Have faith in Yeshua, God’s faithful representative

“”Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.”

John 14:1

This statement by Yeshua is a pivotal moment of clarity and intimacy with his disciples. In the waning hours of his life and ministry, he is pouring into his disciples some of his most profound teachings.

Repeatedly throughout this passage, Yeshua claims oneness in unity with his father, God. As God’s authoritative representative on earth, Yeshua is stating that he has fulfilled his mission and his representation of God to his people. Placing their faith in him is the same thing as placing faith and trust in God.

This can only be so because of the Hebrew concept of agency. As God‘s anointed representative, everything Yeshua teaches is exactly what God would teach if he were on the earth. This is why Yeshua has been historically been recognized as God. His representation of God is so perfect, the two become indistinguishable.

Yet, rather than prove his Godhood, this exactness of representation is the very thing that makes him the Messiah, the Anointed One. The whole reason that Yeshua should be believed is because he perfectly represented the heart and will of the Father to his people. Those who were to place their trust in Yeshua would thereby be placing their trust in God.

This concept of agency, which is so common and original to the ancient Hebrew culture understanding, has been minimized or lost through the ages of non-Hebrew Christianity. In its place has arisen the philosophical construct of a trinitarian God which flies in the face of the long established Hebrew concept of the unity and oneness of God, the only true God.

Yeshua was encouraging his disciples to believe in him, not because he was God, but because he had faithfully represented everything God wanted them to know. This is the type of trust and faith that God desires of us: by believing in his Messiah, we are believing in him. And by believing in him, we are considered his children.

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