Reflecting on John Chapter 1

John the Baptist True Identity & Start Preparing for Passover Now!

The word was with God and was God. Through this “Word” Yahshua all things were made. The word is LIFE to those who eat and live by it. He brought Light to men, true enlightenment that taught mankind how to live, how to love and how to please God. His truth exposed darkness, expanded on all that which pleased or displeased the Father. At times Jesus amplified, highlighted a greater depth to perceived sin, a higher level of purity to be attained. Now man has a choice, will he run from the light or will man let the light expose the unclean aspects of his spirit-nature.

Many in the world refused to listen or obey, they were caught up in the traditions of men, the ways of the fallen world. The world was created by Jesus and was given to him by the Father, yet many were blinded as they are today by the light, closing their eyes to truth which brings forth a rebirth.

Still today if one listens to the messages and follows his advice, they too will be supernaturally transformed by the Holy Spirit. Sons/Daughters of light are compelled to dispose of their fleshly natures. They long to live with an eternal mindset.

Jesus was the living word that became flesh. One of His missions was to correct the misguided direction and twisted truth of the enemy. Jesus had the Father’s complete understanding of His original instructions and expectations. He sent the Word to show us how we should live and love. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, Jesus still reveals God’s true nature to us.

John the Baptist (Yohanan), was the voice calling in the desert to pave the way for the Son of G-d. John was humble, not claiming to be the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor a Prophet. From my research, John the Baptist was far more than someone just coming out from the desert to baptize. He was YHWH’s, Abba Daddy’s last legitimate, lawful High Priest , from Aaron’s blood line.

John’s Father, Zechariah was a Priest from line of Aaron. John’s mother, Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron. At the time of Jesus, the high priests were an appointed position, not as G-d had instructed. Law stated that only only Aaron’s sons could be High Priests.

When they came out to the Jordon to see the masses coming for Baptism, they knew that John could very well be the legal High Priest, the one who by all means should authentically run the Temple. He was G-d’s last true legal High Priest. He pointed everyone to the G-d’s son, the Messiah who is our Eternal High Priest, King, Messiah, Friend and Rabbi.

If the Pharisees and Sadducees knew that John’s Daddy was an Aaron priest and that his mom was from Aaron, they were more than threatened by him. Any potential threat would be watched and eliminated if needed. From some of my research, it appears that Zechariah could have been killed when they went killing babies when King Herod was threatened by the words the wise men. John would have only been 6 months older than Jesus, and suspected to be the King of Jews prophesied about. John as a toddler would have been a logical threat of Herod and a later threat to his son Antipas.

Everyone knew that John’s birth was miraculous and the priest’s mouth was closed for months. They heard that this special anointed child was born. My research suggests that John and his mom may have been forced to hide during that killing. Perhaps, they went to live in the desert at Qumran or to live in hidden communities tied to the Essenes. My instinct tells me that John had to live in hiding to avoid being killed by Herod as a toddler.

John has such purity, knowledge and it was noted that he came out of the dessert.

Side note: I will tell you that my Essene research (where dead sea scrolls was found) was spurred on by an awakening one morning. I was awaken by a strong thought at 5am in the morning, “Was John the Baptist an Essene? ” At that point, I had no clue even what the word Essene meant. That morning, I immediately started intense research on the Essenes and John the Baptist. I believe strongly that John had connections to the people of Qumran and that he was the LAST HIGH PRIEST of GOD.

John identified his cousin, Yahshua as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Even though John was born first, he knew that Jesus was pre-incarnate in nature. John baptized with water, urging people to repent, to prepare their hearts for the Messiah.

Andrew and Simon Peter were originally John the Baptists disciples; yet John’s revelation caused them to follow Jesus. These two brothers immediately referred to Yahshua as Teacher and the Messiah. When Simon followed Jesus, He was renamed Cephas ( Peter). In Jesus, we all become new creatures. When we overcome this world, when we eat of the true manna, bread of life, we are given a ” new name written on stone which no one knows but he who receives it. ( Rev 2: 1)

Phillip validated Jesus’s identity, referencing what Moses wrote in the law.
Deuteronomy 18:18 ¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

Nathaniel judged at first, doubting that anything good could come from Nazareth suburb. Soon the spirit revealed the connection or truth. The word Netzer or NZR in Nazarene, in Hebrew means BRANCH. It was well known that The Netzer is the righteous branch prophesied in the Old Testament: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Isaiah 11: 1

Jesus knew things, that an earthly man should not know. He had divine knowledge that amazed. Nathanael being under a fig tree probably has multi-layered significance. The fig tree in scripture was originally used as a covering for man’s sin, the leaves being used by man to hide nakedness. The fig is used in stories to illustrate the spiritual nature of man, one that either bears good fruit or bad fruit. Our goal is not to be one that has seasonal fruit, but one that bears fruit constantly. Be fruitful and multiply has many meanings. We should not want to be pulled up and thrown into the fire.

As modern day disciples, we must be ready for His return. Jesus tells us in John 1 that he will return in later days where the heavens will open, and the angels of heaven will ascend and descend.

1. After Reading John 1: What was your take-away? What really spoke to you today?
2. Homework: Read John 2. Write scripture as you go, write down what you got from it.

BELIEVERS IN YAHSHUA: START Preparing for Passover:

April 19th at sunset to April 27th at sunset. The Feast of Unleavened Bread – Passover: seven day festival It actually begins on the 15th of Nisan in the Jewish calendar and lasts until the 21st. Josephus in the 1st century BC said it counted as eight days (Antiquities, 2:15:1).To prepare for Passover, all chametz or leavened food (food with yeast) is removed from the house and cannot be eaten during the seven days of the Festival.

ACTION ITEM NOW: Start taking the yeast out of your house. Some use this time as a spring cleaning not just removing breads, yeast, baking powder and all food items with yeast, but also removing crumbs from sofas, drawers and pantries.

On a spiritual level, yeast represents sin in our life. As believers, we should not only remove the yeast out of our homes as Jesus would have, but we should spend the week of Passover repenting, removing all the sin out of our lives. This is a time to remember that we were all once slaves to sin, but that through his sacrifice and belief-obedience to Jesus’s words, we are no longer slaves to sin or death.

As believers on Passover week, we should break bread and drink grape juice every day, in remembrance of the Final Lamb. We can’t forget the last lesson where he washed the disciples feet. He came to serve, not be served. Serving others, volunteering is a great thing to do at Passover and all the time.

A little sin in our lives, spreads and ruins us. Jesus is the sinless body, the matzah – bread without yeast, that was given for us.

Startling Fact about Easter: Easter Sunday instituted by Constantine’s church. The Council of Nicaea in 325 decided Easter as holiday and on which Sunday. Easter’s pre-Christian origin comes from a pagan festival called Eostre, spring fertility goddess-another form of sun worship. The bunny and eggs were fertility symbols.

Let us rather commemorate our Saviors Memorial Passover, using a scriptural calendar and not with any Pagan Easter influences. Easter as most celebrate, is not truly scriptural, but rather a mixing of sorts to get the pagans buy into Christianity.