There are so many interesting would-be-dilemma in the Bible, many of which only clear up when you really take the time to closely examine them. Sherlock Holmes once said that “once you exclude the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable must be the truth”. So how does that apply to the Bible? Well, we have to examine the verse causing the confusion, seek out all the impossibilities, and only then can we clearly see the truth. One of my favorites would be would I would like to call the “case of the mystery Passover”. If your experience in the Christian church is anything like mine, then you too were taught that the ministry of Yeshua (Jesus) was around 3 to 3 1/2 years long. This is actually the most popular belief I might add. So what’s the problem then, I’m sure you are asking. Well, first off, we need to lay out some problems with being wrong. I am sure we can agree that Messiah MUST fulfill EVERY Messianic prophecy concerning Him. According to Moses, if He broke Torah in ANY way, His Messiah-ship becomes invalid. Therefore, we can agree that there can’t be anything missed as it relates to Torah.
This debate can go so many ways. I have seen some very well respected theologians debate both sides of this coin very well. It is one of those things that we, as readers of the Word can only look at both sides and choose the one that seems most likely to us. Now I am totally not in any way trying to get you to side with me on this issue. As I have said before, I am not a theologian, nor do I hold any degrees. I am just a student of the Word, in the sense that I believe in looking into the context, culture and language of the text to find truth. Many believers simply read the Scriptures as if it were any other book, but what they fail to realize is that the apostle Sha’ul (Paul) admonished us to “study to show ourselves approved”. I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall a time in school that when I had a test that I merely read through my textbook. On the contrary, I recall reading, re-reading, and even re-re-reading just to make sure that I took in the required information before taking the test. I had the opportunity to see a timeline of the ministry of Yeshua based on the writing of the 4 gospels. I would love to take credit for making it, but I can’t. I did however, go back and fact check the authors work. Again, not as if I am more knowledgeable than him, but these days, I don’t take anyone’s word for face value, but rather, like the Berean’s spoken about in the Book of Acts, I search the Scriptures to see if those things are so. Anyway, I found his info to be spot on. What he did was to first find a point where the gospels all agree. From this point, he was able to build his timeline. As he went on, what he discovered was that all the writers agree and validate one another in almost everything. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) seem to equally span the length of about a year. The problem is with John. As it would seem, John mentions a Passover that the synoptic gospels equally forgot about. The wording of this feast is quite interesting too. John 6:4 refers to this mystery Passover as merely “a feast of the Jews”. Coming from a Jew, this statement is very problematic in that EVERY Jew knows that these feast are Feasts of Yehovah, not the Jews. There a few scholars that agree that the earlier manuscripts of the Book of John do NOT have John 6:4 written in it. Oh boy, it’s about to get crazy now. Bear with me while I tie all this together and bring it home.
It would not be a stretch to presume that somewhere along the line, the translators of the Bible, while revising Scripture would have added content to it. In fact, one of the Jewish Rabbi’s I like to listen to once pointed out that in John 5:1-17 that when it speaks about the pool of Siloam, how that at a certain season, an angel would come and trouble the water, and that the first one to get in would be healed. This story always seemed a bit odd to me. I mean it really doesn’t fit with the flow of the Bible at all. In fact there is absolutely nowhere in the Bible that you see an angel do anything like this. Well, come to find out, according to historical information of Jerusalem during that time, this body of water was like a hot spring, and the water was randomly troubled. And although it is true, the people would race to get in, absolutely no one ascribed this occurrence to divine intervention of any kind, yet the translators added that tidbit of info to add clarity to what was going on. With this in mind, you can now see why I say it is a must to understand the culture of the time, as well as the context and language. Reading the Bible with a Western mindset, apart from it’s culturally Eastern mindset makes a huge difference in things. But enough of that. Lets deal with the Feast days. Numbers 29 deals with all the Feasts of Yehovah, their appointed days, length of the feast, and requirements. According to Torah, there are 3 feasts that require ALL males to make “alliyah” (pilgrimage to Jerusalem). We stated earlier that if Yeshua was to be the Messiah, He had to obey Torah down to the very last letter. So when looking at this mystery Passover, the one that is mentioned being near, but not that He and His disciples ever attended, we have a serious problem. Not only did Yeshua NOT make alliyah, but he went on to feed the multitude with leavened bread. I know those who aren’t up on Torah like this, you are probably saying “so, what’s the big deal?” Well my friend, it is a big deal when you consider that Yehovah commanded that ALL leaven be gotten rid of during Passover. In fact, the Passover meal consisted of “matza” which is unleavened bread, and was to be eaten for the next week. Passover itself is NOT a feast, it is actually just the first meal that leads into the actual week long feast which is known as the “Feast of Unleavened Bread”. Can you see the problem now? If indeed this feast was a Passover, then Yeshua, the people, and the religious leaders all unanimously blew off one of Yehovah’s appointed feast. Furthermore, Yeshua would have disobeyed Torah, which is a deal breaker as it relates to this “Prophet like Moses, whom the people are to listen to”.
Oh, and then we have to look into the prophecies of Daniel as they relate to the coming of Messiah. This is where it really gets deep because now you have to have decent understanding of Biblical prophecy. One of the most intense prophecy in the Book of Daniel is the one about the 70 weeks. For the sake of time, I am totally NOT going to get into that at this time, but I would like to add a little something to the mix. A few hundred years after Yeshua, we find the church in the hands of the “Gentiles”. For over a millennium, Rome ruled over the church, have complete control over both kings and nations alike. In order to validate this power, there had to be a few things readjusted. While purporting this grand scheme, Rome forbade the laity from possessing a Bible of their own. Being found with one came with severe consequences, in fact it was on the banned reading list. Since the people were afraid of facing the wrath of Rome, they quickly submitted to it’s power. Now, if they want to hear the word, they have to look to the nearest priest to teach it. Being ignorant of what was written, the people blindly obeyed all that Rome commanded, as it relates to the church. As I dug into various sources, I found that several church fathers attested that the ministry of Yeshua was the length of a year. This really fits with the prophets. One good example would be the infamous “sacrificial” Passover lamb, spoken about as far back as the Book of Exodus. Exodus 12:5 states that the lamb MUST be a year old, not 3 years old. I’m guessing you are thinking about the fact that Yeshua was almost 30 when He started His ministry right? You are correct, He was, BUT, we have to look at the parallels of Biblical symbolism. Consider this, Yeshua started His ministry after His “mikveh” (baptism) by John the Baptist. Lets dig a little into what exactly a “mikveh” is. Mikveh is the Hebrew word that we translated to the English word baptism. While in some instances, it is accurate, there are many more that it isn’t. In our Western culture, we look at a baptism as something one days after getting “saved”, and for the most part, it is a one time thing. However in Hebrew culture, a mikveh is doing constantly throughout one’s life. For example, when a person comes in contact with a dead body, he becomes “ritually unclean”, and must mikveh before he can be considered clean again. Another example is a woman on her cycle. She is considered unclean while on her cycle, and upon its ending, must “mikveh” before she is considered clean again. My last example would be a boy coming of age. He is given a bar mitzvah, and during this time he has to go “mikveh”. Upon completion of his “mikveh” it is understood that he has ended the “boyhood” phase of life and began his “manhood” phase. symbolic example would be Israel crossing the Sea of Reed’s (Red Sea). Sha’ul mentions in 1 Corinthians 10:2 that they were all baptized into the Red Sea. In context what he means is that in leaving Egypt and crossing the sea, they left their lives of bondage, crossing over into the promise. Make sense? So, back to Yeshua, His baptism ended His life as a stone mason and began His next phase of life as “the Lamb of God” as John the Baptist testified. Oh, and then there was the call from heaven after His mikveh, were God for the first time called Him His beloved son. You still with me?
Now, if indeed Yeshua is to be the Lamb of God, He has to be “a year old” according to God. Yes, He was almost 30 at this point, but with the mikveh starting His final phase of life as the sacrificial lamb, he simply cannot go into a 3 year ministry and still bear this title. When looking at the witness of the Synoptic gospels, and how they agree that His ministry spanned a year, beginning with His mikveh, and ending on the 14th day of the first month, it all falls into place. Whats more, on the 10th day of the 1st month, the lamb was selected, according to Exodus. This same day was the day that Yeshua rode in on the donkey, and all the people laid their garments on the ground before Him and proclaimed “Hosanna to the Highest, blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord”. Yeshua was selected on this very day. Later on, the actual lamb was to be inspected for blemish. At this same time, Yeshua had been examined repeatedly by the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Scribes. The 14th day was the day the Lamb was to be slain, and at the time it was being slain, Yeshua was also being slain. Can you see how it all lines up perfectly? The similarities are just insane. With all this lining up, as well as the witness of the Synoptic gospels, and the fact one gospel speaks on an event that the other 3 won’t collaborate, something is really off. I said early on, when searching for truth, you want to identify everything that is seemingly impossible, and whatever is left, is truth.
So why did I go into all of that? Well, when you make His ministry into a three year one, then you have also fulfilled the vision of Daniel and his 40th week prophecy. We understand these to be weeks of years, and the very last week of Daniel brings us to the last 7 years before Yeshua returns. That further means that the final battle spoken of in Revelation has already taken place, and that Yeshua’s 1000 year reign is going on now. Understanding that this obviously hasn’t happened yet, what does this mean? Well, Rome has claimed to be “Vicar” of Christ (in place of Christ), since it’s inception. If indeed He did not return at the end of Daniel’s prophecy, either Daniel was terribly wrong, making this infallible Bible become fallible, or the Pope’s were right, and thy really are in place of Christ, despite their insanely corrupted history. This is what we are left with. Again, this is why it also important to research history as well, so that we get the pieces to the puzzle not found in the Bible. Anyway, just giving you a little something to think about. Let me know your thoughts, good or bad. Again I am not trying to covert anyone to my way of thinking, but instead, I want to inspire you to seek for yourself as opposed to another seeking for you. Blessings!
