Today, we are opening Lock Number Three – and therefore we will be using Key Number Three: as though. In Luke 24:28 we read: he made as though he would have gone further. This is a very remarkable word and a very remarkable key indeed: there are not many places in the Bible where God acts “as though” – where He pretends to do something. When discussing this key, we saw that in our lives we constantly face “as though” realities – because the Lord cannot reveal His love until His plan is completed. We saw this clearly played out in the story of Joseph: In the inner room, invisible to his brother Benjamin, Joseph wept out of love for his brother, and yet, upon leaving this room, he did something completely opposite to what we might expect and what he himself probably longed to do. He washed his face so there would be no trace of his tears of love, he restrained himself … and then – went on with his plan as though he did not love or care for Benjamin. This is a very graphic, a very expressive illustration of the difference between the unseen truth and the visible “as though” things. We found the same in the story of Lazarus: When Yeshua didn’t come to heal him, it seemed – to Lazarus himself and to everybody around – as though He didn’t love him. The Bible is full of these “as though” stories where the secret of God’s love (Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus) is hidden within God’s plan (this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God). These stories teach us that faith is the… evidence of things not seen: We cannot know God’s thoughts and God’s heart simply by looking at the things which are seen – by only looking at “as though” reality. And this is the reason we have this “as though” word in the last and transitional chapter of Luke’s Gospel. A great writer, Luke wants us to see his whole Gospel in the light shed by this chapter – and therefore, to see the “as though” story in the story of Israel and Yeshua: as though He would have gone further, as though He would have abandoned us.
Let’s recall, once again, the story of Joseph and Benjamin. At that dramatic moment when the cup is extracted from Benjamin’s sack and the stares of the men – whether perplexed or condemning, hateful or compassionate – are fixed on their younger brother, we can easily discern these two realities, which not only don’t seem to match up, but oppose and contradict each other. In the visible, “as though” reality, Benjamin is hated and despised, he appears to be the thief and the enemy. The true reality is invisible, is completely hidden from the view of the brothers. In this true, invisible reality Benjamin is beloved; Joseph, the author of this whole story and the one in whose name Benjamin is being accused, deeply loves his brother. If we ask why the visible “as though” reality contrasts so strikingly with the invisible reality, and why in the visible reality Benjamin is made out to be the thief and enemy, the answer is very simple: for the sake of the brothers. Joseph has enacted this plan so that his brothers could be brought to repentance. For their sake, for the sake of their change and their transformation, he makes his beloved brother into the guilty one in this plan. Yes, Benjamin carries on himself all the pain and weight of this trial, but the real trial is not for Benjamin but for his brothers. The hearts of the brothers are being tested on Benjamin specifically because he is so dear to Joseph. Benjamin is made out to be an enemy for their sake.
Now we can better appreciate the secret, the mystery of God’s plan for Israel that Luke is trying to convey to us. Luke wants us to understand that God’s invisible plan differs greatly from the visible circumstances, and that beneath the visible, “as though” reality, there exists another, invisible reality – the only true reality. Just as in the story with Benjamin, in this invisible reality everything is reversed. As Paul will write later: they are enemies for your sake, – but forever the beloved of the Lord.
I would like to remind you also that this Greek verb προσεποιησάμην: make as though, act as if, pretend – occurs only one additional time in the whole Bible in Greek – in John 8:6, in the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery: “Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.”[1] Why did Yeshua act as though He didn’t hear them? From John 8, we know very well why: just as in the story of Joseph, He was testing the hearts of the people around – and He was testing them by this “as though” reality. In the very same way, the hearts of the peoples around Israel are being tested by this “as though” reality: as though He would have gone further, as though He would have abandoned us. ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her’, Yeshua said of the woman caught in adultery. Although she was caught in outright sin and was surrounded by scribes and Pharisees who led lawfully pious lives, when confronted, not one of them considered himself blameless enough to throw a stone at her. These are the very ones, by the way, that Christianity has declared the epitome of religious self-satisfaction and self-righteousness. Scarcely a century later, we find Israel tormented and spat upon, encircled by the Christian writers and theologians: all equally convinced of their own righteousness and her sinfulness, one after another and in complete contradiction to the words and spirit of the Teacher, they begin to stone her. For centuries and centuries, these stones have been flying at Israel, hurled by those who preached love and mercy. That is why this message seems to be so important to the New Testament writers: we have to be aware of this “as though” reality, we have to understand that even when Israel seems to be forsaken by God on the level of visible circumstances, in the true, invisible reality the Lord infinitely loves Israel.
Having said all this, however, I must add that one of the most significant insights into this “as though” motif, we find in some ancient prophecy in Tanach. I am working on the book about hidden Messiah, and my readers will see very soon that, according to this biblical prophecy, Messiah was supposed to be “as though hiding His face from us”. That is exactly what Yeshua did while He was on this earth. Unexpectedly and surprisingly, we will discover the “hidden Messiah“ pattern in the well -known prophecy– and this prophecy could possibly have been one of the main reasons for him to hide his messiahship. Yeshua was supposed to hide the face from us; the messianic dignity of Yeshua had to be concealed during his life and his ministry. Then through His suffering, His death and resurrection He would become the revealed Messiah – and we will have to use our next key, Breaking the Bread, to unlock the next lock and to understand how and why that happened.
HalleluYah for the powerful revelation. Yeshuas’ blessings!
Thank you, Julia. I really like the connections you bring of the same Greek word for”as though” being used again & where. The concept of “as though” hiddeness reminds me both of Plato, the “shadows” that are only a portion of reality, & Saul/Paul, when he says (paraphrase) now I see through a glass darkly, but then face to face…which will be our total & true reality. It seems important to keep this idea in mind as we journey our paths on this earth, that God’s presence, maybe more often than not, does seem or is hidden.
Again I mention that your insights have a mystical dimension. Thank you.
Jane
Thank you Julia
A beautiful explanation. I always wondered about Jesus and Lazarus and his healing.
blessings
catherine
Hello Ms. Blum and others,
I am getting caught up on this series, as I am working on an anthology with some other writers titled, Waiting for Messiah. It is going to imagine first-century citizens of Israel waiting for Messiah, living life, and perhaps imagining the wait with joy and frustration, but yet knowing help comes from the LORD. The idea came for this when noting how few Advent materials seem to present anything relevant to Israel or the middle east; about Bethlehem being the house of bread, or Yeshua meaning salvation, highlighted in these reflections. They are global in orientation largely ignoring Israel.
Your point understood as, God opening the spiritual eyes at his discretion, is a much more humane view to me than their eyes remained shut implying from something the Jewish people chose to do. Thanks for helping me and some other writers with “our anthology.” Lord willing it will come out in eBook late summer 2017. I value you and ETeacher!
David Russell David Russell
I am excited to hear about your anthology, David, it sounds so interesting! Please keep me updated and let me when the book is published.
Julia you are brilliant! So many ideas are going through my mind, I don’t know how to put it. You have shown how important the story of Joseph and his brothers is in understanding God’s plan of salvation. Benjamin is Israel and the rest of the brothers are the world. Joseph is hidden to his brothers and the Egyptians as well. Can we say Yeshua is hidden to both the Jews as well as the rest of the world? Mark 4:12 says, “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand….” I think although the above words were addressed to the multitude, they apply to most who seek the word of God. Like the Ethiopian, we can read the Scriptures but the meaning is hidden from us. I can hear the brothers accusing Benjamin of messing up the only opportunity for them to survive. Joseph was holding the key to continuation of life. Even if Benjamin denied, the evidence was strong, the cup was in his bag. But in the end it is revealed this was Joseph’s doing all along. Similar to Benjamin, this is how the Jews had been judged. When it is revealed?
Thank you Angeline, for your so kind and encouraging words! It’s exactly what is written in my book – this comparison between Benjamin and Israel. Also, I talk a lot about it during our course, DHB (Discovering Hebrew Bible). If you are interested in either of them, you can write me on my email, and I will provide all the information .
Another fine shir. Evidently you know that there are to be two Messiahs. The first, moshiac be Yosef. in all ways corresponds to Jesus, whose terrestrial, if non-biological father was indeed named Joseph. And he also based his ministriy upon an appeal of emotionalism and was killed before he could fulfill all of his messianic duties, exactly as the Talmud tells of him. So please, since Jesus seems to be so clearly moshiach ben Yosef, how can he be moshiach ben David as well ?
Thank you, Eric, for your question. As you know, as the rabbis studied the prophetic writings of Tanach, they realized that most Messianic prophecies fall into two categories: One of a king and one of a sufferer. The messiah was to be both someone who would suffer and die, and a king-redeemer who would be victorious and rule forever over the Messianic Kingdom. To explain this contradiction, two Messiahs concept was born: The one who would suffer and die was given the title Mashiach ben Yosef and one who would reign as king was given the title Mashiach ben David. However, this is the rabbinic concept only, nowhere in Tanach we are told that two Messiahs might appear (although, once again, we do have two different groups pf prophecies). Therefore, Jesus fulfilling all the “suffering ” Messianic prophecies of Tanach -the Messiah ben Joseph role – – and promising to fulfill the ben David role in the end time, doesn’t contradict the prophecies of Tanach at all.
Another fine shir. Evidently you know there are to be two Moshiachs. The first, Moshiach ben Yosef, in all ways appears to be Jesus whose earthly if non-biological father was indeed named Joseph. And he also based his ministry upon an appeal of emotionalism and was killed before he could accomplish all his messianic duties, precisely as the Talmud tells of him. So please, since Jesus is so clearly Moshiac ben Yosef, how can he as well be Moshiach ben David? Awaiting your reply.
Dear Julia!
Thanks for opening the biblical truth.
I used to follow your articles.
I find that I miss the Lock number one
or may be as a gentile Christian and
in many ways I do not understand the whole
and need to wait for further explanations.
I pray and wish God bless your work.
Dear Santosh, thank you for your kind words! You can find all the articles on the Blog, including Lock number 1. If you need me to explain something or to comment on something, I would gladly do it. Blessings!
Excellent article,yes I agree the moshiac appeared to his talmidim and shown himself in the Torah and Tankh.Yes,the stone throwers are all around,much to my dismay,even in Torah observing congregations.
This is probably because of the mistreatment by the Jewish people.But,this is their critical mistake ,to Love those who hate you,and pray for those who despise you.
Awhile back,I was invited to chabad for a Purim celebration (they thought I was born Jewish)while speaking with the teacher we got to the subject of moshiac.
He said they believed that their Rabbi was actually the moshiac,because of Jewish tradition affirms that moshiac would not be revealed until after his death.This statement was very interesting to me.This is why,I love the discussion with Jewish people.Why,do people feel the need to put each other down and throw stones at one another?We read even the Adon sat at the temple and learned from them,asking them questions in his youth.
I look forward to the day when the two sticks will bound together,then there will be joy!Then the animosity that exists between the various Israelite groups will be no more.
I am with you Yaakov! I also look forward to that day!
Dear Julia
This is very comprehensive and all embracing.
This morning I was considering and reflecting upon the preciousness of being chosen and called by God and I turned to Exodus 19:1-6 just to sit again with those delightful thoughts.
I especially love the Hebrew word segullah. That is so incredibly precious. I cherish and hold that close to my heart. To know beyond doubt I am that treasured special possession belonging to Him- a treasure that is kept under lock and key under His care and protection. It is a truth that keeps me in those times when He appears to go further. I run out of superlatives but it calls me forth to reach out and take hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me.
Blessings Henrietta
Thank you so much Henrietta! Your comments always touch me deeply!