In a sobering interchange between the Messiah and one of His closest students during a pinnacle Pesakh (Passover) celebration, Yeshua challenged Simon Peter to truly become a key shepherd, foretold by prophet Zechariah, by becoming such a friend of God that he wouldn’t fear being persecuted to death.
Is Yeshua’s “new commandment” in John 13:34-35 really new? An answer is taught through God’s appointed times of Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement), Shmittah (sabbatical year) and Yobel (Jubilee year).
What does Chanukah (Festival of Dedication) have to do with believers in Yeshua (Jesus)? It’s in the Bible, and Yeshua celebrated it. In doing so, He gave one of the most startling teachings about Himself (John 10:22-38). As well as a remembrance of the perils of giving up God’s words to fit in or save one’s neck, Chanukah is a memorial of the great miracle of the conception of the Messiah — Immanuel (God With Us) — through Miriam (Mary) (Luke 1; 1Chronicles 24; Haggai 2).
Simply being in the same place where God’s Spirit is present and working wasn’t enough for Yehudah ish Kariot (Judas Iscariot, “man of Kariot”). It isn’t enough for us either. That is why a simple morsel of food from Yeshua’s hand blessed the 11 other closest students but cursed Yehudah.
At the beginning of His great final message and prayer with His 12 closest students (John 13-17; Luke 22:7-38), Yeshua was not calling them to be servants but friends. Servants and masters do not love each other but friends do. Our lives are more temporary than we think. Our lives can be very short or very long. We can make our lives long in the short time we have when we put our lives in God’s hands. God is taking us over the horizon, beyond what we can see. We have to have faith to walk with God when we can’t see where he is taking us.
There are conjunctions in Israel’s history between the days of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles or Booths) and key events, from the Flood to the time of David and Solomon to Yeshua (Jesus) mission on Earth to the coming Day of the LORD. Rather than coincidences, these intersections teach us about God and His Messiah.
Some read about the “Sabbath-rest” in Hebrews 4 and conclude that the teaching is that the remembrance of the seventh-day rest, the Sabbath, has been transferred to the Messiah, Yeshua. Yet the context of the passage and the quotations in it relating to a pivotal event in the Torah point to the fuller meaning of personal peace and real “rest” that God provides.