Walking In The Dust Of Our Rabbi Pt 1
Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ was painted in 1498 and over the centuries it fell into a terrible state. Some of the paint was flaking off and it had become damaged from pollution, dust and humidity. It was in such disrepair that in 1977, Pinin Barcilon was asked to undertake a restoration effort of the masterpiece.
She had 500 years worth of dust, grime and deterioration as well as mold, candle soot and worst of all, a number of failed attempts at restoration from the 1700’s. Heavy coats of varnish, glue and poor attempts by other painters filling in the gaps with their own interpretations had to be removed.
Every square inch of the painting was photographed and months and months of preparation work was undertaken before anyone even touched the painting. Once the work commenced, a particularly productive day may have revealed a section of the painting the size of a postage stamp but it wasn’t until 1999 that the final work was completed. The restoration of the ‘Last Supper’ took 22 years.
The essence of the scene was unchanged but the gloomy shadows were gone, the Apostle Andrew was no longer sullen, Yeshua’s face glowed, the Apostle Matthew had blond hair not black, the Apostle Peter’s beard and nose were properly clear, the Apostle Thomas had his left hand restored and the vibrant colours of the master were finally revealed.
It was the same picture but with far greater clarity and vibrancy than had been seen for half a millennia.
Learning about the Hebrew roots of our Christian faith is essentially the same, it reveals greater depth of significance and insight than is realised from simply reading and studying the Bible with a western viewpoint. It’s like taking a 2 dimensional black and white drawing and transforming it into a 3 dimensional, colour animation. It’s the same picture but vastly richer and more significant.
Another analogy is of watching a scary movie without sound effects or music, the image is the same but with the music and sound effects, the impact and connection to the image is totally different.
One more analogy to emphasize the point…it’s the difference between listening to a transistor radio in mono sound compared to listening to the same song but in stereo sound on a quadraphonic sound system. It’s the same song but a vastly different listening experience.
In 701 BC, King Hezekiah built a water tunnel in Jerusalem to protect his citizens in Jerusalem in case they were ever besieged by their enemies. Today, it’s open to the public to walk through. The tunnel still has water running through it, fed by the Gihon Springs and while the water only reaches to a person’s mid calf, the tunnel is completely black until you come out into daylight at the end.
Once you emerge from the tunnel and make your way toward the street you come upon the Pool of Siloam. Archaeologists have revealed only a portion of the pool as the remainder of it lies under land belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church who refuse permission to excavate the remainder of the site at this stage, but it’s believed this ancient pool is approximately 49 x 61 metres. When it was excavated, coins from the 2nd Temple era were discovered embedded in the plaster walls confirming it as the real Pool of Siloam.
Also discovered alongside this pool was a first century street, a main thoroughfare that would have been the very last portion of road that pilgrims making their way to the Holy City would have walked on their way up to the Temple to celebrate the 7 mandatory feasts of the Lord each year. It’s very likely that the Pool of Siloam was one of the water sources that these same pilgrims would have used for spiritual cleansing before entering the Temple proper.
Every night during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the High Priest would make his way down to the Pool of Siloam (with a great deal of fanfare and ritual) where he would fill one of the golden pitchers used in Temple service and he would then take this ‘living water’ from the Pool of Siloam back to the Temple to offer it on the altar in the Temple as a water libation.
On the very last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the High Priest would proceed around the altar 7 times while the crowd of worshippers offered prayers for living water…rain for the upcoming crops in the New Year.
As the excitement built, the priest would finally approach the altar and he would pour the living water ceremoniously onto the sacred fire.
Now, let’s take a look at a passage from the New Covenant Scriptures.
John 7:37-39, ‘Now on the last day (Hoshana Rabbah), the great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried out saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.’
[Hoshana Rabbah is the name for the last day of Sukkot]
This very familiar story in John takes on a greater significance when you understand that praying for living water to bring about life and sustenance was not unfamiliar to the Jews, it was in fact a very important part of the culture and their religion. Without living water there is no life. Living water is flowing water as opposed to dead stagnant water that putrefies and kills those that drink it.
Yeshua, when standing up on the last day of Sukkot was referring to the living water that would bring cleansing as spoken of by the prophet Zechariah.
Zechariah 13:1, ‘In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.’
Paul was clear when he instructed the church at Colossae about keeping Sabbaths and Jewish festivals.
Colossians 2:16-17, ‘Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day; things which are amere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.’
The context of this passage is regarding salvation and Paul was teaching that keeping Shabbat laws and Jewish festivals played absolutely no role in the salvation process, so we are not required to follow all the requirements of the Feasts of the Lord.
However, we do ourselves an incredible disservice and we undercut our understanding of a great deal of Yeshua’s teaching when we remain ignorant of all the details and symbolism of the feasts because every one of them are fulfilled in Yeshua the Messiah.
If we’ll take the time to learn the Jewish context of the feasts and all the ceremonial formalities and processes we see an intricate tapestry that reveals our Messiah in every tiny detail and His own words take on a richer and deeper significance in our own understanding of what He said and what He meant when He said them.
Shalom
Mandy
(These studies are based on the book ‘Walking In The Dust Of Rabbi Jesus: How The Jewish Words of Jesus Can Change Your Life’ by Lois Tverberg)
