BIBLE STUDY LESSON 13

SERIES S --- THE SON OF YHVH

YESHUA WILL RETURN

THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM

From Luke 17:11-37; John 11:45-54

Many of those who mourned with Mary and Martha suddenly realized that Yeshua was the Moshiach, for they saw how He raised Lazarus from the dead. But some returned to the Pharisees and told them about this miracle. The chief priests and Pharisees immediately held a council meeting and asked, [What shall we do? The Man certainly performs miracles, and if He is left alone, He will soon have the whole nation following Him; then the Romans will come and take away our holy place and our nation.] Then Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said to the others, [You ignorant people, don’t you realize that one Man must die for the people so that the whole nation does not perish?] Caiaphas did not realize that he, the high priest, had actually prophesied the atoning death of Yeshua Moshiach for all people. From that time, the leaders plotted how they might kill Yeshua. Yeshua stopped appearing in public before the Jewish leaders, moving to the village of Ephraim near the wilderness, where He stayed for a while with His disciples. On His last journey to Jerusalem, Yeshua passed along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, calling to Him. [Yeshua, Master, please have mercy on us!] When Yeshua saw them, He called, [You will be healed as soon as you go to the priests to show them you are well.] They believed Yeshua and left to find a priest. As they were going, their leprosy disappeared and they were well. One returned to Yeshua, praising YHVH with a loud voice. He knelt down at Yeshua’ feet, thanking Him again and again for what He had done. This man was a Samaritan, whom the Jewish people hated as a half-breed foreigner. [Were there not ten lepers?] Yeshua asked. [The other nine were cleansed also, but where are they? Why is it that only this Samaritan returned to praise YHVH?] Then Yeshua said to the Samaritan, [Stand up and go your way, for your faith has made you well.] Along the way, the Pharisees asked Yeshua when the Kingdom of YHVH would begin. [It won’t begin with conspicuous signs so that people will shout ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ It is actually here in your midst already.] Later Yeshua talked with the disciples about this. [Someday, after I am gone, you will wish to be with Me again, even for a day. Some will say that I am here, or that I am there, but you must not believe them or go to look for Me where they suggest. When I come again, I will be as visible as the lightning which flashes from one end of the sky to another. First, however, I must suffer and be rejected by this generation. On the day I return, people will be going about their business as though nothing else matters, just as they were in the days of Noah when the Great Flood came. They ate, drank and got married up to the last moment before the Flood came upon them and destroyed them. It was like that also in the days of Lot, for they ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built until the morning when Lot escaped from Sodom and the city was destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven. In the same way, people will keep on doing these things until the moment when I shall return. When I return, a man on the roof of his home must not go down to gather his belongings, and the man in the field must not try to return home. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever is willing to give up his life will save it. That night two will be sleeping on the same bed; one will be taken, and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the same place; one will be taken, and the other left. Two will be working together in the field; one will be taken, and the other left.] [Where will these things happen?] the disciples asked. Then He answered, [Where the vultures gather to feed on dead bodies.] No one is sure what He meant by that, but it is thought that He was saying, [Right here, in this corrupt world, as corrupt as it was in the days of Noah and Lot.]

COMMENTARY

THE FOOTSTEPS OF YESHUA: HIS LAST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM

During Yeshua’ ministry in Galilee, He was very popular among the people. Large crowds gathered around Him wherever He went. The sick came to be healed and mothers brought their children to Him for blessing. Although the Jewish leaders were suspicious of Yeshua, they did not dare try to stop Him. They were afraid of the people’s reaction if any harm came to Him. When Yeshua set out on His last journey to Jerusalem, He left behind the popularity and safety He knew in Galilee. His disciples told Him that it was dangerous to enter Judea. They tried to discourage Yeshua from going to Jerusalem, reminding Him of the religious leaders’ power in the city. But Yeshua would not be persuaded to return to Galilee. Accompanied by His closest disciples, Yeshua set out on His final journey. Although Jerusalem was His goal, He did not follow a straight path that led directly to the city. Along the way Yeshua stopped to visit friends or to heal the sick. Sometimes He took short detours into places that had never heard His teachings. At the border between Galilee and Samaria, He healed ten lepers. Crossing over the Jordan River, He preached among the people of Perea. While Yeshua was still on the eastern side of the Jordan River, a messenger arrived with the news that Lazarus was seriously ill. Yeshua crossed back into Judea and arrived in Bethany four days after His friend’s death. When Yeshua raised Lazarus from the dead, the news of the miracle spread rapidly. As soon as the Jewish leaders heard what Yeshua had done, they began to plot His death. Yeshua and His disciples went back again to Perea, beyond the reach of the religious leaders. As the Passover season approached, Yeshua made the last leg of His final journey. Crossing into Judea near Jericho, Yeshua healed a blind man outside the city. After stopping at Zacchaeus’ house, He continued His journey to Jerusalem. In Bethany He paid a last visit to His friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. From there, Yeshua set out to make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.