MATT 4:12 YAHUSHA heard that John was put in prison, so He went back to Galilee. But He did not stay in Nazareth. He went to live in Capernaum, a town near Lake Galilee in the area near Zebulun and Naphtali. He did this to fulfil what the prophet Isaiah said: “Listen, land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, lands by the road that goes to the sea, the area past the Jordan River - Galilee, where those from other nations live. The people who live in spiritual darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined for those who live in the land that is as dark as a grave.” (ISAIAH 8-9)
YAHUSHA WENT BACK TO HIS HOMETOWN OF NAZARETH, BUT THEN MOVED TO CAPERNAUM. WAS HE DOING THIS TO EVADE THE AUTHORITIES? PERHAPS. BUT MATTHEW SAYS THAT THE REASON FOR THIS MOVE WAS TO FULFIL A PROPHECY FROM ISAIAH. IN OTHER WORDS, SOME OF THE THINGS YAHUSHA DID, HE DID PURPOSELY FOR LITTLE OTHER REASON THAN TO FULFIL ANCIENT MESSIANIC PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS COMING AND HIS MISSION AS MESSIAH.
CAPERNAUM IS AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW 'K'FAR NAHUM', WHICH MEANS "THE VILLAGE OF NAHUM". THE VILLAGE WAS LOCATED ON THE SEA OF GALILEE (AND IT IS STILL THERE), SO A LARGE PART OF ITS ECONOMY DEPENDED ON FISHING. MATTHEW TELLING US THAT THE VILLAGE WAS NEAR THE BORDER OF ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI FURTHER INDICATES THAT MATTHEW RESIDED IN THE HUB OF ISRAEL AND THAT HE WAS QUITE STUDIED IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, BECAUSE IN NO WAY DID THOSE TRIBAL TERRITORIES MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE, EVEN TO MOST JEWS. ONCE THE ASSYRIANS CONQUERED THE NORTHERN 10 TRIBES TOWARDS THE END OF THE 8TH CENTURY B.C... AND THEN THE BABYLONIANS CONQUERED THE SOUTH 130 YEARS LATER, THE TRIBAL TERRITORY NAMES (OTHER THAN FOR JUDAH) WERE MOSTLY ERASED AND WHATEVER BOUNDARIES THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN BY MOSES AND JOSHUA DISAPPEARED. THIS ALL HAPPENED CENTURIES BEFORE YAHUSHA'S ERA. SO MENTIONING THE TRIBAL TERRITORIES OF ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI SOLIDIFIES THAT MATTHEW'S INTENDED READER WAS JEWS BECAUSE THE OLD TRIBAL GEOGRAPHY AND THOSE OLD TRIBAL NAMES WOULD HAVE HAD NO MEANING OUTSIDE OF THE JEWISH POPULATION.
YAHUSHA FULFILLING THIS PROPHECY IN ISAIAH 8-9 IS VERY INTERESTING, BECAUSE AT THE TIME ALAHIM GAVE THESE WORDS TO ISAIAH, THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WERE OBLIVIOUS TO THEIR OWN REBELLION AND IDOLATRY AND THE COMING CONSEQUENCES, EVEN THOUGH YAHUAH HAS SENT PROPHETS, (INCLUDING ISAIAH) TO WARN THEM. THE 12 TRIBES ARE LIKE A DISABLED SHIP BOBBING AROUND ON A CHURNING SEA HAVING LOST ITS RUDDER. EACH MAN IS DOING WHAT IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.
THE 10 NORTHERN TRIBES (ESPECIALLY) HAVE BEEN BLATANTLY BOWING DOWN TO OTHER GODS/IDOLS ALONG WITH INSINCERELY WORSHIPPING YAHUAH ALAHIM FOR A LONG TIME; AND THE 2 TRIBES THAT FORMED JUDAH ARE BEING SLOWLY DRAWN INTO THE SAME DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR. FINALLY THE BREAKING POINT IS REACHED; WHAT ISAIAH DESCRIBES NEXT IS THE ISRAELITES REACHING OUT FRANTICALLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS FOR THE SOLUTIONS TO THEIR GROWING FRUSTRATIONS, MISFORTUNES AND OVERWHELMING PROBLEMS. THEY TRY PRESSURING THEIR PROPHETS INTO CONTACTING THE DEAD FOR ANSWERS. THEY TRY SACRIFICE TO OTHER GODS/IDOLS HOPING FOR THEIR FAVOR. THEY QUIT CONSULTING YAHUAH'S WORD FOR DIRECTION AND LOOK TO OTHERS OR TO THEMSELVES. AND SO THERE IS ONLY ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE CONDITION OF ISRAEL AT THAT TIME: CONFUSION!!
SO THEN 700 YEARS GOES BY TO THE POINT THAT THE PEOPLE NOW LIVING IN THE LANDS OF ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI (IN YAHUSHA'S TIME KNOWN BEST AS UPPER GALILEE) ARE BARELY AWARE WHOSE TRIBAL LANDS THEY STAND UPON. IN FACT, IT'S NOT THE TRIBAL MEMBERS OF ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI WHO LIVE THERE ANYMORE, BECAUSE DURING YAHUSHA'S DAY THOSE TRIBES HAD STILL NOT RETURNED TO THEIR LAND BUT RATHER THEY REMAINED IN EXILE. INSTEAD THE INHABITANTS NOW CONSIST MAINLY OF GENTILES WHO DON'T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT THE LAND'S HISTORY.
MATT 4:15 “Listen, land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, lands by the road that goes to the sea, the area past the Jordan River - Galilee, where those from other nations live. The people who live in spiritual darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined for those who live in the land that is as dark as a grave.” (ISAIAH 8-9)
WHEN WE COMPARE WHAT MATTHEW QUOTES TO ISAIAH 8 AND 9, WE NOTE FIRST OF ALL THAT MATTHEW PARAPHRASES ISAIAH'S PROPHECY FOR HIS OWN PURPOSE AND APPLIES IT TO CAPERNAUM AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS, AND TO YAHUSHA AS THE MESSIAH. THOSE AREAS THAT THE ISAIAH PROPHECY DESCRIBE ARE (IN YAHUSHA'S ERA) THE SEVERAL JEWISH 'LAKE- FRONT' VILLAGES ('LAKE' IS WHAT GENTILES TODAY CALL THE SEA OF GALILEE). THE PASSAGE ALSO DESCRIBES AREAS ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN RIVER (BECAUSE IN 700 B.C. ISRAEL STILL HELD SUBSTANTIAL TRIBAL TERRITORIES THERE, BUT THAT WAS NO LONGER THE CASE IN YAHUSHA'S TIME). AND THEN FINALLY WE HEAR OF THE GALILEE OF THE GENTILES BECAUSE SO MANY GENTILES OCCUPIED AREAS AROUND THE WEST SIDE OF THE SEA OF GALILEE, AND EVEN MORE SO ON THE EAST SIDE. FOR THE REALITY IS THAT ROME WAS IN CHARGE OF THAT ENTIRE REGION.
ALL OF THESE AREAS AROUND THE GALILEE THAT ISAIAH DESCRIBES ARE HOME TO THE PEOPLE HE SAYS HAVE BEEN WALKING "IN GREAT DARKNESS", BUT NOW THESE SAME PEOPLE HAVE SEEN A "GREAT LIGHT". IN HEBREW THE WORD "DARKNESS" AS USED IN ISAIAH'S PROPHECY IS NOT A WORD THAT SPEAKS OF THE DARKNESS OF NIGHTTIME, BUT TO DESCRIBE GREAT OBSCURITY, OPPRESSION, AND DECEPTION. SO THE GREAT DARKNESS IS A GREAT SPIRITUAL DARKNESS…. EVIL … SHARED BY ISRAELITES AND GENTILES ALIKE. AND THE GREAT LIGHT THAT ISAIAH PROPHESIES ABOUT IS (IN ITS ORIGINAL HEBREW) A TYPE OF LIGHT THAT IS NOT THE KIND THAT COMES FROM THE SUN, BUT MEANS ENLIGHTENMENT….. TRUTH…. REVELATION - THE QUALITIES OF GOOD THAT ARE THE FOUNDATION OF YAHUSHA ALAHIM'S NATURE. THESE ARE THE SAME WORDS USED TO DESCRIBE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF ISRAEL'S EXPERIENCE IN EGYPT ALSO. MATTHEW TAKES THE TERM "GREAT LIGHT" IN ISAIAH'S PROPHECY TO MEAN THE MESSIAH, SO WHEN WE HEAR ABOUT THOSE LIVING IN THE REGION AS LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH, THE ULTIMATE MEANING IS THE SHADOW OF ETERNAL DEATH….. FOR A SPIRITUAL DEATH IS BEING CONTEMPLATED MUCH MORE THAN A PHYSICAL DEATH THAT ALL HUMANS WILL EXPERIENCE.
MATT 4:17 And from that time on, YAHUSHA began to tell people His message: “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is very near.”
SO WE HAVE YAHUSHA USING THE SAME WORDS THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST USED AS HE CALLED PEOPLE TO HIS BAPTISM: TURN FROM YOUR SINS TO ALAHIM, AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR. HE USED THE SAME WORDS AS JOHN BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HIS PURPOSE WAS FOR COMING - TO DELIVER !
THOSE SAME WORDS ARE NOT ON THE LIPS OF HIS FOLLOWERS THAT PREPARE THE WAY FOR HIS RETURN AT THE END OF DAYS, NOR ARE THEY WHAT YAHUSHA WILL SPEAK WHEN HE COMES BACK IN POWER AND GLORY TO WAGE BATTLE. THIS IS BECAUSE UPON HIS FIRST APPEARANCE HE CAME TO REDEEM HIS BRIDE AS HER DELIVERER. THE NEXT TIME HE COMES (HIS RETURN), HE COMES TO CARRY OUT THE FULL FORCE OF HIS WRATH AND VENGEANCE AS ALAHIM.
* FIRST COMING: DELIVERANCE
* SECOND COMING: JUDGMENT.
THEREFORE THE MESSAGE IS THAT ALAHIM'S KINGDOM ON EARTH HAS JUST BEEN INAUGURATED (A NEW CREATION ORDER HAS BEEN USHERED IN THROUGH A NEW FIRST-FRUIT ALAHIM-MAN AND THE ONLY MEANS TO GAIN MEMBERSHIP IS TO SINCERELY REPENT. WHY? BECAUSE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOT JUST A HEAVENLY PLACE RIGHT HERE IN ANOTHER DIMENSION. RATHER IT REPRESENTS YAHUSHA'S LOVING REIGN AND RULE THAT ITSELF IS EXPRESSED IN THE LIVES (BEHAVIOURS) OF HUMAN BEINGS. SO IF YOU ARE HIS WISE BRIIDE, THE KINGDOM OF ALAHIM IS ALREADY WITHIN YOU, HAVING BEEN PLANTED IN INCORRUPTIBLE SEED FORM WHEN HE BAPTISED YOU IN HIS SPIRIT (NO WATER REQUIRED AS YAHUSHA WAS THE LAST LEGAL WATER BAPTISM.) SO WHILE THE KINGDOM IS (FOR NOW) FULLY SPIRITUAL IN NATURE, IN TIME THE SEED WILL GROW (AS YOU FEED AND WATER IT WITH HIS WORD) ACTIVATING IT INTO REAL BEHAVIOUR OF PREPARATION (THE EXTRA JAR OF OIL)... SO THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TRANSFORMS YOU INTO A NEW CREATION ALSO (JUST LIKE YAHUSHA WAS) AND IT BECOMES THE SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH ...
BEHOLD THE BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE ...
ALL LIVELY STONES FITTED TOGETHER ...
IT WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST WHO INAUGURATED THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH, AND IT IS YAHUSHA AND LATER WITH THE HELP OF HIS BRIDAL DISCIPLES (THEN AND NOW) WHO ARE EXPANDING THE KINGDOM BY MEANS OF SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS, AND THEN FINALLY THE KINGDOM REACHES IT'S COMPLETED FORM WHEN YAHUSHA RETURNS AND THE OLD HEAVENS AND OLD EARTH PASS AWAY TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.
THINK HOW FORTUNATE WE ARE AND CONTINUE TO BE. WE STILL LIVE IN AN EXTENDED ERA (THAT BEGAN AROUND 30 A.D) WHEREBY REPENTANCE AND SINCERE TRUST IN YAHUSHA AS ALAHIM, ALLOWS US TO FIND THE NARROW GATE AND PROCEED THROUGH HIS VEIN OF SPIRIT AND FIRE BAPTISM, TO DELIVER US FROM HIS COMING WRATH. YES, WE STILL LIVE IN AN EXTENDED ERA WHEN WE, AS YAHUSHA'S WISE BRIDE, CAN TELL OTHERS…. SOME WHO WE KNOW AND LOVE, SOME WHO WE DON'T KNOW AT ALL….. ABOUT ETERNAL LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND THEY STILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT AND BE DELIVERED FROM THE COMING WRATH. THE TIME IS ALMOST UPON US WHEN THIS OPTION AND OPPORTUNITY ENDS WITH NO EXCEPTIONS.
MATT 4:18 As YAHUSHA was walking by Lake Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Simon’s brother Andrew. These brothers were fishermen, and they were fishing in the lake with a net. 19 YAHUSHA said to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you a different kind of fishermen. You will bring in people, not fish.” 20 So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 YAHUSHA continued walking by Lake Galilee, where He saw two other brothers, James and John, who were in a boat with their father Zebedee. They were preparing their nets to catch fish. So YAHUSHA told the brothers to come with Him. 22 So they immediately left the boat and their father, and they followed YAHUSHA also.
1ST CENTURY DISCIPLES
AN INTERESTING FEATURE ABOUT DISCIPLES AND THEIR MASTERS IN THE 1ST CENTURY WAS THAT IT WAS ALWAYS THE DISCIPLES THAT CHOSE THEIR MASTERS! THERE WERE MANY TEACHERS AND `HOLY' MEN TO CHOOSE FROM IF A JEWISH MAN WANTED TO GO THAT ROUTE AND CHOOSE THE LIFESTYLE OR CAUSE THAT ONE OF THESE MANY MASTERS ADVOCATED. THAT WAS THE CASE WITH THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BAPTIST AS WELL. BUT AS WE SEE HERE, YAHUSHA (THE MASTER) CHOSE HIS DISCIPLES!
THEY DIDN'T CHOOSE HIM!
SINCE IT IS SEEMS APPARENT FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT THAT THE JEWS BELIEVED THEY WERE LIVING IN THE END TIMES, THEN THE BELIEF OF ELIJAH REAPPEARING AND PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THOSE TURBULENT TIMES WAS EVER PRESENT. THAT WHY WE SEE THAT MANY HUNDREDS OF YEARS EARLIER (IN OTHER TURBULENT TIMES) THAT IT WAS ELIJAH WHO SPOTTED AND THEN CHOSE ELISHAH (THE MASTER CHOSE THE DISCIPLE, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND AS IT NORMALLY WAS). THEN IN HIS GOSPEL, THE APOSTLE JOHN REITERATES THE SAME PRINCIPLE ABOUT WHO DOES THE CHOOSING WHEN HE WRITES OF YAHUSHA SAYING TO HIS DISCIPLES:
JOHN 15:16 “YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE ME, BUT I CHOSE YOU; AND I'VE APPOINTED YOU TO GO AND BEAR FRUIT, FRUIT THAT WILL LAST, SO THAT WHATEVER YOU ASK FROM THE FATHER IN MY NAME, HE MAY GIVE YOU”.
WHY DID THESE MEN FOLLOW HIM?
NOTICE THAT THESE CANDIDATES ARE NOT RECORDED AS ASKING "WHY" THEY SHOULD FOLLOW HIM? THE WORDING MAKES IT SOUND LIKE THERE WAS IMMEDIATE ACCEPTANCE AND THEY JUST STOOD UP AND LEFT WITH HIM. IN FACT, WHAT YAHUSHA OFFERED WAS NOT AN INVITATION BUT RATHER IT WAS A COMMAND. SO THE LOGICAL QUESTION IS: WHY WOULD THESE MEN OBEY AND FOLLOW HIM?
THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION CENTRES AROUND JUST WHO THESE (SOON TO BE) DISCIPLES, AND THE MANY OTHER JEWS WHO WOULD FOLLOW HIM, THOUGHT HE WAS OR WHAT IT WAS THAT HE REPRESENTED TO THEM. IN ORDER TO TRY AND SHED LIGHT ON THIS ISSUE LET'S TAKE AN INTERESTING DETOUR.
IN YAHUSHA'S DAY THERE WAS A KIND OF JEWISH MAN CALLED ATZADIK. WHILE LITERALLY IT MEANS "RIGHTEOUS ONE" OR "RIGHTEOUS MAN", TO THE JEWS OF THAT TIME IT MORE INDICATED A "SET-APART MAN". THESE SET-APART MEN WERE MIRACLE WORKERS WHO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, HEALED SICKNESSES, DISABILITIES AND WOUNDS IN THE NAME OF THE ALAHIM OF ISRAEL. A FEW YEARS PRIOR TO 70 A.D., BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE BY ROME, 4 OF THESE SET-APART MEN WERE WELL KNOWN AND RESPECTED IN THE SET-APART LAND. INTERESTINGLY 2 OF THEM WERE FROM THE GALILEE. ONE WAS NAMED HILKIA AND THE OTHER WAS HANINA BEN DOSA. IT WAS BELIEVED BY THE JEWISH COMMUNITY THAT THESE"RIGHTEOUS MEN" WERE DIVINELY GIFTED AND MUCH CLOSER TO ALAHIM THAN THE AVERAGE MAN.
RECALL THAT IN MESSIAH'S DAY THE BELIEF OF JEWS WAS THAT THE ERA OF PROPHETS (OF THE OLD COVENANT VARIETY) WAS OVER. PROPHETS WERE THE MIRACLE WORKERS OF THAT BYGONE ERA AND NOW AROUND THE BEGINNING OF THE 1ST CENTURY THE MIRACLE WORKERS WERE THESETZADIKKIM(RIGHTEOUS MEN). THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE BEEN VERY MANY OF THEM. IT IS DIFFICULT TO KNOW, EXACTLY, WHEN THIS ERA OF THETZADIKAROSE, BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN AT LEAST AS EARLY AS 65 B.C., BECAUSE THE LEGEND OF HONI THE CIRCLE DRAWER IS FROM THAT TIME. THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD TELLS THE STORY OF HONI SLEEPING FOR 70 YEARS AND THEN DYING SOON AFTER HE AWOKE. THE STORY REFERS TO HIM AS ATZADIK…. LITERALLY A RIGHTEOUS MAN, BUT TO THE JEWS THAT MEANT HONI HELD THE HONORERED POSITION AS A SET-APART HOLY MAN. WHILE THE STORY ITSELF IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY, THE POINT IS THAT HONI DID ACTUALLY EXIST AT THAT TIME AND WAS INDEED CONSIDERED A MIRACLE WORKING SET-APART MAN.
SCRIBES BEING THE CHIEFS AND MAIN AUTHORITIES OF THE SYNAGOGUE SYSTEM (THE ELITE OF THE PHARISEES) WERE HIGHLY REVERED. AS SUCH THEY HAD EGOS AND SO TENDED TO SEE AN ITINERANT HOLY MAN AS COMPETITION BECAUSE THE COMMON FOLKS FLOCKED TO ATZADIKIN HOPES OF BEING HEALING OF THEIR VARIOUS AILMENTS (SOMETHING THE SCRIBES CERTAINLY COULDN'T DO), SO THERE WAS A NATURAL TENSION BETWEEN THE TWO.
IT IS FURTHER KNOWN OF THESE FEW SET-APART HOLY MEN THAT THEY PRACTICED POVERTY. THIS WAS A REFRESHING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND THE ARISTOCRATIC SADDUCEES OR THE ‘WELL TO DO’ SCRIBES; SO OF COURSE THE COMMON JEW (WHO WAS GENERALLY ANYTHING BUT RICH) FELT MORE OF A CONNECTION TO THESE HOLY MEN WHO HAD NO POSSESSIONS AND HELD NO PRETENCES. IT WAS ALSO MORE OR LESS THE NORM THAT THESETZADIKWOULD PERFORM THEIR HEALING MIRACLES IN PRIVATE, AND OFTEN IN SECRET, IN ORDER NOT TO GLORIFY THEMSELVES. NOW THINK: WHO MIGHT THIS SOUND LIKE IN THE NEW COVENANT WRITINGS? OF COURSE IT SOUNDS LIKE YAHUSHA. WE SEE HIM CHARACTERISED IN THE GOSPELS AS A JEWISH SET-APART MAN (ACKNOWLEDGING THAT HE WAS FAR MORE THAN THAT IN REALITY). WE READ OF YAHUSHA CONSTANTLY HEALING THE SICK, EXORCIZING DEMONS, AND GENERALLY HANGING OUT WITH THE ORDINARY, THE POOR, AND THE LAME. IN FACT, IT WAS HIS DEEDS OF MIRACLE WORKING THAT ATTRACTED PEOPLE TO HIM BY THE HUNDREDS AND THAT GAINED HIM SUCH A FOLLOWING AMONG THE COMMON FOLK. BUT IT ALSO MADE HIM THE BANE OF THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES WHO COULDN'T DO WHAT HE COULD DO AND THEREFORE THEY SAW HIM AS A THREAT.
WE READ YAHUSHA SAYING THIS IN MATTHEW 11:
MATTHEW 11:25-27 “IT WAS AT THAT TIME THAT YAHUSHA SAID, "I THANK YOU, FATHER, MASTER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, THAT YOU CONCEALED THESE THINGS FROM THE SOPHISTICATED AND EDUCATED AND REVEALED THEM TO ORDINARY FOLKS.YES, FATHER, I THANK YOU THAT IT PLEASED YOU TO DO THIS.MY FATHER HAS HANDED OVER EVERYTHING TO ME. INDEED, NO ONE FULLY KNOWS THE SON EXCEPT THE FATHER, AND NO ONE FULLY KNOWS THE FATHER EXCEPT THE SON AND THOSE TO WHOM THE SON WISHES TO REVEAL HIM”.
THIS SEEMS TO US LIKE AN EXTRAORDINARY PROCLAMATION BY YAHUSHA WHO HERE ANNOUNCES HIS SELF-AWARENESS OF JUST WHO HE IS AND BECAUSE OF THAT HE HAS BEEN GIVEN REVELATIONS CONCERNING THE MYSTERIES OF ALAHIM, SOME OF WHICH HE PASSES ALONG TO ORDINARY FOLKS. HERE IS THE POINT: TO THE JEWISH MIND AND CULTURE, YAHUSHA FIT THE IDENTITY OF AN AUTHENTICTZADIKLIKE A GLOVE; HE WAS A SET-APART MAN WHO WORKED MIRACLES. THE PHENOMENON OF A HOLY MAN WAS NOT NEW, BUT RATHER SOMETHING WONDERFUL THAT SEEMED TO COME AROUND ONLY OCCASIONALLY, UNEXPECTEDLY, AT ALAHIM'S WILL. AND WHEN A SET-APART MAN APPEARED, PEOPLE OF COURSE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE PROOF OF HIS CREDENTIALS WAS HIS MIRACLE-POWERS OF HEALING. THE NEWS OF THE ADVENT OF A SET-APART MAN WOULD SPREAD QUICKLY AND JEWS WOULD COME CLAMOURING TO HIM FOR RELIEF OF EVERY KIND OF MALADY. SET-APART MEN WERE MEN OF THE COMMON PEOPLE, NOT MEN OF THE ELITE. THE GOSPELS PAINT YAHUSHA IN EXACTLY THIS ROLE; BUT OF COURSE THE GOSPEL WRITERS ALSO EXPRESS THE JOY THAT HE WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN THIS: HE WAS ALSO THE LONG AWAITED DELIVERER. HE WAS ALAHIM'S PROMISED MESSIAH. SO EVEN YAHUSHA'S CLAIMS TO BEING THE SON OF ALAHIM WERE NOT DENIED BY THE PEOPLE AT LARGE, NOR DID THOSE CLAIMS SEEM STRANGE, BECAUSE IT WAS BELIEVED THAT EVERY SET-APART MAN WHO CAME AND WENT WAS A SON OF ALAHIM. IT'S ONLY THAT THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT FOR YAHUSHA, BEING THE SON OF ALAHIM (IMAGERY) WAS UNIQUE AND FULLY LITERAL AS OPPOSED TO BEING AN HONORARY TITLE. YAHUSHA IS ALAHIM !!
NOW BACK TO THE QUESTION : WHY WOULD THESE FISHERMEN AND LATER OTHERS (WHO DON'T SEEM TO HAVE HAD ANY PRIOR CONTACT WITH HIM) JUST JUMP UP AND FOLLOW YAHUSHA BECAUSE HE COMMANDED THEM TO? IT WAS BECAUSE THEY RECOGNISED HIM AS ATZADIK; A MIRACLE WORKER; A SON OF ALAHIM. A SET-APART MAN WHOSE PERSONA AND ATTRIBUTES WERE KNOWN, WELCOME AND UNDERSTOOD WITHIN JEWISH SOCIETY. THEY HAD PROBABLY HEARD OF HIM BECAUSE LUKE'S GOSPEL SAYS THAT AFTER THE 3 TEMPTATIONS YAHUSHA RETURNED TO THE GALILEE, BEGAN TEACHING IN SYNAGOGUES AND HIS REPUTATION BEGAN TO SPREAD BEFORE HE STARTED APPOINTING DISCIPLES. THE PEOPLE SENSED HE WAS SOMETHING MORE THAN A TYPICAL SET-APART MAN BUT EVEN IF HE WASN'T, BEING A SET-APART MAN WAS EXCITING ENOUGH. THEY WEREN'T ABOUT TO QUESTION THISTZADIK'SMOTIVES FOR WANTING THEM AS HIS FOLLOWERS. SO IT WOULD BE AN INDESCRIBABLE HONOUR TO BE IN HIS INNER CIRCLE AND IT WOULD PROBABLY BRING THEM SOME KIND OF BENEFIT OR HIGHER STATUS. UNDERSTAND: AS OF THIS TIME THESE DISCIPLES HAD LITTLE IDEA WHO YAHUSHA REALLY WAS AND WHAT THEIR DISCIPLESHIP WOULD EVENTUALLY MEAN OR LEAD TO.