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Don’t even think that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to fulfill.
What I hear a lot of the time from well-meaning Christians about that verse in Matthew is that Jesus fulfilled Torah (which is true, although they flinch a little when you say “Torah” rather than “the law”), but then they seem to sidetrack that by saying, in effect, that because he fulfilled the law, we now don’t have to, or something like that. He did it, so it’s taken care of, and we can move on to the next thing, such as being good Christians, whatever they think that means. Ask three different Christians what that means, and you’ll get at least five different answers. But — hello! — Jesus is telling us in this whole chapter what it takes to be “good Christians;” what constitutes being the salt and light. And it’s keeping every “jot and tittle” of the law.
Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you that not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen. If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. You must obey God’s commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don’t, I promise you that you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. [Olam Haba]
He then goes on to give a few more details about what it means to keep the mitzvot better than the most religious people around – and it all boils down to what’s going on in the heart. He has a lot to say in several places about doing the commandments by starting from the inside out – that it just plain doesn’t work when you try to do it any other way.
But, how can we do that, even? Can a leopard change its spots? Aren’t we like, bad inside, and can’t change that?
Well, yes we are, until we submit to God’s purpose in changing us, completely, on the inside, so that we can then be changed progressively from the inside out. This is what being “born again” means. It’s not a catchy phrase meaning “now I’m a Christian.” It’s a whole new, brand new start in life.
The prophet Ezekiel wrote “And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my commandments and do them.”
Now, notice how many times God says “I will” in that verse. “I will… I will… I will.” Folks, we can’t do it, but he will. The apostle Paul gets a bad rap in a lot of places, but this holds true, if you can grasp it: “God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.”
But, there’s an “if” here, as there nearly always is. We have to submit to God’s will in this, and he says in the verse right before that, “at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!‘”
This is to do the work of God: to have faith in him whom God has sent.
Or as the prophet Isaiah said: “I invite the whole world to turn to me and be saved. I alone am God! No others are real. I have made a solemn promise, one that won’t be broken: Everyone will bow down and worship me. They will admit that I alone can bring about justice. Everyone who is angry with me will be terribly ashamed and will turn to me. I, the LORD, will give victory and great honor to the people of Israel.”
God says, “I invite.” He doesn’t force us. I’m not here, and neither is he, to twist your arm into believing that Jesus Christ, Mashiach Yeshua ha-Natzeri, is Hashem revealed in human form. It’s your choice, my friend, whether to accept this, or not.
“…It is like what happens when a woman mixes yeast into three batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.”
Jesus taught the Jewish people about the kingdom of God, but much of it was hidden in the form of parables. There are many things regarding the kingdom of God that are hard to grasp for the average Joe. So then, there are also many different understandings of what it’s all about.
I was writing last time about the kingdom of God in us being an amazing vertical relationship. (“In us” — now there’s a mouthful right there!) It’s for His own good pleasure, and also for our benefit. “Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is delighted to give to you the kingdom.”
But at the same time God is not a pushover. He wants His will His way. Or as I was saying, complete submission to the Creator brings fullness of joy. I’m talking about living and dwelling in God, being saturated with His power and having His life infused in and through us, and radiating out from us.
Something totally different from the things in the past that we call religion.
There are a few basic requirements, though, starting with a sticky little thing called “repentance.” All that means is changing your mind about everything, in such a way that it changes everything you do. That’s all. Not much. Just everything.
But at this point, I’m getting into what is commonly and rightly known as “the gospel of salvation.” How we can be released from the power of sin and of darkness, so that we can then be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God. How we can have forgiveness of sins, and then a whole new life, through the shed blood of Jesus, God’s own sacrificial lamb.
There are plenty of places where you can hear this. However my purpose here was to write about how the kingdom of God is, in an outwardly visible way, the kingdom — the rightful rule — of Jesus, Son of David, Yeshua ben David. And how this is completely tied up with the restoration of the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob the grandson of Abraham, to their rightful preeminence in the affairs of man. And how all we goyim better sit up and pay attention to what is even now happening in Israel, and in the lives of Jews across the globe. How all along, we goyim have been the bottom of that two man pole, and we should begin to recognize that, and also be okay with it.
And, if you’ve heard of something called “the rapture,” you can forget all about that, too. I’ll let that sink in a little before I say some more. In the meanwhile, is there anything you’d like to say?
I had written an earlier post in this spot, but since that time I’ve seen over and over again where well meaning believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have been caught up short when speaking with Jews who rightly point out that God’s purpose for us is to live righteously in this present world, not muddle through this life in order to go to heaven when we die. And why are we so looking forward to death? Death is a thief and a robber.
Jesus came to give us life, but the only way we can have life is by doing the complete and perfect will of God. And it was only He who accomplished the work of living perfectly and righteously before God in this world who then became qualified to pass that ability on to all who come to him through faith.
I began to realize that I could never say enough about this in a blog post, so I’ve put this discussion in a separate page here. And yet I know that I can never say enough about this in a blog page, or in an entire blog, but we all have to start some place. Since there isn’t a spot to comment on a WordPress page as far as I can tell, I welcome your comments, corrections, or challenges under this post. Just don’t expect me to argue with you much about it. Sometimes one just has to put forth “the foolishness of preaching” for them that choose to believe.
Ts’daka, shalom, v’chedvah b’Ruach Haqodesh
As you may have gathered from my introduction, of central interest to me among the things of this world is Am Yisrael, and how the rest of the world regards the People. So you’ll likely see me writing a good deal on that. My friends tell me that my viewpoints tend to be, to put it euphemistically, “different,” so if you can relate to that, plunge ahead.
But I also have strong feelings in some other areas. As an American, I cannot sit still with my mouth shut about what has been happening to this country of late. Then again, I don’t see much point is merely pasting in what others have already said, other than for linking to general sites and other bloggers.
As a believer in the coming kingdom of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of David, makes a return appearance (oh my God! Yes, it’s going to happen!) to sit on His throne in Jerusalem, I will from time to time be writing things from that viewpoint. I may even quote a good deal of Scripture. I don’t usually thump my Bible, because to do that, you usually have to close it first. It makes more of a slapping noise than a thumping sound if it’s open. And I prefer to keep it open.
And I’m not sure at this point what other subjects I will spout off on – maybe I’ll even talk about you! Enjoy!
Shabbes Goy 