Tenth Forgiveness Saying
- The Tenth Forgiveness Saying
- “As the Father sent me, I send you”
- The Agent of all forgiveness
- The Holy Spirit has come to help
- The body of Messiah
- Second Coming
- The final restoration of Israel
- Last chapter in the Never-ending story of His Joy!
The Tenth Forgiveness Saying:
Yochanan 20:21-23
וַיֹּסֶף יֵשׁוּעַ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם שָׁלוֹם לָכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח אֹתִי הָאָב כֵּן אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ אֶתְכֶם׃ וְאַחֲרֵי דַבְּרוֹ זֹאת וַיִּפַּח בָּהֶם וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם קְחוּ לָכֶם אֶת־רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ׃ וְהָיָה כָּל־אֲשֶׁר תִּסְלְחוּ לְחַטֹּאתָם וְנִסְלַח לָהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר תַּאֲשִׁימוּ יֶאְשָׁמוּ׃
הוסיף ישוע ואמר להם: שלום לכם. כשם שהאב שלח אותי, כן גם אני שולח אתכם. אחרי אמרו זאת נפח עליהם ואמר להם: קבלו את רוח הקדש. כל מי שתסלחו לו על חטאיו, הם יסלחו לו; לכל מי שתזקפו אותם, יזקפו לו. פ
הוֹסִיף יֵשׁוּעַ וְאָמַר לָהֶם: שָׁלוֹם לָכֶם. כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהָאָב שָׁלַח אוֹתִי, כֵּן גַּם אֲנִי שׁוֹלֵחַ אֶתְכֶם. אַחֲרֵי אָמְרוֹ זֹאת נָפַח עֲלֵיהֶם וְאָמַר לָהֶם: קַבְּלוּ אֶת רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ. כָּל מִי שֶׁתִּסְלְחוּ לוֹ עַל חֲטָאָיו, הֵם יִסָּלְחוּ לוֹ; לְכָל מִי שֶׁתִּזְקְפוּ אוֹתָם, יִזָּקְפוּ לוֹ. פ
“As the Father sent me, I send you””:
Once more [the immortal, resurrected Messiah] Yeshua said to them, “Shalom to you. Just as My Father sent me, so I am sending you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Take for yourself the Spirit of the Holy One (רוח הקדש). All those whose sins you forgive will be forgiven, and those whom you condemn will be condemned.” (Yochanan 20:21-23)
The Agent of all forgiveness:
Near the close of the witness of the Fourth Jewish Besorah (Good News, Gospel), in the account of the “Endowment of the Grace of God” (cf. Brit Chadashah, Yochanan 20:21-23), Rabbeinu Yeshua gives his disciples post-resurrection authority to remit sins. This was not an authorization for the disciples to forgive others as they personally pleased but to obediently act as a submitted extension of the Messiah under the inerrant guidance of the Holy Spirit. This special point in time is where the last two of the forty-two uses of the word forgive and forgiveness are found in the Four Jewish Gospels.
This is the last of the Ten Forgiveness Sayings of Messiah where the term “pardon-forgive” is used.
In the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah we learn that Avinu Shebashamayim is the Source of all true forgiveness. The Messiah is the redemptive means of all forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is the post-resurrection Agent of all forgiveness. The followers of the Messiah Yeshua are the universal extension of the Creator’s administration of pardon-forgiveness. This necessarily means the disciples of Rabbi Yeshua must rely on and be obedient to the guidance and dictates of of the Spirit of the Holy One. Rabbi Yeshua specifies that obedience to the Holy Spirit is a mitzvot to abide in his love; just as he abides in the love of God the Father:
אִם־תִּשְׁמְרוּ אֶת־מִצְוֹתַי תַּעַמְדוּ בְּאַהֲבָתִי כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמַרְתִּי גַם־אֲנִי אֶת־מִצְוֹת אָבִי וְעָמַדְתִּי בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ׃
If you keep My mitzvot, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the mitzvot of my Father and abide in His love.
Rabbi Yeshua empowers his disciples to obey him by giving us the gift of the Father, the gift of the Indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit: Who Messiah breathed upon his disciples and Who forty-nine days after his death and resurrection was sent by the heavenly Father to permanently indwell 120 of Messiah’s followers on the festival day of Shavuot.
The Holy Spirit has come to help:
The Holy Spirit accomplishes the administration of the business of the kingdom of God without speaking on His own authority. As Yeshua – the Salvation of HaShem – clearly states:
וְרוּחַ הָאֱמֶת בְּבֹאוֹ הוּא יַדְרִיךְ אֶתְכֶם אֶל־הָאֱמֶת כֻּלָּהּ כִּי לֹא יְדַבֵּר מֵעַצְמוֹ כִּי אִם־אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמַע יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֹתִיּוֹת יַגִּיד לָכֶם׃ הוּא יְפָאֲרֵנִי כִּי מִשֶּׁלִּי יִקַּח וְיַגִּיד לָכֶם׃ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר לְאָבִי לִי הוּא עַל־כֵּן אָמַרְתִּי כִּי מִשֶּׁלִּי יִקַּח וְיַגִּיד לָכֶם׃
“When the Spirit of Truth comes He will guide you to the entire truth. For He will not speak from Himself; rather, He will speak what He hears and tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, for He will take from what is mine and tell you. Everything that is my Father’s is mine. That is why I said that He will take from what is mine and tell you.”
The body of Messiah:
The coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell every sincere Jewish follower of the Messiah has resulted in the establishment of the international body of Messiah, a body of believers composed of both Jewish and Gentile members. This Body of Messiah was established on Shavuot (30 CE) at the Jewish Feast of Shavuot. We are commissioned by our Messiah to be his witnesses:
“In Jerusalem and in all Judah and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit is the One who empowers this endeavor. He is the One who affects the rule of Messiah in the daily lives of all who believe in and follow him. He is the *head over everything, “the fullness of Him who fills all in all “(Psalm 8:6).
*Excepting the LORD (1, 2) – The LORD our God is the Head of the Messiah! (ראש המשיח הוא אלהים).
תַּמְשִׁילֵהוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂי יָדֶיךָ כֹּל שַׁתָּה תַֽחַת־רַגְלָֽיו׃
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.
Second Coming:
Rabbi Yeshua, the Messiah, will return to earth a second time to usher in the rule of the kingdom of God and the promised Golden Age of Israel. He will return in His glorified body exercising all his God-given authority. Immediately upon his return he will begin his deliverance of Israel through a series of judgments.
The final restoration of Israel:
In the messianic age the final restoration of Israel will occur.
The kingdoms of Judah and Israel will be reunited so that the two sticks “will once again flourish as one” (Ezekiel 37:15-17). Ezekiel describes this restoration when he prophesies (Ezekiel 37:21-22):
“This is what the Sovereign Adonai says: ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.'”
At this time, armed conflicts around the world will completely cease, because Israel and its neighbors will live in peace.
People will come from around the world to worship God in the land of Israel. Isaiah describes this time when he says (Isaiah 2:2-4):
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mount of God’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of God, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways and we will walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of God from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.'”
Last chapter in the Never-ending story of His Joy!
After the heavenly Father has stored up His treasure from this age and the messianic age to come, a new age will dawn. This will follow the destruction of the old creation. This final age will follow the Great White Throne Judgment and the wicked “going to their own place.” Glimpses of the new heaven and new earth have been provided us: At that future time there will be a spectacularly ornate new Jerusalem “coming down from heaven.” There will be no temple for El Shaddai and the Lamb will be our temple.
The glory of God will illuminate the city, so there will be no need for a sun or moon.
Nothing that defiles will be allowed to enter the holy city. The tragic narrative of sin will be remembered no more (Psalms 32:1-2; 85:2; 103:3; Jeremiah ). There will be a continual presence of the heavenly Father’s eternal life, readily accessible through the River of life and the Tree of Life located in the eternal Jerusalem.
In addition to these easily accessible natural resources, the “leaves” of the Tree of Life will be available. They are described as possessing healing, therapeutic properties. These leaves will ensure that every person enjoys a continuously happy emotional life; one that is sourced in the perfect emotional life of our heavenly Father. Shalom, shalom.