The Questions Answered
“Even if I bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I go.” John 8:14
Bear Witness – Why were the Pharisees so distraught about Yeshua’s teaching? They were distressed because He did not fit the proper protocol. In rabbinic Judaism, a true teacher had to have a long lineage of predecessors. The teacher would quote these men, perhaps offering commentary, but rarely offering new teaching. The truth was passed down from rabbi to rabbi. Only prophets arrived on the scene without a lineage, and the Pharisees were not about to convey the status of prophet on Yeshua. So, the constant theme of the gospel of John is the subject of witness. John seeks to demonstrate that Yeshua is the Messiah. It’s obvious that the testimony and the witnesses are crucial to his effort. But if we read this particular exchange in Hebrew, something else comes to the surface.
If we were Hebrews, we would know that two letters in Deuteronomy 6:4 in the Torah scroll are unusual. “Shema, Yisrael, YHWH eloheinu, YHWH ehad” is written with an enlarged Ayin in Shema and an enlarged Daleth in ehad. Why? Because the combination of these two letters is the word “witness” (‘ed). This word refers to someone who will be a true witness. Every time a Jew says the Shema, he proclaims a true witness to the Lord. When Yeshua speaks of himself as a witness, he draws attention to the proclamation of the one true God. But while the speaker of the Shema bears witness to God, Yeshua suggests that he bears witness to himself. The implications must have been startling. They verged on blasphemy.
If that weren’t enough, Yeshua follows his declaration with two answers. The answers imply two questions: Where have you come from and where are you going? Do those questions sound familiar? They should. You will find them in Genesis 16:8. They are the two questions asked by the angel of the Lord to the slave Hagar. What Yeshua implies by his answer to these two unasked questions is simply: He is the one who asks because He is the one who knows the answers. In fact, He is the only one who truly knows the answers. There is no human being alive who can give a truthful answer to both questions. We might know where we have come from but not a single one of us truly knows where we are going. The only one who knows the true answer to the second question is God.
This confrontational exchange between Yeshua and the Pharisees hides much more than it reveals. Buried in the implications is a statement about the true witness of the Shema, the true questioner of Hagar and the only one who truly knows life’s purposes. But you have to read it with Hebrew eyes to hear what it says.
Doesn’t that make you wonder what else is under the surface of the gospels?
Topical Index: witness, Shema, Hagar, ‘ed, John 8:14
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Here is my ‘witness’ and amen! it is true!.. (for I know where I came from and where I go.) I do!
Praise His name I know! I know where I came from. I know where I am going. I know who I am! There are many things I do not know. (I guarantee it!), but these three things I know. (I have “the witness” of His living Word living and abiding within.) I am His and He is mine. I belong to Him. We (now) are in a blood covenant relationship with each other. He has purchased and redeemed me to Himself by His own blood and bought my freedom at incredible cost to Himself. Where did I come from? (it ain’t pretty..), where am I going? (it’s glorious!) Who am I? I am His. (and He is mine!) And today.. Lord Jesus.. send out thy light.. send out thy truth.. wear me like a suit of clothes and use me in any way that pleases you to accomplish your purposes. With thanksgiving for what you do and praise for Who you are, I offer this simple prayer and praise. In the name of Jesus, I offer my lips and life to you, our Abba. Amen.
In “The Hebrew Yeshua vs. The Greek Jesus”, the author Nehemia Gordon makes the case that Yeshua was a Karaite Jew, i.e. a Jew that followed only the written Torah. A Karaite challenged the authority of the Rabbis to establish rules in addition to the Scriptures. In essence, the Pharisees were asserting Divine approbation to add to the requirements of the Torah and Yeshua was in opposition. The Karaites point out that the Pharisees had a history of seeking to kill those that sought to dispute their Divine authority to create oral law. They cite both Zadok and Anan as examples. Perhaps this is why John emphasizes the witness of Yeshua as the Word of God. Yeshua was the complete expression of the Torah. Power, authority, and politics at work in the first century.
The closing questions does haunt me. How I wish that I knew and read Hebrew. It might help me to get to what the under surface of the Gospel was realy saying. Oh well. I will keep up my study and trust the Spirit to help me learn. After all, that is one of the Spirit’s jobs.
and one more thing.. (lest we forget)..Yeshua is the ONE who wrote the book!
Good point Carl,, and don’t forget, at least in my hardcopy (The Jerusalem Bible) the author doesn’t even introduce himself (the main character and Hero of the story) to the reader for 1547 pages (end of Malachi); then the “implied authors” start telling their views of the story as if we understand everything that went before; I mean without some sort of guide it is very easy to get lost and end up in some sort of fictional wilderness.
Skip there is no doubt that lineage or “generation to generation” is a tremendously important convention within the Hebrew culture. As you aptly point out this convention was not only familial in nature but also weaved throughout the culture of the religious leadership within Israel.
Of course a “prophet” could very well have bypassed this convention to be recognized as having authority from Adonai (and Moshe declared that The Prophet would come) …. but what is awesome (and you point out so well herein) is that Yeshua goes much further than a prophet. He speaks to personal knowledge of both a past and future that “can not be known” by humans. Yeshua’s declaration extends beyond the realm of Earth and into The Heavens.
Oh those poor Israelite leaders …. that generation so enamored with “authority” and “purported knowledge” they could not even see The One Who established authority and knowledge when He was standing in their midst. And this love affair with authority blinded them to the Words and Works of Adonai Himself!
Ultimately we can get a better feel for Matthew – 7:28 And it came to pass, when Yeshua had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
This message Skip highlights one of the great themes that surfaces within the Gospel and this theme is the battle that was waged between Yeshua and the established religious leadership of Israel. It is very important that we pay attention to this battle because the traditional ideas associated with Israel’s rejection of Yeshua is significantly misunderstood.
Ultimately it would seem that no one expected Mashiach to be Adonai Himself … when this is taken into account we can get a better feel for why Yeshua generated such astonishment!
We are blessed to have the luxury of hindsight!