Yahuchanan Seven

 

1 After these things, Y’shua walked in Galil. He didn’t wish to walk in the land of Yehudah, because he understood that the Yehudim were planning to kill him. 

 

2As the days passed, however, the yearly Feast of Tabernacles approached; and because of the High Holy Days of Sukkot, 

3His brothers said to him, “Come out of Galil! Go into the land of Yehudah, so that the disciples who are there can also see the works you do.

4 “Nobody does things in secret if he, himself, wants to be known openly. If you continue to do these things, show yourself to the world!”

5 His brothers didn’t believe him, either.

6 Then Y’shua explained to them, “My time is not yet come, but your time is always close at hand. 

7 “The world can’t hate you, for you support its order; but it hates me because I teach that its works are evil. 

8 “You can go up to this feast, but I won’t go just yet; for my time hasn’t fully come.”

9  After talking with them, he remained in

Galil for a time; 

 

10 “But when his brothers had left Natzaret for the feast, then he also went there—not openly; but, as it were, in secret.

11 And the partisans of the Yehudim were diligently watching out for him at the feast, running incessantly about and saying, “Where is he? Find him!”

12 A great undercurrent of gossip had arisen among the people concerning Y’shua: for some said that he was a good man, while others held that he was a charlatan who was going about trying to deceive people, just to stir up trouble. 

13 Nobody spoke openly about him, however, because everyone was afraid of attracting the attention of the rulers, due to their interest in his doings.

14 Then, after Yom Kippur rpk-mwy: after the Day of Atonement—that is, toward the middle of the feast, Y’shua went up into the temple, and resumed his teaching.

15 And the Yehudim marvelled, saying, “How is it this man knows his letters, given that he never studied?”

16 In answer, Y’shua said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 

17 “If any man desires to do his will, he will know of my teaching, whether it comes from HaShem, or whether I speak these things of myself.

18 “He that speaks of himself seeks his own fame; but he that seeks glory for the one that sent him, that person is true; and no unrighteousness is in him.

19 “Didn’t Moshe give you Torah, and yet none of you keeps its laws? Why, then, do you go about, seeking to kill me?”

20 They answered by yelling such things as, “You’re crazy! Who is it, exactly, that is plotting your death?

21 “Y’shua answered them, “I’ve done one work; and you’re all astonished!

22 “Consider this! Moshe gave you circumcision, but your observances are not in keeping with the law of Moshe; rather, they are the traditions of your fathers. This practice is the fruit of rote understandings that have no basis in Torah; for they are rooted in the husk, not the kernel. And it is you, yourselves, that have failed to understand. You surrendered the teachings of Moshe to interpretation by men who leared from men who lived long after the truth of Moshe prevailed among you. 

23 “For example, you choose to ignore the plain writings of Moshe when you circumcise a man on Shabbos. You intentionally violate Shabbos in order to perform this contrived ritual in accordance with its days, as you reckon them. If, by your interpretation a man is able to—and must, in fact—receive physical circumcision on Shabbos if he is to avoid breaking the law of Moshe, then why are you angry with me because I have made a man completely whole on Shabbos? 

24 Don’t judge by appearances! Judge righteous judgment.”

25 Then, some of Yerushaliem observed,

“This is the man they want dead, isn’t it? 

26 “But, look! He speaks openly, and they say nothing to him! Do the rulers know and secretly believe, then, that this teacher is the promised messiah?

27 “Ah well! We know where this man is from; but when HaMashiyach appears, nobody knows for certain the place from which he will come!”

28 Addressing this rumor, Y’shua cried out in the temple as he taught, saying, “You both know me, and you know where I’m from; and you know I haven’t appeared before you for any interest of my own. He that sent me is true, and him you do not know! 

29 “But I know him because I’m from him, and he has sent me.” 

30 After this, the Yehudim again sought pretense by which they might arrest him, but they were unable to corner him because his time hadn’t yet come. 

31 And even more people of Yahrushaliem believed Y’shua; for they questioned whether, when the messiah should come, he could do more miraculous things than this man had done.

 

32 The Separatists heard that such rumors were spreading within the city; and so, with the support of the chief priests, they sent officers to bring charges against Y’shua, hoping to end the uproar. 

33 Then said Yahushua to the people following him, “Yet a little while I am with you, and then I return to him that sent me. 

34 “You will seek me, and you will not find me; for where I now am and will then be, there you cannot come.”

35 Then said the Yehudim among themselves, “Where will he go, that we won’t be able to find him? Will he go to those who are scattered among the nations, in order to spread his teachings among commoners?

36 “What does he mean, when he says, ‘You will seek me and shall not find me because where I am, there you cannot come!?’”

 

37 On the last day of Sukkot, that great day of celebration, Y’shua stood among the people and cried, saying, “If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink! 

38 “He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water.”

39 Y’shua gave voice to this teaching as it spoke to the ministry, within him, of the Breath of Holiness, which those who believed on him were promised they would receive; for Ruach HaQodesh had yet to be poured upon everyone, because HaMashiyach had, first, to be glorified.

40 Many of the people, when they heard this teaching, said, “Of a truth, this is the prophet Eliyahu. 

41 Others held that he was the messiah, while yet others argued, “Shall messiah come out of the Galil? 

42 “Has not the scripture said that mashiyach is of Dovid’s seed and will come from the town of bakeries—out of BeitLechem mjl-tyb, the house of the great battle, in which King David was born?”

 43 Different factions began coming to a head among the people because of him; 

44 And, worried about losing control, some of those in power wanted him arrested immediately. However, nobody dared lift an open hand against him officially, because of uncertainty about how the people would react to his arrest.

 

45 Jealous of their power, officers of the nation’s governmental rulers came to the chief priests and the Separatists; and they demanded of them, “Why haven’t you brought charges against this man?” 

46 The chief priests answered the officers candidly, “Nobody ever spoke like him.” 

47 To this, the Separatists scoffed, saying, “Are you also deceived? 

48 “Have any of the rulers or any of the leading Separatists believed on him? 

49  “These people who do not know Torah are cursed!” 

50  Rebbe Nakdimon, who had come to

Y’shua in sympathy under the cover of night some time before, interjected, 

51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows exactly what he is trying to accomplish?”

52 The Separatists answered with contempt: “Are you also of Galil? Search! Look with diligence! For out of Galil there arises no prophet!”

53 And every man fled to his own house.