The Two-Hundred-Seventy-Ninth (Unfinished Business)
- Rob
- Jan 3
- 8 min read
Another year in the books! It was quite an interesting one, and I have a feeling 2026 will have more of the same. Over the course of the past year, I’m sure you probably started something that you didn’t finish. Whether it was a project, a goal, or a massive undertaking, you likely had the best of intentions, maybe even planned it out meticulously, but something else took priority, or you hit a snag while trying to complete it, and had to put it on pause.
I recently started a project and was unable to complete it due to not having enough time. Based on where the project is and how often I go there, I probably won’t be able to finish it for a year. Also, based on that information, I was a bit stressed while I was working on it because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish it, and didn’t want to leave it in an unusable state for that amount of time. Additionally, I didn’t know how far I would be able to get in the project before I had to stop.
It was interesting because when it came to the last two days I would be able to work on it, I just ended up relaxing and deciding to accept whatever state I was going to have to leave it in. Whether that allowed me to get more done in the last day or not, I’m not sure, but I ended up being able to leave it in a usable state for however long it will be that way. Sometimes it’s hard to let ourselves be ok with that type of situation, but especially when we’re letting YHWH lead us we have to be ready to let our own plans take a back seat to what happens in our lives.
Yeshua also had some unfinished business at the end of His ministry and life on earth. If you recall, while He was in the synagogue and did the reading from the scroll of Isaiah, He read from chapter 61, but only the first verse and part of the second (Luke 4:16-21, Isaiah 61:1-2). He stopped before the portion of verse two that mentions the day of YHWH’s vengeance and told the congregation that as they heard those words they were fulfilled. In other words, Yeshua was saying YHWH’s Spirit was upon Him, anointing Him, and He was doing all the things the verses stated.
He went on to talk about how He was a prophet and prophets aren’t accepted in their own hometown. Not only that, He referenced Elijah, who was of the same status as Moses to the Jews, talking about how the people of Elijah’s hometown did not receive any relief from the famine that was going on, but a widow in another city did. He also referenced the situation involving Elisha and Naaman, the leper from Syria (Luke 4:23-27).
Just reading Luke’s account of this event could cause some confusion as to why a prophet wouldn’t be accepted in their own hometown. Mark and Matthew’s accounts give some amplifying information that help us figure this out (Matthew 13:53-57, Mark 6:1-6). It turns out the reason they’re not honored in their hometown is because they grew up there and everyone knew them! They saw the prophet as a child growing up, making mistakes, even sometimes being rebellious to YHWH (except Yeshua, of course), and now they’re speaking for Him?! We can see this attitude especially in Mark and Matthew’s accounts where the people were asking “where did this man get these ideas?” and wondering how He received His wisdom and how He could do miracles.
Also in Matthew and Mark’s accounts, we see references to Yeshua not doing miracles there because of the people’s unbelief. Mark’s account specifically states that He was not able to do miracles due to this fact, but this should make you wonder. How could the Son of YHWH, who had the full power of the Holy Spirit, be unable to do miracles because of other people’s unbelief? And why could He not do miracles but somehow still be able to heal some people? In Matthew’s account, it’s stated that Yeshua “did not” do the miracles, not that he “could not.”
Here again if we take a look at the Hebrew gospel of Mark we find that the wording is quite different for this statement. In the Hebrew version, it says that Yeshua “did not want to” do miracles there because of their “smallness of faith.” Also, in the Hebrew version, it states that the ones He did choose to heal were “little sick ones,” which aligns with other parts of His ministry where He focused on the children.
Another thing to note in these verses is that there is a footnote in the Hebrew version talking about the use of the word “faith.” It states that the literal translation of the Hebrew word there is actually “faithfulness.” In other words, in Hebrew, faith is not just about some intangible feeling or belief in something. Faith is both believing and doing.
This is the kind of thing that gets lost in translation and lost when you try to understand something and you’ve grown up in a different culture. The western culture that Christianity has dominated in does not have this idea of belief and action being connected in the term “faith.” We are taught growing up that faith is just this imaginary sort of thing where we just believe in something we can’t see.
We latch on to verses like those in Hebrews 11 as we try to conceptualize what faith is. We can see obedience referenced (Hebrews 11:4, 7, 8, etc.), but get confused because other verses just talk about believing in things (Hebrews 11:3, 6). Since the obedience references seem to be very specific events that required the individuals to take a given action based on the circumstances, we struggle to apply that part of faith to our understanding. Are we just supposed to wait for YHWH to tell us to build an ark? Or leave our home and go to a foreign land?
While we certainly should be ready and willing to answer those types of calls from YHWH, we also must have day to day obedience to Him. That means understanding and following His commandments. In fact, Yeshua said if we love Him we will keep His commandments (John 14:15).
We did start this week talking about unfinished business though, didn’t we? So, let’s get back to that! Remember, Yeshua stopped His reading before talking about the day of YHWH’s vengeance.
It’s an interesting place to stop, because right afterwards the verse goes back to talking about comforting and the next verse goes on to talk about consoling. These were the same types of things that were in the parts that Yeshua read. So, what’s the deal?
Similar to what’s stated in the most quoted verses out of the entirety of scripture, John 3:16-17, Yeshua’s earthly ministry was not about vengeance. He was there to gather His lost sheep (Matthew 15:24). He was there to point out where the shepherds went wrong (Matthew 23:13-33), and give them an opportunity to repent. While He eventually did prophesy of the vengeance that would come upon those who wouldn’t repent (Matthew 23:34-36), in the beginning of His ministry, when He read from Isaiah, He was still only healing and doing miracles rather than proclaiming vengeance.
The unfinished business was the execution of that vengeance. He mentioned it in His ministry (Matthew 16:27), tying it to when He comes in “His Father’s glory.” In fact, He even gave a time period for it to occur, saying that it would happen within the time of the generation He was speaking to (Matthew 16:28).
We see the coming in His Father’s glory elsewhere as well. He talked about being ashamed of those who were ashamed of Him and His words when He came in that glory (Mark 8:37). Luke also records these words, but adds “in His glory” to the “in His Father’s glory” (Luke 9:26).
This is a bit of a conundrum because we have a separation of these two glories everywhere but in Luke’s account. Yeshua speaks of one or the other, His glory or His Father’s glory, every time He mentions them, and only in Luke do we find them mentioned simultaneously. Luke’s account also has the timeframe mentioned in Matthew (Luke 9:27).
Based on what we’ve seen throughout our studies thus far, there are three possible explanations for this. Either both of these glories are the same, the glories are different but the events described in Luke’s account apply to both of them, or this is the same type of translator addition we saw elsewhere when we compared the Hebrew versions of the writings, and the translator for Luke inserted “in His glory” based on his understanding of all the gospel writings and attempting to help the reader understand them. Unfortunately, we don’t have a translated Hebrew version of Luke yet for us to test the last hypothesis.
Until we have that Hebrew version to compare to the Greek, we have to make our best guess at what this verse means. Personally, I believe that based on all other references to the glories of the Son of Man, Yeshua, and none of them being referenced together, that these are two separate prophecies from Yeshua about future events. In one event, Yeshua returns in His Father’s glory, a glory that involves coming on the clouds and in Old Testament scripture is nearly always about vengeance. In another event, Yeshua returns in His glory.
References to His Father’s glory include a relatively short timeline. Yeshua prophesied that He would be ashamed of those in “this adulterous and sinful generation,” (Mark 8:38), and that it would happen before some standing in front of Him would die (Matthew 16:28, Luke 9:27). If we connect it to coming on the clouds, as it is described in the Old Testament, we see a repeat of the timeline of occurring within the generation Yeshua was speaking to (Matthew 24:30, 34).
On the other hand, the Son of Man coming in His glory has no timeline to start associated with it. It involves a separation of the wicked from the righteous, into everlasting destruction or everlasting life, respectively (Matthew 25:31-46). It is a time where He sits on His throne and executes judgment.
Based on all this, I believe Yeshua came in His Father’s glory to execute vengeance on the rebellious and disobedient of His people during the events surrounding the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 70AD. I also believe we can look forward to a coming of Yeshua in His glory in the future. This is what the majority of Christians would call the “second coming.”
So, even Yeshua had unfinished business to take care of, but it was all in the overall plan! In order for that unfinished business to be completed, He had to go through what He did on earth and then continue His work after His death! I don’t know about you, but that puts things into perspective for me! Whether we are able to complete our projects or we have to put them on an extended pause, just remember once we’re made alive again we’ll have all of eternity to complete whatever we desire!
We hope you have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
The Gospel
We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)
The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)
Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)
His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death
He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life
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