Teaching (no posting) The Book of Matthew

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on the Mount; Teaching about Pledges

33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’* or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil. (Lev. 19:12, Num. 30:2, Deut. 23:21-22, Ps. 76:12, Ecc. 5:4, James 5:12)

* (V.37) Double Yes or No means "Definitely Yes!" or "Definitely No!" This idiom is in use in modern conversational Hebrew.

Note scripture references after verse 37. Jesus and James are both quoting and teaching from Torah.

The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew's gospel chapters 5-7, stands as the "Inaugural Address" of Messiah Yahusha (a.k.a. "Jesus" or "Yeshua"). It's position in Matthew's gospel as the first of many teaching discourses sets the tone for Messiah's mission on earth to men. Matthew recognizes the preeminent importance of this teaching in the ministry of Yahusha where He establishes the Law (Hebrew, Torah which means "Instruction") which he has come to fully explain.


From the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount to its end, the theme Messiah lays out for his disciples is the proper interpretation and observance of the Torah. He emphatically makes the case for, not only observing the Law at face value, but going further and observing the spirit of the Law, as well. The commandment is either cited or alluded to, followed by Yahusha's proper interpretation of the Law, which takes our understanding to a deeper level. He establishes the full intent of each of the commandments which he references by explaining the deeper meaning of that instruction and by exploring the proper faith walk in compliance with the Law for his disciples.


At the end of the day, the Messiah does not annul the Law, or "do away with" the Law, or suspend the Law. He most emphatically lifts up the Torah as the proper walk and lifestyle for those who follow him and the way to receive favor from Elohim (Hebrew for God, which means "Mighty One"). The Sermon on the Mount, when studied without theological or denominational bias, is a clear presentation of the need for all who claim relationship with the Almighty to not only keep the "letter of the Law" but to go all the way and keep the "spirit of the Law" as well. ~BibleTruth.cc~

Living With Integrity...A sermon outline by the same teacher as the last two days. I'll let you look it up and read it.

Obviously, all the references in the Old Testament, Jesus quoting from it, then James quoting from it, it's important to keep your vows. Marriage, business, work, spiritual, etc.. In fact it's best, as pointed out that we just say "yes" or "no" and then follow through with what we've said yes or no to. Don't make a bunch of other words like "I promise" "I swear",etc.. We are to be so honorable that we don't need to make promises or say I swear. When we break a promise we become a liar then we are no better than the evil one because he is a liar.

A little not with the subject but I like the words

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[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on The Mount; Teaching about Retaliation

38 You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye*, and a tooth for a tooth.’ (Exod. 21:24, Lev. 24:20, Deut. 19:21) 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile*, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

29 Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

* (V. 38) This does not mean you are to take out the eye of someone who has knocked out an eye.

The ancient Hebrews had long before Y'shua's day determined that the references such as "an eye for an eye' and a "tooth for a tooth" (Exod. 21:24) were not to be taken literally. They said this because the basic premise was that God is just, and if a one-eyed man knocked out the eye of someone with two eyes, then to take the second eye from the one-eyed man would make him blind. This would not be just. If a toothless man knocked out someone else's tooth then he would escape punishment. This would not be just. Therefore these and other scriptures were used as the basis for establishing monetary punishment - fines. ~One New Man Bible~​

* (V. 41) This is a Roman mile, one thousand paces. ~One New Man Bible~


Exposition of Matthew 5: 38-42
Beth Elohim Messianic Synagogue

Mat 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
Mat 5:39 “But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 “And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Mat 5:41 “And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two.
Mat 5:42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.


Many times you have heard verse one, “eye for eye, and tooth for a tooth,” misinterpreted by clergy, friends or acquaintances. Perhaps, Yahshua was addressing that very issue here. In the Torah we find many qualifying passages that will reveal to you that it is the acts of revenge that G-d is limiting here; the natural human impulse to exact the maximum penalty for some wrong committed against them. Let me state that “eye for eye, and tooth for a tooth,” is a principle or concept that teaches us that retribution and punishment must be commensurate with the crime or wrong committed.


Turn with me to Exodus 21:24. I’m reading from the Living Bible.


24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 burn for burn, cut for cut, and bruise for bruise.


Note this is the preamble but see how it is qualified:


26 If you hit one of your slaves and cause the loss of an eye, the slave must be set free. 27 The same law applies if you knock out a slave’s tooth—the slave goes free.
28 A bull that kills someone with its horns must be killed and its meat destroyed, but the owner of the bull isn’t responsible for the death.
29 Suppose you own a bull that has been in the habit of attacking people, but you have refused to keep it fenced in. If that bull kills someone, both you and the bull must be put to death by stoning.
30 However, you may save your own life by paying whatever fine is demanded.
31 This same law applies if the bull gores someone’s son or daughter.
32 If the bull kills a slave, you must pay the slave owner thirty pieces of silver for the loss of the slave, and the bull must be killed by stoning.
33 Suppose someone’s ox or donkey is killed by falling into an open pit that you dug or left uncovered on your property.
34 You must pay for the dead animal, and it becomes yours.
35 If your bull kills someone else’s, yours must be sold. Then the money from your bull and the meat from the dead bull must be divided equally between you and the other owner.
36 If you refuse to fence in a bull that is known to attack others, you must pay for any animal it kills, but the dead animal will belong to you. (Contemporary English bible)


You can see by the qualifying verses that the concept advanced here is that of punishment commensurate with the wrong committed.


You will also notice from this brief exercise that all of the situations covered have companion law in our own judicial system. In fact our civil and criminal tort system is based upon biblical law.


Now let’s see how the rabbis viewed this verse.


In Bava Kama 8:1 from the Mishna which was compiled from existing law by Judah Ha-Nasi in 200-220 CE we have the rabbis thinking on the subject:


“If someone wounds his fellow, he becomes liable to compensate the injured party for five different aspects of the injury: damage, pain, healing, loss of time from work, and insult.
“In the case of damage, here is an example of how restitution is determined. Suppose someone blinded someone else’s eye, cut off his hand or broke his leg. They value the injured person as if he were a slave for sale in the market, and they appraise his value before the injury and now.
“Here is an example of determining the compensation for pain. Suppose someone burns another with a skewer or nail, even if only on his fingernail, where it doesn’t actually produce a wound. They determine how much a man of his position would be willing to be paid to suffer that amount of pain.
“For healing the indemnity is determined in this way. If someone hit another person, he must pay all the expenses of healing him. If he develops ulcers, then if they come about in consequence of the blow, he is liable; but if not, he is not liable. If the wound heals, reopens, heals and reopens again, he is liable for all the expenses. But once it has healed thoroughly, he does not remain liable to pay the expenses of healing him.
“The value of time lost is estimated in this way. They consider what he would earn if he were a watchman over a cucumber field [a job requiring no special skills], for he has already been paid for the loss of his hand or foot. [In practice, this means they determine what kind of work he will be fit for when he fully recovers and evaluate the time lost by this standard.]
“For insult the compensation is determined entirely in accordance with the social status of both the one who caused the indignity and the one who suffered it. If someone insults a person who is naked, blind or asleep, he is liable. But if a sleeping person causes an insult, he is not liable. Someone who falls from a roof and causes injury and insult at the same time is liable for the injury but not for the insult, … because one should not be held responsible for an indignity one did not intend to cause.” (Bava Kama 8:1)


In conclusion let me say that to literally interpret this phrase “eye for eye and tooth for a tooth” is to turn this phrase into a legalistic perversion of the command as a matter of right and duty as something to be insisted upon than as a matter of restraint. Something we are still guilty of today.


The next verse “do not resist him who is evil,” is the most misunderstood verse in the B’rit Chadasha. “Resist not evil and turn the other cheek.” To understand these citations we have to understand that the Sermon on the Mount must not be understood as a code of ethics or a replacement for the Torah.


Firstly, what we must understand is that it is a matter of emphasizing the spirit of the law.


Secondly, these teachings are never to be applied mechanically or as a kind of rule of thumb.


Thirdly, if our interpretation ever makes the teaching appear ridiculous it is a blatantly wrong interpretation.


Fourthly, if the teaching appears to be impossible it is also wrong because nothing Yahshua taught is ever impossible.


And lastly, if our interpretation of any one of these things contradicts the plain and obvious truth of any other portion of scripture then our interpretation is wrong.


Think how patently ridiculous it would be if we followed the literal understanding of this verse and “did not resist evil.” Tolstoy a man of high intelligence and a great writer, who interpreted this verse this way, said to have policemen, courts, magistrates and soldiers was unchristian. Evil, he maintained is not to be resisted. There should be no punishment for crime. Would you like to live in a world like that? But that is the extent to which even famous Christian leaders have carried this verse.


When we examine these verses we need to take the Sermon on the Mount in the order in which it was preached. First, we read the Beatitudes, and then we advance with those definitions before we can see the relevance of the latter. In the Beatitudes we have a description of a believer. One who is “poor in spirit,” a person realizing how steeped in sin they had been and their own inability to confront sin without the Spirit. They mourn because they are sinners and their utter helplessness before sin without G-d. They are meek for they have a spirit in them that is the very antithesis of the spirit of the world. They hunger and thirst after righteousness.


In the first verse we are given the injunction to exercise commensurate justice according to the wrong committed. A law that restrains and holds men back from their natural inclination to sin and to take by force whatever they desire. It is a law that preserves order and restrains excesses. An eye for and eye and tooth for tooth is a law of justice and equity. How can that be if we are not to resist evil?


Take note, Yahshua is verse 39 is speaking to the believer of the beatitudes and not to the natural man. This verse concerns the relationship of the believer with other believers, but it in no way warrants excusing evil, for if it did we would have a contradiction in Scripture. Let us go to other scriptures that detail how we are to confront evil among believers. In Matthew 8:15 –17 we read:


Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the assembly: but if he neglect to hear the assembly, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.


And also in 1 Tim 5:19 concerning leaders of the assembly:
1 Tim 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
1 Tim 5:20 Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning.


When we consult the whole of scripture we gain understanding and see that we are to confront evil among believers in a prescribed manner. First individually, then with witnesses, and lastly before the whole community and if the perpetrator does not repent we are to excommunicate him/her. This verse primarily addresses our relationship to believers. In either case, believer or unbeliever, we have a right to defend ourselves against acts of evil as is clearly outlined in Scripture. So what does it mean to “turn the other cheek,” part “b” in verse 39? Character assignation and criticism comes from both believers and unbelievers. Yahshua is telling us to rid ourselves of the spirit of retaliation in these incidences, however it does not mean we cannot defend our families or ourselves when the circumstances warrant such action. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the L-rd.” What the phrase “turn the other cheek” means is that we should not be concerned about personal insults and injuries that provoke us to defend our self-esteem, Sha’ul said, With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment; yea I judge not mine own self.” Sha’ul like Yahshua has become indifferent to personal criticism, insult and abuse, and to anything that men might do to him. This is what Yahshua is teaching here.


Believers are to treat differently other believers in order to give them a chance to repent. We extend unto them grace, until that grace is rejected. What is being taught here is a man’s attitude toward himself. We are being asked to face circumstances that challenge our life as believers, and our relationship to other believers as well as non-believers. The next verse 42 is key to that understanding.


Mat 5:42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.


Before we examine more of the concept and principle behind Yahshua’s teachings we need to examine the particulars of verses 40 and 41:


Mat 5:40 “And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.


In this illustration the particular is derived from the principle. That is the tendency of men to always demand and insist upon their legal rights. Under Jewish Law a man could not be sued for his outer garment, but Yahshua is saying here that in regardless of your legal rights under the law, if you are sued for your inner garment, which was legal give him your outer one too. Yahshua is illustrating to us that we are all too often talking about our rights, but rarely about our duties. This is the world spirit. Are we not to help our fellow man, provide for the homeless, widowed, poor, and orphans? When we insist only on our rights our duty to our fellow man falls by the way side.


Mat 5:41 “And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two.”


In this verse we need to understand that during this period Roman soldiers as was their right, frequently commanded a Jew to carry their baggage for a mile. Jews naturally resented this law. The principle taught here is not only are we to do what is expected though it might be an unpopular law, but not contrary to Scripture, we are to go beyond it in the spirit of G-d’s Torah. We are not to strive to get out of obligations, even those pressed upon us by government. In 1 Peter 2 it reads, “Servants be subject to your masters.” When we do things in a spirit of willingness, our spirit will influence those around us. Instead of hearing how grudgingly or reluctantly believers carry out their obligations we engender a new spirit that glorifies G-d, and we take away the opportunity for unbelievers to belittle G-d’s name.


We have to ask ourselves what have these two verses to do with “borrowing” found in verse 42? What has this verse to do with fighting and killing? How does this all fit in?


Yahshua is concerned about this question of “self.” What he is saying is that if we are to be true believers we are to become dead to self. Our own self-interest. How we think about ourselves will determine how we react to others.


It is a spiritual teaching that demands we look first to ourselves and how we think of ourselves. I must be right in my attitude of self when the spirit of self-defense arises because of a wrong done to me. I must also deal with my desire of revenge and the spirit of retaliation that is characteristic of the natural man, and the attitude of self toward injustices fostered by the state or community I live in. And finally there is the attitude of self toward personal possessions.


Yahshua is exposing that atrocious thing, self-interest, found in all of us that are in opposition to the Spirit of G-d. Self that glorifies himself and opposes G-d. This is the terrible legacy that has come down to us from the fall of man. Natural man protects this self all along and in every way. But he does it not only when attacked or when something is taken away from him; he does it also in the matter of possessions, even intellectual possessions. If someone wants to borrow from him his instinct is, “Why, should I impoverish myself and part with my goods? “ It is self the whole time, but also nothing here demands that we should give to or lend to frauds, drunkards, professional beggars or anyone else that does not respect property or human decency. What Yahshua is saying is that we are not to withhold help from any one in need because of selfishness or self-centeredness. If I am in a position to do so, and a person is in need, it is my duty to provide help both materially and spiritually. In 1 John chapter 3 we read verses 17,18: “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of G-d in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”


There is no contradiction with these verses when we understand their intent. Yahshua is saying to us: “If any man would be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up the execution stake. And follow Me.”

Amein…

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on The Mount; Love for Enemies

43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor (Lev 19:18) and hate your enemy*.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Prov. 24:17-18), 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

* (V.43) "Hate your enemy" was from heathens, since it is not found in the Tanach (Hebrew scriptures) or oral law.

Other Bible references of the same sermon:

27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Note that Jesus said, "You have heard it said"; meaning it's not what God said. "Hate your enemies" is not found anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures so Jesus was not changing anything Torah stated, he was clarifying what was actually said. We are to love our enemies.

How can we carry out the teachings of Jesus? How do we stay away from hatred, adultery, lust, and murder? How can we turn the other cheek? How is it even possible to love those that hate you? Or, love your enemies? The issue is our heart.

The love Jesus is talking about is not to be confused with the weak, sentimentality of our modern understanding of love. As one writer says, “Jesus knew that love, not sentimentality, is the only powerful antidote for all human ills.” This kind of love takes courage and boldness, and is motivated not by feeling, but by the will.

It is one thing to forgive and love, but to actually pray for our enemies can be very difficult. Our prayers are so often directed toward our own needs, without understanding that the Kingdom of God is beginning to direct our thoughts outward and upward. Jesus says that when we love our enemies and pray for them, we are acting as children of the King. God is not asking His people in His kingdom to do anything He hasn’t done.


Persecution and oppression is the way of this earth. Jesus is teaching His disciples that we are to live in a way that different from the ways of this world. Instead of exercising our rights and “Justified” violence, we are to act in Grace and humility, like our Heavenly Father. We are to be mirrors of our Heavenly Father. God shows kindness to His enemies. He could and should take us all out, but He not only saves some, He shows kindness to those that hate him. If we only love those who love us then we are no better than the heathen because even they do that.

Do we love those that hate us, and are we truly wishing the best for the other person, or are we just trying to get ours? Do we love the other in the speaking of the truth? What is the motivation for our justice?

Our holiness is the result of God’s love transforming us and our actions, it is not the result of our discipline, but it is our discipline that is the result of God making us holy! Thus the disciplines of our faith are not the cause, but the affect of God’s love taking root in our lives. True holiness is connected to God’s love in a way that is displayed in the lives of His people. Holiness comes from believing on Jesus, and trusting in Him for salvation, and obedience to God. Yes, the blood of Jesus washed us clean, however, if we don't walk in obedience (living willy nilly as we please) it will be impossible to be holy and to be "perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect". In the event that you do not desire to be obedient to Him then that is a heart issue and it is taken care of by getting before Him and asking Him to change your heart attitude toward His ways. You may not see an immediate change but as you continue to pursue His will and His ways, change will follow.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on the Mount; Charitable Giving

1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed*, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

So far Yeshua has taught on what the law is; what we are to believe.

• Those who are blessed.
• Be salt and light.
• Follow Torah.
• Teach others to follow Torah.
• Don't be angry with your brother/sister. When you wrong, make things right.
• Don't commit adultery.
• Don't divorce.
• Don't make pledges, just say yes/no and then follow through...except there was a parable of Yeshua's where a son had been asked by his father to do something he said no and did it anyway, the other son said yes, he'd do it but he didn't. Yeshua asked, "which one is greater"? The answer was the one who'd said no but did it anyway. In that situation it was a good thing that the son had helped his father anyway.
• Don't retaliate and try to get even with someone who harms you.
• Love your enemies.

Now Yeshua switches from what we are to believe to what we are to do. In 1 John 2:29, and 1 John 3:7 we read acts of righteousness referred to. It is a righteousness that is concerned with pleasing God, and not with the seeking of the approval of man. Verse 1 leads to three examples that are the very foundation of the Jewish (the disciples were Jewish and so was Yeshua) idea of how righteousness is attained: Tsadaka (charity), tephillah (prayer), and Tshuvah (repentance) by fasting. In each of these examples Jesus provides four similar admonitions:

• Don't show off your charitable activities to be seen by men.
• If you ignore that truth you will receive self approval and no more.
• Do righteous acts secretly.
• Be assured that God who see’s what is done in secret will reward you openly.

The natural man has a tendency to gauge his life by the acceptance and approval of others. If people think well of us we think well of ourselves. It is in response to that inclination that we are prone to be more religious in front of others. No matter how clever or successful we are at pulling this off, it carries no weight with God. He sees our hearts and knows if we are genuinely serving him or ourselves. There is a balance between letting our light shine so that men might see and glorify God, and doing our acts of righteousness in such a manner that it draws attention to ourselves. We are to simply walk with God, keep our eyes on Him, and and seek His approval only and not man’s.

Note that Yeshua does not say in v1, if you give, but He says when you give. He assumes that His disciples will give to the needy. Giving is a command, it's imperative, it's an obligation that involves more than just being nice or feeling sorry for someone.

The reference in v2 to blowing a trumpet is probably an allusion to the Jewish tradition of blowing on the shofar to call Israel at the time of the appointed fasts. It was believed that Tsadakah insured the effectiveness of their fasts and prayers. This belief gave opportunity to ostentation in the giving. There is a kind of hypocrisy that causes a person to deceive himself into thinking that he is pleasing God and man, and in so doing is able to beguile others. The Pharisee’s described here, and for that matter all religious people of similar persuasion, love the praise of men more than God’s praise. John 5:43-44 and John 12:37-43.

We'll continue with prayer, one of the ways of righteousness as previously mentioned in the next section.

To sum this part up though, it's the right thing to give, and it should be done in secret. Sometimes it can be difficult to give in secret. If you seek the Lord though, He will show you and provide you the way to do so. I remember one time I was in the supermarket and as I rounded the corner with my shopping basket, my eyes caught sight of a young man and I heard the Lord say, "give him that $20 in your purse without him knowing. I thought "Lord that's a total stranger, how am I going to do that without him knowing? So I casually walked around the store keeping my eye on him and waiting for an opportunity. He got in the check out line and I was standing a few lines down when he suddenly left his basket and went running to get something else. I quickly walked over and dropped the $20 on top of his food and walked away. When he got back he just looked at the money, probably thinking he'd somehow dropped it, and put it in his wallet. It was pretty fun for me

In the event, which I frequently find myself in, that you don't have money to give, there are many other ways you can do something and do it secretly. Just ask God to show you what you can do and He is faithful to do so. Be blessed and be a blessing.



* (V.2) Ts'dakah is both Mitsvah (a command from God) and Righteousness* and is a feminine noun meaning to do more than is required, such as to do more than just the minimum for someone who is hurting: to truly love your neighbor as yourself. The term is also applied to giving beyond the tithe to charities. Therefore Ts'dakah is translated "acts of loving kindness." Ts'dakah is to be done in love, cheerfully, with no thought of a reward. ~One New Man Bible~

The word righteousness is the noun form of the Hebrew toot ts-d-k. Ts-d-k and the Greek verb Dikaio both mean to do right, to be just. They are verbs that require action by the subject of the verb. When we are made righteous by our faith our behavior has to change. If it does not, see what John says in 1 John 2:3-6.

There are many times in the New Testament that we have references like Acts 16:31: So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” To Paul, Luke, and all New Testament authors, the word "believe" required action, as in Acts 26:19-20.

This change in behavior comes from above, as evidenced by Paul's reference to "the gift of righteousness" in Rom 5:17 and 6:18. There is a lot each one can do to be a better person, but we can do so much more when faith and commitment to God bring us the gift of righteousness.

Paul says in 1 Cor 6:9-10 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Stop being deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous people, nor drunkards, nor abusive people, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God."

We need to know that in the Jewish mind the word Believe requires the change in behavior that John was talking about in the verses quoted above. See also Ezekiel 18:5-9. ~One New Man Bible~
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[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on the Mount; Teaching on Prayer; Lord's Prayer

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.b]">[b]

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

When we pray, the posture is not what is the most important. In the Bible days, people prayed prostrate: Numbers 16:22, Matthew 26:39, kneeling: Daniel 6:10, Acts 21:5, and standing: 1 Samuel 1:26, Mark 11:25. It's the motive that is important though. Yeshua is not condemning public prayer because we find many NT examples of public prayer: Matthew 18:19-20, Acts 4:23-24, though a person who prays more in public than in private it's an indication that they are more interested in man's opinion than God's. When we pray we should keep in mind that we are standing before the King of Kings, our Heavenly Father.

There is a tendency to think that the more we say the more effective our prayers will be. Two examples demonstrate how untrue this idea is: 1 Kings 18:26-29; Acts 19:24-34. Yeshua is not condemning long prayers either, because there was occasion that He prayed long prayers. However, we are not to think that a prayer of big or many words will make God listen any closer than a shorter prayer.

Yeshua then gives His disciples a model prayer. It's "how" they should pray, not "what" they should pray.

The opening designation is showing the kind of God they are praying to: He is personal and caring. A Father, not a tyrant like the Greek and Roman myth gods were portrayed.

The first part focuses on God's name, His kingdom, and His will.

Hallowed by Thy Name. The name is most Holy. His name represents all that God is – His character, plan, and will. Each of the Old Testament names and titles given to God show a facet of His character and will. Names in Scripture, especially those given by God described the character of those who bear them. My other study of "Reflections of Love, Mercy, and Grace" is touching on many of the words God uses to describe Himself.

Your Kingdom come. As the name is Holy so too is it important to acknowledge that God is sovereign. It is to also ask God to bring the entire world to the blessings of His sovereignty. As we pray for God’s Kingdom to be established we align our will and our hearts to be used of God in bringing it further along. The Greek word for kingdom is basileia. This is not a geographical reality but one of sovereignty and dominion. The kingdom will in the millennium be on earth with its capitol in Jerusalem but it will not be a kingdom of this world. It will be a heavenly rule on earth. We do not advance the kingdom of heaven by promoting worldly programs.

Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is to seek to align ourselves with Romans 12:1-2. That God’s will might become our will. It is also to pray that God’s will might prevail here on earth as it does in heaven. In a very significant way our prayers accomplish God’s Will on earth. Too often we believe that we can do little to affect God’s will on earth. In Acts 12:5-18 we see how the believers praying for Peter did not quite believe their prayers would make a difference since when God answered, they did not first believe it.

The Greek word for "will" is "Thelema” and it includes God’s righteous demands, (Matthew 7:21; 12:50, Psalm 40:8). It also includes accomplishing salvation, (Matthew 18:14; 26:42, Acts 21:14). What this model prayer shows us is that a foundation to our prayers being answered there must be a desire for God’s will to be accomplished.

Now that we are in the proper heart and mindset, Yeshua now instructs us to petition God for ourselves.

Give us today our daily bread. The word bread is usually a reference to all food. (Proverbs 30:8,2 Thessalonians 3:12). The original Greek is a reference to real food. Daily bread is reminder of the daily provision of the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 13-30). We should not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:31-32).

Forgive us our debts. The Greek word used here was the one most translated for an Aramaic word that referred to spiritual or moral sin. It is sin that separates us from God. It is the source of all our and the world’s problems. We who are believers have received atonement for our sin that would have eternally separated us from God. But our daily sin causes our fellowship and walk to be hindered (John 15:1-7). This requires a humble spirit so that we will be willing to confess our sins to God (Proverbs 28:13). His ready forgiveness does not mean that we can freely sin. That kind of attitude brings death not life.

As we also have forgiven our debtors. While God’s grace is unconditional in regard to salvation there are conditions for continued fellowship forgiving others. To forgive is to be like our heavenly Father. To be unforgiving is to incur the anger of our heavenly Father (Matthew 18:21-35)

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. – The Greek word for temptation here is unlike our definition of temptation. It’s root meaning is testing or proving. This was Jesus’ prayer when his time of trial came in the garden. (Matthew 26:42-45,James 1:2-3,13).

For if you forgive: Abiding in the vine requires having a forgiving spirit. Otherwise our relationship with our Heavenly Father is affected. 1 Timothy 1:16,Matthew 18:21-35. But if you do not forgive… lack of a forgiving spirit causes us to develop a root of bitterness.

When it comes to prayer, many times, we who know nothing do all the talking to the One who knows everything. Remember, at some point, stop talking and listen for a response from Him.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on The Mount; Teaching about Fasting

16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

The Day of Atonement was the only day that fasting was commanded. (Lev 16:29) Yeshua has given instructions on giving for God to see and not man, how to pray, and now, how to fast....not the step by step procedure of fasting, but the matter of the heart of fasting. There are many examples though of fasting in the Old and the New Testament. Times of sorrow: 2 Samuel 12:16, and in the circumstance of great fear: 2 Chronicles 20:3, and Esther 4:16.

Fasting was done to demonstrate humility and dependence on God: Ezra 8:21, Jonah 3:5-7. Fasting was done when seeking wisdom and/or understanding from God: Daniel 9:2-3, Acts 13:2-3, and Acts 14:23. In the time of Isaiah 58:5-9 it had become a merely a matter of duty; hasty and superficial. Things had not changed much at the time of Yeshua.

So He tells us that when we do fast, that we do it in such a way so as to not draw attention to ourselves. We are not to have a sad face so that people will ask us "what's wrong" and then we can tell them "I'm fasting". If we do it that way then we have our reward in others thinking we are spiritual, but God knows the facts. In today's way, wash your hair and your face and body, put on cologne/perfume and wear clean clothes so that no one will know you are fasting, and the Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on The Mount; Treasure in Heaven; The Lamp of the Body; You Cannot Serve God and Riches

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Proverbs 22:9, 28:22)

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

This whole section of verses deal with our view of money and what it's importance is to us.

Look at Luke 12:16-21

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”​

Yeshua is NOT saying that spirituality is found in poverty. He IS saying though that we are not to be possessed by our possessions. God gives material blessings and He encourages us to be thankful and enjoy them. (1 Tim 6:17) Abraham and Job were both prosperous and Proverbs encourages us to be wise so that we might prosper. When we prosper though, we are encouraged to be generous.

The key word in the passage is yourselves, "do not lay up for yourselves". We are to invest our treasures for the Kingdom of God. Everything we have is subject to loss. Nothing we have is safe from destruction or theft. Where our treasure is, is an indication of where our heart is.

In verse 22 the eye becomes a metaphor for the heart. Physical light enters through our eyes, spiritual light through our heart. The heart is the seat of our emotions, the heart is the eye of the soul. It is through the heart that God's peace and love comes to us. When our heart is seeing properly it is filled with God's light, when our heart is not seeing properly, it is filled with darkness.

In verse 23, the term "evil eye" is a Hebrew idiom for a stingy person. An eye that covets what belongs to another, greedy.

Whereas a "good-eyed" person is generous and good-hearted, the "evil eye," in biblical (cf. I Sam. 18:9; Prov. 28:22) and tannaitic (cf. Avot 2:9, 11; 5:13, 19) sources, denotes stinginess, selfishness, and jealousy; in the aggadah of Palestinian amoraim the evil eye is a prevalent motif. Furthermore, jealousy was linked with magic and with fatal consequences. Hence, talmudic and midrashic elaborations of biblical narratives represent Sarah as casting the evil eye on Hagar (Gen. R. 4.45:5), Joseph's brothers on Joseph (ibid. 84:10), Og the giant on Jacob (Ber. 54b). Likewise, the evil eye caused the breaking of the first tablets of the Law (Num. R. 12:4) and the death of Daniel's three companions (Sanh. 93a). ~Jewish Virtual Library~​

No one is able to serve two masters. We must put our confidence in either God or money.

We are not to lay up treasures for ourselves but freely share what we have with others who are in need. We are not to depend on what we have to take care of us, we are to depend on God. When we see someone in need and we are able to help them, it is sin to not do so. God promises He will take care of us. He gives so that we too may give...let us not withhold for fear of not having what we need. Be rich toward God and He will be rich toward you.

For more insight on this subject see Jerusalem Perspective

​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on the Mount; Care and Anxiety

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?


28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?


31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

In the last verse of the last segment Yeshua says, (v24) "You cannot serve God and mammon.

He continues on with "Because of this" (not being able to serve God and wealth) "I say to you, stop being anxious for your life, what you would eat or what you would drink, or what you would put on your body."

What we will eat and wear and where we will live; all these are important yet Yeshua tells us to stop worrying over them. How can one "not" worry about these things? It's not easy, especially when we have others around us constantly reminding us of our obligations. Sad to say that many think we're supposed to worry about them, yet Yeshua says "do not worry".

I remember one time when my then roommate got married and I was left in an apartment that I could not afford alone. I had put ads in the Christian newspaper and at churches and had spread the word around for a roommate but there were no takers. Everyone around me kept saying, "what are you gonna do?" "You should do this you should do that" and I would try some of those "shoulds" but they would never work. Personally, I think it was God keeping those things from working because He was trying to work in me a trust of Him. It was midnight and the coming day rent was due and the phone rang. It was a girl who was a friend of a neighbor whom I had met before and she was interested in moving in that day. God provided. I have a Pastor friend who says, "God is never late, but He sure misses great opportunities to be early". LOL Right on time He is.

There was another time when I needed new clothes but I did not have the money to buy them. A friend called and said that a friend of hers had gone through all her clothing and was giving a bunch of them away. She gave them to me. They were nice clothes too. And fit perfectly. Another time, I was distressed over the poor treatment of co-workers who had tried to push me into buying their car (I did not have one) and when I told them I could not do what they wanted in monthly payments they put me down telling me I was not using the brain God had given me. I went back to my desk in frustration and was opening mail and talking to God at the same time. I had a bill sitting on the desk that I had not mailed because I did not have a stamp to mail it with. As I talked to God I said, "how can they expect me to buy their car (which I felt was not what God wanted for me anyway) when I don't even have the .32 cents to buy a stamp to mail that bill". As I said those very words, a stamp fell out of the envelope I had opened and landed on the desk in front of me. I stared at it. With trembling hands I opened up the paper it fell out of and the only words on that paper was "here's a stamp for you". Oh, and that car my co-workers had wanted me to buy broke down a couple of weeks later and cost them a lot of money. Yes, God is faithful and kept me from an even bigger problem.

We don't need to worry about these things. The hardest part, in my opinion, is dealing with those around us who are coming unglued over seeing us NOT worried. To them it's a sign of idiocy, or not caring, or not understanding the magnitude of whatever it is we're dealing with. Now, it's true there are those who are not trusting in God, but they are just lazy and/or have given up even trying. We are to work and do what we can, however, we are not to fret over it and work more than we should and ignore our families and God in the process. In my situation, I was doing all I knew to do and then trusting God to do what He does best, and He did not fail me. Those who had judged me so harshly were left speechless. I had one friend who didn't know what to say and told me he'd never seen God do that for anyone.

God knows what we need. Look at the sky and see how He supplies for the birds. They do not sow or harvest or gather into a storehouse, yet the heavenly Father feeds them. I think of that verse every time I'm in the railroad yard and see the feed that has dropped off the railroad cars onto the tracks. The birds flock there and are well fed.

Our anxiousness does not add one single hour to our life. Don't worry about what to wear. Look at the flowers of the field and how they grow. They don't labor at all and Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed in such glory as these. If God so cares enough to clothe the flowers will He not clothe us much more?

Don't worry about these things He says. The heathens are striving for these things but our heavenly Father knows we need these things. We are to seek after HIM first and He, our Heavenly Father will provide us our needs. It is when we get our eyes off of Him and onto our needs that we lose out on what He has for us, our attention being elsewhere, misses it. Don't worry about tomorrow. Each day's trouble is enough for that day. (Prov 27:1)

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on The Mount; Judging Others

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (Romans 14:10-13) 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

See also Luke 6:37-42.

The teaching in verses 1-2 are also be found in the Talmud:

Talmud, Shabbath 127b Our Rabbis taught: "He who judges his neighbor favorably is himself judged favorably."
Talmud, Sotah 8b Rabbi Meir said: "The way one measures others will be meted out for him."​

Verses 3-5 are also found in the Talmud:

Talmud, Arakin 16b Rabbi Tarfon said: "... for if one says to him: `Remove the speck from between your eyes,' he would answer: `Remove the beam from between your eyes!'"​

We can judge a person's actions, words, and even his doctrine and teaching. What we cannot judge is the condition of a person's heart. Only God can do that.

In Christian circles we hear a lot of people calling others heretics. A heretic is someone who does not conform to the norm. The way the word is used today it means someone who is teaching dangerous doctrines and is deceiving others. However, that is not the meaning used by the early church. A person can be a heretic and be right while the norm is wrong. We see that today. Those who are standing up for righteousness sake are being deemed as heretics because they are going against the "norm" as per the world. We should be careful when we disagree with someone that we not label them as a person who is outside God's blessing. This teaching is speaking of how we deal with our brothers and sisters. We are to deal with our brothers and sisters in a righteous manner. You are going to be treated the same way that you treat others. If you do not give the full measure of love and compassion in your dealings with others, you will be slighted the same amount you did not give to them. Make sure your relationship with your brother/sister is right. Treat ALL others the way you want to be treated, only do it first.

The terms "dogs" and "swine":

What can we say about dogs? The dogs that Jesus is referring to are not the cuddly pets with wagging tails and friendly behavior that people keep in their houses. These are wild or half wild animals that roamed the streets and hills, with their tongues hanging from their mouths, looking for food in the garbage dumps of the village. These dogs can be quite fierce and they are able to attack man. They devour carcasses and would not hesitate to eat humans. We find in 1Kings 14:11 that dogs actually eat the flesh of people who were killed. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat.


Now, the Lord Jesus says, ‘You must not give what is holy to dogs.’ What does this mean? ‘What is holy’ refers to the flesh used for sacrifices. Under the Jewish law, the animals that were sacrificed on the altar were considered as holy and only certain people could eat it. The priest could eat of it. You will find in the OT that strict regulations were laid down on the eating of sacred offerings by priests and non-priests (Exodus 29:33-34; Leviticus 22:10-16; Numbers 18:8-19). The point to remember is that the flesh of a sacrificial animal is holy and you could not take any part of that animal and throw it to the dog, not even a bone. No Jew would think of giving holy food to these unclean animals. To give consecrated meat as food for dogs would be considered as blasphemy.

Pigs are also considered as unclean animals. Pigs and dogs are often coupled together in the Bible and are both emblems of badness and uncleanliness. In fact, the pigs and the dogs are simply two descriptions of the same thing. They both refer to the same type of person. Therefore what is said of one can be said of the other. It was unthinkable for a Jew to give consecrated food to a dog, regarded as an unclean animal. It is equally unthinkable that something as valuable as pearls should be thrown to a pig, another unclean animal. ~Yves I-Bing Cheng, M.D., M.A. Meeting With Christ~
​

Carnally minded unbelievers cannot understand the deep things of the Word of God. By this picture of dog and swine, Yeshua is speaking of people in sin. He is characterizing the human nature, the carnal nature in man, which is lost and degraded in sin. Yeshua is comparing them to wild dogs and pigs. Wild dogs and pigs like rolling in filth. So this picture of dogs and swine describes to us the human nature in its natural state and its love for sin.

What then does this passage mean? How do we apply it? In plain words, the Lord Jesus is saying, ‘Don’t take the gospel and throw it to those people who glory in their shame like the dogs. Don’t take the precious pearls of the gospel and throw them to those people who love sin like pigs.’ Why not? Because they don’t appreciate the gospel. They regard it as foolishness. The dogs and the pigs are not just unbelievers. They are unbelievers who had an opportunity to hear the gospel but have decided to reject it. Some might even have been enraged by it. The word of God is not to be laid open to abuse and mockery. We must use discernment. How do you know whether a person is a dog or a swine in his character? Well, you won’t know until you present the gospel to him. The gospel is to be preached to everybody. But when a person has heard the gospel and he rejects it, the Lord Jesus says, ‘Don’t keep pushing the gospel at him. Don’t throw it at him.’

It is no use to try to explain Christianity to someone who just wants to mock and argue and ridicule. It accomplishes nothing good. When we persist beyond a certain point in offering the gospel to such people, we are just inviting them to reject it with contempt. And Jesus’ advice is ‘don’t push it. ~Yves I-Bing Cheng, M.D., M.A. Meeting With Christ~​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon On The Mount; Ask, Seek, Knock

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

(V.12) The Torah and the Prophets refers to the first five books of the Bible plus Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Isaiah through Malachi excluding Daniel. ~One New Man Bible~

The point I believe Yeshua is making is that our Father God is not a tyrant nor is HE stingy. HE freely gives us the good things we ask of Him. When we ask for bread, or fish, these are things that are needed for us or for others, and HE won't give us a stone or a serpent instead. When we ask for the things that are "good" HE is there to meet our request. It's in James 4:3 that it is explained why we don't get some of the things we ask for: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures". Now, I don't think HE's against asking for some things that we don't really need but there are some people who just seem to look at God as if HE's a genie come out of a bottle to grant your every wish.

The thrust of Yeshua's teachings is in regards to our relationship with each other. All the commandments are regarding our relationships...with God and with each other. Yeshua bundled them all under one command, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself". Yet, a great deal of the time we are too caught up in what is going on in our own lives that we cannot care about what is happening to/with others. We don't understand that in the caring of others, God will meet our needs as well, as long as we are not doing in order to get. I'm reminded of one time when I had heard that a friend, whom I did not know very well, was sick. I sent her a get-well card and she was so overwhelmed and touched by the idea that I did such a thing. She asked me if there was anything that she could pray about for me. At the time, my car was broken down and I had no money to fix it. I asked that she would pray that God would work that out. The next thing I knew I was getting a call from her husband who is a mechanic and he wanted to come look at the car. He ended up towing the car to his shop and then a couple of days later at a Hanukkah party he told me it was repaired and he would bring it back to me. I had not been prepared to pay for anything, I had expected that he would tell me the cost before fixing it. I asked how much it was? He said he'd let me know, then his wife came over later and told me they were not charging me. When her husband brought it back to me there was a receipt on the seat, more than a couple of hundred dollars and written across the receipt was "Happy Hanukkah!" All that happened because I sent a get-well card.

So, we must regularly ask our Heavenly Father to meet our needs and the needs of others and also look for ways that we might be/have the answer to someone else's need/prayer. When we ask for the right things without malice, greed, or stinginess God is faithful to give us what we need. HE does not play tricks on us. We keep asking, we keep knocking, we keep seeking and we will find, and the door will be opened. God gives good things to those who ask.

Verse 12 is also found in the Talmud:

Talmud, Shabbath 31a Rabbi Hillel said: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Law; the rest is its commentary. Go and learn it!"​

Yeshua changed it only slightly. Instead of "what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor" He said, "as you would have others do to you do for them".

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

.....I would like to add to the last post that while God wants us to be concerned toward others, He does not deny a request just because it's personal in nature and not necessarily a need. Like any good dad He wants to bless us beyond what we can even imagine, and being as wise as He is He knows if something will be good for us. Gosh, if I'd gotten what I'd prayed for 30 years ago, I'm sure I'd be in a real mess now

I do remember a time though when I and a friend were sharing an apartment. The couch we had was "cushy" but kinda ragged. After our youth meetings everyone would come to our apartment to hang out. I remember one morning talking to God as I passed that couch and I said, "God, it would be really nice to get a cover for that couch, something bright and flowery, oh, and a lamp would be good too. It was said in passing. A few days later I was visiting a friend and her husband. We were just sitting around the kitchen table talking and her husband got up and went into another room. A few minutes later he came out saying, "Barbara we have this extra stuff, do you need it?" As he came into the kitchen he was carrying a bright flowery couch cover and a lamp. How cool is that? I'm thinking now that maybe I should have asked for a better couch. LOL

The point is, God loves us. He wants to bless us. He's not a magic genie to grant our every whim but when we ask according to His will and His ways and are not trying to store up for ourselves treasures that will not last, He is there to meet us. He loves us.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on The Mount; The Narrow Gate

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

Yeshua is making reference to Deut 30:11-20

11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.


15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life (the narrow gate leads to life), that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
​

The narrow gate leads to life, the broad gate leads to death. Yeshua is emphasizing the importance of following Gods instructions, Torah....Remember Yeshua said, "I did NOT come to do away with Torah. Until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of the law will pass away until ALL has come to pass. Whoever breaks the least of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in heaven". Heaven and earth are still here, therefore, none of it is passed away. No matter how cleverly some explain it away. Choose to believe God or choose to believe others. It's your choice. No one but you will stand before God answering for you.

Where we fail in following Him, Yeshua offers grace and forgiveness at just our asking. The Holy Spirit is living in us to give us the strength to get up when we fall and to keep walking until we finish the race. God is not hanging over our shoulder to condemn us when we fail. Instead He's given us His Son, Who died for our sins and is making petition for us before HIM. He's out to make sure that we succeed. HE's given us the instruction manual for life. In loving the Lord God, walking in His ways, keeping His commandments (Yeshua said, "if you love me you WILL keep my commandments" John 14:23), His statutes, and His judgments, we are choosing life.

It's not about having a to-do list that we have to check off every day. In loving God, we automatically begin to desire to do His will. We can learn what His will is by reading His Words that He has written for us. As we see areas (and we all will) where there needs to be some improvement we seek the Holy Spirits help. It's not about feeling all depressed and falling down and not getting back up. Our God loves us so much that He's ready for us to come running to His arms and seek His love and forgiveness and seek the strength of the Holy Spirit to get us walking again instead of wailing in despair.

Choose to believe what God says and walk in His ways, not the ways of others. If you are not walking in His ways, something is wrong. Now if you don't see the works God has instructed operating in your life you don't throw a pity party and get yourself all in a dither, just repent and start doing, to the best of your ability, what He says. If your seeking His face, He will show you what to do. You're probably doing a lot of them already, but then there are other things that some churches say no longer apply but that is not the truth. Of course it's not by works that we are saved, it's by grace through faith, and not of works of any sort. However, as James says, "I will show you my faith by my works". (James 2:18) Our faith must produce works of obedience to HIS instructions.

We cannot have the life that Yeshua was talking about if we do against what He says to do. Choose the narrow gate to walk through. Choose life!

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on The Mount; A Tree Known by Its Fruit

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

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Yashua starts out this portion giving a warning about false prophets. The Old Testament also gives these warnings, a few of them being Deut. 13; Deut. 18; Jeremiah 6:13-15; Jeremiah 8:8-12; Ezekiel 13; Ezekiel 22:27; Zeph. 3:4. Unfortunately, He did not tell us exactly what it is they would teach, only that they would be deceptive and they would misrepresent true Godly revelation. This covers a wide range of false teachers. Their motive is self-serving, and their victims will see destruction. Why would their victims be destroyed? After all, it's not their fault they were deceived. Because Gods word is plainly written. We have a multitude of information at our fingertips, yet sadly, too many people just believe whatever they are told and they don't do the research and study for themselves. They trust someone else to do it for them. Per Yeshua we are to enter by the "narrow gate" (remember Yeshua said, "I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved"? John 10:9)

Prophets who are true to God's Word would produce righteous conduct, but false prophets who disregard (teaching that it's abolished) Word produce unrighteous conduct (Matthew 7:17).

A poisonous plant will produce poisonous fruit. It is not able to produce healthy fruit. Likewise, a good tree, bears good, healthy fruit (Matthew 7:18). Bad fruit may look good but when you open it up, as I've done many times with an avocado, even with a few firm ones, it's rotten on the inside. A false prophet may appear to be good, but when it gets down to the inside, they are rotten.

Some interpreters of this portion of verses go beyond what Yeshua went with it, teaching that it's impossible for a genuine believer to do bad works, This is not true though because there are hundreds of commands, exhortation, and warnings that Yeshua and the prophets and apostles gave to believers in both Testaments. It is possible for a believer to do bad works. See Matthew 16:23; Titus 2:11-13; Titus 3:8; 1 John 1:9. Others say that some bad works are inevitable for the believer, but bad works will not be habitual in the life of a true believer. The scripture does not give us a number of how many bad works we can do before we are considered bad fruit but the NT writers do present some people who departed from God's will and they were initially believers. See 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:17-18. The point Yeshua is making though in v. 18 is false prophets do what is bad, and people who follow God faithfully do what is good. How His disciples lived was very important to Him. That's why He taught them these things.

The words and works of a prophet eventually reveal his true character just as the fruit of a tree reveals itself. Of the two, words and works, works are the more reliable indicator. I would also like to add here that in this day of social media and editing of film etc. that we need to be careful to not spread things that may not actually be true. Yeshua did not go into the cases where a believer deliberately distorts God's Word but I believe it has happened many times over the years and has found it's way into the interpretation of the scriptures we read every day.

Gal 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law".

Here are Keller's Definitions of The Fruit of The Spirit:

Agape – love


Definition – To serve a person for their good and intrinsic value, not for what the person brings you.


Opposite – Fear: self-protection and abusing people.


Counterfeit – Selfish affection. Rescuing someone but really rescuing self. Attracted not to a person, but to how this person’s love makes you feel about yourself.


Chara – joy


Definition – Delight in God and his salvation for sheer beauty and worth of who he is.


Opposite – Hopelessness, despair.


Counterfeit – Elation that comes with blessings not the Blesser! Mood swings based on circumstances.


Irene – peace


Definition – Confidence and rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God more than your own.


Opposite – Anxiety and worry


Counterfeit – Indifference, apathy, not caring about something. “I don’t care.”


Makrothumia – patience


Definition – Ability to take trouble (from others or life) without blowing. To suffer joyfully.


Opposite – Resentment toward God and others.


Counterfeit – Cynicism. Self-righteousness. “This is too small to be bothered about.”


Chrestotes – kindness


Definition – Practical kindness with vulnerability out of deep inner security.


Opposite – Envy. Unable to rejoice other’s joy.


Counterfeit – Manipulative good deeds. “Right hand knowing what left hand is doing.” Self-congratulation and self-righteousness.


Agathosune – goodness. (integrity)


Definition – Honesty, transparency. Being the same in one situation as another.


Opposite – Phoniness; hypocrisy.


Counterfeit – Truth without love. “Getting it off the chest” for your sake.


Pistis – faithfulness.


Definition – Loyalty. Courage. To be principle-driven, committed, utterly reliable. True to one’s word.


Opposite – Opportunist. Fair-weather friend.


Counterfeit – Love without truth. Being loyal when you should be willing to confront or challenge.


Prautas – gentleness. (humility)


Definition – Self-forgetfulness.


Opposite – Superiority: self-absorbed self-aggrandizement.


Counterfeit – Inferiority: self-absorbed, self-consciousness.


Egkrateia – self-control


Definition – Ability to choose the important thing over the urgent.


Opposite – A driven, impulsive, uncontrolled person.


Counterfeit – Willpower through pride or through more “functional” idols.

Admittedly, this is a silly song, but it's easy to remember and teach your kids

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on The Mount; I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord*,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’*

25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’

* (7:21) This is a desperate call, to be sure of getting the Lord's attention.

Double Names, as when Y'shua said, "Martha Martha" make a Hebrew idiom of some force. This is punctuated "Martha. Martha!" to indicate the forcefulness that it is a stern attention getter. Someone saying, "Lord. Lord!" would certainly not be stern, but would be making a strong plea. This idiom is still used in modern conversational Hebrew. ~One New Man Bible~​

* (7:23) Lawlessness is "Without Torah and means to fail to do the things taught in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. ~One New Man Bible~


In speaking of the future Yeshua says that certain people will not be allowed into heaven. Does he rebuke these people for "not believing He is the Messiah?" Or, "not having invited Him into their hearts?" Or, "not having said the 'sinner's prayer?'"

No. Rather, Yeshua clearly states that those who practice lawlessness (Greek: anomia) will not enter into His kingdom. What "law" are these people violating with their "lawlessness?"

Yeshua has been talking non-stop, through the whole sermon on the mount about the Torah. Yeshua began this sermon stating that "none of the Torah is abolished", (Matt 5:17-21).

Take note that the people Yeshua is talking about are not pagans or atheists. They claim to be believers and are saying Lord, Lord and are defending themselves by telling Him they prophesied in His name, and cast out demons, and did miracles in His name. These people are shocked when He rebukes them.

So the question is: Is there a religion made up of people who say they are followers of the Messiah, but claim they no longer have a relationship to Torah that meets the description of Matthew 7:23?

Don't those who call themselves "the Church" fit this description? The idea that "Christ's own Church" could be in such grievous error regarding the Word of God and what true faith in God entails, is simply impossible to believe. However, as mentioned, the very concept of "the Church" is a belief of anti-Torah (which is anti-God) replacement theology, and willful Bible mistranslation.

The book of Romans has within it a significant teaching (a midrash) regarding the Torah, which is overlooked due to poor translation and anti-Torah theology. Although Paul aggressively condemned the teaching that a Gentile had to take on the Torah in order to be saved (Acts, Galatians), he retained the view that subsequent to salvation, Torah was the desired goal for the lifestyle of all believers, as Torah observance brings closer the unification of the Name of God (shema).


Beginning at verse 6:1 and going through 8:14, Rav Sha'ul the Pharisee (Paul), provides the following teaching, directed primarily (if not exclusively) to the Gentiles in the Roman congregation:

Romans 6:1-16 -- Now that we are following Yeshua, and "of the Spirit," we are not free to break Torah and sin
Romans 6:17-23 -- As believers we are now to follow/serve the righteousness of His Torah as we learn it.
Romans 7:1-6 -- We no longer follow the Torah in the flesh, apart from trusting God (and thus condemned by its curse), but are now to follow it in the Spirit.
Romans 7:7-21 -- Although the Torah; a) served the purpose of condemning us, b) stirs up sin in us, and c) cannot be followed in the flesh, the Torah in itself is the holy, just, good and spiritual lamp that is to light the path of lives (Psalm 119:105).
Romans 7:22-8:14 -- The Torah is our delight and duty to follow in faith. A desire to follow the Torah is the real "blessed assurance" a believer has that God's Spirit in them.

A key section near the end of this midrash, is Romans 8:5-8, where Paul says people fall into one of two classes before God. They are either; a) of the flesh, or, b) of the Spirit. Paul says if you are "of the flesh," you cannot please God. Why is that? Because, Paul says, those in the flesh are not subject to the Law (Torah) of God.


Conversely, Paul is saying that those of the Spirit ("having been saved") ARE subject to Torah. God has not changed -- it has always been this way. ~YashaNet.com~
​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on The Mount; The Two Foundations

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.


26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”


28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

So now Yeshua is winding up His sermon and what does he say? He says,

1. "Everyone who hears these words of mine, and does them, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock".
2. "Everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them, is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand".

What words is He referring to? The ones He'd just preached....the sermon on the Mount. As you can see by the references I provided with each section it is seen that it was all from Torah. Yeshua did not make up a new religion. He taught Torah and He taught it the way the Father had intended for it to play out. A great number of the Scribes and Pharisee's had corrupted God's Word and now Yeshua was correcting that. King David wrote "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against YOU!" (Ps 119:11) That word that David hid in his heart was Torah, and while David did do some grave things against God, he always returned. Why? Because God's word was hidden in his heart. When he fell, David knew where to get back on track. God's Word.

Yeshua says in today's scripture that if you've heard His words and do what He says, you're wise. If you've heard His words and don't do what He's says, you're foolish. He likened both to building a house, one on a rock and the other on sand. Doing what Yeshua taught (Torah) is building on a firm foundation. Ignoring what Yeshua taught and acting as if He abolished it (which He didn't and even stated that He was not going to) is building on sand. When we build our house (our lives) on Torah, the floods rise and the winds blow but nothing will shake it off the rock it's built on. When we build our house (our lives) on sand (what we want to do because it's easier) the rain will come, the wind will blow, and the sand we've built our house on will not be a firm foundation and our house will be swept away.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not about following Judaism. It's about following Yeshua/Jesus and walking according to the ways of the Father that the Father set up so that we can have a happy and productive and abundant life. Are you wondering where that abundance is? Are things not going according to planned? Is everything around you falling apart? Is there something you feel amiss but you don't know what it is? Get before God and ask Him to show you where the problem is. He loves us with an everlasting love and He wants us to be the best that we can be. We can't realize that best until we are built on the firm foundation of His Word. Not what our Pastor says, not what our youth leader says, not what the well known commentator says, but what HE says. Again, don't get all depressed when you see the areas that you're missing it in, just confirm in your heart that you are going to do what He says and then do it. It's worth it.

For those of you who've never heard it here's a song we sang in Sunday School when I was a kid. For those who have heard it before, here it is again.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Since Yeshua taught from Torah I'm going to interject here a definition of Torah. I think that as Christians we have been misled into thinking that Torah is just a list of do's and do not do and that it only applies to Judaism. That is untrue. While Judaism does have a list of do's and do not dos there is a much deeper meaning of Torah than that. While we would not make an airplane without consulting the instruction manual, we should also not attempt to follow God without HIS instruction manual. God's Instruction manual is exactly what Torah is in learning to follow God.

The Holy Spirit is there to give us the strength to apply and follow. We cannot do it without Him. The Holy Spirit, in guiding us, leads us in walking in Torah. As you read and study it you will see some areas where you're already following it, then there will be other things that you will most likely see where you are not following it....that is what it's there for; to show you the mark you are to hit then to guide you in hitting it. It's an aim that will last a lifetime. Of course we are not going to hit it all at the same time all the time, but it's there to guide us.

Yeshua was the final sin sacrifice, and His shed blood covers our sins and we are able to stand before the Father and receive forgiveness. After forgiveness our sins are washed away and we are a new creation. Old things have passed away, all things become new. We are not to have self pity because we have failed, we all fail. We get up off the ground, grab hold of God's hand and continue walking.

Anyway, here is the Urban Dictionary's definition of Torah

Torah


The word "Torah" in Hebrew literally means "to throw, direct, or teach." While commonly translated as "Law," that is not entirely accurate and holds a negative connotation. When Jews speak of the Torah it is generally understood that they speak of the books of Moshe (Moses), the first five books of the Bible. There are others that believe all Scripture to be Torah, as it is God's direction for us.


In the Torah we are directed to first love God above all, but also to love our neighbor as ourself.
​

Jer 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

That's what Torah is. God's plans and direction for us, to cause us to prosper, and not harm us or burden us. His plans are to give us hope and a future. It does not bring us salvation, but it does reveal our need to be saved and directs us in how to walk in His ways once we are saved.

Here's a definition from Hebrew For Christians that is more thorough

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Cleansing of a Leper*
Matt 8:1-4

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

12 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.”

15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

MATTHEW
* (Caption) Leper. The disease called leprosy in the Bible is not he same as modern leprosy.

The Hebrew word 'Tsara-at' is translated in Greek by the word 'Lepra' which is the source of our word leprosy, but the rash and contagion are not the same as the symptoms of the disease now called leprosy, although Miriam's in Num 12:9-12 seems like a description of present day leprosy. Leprosy is perhaps the least contagious of all contagious diseases and is today generally treated on an outpatient basis. The Biblical disease called leprosy was obviously very contagious, as are a number of skin rashes still with us. See this interesting website: Biblical Leprosy: A Suggested Interpretation R.G. Cochrane, M.D., F.R.C.P. Consultant Leprologist. ~One New Man Bible~​

* (V. 3) Anyone touching a leper would be unclean, but Y'shua gives evidence of His Deity because He cleansed the leper, and the leper did not make Him unclean.

My personal thought on why Yeshua was not made unclean is because He spoke and acted at the same time, His words going ahead of his hand and by the time His hand touched, the man was healed. No proof, just personal opinion. However, in the Mark rendition, it says in verse 42 that as soon as He had spoken, the leper was healed. ​

Yeshua has finished His sermon on the mount and now heads down the mountain. The crowd, a huge crowd is following Him. The Roman Empire viewed large crowds as a threat to their ruling and would quickly try to stop it.

A leper came and worshiped Him. That means that he knelt in honor of Him. Being a leper he was a social outcast. He was not supposed to have been there. The leper took his chances and approached Yeshua for healing. The leper said to Him, "If you are willing" and Yeshua's immediate response was "I am willing". Note that the leper did not go near Yeshua but Yeshua reached out and touched the leper.

Touching a leper was strictly forbidden. (Lev 5:3) Yeshua remains true to the law by the immediate healing of the leper and He tells the leper to go to the priests (what the law required) for confirmation so that he may return to his home. (Lev 14:1-32). Yeshua also tells him, "don't tell anyone". Here's one thought on that:

The Romans feared crowds, and our Lord was frequently mobbed by them, potentially distracting Him from His true purpose. Who that preaches would desire secrecy? But Jesus had a good reason. If the word got out to too many people about the healings, people would be seeking a show, or a healing, without seeking Him. Miracle seekers would dominate His time so the real, necessary message would not have the opportunity to get out. Jesus does not want to be known as a wonder performer so that the people would push him into the "Messiah-ship" role for political or materialistic reasons. Rather, His authority comes from God alone. He did not come to drive out the Romans, a temporary solution, but to give us redemption, a permanent solution. ~Dr. Richard J. Krejcir, Into Thy Word~
​

The leper told everyone anyway and Yeshua was swarmed with crowds. It's difficult to keep quiet when God has done such a wonderful thing for you.

The healing of the leper or anyone who is an outcast gives us a picture of Gods redeeming grace. Yeshua filled the lepers request. He spoke in kindness and reached out and touched him. The leper possibly had not felt a persons touch in a very long time. That's one of the things leprosy does, it removes the feeling of touch. Yeshua reached out and touched him. He gave his life back to him.

​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Healing of a Centurion's Servant
Matt 8:5-13

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum*, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”


8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”


10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

* (v5) Capernaum is the Latin spelling of the Hebrew name Kafer Nahum. Kafer means town of village and Nahum means comfort, consolation.

Here we see a Roman centurion coming to Yeshua requesting Him to heal his servant who was sick. A centurion was an officer who was in charge of 100 men. Normally Centurions were anything but good and kind to their servants, however here, we see a man who deeply cared about this servant who was a Jew. We know this because in Lukes rendition, there were Jewish elders involved.

In Matthews rendition he says the Centurion himself came, in Luke (see below) it says the man sent elders of the Jews to approach Yeshua on his (the Centurians) behalf, then later friends. From the Jewish perspective whether the Centurian himself came or whether he sent Jewish leaders, then friends, it is the same thing. The elders came in the name (power of attorney) of the centurion, which in the view of the Jews it would be the same thing as if going himself.

In Luke we see the Jewish elders pleading with Yeshua to go and heal the Centurions servant. The say great things about him (uncommon). They tell Yeshua that the centurion is deserving because he loves the Jewish nation and had even built them a synagogue. Yeshua agrees to go and heal the mans servant.

As they were approaching the centurions house the centurion declared that he was not worthy for Yeshua to come into his home and he made a declaration that impressed Yeshua. The centurion said, "(paraphrased) all you have to do is speak a word, for I too am a man of authority. I say go and they go, I say come and they come, I tell them do this or that and they do whatever I've told them".

When Yeshua heard that statement He was amazed at the great faith of the centurion and the understanding the centurion had of the authority of Yeshua.

Yeshua healed the sick servant and then said He had not seen such faith in all of Israel. The faith that Yeshua saw in the Roman Centurion was not just making a profession of faith but it was faith put into action.

7 Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.”


6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”


9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” 10 And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Healing of Many People
Matt 8:14-17

14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses." (Isa 53:4)

It does not say it in the Matthew acct but in the other two (see below) it mentions that Yeshua and His disciples were in the Synagogue on the Sabbath. After the service they all went to Peter's house to eat and fellowship. Upon arriving at the house they find Peter's wife's mother (yes, Peter was married) very ill. We see Yeshua reaching out to her in compassion and touching her hand and healing her. Her recovery did not include a period of weakness or exhaustion which is usual after a fever. She was recovered to full health and she immediately arose and began to serve them.

Many think that Yeshua broke Sabbath Law by healing on the Sabbath, but He did not. Sabbath is a day to be devoted solely to God. We are to not do what pleases us but what pleases Him. We are to keep the Sabbath (the 7th day of the week, not the 1st. Look at a calendar, it's in plain sight) Holy. Compassion is not a work that we can rest from. The 10 Commandments are divided into two sections. The first half is our commitment to God, the second half is our commitment to our neighbor. Yeshua broke the ten down to two, "Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind" (that covers the first half of the 10) and "Love your neighbor as you love yourself" (that covers the 2nd half of the 10). It would not be loving or compassionate of Yeshua to have let the woman suffer with her sickness until sundown therefore, He did not break Sabbath by healing Peter's mother-in-law. This subject will be touched more on in later verses.

On to verse 16, when Sabbath was over (sundown) it seems that everyone in town knew where He was because many people brought the demon-possessed to Him to be delivered. Yeshua cast out the spirits with just a word, and He healed all who were sick. Matthew then references the scripture in Isa 53:4 about Him taking our infirmities and bearing our sicknesses.

29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.

38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Regarding Yeshua's command to the demons to keep quiet:

But the demons are spiritual creatures and they have a much different perspective on just who Jesus is. Luke tells us that when Jesus commanded the demons to come out of an individual, they obeyed, but not before shouting, “You are the Son of God!” (Luke 4:41 NLT). Luke says that Jesus rebuked them and refused to let them speak because they knew He was the Messiah. They were fully aware of just who Jesus was, and they understood and feared the significance of His arrival in what had been their domain up until that time. He was competition. He was to be feared because He had power over them. He wasn’t just some rabbi, He was the very Son of God, the Messiah. Jesus was their worst nightmare realized.

It is interesting that Jesus refused to let the demons acknowledge His true identity. But He knew that if the people began to connect the dots and realized that Jesus was the Messiah, as the demons stated, they would misunderstand. Their view of who the Messiah would be and what He would do was radically different than the role for which Jesus had come. They were looking for a conquering king and a political leader to liberate them from the oppression of the Romans. Jesus knew that the people, including His own disciples, would attempt to force His hand and try to get Him to set up His earthly kingdom now. But Jesus was on His Father’s timetable, and He came to provide a different kind of liberation. He was going to set them free, but not from Roman rule. He was going to bring them salvation, but not from political oppression. The demons seemed to know this. They inherently understood that Jesus was out to do war on a spiritual plane. They had experienced His power and had been forced by Him to give up hard-fought territory. They were no match for Him. And it scared them. ~Christ Bible Chapel Church~​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Cost of Discipleship
Matt 8:18-22

18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”


20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”


21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”


22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

It's important to note that before becoming a follower of Yeshua, Matthew was a tax collector. His book is very orderly and brief yet covers everything. Rather than write in chronological order, Matthew arranges this Gospel through varied discussions. They are not in the order as they happened. Tax collectors were expected to write in a form of short hand so as to get everything said. It is quite likely that Matthews writing down of what Yeshua said is exactly what Yeshua said, nothing more and nothing less. (See Gospel of Matthew at Got Questions.org)

So, this portion of Matthew opens with Yeshua looking up and seeing a crowd coming to gather around Him. He tells the disciples to get to the other side of the lake which would put them in the territory of the Gadarenes, the first instance recorded of Yeshua entering Gentile territory.

Before they could leave He was approached by a scribe and the scribe said, "I will follow you wherever you go". Yeshua's response comes across to us as rather terse and uncaring. However, Yeshua never said anything without there being a reason. In Yeshua's day, "Teachers of the Law" were usually given places to live along with their religious duties on behalf of the organized temples. Yeshua was letting the scribe know that in following Him, he would not have any of those things. Yeshua and His disciples traveled. Sometimes by fishing boat and more often by foot. They slept wherever they found a place to sleep. There were not special homes that everything was prearranged for them to stay in and they got meals and all that good stuff. Following Yeshua was/is not comfy.

Next we have another running up to Him saying, "let me first go and bury my father" and Yeshua replying, again seemingly harsh, "let the dead bury their own dead".

It's important to understand that Yeshua NEVER broke Torah, nor did He encourage others to break it. (See Matt 5:17-20) Many say that He meant let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead but that is inconsistent with the Jewish Burial Laws. The request "let me FIRST" is not a conflict of loyalties between his responsibilities (by Law) to his family and his commitment to follow Yeshua. He was requesting time to fulfill his family obligation. Once this obligation was fulfilled, then the man would be allowed to return and follow Yeshua.

Under first-century Judaism a person who had just died was taken out and buried immediately in the family burial cave which normally was dug out of bedrock. This custom was based on Deut 21:22-23 which states that an executed person should not be left on a tree overnight. (see also Jn 19:31 and Act 5:5-10)​

According to Jewish custom, immediately after the burial the family would separate itself from the community and mourn for seven days. This mourning period was known as "shiv'ah." It would therefore have been IMPOSSIBLE for a disciple of the Messiah to make his request for a leave of absence if his father had just died -- he would have been preparing for the period of mourning and would NOT have been in the Messiah's entourage! If he was the eldest son he would have been OBLIGATED BY JEWISH CUSTOM AND THE TORAH to bury his father IMMEDIATELY! As Byron McCane states, "if the MI (majority interpretation) is correct, the disciple would have been acting CONTRARY TO NORMAL FIRST-CENTURY JEWISH BURIAL PRACTICES." ~Byron McCane of Duke University (in his book entitled Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead)~
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So did Yeshua, the Messiah go against what was a Biblically correct burial custom?

I found this very informative:

Notice what Gordon Franz reveals:

After a body was placed in a burial cave, it was left to decompose. The family MOURNED FOR SEVEN DAYS. This initial mourning period was followed by a less intense 30-day period of mourning, called shloshim. However, the entire mourning period was not fully over until the flesh of the deceased had decomposed, usually about A YEAR LATER (Archaeology and Biblical Research, Spring 1992, p. 55).

The next step in the burial practice is explained by The Jerusalem Talmud:

"When the flesh had wasted away, the bones were collected and placed in chests (ossuaries). On that day (the son) mourned, but the following day he was glad, because his forebears rested from judgment (Moed Qatan 1:5)."

This final act of mourning, in which the fleshless bones were gathered and placed into a bone box called an ossuary, was known as the "ossilegium" or "SECOND BURIAL." It was THIS ACT which invoked Yeshua's response. Yeshua's response to the disciples' request makes perfect sense when we consider the Jewish custom of SECONDARY BURIAL. "Their fathers had died, been placed in the family burial cave, and the sons had sat shiv'ah and most likely also shloshim. They then requested anywhere from a few weeks to up to 11 months to finish the ritual of ossilegium before they returned to Jesus" (Archaeology and Biblical Research, Spring 1992, p. 55).

We can also see that Yeshua's SHARP ANSWER fits well with the secondary burial. The fathers had been buried in the family burial caves and their bodies were slowly decomposing. In the tombs or burial caves (along with the fathers) were OTHER family members who had died -- some awaiting secondary burial and others already placed in ossuaries. "When Jesus stated 'Let the dead bury their own dead,' He was referring to the TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEAD in the tombs: the bones of the deceased which had already been neatly placed in the ossuaries and the fathers who had yet to be reburied" (Ibid., p.55). Clearly, the little phrase "OWN DEAD" indicates that the fathers were included among the dead!

The First Excuse!

It has been proffered that in the first case (after Yeshua and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee) the disciple asking for a "leave of absence" did so because he did not want to minister to the unclean, non-kosher Gentiles! So he made an excuse, "Let me first go and bury my father."

Gordon Franz notes:

He most likely appealed to the Jewish burial practice of ossilgium, or SECONDARY BURIAL, which would remove him from following the Lord for up to 11 months. Jesus saw this as an excuse not to minister to the Gentiles. As a result He rebuked him with a statement of irony and challenged the disciple to follow Him.

We know from Acts 10:9-22 and Galatians 2:11-21 that Peter had a definite problem associating with Gentiles, so this scenario is not at all unlikely.

The Second Excuse!

In the second incident the disciple concerned asked to be excused for the same reason. It could very well be that this disciple was taking advantage of the trip to Jerusalem for the Feast in order to REBURY THE BONES of his father in the Holy City. If this was the case, Yeshua felt it was far more pressing for him to accompany him to Perea than to rebury the bones of his father in Jerusalem.

In both cases, the father had died MORE THAN A MONTH PRIOR and Yeshua rebuked the disciple with the same stern response.

A Pagan Practice?

We have already asked, "Why would the Messiah respond to the disciples' requests in such a seemingly harsh manner?" For two very good reasons! First of all, the Messiah responded in the way he did to encourage the disciple concerned to faithfully follow him. Secondly, and more important, the Messiah responded in this manner to teach his followers CORRECT THEOLOGY!

Notice the following:

The concept of gathering the bones of one's ancestors is deeply embedded in the Hebrew Scriptures and reflected in Iron Age burial practices (Gen. 49:29; Judges 2:10; 16:31; I Kings 11:21, 43, etc.). However, by New Testament times, the concept had taken on a NEW MEANING. According to the Rabbinic sources, the decomposition of the flesh ATONED FOR THE SINS OF THE DEAD PERSON (a kind of purgatory) and the FINAL STAGE of this process was gathering the bones and placing them in an ossuary (Meyers 1971: 80-85). Jesus confronted this CONTRARY THEOLOGY. Only faith in Christ's redemptive work on the cross can atone for sin, not rotting flesh...Jesus may have rebuked these two disciples rather harshly because THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE CORRUPT JEWISH PRACTICE OF SECONDARY BURIAL. (Archaeology and Biblical Research, Spring 1992, pps. 56-57).

An Amplified Rendition

An amplified (interpretive) rendition of the Messiah's response to his disciples might look something like this:

Look, you have already honored your father by giving him a proper and decent burial in the family sepulcher. Now, instead of waiting for the flesh to decompose, which can NEVER atone for sin, go and preach the Kingdom of God and tell of the only true means of atonement -- faith in and obedience to Christ. Let the bones of your dead father's ancestors gather his bones and place them in an ossuary. You follow Me!

This rendition allows for Yeshua to have UPHELD THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT and to have been consistent with the example of Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament. It also takes the text of Matthew 8 and Luke 9 at face value -- and DOES JUSTICE to the Jewish burial practices of the first century. This rendition is, therefore, consistent with the laws of YEHOVAH God, the Bible and Jewish tradition. And, above all, it shows WHY Yeshua reacted in such a seemingly harsh fashion to an apparently innocuous request by his disciples. ~Hope of Israel Ministries~
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57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”


58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”


59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”


60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”


61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”


62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”