PART 3

MINISTRY OF YOCHANAN BEGINS

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate was governor of Yehudah; Antipas, son of Herod, was tetrarch of the Galil; and his brother Philip, was tetrarch of other parts of Yisrael which included Syria. Also, Chanan and Chaiyafa stood in the place of the Kohen Gadol. {They received the honour through intrigue and not rightfully. This happened because all the sons of Tzadok, who were rightful Kohanim, had been exiled from Yerushalayim by Antipas, son of Herod. Some of the rightful Kohanim went to Damascus of Syria; others went into the Yehudah desert and the Qumran area of the Dead Sea. Antipas continued to hold considerable influence among the leaders of Yehudah, so he kept the place of his father's throne in Yehudah. Therefore, there was enmity between the exiled rightful Kohanim, who were sons of Tzadok and the house of Herod and his collaborators, the unlawful chief Kohanim.} At that time the Word of Elohim came to Yochanan as he was exiled and living in the desert close to Beit-Ani, where the ferry crossed the Yarden River. {He was the son of Zacharyah, a rightful Kohen and son of Tzadok to which Gabriel, the messenger of Elohim, had appeared. Though exiled and unable to enter Yerushalayim, Yochanan was a true Kohen ordained by Elohim.} So he travelled around the area close to the Yarden River, preaching the mikveh [bath/immersion] of repentance for the removal of sins. {For the mikveh is the right of the Kohen to officiate for cleansing according to the Torah of YHVH.} He was a man sent from Elohim to bear witness of the Light, that all men through the Light might trust Elohim. Yochanan was not that Light, but he was sent to bear witness of the true Light, who gives light to every man that, comes into the world. Yochanan was preaching, "You must do t'shuvah, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." His clothes were made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist and his food was locust, berries and wild honey. Then people from Yerushalayim and the region of Yehudah and all the country round about the Yarden went out to hear Yochanan. Many of them had the mikveh officiated by him in the Yarden River, confessing their sins. {In these days there were two sects of Judaism that controlled most of religious life in Yisrael. The Tzaddikim [Sadducees], meaning righteous ones, were mostly the chief Kohanim who officiated the sacrificial system; and the P'rushim [Pharisees] meaning withdrawing ones, who were commentators on Halakhah, the way of living according to Jewish ordinances. These were learned and pious Jews who interpreted the Torah to the people. The P'rushim were made up of two houses, that of Shimmei and that of Hillel. These opposed each other continually. In addition, the Torah was interpreted differently by the Yehudim [leaders in Judah] and the Jews of the Galil. Yochanan and Yeshua were not opposed by all the P'rushim.} Then Yochanan addressed the multitude of people and {he targeted certain corrupt ones of} the P'rushim and Tzaddikim, who had come out to have mikveh from him. He said, "Oh offspring of serpents, who has warned you to flee from the wrath which is coming? Bring forth the kind of fruit that testifies to your repentance and do not to think to yourselves, 'We have Avraham as our father.' For I remind you, Elohim is able to raise up children of Avraham from the stones. Also, the axe is already laying at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and tossed into the fire." They asked him, "Then what should we do?" He answered them, "He who has two coats, let him give to the one who has no coat and he who has food, let him do the same." Also the tax gatherers came to have mikveh and they asked Yochanan, "Rabbi, what should we do?" He said to them, "Exact no more tax than the amount you are appointed to receive." The soldiers also inquired, "And what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not violate anyone, neither accuse anyone falsely and be content with your regular wages." {Do not extort money from your subjects.} Yochanan also publicly reproved Herod the tetrarch, for taking Herodiah, the wife of his brother Philip and for all the other evils which Herod had done. Since the people {were in expectation of the Mashiach, and} wondered to themselves whether Yochanan was the Mashiach or not, Yochanan confessed, "I am not the Mashiach." Then they asked him, "Who then? Are you Eliyahu?" He said, "I am not." "Are you that prophet Moshe wrote about?" they asked. {Because they thought that the prophet who Moshe wrote about (the prophet like him) was someone different than the Mashiach.} And he answered, "No." They implored him, "Who are you then? So we can answer those who have sent us. Who do you say you are?" Then Yochanan said, "I am the voice of one crying in the desert, 'Clear the way for YHVH.' For it is written in the book the Prophet Yesha'yahu, 'the voice of one who cries out in the wilderness, Prepare the way of YHVH, clear His paths. Every valley shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be levelled and the crooked paths shall be straightened and the rough roads shall become smooth. For all flesh shall see the Yeshua [Salvation] of Elohim.' " They asked him even more, "Why do you officiate this mikveh then, if you are not Mashiach or Eliyahu or that prophet Moshe wrote about?" Yochanan answered, "I indeed {have authority as a Kohen to} officiate the mikveh for you with water, but one more powerful than myself is coming, the laces of whose shoes I am not worthy to untie. He even now lives among you and you do not know Him. He shall officiate a mikveh for you, one that is with Ruach HaKodesh of YHVH and with unquenchable fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand. He will use it to thoroughly separate {the flour on} His floor, and He will gather the wheat into His storehouse, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

ORDINATION OF YESHUA

When Yeshua was about thirty years of age, He came from the Galil to the Yarden to receive the mikveh officiated by Yochanan. The next day Yochanan sees Yeshua coming to him for mikveh and he cries out, "Look here! This is El-Ha'Seh, Elohim's very own Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the One of whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred over me, for He was before me. And I did not know who He was, until He was to be made manifest to Yisrael. I have come with only a mikveh of water. This is the One of whom I spoke." Then Yochanan attempted to stop Yeshua from coming, saying, ‘I am the one who needs to receive a mikveh officiated by You! So, why do You come to me?’” “Allow it to be so for now, Yochanan, because it is necessary for me to perform all righteous deeds," answered Yeshua. Then Yochanan permitted Him. When Yeshua had received the mikveh He came up out of the water and the heavens were opened. Then Yochanan saw the Ruach of Elohim descending in the form of a dove upon Yeshua. Also, a voice from heaven was heard, saying, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Yochanan exclaimed, "I did not know who He was, but the One who sent me to mikveh with water, He also said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Ruach of Elohim descending and remaining on Him, He is the One who gives the mikveh of Ruach HaKodesh of YHVH.' I saw Him and I give this witness, that this One is the Son of Elohim." The next day Yochanan stood with two of his followers and seeing Yeshua again walking by, Yochanan exclaimed, "Look there! It is the Lamb of Elohim!" {As he pointed in the direction of Yeshua}. When the two disciples heard it they followed Him. Then Yeshua turned and saw them following and asked them, "What do you seek?" They asked in turn, "Rabbi, where do you live?" He answered, "Come and see." So, they went with Him and saw where He was living. And because it was about four o'clock in the afternoon, they stayed with Him the rest of the day.

TEMPTATION OF YESHUA

Yeshua was now full of Ruach HaKodesh of YHVH. He was driven by the Ruach of Elohim away from the Yarden and further into a desolate place where there were wild animals. For forty days He was tempted by the Deceiver, also called ha'satan [the Adversary] and in those days He ate nothing. When His fast was to end He became hungry. So, the deceiver said to Him, "If you are really the Son of Elohim, command this stone to become bread." Yeshua answered, "It is written, 'A person cannot live by physical bread alone, but he can live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Elohim,' " Then the Deceiver took Him up into a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. “All this power I will give to you and the glory of these kingdoms, for they are under my control and I give them to whoever I want. Therefore, if you will bow down to me, I will give it all to you," offered the deceiver. Yeshua commanded him, "Get away from me, adversary, for it is written, 'You shall worship YHVH your Elohim, and Him only shall you serve.' " So the Deceiver brought Yeshua to Yerushalayim and set Him on a high portion of the Mikdash, and he taunted Him, "If you are actually the Son of Elohim, throw yourself down from here. For it is also written: He shall give His messengers responsibility over you, to guard you. They will hold you in their hands, in case at any time you might strike your foot against a stone."
Then Yeshua countered by saying, "It is also said, 'you shall not test YHVH, your Elohim.' " Then the Deceiver ended all the temptation and departed from Yeshua for a season and messengers from Heaven came and ministered to Him.

FIRST FOLLOWERS

One of the two disciples who had heard Yochanan point out Yeshua and followed Him was Andrew. He went and found his brother Shimon and said to him, "We have found the Mashiach." Andrew brought Shimon to Yeshua and when Yeshua saw him, He said, "You are Shimon the son of Yonah, but you shall be called Kefa," which means, a stone of modest size. Yeshua went into the Galil and found a man called Philip from Beit-Tzaida, the town that Andrew and Kefa were from. He said to Philip, "Follow me." Then Philip found Natan-El and told him, "We have found Him whom Moshe in the Torah and also the prophets wrote about. He is Yeshua of Natzeret, the son of Yosef." "Can any good thing come from Natzeret?" Natan-El mocked. "Come and find out," Philip answered. When Yeshua saw Natan-El coming to Him, he announced, "Look! There for sure is a Yisraeli who has no deception in him!" Natan-El asked Yeshua, "From where do you know me?" Yeshua answered, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Then Natan-El exclaimed, "Rabbi, you are the Son of Elohim! You are the King of Yisrael!" "You trust me simply because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?" asked Yeshua. "You will see greater things than that. Amen, amen! I tell you, later on you will see Heaven opened and the messengers of Elohim will be ascending and descending around the Son of man."

WATER INTO WINE

And the next day there was a marriage in Kana of the Galil and the mother of Yeshua was there. Yeshua and His disciples were called to the marriage. When those celebrating wanted wine, the mother of Yeshua whispered to Him, "They have no wine." Yeshua said to her, "Why are you telling me this, ema [woman]? Now is not the right time." His mother told the servants, "If and when He commands you, do it." Six stone water pots were standing there, which were usually used for purification according to Torah. Eventually, Yeshua said to the servants, "Fill the water pots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. Then He said, "Pour some out now and take it to the leader of the wedding feast." Then they served it. When the leader of the banquet tasted what he thought was water, he found it to be wine! He did not know where it came from, but the servants who poured the water knew. So, the leader of the banquet called the bridegroom and said to him, "every man at the beginning of the banquet provides good wine, then after men have been drinking for awhile the inferior wine is served, but you have kept the good wine until now." This miracle in Kana of the Galil was the first of many miracles which Yeshua performed and demonstrated His power and because of it His disciples trusted Him to be the Mashiach. After this, Yeshua, his mother, his brothers and his disciples, travelled to K'far-Nachum and they continued there for a few days.