. . . birds came along and devoured it . . . it withered away . . . it yielded no grain . . .”
-Mark 4:4, 6, 7.

Parables are usually connected to a scripture text or several of them. They often explain something puzzling about God and his relation to his people, or something unstated or mysterious in a text.

Yeshua understood a startling truth found in Isaiah 6, one that naturally leads any thoughtful reader to ask questions. Modern readers of the Sower parable (Mk 4; Mt 13; Lk 8) tend not to realize that the parable is commenting on a text. The text is Isaiah 6. It is not a randomly chosen or obscure passage. It is the chapter in which Isaiah saw God’s Throne above with his kingly robes coming down and filling the Temple (Isa 6:1). It is the “holy, holy, holy” passage with the Seraphim (the burning ones). It is the commission of the prophet Isaiah.

Yeshua, prophet and Messiah, has a mission which can be compared to Isaiah’s. Yet the puzzling thing about Isaiah’s commission is that he was sent to tell the people about God’s desire for them in that moment in history and yet his words would paradoxically cause greater judgment. God said to Isaiah:

Go, say to that people: ‘Hear, indeed, but do not understand; see, indeed, but do not grasp.’ Dull that people’s mind, stop its ears, and seal its eyes — lest, seeing with its eyes and hearing with its ears, it also grasp with its mind, and repent and save itself.
-Isaiah 6:9-10, JPS.

These words are so surprising, so ironic, many readers need to give them multiple readings to understand what they are saying.

Isaiah was a kingdom prophet. Yeshua was a kingdom prophet. The kingdom is God’s rule over his people and all the cosmos. Isn’t telling people about the kingdom good news? On the contrary, in many cases it is bad news. The simple in understanding think that true instruction will be easily recognized and that great promises will be believed and acted upon.

The easiest criticism of Yeshua is that his message was so little heeded. If he was Messiah, or even a true prophet, why didn’t he bring about the renewal of Israel? Why wasn’t the earth redeemed? Why didn’t the world to come start in his day? Where is the messianic redemption with all the promises of every person under their vine and fig tree?

Parables, according to the early rabbis in the land of Israel, were especially founded in Israel as a way of teaching by Solomon (see Song of Songs Rabbah, first chapter). They interpreted Mishlei (Proverbs) and Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) as illustrations of Torah truths. They saw Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs/Solomon) as figures of God’s dealings with Israel at the Exodus and Sinai. The figure or simile or parable (mashal) explains something about a scripture text.

The Sower parable is about good news that is bad news. It explains first and foremost how a true prophet (Isaiah, Yeshua) can speak what is good and yet he will not be heard. It explains how a generation can be so close to devastation (Isaiah’s in the Assyrian and Babylonian crises and Yeshua’s in the coming war with Rome) even though the kingdom is proclaimed. It explains how disciple circles can form and preserve the teaching for the future.

Isaiah’s words did not prevent Israel and Judah from collapsing, nor did Yeshua’s. But Isaiah’s words and Yeshua’s words did lead to the formation of disciple circles. They were passed down generation to generation.

The Sower parable is rich. To begin to understand it, realize it is a commentary on Isaiah 6. Realize first that it is about our human tendency not to receive the message. It is not our responsibility to bring the messianic era. The king will bring the kingdom. But he who has ears to hear will understand why it is delayed. We bear fruit while we wait.

If you would like to follow this series, here is Part 1.

To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables.
-Mark 4:11

“Kingdom” is not “afterlife” exactly and it is not “people of Israel” or “people of the Church.” The modern reader tends to inject meanings into Yeshua’s words that are not there. Looking in the words of Messiah for a message on how to qualify for a good afterlife, it is natural for many to see in the word “kingdom” a code word for “going to heaven.” This is a problem compounded by the fact that Matthew, the best-known gospel for many Bible readers, uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven” instead of “kingdom of God.” But, as many will rightly point out, “heaven” here stands for “God.” It is a euphemism, like saying “in the eyes of heaven.”

Another temptation is to see “kingdom” as either “the nation of people known as Israel” or “the visible institution of the church.” Christian pastors sometimes ask people to “work for the kingdom” with the understanding that “church is the kingdom.” In Judaism, “kingship of God” is a more common notion than “kingdom.” This is because Judaism, like Yeshua, is immersed in the Hebrew Bible.

What does Messiah mean when he says “to you” (the inner circle, those who come to me after my teaching and ask questions) is given the “secret of the kingdom” but to everyone else (outsiders who sit on the hills and listen from afar, hoping to catch a glimpse of a miracle) there are only “parables”?

Does he mean that the parables are not about the kingdom? Is the idea that the parables are teasers, mere hints, but that somewhere else we should look for Messiah’s real teaching? If so, where do we find this teaching?

No, it is not that there are two sets of teaching exactly, although the inner circle does get more explanation and teaching than the hill-sitters get. But rather, it is the whole package. Those who become part of Messiah’s disciple circle (not just the Twelve, but at least one hundred and twenty by the time of Acts 1) receive the secret. And the secret is not just one thing. It is many things.

Those who were in Messiah’s disciple circle, the ones who were fortunate enough to be there in Galilee and Judea so long ago, saw the actions of Messiah, got private explanations, and went through the experience of disappointment, terror, disbelief, startling realization, overwhelming joy, and sense of empowerment through the trial, death, burial, resurrection, commission, and ascension of Yeshua. The secret was being in the disciple circle. It was asking questions. It was watching Messiah do messianic things. It was seeing the kingdom in action. It was living through the greatest misunderstanding about kingdom (that death and suffering lead to the reign of God).

It is possible to be in Messiah’s disciple circle now. The requirement is a willingness to consider his words and actions. The requirement is to do this with others. The requirement is to believe.

In this series, I will explore a little at a time the details of Messiah’s parables and what they mean about the kingdom, future and present. What is the kingdom exactly? What does a first century Jewish teacher mean when he says “kingdom of God”? How do we apply this?

Lois Tverberg’s newest book is about Jesus in his Jewish context, or more specifically, how to understand the ethics of Jesus in Jewish context.

Rabbi Dust

PARABLES IN ALL THREE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

• New Cloth – Mk 2, Mt 9, Lk 5
• New Wine – Mk 2, Mt 9, Lk 5
• Mustard Seed – Mk 4, Mt 13, Lk 13
• Sower – Mk 4, Mt 13, Lk 8
• Wicked Tenants – Mk 12, Mt 21, Lk 20
• Fig Tree – Mk 13, Mt 24, Lk 21

PARABLES IN TWO SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

• House on the Rock – Mt 7, Lk 6
• Leaven – Mt 13, Lk 13
• Lost Sheep – Mt 18, Lk 15

PARABLE IN ONLY ONE GOSPEL

• Barren Fig Tree – Lk 13
• Net – Mt 13
• Good Samaritan – Lk 10
• Pearl of Great Price – Mt 13
• Great Banquet – Lk 14
• Hidden Treasure – Mt 13
• Master of the House – Mk 13
• Laborers in the Vineyard – Mt 20
• Marriage Banquet – Mt 22
• Pharisee and Tax Collector – Lk 18
• Lost Coin – Lk 15
• The Minas – Lk 19
• The Talents – Mt 25
• Prodigal Son – Lk 15
• Rich Fool – Lk 12
• Lazarus and the Rich Man – Lk 16
• Mysterious Seed – Mk 4
• Sheep and Goats – Mt 25
• Tares – Mt 13
• Ten Virgins – Mt 25
• Two Debtors – Lk 7
• Two Sons – Mt 21
• Judge at Midnight – Lk 11
• Unjust Judge – Lk 18
• Dishonest Manager – Lk 16
• Unmerciful Servant – Mt 18
• Humble Servants – Lk 17
• Watchful Servants – Lk 12
• Faithful Managers – Lk 12

And another of my pointers, which forms the basis for this post: “Understand the genre of parables in rabbinic literature.” And the golden text for learning about this subject: David Stern, Parables in Midrash (note: this is not the David Stern who is famous in the Messianic Jewish community, but the Professor of Classical Hebrew Literature at the University of Pennsylvania).

WHAT IS THE RELATION BETWEEN RABBINIC PARABLES AND YESHUA’S?
This is a tricky question that needs to be addressed. Rabbinic parables started being written down in the fourth century in the land of Israel. That’s quite a long time after Yeshua. Some books and studies have unwisely blurred the lines between the first and fourth century.

Stern sums it up simply: “They were both part of a single genre” (188). This conclusion is based on the work of David Flusser (a scholar whose work, in my opinion, has flaws, but on this specific issue he must have made his point well) who demonstrated that literary characteristics of rabbinic parables have much in common with parables in the gospels.

People were telling parables already before Yeshua’s time and the genre continued with much similarity for hundreds of years.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PARABLES IN RABBINIC WRITINGS?
Rabbinical parables in most cases originated “in public contexts (sermons or preaching), and as an instrument for praise or blame, often directed at persons in the audience” (200). They “tend to be phrased in terms of praise or blame, or as a variation upon these opposites: approbation or disapproval, appreciation or disappointment, pleasure or pain” (52).

Among the purposes mentioned by Stern for parables are apologetics (defending the idea of faith against ideas that undermine it) and polemics (urging a point of view in opposition to others).

WHAT PARABLES ARE NOT
They are not primarily about doctrine. They may reflect on doctrinal themes. But they are primarily about praise or blame.

They are not riddles intended to confuse outsiders. Stern argues this in spite of Yeshua’s sayings about “to you has been given the secret of the kingdom” and “in order that they might not see” in Mark 4:11-12 (and parallels in Matthew 13:11-13 and Luke 8:10).

Stern thinks Yeshua (or Mark) has been misunderstood. The point is not that the parables were too hard to understand rationally. The point is that outsiders, those who do not remain near to Yeshua and ask questions and learn from him, will not be able to apply them. They will not penetrate the deeper message of the parables, which are mysteries, truths of a complex nature, involving more than interpretation: “To understand correctly, one must be a member of the community” (204).

TIPS FOR READING PARABLES
Who is Yeshua praising and why?

Who is he blaming and why?

How does the praise and blame from the parable receive added information from Yeshua’s teaching and actions with the disciples?

In other words, the parables are persuasive pieces of rhetoric designed to encourage action or belief in a certain direction. They are not primarily about information or revealing doctrine. The rabbinic parables may be later, but they provide a wealth of additional contexts in which we can see the same patterns as in Yeshua’s parables. They confirm for us the way parables were used in public speaking to persuade hearers to a new course of action or to stand firm in a good course of action or belief. We should look for Yeshua’s parables to function the same way.

This will largely keep us from reading too much later Christian theology into the parables, to imagine that they are about a timeline for the last days or a foretelling of Christendom or anything of the kind. They are persuasive sermons delivered to Jews in Galilee and Judea about Jewish life and faith.

Here is how the RSV (Revised Standard Version) translates this saying of Yeshua:

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

For reasons I will argue below, this translation is definitely substandard.

In my opinion, the worst translation of the verse is the NET version (New English), though I do like a lot of things about the NET. But their books are all translated by different scholars with little consistency in translation philosophy. I think they did harm on this verse:

The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The CJB (Complete Jewish Bible and also the Jewish New Testament) does much better, but loses any illusion of close translation by paraphrasing:

‘The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

The nice thing about the CJB here is that the reader gets help understanding the idiom (the good eye = generosity) and this interpretation is, in my opinion as argued below, correct.

The strangest is the King James, but then perhaps in Elizabethan English “single” had some denotation I am not familiar with:

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Here are some comments I have written about Matthew 6:22-23 and then I will talk about Delitzsch’s choice of Hebrew words in his translation and how the DHE helps readers see a meaning within the orbit of Jewish discussion and terminology (as it should be):

The saying about the eye as the lamp of the body is hard for moderns to grasp. It is evident that Yeshua, and the ancients, are thinking of the eye as giving light and not just receiving it. Yeshua combines the idea of bright eyes (a sign of goodness) with the opposing idea of an evil eye, one that curses and does not bless others (the evil eye is an idiom for a curse). Yeshua teaches his disciples that their eyes should be filled with generosity and devotion to good deeds. A person with shining eyes has an interior light, their whole being is good. So with the eyes we see the needs of others and bless, but with bad eyes, darkness issues from the body and continues the world’s curse.

Now, on the Delitzsch’s translation via the English rendering in the DHE:

The lamp of the body is the eye, and if your eye is whole, your entire body will be illuminated. But if your eye is evil, your entire body will be darkened — and if the light within you is darkened, how great is the darkness!

The DHE’s whole translates תמים or “without blemish.” In the preface to the DHE, the editors thought perhaps Delitzsch should have chosen a term more familiar from rabbinic writings (“beautiful eye” instead of “whole eye”). On the other hand, Delitzsch’s choice of “whole eye” relates the saying of Yeshua to the sacrificial terminology, the offerings of animals that are “whole” or “without blemish.”

As for “evil eye,” you are probably familiar with the idea of a person with an evil eye, one who has the ability to curse and looks at people in order to curse them. It does not matter whether the curse has any valid power behind it. The motive of an evil eye is enough to suggest a great darkness within us when we choose to wish others ill.

So, following the DHE, I think we see a great contrast, a moving lesson.

The generous person is “whole,” even “without blemish” before God. The one who denounces, speaks rudely, and wishes ill of others is filled with darkness.

Generosity erases many sins. Having an evil eye toward others erases many good deeds.

And the DHE helps us, in the limited way a translation can, as opposed to a commentary. Matthew 6:22-23 is another reason I use the DHE and value it.

When he came to his senses he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!”
-Luke 15:17

Yeshua dined with sinners. Those of us who eat bread with him today are infinitely thankful for this. It is not, contra E.P. Sanders, that Yeshua offered the kingdom without repentance or light without trial.

Those who dined with Yeshua did not think this is what he was offering. One said, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor” (Luke 19:8).

Yeshua is at once inviting and imposing, welcoming and formidable. You may be to him the hundredth sheep, the one rejoiced over that was lost, or a whitewashed tomb. You may hear from him, “your faith has made you well,” or, “depart from me; I never knew you.”

No area of life is too small to be under God’s observation, not even the falling of a sparrow (Luke 12:6). So the way we deal with our fellow human beings is paramount. Don’t bother to offer great things to God if you are not willing to clear up offenses with people (Matt 5:23). Your love for others most likely follows the pattern of all creatures, loving those you need to love you back. But God has a higher requirement, so that we aspire to love even those who despise us (Matt 5:44). We do not aim high enough since the correct objective is to be like God in perfection (Matt 5:48).

We are apt to repent incorrectly by demeaning others in order to exalt ourselves in God’s presence. Our eye is on our peers and outdistancing them. “Thank you that I am not like other people,” we say (Luke 18:11).

It would be better if we knew ourselves to be out and out sinners. Then we would say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” and beat our chests (Luke 18:13).

The power of repentance is not in outdistancing our peers, but in God’s love for the humble (Luke 18:14). It is in God’s joy over lost ones found (Luke 15:7). It is in our consuming desire to be nearer to him. It may be the desire for food that brings us his way (“you seek me . . . because you ate of the loaves and were filled,” John 6:26). He says even to those who come on such a basis, “The one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).

But eventually we realize “it is the Spirit who gives life” and “the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63). And we say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Repentance becomes the ever-liberating way of life. “He who loves his life loses it” (John 12:25). It is better to enter life missing an eye or a hand (Matt 18:9). We practice our repentance before the Father in secret (Matt 6:1). And our prayer is that God will forgive us as we forgive others (Matt 6:12). We cannot seize those who owe us and choke them for every penny when we are forgiven much (Matt 18:28).

Rather, being forgiven much, we love much (Luke 7:47).

We repent often with watchfulness since “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). We don’t settle until we rid ourselves of all disdain, since “everyone who is angry with his brother will be guilty before the court” (Matt 5:22). We give up control so that we “do not resist him who is evil” but turn the other cheek (Matt 5:39). We give our tzedakah (alms) and lay up real treasures where God is (Matt 6:3, 20).

Being good trees, we bear good fruit (Matt 7:17). We do not attempt to dominate but to serve everyone (Mark 10:42-43).

Yeshua dines with sinners. He transforms those of us who dine with him. He promises, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled” (Matt 5:6).

Mark 4:21-34 is an important sequence of sayings whose meaning in the context of Mark is often obscured by readers who are more familiar with the sayings from Matthew. That is to say, the order in which we read the gospels sometimes affects our interpretation. How does this happen?

The different synoptic evangelists (Mark, Matthew, Luke) often include the same sayings in different contexts. The context of the saying often influences interpretation. The modern reader might wonder if: (a) the sayings are all given in arbitrary contexts with the evangelists rarely if ever knowing what context they may have been uttered in, (b) if the sayings were often repeated again and again so that they occurred in multiple contexts, (c) if each evangelist had his own literary reasons for including the sayings in the contexts where they show up. I choose (c), which does not mean there are no cases where the context and the saying are matched to “what actually happened.” It is quite possible that sometimes the evangelists give us a saying in the actual context of events in which Yeshua uttered the words. But the gospels as we have them are literary compositions and we can get far more out of them by regarding them as such without inserting historical questions into the details.

Remember that Mark’s gospel is the first to be written down and that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source. Therefore, it is useful to view the lamp, measure, seed, and mustard weed sayings first as Mark used them. And it turns out the context and the sequence of these sayings in Mark is very meaningful.

How Matthew Influences a Reader’s View of These Sayings

The “lamp under a bushel” saying in Matthew is in the Sermon on the Mount (5:15) and its meaning there is about the disciples shining their “lamp” to reveal God’s glory to the world. As I will argue in Part 2, Mark puts this saying in a different context and the one shining his “lamp” is Yeshua, lifted up on the cross.

The “measure” saying in Matthew is in the Sermon on the Mount (7:2). There it refers to the measure or standard of judgment a person uses for another. God will judge us with the same measure we judge others. In Mark (as also in Luke), the measure saying is about giving (giving love, giving money, giving service).

The “to him who has more will be given” saying in Matthew 13:12 is about having the mystery of revelation of the kingdom. Those who learn the kingdom’s mysteries will be given more. In Mark, it seems that what the disciple has is reward, not revelation (God’s reward for the deeds of service).

The “scatter seed” saying from Mark 4:26 is unique, not found in Matthew or Luke. It is a rare case of material unique to Mark.

The “mustard seed” parable is used in Matthew in a very similar context to Mark’s use of it, but in a different sequence of sayings about the kingdom. Probably both Matthew’s use and Mark’s use of the saying is about the remarkable growth. Still, I will argue in Part 2 that Mark’s context for the “mustard seed,” and also Mark’s unique “scattered seed” parable, is about Yeshua sowing the seed more so than the disciples sowing it.

Readers who are used to the traditional order of the gospels (Matthew first) tend to give priority to Matthew’s setting for the sayings. Thus, when reading Mark 4, many readers have a pre-formed opinion about the “lamp” and the “measure” and the “seed.” It is easy to miss how Mark uses them.

Preview: Multi-Use Sayings

If a saying like the lamp and bushel could possibly, as I will try to demonstrate in Part 2, have two meanings as diverse as “disciples shine your light” and “Yeshua’s light will shine from the cross,” should we conclude that the evangelists had no understanding of the meaning of Yeshua’s words?

Not at all. First, it is more than likely that Yeshua himself used the same or similar sayings not only in different contexts, but with different meanings at times for the key terms. Second, many of Yeshua’s sayings are images with multiple layers of meaning. It is possible that multiple traditions of interpretation of a saying like the “lamp under a bushel” developed by the time the gospels were written. Is Matthew right and Mark wrong? They truly could both be right.

Next part: Interpreting Mark 4:21-34 in context.

Yet, before we would jump to Paul’s explanation of Abraham (Rom 4:3; Gal 3:7), it is good to consider a step earlier than the realization that Abraham represents faith. It is eye-opening to re-read some of the Abraham texts in the gospels with an eye for first century Jewish ideas about election, covenant, and afterlife. Let’s begin with three texts:

Bear fruit that befits repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matt 3:8-10; cf. Luke 3:8-10).

When Yeshua heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” And to the centurion Yeshua said, “Go; be it done for you as you have believed.” (Matt 8:10-13).

The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ (Luke 16:22-26).

In all three of these texts, Abraham represents Israel’s election as the Chosen People and the idea, current in Yeshua’s time, that being born a child of Abraham put a person in a privileged position with God.

Modern scholars, following E.P. Sanders, have called this belief covenantal nomism. Nomism refers to the Greek word for Law (nomos) and it is the idea that every Israelite, already being in covenant with God and privileged with inclusion in the afterlife already, would keep at least enough Torah (nomos) to remain Jewish. Sanders rightly dismissed the idea that first century Jews were like the Pelagians that Augustine fought or the medieval churchmen that Luther fought. They were not by the merit of their deeds thinking they gained position with God.

Yeshua’s problem (and John the Baptist’s problem) with the idea of Abrahamic privilege is much the same as Yeshua’s problem with what Temple and Torah had become. Yeshua did not reject Temple, Torah, or the Abrahamic promise. In every case, he rejected the false sense of privilege and entitlement that people felt as “the Chosen.”

John said to his audience at the Jordan that their rightness with God depended on repentance and living according to justice as in the Torah and prophets. Yeshua said that “sons of the kingdom” would be excluded from Abraham’s table in the messianic age while many gentiles from “east and west” would be included, because of faith. In the Lazarus and the Rich Man parable, both are Israelites and standard thinking would be that both would be at Abraham’s bosom (a reference to reclining at a table next to Abraham). Yet Yeshua says the rich man will be excluded because he ignored day after day the beggar at his gates, proving his hard heart was not for God.

Nearly every use of “Abraham” in the gospels, including John, is a reference to this notion of carnal election, privilege by birth, and is a vehicle for Yeshua to say, “Election in Abraham is not an invitation to the banquet to come, but a calling to be like Abraham in making this world like the one to come.”

See also a treatment of more Abraham texts in “Abraham in the Gospels.”

Yeshua is the Moses-like Prophet-to-Come, the New Moses, whose agency as the Voice of the Father reveals depths of God unknown or ambiguous in previous revelation.

As you can see from the wording, I am using language from the gospels themselves to describe the benefits of knowing Yeshua. But this is not just theory or theology. Each one of these nine benefits concerns practical matters, things that weigh upon us and are of consequence to everyone on a daily basis. They concern the normal and universal questions and existential longings that require satisfaction.

This week, I will discuss, “What practical difference does it make that Yeshua reveals previously unknown depths of God’s nature and being?”

Universal Questions Addressed in Yeshua’s Teaching

(1) Does God see my pain? (2) Does God see my selfless deeds? (3) Is this present reign of death and meaninglessness the way God will leave things? (4) Do my interpersonal relationships matter to God? (5) Does God ever reward things done for him and for others out of pure love? (6) Does God care about the things I am lacking and desperately need? (7) Is God a stern judge or a hopeful parent? (8) Does God want me to know him? (9) Does God prefer the smart, the strong, the rich, the powerful, and/or the beautiful people? (10) Does God feel emotion or is that beneath him?

The Difference Between Yeshua’s Answers and Other Teachers’ Answers

Yeshua addresses the kind of questions I listed above and does s specifically in his teaching. Other teachers in Judaism and Christianity as well as a myriad of religious perspectives have addressed these and similar questions.

Why should Yeshua’s answers matter?

That is a question about Yeshua’s identity. It is a good question. It deserves more than a short answer. I have written a bit about reasons a Jewish person (or anyone else) might believe that Yeshua is more than a man, that his perspective is worthy of leaving behind other teachers and following him toward the world to come.

I am not primarily addressing the “why believe” question here, but one part of the “what does Yeshua add” to life and faith question. However the simple answer to the “why believe” question is what my book Yeshua in Context is all about. And here is the simple answer: if you encounter the story of Yeshua, which is in the four gospels, you will be able to confront reasons to doubt or believe based on things like internal and external consistency.

In Yeshua in Context, I explain for modern readers what Yeshua was all about, give guidance in understanding and encountering the stories, and suggest ways they give us evidence to believe that Yeshua is the Mystery revealed in human form.

Yeshua on the Existential God-Questions

(1) Does God see my pain?
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

(2) Does God see my selfless deeds?
Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. . . . your Father who sees in secret will reward you. . . . love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great.

(3) Is this present reign of death and meaninglessness the way God will leave things?
Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. . . . Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. . . . men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. . . . from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. . . . The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field . . . And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. . . . You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. . . . in my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. . . . Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

(4) Do my interpersonal relationships matter to God?
Every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment . . . So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. . . . If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies. . . . So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

(5) Does God ever reward things done for him and for others out of pure love?
Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. . . . your Father who sees in secret will reward you. . . . He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. . . . I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. . . . Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

(6) Does God care about the things I am lacking and desperately need?
And why are you anxious about clothing? . . . But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

(7) Is God a stern judge or a hopeful parent?
Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. . . . Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. . . . there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. . . . But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’

(8) Does God want me to know him?
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. . . . I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us. . . . All that the Father gives me will come to me . . . No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. . . . It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

(9) Does God prefer the smart, the strong, the rich, the powerful, and/or the beautiful people?
Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame. . . . Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me. . . . unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. . . . I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that jyou have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. . . . If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. . . . Blessed are the meek.

(10) Does God feel emotion or is that beneath him?
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. . . . he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. . . . Father, I thank you that it pleased you to do this. . . . the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry.’

I thought it appropriate to repost the blog here on Yeshua in Context because it deals with practical matters of discipleship. Studying the gospels and the life of Yeshua should not be merely about history or theory. As John 7:17 indicates, Yeshua expected that doing his kingdom teaching was the way to know it is true. After the jump you will find the full text of “The Way to Have a Message.”

The discussion this week is about MJ having an intelligent message for promoting Yeshua-faith. It is about the cause of representing hope and faith in the Jewish community and showing that there is a better way to live and know God and love people. And I do believe that in every way, in every form of Jewish expression, Yeshua is needed. There isn’t any aspect of Judaism that isn’t taken to greater heights by the realization of who Yeshua is and knowing his kingdom teaching.

But there is a very good reason why MJ doesn’t do well at representing Yeshua to the Jewish community (a reason I will share after the jump).

Meanwhile, we’ve had lots of great discussion. I want to point out in particular a comment by Rabbi Joshua Brumbach (which I will respond to):

I think we are first and foremost to be a representative presence of Yeshua within the Jewish community. We are a community of faith and our promoting Yeshua-faith to the wider Jewish community should come as a natural outgrowth of that. It is secondary (yet still imperative) to our existence as a holy remnant within, and as a part of, greater Israel.

I also want to point out a comment by Bob Williams:

I think many of us in MJ circles would like to see much more of a “Relationship Evangelism” aka “Lifestyle Evangelism” but too many of our people are not in relationships of any sort with Jewish non-Yeshua-believers. Its hard to influence those you never interact with in any meaningful way. (Perhaps an even bigger problem here is that for “Relationship Evangelism” to work, there must be evidence of transformation in the lives of our people. Sometimes when I look around I wonder what’s supposed to be so attractive here.)

Great thoughts. Now let’s talk about how to have a message.

The reason MJ doesn’t do well at representing Yeshua is simple. It was in yesterday’s gospel reading (John 7:14-36):

. . . if any man is willing to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
-John 7:17

We don’t represent Yeshua well because we don’t emphasize living the kingdom as Yeshua taught it.

SUBSTITUTE #1: Weekly meetings and lively musical worship. This is all good, but it’s not the main point.
SUBSTITUTE #2: Torah study / Bible reading / online study for inspiration and social interaction / reading books. This is input. Where is the output?
SUBSTITUTE #3: Feeling like we are right and others are wrong, as if being “right” is what the kingdom is about.

When will our Jewish people know the words of Yeshua are true?

You know the answer if you been engaging in “Substitute #2.” It will happen when we get caught doing the will of the Father.

KINGDOM LIVING #1: Have weekly meetings where people are empowered to form community, to live on a higher plane of love and deeds of kindness, and to make a difference so that our goal is to make this world more like the world to come.
KINGDOM LIVING #2: Read the Torah, the gospels and Acts (in particular, but the whole Bible as well) in order to do what it says and the doing is more important than the learning.
KINGDOM LIVING #3: Be busy doing right and don’t worry about being right.

When we are more know for what we do than what we believe, we will have a message.

So, in part, then, I agree with Rabbi Joshua’s statement cited above. And I agree with Bob Williams’ statement. We need to get busy being the holy remnant. We need to ask, as Bob Williams is asking, “I wonder what’s supposed to be so attractive here.”

Just so no one thinks I am still only being theoretical, let me mention a huge list of things that doing the kingdom includes. The point of this list is not to limit what doing the kingdom means, but to give some practical guidelines and pointers. Your applications of Yeshua’s kingdom teachings will no doubt grow over the years as you study Torah and gospel:
Live in forgiving community — work for Tikkun Olam — feed hungry people and clothe naked people — be a person in the workplace who helps people with problems — use possessions to help people — know and be able to explain the world to come — care for children — be strong in marital and family love — give tzedaka (alms) — pray with a vision to work that the prayers would come true — develop Middot (the measures of Torah character) — heal relationships — visit lonely or needy people — share hospitality deliberately and often — help people harmed by injustice — confess wrongs — teach children — volunteer — give up control — serve in every situation and do not look to be served — pay off debts so you’ll have more to give — live simply and joyfully — support others in community with cooperation and participation — be of high integrity in your work and social interactions — and any other applications which come out of your regular reading and prayer.

REFERENCE:
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility (2005, Schocken).
Scot McKnight, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow (2010, Zondervan).
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets (1962, reprinted in 2007 by Hendrickson).
http://www.messianicjudaism.me/musings/2011/05/10/life-of-loving-deeds-1/ (and more will follow in this series).

Kingdom Winners
A comment in Scot McKnight’s book One.Life got me thinking. He made a comparison between two two-part parables of Yeshua that I had never thought of connecting before.

The first two-part parable occurs only in Luke 14 and concerns the builder of a tower and a king counting his troops. The second two-part parable occurs only in Matthew 13 and concerns one who finds a treasure in a field and another who finds a “pearl of great price.” There’s no literary connection between them, but there is a thematic connection.

One is about kingdom winners. The other is about kingdom losers.

To begin to understand the concept of kingdom from a practical point of view, I’d like to read a few excerpts from McKnight’s book. This is not about the theology of the kingdom or tracing the biblical roots of God’s kingship. Those are very important tasks on their own. But this is about what the kingdom means in a sense of practice, of living in light of the Rule of God on earth:

Every Jew in Galilee and everywhere else, and I mean every one of them, when they heard Jesus say “the kingdom,” looked for three things: king, land, citizens. This might surprise you, but that is only because so many Christians have turned kingdom into either a “personal experience with Jesus” (the evangelical meaning of kingdom) or into “cultural redemption” (the liberal, progressive meaning of kingdom). When Jesus said “the kingdom,” the first thing his hearers looked for was a king, and then they were thinking of a land (or a sacred place or sacred space) and themselves as participants (citizens). This needs to be fleshed out for one reason: Kingdom is not about an experience with God but about the society of God, and this society is Jewish (and biblical) to the core.
-McKnight, 30.

It’s a great explanation and I appreciate the emphasis on Jesus in his Jewish context. I appreciate McKnight’s refusal to reduce the kingdom to a feeling or an individualistic experience. I also appreciate his refusal to reduce the kingdom to a feel-good message about improving humanity.

God’s society has a king, a land, a specific and definite shape and purpose and destination. The king is God himself who has given all authority to the Son. The land is Israel but the kingdom spreads to the whole renewed earth from Israel. The specific plan and shape unfolds in stages and we are in part of it now and much more is to come. God’s society is initiated and much work has been done by God and his servants, but, to say it simply, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

And then, on page 31, McKnight gives a very practical definition of kingdom: God’s Dream Society on earth, spreading out from the land of Israel to encompass the whole world.

On page 82, he summarizes some of the key practices involved in living for the kingdom, saying that a disciple is one who follows Jesus by devoting his or her One.Life to the kingdom of God, fired by Jesus’ own imagination, to a life of loving God and loving others, and to a society shaped by justice, especially for those who have been marginalized, and to peace.

The kingdom and living for the kingdom, then, is a big deal. And there are winners and losers. And what makes the difference between them?

Let’s consider the contrast between the two sets of parables that first turned my mind to the subject. Let’s consider the tower builder and king counting his troops versus the treasure finder and pearl seeker.

The Difference Between Winning and Losing the Kingdom
The tower builder and the king counting his troops stories both come in a section of Luke concerned with instruction for disciples about what to expect and how to follow the Master.

Yeshua’s demands are high. Given a choice between family and the work of a disciple, Yeshua says sharply that being a disciple is far greater in priority. Given a choice between protecting our lives and clinging to safety versus doing the hard work of a disciples, Yeshua says there is really no choice. A disciple will go to the cross for faith and love. A disciple will not count death too great a price.

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’

I thought I used to understand this parable. The first time I read it, I had the wrong idea. I thought this was a calling for a special category of person, something not addressed to everyone hearing Yeshua’s words. I thought these words were for people who wanted to become clergy, to be missionaries or pastors or monks or holy men and women of some kind. So I thought this could mean, “Don’t take up the calling to be an especially holy person unless you think you can handle the challenge.”

I felt as if most people would be free to ignore this demand of Yeshua. There could be ordinary followers and specially dedicated followers, I reasoned, and the cost of being dedicated is too high for most people.

The second story in this two-part parable is similar: Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace.

Don’t start building a tower unless you have the means to finish. Be careful before you accept the challenge to war. Is the tower worth it? Is the reward of winning worth it?

Then Yeshua gives the lesson of the parable: So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Here is the truly important thing: Yeshua tells us specifically what the cost is — renouncing our possessions.

Contrast that with the two-part parable in Matthew 13: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Note here that the lesson is the same, though made positively instead of negatively: sell everything and commit yourself one hundred percent to the kingdom.

The difference between kingdom winners and losers is simple: commitment.

One hundred percent commitment makes you a disciple. Ninety-nine percent commitment leaves you with a crumbling, unfinished tower; leaves you not in possession of the pearl or the treasure; leaves you conquered and defeated by the other kingdom, the kingdom that had higher commitment than you did.

Okay, yes, Yeshua deliberately exaggerates. Yes, in his mercy God accepts all efforts made in his direction and humility goes a long way.

But you can’t get around this: the kingdom is about knowing the king, believing in his land, being a participant in his dream society, and committing all your possessions to the cause.

Specific ways that gets fleshed out, ways that draw on Jewish and Christian thought about the ethics of responsibility, about almsgiving and tzedaka, about serving and sacrifice, that’s what we need to think about and put into practice.

Because if there is one thing that costs more than the kingdom, it is missing the kingdom.

Cliches like splitting hairs, chopping logic, quibbling over details, or making fine distinctions come to mind as the probable result of insisting on a good interpretation of a few words from an ancient saying. After all, do the differences really amount to much?

Well, I think they do. Take the phrase “poor in spirit” for example.

I was explaining the Beatitudes at a “Yeshua in Context” seminar this past weekend. It was the third lecture in a few hours and the whole experience for me was like an intensive meditation on the meaning of being a disciple, of being a follower, of thinking about what it meant to be near to Messiah and learn from him. I was learning at least as much as those I was speaking to. Sometimes inspired texts do that.

Of course, following the example of Yeshua, I started the talk with something unexpected. Predictability is often not the best tactic in teaching. So we started by thinking about the Beatitudes in Luke 6 instead of the more familiar ones in Matthew 5.

Matthew’s version is easier to take, especially Matthew’s version of the very first Beatitude about the “poor in spirit.” As you probably know, in Luke’s version, Yeshua makes a very similar point, but not about the “poor in spirit,” but rather “the poor.” Blessed are the poor.

Why is “poor in spirit” easier to take?

It’s because there is no alternate way to understand “blessed are the poor.” “Blessed are the poor” is an antithesis, pure and simple. It’s truth standing on its head, logic upside down. It’s crazy to say “blessed are the poor.”

But “poor in spirit” is capable of a few comfortable interpretations. The common one goes like this: “Blessed are people who exhibit humility, who think more of others than themselves. They are poor in spirit but rich in rewards from God.”

It’s a nice interpretation and the main point of it is certainly true. So if we just read Matthew’s version of the saying that way, we can’t go wrong. Right?

Why not just read all of Matthew’s Beatitudes in a parallel manner? Meek people are humble. Those who hunger and thirst in Matthew do so for righteousness (of course, in Luke, they just hunger and thirst). Being merciful is good. Peacemakers and people will to be persecuted are good.

Maybe all the Beatitudes are about something we do to earn a blessing. God gives the kingdom to humble people, the poor in spirit, and the meek and merciful. Maybe that’s what Yeshua meant.

But I don’t think so.

I think there is plenty of evidence that the “poor in spirit” are the broken and devastated. And the meek are not the “saints of humility” but rather the stepped on and oppressed, the ones always overlooked and never assumed to be important.

I think there is a long tradition of this in the Psalms and Prophets (and also the Wisdom) before Yeshua ever comes to teach God’s way to a band of disciples.

Job exhibits repeatedly a Wisdom tradition concerning care for the poor as a sign of righteousness, such as in 30:25, “Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?”

In Psalms the poor or needy one is the special subject of God’s care, as in 34:7(6), “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”

The Prophets rail against the injustice done to the poor, as in Isaiah 3:14, “What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?”

So, a good interpretation of the Beatitudes does matter and it gives a different message. It is not, “Blessed are the righteous for they will earn a reward.” It is, rather:

Blessed are the crushed people, devastated, for theirs is the kingdom.
Blessed are those suffering grief, for they will be comforted by God.
Blessed are the overlooked and oppressed, for these will own the world to come.
Blessed are those who cannot find justice and true goodness in this broken world, for they will see goodness in the kingdom.
Blessed are those who have mercy now, for all will see how mercy is needed then.
Blessed are those who work for the One Thing, for they will see the One.
Blessed are those who heal fights and bitterness, for this is what God does.
Blessed are those who suffer for the mission of healing and serving, for their reward will redeem the persecution.

And the underlying message is also clear: My disciples will work to make this world as much like the world to come as they can.

Kingdom at Hand?
What did Yeshua mean about the kingdom of God being at hand (soon to appear) in Mark 1:15? He followed this proclamation up by calling disciples, defeating evil spirits, and making people well. In the world to come there will be no evil, people will be well, and all will be as a family in union with each other and God. Yeshua was bringing future realities into the present. Note that many of Yeshua’s kingdom parables (Sower, Mustard Seed) represent present realities and not just future.

Sinners and Mustard Plants
Yeshua came to call sinners (Mark 2:17). The parable of the Mustard Seed is more about the plant than the seed (Mark 4:30-32). The mustard weeds are a gardener’s nightmare. They grow up all over and become nesting places for birds. One reading is that the birds that nest are undesirables, like sinners and gentiles. So the present kingdom grows up unstoppably and attracts those who might not seem like kingdom people.

Binding the Strongman
Yeshua announced his intention to enter the house of evil and plunder its goods, by first binding the strongman (Satan, see Mark 3:27). Some might read the “plunder his goods” in purely conversionary terms (converting lost people and saving them from Satan’s control), but everything in the gospels suggests Yeshua freed people from evil in more holistic ways (wellness, provision, and redemption).

Beatitudes
As I discuss in chapter 10 of Yeshua in Context, the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12; Luke 6:20-23) have both a present and future aspect. For example, Matthew 5:2 has a future part (“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”) and a present (“blessed are the poor in spirit”). It is more than implied that disciples hearing Yeshua’s sermon will bless the poor in spirit, comfort mourners, fill the hungry, and so on. Yeshua is calling us to live now in light of what will come in God’s kingdom.

As You Measure, Alms, Do Not Worry
It is the Father’s pleasure to give us the kingdom, says Yeshua (Luke 12:32). So we do not need the treasures of this world. But instead we should sell things and give alms (12:33). This principle is stated without balance, causing many to disregard it completely. It is not an absolute principle. Possessing things is clearly not wrong (a case I can easily demonstrate if challenged). But the balance of owning versus sharing is way off in the lives of nearly all people who have the opportunity to own many things. Treasure in heaven (not in the sky or in the future, but treasure in the heavenly court–as in reward from the one who sits on the heavenly throne) is stored up for the righteous. And Messiah tells us: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:38). So we are not to worry about our life, our food, our clothing (Luke 12:22). The Father knows we need these things. And Matthew records it this way, “When you give alms…” (6:2).

When You Fed These
There are sheep and there are goats, the blessed and the judged. Those blessed fed the least and in so doing fed Yeshua. Those judged, as Keith Green says in his famous song on the Sheep and Goats, were too busy running religious organizations to help (not that I am innocent of this myself). See Matthew 25:31-46.

The Temple State
Yeshua’s protest against the Temple (Mark 11:15-19) was about commerce in the holy precincts, about the violation of the sacred by carrying things through God’s courts, about hypocrisy in the leadership, and a protest against a Temple state that demanded obedience from the masses but which did not obey in turn. Had the Temple state followed Torah as it demanded of the people, the tithes would have been redistributed and the people blessed with abundance. See “Yeshua and the Mishnah on Carrying in the Temple” and “Yeshua and Idolatrous Coins.” Mark 11 contrasts the Yeshua-community with its faith and prayer with the Temple state (see below, “The Disciple Communities as Alternative”).

The Disciple Communities as Insiders
To you (plural, disciples) has been given the secret of the kingdom of God (Mark 4:11). To those outside, all looks like a riddle. But they will know you are my disciples by your love (John 13:35).

The Disciple Communities as Alternative
These are my mother and brothers, said Yeshua (Mark 4:34), those who do the will of God (4:35). The powers of death (some say “gates of hell”) will not be able to stand before this community (Matt 16:18). In Mark 11, Yeshua curses a fig tree right before he protests the Temple state. Afterward, he uses the fig tree as a lesson. His disciple movement will be about prayer that moves mountains and forgiving one another as their Father in heaven forgives their sins. What the Temple state cannot accomplish (bringing the world to come through righteousness), Yeshua’s disciples community will do. For more on this, see “Discipleship and the Fig Tree.”

In what follows, I will cite a little of that commentary on Mark 7:24-30 and also give other examples of Yeshua putting faith-obstacles in the path of people trying to figure him out.

Here is an except from my commentary on Mark 7:24-30:

In favor of reading Yeshua’s intention favorably, we can say that it is often his way to place a difficulty in the way of people who come asking for help. He challenges people’s notions and requires signs of faith. Many of the miracle stories involve two stages, a request by a person seeking help and an obstacle to be overcome. This woman’s obstacle is being a gentile asking a Jewish healer for help. If we can follow the reading that takes Yeshua’s attitude as being actually sympathetic to the woman, we can say that her faith is remarkable. She is a model for gentile faith: someone willing to come to a Jew for salvation. Compared to many in Israel who refuse to believe, who are so set on nationalistic hopes for glory or who, as power-brokers wish to hold on to their domination over the people, this humble woman simply wants healing. No sense of ego gets in her way. Yeshua allows this woman to demonstrate humility and faith. It is a fair reading to assume that, as in other cases, Yeshua does not reveal all he is thinking. He probably used the incident, and the disciples probably kept telling the story, to show that all boundaries can be crossed, even the Jew-gentile boundary.

OTHER EXAMPLES (All cited in the RSV):

…Mark 10:21 Yeshua looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

…Matthew 8:19-20 A scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Yeshua said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”

…Mark 4:11-12 For those outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.

…Matthew 9:28-29 The blind men came to him; and Yeshua said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes.

…Mark 9:23-24 “. . . but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” And Yeshua said to him, “If you can! All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

…John 6:60, 66, Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” . . . After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.

…Luke 9:61-62 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Yeshua said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

…Luke 14:33 So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Yeshua said in Mark 7:15, “there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.”

I have always thought that this passage was one of the most penetrating, well-phrased, to-the-heart-of-the-matter statements of what Yeshua stood for. It’s actually only part of what Yeshua had to say on the matter. It’s what he said to the crowds, the outsiders, the ones who did not get private instruction as part of the inner circle. Mark 7:15 is rather vague and can be taken in some different directions all by itself.

Yeshua gives further clarification in vss. 17-23. I won’t go into detail about some of the controversial matters here. Many people wonder if Yeshua is nullifying the dietary law. You can find my take on that question in chapter 8 of Yeshua in Context.

What I am interested in in this podcast is the meaning of Yeshua’s ethical teaching here. We’re too quick to make blanket statements and simplistic arguments. I hear all the time, “God hates religion and loves relationship.” You can’t possibly read the Bible with intelligence and believe this. What God hates is not religion, but the kind of things some people make of religion and the kinds of religion the masses tend to settle for. These weak and sometimes evil forms leave people empty, unfulfilled.

Likewise, it’s simplistic to say, “Yeshua is against ritual purity laws.” That’s not the point.

I’m saying Mark 7 cuts through our shoddy notions of religion. It is not simply a rebuke against those scribes back then.

Neither is Mark 7 unique in Yeshua’s teaching. It is a thread that runs throughout it.

In one parable, Yeshua calls his movement a mustard bush. That is, Yeshua’s movement is an annoying weed that pops up in the religious scene which the official gardeners can’t get rid of. It results in sinners and gentiles and the great unwashed coming into the kingdom.

In a famous scene, Yeshua protests the Temple. It is his Father’s house. He has zeal for it, as his disciples testify. Why does he protest it?

The simplistic say, he was against the Temple. Those who look deeper say, he was against what the leaders made the Temple to be. It has become an unjust system, a burden on the people and a source of enrichment for the power-brokers.

His Father made the Temple a place not only of worship but also of feeding the hungry and filling the people with abundance. But the leaders demand the tithes of the people without fulfilling the purpose. They keep as much of the proceeds as they can and use the Temple as much as they can to perpetuate their power. They demand without giving.

Yeshua opposes the Pharisees again and again and modern religion completely misses why. So many modern religious people act just like the Pharisees Yeshua opposed.

They shut people out of the kingdom. All the while they congratulate themselves, “We believe in grace; we are not legalistic Pharisees.” Mark 7 doesn’t allow any of us the luxury of self-congratulation.

In spite of much rhetoric, much modern religion is no more than “come to our meeting so you can have the mark of being one of the saved.” And in order to accommodate the idea of grace, many have made the meeting more like a concert, so that the threshold is lowered and it is not so hard for large numbers of people to attend the meeting and have the mark of the saved. Come as you are. You can wear a T-shirt. But by God, get here. If you don’t, you’re missing God’s healing power and heading to a dangerous place.

No wonder Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke of religionless Christianity as being so needed.

When people reduce the message of Yeshua to something as powerless as having the marks of the saved on you, outward signs like mere attendance, they have missed Yeshua completely.

Belonging to a community of believers is not and never has been, for Yeshua, about having the mark. Yeshua designed his community to be the place that IS and DOES his will.

How about we translate Yeshua’s saying in Mark 7: “Failure to attend meetings and bear the outward marks of faith is not what defiles, but righteousness comes from within, goes out from my followers, and comforts the suffering”?

What are the false notions of impiety in modern religion. They are many. Wrong music. Disinterest in shallow or boring worship services. Failure to apply the right bumper sticker or proclaim Jesus in a T-shirt logo.

Think about what Yeshua is actually saying in Mark 7: “Don’t worry that in the jostling crowds at Walmart you might contact uncleanness. It’s not contact from the outside that defiles. It’s what comes out of you, the wickedness in your heart. Your sense of superiority, I’m better than that woman. Your deceit. Your lust. Your grasping for self-enthronement is what defiles.

But you can get these words wrong too.

It’s not that Yeshua is saying, “Measure up.” Nor is he calling you to be a righteous individual.

First, a focus on measuring up will lead you astray. Don’t look at your shortcomings and feel unshakable shame. Look at all the good you can do and do it. Be a force for love, justice, kindness, goodness, service, help for those hurting.

Second, a focus on being a righteous individual will lead you astray. You were not created to be a solitary paragon of virtue. You made for others, to be with others, to be completed by others. You were made for God’s family.

But, you say, the congregation near me has it all wrong. Well, start somewhere. Yeshua’s generation had it all wrong too.

And no matter where you go, you’ll find people who want love, friendship, encouragement, help, and even to lend a helping hand.

But you will find that evil always pops up, in you and in others. Why be surprised? The power of sin is in perpetuating evil. The power of good is in reclaiming lost ground and advancing the kingdom of God.

While we are waiting for it to fully arrive, the kingdom of God is what we do together. It is what Yeshua taught us to do. Comfort mourners. Fill the hungry. See God. Supply needs. Right wrongs. Promote life.

SINCE . . . Yeshua called insiders who would remain close to him, form community, live out his teaching and example, and bring outsiders into community . . .

WHAT . . . are some overarching categories in Yeshua’s instruction for disciple communities?
…….(1) Shared resources in the new family.
…….(2) Union with God.
…….(3) The new mission.

More after the jump.

RATIONALE: Considering the message of the four gospels and especially key sections of instruction in the synoptics and John, these categories encompass much of what Yeshua said, demonstrated, and accomplished.

SHARED RESOURCES IN THE NEW FAMILY: Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother (Mark 3:35). The new family concept comes up in various forms throughout the gospels. Yeshua’s call to discipleship is a group call, not an individual call. The disciples are an inner circle (not just the Twelve). They are restored Israel. They are Yeshua’s family. They are to form a certain relation which assumes some organization (elders, congregation, etc.). Yeshua is present in their midst. They are to love one another sacrificially that all people will know they are disciples. The simplest description of their activity is to share resources. In the age to come there will be no lack, the poor will be blessed, mourners will be comforted. Yeshua comforted, provided, healed, and delivered from evil. Disciples, to the degree it is in their collective power, are to heal, serve, comfort, provide, and deliver. The activity comes from a strong belief in and union with God and his purposes, which Yeshua describes as the kingdom which is both now and not yet. The “now” part, the seed that bears fruit in the Sower parable, is whatever makes this life like the life of the age to come for people.

UNION WITH GOD: This theme is expressed in surprising ways. Those expected to be already in union with God are charged with missing him completely. Those thought to be shut out are invited in. Union with God does not come through group affiliation, national pride, or any kind of presumption. It comes through beholding God and/or beholding Yeshua, repenting, receiving, following, and being filled. From our perspective it involves choice, learning, and committing. But the transaction from God’s side involves things not in our power: being drawn, being forgiven, being filled. Following Yeshua by joining his new family and living his instruction is the entryway. Being filled involves many possible experiences and levels of awareness of the Presence and of empowerment for serving. Union brings peace, joy, strength, hope, knowledge of what is hidden, and the experience of love. Traditions involving repentance, humility, simplicity, service, and mystical awareness fit well with Yeshua’s teaching.

THE NEW MISSION: God sends Yeshua. Yeshua sends us. Yeshua instructed some in his inner circle at various times to go on missions. They went to proclaim gospel (good news) about the kingdom. They went to heal and deliver. Yeshua spoke often of God’s mission going to the gentiles. After his resurrection he sent his disciples to teach, baptize, and reinforce all that he commanded to form new communities.

IMPLICATIONS: Much religion in the name of Jesus (and/or Yeshua) is lacking in the qualities described in the gospels. The reality of evil and selfishness works against communities taking the sharing of resources seriously. Newer forms of presumption and group affiliation have replaced the idea of union with God. Mission for some groups has degenerated into mere proclaiming of a shallow gospel. In Yeshua’s model, as those in community live for one another, outsiders are drawn in by the need for love and healing. In Yeshua’s model, people find a connection with God that is mystical but real, which is for now and not just the life beyond. In Yeshua’s model, mission means making outsiders welcome and serving needs to defeat evil and make this world like the one to come.