17-11-2018
In first century Israel the rabbi taught there were two types of miracles.
The Sadducees were the priests.
They all belong to the Jerusalem Council, the Sanhedrin.
Those the rabbis could perform if they were empowered by God to do so.
There were four specific miracles they could not perform because only the Messiah could do when He arrives on the scene.
The oral law has been passed down for 1,700 years.
It is not easy to live as a Jew under Roman rule because of heavy taxes upon them.
The people were allowed to practise Judaism under the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
1) Healing The Leaper
Luke 17:12-14 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
If you are born a leaper, you die a leaper.
Unless God heals you. (2 Kings 5)
Out of the ten lepers, only one who was a Samaritan came to Jesus.
God loves the non-Jews or Gentiles as much as He loves the Jews.
Jesus is the Healer:
Matthew 8:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
8 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
A clean person was not supposed to touch a man with leprosy but Jesus touched him and healed him.
Mikveh cleansing pool:
In every pilgrim feast, Jewish men must present an offering for themselves and their families. By coming to the temple, their sins are atoned. This is according to Jewish law.
If you are the 200th man, you say to the Rabbi you're getting into the pool.
The rabbi puts buckets around the remnant and they collect clean spring water. He turns on the tap and puts one or two drops of clean spring water and it makes the pool clean.
So this pool is now spiritually clean.
In first century Israel, that is common knowledge.
Jesus declared Himself the Living Water. And the leper became clean spiritually and physically as well.
2) Casting Out The Mute Demon
Matthew 9:33 New King James Version (NKJV)
33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”
Mute demon cannot be cast out by anybody except by the Messiah.
Matthew 12:22-23 New King James Version (NKJV)
A House Divided Cannot Stand
22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the [a]blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
In first century the Jews knew that the Messiah must come from the royal line of David.
This second miracle is a turning point in Jesus' ministry.
It fits into the category of a Messianic miracle.
It happens one after another in the right order.
At this point the speculation gets more intense.
3) Healing The Man Born Blind
John 9:1-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Right after this healing miracle in Jerusalem, it was the Feast of Dedication or Hannukah in the following month.
After the healing, He declared Himself the Light of the world.
This happened so that the work and glory of God might be revealed to the people of Israel.
It is generational sin that caused the blindness from birth.
But Jesus healed him. This is a miracle reserved for the Messiah.
They got intimidated and worried of losing their position before the Romans. Rome would send their army and wipe them out as a nation.
In John 11, God says through the mouth of the high priest, "Don't you know it is better for one man to die than the whole nation to perish?"
John 9:32-33
32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
They cannot deny that Jesus performed miracles that only God could do.
Jesus was sent to earth to die. At birth He was marked for death.
4) Raise The Dead After The Third Day
John 11:4-6 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
Seven days before Passover, Jesus stayed with them.
He stayed in Jerusalem two extra days.
John 11:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
John 11:43-44 New King James Version (NKJV)
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days.
In Jewish traditional belief, if the dead person had died for three days, if God allows it, the rabbis could raise the dead to life because they believed that the spirit of the dead hovers around the body for three days. By the fourth day, no way.
Jesus waited till the fourth day.
This happened for the glory of God be manifested.
Jesus is the fourth day Messiah.
Everybody had to believe that He is the Messiah.
Jesus revealed Himself to be the Prophet, Priest and King.
The Priest must come from the Tribe of Levi, the King from the line of Judah.
But when He came, Jesus is the all in all: Prophet, Priest and King.
When He wept, he was the Priest sharing the pain and sorrow of the people.
He took off His Priestly garment and took on His Kingly robe and gave divine order to His servant. And Lazarus came out.
Jesus showed the manifold wisdom of God, fulfilling His role as Prophet, Priest and King all in one.
Jesus is the fourth day Messiah.
From this day on, they plotted to kill Jesus.
They could not deny or ignore Him any longer.
Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is God.
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