Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, December 30, 2021
Shalom,
I Am A Fool For Messiah – part 3
The “Sermon on the Mount” begins at the start of Matthew 5. In it, Yeshua gives the application of the “Moral Torah” in light of the New Covenant. Why did I put “Moral Torah” in quotes? Because there is much in the Torah that is ceremonial and even theological. But there is also much in the Torah that is moral. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”
How many times have I heard pastors expound on the idea that “Yeshua fulfilled the law, so I don’t have to?” Yet the Bible never teaches that. To the contrary… Romans 8:4 so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach. When something is “fulfilled” it is “filled to the full.”
Isaiah 42:21 Adonai was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to make Torah great and glorious. When something is “great” (in Hebrew “Gadol”) it is big or large. You can appreciate it’s detail because it seems closer. Yeshua came so that we can see the Law more clearly. The other Hebrew word, translated as “glorious” is “Yadir” meaning “It (He) will be glorious.” This is the same shoresh as “Nadar” meaning the highest point possible, so “exalted” or “high and lifted up” would be a good translation.
Look at how many of the moral laws are addressed in just the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount. You shall not murder (verse 21), you shall not commit adultery (verse 27), you shall not bear false witness (verse 33), and it goes on. Tucked in among these profound teachings of explaining these commandments, is this verse. Matthew 5:22 “But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca’ shall be subject to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be subject to fiery Gehenna.”
The context is an instruction not to hold your brother in contempt. “Contempt” is to believe that a person is beneath consideration. People are God’s creation, created to be the object of His love. How dare we “judge another man’s servant” as it says in Romans 14:4. Even when we see people acting foolishly, the admonition from Yeshua in this verse is that we must not tell a person that he is what he does. You might do something foolish, but that doesn’t make you a fool.
We all do foolish (self-destructive) things (and some of us might not be done yet), but that doesn’t define who we are. We are defined by God’s love, Who gave His only begotten Son, to say, “This is what you’re worth. This is how much I love you.” Receive it, believe it and according to 1 John 4:7a Loved ones, let us love one another.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Thu 30-Dec-2021 26th of Tevet, 5782
Ex 8:7-18 2 Sa 14 Ps 81 Lk 9:1-26 (Eph 3)
Week 1
Memory Verse: Genesis 1:27 God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.
1 12/27 Monday: Genesis 1-2
2 12/28 Tuesday: Genesis 3-4
3 12/29 Wednesday: Genesis 6-7
4 12/30 Thursday: Genesis 8-9
5 12/31 Friday: Job 1-2