Join Rabbi Schneider as he embarks on a spiritual journey through the Gospel of John, unveiling the mysteries and revelations contained within its sacred text. This episode invites you to explore the nature of Jesus as both God and light, offering transformative insights that encourage believers to perceive reality through a spiritual lens. Embrace the depth of divine truth as revealed through John’s Gospel, and discover how Jesus’ presence as light brings clarity, understanding, and a new pathway away from darkness.
God bless you and shalom, beloved ones. I know we’re probably not supposed to have a favorite gospel, but I have to say my favorite gospel is the gospel of John, and it’s because of the mysteries. I love the truth that the Lord brings forth through John’s gospel. But listen, before we get started today, I gotta tell you something that was so funny last night. I was watching 60 Minutes, And they did a special on this art show. And all these really, really wealthy people were invited to this art show, buying pieces of art. And they had the most ridiculous things that they were selling as art. They had this canvas. It was a pure white canvas, nothing on the canvas at all. It sold for $2 million. It was a mystery to me how people could be so mindless to spend money on other people, what other people would be able to see, common sense-wise, is just kind of worthless. Well… Let’s move on to a more serious note today. Mysteries in the Gospel of John. Now, in season one, I left off with the mystery of the Trinity. How can God be one God, yet be three persons in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? And it brings me peace to be able to speak on it Because I know that that doctrine is confusing to so many of you. But I believe that the revelation that the Lord brought forth on that mystery, beloved, really will give people comfort in their heart. Now, I want to pick up now fresh as we begin season two in verse number six of John chapter one. Let’s begin there. Hear the word of God. There came a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness, listen now, to testify about the light so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. There was the true light which coming into the world enlightens every man. And I just like this concept that John uses when he speaks about the fact that John the Baptist came to introduce the world, listen now, to the light. Do you know, those of us that have visited Israel realize that at the time of Jesus’ coming, there was a sect there called the Essenes. And the Essenes lived in caves. Many people believe that the discovery of the Qumran scrolls came from this group that they call the Essenes. And the Essenes wrote much about the darkness versus the light. And some people believe that Jesus actually was touched by this culture, whether that is fact or not, it’s just conjecture. What we do know for certain is that Jesus came, listen now, church, to manifest the light. The Bible tells us that the people that sat in darkness saw a great light. So I want to step back for a second and I want to focus on Jesus, get this now, hear me now, as the light. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. But now we’re speaking about him also, get it now, as the light. the light. In the first few verses of John, John said, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never been able to overcome it. This is John chapter one, verse five. So John brings out this mystery of the light coming into the world. Remember in the beginning, God said, let there be light. So Jesus, hear me now, He is the light. What I’m trying to do is to elevate us to begin to think spiritually. Many people, when they study the Bible, they’re not really thinking spiritually. They’re limited to thinking in the natural. You know, they know Jesus’ name, Jesus or Yeshua. They can identify the physical places that Jesus walked. They can study his words and even look at what the original Greek or Hebrew meant in the New Testament or the Old Testament. But there’s a dimension that we need to understand, beloved, if we’re ever going to get free. And that dimension is we need to learn how to think above the natural into the supernatural. You see, God’s word can either be perceived naturally or supernaturally. In fact, Paul speaks about the fact that those that try to walk out their faith by the letter are going to be trapped. He says, but those that walk out their faith in the spirit are going to reap love, joy and peace. In other words, we are elevated to a place of understanding beyond just a physical letter to understand the spirit underneath and behind the word. Jesus is light. Jesus said, you shall know the truth. and the truth shall set you free.” Light, beloved, is revelation. First of all, think about Jesus is the light that’s coming to the world, listen now, to bring revelation. And John says in the very next verse, get this now, the very next verse he says, to enlighteneth every man. We need to understand that God wants to call us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Listen, this is real and it’s revelation knowledge, and it can only be received by the Holy Spirit. Now, stay with me. The Bible says this, I is not seen, an ear has not heard, neither has it ever entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. And these things he has revealed to us, get it now, by his spirit. What I’m trying to do is to elevate you now to think out of the box and to begin to think of God as spirit and as light. Remember, Jesus said that those that walk by the Spirit are the children of God. Those that are led by the Spirit in Romans chapter 8 are the children of God. We need to begin to understand the nature of reality in terms of darkness and light. The Bible tells us that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and forces of spiritual darkness. So we need to begin to perceive our atmosphere spiritually. to perceive circumstances, to perceive the way that people relate to each other, either in terms of is this darkness or is this light? God wants to bring us up, beloved ones, to a greater level of spiritual sensitivity, of divine intuition, of being able to perceive, get it now, the light from the darkness, of having our spiritual senses trained so that we can live by the word of God as we perceive it in the spiritual sense. So once again, as we continue in the gospel of John, John’s gospel is a book of mystery. He brings forth truth that previously had been concealed, but now reveals it. And that’s what a mystery is. A mystery is when something that has been previously concealed is now being revealed. John comes to reveal this mystery to us and he points to Jesus as the one that is light and can give us revelation so that we now can see in the light and see clearly and seeing clearly we can live in victory and in dominion over the darkness. Let’s read it again. John chapter 1 beginning here. And I’m going to read here in verse number eight. He was not the lights, but he came to testify about the light, the light being Jesus. So once again, John says, listen, I’m not the light. I came to testify about the light. Then he goes on in verse number nine. There was the true light which coming into the world enlightens every man. So get this now. Jesus is light. He’s not just a human being. He’s God in the flesh and he’s spiritual light. Now he’s God in the flesh. He’s a real human being, but he’s light. He gives light and revelation. And John goes on to say about Jesus that Jesus is the one whom the world was created through. You and I were created through the light and the light that we are created through who is embodied in Jesus. Listen to this now, church, enlightens every man that comes into the world. So listen to what John says once again. There was the true light, verse 9, which coming into the world enlightens every man. What does this mean? John said, by the inspiration of Jesus’ spirit, that every man that comes into the world, get this now, has been enlightened by the light. How is this practically meaningful? It means this, that deep down inside, I want you to hear me now, church, deep down inside, everybody knows there’s a God. Now, we know that many people deny that there’s a God. Many people have even convinced themselves that they don’t believe in God. The Bible talks about these people in the Book of Romans as those that suppress the truth in unrighteousness. But the scripture teaches both here in John, where John says that the light has enlightened every man that’s come into the world, as well as in the book of Romans, where the scripture tells us there that through man’s intuition and through his conscience, he knows the difference between right and wrong, and he knows there is a God because it’s evident within them by the Creator who has enlightened every man that’s come into the world. The point that I’m trying to make, beloved ones, is this. People might get angry when you begin to testify and witness about God and about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. They might deny that there’s a God. They may try to make you feel intimidated, insignificant, and dumb for believing in Jesus. But here’s the truth, no matter what they say, Deep down inside, in the heart of their childhood makeup, because deep down inside, everybody’s still a child. Deep down inside, everybody knows there’s a God, because when they came into the world, they were enlightened with that God consciousness. Now, as time goes on, people can suppress it. Maybe they get angry at God. Maybe they get hurt. Maybe they get confused. So they begin to suppress it. But deep down inside, everybody that has ever entered the earth, beloved, had that inner witness, that inner enlightenment that there is in truth a God. And I’m saying this to you because I don’t want you to be intimidated when you share your faith with people and people get angry. People try to cast you once again as insignificant or as small minded or as narrow minded or as a bigot, because the reality is you are right. And deep down inside, everybody knows the truth about the reality of a creator.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he’ll be right back. But first, a quick announcement.
SPEAKER 01 :
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Get your copy of Decoding the Torah at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Now back to Rabbi with the second half of today’s lesson.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s continue on. John chapter one, verse number 10. Speaking of Jesus, he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. In other words, again, people had suppressed the truth and they didn’t understand how God could be in the flesh. This was part of the problem of the Jewish people of Jesus’ day. They had no theological framework in the rabbinical community to understand how God could come into the world clothed in humanity. Now, even now in hindsight, We can see different prophetic scriptures, for example, Isaiah 53, other places in scripture where we see that the Messiah would come into the world through physical lineage. But the rabbinic mindset of Jesus’s day was God is too holy and too separate to ever come into the world as fully man. In other words, that Jesus is fully God and he’s fully man. That Jesus is God clothing himself in humanity and and then dying on the cross for our sin. But the people of Gia State, the rabbinic community, they had no theological framework how this could be. Again, they considered God to be too big, too awesome, too holy to ever be contaminated by humanity in this way. And so he came unto his own, the Jewish people, but they had no theological framework, and so they couldn’t receive him. And I think there’s an important point here. Listen again what John says. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him. I think an application here, beloved one, is this. that Sinai’s people can become so specific about how they think God should act, how they think He should move, what He should look like, that when God shows up, they miss it because they so pigeon-holed Him into their own framework that when God shows up, there’s no room in their small mentality that this could be God. That’s what happened when Jesus came. They had such a wrong conception of what the Messiah would look like that when Jesus actually came, They couldn’t recognize them. And I think it’s important for you and I. For example, I think of end time scenarios. And sometimes people, when they teach on the end times, they’re so specific about how the end times are going to unfold. What is it going to look like on planet Earth? They try to pinpoint, you know, who the Antichrist is, what this nation means in the Bible, what that nation means in the Bible, how this plague is going to unfold, you know, where the Antichrist is going to be, you know, and all these different things. They’re so specific. about how they think end time prophecy will unfold, that I believe that when end time prophecy does unfold, they may completely miss it because they’re not leaving room for the fact that God could show up in a way that’s so much bigger and so much different than the way they’re conceiving. And that’s exactly what happened when Jesus came. Many missed it because they weren’t expecting Him to show up in the way, beloved, that He did. Let’s continue on, verse number 12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name. Now let’s think about this. As many as received him, what does it mean to receive him? Jesus said, I stand at the door and knock. If any man opens up and asks me to come in, I will communion with him and he with me. As many as receive him, Jesus said, if you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have life in yourself. For my flesh is true food, Jesus said, and my blood is true drink. Jesus said, I’m the bread of life. that’s come out of heaven. If you eat me, you’ll live forever. Your fathers, Jesus said, ate the man in the wilderness in the Old Testament, they still died. But Jesus says, anyone that eats this bread, speaking of himself, anyone that receives me, Jesus said, will live forever. And so receiving Jesus, beloved, means to take him in to our inward parts. It means to live by him. Jesus said, if you eat my flesh and drink my blood, Jesus becomes our life. We let go of false crutches to receive our life from Jesus. We wake up in the morning and we recognize, Jesus, you are my life. We begin each day by offering ourselves to God in dependency and in prayer. We depend on God. He becomes our life. We keep on bringing Yeshua into our inner nature more and more and more and more. We receive him. And as we receive Him, beloved, what happens is He imparts His very self to us, His very nature. We begin to see things that we’ve never seen before. We begin to come out of darkness into light. We get supernaturally strengthened by the Ruach HaKadosh. And listen, we begin to understand what it means to be a child of God. Remember John said it in verse 12, but to as many as received Him, To them He gave the right to become the children of God. You see, eternal life is about relationship. Eternal life is about relationship. And when we are called the children of God, this implies relationship. It means that we now are adopted into God’s own family and He is by nature our Father. Listen now, because we’re born of His very Spirit. The very Spirit who is in Jesus, is now in us, and we are now His sons and His daughters. And from this point forward, beloved ones, the trajectory of our lives are about discovering our Father God experiencing His glory, coming to more and more walk in the fullness of being in relationship with Him and what that means, and also coming to grips with our own identities as those that are His very own sons and daughters. This is what life’s about. You see, Jesus said, life consisteth not in the abundance of things. Jesus said, I am the life. And I want to encourage us all today. I want to encourage you and I, the church of God. Listen, everything in this world is coming to an end. Listen, everything in this world is unstable. The economy is unstable. The nations are unstable. More and more nations are getting their hands on nuclear weapons. Countries are going into more and more debt. There’s nothing stable in this world, right? Our bodies begin to degenerate. But one thing will live forever, and that one thing is God himself. Jesus has come into the world, beloved, that we could become the children of God. Jesus said, he that believes in me will never die. I want to encourage you today. Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts. If you know him, he wants you to take him in in a deeper way. If you don’t know him, He wants to have you ask Him to come into your life right now. He loves you and will make you His own. One of the most exciting things that we’ve done as a ministry in recent times is partner with the ministry that is supplying inmates, those that are incarcerated in prison systems, with an app that’s supplied through the prison. And on that app are certain pre-approved programs that inmates can watch while they’re in prison. So I just got a testimony. We’ve been in there for several months now. Over the last two months, 105 incarcerated souls on our app have requested to receive Jesus. How do I receive Jesus? That’s what the icon is on the app. I am so thankful, beloved, because of you and your financial support, we’re able to reach people in prison. I want to thank you for your monthly support. I want to ask you to continue to do so because without your support, we can’t do what we’re doing. And if you’ve never made an offering to the Lord to discover in the Jewish years before, would you consider doing that today?
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Amen, and you can give a financial gift of any amount to Discovering the Jewish Jesus when you visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And if it’s easier for you, just give us a call. Our number is 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. And you can also send your generous financial donations in the mail today. Our address is Discovering the Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777 Blissfield, Michigan 49228. And as a token of our appreciation for your generosity, we want to make sure that you receive our latest newsletter in the mail. Each issue contains additional insights and special moments from Rabbi. Plus, you’ll also be able to see the impact that your giving has around the world through testimonies our listeners send in. And we’ll also send you Rabbi’s exclusive monthly teaching booklet. I believe it’ll be a great blessing. And I want to remind you before we go today, that we have a complimentary resource package right now available to you that explores the Aaronic blessing. It’s a free gift and it includes Rabbi’s detailed PDF guide and an audio MP3 that offers a really fresh perspective on an ancient blessing. You’ll learn why God’s blessing is important for you today and every day. Download your free gift at myfreegift.com forward slash peace. And now with that sacred blessing, here’s Rabbi Schneider.
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In the book of Numbers chapter six, the Lord gave instructions to Moses and Aaron to speak this blessing over his people. And the Lord said, when you speak these words over my people, I will place my name on them and bless them. Receive the impartations of the Lord’s blessings.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 04 :
This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. Join us again tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider discusses a controversial topic, the law and grace. That’s Thursday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
