WHAT A BLESSING
by Jeremy Chance Springfield
5/6/19

What a blessing it is to have the Gospel accounts that provide us with a powerful Messianic portrait! The four records are filled with details forming the puzzle depicting the intricate mind of the Most High as He worked our redemption so wonderfully. Each one has its own unique aspects and nuances serving to bless our understanding of Messiah’s redemptive work in important ways. The Gospel of Luke is of particular interest among them all in that the evangelist endeavored to collect and chronicle apparently as much information from eye-witnesses and other Messianically-related individuals, providing the reader with a presentation that, while very familiar to the accounts of Matthew and Mark, is yet also fresh and full of scattered details not always contained in its counterparts. It is an excellent example of the nuances that hold necessary material for us to appreciate the ministry of the Messiah.
In particular, Luke’s Gospel concludes with a truly hope-filled and beautiful scene about how the Messiah made a parting impression upon His students. After resurrecting from the dead, the Messiah Yeshua appears to them and proves that He has been bodily restored to life by the power of the Most High. In a final account as chronicled briefly by the evangelist, Yeshua is said to have ascended triumphantly into the heavens before the eyes of His awe-filled students.
In particular, Luke’s Gospel concludes with a truly hope-filled and beautiful scene about how the Messiah made a parting impression upon His students. After resurrecting from the dead, the Messiah Yeshua appears to them and proves that He has been bodily restored to life by the power of the Most High. In a final account as chronicled briefly by the evangelist, Yeshua is said to have ascended triumphantly into the heavens before the eyes of His awe-filled students.
What is important to note first in this information is that it is a succinct presentation of the account found elaborated upon further in the opening verses of the book of Acts, which was also penned by Luke. However, while the opening passage of Acts relates the ascension of Yeshua in a fuller manner, it leaves out a seemingly passing detail mentioned in the end of the Gospel. Luke 24:50-51 tells us that Yeshua spoke a blessing over the students prior to His heavenly ascension.

50 And He took them out unto Beth-Anya, and lifted His hands, and blessed them.
51 And it happened that while He blessed them, He was separated from them, and ascended to the heavens.
50 And He took them out unto Beth-Anya, and lifted His hands, and blessed them.
51 And it happened that while He blessed them, He was separated from them, and ascended to the heavens.

Luke was compelled to record a unique detail not preserved by the writers of any of the other Messianic accounts immediately before the ascent of Messiah is mentioned. This blessing is only spoken of here at the end of this Gospel. Strangely enough, while Luke felt the need to expand upon what it was that actually occurred between Yeshua and His students in the moments leading up to His ascension, as we find recorded in Acts chapter 1, the evangelist did not make an effort to record the blessing that was spoken over the students at the departure of their exalted rabbi.
That may seem like an odd choice for Luke to make. What would compel the evangelist to mention the blessing initially in his abbreviated Gospel account of those events, and then just omit it entirely in the subsequent chronicle that expanded upon what all was actually spoken at that glorious moment? Surely there is a good reason for why Luke did not take the time to share the content of the blessing uttered over the students by Yeshua as He lifted into the sky?
Thankfully, the key to the answer is in the text itself!
To appreciate why the evangelist omitted the utterance of the blessing, we have to examine a detail provided for us in the text of Luke. Notice the mention that Yeshua “lifted His hands” and then blessed the students. This detail is actually vital for us to understand what Yeshua said to them.
That may seem like an odd choice for Luke to make. What would compel the evangelist to mention the blessing initially in his abbreviated Gospel account of those events, and then just omit it entirely in the subsequent chronicle that expanded upon what all was actually spoken at that glorious moment? Surely there is a good reason for why Luke did not take the time to share the content of the blessing uttered over the students by Yeshua as He lifted into the sky?
Thankfully, the key to the answer is in the text itself!
To appreciate why the evangelist omitted the utterance of the blessing, we have to examine a detail provided for us in the text of Luke. Notice the mention that Yeshua “lifted His hands” and then blessed the students. This detail is actually vital for us to understand what Yeshua said to them.
In the Torah, the Holy One actually prescribed a special blessing for His people. It is recorded in the book of Numbers 6:22-27.

22 And YHWH spoke unto Mosheh, saying,
23 “Speak unto Aharon, and unto his sons, saying, ‘Thus shall you bless the sons of Yisra’el, saying to them:
24 “YHWH bless you, and guard you;
25 YHWH shine His face upon you, and favor you;
26 YHWH lift His face upon you and establish peace for you.”’
27 And they shall establish My name upon the sons of Yisra’el, and I shall bless them.”
23 “Speak unto Aharon, and unto his sons, saying, ‘Thus shall you bless the sons of Yisra’el, saying to them:
24 “YHWH bless you, and guard you;
25 YHWH shine His face upon you, and favor you;
26 YHWH lift His face upon you and establish peace for you.”’
27 And they shall establish My name upon the sons of Yisra’el, and I shall bless them.”
This blessing became known in Judaism by the title BIRKAT HAKOHANIM “the priestly blessing,” or otherwise referred to as the Aaronic Benediction. This is basically the ultimate blessing given to the Hebrew people, for it is spoken over the nation by the officiating priest at the direct command of the Holy One. It marks us as His own quite definitively.
The manner in which this blessing would be carried out is explicitly recorded for us in the ancient witness of the Temple rites as preserved in the text of the Mishnah, in Sotah 7:6.
The manner in which this blessing would be carried out is explicitly recorded for us in the ancient witness of the Temple rites as preserved in the text of the Mishnah, in Sotah 7:6.

The Mishnah tells us blatantly that the special utterance of the blessing was to be performed, among other details, with the lifting of the hands of the speaker. This is exactly the form that Yeshua is recorded as using when the text tells us He blessed the students before His ascension. Thus, the reason Luke did not take any effort to explain the blessing spoken by Yeshua at His departure is because this lifting of the hands was detail enough for his original readers to have understood what the content of that blessing would have been. Every Jewish person reading the account would have immediately recognized that the content of the blessing was from the Torah when he mentioned Yeshua lifted hands to speak a blessing over them. This answer is even further supported when the reader recalls to whom Luke wrote both his Gospel and Acts: Theophilus. The identity of Theophilus was none other than a former high priest in the Holy Temple – a detail the reader can learn more about in my study: A HIGH PRIEST IN HELL. Suffice it to say, Theophilus would have been all too familiar with the relevance of Yeshua lifting His hands and blessing the students; Yeshua uttered the content of Numbers 6:24-26 and so performed the traditional priestly stance in doing this.

The fact that He spoke the priestly blessing over the students is a beautiful detail for us to consider. The obvious intent is in its assumption that Yeshua was acting in a priestly role. As a man from the tribe of Judah, this would appear initially odd, as only those from the tribe of Levi who were in the line of Aharon could function as priests for the people. A person in the Davidic line would not typically be viewed in a priestly fashion. Only the King Messiah holds the unique status of performing in a dual ruler/intercessor role before the Most High. Therefore, as Yeshua came bodily from the tribe of Judah, and in His ministry took the mantle of the Messiah, He alone possesses the merit to engage in a priestly function, albeit apart from the Levitical role of a priest. His role as such is to be enacted in the higher heavenly realm, so it is absolutely proper for Him to engage in an act of priestly nature immediately before He is taken into the heavenlies to initiate that supernal intercession for Israel. The entire book of Hebrews is geared to the unique placement He now holds in heavenly Temple counterpart, and the reader is advised to dig deeply into that text to better appreciate how His role is significant in that way apart from the earthly Levitical role. The raising of the hands at the moment of Yeshua’s ascension is thus a simple act loudly announcing to all ancient readers that the Messiah is moving into the intercessory role, as prophecy mandated.
However, more can be said to the reason why Yeshua used the priestly blessing at the moment the text records for us that He did so. According to the Talmud, tractate Chagigah 16a, it was improper for anyone hearing the priestly blessing to gaze at the priest while he raised his hands to invoke the blessing. It was viewed as potentially dangerous to look upon one who was taking the Name of the Holy One upon his lips at that most special of moments.
However, more can be said to the reason why Yeshua used the priestly blessing at the moment the text records for us that He did so. According to the Talmud, tractate Chagigah 16a, it was improper for anyone hearing the priestly blessing to gaze at the priest while he raised his hands to invoke the blessing. It was viewed as potentially dangerous to look upon one who was taking the Name of the Holy One upon his lips at that most special of moments.
This detail is very interesting to consider. Immediately after His resurrection from the dead, when Yeshua appeared finally to all His students, He made a point for them to realize He was, indeed, a physical person. This is recorded for us just a few verses back in our passage from Luke. In 24:39-40, we read what parts He emphasizes to them.

39 You must see My hands and My feet, that it is I! You must handle Me, and you must recognize that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as that you see there is for Me!”
40 And while these He spoke, He showed them His hands and His feet.

It was important for the students to know He truly had been raised from the dead – that they were not instead interacting with just the spirit of their former rabbi. The key to His Messianic claim was that He would die and bodily rise from death as its conqueror to provide such triumph to all who attach themselves to His merit. This meant He needed to show them proof of His corporeality, and to that end, He offered up His hands and feet to be touched as evidence of His humanity intact even after death and the ravages of three days of decomposition. He truly was restored to life, and the holes in His hands and feet, the gruesome scars that still yet marred His restored flesh, were truth enough He was the same rabbi they had watched be mortally crucified a mere days before.
The traditional edict to not look upon the priest who had hands lifted during the priestly blessing was something everyone would have known to do. It is like the bowing of the head when a speaker initiates a prayer for many believers in modern times – essentially everyone knows to do it. The practice of not looking has likewise continued down through the millennia to this very day, so that when the priestly blessing is recited in a synagogue, it is still customary to drop one’s gaze away from the speaker.
The traditional edict to not look upon the priest who had hands lifted during the priestly blessing was something everyone would have known to do. It is like the bowing of the head when a speaker initiates a prayer for many believers in modern times – essentially everyone knows to do it. The practice of not looking has likewise continued down through the millennia to this very day, so that when the priestly blessing is recited in a synagogue, it is still customary to drop one’s gaze away from the speaker.

In fact, the gaze of the person who hears the priestly blessing is supposed to fall from the face and hands of the speaker to rest instead upon his feet, in order that the listener not turn away from the blessing, but also keep eyes from looking at something they should not at that time. When we take this amazing factor into account with the uttering of the priestly blessing by Yeshua, whose hands were lifted, and the students all averting their gaze to rest at the feet of the Messiah, we are thus left with a breathtakingly beautiful situation.
It should also be recalled that the text from Luke 24:51 gives the detail that as Yeshua was engaged in pronouncing the priestly blessing over the students, which means their eyes would have instinctively fallen to His feet out of a lifetime of recalling proper Temple protocol for that blessing, that it was at that very moment that He started to ascend into the sky before their very eyes! The students, gazing at the feet of Yeshua, would have immediately watched in wonder those scarred feet lifting off the ground as Yeshua began His ascent into the heavens in the sight of everyone present! With this information known, one can only ponder if the Messiah was perhaps uttering the part of the blessing that contains the words of Numbers 6:26 – “YHWH lift His face…” just as His own feet began to lift from the earth.
However it may have happened as He was lifted into the sky, what a truly momentous situation it was, and the Holy One orchestrated everything so that His people would not miss a thing in that blessed event! As they heard the familiar and beloved priestly blessing begin to be spoken from the lips of Yeshua over their own hearts as His hands were raised, their eyes dropped to His scarred feet – feet that were miraculously leaving the earth as Messiah acted in the power of the Most High. In all of this we see it was the comprehensiveness within the brevity of Luke’s chronicle that preserved the beauty of that intimate moment for everyone who would have been familiar with the rites and customs of the day. What a blessing he chose to record, as masterfully as he did, the information which possesses the key to appreciating what was really happening at that precious moment!
It should also be recalled that the text from Luke 24:51 gives the detail that as Yeshua was engaged in pronouncing the priestly blessing over the students, which means their eyes would have instinctively fallen to His feet out of a lifetime of recalling proper Temple protocol for that blessing, that it was at that very moment that He started to ascend into the sky before their very eyes! The students, gazing at the feet of Yeshua, would have immediately watched in wonder those scarred feet lifting off the ground as Yeshua began His ascent into the heavens in the sight of everyone present! With this information known, one can only ponder if the Messiah was perhaps uttering the part of the blessing that contains the words of Numbers 6:26 – “YHWH lift His face…” just as His own feet began to lift from the earth.
However it may have happened as He was lifted into the sky, what a truly momentous situation it was, and the Holy One orchestrated everything so that His people would not miss a thing in that blessed event! As they heard the familiar and beloved priestly blessing begin to be spoken from the lips of Yeshua over their own hearts as His hands were raised, their eyes dropped to His scarred feet – feet that were miraculously leaving the earth as Messiah acted in the power of the Most High. In all of this we see it was the comprehensiveness within the brevity of Luke’s chronicle that preserved the beauty of that intimate moment for everyone who would have been familiar with the rites and customs of the day. What a blessing he chose to record, as masterfully as he did, the information which possesses the key to appreciating what was really happening at that precious moment!
All study contents Copyright Jeremy Chance Springfield, except for graphics and images, which are Copyright their respective creators.