Tag: John 10

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Chanukah Discussions

‘I and the Father are one’: Was Yeshua’s shocking Chanukah proclamation blasphemy? (John 10:22–39)

'I and the Father are one': Was Yeshua's shocking Chanukah proclamation blasphemy? (John 10:22-39) Adobe AI-generated impressionist artwork shows a man in the foreground with his back turned holding up a shepherd's crook while facing a crowd under Solomon's colonnade in the Temple in Jerusalem.

The declaration from Yeshua (Jesus) that “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) was in line with messianic expectation. While there are directives in the Torah, Prophets and Writings about blasphemy, those Scriptures also contain details for the calling card of Messiah. This Bible study suggests that these clues should have inspired introspection among Yeshua’s critics who knew the Scriptures — who were “elohim” of Israel (John 10:34-35). And the leaders’ judgment could have been informed by the timing (Festival of Dedication, aka Chanukah or Hannukah) and location (Temple) of Yeshua’s alleged blasphemy.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Heaven won’t let go as you are delivered from bondage to freedom (Deuteronomy 4)

Heaven won't let go as you are delivered from bondage to freedom (Deuteronomy 4). A hand from above grips a hand from below.

Ancient Israel’s path from bondage in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land was a decades-long, multigenerational journey. Our journey from our “house of bondage” (what held us captive to a life apart from the Creator) to freedom in Heaven’s Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) also spans a lifetime. A key passage in Torah reading וָאֶתְחַנַּן Va’etchanan (“and I pleaded,” Deut. 3:23–7:11) gives us hope that Heaven won’t let go of us when we’re holding up our arms for help from the only true Source.

Also addressed in detail in this Bible study is the point of the Law, as expressed by apostle Paul in Rom. 10:4 (NASB): “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

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Discussions Torah

Deuteronomy 29–30: Keep, do, prosper. It’s not as hard as we make it

Choosing life over death seems like an easy choice, but it can be hard for some people. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41; Mark 14:38).

In Moses’ third address to the second generation of Israel post-Egypt, recorded in Torah reading נִצָּבִים Nitzavim (“standing,” Deut. 29:9–30:20), he tells them (and us) they have a choice between life and death. He implores us to choose life.

We are also told that the Torah isn’t difficult, if it’s in your heart and in your mouth. Men make it difficult, but God doesn’t.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Chanukah Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Chanukah: Dare to be a Daniel, Joseph, Judas Maccabeus

Lighting the Chanukkah lights at Chabad Hanukkah lighting in Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa, Calif., on December 26, 2016. Photo by Tammy Quackenbush

Yosef (Joseph) a betrayed brother turned slave turned prime minister in Mitzraim (Egypt). Daniel a war captive turned wise man turned second to an emperor in Babylon. יהודה המכבי Yehudah ha-Makabi (Judas Maccabeus) a priest of Yisrael turned leader of a successful insurrection against the Seleucid empire’s campaign of forced conversion. Yeshua ha-Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in the Temple during the Festival of Dedication. These four accounts may seem to quite disjointed, but the conjunction of the Torah reading מקצ Miketz/Miqetz (Genesis 41:1-44:14, “from the end”) and the celebration of Chanukah/Hannukah helps underscore that ongoing lessons from both help us understand what Yeshua meant by “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13 NASB).

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Chanukah Discussions

John 7-10: Yeshua answers on Chanukah the question of His being the Messiah

The only winter celebration mentioned in the Gospels is the festival of Dedication, or Chanukah. Yeshua was at the Temple during that eight-day celebration and stated boldly, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This caps a string of clashes between Yeshua and certain religious leaders — recorded in John 7-10 and covering a two-month period from Sukkot, or the festival of Tabernacles, to Chanukah — over whether Yeshua was the Messiah.

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Apostolic Writings Chanukah Discussions

Why was Yeshua in the temple on Chanukah?

Yeshua Walks in the Portico of Shlomo
"Yeshua Walks in the Portico of Shlomo" (Jésus se promène dans le portique de Salomon), by James Tissot (1836-1902) (Brooklyn Museum)

Why was Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) go to the temple on Chanukah, the Festival of Dedication, in John 10? The healing of the blind man in John 9, an obscure messianic prophecy in Haggai 2 and Yeshua’s bold statements gave Israel’s leaders their ultimate test of loyalty to the Holy One or to anti-God human laws.