Following the death of Yeshua, the disciples were walking the road when a man came and walked alongside them. As they walked in seeming defeat,
Luke 24:25 He said to them, “Foolish people! So unwilling to put your trust in everything the prophets spoke! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to die like this before entering his glory?” 27 Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, he explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh concerning himself.
28 They approached the village where they were going. He made as if he were going on farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us, for it’s almost evening, and it’s getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 As he was reclining with them at the table, he took the matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it and handed it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he became invisible to them. 32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn inside us as he spoke to us on the road, opening up the Tanakh to us?”
Yeshua explained to them the things found throughout the Tanakh concerning Him.
Does this mean that the Torah and Prophets speak of this man throughout? I believe so.
Let’s begin our journey with the Book of John.
Most believers are familiar with the intro in John 1. And what an intro it is! The stage is being set for the launch of the Messiah into His revolutionary ministry and it is critical we have an understanding of who He actually is.
But have we seriously considered the words spoken by John in those first few verses? Let’s look at them here so we can see what is really being spoken by the one that Yeshua loved:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.
“In the beginning was the Word…”
If we want to truly understand the gravity of what follows these words, we must actually go back to the beginning to get the perspective we need to appropriately respond to the Messiah.
In Genesis 1, after He created the heavens and the earth, God(Elohim) spoke.
He spoke and divided light from darkness.
He spoke and divided the waters.
He spoke and divided land from water.
He spoke and divided the day from the night then filled it with light.
He spoke and filled the water with sea creatures and the sky with the birds of the air.
He spoke and filled the earth with land animals.
He spoke and divided man from the beasts of the earth.
He spoke and divided man and woman.
He spoke and blessed them both.
He spoke and divided the days.
He spoke and blessed the 7th day.
All things created came through the Word. And it was good. But with man, it was very good!
As we read before, John explains to us that Yeshua has been there from the beginning. It is through Him that all was created:
John 1:9 This was the true light, which gives light to everyone entering the world.
10 He was in the world — the world came to be through him — yet the world did not know him.
11 He came to his own homeland, yet his own people did not receive him.
Everything we can and cannot see was created through Yeshua. There is nothing hidden from Him. There is nothing you have ever done or will do that He won’t know about.
This is what John the Beloved is explaining to us. Yeshua isn’t just another nice guy with a winning smile. He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He was there when all of this began and knows what the perfect Kingdom looks like. He made it.
This apparently had been the plan all along IF man decided to forsake the commands of God and ultimately bring darkness back upon the earth. Once this had anchored itself fully in the earth, Yeshua came as a man.
And at this time there was one crying out…
Consider what it must have been like for John the Baptist. This man knows why he is here on earth and was bold in his pursuit. Baptizing people day after day knowing the call upon his life. He knew his birthright and he pursued it with vigor and extreme intensity. There was no other person on earth that was going to pull him away from his mission:
To be the voice of someone crying out: ‘In the desert make the way of YHVH straight!’
Then one day it happened.
John 1:29 The next day, Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world! 30 This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘After me is coming someone who has come to rank above me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I myself did not know who he was, but the reason I came immersing with water was so that he might be made known to Isra’el.” 32 Then Yochanan gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and remaining on him. 33 I myself did not know who he was, but the one who sent me to immerse in water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is the one who immerses in the Ruach HaKodesh.’ 34 And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
This man was John’s cousin, Yeshua. They likely grew up visiting and playing with one another for many, many years. John had known Yeshua his entire life and now Abba has shown him exactly who his cousin really is.
Imagine this moment.
He has put his hand to the plow working the ground Abba had given him, laboring in the Kingdom day in and day out. Pulling weeds, turning over rocks and fighting the crows while taking back the territory lost to sin.
Who knows how many years John had been baptizing people before this glorious day arrived. It’s obvious he knew what he was supposed to be doing with his life but I wonder if he ever thought it may never come. Or if it did, would he be able to believe it?
What is going through John’s mind as he sees the Spirit descending and remaining on his cousin?
His job was to make the way of YHVH straight and now Yeshua was actually here to walk the path.
Imagine the fluttering in his heart as he witnessed for himself the thing Abba had told him to watch for. Here it was, happening before his very eyes.
John the Baptist had a call upon his life and he walked in it fully. But what if he had tired out years before because he didn’t see the fruit of his calling. What if he figured he’d given it a good go and since nothing came for years, he must have been on the wrong path. So he decided to change direction.
Who would have been in the wilderness crying out?
You?
Do you know why you are here?
Have you abandoned (many times perhaps) the call upon your life? Or maybe you just have it paused while you take care of some other things.
What will it take for you to finally stand in the face of the Pharisees as they ask, “Who are you?”
Do you even know? Are you afraid someone will come to you and ask you this very question? Is that what keeps you from capturing ground for the Kingdom? Are the clutches of the world so tight that you have not the energy to work that soil? Where are you in all of this?
Seriously, who are you?
Look upon the One Man that can answer that question for you.
Look this Man in the eyes. What do you see?
Look again.
Look deeply into His eyes that are like a fiery flame.
Can you see it?
Go back to the beginning, when you encountered this Man for the first time.
Can you see Him speaking to you as He takes you out of darkness into the light?
Can you see Him speaking to you when you were baptized -- dividing the waters with your entire being?
Can you see Him speaking to you as He gives you solid ground on which to sow seed?
Can you see Him speaking to you as He brings light into those dark areas of your life?
Can you see Him speaking to you as He fills you with all kinds of life?
Can you see Him speaking to you as He breathes His Spirit into your nostrils?
Can you see Him speaking to you as His Bride?
Can you see Him speaking to you on that Day He separates the first 6000 years from the last 1000?
Can you see Him speaking to you as a blessed and faithful friend helping prepare the earth to receive His Father?
Can you see it?
You were created in His image.
All things created came through the Word. And it was good.
When you were created, He said it was very good.
Can you receive this revelation for yourself?
Even now, His eyes are on you. You are His beloved Bride and He wants nothing more than to dwell with you all the days of your life.
Can you receive this revelation for yourself?
The One…the One that in the beginning was the Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God.
It’s Him that seeks you out. It’s Him that pursues you night and day. It’s Him that wants nothing more than all of you.
Are you willing to let Him catch you?
What is it in your life that is more important than intimacy with the One that gave you life?
What is it in your life that is more important than reckless abandon with the One that gave His life so you could have yours?
We work all our days trying to have a life, and Life is right there waiting. It’s yearning. If only we yield to His tremendous love for us.
John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
Ask Him to come like wind, come like rain, come like fire, come like oil.
The time is coming. The time is now.
Look Him deeply in the eyes and not only will you finally see clearly, but you will also see His creation as He does.
You will see all the people of the earth with the same loving compassion Yeshua has for you.
It’s at this moment you will then begin to walk in His footsteps.
Nothing in the world will faze you. No temptation will be too great to overcome. You will see clearly what has been there all along.
But you must first lift your face from shame. You must lift your face out of this mire we call the world. You must lay down your lifestyle and begin to lay down your life, as well.
Become one that cries out in the wilderness. Become one that declares, “Make straight the path of YHVH!”
That…that is who you are. And you have been from the beginning.