When we read this account in Scripture we don’t hear the tone of voice that expresses what Messiah was saying to Philip. Maybe this question was neither a rebuke nor was it said with surprise. Could it have been an encouragement to Philip for him to draw closer?
A talmid of Yeshua/Jesus’ day would give up their entire life in order to be with their teacher. The talmid/disciple didn’t only seek to know what the teacher knew, as is usually the case today. For them it was not enough just to know what the rabbi said, but the ultimate goal of any talmid was to become like the rabbi and do what the rabbi did.
תלמידם talmidim (Plural)
While Yeshua/Jesus was still with them, and before the subsequent Shavuot following His Resurrection;
the talmidim/students/disciples knew Yeshua/Jesus as the One who gave them power and authority to drive out unclean spirits/demons heal the sick and to initiate teshuvah/ repentance and revival by preaching the good news of the kingdom.
As recorded inLuke 9:1 Matt. 10:1 Mark 6:7,8.
And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.
They had a close relationship with Him but as John 15:15 suggests there was a much closer one to come…
I have called you friends. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
True lasting friendship is rare in this life because it means identifying with another in thought, heart and spirit. Our life experience has been designed to enable us to enter into the closest of relationships with Yeshua/Jesus.
We easily receive the blessings He imparts and know His Word but the most important question is..
Do we really KNOW Him?
It is this that He was questioning Philip about?
We can be with someone and not really know them. All relationships have different levels depending on their type of interaction. Family members, work colleagues, general acquaintances and friends etc., are all different.
Yeshua/Jesus was concerned with them
knowing Him
and in knowing Him they would also
know His Father
the One Who sent Him.
He said in
John 16:7 Its to your advantage that I go away.
He left the relationship that He had established with them in order to lead them to
an even closer one.
We too are to take the time to become more and more acquainted with Him.
In Philippians 3:10, Paul said, “For my determined purpose is that I may… progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly” (AMP).
The key to becoming acquainted with the Father is by becoming acquainted to His Messiah through the Scriptures/the written Word of God/YaHoVeH. To spend time quietly in His presence allowing Him to speak to us.
Again the key is to have Yeshua/Jesus with us personally, even though we might not see Him, therein lies a blessing and we will also become more acquainted with His Spirit of Holiness/RuachHaKodesh day-by-day.
Yeshua/Jesus told Thomas,
Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29.
We need that same revelation Thomas had, that of Who He is.
The more we are intimate in our relationship with Him, then the bearing of fruit in our lives increases; and fruit bearing is always shown to be a visible sign and result of such a relationship.
John 15:1-4.
The results of this close one on one relationship are that the disciple/talmid is never alone or feels lonely, and never lacks in understanding or compassion. We are content to be in His company alone and to not always be seeking others to pour out our hearts to, but to do so to Him.
The talmid who has such a relationship with Messiah never draws attention to self but will show the evidence in a life where Yeshua/Jesus is fully in control. Not one where the natural abilities push to get things done, just to get them completed in their perceived time and way; but allow the Father to complete all things in His time.
This is the outcome of allowing Yeshua/Jesus to satisfy every area of life/chaim to its fullness. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that He gives to those who are close with Him.
So the question is ..
Who is Yeshua/Jesus to each of us…?
Could He ask us the same question He asked Philip?
Have we been with Him so long
and yet we have not
known
Him?
Who Is Yeshua/Jesus/Messiah to each of us…?
Who do weKNOWHim personally as?
What will be our answer?
It’s more than Mark 8:27
We can only present Him to others out of personal experience. We can point to scripture as the written witness but aren’t we called to be a witness unto Him?
We can only describe someone to the depth that we know them personally or, it simply amounts to hearsay.
The most obvious way we know Him is as Savior but what of any other aspect of relationship?
For example: the scripture says He is our
Healer
Yehoveh Rophekha… יהוה רוקה
Jehovah rophe Yahweh rofe’ekha The LORD who heals you
Jehovah rophe is one way to write this name of God.
In the original, it is actually
Yahweh rofe’ekha,
the LORD who heals you
YHWH-Rophe. (Rapha, Rophecha, Roph’ekha)
YHWH Heals / YHWH Who Heals.
Pronounced: Yä-wá'(or Yod-Há-Väv-Há’) Roh-fee’,
Is He our Healer?
Has He healed us?
Have we personally experienced His healing touch and felt His power surge through our bodies?
We need to literally experience the following for Him to BE an absolute reality in those areas in our lives.
Another example is that, if we believe in healing and that He can heal and we may have even seen it in others lives, but is He our Healer? There is a difference and it would follow that once an individual has experienced a certain aspect, it becomes not only a reality rather than just a belief; but also boosts the faith of that individual in a very personal and real way.
We can have mental assent about something and agree that it is true, but is that enough?
Is it not therefore more accurate to say:
We have to be saved for Him to be our savior – מוֹשִׁיעַ.
The best term in Hebrew is: Moshiaa — מושיע.
The word Jesus in English is originally Hebrew
YehoShuaa — יהושוע.
It has a meaning of: the one.
One who gives freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s way.
The word
מושיה moshiah
can be used in the sense of an action as in
Deuteronomy 28:29
where it is translated as:
save
but literally means:
causing to be delivered
So the following would also seem to be true:
You have to be redeemed
for Him to be your redeemer.
You have to be His servant
for Him to be your Master לִשְׁלוֹט.
You have to become His Child
for Him to be your Father av אָב.
You have to be Delivered
for Him to be your Deliverer משלוח yasha.
You have to be His subject
for Him to be your King melek מלך
You have to be an indentured slave
for Him to be your Lord גְבִיר.
You have to be sanctified/holy
for Him to be your Sanctifier.
You have to be a worshipper
for Him to be your God.
You have to be His follower
for Him to be your Leader
You have to be His student
for Him to be your Teacher Rabbi רַב
You have to be His family
for Him to be your brother.
You have to be His disciple talmid
for Him to be your Rabbi.
You have to be obedient
for Him to be your guide and director of your steps.
You have to be filled with peace
for Him to be your Sar shalom.
Prince of peace sar shalom סאר שלום
You have to be restored
for Him to be your restorer.
The list is extensive.. but the meaning is clear…
Some people only know Him as a concept or an image of an old man figure sitting in the heavens with a long white beard and a big stick waiting to punish us. Such images have marred and distorted the picture of Our Heavenly Father, and this makes Him seem unapproachable.
When Yeshua/Jesus said
if you have seen me you have seen the Father
He is referring to both the visible works He did and the presentation of spiritual characteristics that reflected His Father. We must refrain from assigning our human characteristics, standards and elements to Him, for He is so far above anything we can think or imagine; and we should take care not diminish who He is by making Him like us or bringing Him down to our human level.
Ask Him by His Ruach within us, to order our day and control our thoughts; for the mind controlled by the Ruach/spirit is life and peace/shalom.
To receive this peace/shalom, we must change our position of a grasping controlling self-reliant individual, to one of openness and trust/faith. There is no limit to His presence and peace/shalom. We can never exhaust His provision concerning what is available to those who seek His face. The most persistent choice we have multiple times every day is are we going to choose to trust Him or to worry! We must train ourselves to choose to trust Him no matter what. He is the ever present help in trouble..
shammah שַׁמָּה
In Psalm 46:1-2
we are to
Trust Him
though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea!
A very pertinent and timely scripture referring to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, liquefaction of land masses and extreme weather events, such as we are experiencing lately.
In these days we need more than ever before to
KNOW Him and the power
of His resurrection
and to have that
unshakeable and deep rooted
shalom & trust
in the midst of the storm.
Please don’t leave this page before you are certain that you
KNOW Him at least as Savior
then begin the wonderful journey to
know Him and the power of His resurrection
which makes all aspects of a relationship with Him possible. The kingdom of the heavens is within you that’s why He is as close as your breath.
Keep your eyes on Yeshua/Jesus, He truly is the author and finisher of our faith and He will bring all things to completion in His way and timing.
Our focus and goal should not be blessings, peace or joy but just Him, simply for Who He Is…
There is limitless expense in Knowing Messiah Yeshua…so
KNOW and be KNOWN
Philip. 3:10
We are called in Prov. 3:5 to
We are called to
and lean not to our own understanding
To love Him is the 1st commandment.
Our faith is in the measure of our trust in Him.
Who is Yeshua/Jesus to you?
Who is Yehoveh/God the Father to you?
Who is His Spirit of Holiness to you?
Do we know Him as Savior, Healer, Deliverer, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Teacher, Lord, King, Messiah, Shepherd, Great I am/Anochi, and all those on the extensive list?
We can only know Him in the capacity of the experience we have known Him manifest in our lives in these positions. If He has saved us then we know it beyond any doubt that we know Him and He is our savior and the same is true for any one in the list.
Emmanuel – God with us..
is He with us or have we walked off in another direction?
Have we gone off somewhere on our own WAY? Have we just put Him in a box to be taken out on certain days of the week and for annual celebrations?
Today if we were asked by Messiah the same question He asked Philip what would be our answer?
He is speaking to each one of us right now..
Yes ..you!
Lets ask ourselves, what is the type of relationship that we want to know Him as next. He is our Heavenly Father and we are on our Way home; the more we know of Him the greater the desire in us to be with Him and the less the world has a pull on our lives…
Lets’ keep looking unto Yeshua/Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…if we will let Him!
Shalom shalom
‘Mishpachah’
‘Family/Tribe’
משפחה
Mish-pa-KHa,
friends, visitors and every reader…
Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His
and are truly born from above.
Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is
your Redeemer, Savior, Lord
and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
You are greatly loved, prayed for daily and precious in His sight.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.
I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.
