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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place. So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17 – 20
[Mic Drop]
If only we could conclude this article here and move on… but alas, this is far from the case.
While some would accept everything I’ve presented to this point, many would protest its present application based on the fact that all of this occurred before the Crucifixion. As I’ve always understood it, the argument is that “everything changed at the Cross.”
Admittedly, it’s a sentiment I agree with in principle, however the manner in which everything changed is what I call into question. If we are to call ourselves students of scripture, I submit that we should seek to further understand the issue.
As an aside, there exists a debate regarding the proper definition of what we call the “New Testament” or in Hebrew, the “Brit Chadasha” (New Covenant). The debate centers around the use of the word “New” and some argue that there is evidence to support the use of “Renewed” in its place. While I concede that the implications of the terminology are significant, I contend that among disciples it shouldn’t matter.
This is not intended to impugn or indict anyone arguing from either side of the issue. My point is that scripture is what we look to for clarity on meaning and application. A title in this context is simply a mechanism to break up the text and notify the reader of a change in topic, content or authorship.
The implication of using “Renewed” is that the latter writings are an extension of what had come before. Namely the Mosaic covenant. Whether the translation is rendered as “New” or “Renewed”, the fact that this covenant was foretold in prophecy is indisputable. Moreover, what the scriptures had to say about this new covenant is very telling as well:
“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,”says the Lord. “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
Jeremiah 31:31 – 33
This passage in the book of Jeremiah is one of the most often quoted in regards to prophesy of a new covenant. Ezekiel 36:24 – 27 parallels this.
Neither of these texts ever declare that the provisions of the Mosaic covenant will become obsolete. On the contrary, they tell us that the law will be written on the hearts and minds of the people. If the law ceased to be applicable following the crucifixion, these cannot be and are not prophecies of the new covenant as perceived by Christian and Messianic believers today. What covenant then, could Jeremiah or Ezekiel be prophesying?
Obviously, these are valid prophesies of the covenant under which we currently find ourselves. Furthermore, this covenant was made and is valid as prophesied for Israel and Judah exactly as stated. This speaks to the heart of individual identity, but we’ll cover that in another article.
Referring back to the quotation from Matthew 5, Yeshua (Jesus) makes a number of profound statements regarding the Mosaic law being rendered obsolete…
“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.”
Matthew 5:18
The earth we walk is the same He walked. The heavens under which we live are the same under which He lived. All that must happen has not yet happened.
Yeshua made it clear, on more than one occasion that He was not invalidating the law given through Moses.
So Jesus replied, “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.”
John 7:16 – 17
Some translations render “teaching” in this passage as “doctrine”. Again, regardless of terminology, the context makes the meaning clear. What teaching or doctrine could He be referring to other than that of the Torah?
The text continues…
“The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law! Why do you want to kill me?”
John 7:18 – 19
The rest of the passage reveals that His teaching and doctrine is, indeed, that of the Torah that many would argue is no longer valid or binding.
Yeshua, by His own words, yet again denies the allegation. What’s more is that He speaks directly to their motives, even before they had been made manifest.
Yeshua repeatedly called out the Pharisees (P’rushim in Hebrew) for violating the Torah. They did so by elevating their traditions (known as the “Oral Law”) over the commandments handed down through Moses.
Christianity, for the most part, finds itself far removed from this tradition of “Oral Law” and therefore remains largely ignorant of the practices it prescribes. It’s unfortunate as understanding of these issues sheds significant light on many of the confrontations recorded within scripture… confrontations that Western Theology frequently misinterprets.
Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said, “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” he does not need to honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Matthew 15:1 – 9
To get to grips with what is transpiring here, we need to be aware of the tradition that begins the confrontation.
The Pharisees were the predominate theological body in Judea at the time of the Messiah. Their foundation lay in the idea that one could maintain a state of ritual purity. While that certainly sounds well intended, I would advise caution prior to contracting the ‘Good Intentions Road Paving Service‘ for any serious work in your life.
The Pharisees held to a tradition that required a hand-washing ritual prior to eating. It was essentially an imitation of the priests’ washing of their hands prior to entering the tent of meeting or approaching the altar (see Exodus 30:17 – 21). This was not a matter of cleanliness as it relates to hygiene, but as they perceived it, relating to ritual cleanliness before God.
Know that, outside of the prescription for priests to present offerings in the Tabernacle, no such commandment exists – hence Yeshua’s stern rebuke.
The text continues:
Then He called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.” Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?” And He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Jesus said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.”
Matthew 15:10 – 19
At no point in this, or any other passage of scripture, does Yeshua do or say anything that violates the Mosaic law. He does however, sternly rebuke anything that stands as an addition to, or subtraction from the law of God given through Moses.
It bears mentioning that the parallel of this passage in the Gospel of Mark adds a parenthetical statement to verse 19:
… (thus he declared all foods clean).
Mark 7:19
Though there is no shortage of commentary and controversy on this issue, the context makes it clear. This confrontation was not about food, but about elevating tradition over the Word of God.
Unfortunately, there are many who do take this to be about food.
The problem with this line of thinking is that the Torah defined what food is (have a look at Leviticus, chapter 11). I submit that by default, God’s declaration that some things are “unclean” and not to be eaten, strictly disqualifies them from being considered food.
What’s more is, if we insist on ignoring the clear instruction on what is and is not to be eaten, how is what’s coming out of us not rebellion and disobedience?
I would refer the reader to the discussion of sin in the article: One Law.
Consider the story of the adulterous woman…
Early in the morning he came to the temple courts again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The experts in the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone to death such women. What then do you say?” (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against him.) Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight and replied, “Whoever among you is guiltless may be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground.
John 8:2 – 11
Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up straight and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She replied, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
The passage tells us that “they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against him”.
I ask the question – what was the trap?
If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
Leviticus 20:10
If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy 22:22
The Torah requires that both be put to death, yet this woman – caught in the act – is brought before Yeshua alone…
His response would have resonated through these men like lightning. He was calling them out, not on some private, unspoken sin committed in the past, but on the sin they were committing right then and there. Having let the man go free, they were trying to fool Yeshua into condemning the woman to death. They knew full well what His response meant, and it’s exactly why the older (wiser) men were the first to “drift away”.
Furthermore, had Yeshua condemned the woman and advised the crowd to stone her, He would have done so in violation of the Torah! THAT was the trap.
Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:34 – 40
When tested by the experts of the day, Yeshua pointed to love as the underlying principle behind every commandment in the Torah. In the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5), Yeshua addresses several specific issues, yet in overall tone, addressed the heart of the law. He goes on to reveal that sin in the heart, is sin, regardless of action or inaction.
Let that sink in for a moment. Yeshua not only upheld the Torah as given through Moses, he ‘upped the ante’ in a manner of speaking.
Ironically, there are those among the larger body of believers who would point to this in defense of the view that the Mosaic law has been superseded. Their argument being that this constitutes the foundational element of the “law of Christ”.
The irony of that assertion however, is that Yeshua isn’t pointing to something new… He’s pointing to a principle that was and is the foundational principle of Judeo-Christian faith even unto the present day:
Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:4
This passage, known as the “Shema” (hear/ listen and obey), speaks to the heart of the Mosaic covenant; love God, with all your heart, mind and strength. Would this not infer obedience to the commandments as prescribed in the Torah as the vehicle through which we express that love? The apostle John certainly thought so:
For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.
1 John 5:3 – 4
Though some see the commandment to love God and love your neighbor as a “release” from the legal requirements of the Mosaic covenant, both the Messiah and his apostles indicate otherwise.
If we hold to the view that this commandment supplants or replaces the commandments of the Mosaic covenant, we subscribe to a supersessionist view. The scriptural basis for this can seemingly be found in 1 Corinthians 9:21 and Galatians 6:2.
Although these passages seem to lend some measure of credibility to the idea, they would only do so in a vacuum… and in direct contradiction to the words of the Messiah himself. Matthew 5:17 – 21 and John 7:16 at a minimum, reveal this view to be irreconcilable to the message put forth by Yeshua and continued by his talmidim (disciples).
To be continued…
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You