From Eliyahu
Consider this:
The Hall of Hewn Stones was the
council-chamber of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period (6th
century BC – 1st century AD). This was the High Court of all Judea,
making it imposing enough. It's construction and location magnified its
imposing character far more. It was built directly into the north wall of
the Temple in Jerusalem, halfway inside the Sanctuary itself and halfway
outside, providing access both to the Temple and to the outside, with
impressive massive doors, complete with armed guards. Its huge stone
construction, built right into the Sanctuary, seemed to make it part of
heaven itself.
Inside was the realm of the High Priesthood and the Sanhedrin, consisting of
the most educated and imminent experts, in everything pertaining to the
highly-venerated laws, customs, and traditions of the ancients, by which the
elite ruled the riff-raff far beneath their lofty station. And with those
elites, as with all the halls of great power, was to be found the officers
and functionaries of the bureaucracy that supported all the high court's
business.
All of this makes it obvious why the common citizen of the land never wanted
to find himself inside The Hall of Hewn Stones. It was far too imposing
and altogether dangerous to even approach. That is what makes this account
so amazing.
One day in the late spring of 33 AD two common fishermen were arrested.
Their now-anglicized names were Peter and John. The Captain of the Temple police
arrested them and threw them into a cell overnight. The next day they found
themselves standing in chains in The Hall of Hewn Stones, facing the entire
body of Judea's eminent judges. There were reports that these two men had
perpetrated a highly troublesome act in Solomon's Portico, as follows:
These two fisherman had encountered a beggar who was lame from birth, who
daily appealed to the mercy of passers-by in the public area of the Temple
complex. Apparently that day, with Peter
and John passing by, the lame man got more than he was asking for. Peter and John
didn't just walk by, or even throw the man a coin. Instead, in the name of "Yeshua Messiah the Nazorean"
they instantly healed the man. "Leaping up, he stood, and began to walk."
The crowd "recognized him, that it was he who used to sit begging for gifts
for the needy at the Yafeh Gate of the Temple. They were filled with wonder
and amazement at what had happened to him."
Of course, the Temple establishment could not have common fishermen making a
public ruckus like this right under their noses, in their domain, thus
requiring the arrest of the two offending perpetrators. So here the next
morning, we have Peter and John standing in chains, in the middle of The
Hall of Hewn Stones, surrounded by the "rulers, elders, and scribes, Annas
the High Priest, Caiaphas, ..and as many as were relatives of the high
priest" - probably a hundred people or more. All of them were staring at the two accused peasants from Galilee, and
the formerly lame beggar standing with them as a witness. |
 
Normally, reduced to
insignificance by the imposing spectacle now confronting Peter and John, accused peasants would be cowering before the court like whipped puppies.
That this did not happen with these two fishermen is extraordinary. In
fact, the confidence and competence with which they conducted themselves
before the court is itself a miracle.
The story of what was said and how this all turned out can be found in Acts
Chapter Three. Go and read it for the details. What I am interested in here
is, how this elite court reacted to the completely unrehearsed yet airtight
defense that was so boldly and eloquently presented. The elite were utterly
gobstopped. The account says:
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that
they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that
they had been with Yeshua! Seeing the man who was healed standing with them,
they could say nothing against it."
(Acts 4:13-14)
Snobs that they were, this was a
huge disconnect for those elites. They could not imagine how common men,
whom they considered "unlearned and ignorant" (so far as their religious
system was concerned) could comport themselves before their highest court
with confidence, and even eloquence. Then the light bulb came on - "they had
been with Yeshua!"
Oh, they knew that name. Just a
few years earlier, some of those same people were calling Yeshua
"uneducated", only to receive a much needed lesson in humility. After
observing Yeshua teaching at the Temple, "the Judeans therefore marveled,
saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”"
Yeshua had not been educated as part of their religious system, and they
knew it. However, to their chagrin, He often engaged them and always bested
them, until they gave up trying to win. Yeshua explained how He did it.
Yeshua therefore answered
them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone desires
to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from
Elohim, or if I am speaking from myself. He who speaks from himself
seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is
true, and no unrighteousness is in him."
John 7:14-18
For Yeshua, it was always about
His Father's Will. His teaching came from His Father. Academics are fine to
a point, but can never equal the level of truth that comes directly from the
Father and His Son! The pure truth is in and from Him. No wonder those
religionists, only weeks earlier, resorted to killing Yeshua to shut Him up.
And now - now these fishermen were telling everyone that Yeshua had been
raised from the dead and was sitting at the right hand of God in heaven!
Further, they were even doing miracles to support their claims. Troublesome
indeed.
For 3+ years Peter and John had
walked with Yeshua - now, they were behaving just like Him! Now, they were
imbued, often in the very instant needed, with the truth from above, just as
He had been. This was not just head knowledge either. This truth radiated
from within, through the heart and spirit of the disciple, with the boldness
of the Son of God, to say and do the will of the Father. How is this sort of
revolutionary change even possible, let alone in such a short time?
The Sermon on the Mount is the
first complete teaching of Yeshua to be found in the Gospels. It is
foundational to entrance into the Kingdom. It is both an invitation and an
initiation for Yeshua's talmidim. Many took up that call. His closest men
were utterly and completely changed by walking with Him for the three and a
half years of His earthly ministry. They became His witnesses, empowered
with miracle-working faith they got from Him. After Yeshua's death,
resurrection and ascension to heaven those men gave the rest of their lives
to their mission, and turned the world upside-down with His teaching. The
Sermon on the Mount is a seed that grew into a Great Tree. It is still
growing, and there is room in its branches for you.
Tonight we consider the
amazing conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, in which Yeshua reveals the
secret of how the same thing that happened to change very ordinary people
like Peter and John into extraordinary powerhouses of the Kingdom - how that
same thing can happen for you!
Join us for our live-stream broadcast tonight,
August
15, at Tsiyon.Net
at 8 PM, Central, for the last and best part of the most amazing
sermon ever recorded in the history of the world! No, that is not
Hyperbole.
In His Name,
Eliyahu
Tsiyon.Org
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