John 20
John 20:1
Now on the first day of the week, Miriam Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.
The Tabernacle was raised on the first day,
“It happened on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel.”
Leviticus 9:1
Chabad.org comments,
“It was “the eighth day” because it followed a seven-day “training” period, during which the Mishkan was erected each morning and and disassembled each evening, and Aaron and his four sons were initiated into the kehunah (priesthood). But it was also a day which our Sages describe as possessing many “firsts”: it was a Sunday, the first day of the week; it was the 1st of Nissan, marking the beginning of a new year; it was the first day that the Divine Presence came to dwell in the Sanctuary; the first day of the kehunah; the first day of the service in the Sanctuary; and so on. There is even an opinion that this was the anniversary of the creation of the universe.”
Chabad.org, The Eighth Dimension
Chabad.org continues,
“If the number seven defines the natural reality, eight represents that which is higher than nature…In contrast, eight represents the introduction of a reality that is beyond all nature and definition, including the definition transcendence. This eighth dimension (if we can call it a dimension) has no limitations at all: it transcends and pervades, being beyond nature yet also fully present within it, being equally beyond matter and spirit and equally within them. . the messianic seventh millennium of history will be followed by the ultimate “eight”: the supra-historical World to Come (Olam Ha-ba), in which the divine reality will unite with the created reality in ways that we cannot even speculate upon in a world in which finite and infinite are mutually exclusive.”
Chabad.org, The Eighth Dimension
John 20:2
Therefore she ran and came to Shimon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Yeshua loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!”
John 20:3
Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb.
John 20:4
They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first.
John 20:5
Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter in.
John 20:6
Then Shimon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying,
John 20:7
and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself.
John 20:8
So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed.
John 20:9
For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
John 20:10
So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
John 20:11
But Miriam was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb,
John 20:12
and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Yeshua had lain.
John 20:13
They told her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.”
John 20:14
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing, and didn’t know that it was Yeshua.
John 20:15
Yeshua said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
Why does John include the unusual detail that she supposed him to be the “gardener”? The answer is found in Genesis,
“The HaShem Elokim planted a garden eastward (miqedem), in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
Genesis 2:8
As Adam is formed from the dust of the earth, so is the Son of Man raised from the dust. Rebbe Nachman says,
Those who draw close to a true Tzaddik have a taste of the Garden of Eden. For “the Tzaddik is the gardener of the garden” (Zohar II, 166b)
Sichot Haran #252, cited in The Essential Rebbe Nachman, translated by R’ Avraham Greenbaum
The Messiah is the ‘Gardener’ who desires to be close to us, and walk with us again. The Messiah speaks with the woman alone in the garden to bring tikkun for the snake speaking with the first woman in the garden. Now The Holy Mashiach has reversed the curse and will return us to the Garden of Eden. The Holy Snake has crushed the head of the primeval serpent, and he has destroyed death.
John 20:16
Yeshua said to her, Miriam. She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, ‘Great Teacher!’
John 20:17
Yeshua said to her, “Do not hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
John 20:18
Miriam Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.
John 20:19
When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Judeans, Yeshua came and stood in the midst, and said to them, Peace be to you.
John 20:20
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord.
John 20:21
Yeshua therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
John 20:22
When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit!
Why does Yeshua “breathe on them”? What is the significance of this? In Genesis it says,
וַיִּיצֶר יי אֱלֹקִים אֶת־הָֽאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַֽיְהִי הָֽאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃
“HaShem Elokim formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Genesis 2:7
Where does the Breath of Life enter? Into the nostrils! In Lamentations, it reveals the secret of the Breath of Life:
רוּחַ אַפֵּינוּ מְשִׁיחַ יי
“The breath of our nostrils, the Messiah of the L-RD, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”
Lamentations 4:20
The breath of our nostrils is the Messiah. The Mashiach is the one who resurrects the dead. Chaim Kramer, of the Breslov Research Institute writes,
“Mashiach is represented by the “nose,” our source of life and breath. . . As long as we breathe the breath of hope – the breath of prayer and reliance upon God – there is hope that Mashiach will come and fully purify our lives. The verse states (Lamentations 4:2), “The breath of our nostrils [is] the Mashiach of God.”
Mashiach, Who, What Why, How Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 71
Amazingly, the breath breathed into Adam occurred on Rosh HaShanah, the day of Resurrection:
“Man becomes a living, sentient being when God breathes His breath into him, transforming him from physical matter into a living hybrid of the physical and spiritual. When we blow the shofar on the day of Man’s creation, it serves as a memorial to that first breath, the divine breath of life blown at the dawn of Creation, on Rosh Hashana.”
Aish.com, M’oray HaAish, R. Ari Kahn: The Sound of the Shofar
R’ Chaim Kramer then makes an astonishing statement:
“…just as breathing sustains each person, whether one is conscious of it or not, so too, Mashiach, the world’s ultimate rectification, has sustained the world from its inception, whether we are conscious of it or not.”
Mashiach, Who, What Why, How Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 44
Just as prayer links to the incense, Kramer notes,
“Mashiach will “breathe the fear of God,” since his soul is rooted in the place of breathing, the nose. And this “nose,” the source of life of the Mashiach, alludes to prayer. Rebbe Nachman thus taught: Mashiach’s main weapon is prayer…” Thus prayer is represented by the nose. And the nose is breathing, life itself.”
Mashiach, Who, What Why, How Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 42
He continues,
“…[Mashiach’s] “breathing” will have a very positive effect upon mankind. . . The breath that Mashiach will breathe will emanate from the Torah and its 613 mitzvot. This is “The spirit of God [that] hovered over the waters.” The spirit is Mashiach and the waters are the Torah. Mashiach’s spirit is embedded in the Torah and he will draw his breath, the awe of God, from it. With this spirit, he will be able to “breathe into others” filing them with an awe and respect for God.”
Mashiach, Who, What, Why, How, Where, When, Chaim Kramer, Breslov Research Institute, pg.63
John 20:23
If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.
“May everything be permitted you, may everything be forgiven you, may everything be allowed you. There does not exist any vow, oath, nazirism, cherem, prohibition, konam, ostracism or curse. But there does exist pardon, forgiveness, and atonement. And just as the earthly court permits them, so may they be permitted in the Heavenly Court.”
Rosh HaShanah Machzor, Seder Hatarat Nedarim, K’hal Publishing, pg. 7
John 20:24
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Yeshua came.
John 20:25
The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.
John 20:26
After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Yeshua came, the doors being locked, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace be to you.”
“Imagine being able to walk through walls. You wouldn’t bother with opening doors; you could pass right through them…Imagine being able to disappear or reappear at will. Instead of driving to school or work, you would just vanish and rematerialize in your classroom or office…You would be hailed as a master surgeon, with the ability to repair the internal organs of patients without ever cutting the skin…No secrets could be kept from us. No treasures could be hidden from us. No obstructions could stop us. We would truly be miracle workers, performing feats beyond the comprehension of mortals. We would also be omnipotent. What being could possess such God-like power? The answer: a being from a higher dimensional world.”
Michio Kaku, Hyperspace, Chapter 2, Anchor Books, pg. 46
John 20:27
Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:28
Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God!
John 20:29
Yeshua said to him, Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.
In Isaiah 54 it says,
“Behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of agates, and your gates of garnet, and all your borders of pleasant stones.”
Isaiah 54:11-12
R’ Yochanan, commenting on this passage from Isaiah, echoes Yeshua’s words to his disciple,
“And your gates of garnet.” R. Johanan sat and gave an exposition: “The Holy One, blessed be He, will in time to come bring precious stones and pearls which are thirty cubits by thirty and will cut out from them openings, and will set them up in the gates of Jerusalem.” A certain student sneered at him: “Jewels of the size of a dove’s egg are not to be found! Are jewels of such a size to be found?” After a time, (the student’s) ship sailed out to sea where he saw ministering angels engaged in cutting precious stones and pearls which were thirty cubits by thirty . . . He said unto them: “For whom are these?” They replied that the Holy One, blessed be He, would in time to come set them up in the gates of Jerusalem. When he came again before R. Johanan he said unto him: “Expound, O my master; it is becoming for you to expound; as you said, so have I seen.” He replied unto him: “Raca, had you not seen, would not you have believed?”
Talmud, Baba Batra 75b, Soncino Press Edition
John 20:30
Therefore Yeshua did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book;
