scribes have mystified it by applying ecclesiastical terminology to it with the word “spirit.” They did the same with the term “angel” instead of messenger, “apostle” instead of sent-one, “holy” instead of set-apart and “church” instead of gathering and they did it to many more terms to wrestle meanings away from original context. 
The Ruach is literally Yahweh Elohim’s breath that is a Divine force that gives life to all things. The ant crawls and the earth rotates by every life-giving exhale of Yahweh’s breath. The Encyclopaedia of Judaica says that “the most noticeable difference between sentient beings and dead things, between the living and the dead, is in the breath. Whatever lives breathes; whatever is dead does not breathe.”

Although Elohim created man to live on a physical plane, He did not close off the spiritual completely. Yahweh arranged creation so that even while in the physical world, man would be able to open a door to the spiritual and experience the Divine. This would constitute the highest perfection that a mortal human can attain. “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18). “…in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)” 

(Slide) The Ruach HaKodesh is the actuator that triggers or “quickens” Divine prophecy and wisdom. It is that Divine force that causes Yahweh to directly influence everything in the universe. By the Ruach, an attribute of Yahweh, maintains creation from moment to moment. The Father is constantly breathing life into existence. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. (John 6:63)” The Ruach HaKodesh is a higher form of this breath, an overriding power that contains a more concentrated awareness of the Father. The Hebrew word Ruach is used 389 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. What do the Nazarene Writings and the Talmud have in common? They both use the expression “Ruach HaKodesh.” The Ruach HaKodesh is never mentioned by name in the Torah. In fact, it’s not until half-way through the Scriptures until it is mentioned. It is first mentioned in Psalm 51:11 and then only used twice in the Book Of Isaiah (Isaiah 63:10,11). The more usual expression for Holy Spirit in the Tanach is “Spirit of Elohim” or “Spirit of Yahweh.” 

(Slide) Though the Ruach is sometimes assigned a male gender it is not considered a person. The Shekinah is sometimes assigned a female gender, but it is not considered to be a female person. The Shekinah is a comforting manifestation of the Ruach. It is that part of the Ruach that has gone into exile with Israel and gives us hope during hardships. 

How does one obtain the Ruach HaKodesh? There are ten steps a person must go through before attainment of the Ruach HaKodesh. (Click through) They are:

1. Constant study and observance of the teachings of the Torah (Torah)
2. Scrupulous care not to violate a single law (care; zehirut)
3. Constant diligence to fulfill every commandment (diligence; zerizut)
4. Living completely free of sin, in thought and in deed (cleanliness; nekiut)
5. Avoiding even the permissible when it may lead to wrong (abstinence; perishut)
6. Purifying oneself of all sin, both past and present (purification; tahora)
7. Dedication to Elohim, far beyond the call of the Law (piety; chasidut)
8. Absolute negation of the self (humility; anava)
9. Loving Elohim so much as to dread all sin and evil (fear of sin; yirat chet)
10. Total negation of the worldly (holiness; kedushah)

(Slide) On occasion, the Ruach can come upon a person on occasion without all of the afore mentioned steps or without the act of deep spiritual meditation. Incessant and fervent study of the Torah alone can induce this state. It can also be attained through deep meditation in fixed prayer. It can also come automatically through a great act of faith, or from the observance of a commandment executed through pure joy.

King David was able to rouse the Ruach through music.

(Slide) Once a person had completed all these steps, he was then ready to engage in the exercises of meditation (hit'bod'edut) that were used to attain the Divine inspiration of the Ruach HaKodesh. These exercises would consist of the contemplation of Divine names, as well as the chanting of psalms and prayers. The purpose of these exercises was to totally isolate the mind, both from external stimuli and internal thought, leaving it perfectly clear to receive the divine influx.

This is why immediately following his immersion and confirmation, Yahshua is taken by the Ruach into isolation for a period of time. Yahshua, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, left the Yarden and was led by the Ruach into a solitary place. (Luke 4:1)” 

(Slide) Some Gospel accounts say that he was taken away to be tempted by HaSatan. Others say he was ministered to by angels and that his temptations came at the close of his 40 day fasting and seclusion when he became very hungry. Rather, his 40 day isolation was filled with deep meditation to prepare him for his time of tempting at the conclusion of this time. 

“Then Yahshua was led by the Ruach into the wilderness to be tempted by the HaSatan. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of Elohim, tell these stones to become bread. (Matthew 4:1-3)”
After refusing HaSatan at all the chief points of entry that are exploited by the enemy, temptations and cravings of the flesh (in the form of sating hunger) wealth, and power, the Accuser departs until another opportune time. After his departure, Yahshua is then ministered to by messengers from Heaven. “Then the devil left him, and messengers (angels) came and attended him. (Matthew 4:11)” 

(Slide) But what happened during these forty days? 

(Slide) Answer: Everything that happened to the Children of Israel in the desert for 40 years, happened to Yahshua in 40 days. He was in a human body, an organic tomb, a weak flesh-bag. As we read through the Torah and we see hardships buffet the nation and how Yahweh literally trims back those parts of the multitude that are weak, lazy, stubborn, arrogant, fool hardy, half-cocked, ignorant, impatient, selfish, frightened, frustrated, haughty, headstrong, lust filled, forgetful, disrespectful, unappreciative, angry and obstinate, Yahshua is trimming away those parts of himself that that are prone to the same sin of the first humans. To avoid food for forty days, brings a person very near to death. You can’t go much longer than forty days without food before it begins to cause irreparable damage to the body. Yahshua took his mind and made it superior to all his other organs. The brain should say to the tongue, “I’m in charge” and the heart “I’m in charge” and all his members, “I’m in charge!” 

A mind of one entirely resolved to serve Messiah with his entire being, needs to be removed from everything for a time. Whether it’s for 40 seconds, 40 minutes or 40 years. What’s the significance of 40?

(Slide) The number 40 represents transition or change; the concept of renewal; a new beginning. The number 40 has the power to lift a spiritual state. Consider: When a person becomes ritually impure, he must immerse in a ritual bath, a mikveh. The Talmud tells us that a mikveh must be filled with 40 se'ahs (a measure of water). Immersion in a mikveh is the consummate Jewish symbol of spiritual renewal. It is no accident that in the story of Noah, the rain poured for 40 days, and submerged the world in water. Just as a person leaves a mikveh pure, so too when the waters of the flood subsided, the world was purified from the licentiousness which had corrupted it in the days of Noah. Moshe was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and came down with the stone tablets. The Jews arrived at Mt. Sinai as a nation of Egyptian slaves, but after 40 days they were transformed into Elohim's nation.

It takes 40 days for an embryo to be formed in its mother's womb. 40 represents the four sides of the world, each side containing the ten Sefirot (esoteric powers).

(Slide) Many times in Rebbe Yahshua’s ministry we find him removed from people, in a quiet solitary place, alone with Yahweh, deeply immersed in concentrated prayer. “But Yahshua often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16)” 

The act of hit'bod'edut was a constant feature of Yahshua’s life and ministry. The portion of time he spent in isolation far outweighed the time he spent in anyone’s company. “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He (Yahshua) spent the whole night in prayer to Elohim. (Luke 6:12)”

“After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. (Matthew 14:23)”

Think about it, for 29 years Yahshua grew up in virtual obscurity, preparing for what was all of 1 to 2 ½ or 3 ½ years of ministry - depending on your view. The ratio of prep far exceeds the ratio of actual execution of a task. 

(Slide) Even before his crucifixion we find him in isolation, praying for so long that his own talmidim fall asleep. “Then Yahshua came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His talmidim, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray. (Matthew 26:36)’” He prays for 1 hour, takes a break, prays again and takes another break and prays for a third time before alerting his talmidim of his betrayal and capture. It’s reasonable to assume that during this time Yahshua prays for approximately three hours on his own. 

(Slide) Much of what we know of the concept of hitbodedút “self-seclusion,” comes to us from Rabbi Nachman of Breslov from around the time of the 1700s. But hitbodedút goes all the way back to the time of Avraham, who stood by night gazing at the stars in complete isolation, tending his sheep. This is why the profession of shepherd was so prized by Torah Scholars, because it provided an income and also required them to spend many, many hours, days and weeks away from any type of human contact. 

Hitbodedút refers to an unstructured, spontaneous and individualised form of prayer and meditation that is not meant to replaced fixed prayer, but supplement it. It was said by Rabbi Nachman that it is best observed in one’s mother’s own tongue, meaning that is to be engaged in one’s native language rather than strictly Hebrew. Rebbe Nachman's religious philosophy revolved around closeness to Elohim and speaking to Elohim in normal conversation “as you would with a best friend.” We see Yahshua very much engaged in this type of no ritual prayer before his crucifixion, travailing in the Spirit. 

(Slide) The best place to do hitbodedut was in a field or forest, among the natural works of Elohim's creation. But failing this, one can use an empty room to perform self-seclusion. “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6)”

Why is hitbodedut so important? Yahweh seeks open and honest communication and the best way for this to occur is when one is alone, unhindered by the temptation to posture prayer for anyone nearby. If one is engaged in public prayer, such as in a large gathering at the Western Wall, it is traditional to speak no more than above a whisper, so the words spoken are only heard by the one who is praying. "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (Matthew 6:5)” 

Encouragement and compliments on the elegance of another’s prayer endangers the recipient by inhibiting his reward to be confined to the earthly realm rather than allowing his Heavenly treasury to be added to. 

(Slide) Yahshua spent time surrendering his own will. He had a body at this time like we do now and it takes time to unload our own will and clear our minds. But when we do we can more understand Yahshua’s mindset when he spoke the words, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 5:30)” 

A believer should find time each day to hide himself away from the distractions of the world and commune with the Father in deep reflective prayer. Yahshua did this and we should certainly considering doing so ourselves. 

(Slide) Yahshua became a human being. He was fully man, known in Hebrew as the בן–אדם, ben-'adam. So if he was human, he was comprised of a form that contains the knowledge to do good and evil, a yetza hara and a yetza hatov, a form of evil and a form of good. He needed to bring his body into full submission, depriving it of food and all human contact. His time out in the wilderness was more of an ordeal than his crucifixion, how many of you know it! His actions out there were more critical, because it cemented his resolve out there. HaSatan gave him everything a man can be offered in this world. In comparison, a beating and a hanging from a tree was a walk in the park. The shame he stood to bear if he failed over the physical agony of the execution tree doesn’t compare. You now shame is the most painful thing a human being can bear. Yes he experience shame on the tree, but it wasn’t his own shame. It was ours. 

Messiah is the son of man.

Who Is the Messiah? - His Ministry Begins - Part 2

Who is the Messiah? – Part 2

Introduction

(Slide)Last week we looked at how Messiah fulfilled the prophecy of the shoot that would rise from the stump of Jesse. וְיָצָא חֹטֶר, מִגֵּזַע יִשָׁי; וְנֵצֶר, מִשָּׁרָשָׁיו יִפְרֶה. ve·ya·tza cho·ter mig·ge·za yi·shai ve·ne·tzer mi·sha·ra·shav yif·reh. 

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, And a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)” (Slide) Everyone knows that tracing one’s family linage forms a tree-like diagram, so a tree with its many branches is likened to the diverging generations that sprout from a single bloodline. When an entire family dies, it is cut off and becomes like a tree removed from the earth root and all. But if the family has but one heir it is sheared down to a stump with the potential to bud and grow again. 
Jesse was King David’s father and the stump represents the remainder of what was cut down of David’s linage, but Yahweh made a promise to David when He said, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:16) ’” (Slide) Though the people of Israel became like a forest laid bare in the wake of many wood cutters, there would still be one stump capable of bringing forth fruit. “And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land. (Isaiah 6:13)” (Slide) So despite how bleak things appeared, Yahweh fulfilled His promise be raising a branch or a shoot that would grow into a mighty trunk. “The days are coming," declares Yahweh, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous shoot, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. (Jeremiah 23:5)’” Yahshua ben Yoseph Ha Notsri is that branch. As Matthew 2:23 says, “…he would be called (Ha Notzri) a Nazarene.” 

Yahweh’s burning bush that he put before Moshe is to remind us that the thorns represent Israel’s sojourns in Exile, beginning with the exile –and slavery- in Egypt. Elohim was telling Moshe, by appearing in a burning bush, that even though the exile will often be difficult and that it will often hurt – it will never consume us. 
(Slide) Like Israel, Yahshua is put through many ordeals, but none broke or diminished his resolve in any way.

When you meditate on Messiah’s trials how often has it called to mind Israel’s trials as a people? Has it ever?

(Slide)

We also found in last week’s teaching that Yahshua had drawn very little attention to himself during his childhood, transition into adolescence and then into a man. We found this out due to the reaction of his own townspeople. “Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Miriam? and his brothers, Ya’akov, and Yoseph, and Shimeon, and Yahudah? (Matthew 13:55)” 

Messiah’s concealment was so effective that his own townspeople took offence to the gap of their uninteresting perception of him and the wisdom he had begun to share, that upon hearing a subtle rebuke on their lack of faith, they almost killed him. “All the people in the synagogue were furious…They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:28-30)” 

(Slide)

Apart from an incident during the time of his bar mitzvah at age 12, the Gospel accounts are silent about the majority of the 29 years of the Messiah’s life. The lack of information of Yahshua prior to his ministry is deliberate and despite the desire of some institutions to fabricate stories, we see that his development had to remain very covert. One can only imagine the guilt Miriam and Yoseph carried after the infanticide order by the Roman appointed King of the Jew, King Herod. 

(Slide)

Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the vicinity of Beth Lechem (Bethlehem), so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi, Kabbalistic sages from Babylon. Matthew writes, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 'A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more. (Matthew 2:16-18)’”

(Slide)

On hearing of Herod’s decree, Miriam and Yoseph flee with the child to Egypt. Why? To fulfill more prophetic appointments. “(Yahshua and his parents) stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ (Matthew 2:15)” More than this, it was to show that like the patriarchs, Yahshua was a living embodiment of the nation of Israel who also went up to Egypt during a time of great peril. (Click) “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (Hosea 11:1)” (Click) That’s why you cannot say you love Messiah without having a stirring in your heart for Israel! The two are one and the same! They share the same compound unity as the Father and the Son do; Same as the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Why? Because Yahweh is Echad! You fascination with the ancient and modern state of Israel is testimony to the fact that you’re love of him is becoming very genuine!

Yahshua’s Immersion

(Slide) Coming from Notzri (Nazareth) in the Galil (Galilee), Yahshua makes his way to the Yardenit (The Jordan River), where Yochannan ben Zakkai (John the son of Zechariah) is preaching and immersing followers. His immersion is such a central theme to his teaching that he becomes known as Yochannan HaMatbil (John the Immerser). Yahshua said of Yochannan that there was no greater man born of a woman (Luke 7:28). This was a man filled with the Spirit from the womb, eating wild locus and honey. 
Around this time at Bethany, Kohanim (Priests), L’vi’im (Levites) and some P’rushim (Pharisees) are sent by the Sanhedrin to question Yochannan as to who he was. He denies being Moshiach, Eliyah or a Navi (prophet), only saying that he is a forerunner, the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3). The following day Yochannan sees Yahshua walking toward him and says, “Look, Elohim’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)” Yochannan then reveals the whole meaning behind his ministry and its emphasis on receiving mikvah to make the Moshiach known to Yisrael. 

(Slide) Yahshua requests Yochannan to witness and attendant his mikvah. “But Yochannan tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be immersed by you, and you come to me?’ Yahshua replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then Yochannan consented. (Matthew 3:13-15)”

(Slide) Before we go any further, it’s important to get our terminologies correct. One of the ongoing things that underpin this type of teaching is rectifying years of deliberate mistranslation and poor scholarship. The term “mikvah” doesn’t mean baptism. Mikvah means “gathering,” in the context of the gathering of many waters, while baptism is an ecclesiastical term, meaning, it’s a term that creates as artificial religious environment. The Hebrew word for “immersion” is tavilah. 

(Slide) What is the role of an Immerser? Well, no one in Judaism actually ever physically takes someone and immerses them in a body of water. Such a way of immersing is absurd and completely defeats the whole purpose of attaining a state of pure set-apartness. But it is a halachic requirement, that if available, a person over bar mitzvah age attend the mikvah as an overseer, making sure the occupant is fully immersed. The witness/attendant checks for barriers called chatzitzah, which may invalidate the immersion (i.e. a foreign object causing a blockage between the skin and water such as a plaster cast). Some rabbis attribute hair dye as a chatzitzah. The witness does not touch the occupant before immersion, lest he become defiled and have to re-immerse himself, but he may whoosh his hands over the surface of the water to make a noise letting the occupant know he is fully immersed and may rise. 

[Not on Slide] An occupant engaged in mikvah, immerses three times because the word “mikvah” appears three times in the Torah. On the third time, the occupant goes into a foetal position and springs out of the water. Immersion was accompanied by exhortations and benedictions (Maimonides Hilkh. Milah iii.4; Hilkh. Iss, Biah Xiv .6). A convert would reaffirm his acceptance of the Torah by declaring, "I will do and I will hear" which was a phrase from the oath that was originally taken by the priests not to forsake the Torah (Deuteronomy 29:9- 14).

Yochannan was causing so many people to come and immerse themselves that he simply became known as “The Immerser.” The witness/attendant may reach out his hand immediately following immersion so that the newly rebirthed believer’s first contact is with a fellow purified soul. 

The Power of the Mikvah

(Slide) Now, there are many different types of immersions. One can be immersed for family purity reasons, for repentance, after receiving new revelation, or receiving the nefesh HaShamayim (the soul birth from above [.i.e., born again]) or before entering prayer, before commencing ritual service or before having an audience with a king. The Torah starts with an immersion of the whole world, at the beginning. As the baby in the womb is covered by fluid, so the earth is also covered in the fluid of the seas before it is brought fourth. 

On the third day of creation we see the source of the word ‘mikvah’ for the first time in Genesis 1:10. 

יִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לַיַּבָּשָׁה אֶרֶץוּלְמִקְוֵה הַמַּיִם קָרָא יַמִּים וַיַּרְאאֱלֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב

VaYiq'rä élohiymlaYaBäshäh eretz ûl'miq'vëhhaMayim qärä yaMiym vaYar'élohiym Kiy-tôv
“…Elohim called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together (mikveh) of the waters He called Seas (haMayim) And Elohim saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:10)”

(Slide) The word mikvah comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for ‘hope,’ tikvah. The essence of hope is that we are not bound by our present reality, but are able to connect to that which is outside and beyond ourselves. 

In gematria, the numerical value for the Hebrew word yom, which means ‘sea,’ is fifty. The number fifty represents transcendence, the gateway to that which is beyond. This is the essence of tahara (purity). Life is not frozen. There is always movement. Hope tells us that we can return to natural living bodies of water (the womb of the world) to become purified. The essence of hope is that something can be re-made, restored, repaired or brought forth anew, that we can change ourselves for the good. The mikvah tells us that we can go back to the world of water, to that world of pure matter. The gathering of waters tells us that we can regress to a world before form, that we can be re-made and become pure!

Immersion by Water and Fire

Yochannan’s immersion was one of repentance with water, but Yahshua’s immersion takes away sin and empowers one with the onset of the Ruach HaKodesh, a gift from above. (Slide) “I immerse you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will immerse you with the Ruach HaKodesh and aish (fire). His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:11-12)”
Sha’ul HaShliach (The Apostle Paul) comes across some disciples of Yochannan during his ministry in Corinth. (Click) “It came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Sha’ul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain talmidim, He said to them, ‘Have you received the Ruach HaKodesh since you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is any Ruach HaKodesh.’ And he said to them, ‘To what then were you immersed? And they said, ‘to Yochannan’s immersion.’ Then said Sha’ul, “Yochannan immersed with the immersion of t’shuvah (repentance), saying to the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Yahshua HaMoshiach. When they heard this, they were immersed in the name of Yahshua HaMoshiach. (Acts 19:1-5)”

Yochannan’s immersion removed sin, but Yahshua’s immersion removes sin and empowers the individual to be a witness. 
(Slide) Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-23 depict Yahshua’s immersion by Yochannan in the Yardenit and it is his first official act of public ministry. Note that he made himself subservient to Yochannan who was lesser than he, by having him oversee his immersion, despite Yochannan’s reservations.  
Yochannan custom was an immersion in a mikvah of t’shuvah. Though there are many different types of immersion, Yahshua chose to receive Yochannan’s immersion to identify himself with penitent sinners. His reasoning for immersion to Yochannan was to fulfilling all righteousness, which is a reference to his obedience to Levitical law which dictated that all priests were to be consecrated when they came to 30 years of age (Numbers 4:3). This one of the reasons the text tells us his age at the commencement of his ministry. “Now Yahshua himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli. (Luke 3:23)”
(Slide) Immersion in general symbolised death to sin and resurrection of life, washing off something old and receiving something new. As a baby in the womb is completely immersed in fluid, an adult becomes completely immersed in the womb of the world and then emerges brand new. So this view expanded to the revelation of the identity of whom one is immersed, being Messiah Yahshua.

(Slide) Yahweh, through the work of His son Yahshua uses water to save mankind. Many view the Great flood as a tool used to wipe out the human race, but few realise that it was used to actually save mankind. “…to those who were disobedient long ago when Elohim waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes immersion that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward Elohim. It saves you by the resurrection of Yahshua HaMoshiach (1 Peter 3:20-21)” Yahshua has the living water, that if a man drinks of it, he has eternal life according to John 4:10-14.

(Slide) Yahweh confirmed Yahshua’s authority in an audible manifestation of speech when He said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17)” The incident also carried the three chief manifestations of Yahweh’s interaction with man, Yahweh’s very voice representing him, the descending of the Ruach like a dove and Yahshua himself. This was not the birth of the Trinity or a revealing of it as the make-up of the Ein Sof (The incomprehensible One), but an open display of the three chief forms of interaction that the Almighty chose to interact with man from time immemorial, the Father’s command, the Son’s obedience and the Ruach’s empowerment. 

(Slide) This why we are admonished to make talmidim and immerse them in these three names. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Ruach HaKodesh (Matthew 28:19)” We do this in acknowledging the three chief manifestations of Yahweh’s interaction with Israel throughout the course of history. We should also note that Messiah himself does not personally immerse anyone throughout his ministry, he sometimes instructs immersion, but never immerses himself? Why because he immerses with the Ruach HaKodesh. 

Immersion in water is absolutely vital to spiritual growth. I had a mikvah only yesterday and I don’t mind telling you that I felt great after it. Most of all my spirit felt at peace. 

Moshiach – The Anointed One

(Slide) Now, many of you know that Messiah, in Hebrew Moshiach, means anointed one, but how many can take me to the verse in Scripture that depicts him being anointed. You can’t? How can you say that when “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the immersion that Yochannan preached how Elohim anointed Yahshua HaNotzri with the Ruach HaKodesh and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because Elohim was with him. (Acts 10:37-38)” Yahweh anointed Yahshua directly with the Ruach HaKodesh descending upon him, the very thing that the application of anointing oil is symbolic of. Some commentator’s sight Yahshua’s anointing from the woman with alabaster jar that was full of very expensive perfume, which was poured on his head as he was reclined at the table in Matthew 26:7 or Yahshua’s anointing from a sinful woman near the end of his ministry in Luke 7:36-50.

(Slide) The title Messiah, comes from the Hebrew word, “Moshiach,” which means “anointed one.” The term comes from the Hebrew verb “Mashach,” which means “to smear” or “pour oil.” Oil is used in many things that enhance life, but it’s mainly identified as being used as a lubricant. It symbolises, a tool that enables one to be suitably equipped to carry out a task, without putting strain on various parts. 

(Slide) Moshiach and the Era of Moshiach are critical cornerstones of our faith. Jewish philosophy states that Elohim’s Divine Plan for Creation will be realized with the advent of the Era of Moshiach. The Prophets are filled with references and descriptions of the individual who will be Moshiach, and what the world will be like after the change that he ushers in.

1) He will be a descendant of the great King David.
2) He will be an outstandingly righteous individual and a preeminent Torah scholar.
3) He will inspire everyone (beginning with the Jewish people) to wholeheartedly return to Elohim.
4) He will be a very charismatic and powerful leader who will lead by example.
5) He will have what is known as a "collective" or "general" soul. This master soul will enable him to relate to all people on all levels.
6) He will demand and achieve greatness from all humanity.
7) He will bring about what is described as the "ingathering of the Exiles," the return of all Israel to "the Holy Land," modern-day Israel.
8) He will rebuild the Holy Temple.
9) He will be a HUMAN BEING--not a deity.

(Slide) Yahshua is firstly and fore-mostly, our “anointed one.” An anointing is a literal equipping to succeed in an otherwise impossible task.

Who is the Messiah? - Introduction - Part 1

Video Teaching

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Slides

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Study Notes

Who is the Messiah? 

Introduction

“I, even I, am Yahweh; and beside me there is no saviour. (Isaiah 43:11)” “Yahshua answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)’” Messiah, the “anointed one,” is the centrality of all existence. This means there is nothing else happening in exclusion to or separate from Yahshua in all the universe. One of Messiah’s talmidim, Kepha, finds out this truth experientially in Capernaum, after receiving a particularly difficult teaching. Upon being asked by Yahshua if he and the rest of his closest students wished to depart, “Shimeon Kepha answered and said, ‘My Adonai, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)’” 

“And there is no salvation in any other man, for there is no other name under Heaven given to the children of men by which it is necessary to receive life. (Acts 4:12)”

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:3-4)”

Everything that you can ever think of and beyond is subject to Messiah as set down by the Father’s will. But this does not include the Father Himself. “For he has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include Elohim himself, who put everything under Messiah. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that Elohim may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:27-28)”  
Our perception of reality should not be what we think it is, but rather it is what Yahshua says it is, first in the Torah and then in the Testimony. “To the Torah and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)” Both the Torah and the Testimony are one and the same. The Torah is laid down and the Son testifies to the Torah’s Truth. 

At present in a small corner of the universe there is an ingathering of what was lost. “For The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)” “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 15:24)” This means Yahweh, the Creator, through His son Yahshua, is only saving Israel. If anyone considers themselves separated from Israel (in any way), they are removing themselves from the parameter of Yahweh’s boundary of deliverance. Isaiah warns of the mistake in making this distinction. “Let no foreigner who is bound to Yahweh say, “Yahweh will surely exclude me from his people. (Isaiah 56:3)” This is because there is no salvation outside the commonwealth of Israel. “…remember that at that time you were separate from Messiah, excluded from citizenship of Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without Elohim in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)” Yahweh started with Israel and he’ll be finishing with Israel. “For Yahweh will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance. (Psalm 94:14)” “Elohim did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. (Romans 11:2)” 

Consider the closing moments of deliverance in the Book of Revelation. “(New Jerusalem) had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (Revelation 21:12)” 
So this is why we bang on about Israel so much! Every believer needs to begin to identify with the national and cultural sovereignty of Israel. A true truth seeker cannot hope to get very far in his studies of the Scriptures without making a concerted effort in love to form an appreciation and a bond for Israel. This includes the land and its people, not only in their historical existence, but their present existence today. Until we take personal interest in Israel, its national welfare, its politics, its people, its geographic relevance and yes, even its people’s writings that fall outside the boundaries of canonised Scripture, we do ourselves a disservice in understanding Scripture in general. You can’t honestly say you want to find out about a place, a people or some historical event, but want to exclude the relevant culture climate and hope you’re going to be taken seriously. If you say you’re an avid student of the Bible and have no interest or knowledge about Jews or Judaism you are reading a different book. 

The first principle of Judaism concerning Messiah in Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet’s book Mashiach – The Principle of Mashiach and the Messianic Era in Jewish Law and Tradition, he writes, “The belief in the coming of Mashiach and the Messianic redemption is one of the fundamental principles of the Jewish faith. Every Jew must believe that mashiach will arise and restore the Kingdom of David to its original state and soverenty, rebuild the Bet Hamikdash (Holy Temple of Jerusalem), gather the dispersed of Israel, and in his days all the laws of the Torah shall be reinstituted as they had been aforetimes.”

This is important because Messiah’s restoration of the Kingdom occupied primary concern among his first talmidim. “Then they gathered around him and asked him, "Adonai, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)” In the mind of the Zealot, personal salvation took second place to communal salvation. The desire that righteousness would reign supreme throughout the universe was the utmost goal, not just one’s personal piece of righteousness off in some little corner of the universe. “But seek first the Kingdom of Elohim and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)” What things? What every person needs to live. “So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:31-32)’”

In recognising all this, we have to reacquaint ourselves with Messiah Yahshua. The world’s gone bonkers about who he is. The Messiah of Israel is the most well-known and yet the most misunderstood individual in all human history. This wouldn’t be much of a problem if his identity and mission had no bearing on a person’s eternal existence. But it does. It absolutely does. You want to hope that you’re philosophy on life hasn’t subconsciously come from some movie you saw back in 1973, or off the back of a box of cereal or even from a trying life event. A.B. Facey’s classic Australian book, A Fortunately Life isn’t such a fortunate life when at the end of it he concludes there is no G-d, based on all the carnage and horrors he saw in the war. No human experience, no matter how poor, is an excuse to cope out. Consider the Holocaust, the extermination of the only people at that time in history to be keeping Torah, never agreed on national disassociation of their Elohim, though according to the rational secularist mind, such a decision could be understood. Israel, has weathered the weight of storm after storm, without ever reverting to the ongoing victimised mentality that so many other disenfranchised races have continued to adopt. Do we have to be reminded that Israel, along with Messiah, is Yahweh’s first born? “Then say to Pharoah, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me. (Exodus 4:22)’”
If all Israel, in its prime condition, merged into a single person and stood erect, it would be completely indivisible from Messiah. So who is the Messiah?....Well, he’s not Jesus. Let’s start with his name.

Insights into Messiah’s Name

The Messiah’s earthly name is Yahshua ben Yoseph HaNotzri. In ancient times last names consisted of the Father’s first name and or the town of a person’s origin. While Yahshua was born in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem) in Judea, he eventually returned to his parents’ home of Natzaret (Nazareth) where he was raised. The town was aptly named, which I will discuss shortly.
His name carries some interesting characteristics. 
The first syllable of his name pronounced “Yah” as opposed to “Yeh” comes to us from the knowledge that at one time rabbinical authorities tired to distort connections of general Hebrew names to the Name of Yahweh. They did this with addition of vowel points, which changed the pronunciation in a name, so it didn’t sound like the first syllable of the Sacred Name.  
In the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament it states that the "Greek form of a list of Old Testament characters who in pre-exillic Hebrew are called Yahshu'a and usually after the Exile Yeshu'a.” - Bromily, Geoffrey W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. pp. 284 – 293.

So “Yah” the first syllable of the Messiah’s name, and is also the first syllable of the Tetragrammaton (four letters) name of the Creator, consisting of the Hebrew letters yud, hey, vuv and hey – Yahweh. This name means in Hebrew “to be” and is connected to the passage in Exodus 3:14 where Elohim gives his name as אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh), which means “I am who I am” or “I shall be what I shall be,” “I shall be what I am” or “I will become what I choose to become,” or “I will become whatsoever I please.” 
שׁ֫וּע “shua,” the second syllable of Messiah’s name, means “cry for help,” and merged with the first syllable gives us a similar word to the Hebrew word for “deliverance,” יֵ֫שַׁע yesha. The Hebrew word for salvation is יְשׁוּעָה Yeshuah. The Messiah’s name Yah-shua literally mean, “I am the salvation you have cried out for.” This is it!
Yahshua’s title, HaNotzri, is very interesting and tells us more. “And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called Ha Notzri. (Matthew 2:23)” 

The name Yahshua the Branch (or “Shoot”) means, to the trained ear, “This is Yah’s salvation that has emerged from the remains of the severed linage of Jesse.” In other words, “Yahshua is the sprouting hope of a ruined people” So how do we get these meanings? Again, the Prophet Isaiah tells us, using metaphorical language, that “a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1)” So why had Jesse become a stump? A tree is usually used to symbolise family. Ever heard of a family tree? A stump isn’t a good example of a flourishing family tree. What happened? Through disobedience, Yahweh reduced Israel to a wasteland of cut down trees (deceased families). “And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land. (Isaiah 6:13)” Which land? Israel! We can be more specific. Within Israel existed the family of Jesse. The family of Jesse resided in Beit Lechem, where Messiah was born. After he was born he eventually went to Natzaret (Nazareth) literally “Branchville” to live. The word Natzaret also carries the Hebrew root, na·ṣar, נָצַר, which means to “watch,” “guard,” or “keep,” carrying the connotation to watch in that place for a Moshiach. So a fuller meaning of Natzaret could be translated as “Watchers over the place of the shoot.” The geographic names of these places are markers fulfilling Biblical prophecy. 
Beit Lechem means “House of Bread.” Yahshua is “the bread of life” (John 6:35). “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (house of bread which is fruitful), though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2)” So this is what we can find out about Messiah name. No prophet, no matter how good he is, can manipulate the circumstances of his birth or chosen residency of his parents at the time of his rearing to line up with an already established prophecy. His name and title establish his prophetically announced mission and credentials as being the fulfilment of that mission. 

Was Messiah a Carpenter?

Next up is Messiah’s profession before his ministry. Many believe him to have been a carpenter. Mark 6:2-3 says that Yahshua was like his earthly father Yoseph, a “carpenter” in most common translations. However, the chosen translation from the Greek word “tecton” to mean “carpenter” is a bit of a mistranslation. In fact, tecton literally means “One who creates” and was more than likely referring to a “contractor”, a “builder” or “hand-man.” Wood was very scarce is Yahshua’s neck of the woods, so he wouldn’t have had much to do with wood in most of the jobs he likely took. 
This is significant, because in Judaism, tzedachim (righteous ones) would deliberately take on professions that enabled them to move about communities and interact with people incognito. These were called Tzadikim Nistarim צַדִיקִים נִסתָּרים “hidden righteous ones.” They would usually stay concealed as long as they could, elevating and supporting individuals and a community in a way that could avoid them receiving any praise or glory. In Yahshua’s case, the Father gave him a type of Spiritual amnesia, that wore off as he developed into a man. As he became conscious of his identity, he begun to draw closer to his mission. His parents were not only aware of his uniqueness, but the requirement that he eventually come out into the open. We see this in his mother’s request for him to turn water into wine, when Yahshua reminds her that his time had not yet come (John 2:4). 
Whether we realise it or not, Yahshua’s profession before his ministry took up much of his earthly life. It’s important to remember that the four gospel accounts are in no way a biography of Yahshua’s life. We get considerable commentary on the circumstances of his birth, some geographical movements from his parents to avoid Herod’s decree, a comment made about his profession from shocked onlookers at his local synagogue (Matthew 13:55) and a snap-shot of his Bar Mitzvah, astounding doctors of the Torah. “Every year Yahshua’s parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Pesach. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Yahshua stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Yahshua grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with Elohim and man. (Luke 2:41-52)”

Early Church Fathers could not cope with so few accounts of Christ’s boyhood that it comes to no surprise that fraudulent manuscripts begun to emerge filling in the gaps.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, is an ancient text that attempts to detail so-called missing parts from the canonical Gospels. In this case, the author describes details that are absent from the childhood narrative of Jesus (particularly as His childhood was described in the Gospel of Luke). It begins when Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt, and describes the activities of Jesus when He was a child in that country. There are few surviving complete manuscripts of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and most date to the 13th century (although there many fragments dating back to as early as the 5th century). Some scholars believe the document was written in Eastern Syria, but the precise origin is unknown. The text was very popular, and the early Church Fathers were certainly aware of its presence and influence.

Here’s an excerpt from the opening chapter of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

“When the boy Jesus was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream. And he gathered the disturbed water into pools and made them pure and excellent, commanding them by the character of his word alone and not by means of a deed. Then, taking soft clay from the mud, he formed twelve sparrows. It was the Sabbath when he did these things, and many children were with him. And a certain Jew, seeing the boy Jesus with the other children doing these things, went to his father Joseph and falsely accused the boy Jesus, saying that, on the Sabbath he made clay, which is not lawful, and fashioned twelve sparrows. And Joseph came and rebuked him, saying, “Why are you doing these things on the Sabbath?” But Jesus, clapping his hands, commanded the birds with a shout in front of everyone and said, “Go, take flight, and remember me, living ones.” And the sparrows, taking flight, went away squawking. When the Pharisee saw this he was amazed and reported it to all his friends. And the son of Annas the scribe had come with Joseph. And taking a willow twig, he destroyed the pools and drained out the water which Jesus had gathered together. And he dried up their gatherings. And Jesus, seeing what had happened, said to him, “Your fruit (shall be) without root and your shoot shall be dried up like a branch scorched by a strong wind.” And instantly that child withered (died).” (Infancy Gospel of Thomas 1:1-2:3)

Portions of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas claim “Thomas the Israelite” is the author, but this material appears to be a late addition and it is uncertain if it is referring to the Apostle Thomas. In any case, the document simply cannot have been written by the Apostle, given its late authorship and unfamiliarity with Jewish life and customs of the 1st Century. The text presupposes the Gospel of Luke and must, therefore, have been written after Luke’s text was distributed and well known; the author is dependent upon Luke for his information related to the life of Jesus, the Sabbath and the Passover. In addition, the text describes Jesus as a brilliant child, performing a number of miracles in Nazareth, completely contradicting the portrayal of the Nazoraeans as described in Luke Chapter 4. Luke describes the natives of Nazareth responding in shock to Jesus’ initial messianic teaching, seemingly unfamiliar that Jesus was anything more than a poor carpenter’s son.

Another manuscript that contains some information of the Messiah’s so-called missing years is the Arko Volume - The Archaeological Writings of the Sanhedrin and Talmuds of the Jews, Taken from the Ancient Parchments and Scrolls at Constantinople and the Vatican at Rome, Being the Record Made by the Enemies of Jesus of Nazareth in His Day: The Most Interesting History Ever Read by Man.

The is a 19th-century volume containing what purports to be a series of reports from Jewish and pagan sources contemporary with Christ that relate to the life and death of Jesus. The work went through a number of versions and has remained in print ever since. The texts are otherwise unknown, and the author was convicted in September 1885 by an ecclesiastical court of falsehood and plagiarism.

One text is a supposed account of Rabbi Gamaliel’s findings on Yahshua after an interview with his parents Mariam and Yoseph and a teacher of the law who knew Yahshua. The fragments is entitled,Sanhedrim investigation - Jesus at 26-talk with Mary & Joseph

Here are some excerpts: “Joseph is a wood-workman. He is very tall and ugly. His hair looks as though it might have been dark auburn when young. His eyes are gray and vicious. He is anything but prepossessing in his appearance, and he is as gross and glum as he looks. He is but a poor talker, and it seems that yes and no are the depth of his mind… Mary is altogether a different character, and she is too noble to be the wife of such a man. She seems to be about forty or forty-five years of age, abounds with a cheerful and happy spirit and is full of happy fancies. She is fair to see, rather fleshy, has soft and innocent-looking eyes, and seems to be naturally a good woman. I asked her who her parents were, and she said her father's name was Eli, and her mother's name was Anna; her grandmother's name was Pennel, a widow of the tribe of Asher, of great renown. I asked her if Jesus was the son of Joseph. She said he was not… His parents told me of an old man who lived on the road to Bethany who had once been a priest, a man of great learning, and well skilled in the laws and prophets, and that Jesus was often there with him reading the law and prophets together; that his name was Massalian, and that I might find Jesus there. But he was not there….I asked him to give me an outline of the character of Jesus. He (Massalian) said that he was a young man of the finest thought and feeling he ever saw in his life; that he was most apt in his answers and solutions of difficult problems of any man of his age he had ever seen; that his answers seem to give more universal satisfaction--so much so that the oldest philosopher would not dispute him, or in any manner join issue with him, or ask the second time. I asked Massalian who taught him to read and interpret the law and the prophets. He said that his mother said that he had always known how to read the law; that his mind seemed to master it from the beginning; and into the laws of nature and the relation of man to his fellow in his teachings or talks, he gives a deeper insight, inspiring mutual love and strengthening the common trust of society. Another plan he has of setting men right with the laws of nature; he turns nature into a great law book of illustrations, showing that every bush is a flame, every rock a fountain of water, every star a pillar of fire, and every cloud the one that leads to God. He makes all nature preach the doctrine of trust in the divine Fatherhood. He speaks of the lilies as pledges of God's care, and points to the fowls as evidence of his watchfulness over human affairs… He stated further that Jesus was a young man who was the best judge of human nature he had ever seen; that he thought at times he could tell men their thoughts and expose their bad principles; and while he had all these advantages of life, he seemed not to care for them nor use them abusively. He seems to like all men--one as well as another--so much so that his parents have become disgusted with him, and have almost cast him off. But Jesus has such a peculiar temperament that he seems not to care, and is as well satisfied with one as another.”

We certainly know that Yahshua did many amazing things throughout his ministry that are not recorded, but prior to his ministry he did nothing out of the ordinary save his staying on in the Temple at age 12. And this is the whole point. Yahshua’s own townspeople were shocked at his teaching, which tells us that he was a Tzadik HaNistari צַדִיקִים נִסתָּרים “hidden righteous one.” There’s nothing in the Scriptures, because there is nothing noteworthy to tell, in terms of a notable positive or negative reaction from those he interacted with. Inwardly there was mountains going on in the Spirit, his awakening, his secret good deeds, his immense breakthroughs in personal study and prayer. Not until he vanquished his flesh in the wilderness after being immersed, does he appear on the Spiritual battlefield, and even after that, many of his movements are still very covert, avoiding certain places at certain times and miraculously withdrawing from pursuers. The absence of information should speak to us volumes. The first thirty years of his life he walked simply before Adonai. Quietly preparing himself for his mission. So we have thirty years of preparation for three or three and a half years of actually engaging in his mission.

Scripture tells us the approximate age at which Yahshua commenced his ministry. “Now Yahshua himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli. (Luke 3:23)” And Scripture is virtually silent on his activities prior to this time deliberately, because he was Tzadik HaNistari צַדִיקִים נִסתָּרים “hidden righteous one.” So this begins our series on “Who is the Messiah?”