The Parting of the Ways: Yahshua and John
Once I was poor, but now I am rich. Once I was jailed, but now I am free.
Once I was low but now I am high. Once I was blind but now I can see.
Though things are scanty, yet I am rich. Though I am jailed, my spirit is free.
Though still oppressed, my Savior is near. Blind as I am, yet more I can see.
Snyder
Bible Home All Sermons Prayers and Quotes Bible Lessons
John
3:22. After this Yahshua and his disciples
went into the
Also
Luke 4:18,19; Psalm 113
PRAYER:
Stir up your power, O Father Yahweh Sabaoth, and with great might come among us
because we are sorely hindered by our sins.
Let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us through
Your Son. Amen.
NEW
WINE: Mother Superior calls all the nuns together and says to them, “I must
tell you something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.” “Thank goodness,” says an elderly nun at the
back. “I am so tired of Chardonnay.”
Wedding Wrap-up (John 2:1-12)
Yahshua and his five
disciples attended the wedding of his brother, Simon, in Cana. The wedding party required a vast amount of
wine to satisfy the many guests of the bridegroom. The custom was to bring out the most
palatable wine in the first two days.
After that, the inferior was brought out to save money. There was nothing wrong with the cheaper
wine; wedding guests didn’t expect to be drinking Moet and Chandon all week –
only at first. After that, it was OK to
bring out the Thunderbird.
When the best wine that the bar Joseph
family could afford was gone the third day of the wedding. The cheaper reserve disappeared. When Mary realized the wine was gone, she
appealed to Yahshua to do something so that her other son, the groom,
wouldn’t lose face.
To save the wedding party and show the first
miraculous sign of his identity, Yahshua commanded that stone baptismal water
jars be filled with 180 gallons of well water then he changed the water to wine
(though with great hesitation). The partygoers were expecting cheap, sour
wine; however, the host delighted them with new wine mysteriously dipped from a
baptism tank, and the groom was greatly glorified!
Wine and Prophecy
Old wine represents the traditions of men
observed in the name of true religion.
The people had grown up with dead old shadows of worship and were
comfortable in them. The new wine
represents Yahshua’s presence among humanity, and his supernatural ministry:
Luke 4:18. “The Spirit of Yahweh is upon me, because
he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He’s sent me to release
captives and give sight to the blind, to set at liberty the oppressed, 19. to
preach Yahweh’s acceptable year.”
In this prophecy we see
that the Anointed One is to be a spiritual man represented by the new
wine. The dove that remained on him represents
the Spirit of Yahweh, which is described as
Isaiah 11:2b The spirit of wisdom and insight, of counsel
and power, of knowledge and fear of Yahweh.
This Holy Spirit empowers the anointed to proclaim, permit and protect
liberty.
{To the tune of Ebenezer
or any 6/8 hymn tune.}
Once
I was poor, but now I am rich. Once I
was jailed, but now I am free.
Once
I was low but now I am high. Once I was
blind but now I can see.
These testimonial songs
are the result of imbibing new wine.
Supernatural miracles can’t be understood unless one has had her
fill. When greater grace abounds, the
songs of the afflicted are full of hope:
Though
things are scanty, yet I am rich. Though
I am jailed, my spirit is free.
Though
still oppressed, my Savior is near. Blind
as I am, yet more I can see.
Who wouldn’t want to be rich or free? But where grace abounds and faith is
exercised, there is a great hope. To be
able to say, “I am blind, yet I see” requires supernatural faith. And to say, “Though oppressed, he is near,”
is just plain realistic. Whether we see
because we’re made whole or see while yet blind are both supernatural
matters. The old wine of comfortable
forms is OK, but the new hope in Messiah is better. Yahshua compared new and old in:
Luke 5:37. “No one puts new wine into old wineskins; if
he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the
skins will be destroyed. 38. But new wine must be put into fresh
wineskins.”
In another place, the
quote is a little different:
Matthew 9:
17. “New wine is put into fresh
wineskins, and so both [new and old] are preserved.”
Skins
To be fair, Yahshua isn’t just talking about
wine, but skins. Old wine belongs
in an old skin. It’s already fully
expanded and the skin has hardened around the wine after years of aging. New skins will expand with the fermentation
of the new wine while old skins, stiff with age, will burst. Yahshua says that if new wine is put
into new skins, both old and new are retained.
Old wine is not always so good, but new wine
is always good. Some religious forms
simply are no longer pliable. Many
religious folks aren’t teachable.
They’re old skins – supernaturalism or innovation will burst them. Some are infected with bacteria and have
turned sour – like the old spoilt vinegar Yahshua was offered on the
stake. He wouldn’t touch the old even then
because it was impure - polluted. But we
gladly lap it up.
Some folks and their assemblies are like new
skins. They desire be filled with the
revelation of Yahshua and all that his coming means, including all the gifts
and fruits and baptisms and infillings.
They want to expand in the Spirit as new wine expands – increasing in
knowledge as Scripture is taught – enhancing their wisdom by applying their
newfound knowledge to life situations.
They want to be truly Spirit-filled so that others may see their good
works and glorify their heavenly Father.
These aren’t drunk as you suppose, but filled with the new wine of the
Spirit.
New and Old are Treasured
Yahshua says something else on the subject
of new and old concerning knowledge, learning and the future of ministry in the
mission fields of the Millennium. Yahshua
says:
Matthew
13:52. “Every scribe who has been
trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out
of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
We scribes respect
the old but expect the new, and we acquire both old and new in
our quest for treasure. We were raised on the old, and that’s why we think it’s
so good; that is, we’re good Methodists, good Baptists, good Mennonites, good
Catholics, but when the new wine comes out of the baptismal water pot,
we get a taste and want to gulp it down.
We may remain a good this or that, but now we’re something more, something
NEW. With new wine there’s new
creation. The old remains, but the new
is joy.
Up in Aenon
After the wedding at Cana, Yahshua’s bunch
all go up to
On the other hand, John the Baptist becomes
a wanted man. He moves his camp from
Bethany Beyond Jordan to Aenon, fifty miles north, in
You see, the Jews baptize over and over
again; but John baptizes once and for all after heartfelt repentance. The baptized receive cleansing from sin (see
Acts 19:3). But then the Jew reports to John’s
bunch news they all find troubling. They
take the news to John: that Yahshua is making scads of new disciples near
The Jews and John’s disciples are concerned
because Yahshua is taking lots of good people from their influence:
from both the moneymaking sacrificial system and the offering plates at camp
John. There could be serious financial
repercussions if Yahshua’s popularity increases. The Jews came up to John for help in putting Yahshua
on a stake or chopping block.
John is honest to the core. He won’t exploit his own anointing for money,
fame or comfort. If telling the truth
loses him everything, so be it. “I’m the
best man at a wedding. I made everything
ready for the bridegroom. Now I step
back and allow honor to be given where it’s due. As Yahshua’s glory increases, mine decreases,
for what he’s sharing is from heaven.”
John’s the old wine and he admits it.
They’ve been drinking him, but now it’s time for the wedding banquet and
the new wine. John’s sent from Yahweh
with a mission, but he’s not about to bust his skin. He knows better. New skins for new wine!
At Yahshua’s Camp in Judea
Fifty miles south, in
Nathanael directs John’s disciple Banias to
Zacchaeus, the future bishop of
John Zavdi, Yahshua’s first disciple, who’ll
write Yahshua’s biography, is escorting another of the Baptist’s disciples
around the camp, Hiram the Egyptian.
There’s a woman ahead entranced in praise. There are lots of women around. Hiram the Egyptian says to John, “Certainly
your master doesn’t baptize women?” John
replies, “Yahshua doesn’t baptize, we do.
I baptized this woman myself.
She’s Miriam.”
Hiram storms, “You can’t baptize women. It’s not done.” John replies, “Why, that’s a strange
prejudice for you, an Egyptian, to make.” John gets Miriam’s attention, “Lady, this man
wants your story.” The lady Miriam, a
librarian in Kafernaum, tells Hiram the Egyptian, “Once I was low, really low,
but now I am high, really high” as she floats off in the Spirit. “She’s drunk!” howls Hiram. John replies, “Well, in a manner of speaking
only.”
She passes a man with a hideously deformed
face. He’s closely inspecting a piece of
rock. Hiram tells John, “Certainly, this
man has complaints. He’s grotesque. Obviously, your master hasn’t gotten to him
yet.” John says, “Let’s find out. Sir, what’s your name?” The man replies, “Friends here call me
Yahooo.” Hiram says to Yahooo, “I see
you are quite deformed and need healing.”
Yahooo answers, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been healed. I was blind but now I see.” Hiram presses on, “Then why do you stare at
that rock?” Yahooo replies, “Rock? Oh, so that’s what it is. I’ve never seen one before. Beautiful, isn’t it? I just regained my sight, along with all
those others.” Yahooo points to a
crowd of men and women ahead. They’re
all examining rocks.
Faith and Hope
Nathanael and Banias meet up with John and
Hiram the Egyptian, and have overheard the last conversation. Yahooo looks up from his rock and says to
Banias (who he thinks is Hiram), “There’s a guy you’ll want to see there sitting on the ground. That’s Yabbadabba. He didn’t get healed like the rest.”
The disciples leave Yahooo for
Yabbadabba. John touches the blind man,
who peers up through sightless sockets.
But they notice a very sweet smile on his face. Hiram shouts, “Why smile so when you no get
healed? Are you simple?” Yabbadabba twists the wax in his ear after
Hiram’s blast. “My sins are forgiven,
sir, and I’ve been born from above. All
the burdens of my heart rolled away.”
Hiram continues, “Yes, yes, that’s wonderful, but you’re still
blind.” Yabbadabba replies, “Am I so
blind? Why, it was there by faith
I received my sight -- and now I am happy all the day.”
Yahshua on John
About this time the crowd gets silent and
many sit on the ground. Yahshua climbs a
rock to speak:
“Friends, about
John the Baptist. What did you expect to
see, a weed shivering in a windstorm, a playboy in pajamas - or a prophet of
Yahweh? Yes, John’s more than a prophet,
he’s a prophetic fulfillment, ‘Behold, I send my angel to prepare the way.’ John is the greatest to spring from a womb,
yet the least in the Kingdom is greater” (Matthew 11:7ff).
John’s disciples complain
bitterly about what Yahshua just said about their imprisoned Master. The argument escalates, and Yahshua is
suddenly in their midst, like a thief in the night. Yahshua says, “Banias, you know me well. You’ve known me since I was a fourteen.” Banias replies, “That is true, Master.” Yahshua says,
Matthew 11:4 “Then
go and tell John what you hear and see:
5. the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, and the poor have hope. 6.
And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”
The next morning, Banias, Hiram, and John’s
disciples hit the trail to John’s prison.
They’ve seen enough for a good report: Yahshua is the Anointed
who will set the captives free.
But they’re still puzzled. If
John is great, why is he not in the
We wonder today what this means as
well. If John isn’t in, how can we hope
to be? That’s a question worth answering
before I close.
The Parting of the Ways
John and Yahshua had the same method and
message. The difference between what is
Kingdom and what is not is the supernatural realm. There were signs of Yahshua’s supernatural
Anointing and origin. People received
from him not only forgiveness, but something greater – the gifts that Yahweh
had always desired to pour out upon humankind, the greatest being the
assurance of Yahshua’s omnipresence; next – expectation for the present
security; next – bright hope for tomorrow.
Yet Yahshua and his ilk also heal afflictions and set free captives, and
even when it doesn’t happen in the physical realm, he can, insofar as he’s
allowed, bring glorious liberty in the spiritual and emotional man. Unlike John, Yahshua is a supernatural
Master, a Master who can neither lie nor die.
To assure our place in his Kingdom, we must
do as he did, and drink – then make – new wine ourselves. We try to emulate his walk, we learn to
recognize his voice, we’re obedient to his commands from the start, we detach
ourselves from that devilish selfish streak and we effervesce in the
presence of his Spirit and his children.
Then we spend our time healing, helping, teaching or encouraging others,
as he did.
John was a good man, a great prophet. But John is in a tomb somewhere awaiting the
resurrection call. You, on the other
hand, may be greater than he. If you’re
a new creation, love Yahshua and keep his commandments, you’re a Kingdom man,
you’re a Kingdom woman, greater in the Kingdom than the greatest Hebrew prophet
that ever lived.
Dead religious forms and denominational
affiliations may offer the comfort of the familiar, but they can’t save. A hundred trips to the altar rail can’t save
anyone. These things aren’t necessarily
bad, they’re good -- but there’s no hope in them at all by themselves. To get into the Kingdom to come requires
active participation now. Though
the old’s been good, maybe it’s time now to part from the old unto the new
thing that Yahweh wants to do right where you are. You may be an animal lover, but maybe your
sacred cows must be sacrificed, bridges burned, corpses buried. We take with us from the old what is real and
worthwhile and pliable and even treasured, but we leave behind the dead, the
stinking, the rotting, the lifeless, the still, the fetid corpse of ritual for
ritual’s sake, even if your ritual includes chorus singing, a rock band and praise
dancers. “He must increase, while I must
decrease,” John admits. Shouldn’t we
admit the same? Amen.