1. Beloved by the common people, hated by the religious establishment
2. The Second Sign of Messiah was manifested in Cana & Capernaum
3. The Lord of Creation and the Lord of all Space and Time
4. Jewish time and the times of the Gentiles

Beloved by the common people, hated by the religious establishment:

וַיָּבֹא יֵשׁוּעַ עוֹד הַפַּעַם אֶל־קָנָה אֲשֶׁר בַּגָּלִיל אֶל־מְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר שָׂם הַמַּיִם לְיָיִן וַיְהִי אִישׁ מֵעַבְדֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וּבְנוֹ חֹלֶה בִּכְפַר־נַחוּם׃ וַיְהִי כְשָׁמְעוֹ כִּי־בָא יֵשׁוּעַ מִיהוּדָה לְאֶרֶץ הַגָּלִיל וַיֵּלֶךְ אֵלָיו וַיִּשְׁאַל מֵאִתּוֹ לָרֶדֶת וּלְרַפֵּא אֶת־בְּנוֹ כִּי נָטָה לָמוּת׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו יֵשׁוּעַ אִם־לֹא תִרְאוּ אֹתוֹת וּמוֹפְתִים לֹא תַאֲמִינוּ׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַיו הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר מֵעַבְדֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲדֹנִי רְדָה־נָּא בְּטֶרֶם יָמוּת בְּנִי׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו יֵשׁוּעַ לֵךְ בִּנְךָ חָי וְהָאִישׁ הֶאֱמִין לַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו יֵשׁוּעַ וַיֵּלַךְ׃ וַיְהִי בְרִדְתּוֹ וַיִּפְגְּעוּ־בוֹ עֲבָדָיו וַיְבַשְּׂרוּ אֹתוֹ כִּי־חַי בְּנוֹ׃ וַיִּדְרשׁ מֵאִתָּם אֶת־הַשָּׁעָה אֲשֶׁר רָוַח לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו תְּמוֹל בַּשָּׁעָה הַשְּׁבִיעִית רָפְתָה מִמֶּנּוּ הַקַּדָּחַת׃ וַיֵּדַע אָבִיהוּ כִּי הָיְתָה הַשָּׁעָה אֲשֶׁר אָמַר־לוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ בִּנְךָ חָי וַיַּאֲמֵן הוּא וְכָל־בֵּיתוֹ׃ זֶה הָאוֹת הַשֵּׁנִי אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יֵשׁוּעַ בְּבֹאוֹ מִיהוּדָה לְאֶרֶץ הַגָּלִיל׃

Yeshua came a second time to Kanah, which is in the Galil, the place where He had made the water into wine.

There was a man who was a servant to the king whose son was sick in Kefar Nachum. When he heard that Yeshua had come from Yehudah to the land of the Galil, he went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die. Yeshua said to him, “If you (plural) do not see signs and wonders, you will not believe!” The man who was a servant of the king said to Him, “My master, please come down before my son dies!” Yeshua said to him:

“Go. Your son is alive.”

The man believed the word that Yeshua spoke to him and left. When he came down (to Kefar Nachum), his servants encountered him and gave him the good news that his son was alive. He inquired of them the hour that he felt better, and they said to him, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever faded.” His father knew that this was the hour when Yeshua had said to him, “Your son is alive.” He believed and so did his entire house. This was the second sign that Yeshua did when He came from Yehudah to the land of Galil.

After staying in Samaria an additional two days (three days total) the Messiah returned to Galilee. There He was warmly welcomed by the Galileans who had seen and appreciated His bold and courageous acts of resistance toward the oppressive religious establishment centered in Jerusalem. These works of messianic activism were fresh in the memories of the freedom-loving Galileans because they had occurred just a few weeks earlier; just before (Nisan 1-13) and during the recent Passover observances (Nisan 14-22) that had occurred at the Temple in Jerusalem. Messiah’s public display of great displeasure and open rebuke of the Jerusalem religious leaders (for their corrupt and greedy business practices), calling them a “den of thieves and robbers” and His forceful, passionate, near-violent, physical cleansing of the Temple (driving the money-changers and others out of the court that was specifically designated for use by the Gentiles) caused the religious elites to hate Him and shortly thereafter plot to assassinate Him; while the common and ordinary people only admired and loved Him.

The Second Sign of Messiah was manifested in Cana & Capernaum:

As for the location of this particular narrative: Cana (Kanah) is the site of the first of seven signs that the Endowment of the Grace of Adonai (Yochanan ben Zebedee) has born witness to in His inspiring eye-witness account of the Testimony of the Messiah (cf. chapters 25-29 of this document).

It is was at Cana that we observed the waters of cleansing being transformed into wine. You will recall that the symbols of the water and the wine prophetically represent the transformational process that must be undergone in the lives of the redeemed, wherein first we must receive a full cleansing for our sins and then second we must be completely filled with the righteousness of Adonai, His gift of the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Holiness.

The Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit is our Guarantee that we have received the gift of eternal life and that by the Grace of Adonai we will “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect” on the day of the resurrection of the righteous.

Capernaum, the home of the desperate father, is also the location where the Messiah lived. Technically speaking this miracle and second sign is “dually located.” It occurred in two places at the “same time.” The miracle occurred simultaneously in Cana (where the Word originated) and Capernaum (where the Word was instantly fulfilled). Now in this second miracle (and second sign) of Messiah at Cana the Master is approached by a desperate father who is from Capernaum. The father’s son was seriously ill lying in his home in Capernaum, about twenty miles distance from Cana.

Historically, we know that this concerned father was a royal official of high standing in the court of King Herod Antipas. Some scholars believe that the royal official here was Cuza, the household manager of the king, or Manaen, the foster brother of King Herod Antipas. We know that both of these highly placed officials became confessed followers of the Messiah.

Therefore, it can be said that in this instance we see the beginnings of the Salvation of Adonai beginning to extend into the royal household of Herod Antipas and even beyond, into many of the royal households in Rome. So that He might challenge and stir up the faith of the concerned father, Messiah said to him, “Unless you (plural) people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” This was a true saying about the Herodians and their general habit of substituting sincere faith with a craving for experiencing the sensational. This general rebuke of the Herodians in no way dissuaded this desperate father from further pleading for Messiah to heal his son.

The royal official said to the Master, “Sir come down before my child dies!”

The Messiah said to him, “Go your son lives.” What the father was saying to the Messiah, whose home was in the same village, “come down to Capernaum with me” (“which is your hometown too”). The Messiah replied, “I am not limited by your belief that I have to physically be in the same location as your son to heal him. I can heal your son (instantly) from anywhere I am here on earth (or for that matter in heaven too).” “Go home now and you will see that your son has been completely and miraculously healed!”

The Lord of Creation and the Lord of all Space and Time:

So the concerned man returned to his home town (and the Messiah’s too), the Village of Consolation and Comfort (the lit. meaning of Capernaum), with full faith in the power of Messiah’s Word; and not in his belief that the Master had to be present physically for the healing to occur. Then when he arrived home, to his great joy, his servants informed him that his son was completely healed exactly as the Tzaddik had said.

וַיִּדְרשׁ מֵאִתָּם אֶת־הַשָּׁעָה אֲשֶׁר רָוַח לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו תְּמוֹל בַּשָּׁעָה הַשְּׁבִיעִית רָפְתָה מִמֶּנּוּ הַקַּדָּחַת׃ וַיֵּדַע אָבִיהוּ כִּי הָיְתָה הַשָּׁעָה אֲשֶׁר אָמַר־לוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ בִּנְךָ חָי וַיַּאֲמֵן הוּא וְכָל־בֵּיתוֹ׃ זֶה הָאוֹת הַשֵּׁנִי אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יֵשׁוּעַ בְּבֹאוֹ מִיהוּדָה לְאֶרֶץ הַגָּלִיל׃

So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Yeshua (the Messiah) said to him, “Your son lives;” and he himself believed and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Yeshua (the Messiah) performed when He had come out of Judah into Galil (the Galilee).

The seventh hour is about 7 PM (Roman time time begins at twelve and ends at twelve; therefore, the seventh hour occurs at 7 AM and 7PM). This was the exact time the Messiah had pronounced that the royal official’s son was healed. The long-distance healing of the desperate father’s son, therefore, was instantaneous! This increased the concerned father’s faith and led to the salvation of his “whole household.” This ‘second sign’ teaches us that the One who changed the water into wine, who is not limited by the laws of nature (who can recreate the physical substance of anything), is also the One who can instantly heal us from great distances. The two signs, therefore, are a witness to us that the Messiah is the Lord of Creation and the Lord of all space and time.

Jewish time and the times of the Gentiles:

This is the third time in the Besorah of Yochanan ben Zebedee that we have been given a revelation of “times” (as well as persons and places). There are actually four such revelations in the narrative of the Beloved Disciple. These “four” times are recorded in their proper chronological order as follows:

Time #1.  The Messiah said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the TENTH HOUR (Jewish time, about 4 PM; i.e. in the cool of the day).

Time #2.  And Jacob’s well was there. Yeshua  therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting by the well. It was about the SIXTH HOUR (Jewish time, about 12 Noon; i.e. in the heat of the day).

Time #3.  So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the SEVENTH HOUR (Gentile time, about 7 PM; i.e. the beginning of the evening) the fever left him.”

Time #4.  Now it was the day of preparation for the Pesach (Passover); it was about the SIXTH HOUR (Gentile time, about 6 AM; i.e. the beginning of the morning). And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”

What we find fascinating about these *four times is that the ‘former times’ are Gentile and the ‘latter times’ are Jewish.

We discover in the besorah of Yochanan that there is always a generous equality assigned by the Jewish writer to the Gentiles. Just as there were fourteen names used, seven Jewish names and seven Gentile, in the introductory portion of the besorah of Yochanan ben Zebedee: so now there is an equality of time. Since the Gentiles are considered our (Israel’s) “Guests” (cf. Hachnasat Orchim) in the Jewish order of time (night to day, day to night) the times of the Gentiles occur in the first half of the day (from the evening to the morning). The Gentile times happen first and they go forward (7 PM to 6 AM) {selah}.

These former Gentile times begin in the first half of the day at nightfall (about 7 PM) and end at sunrise (6 AM, the first hour of the Jewish day). The Jewish times occur in the second half of the day (from the morning to the evening). Curiously, the Jewish times don’t go forwards. They go backwards {selah}. The latter Jewish times start in the Cool of the Day at the Tenth hour (4 PM) and go backwards to the six hour, to the beginning of the Heat of the Day (12 Noon). As to the general meanings of the three numbers (10, 6, 7). “Ten” is the number of sanctification and it is the number of a legal quorum for worship (cf. chapter 31, Messiah in Rosh HaShanah & Yom Teruah). “Six” is universally the number of Adam-Man. “Seven” is the number of completion, perfection and rest. The seventh hour speaks of a completion and rest that is brought about by the universal redemptive ministry of the Messiah here on earth. We read in Genesis that on the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי) day:

וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיֹּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיֹּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָֽׂה׃ וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־יֹום הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתֹו כִּי בֹו שָׁבַת מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשֹֽׂות׃

“By the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי) day Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) completed His work which He had done, and He rested (שָׁבַת) on the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי) day from all His work (מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתֹּו) which He had done. Then Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) blessed the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי) day and sanctified it, because in it He rested (שָׁבַת ) from all His work which Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) had created and made.”

Needless to say the selection of these four times (four being the number of universality in the scriptures) is very interesting. Why? Because although salvation is of the Jews it is incumbent upon us that we understand the equally important love the heavenly Father has for the Gentiles. It is the calling of the Jewish people—this New Generation of Israel—to take the faith of our fathers, the prophets, the Messiah, and the Messiah’s chosen sent ones to all of the nations and peoples of the world. This is what the first Jewish followers of Messiah did almost two thousand years ago. Now all Modern Israel must follow—only then will Israel be fully restored and the Shiloh of Adonai come to reign over all the earth!

Messiah in Rosh Hashanah & Yom Teruah Chapter 36 >>