Jesus & the Law – a view from above … (12/23/18)
It was a well establish fact in Jesus’ day that the Law (and by “the Law” I mean the 613 edicts set forth in the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, what is today known by many as “the Old Testament”) was to be absolutely revered and devoutly upheld, with a handful of the laws within “the Law” mandating the very same – namely, that the proclamations of the Law must be kept in their entirety (see Deuteronomy 13:18, Deuteronomy 28:9, & Leviticus 19:37 et al), that “the Law” must be learned and recited to one’s children and discussed with others (via Deuteronomy 6:6-7), and that the contents of “the Law” were not to be in any way deleted or expanded (a la Deuteronomy 4:2 & Deuteronomy 12:32). Indeed, to believe or say otherwise was to renounce Judaism itself and thereby in effect banish oneself from his or her Judean community. The Law resided at – and even comprised – the very hub of Jewish life, which explains why Jesus did indeed go out of his way to proclaim his respect for and adherence to the same, right down its very last “jot & tittle” (again, see Matthew 5:18 – also Luke 16:16-17). That having been said, Jesus also made it quite clear from the very beginning of his ministry that he was announcing a new take on what it meant to uphold “the Law” – that there was a different and more potent way to fulfill the Law (again, see Matthew 5:17) – that there was a fresh “Gospel” to be followed, and a new “Good News” to be enlivened thereby (see Matthew 4:23 & Luke 4:43). And he made it quite clear as well that the Truth of his new Way of Life, while indeed only attainable “through him” (that is to say, by adopting his values and then emulating his way of living – see John 14:6-12), did not come not from him at all (but rather emanated from God the Father, see John 7:28-29‘s “I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true” & John 8:42‘s “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me” et al) and thus could not be known by worshiping Jesus himself – but could only be realized by actively and selflessly keeping the Commandments (see Leviticus 22:31 & Matthew 19:17 – also Matthew 5:19-20 & Luke 11:28). This is why Jesus sent his disciples first & foremost to the Israelites to spread this new Gospel (Matthew 10:5-6) – a very Jewish Gospel (at least in its origins) – a Gospel that proclaimed that Heaven was “already at hand” (Matthew 10:7) and was attainable for all who chose to enliven the essence of the Law by persisting in loving others selflessly (Matthew 24:12-14); especially the downtrodden in their communities (see Matthew 25:35-40) &/or the enemies in their midst (see Matthew 5:44-48).
While just as traditional in its inception and just as devout in its focus, this new message was admittedly quite the radical one – a truth which had Jesus frequently defending his ministry by explaining to his critics that the foundation of his message rested completely upon the contents of the Law, and that it fostered a wholehearted respect for the same (see “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure both what is new and what is old” ~ Matthew 13:52 & “How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me … But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” ~ John 5:44-47 – also John 8:37-41).
And yet what probably disturbed the priests and Pharisees of Jesus’ day most of all (and what continues to disturb Christian priests & contemporary “Pharisees” greatly to this very day) is the fact that Jesus’ message was as fundamentally simple as it was disturbingly radical; as ethically absolute as it was psychologically challenging; as morally unassailable as it was theologically heretical …
*Initially, we can see how Jesus closes his Sermon on the Mount (probably his most profound moral treatise, found in Matthew chapters 5-7) with what many have since called “The Golden Rule” (“In everything do for others as you would have them do to you; for this is the Law and the prophets” ~ Matthew 7:12 – see also Luke 6:31); a summation of the Law that was bold in its own right, and yet additionally so in that it made public Jesus’ allegiance with the teachings of Hillel1 – a well-respected rabbi (still alive when Jesus was born) who was notorious for adopting and purveying a far more liberal interpretation of the Law than his theological opponents, especially the conservative Pharisees (who followed the teachings of Shammai).
*Even more significantly, when asked by a Pharisee which of the Law’s commandments was the greatest (and in Luke how one can “inherit eternal life”), Jesus decided to boldly answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is just as important: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Indeed, on these two commandments hang all the Law and all the prophets ” (see Matthew 22:37-40 – also Mark 12:28-34 & Luke 10:25-28, which ends with “Do this, and you will live”) – a claim that, in the guise of answering an intentionally provocative question, ended up dramatically distilling (and ultimately amending) the traditional Ten Commandments2; transforming them in the process into two complimentary moral precepts; (honoring God via selflessly caring for others) – moral precepts, incidentally, that were found at the very core of the Law itself in Jesus’ day.3
*And finally, as if that wasn’t more than enough, Jesus later additionally amended (and further simplified) the Law by revealing the essence of the entire Torah in one all-powerful concept: willing acts of self-sacrificial LOVE – transforming the edicts of the Hebrew Bible from a listing of often obscure legal concepts to a codex of highly practical moral guidelines …
.“For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done towards you … For if you understand these things I have shared, you shall be blessed while you do them … I give you a new commandment: that you Love one another. I truth, just as I have loved you, so should you also Love one another. Indeed, by this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you show Love towards one another … For my Father is glorified by this: that you bear much fruit and thereby become my disciples … You are to abide in my Love. And if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my Love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His Love … And this is my commandment: that you Love one another just as I have Loved you. Truly, no one has greater Love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ~ Jesus Christ (John 13:15-17, John 13:34-35, & John 15:8-13)
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And so with these overt simplifications of the Torah in mind (or actually, his overt amendments to the way the Torah was being followed), it is easy to acknowledge and accept Jesus’ blatant challenges to the Temple itself (“I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here”~ Matthew 12:6, “You see all these [buildings of the Temple], do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all of them will be thrown down” ~ Matthew 24:1-2 – see also Mark 13:1-2 & Luke 21:5-6), his open challenges to the priests who ran the Temple and announced the Law (“Neither will I tell you [the chief priests and elders] by what authority I am doing these things” ~ Matthew 21:23-27 – see also Mark 11:27-33 & Luke 20:1-8, as well as John 16:1-3), and his flagrant challenges towards “the Pharisees” who acted as representatives of the Temple and adjudicators of the Law …
.“Therefore, whoever violates even one of the least of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does them and shares them with others will be called great in the Kingdom. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven … Let [the Pharisees] alone, for they are blind guides leading the blind., and when one blind person guides another both will fall into a pit … If you [Pharisees] were blind, you would not have sin. And yet now that you claim to see, your sin remains … The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. Instead they tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, while they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to remove them … As such, beware yeast of the Pharisees; that is, their teachings and their hypocrisy … Indeed, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the true prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:19-20, Matthew 15:14, John 9:41, Matthew 23:2-4, Matthew 16:6-12+Luke 12:1, & Matthew 23:29)
Another sign that Jesus was knowingly furthering a radical reform of Judaism (specifically its hyper-conservative approach to the Law & hyper-hierarchical approach to accessing the Divine thereby) can be seen in the fact that he was well aware that his message was not going to be received well by the religious authorities of the day; warning his disciples on more than one occasion to “Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues … and you will be hated by all” (Matthew 10:17+22a – see also Mark 13:9+13a & Luke 21:12+17) while simultaneously encouraging them to persevere through those pending persecutions and use the same as powerful opportunities to testify against the old way while championing the new …
“When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say in your defense. What you are to say will be given to you at that time, for it is not you who will speak, but the spirit of your heavenly Father that will speak through you. Brother might well betray brother to the death … and yet those who endure to the end will be saved.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:19-22 – also Mark 13:8-13, Luke 12:11-12, & Luke 21:12-19)
And it wasn’t only the religious authorities who Jesus knew would be upset by his call to religious reform. He was also aware that his message was going to cause great cultural upheaval in Jewish households & Jewish communities as well …
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.4 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and … one’s foes will be members of one’s own household … Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I have not come to bring peace, but division. From now on five in one household will be divided … father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother … Indeed, from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence, and the violent attempt to take it by force … Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem – the city that kills prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and yet you were not willing … If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace, and yet they remain hidden from your eyes” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:34-36, Luke 12:51-53, Matthew 11:12, Matthew 23:37-38, & Luke 19:42)
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1Hillel was instrumental in the development of the Oral Torah, the authoritative opinions of Jewish scholars that helped to refine and clarify the written Law as found in the Pentateuch. One of Hillel’s more famous expositions was what Jesus later adapted to form The Golden Rule, namely the statement “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entirety of the Torah; the rest is mere explanation.” Unlike his famously stern opponent, Shammai, Hillel was known for his love of peace and his gentle demeanor, with one Talmudic tale describing how two men even made a wager on the question as to whether Hillel could in any way be made angry – with their attempts at inspiring his wrath ultimately meeting with failure. Unsurprisingly, much like Jesus (his now obvious admirer) Hillel is also famous for championing the causes of humility & selflessness, making many statements in advocacy of the same – among them “Do not judge your fellow until you sit in his place” and “If I am only for myself, then what am I?”
2It is a little-known truth that there are actually three distinctive sets of “Ten Commandments” in the Old Testament. The first and most infamous is found in Exodus 20:3-17 (the set that mandates the worship of YHWH, prohibits the making of idols, excludes the profaning of the Lord’s holy name, demands honoring both the Sabbath and one’s parents, and damns all acts of murder, adultery, theft, bearing false witness, &/or coveting the property of others), though these initial tablets and their inscribed covenant were subsequently shattered by Moses (quite literally, in Exodus 32:19) and a second set was thereafter offered in their place (see Exodus 34:11-26); a set quite different from the first (a set that disregarded all of the tenets of the Original Ten except for the prohibition of idol-making and the honoring of the Sabbath, and then added the commandments to not make covenants with the inhabitants of foreign lands, to faithfully observe the Passover, to offer God all firstborn fruits of the womb, to always appear before God with an offering, to observe the holy festivals, to never mix sacrificial blood with yeast, to offer God all first-reaped fruits of the land, and to never boil a kid in its mother’s milk). The 3rd set of Ten Commandments is found in Deuteronomy 5:7-21, and faithfully reflects the original set found in Exodus 20 – thereby seemingly reestablishing the viability of the same.
3Jesus’ 1st Commandment is nothing short of a recitation of the Shema, the prayer (found in Deuteronomy 6:6-7) that resided at the core of Jewish religious practice in Jesus’ time, and his 2nd Commandment – the one that was “much like” the first (or that, when translated more in harmony with the essential undercurrent of Jesus’ ministry, was “equally important” to it) – was nothing more than a direct quotation from Leviticus 19:18; a direct quotation that in & of itself contextually amended the Law of the Old Testament – seeing as how Leviticus 19:18 was originally cited by religious authorities to encourage harmony amongst fellow Jews, whereas Jesus clearly uttered it to encourage harmony amongst all human kind, friends and enemies alike (see Matthew 5:39-48 & Luke 6:27-36 et al).
4While more than a few Christians cite this particular verse to claim that Jesus is somehow a supporter of “necessary violence” &/or an advocate of “just warfare”, it doesn’t take much effort to realize that this is definitely NOT the case. First of all, as even the most casual of glances at Matthew 10:35-36 clearly shows, the immediate context of this particular passage has Jesus speaking not about physical violence or international conflicts at all, but rather about the lack of harmony that comes to any Jewish household when one member thereof chooses to break free from religious tradition and start living the Way of selfless Love he advocated instead. In addition, when we juxtapose & compare Matthew 10:34 with the similar synoptic statement Jesus makes in Luke 12:51, we can see that the end result of the lack of peace mentioned is not bloodshed, but division. Thirdly, when we examine the rest of the New Testament to see how the word “sword” is utilized, it becomes crystal clear that Jesus – the ultimate champion of non-violence – is NOT speaking of an actual weapon or advocating the use thereof (see “to live by the sword is to die by the sword” – a paraphrase of Matthew 26:52-55, Luke 22:49-52, & John 18:10-11). Finally, looking to the rest of the Bible for similar contexts where the word in question is utilized, we find Isaiah 49:2 (one of Jesus’ favorite Old Testament authors), which states “He made my MOUTH like a sharp sword” – once again evidencing that Matthew 10:34 is NOT a case of Jesus hypocritically advocating acts of violence, but rather shows him warning his followers that the radical legal reforms he is advocating will bring division and discord to the Jewish community.
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