Jesus & the Law – commenting categorically … (12/05/18)
After the previous chapter’s thorough exposé of the various major episodes of Jesus’ ministry (and how those instances showed him openly & overarchingly challenging his culture’s traditional interpretations of the Jewish Law), it can come as no surprise that the content of his Gospel sayings, sermons, & teachings show him fulfilling the same goal with equal verve in relation to the specific regulations residing within that Law. While many scholars divide the Old Testament’s 613 divine regulations (or Mitzvot) into three major categories1, the following analysis of Jesus’ opinion thereof will divide those same regulations into the following five: GOD and the appropriate worship thereof, the Temple and appropriate worship therein, the Holy Festivals and the appropriate observance thereof, the Community and appropriate dealings therein, and the Justice System and the regulations dealing therewith.
In truth, while Jesus did not specifically comment on every single law contained within the Hebrew Bible, the pages that follow will show that he did indeed offer individual commentaries on many of them and that he most certainly announced recommendations &/or pronounced amendments that pertained to them all – recommendations that encouraged all of humanity (Jews and non-Jews alike) to transcend our basest instincts in favor of becoming humble & kind stewards of the planet; and amendments to the Law that encouraged all Jews to transcend the same – to shatter the prison made of dogmatic regulations & traditional expectation; in essence releasing all desire & attachment to being proper “Children of Israel,” and thereafter becoming true Children of God instead.
“The spiritually enlightened of all ages – Jesus Christ included – have all been uniformly distinguished by a kind of perceptive purity; an acute & unceasing ability to see past the confines of religious dogma and pierce the veils of primal fear & cellular self-interest – to refuse to shackle God in man’s minuscule images thereof – to embrace the glory that is the boundlessness of God’s perfect Love, and then to live as humble-yet-bold emissaries of the same. Indeed, the divine tenderness known to such as these cannot be contained in the weak-walled vessels of any church, much less the hollow-winded words of any preacher confined thereby. As such it is precisely among the heretics of history that we find men & women who were filled to the brim with this same glowing awareness – men who were frequently judged to be rabble-rousers or lunatics; women who were often condemned as demoniacs or witches. Later, more awakened ages came to view those rebels quite differently, of course – seeing them far more correctly as trailblazers of peace; as light-bearers in the deepest darkness; as saints in times of sinfulness. Looked at through this lens, those like Copernicus and Tolstoy and Voltaire and Rumi are no longer opposed to the likes of Jesus of Nazareth or Francis of Assisi, but rather become Soulmates to the same. As such, we would all do well to remember that Truth is kept viable by the uncompromising progressions of heresy, we would all do well to remember that our culture is kept vibrant by the unyielding challenge of heretics, and we would all do even better by remembering to enliven our time accordingly.” ~ inspired by Albert Einstein & Yevgeny Zamyatin
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1With those three categories being the Mishpatim (those laws that are deemed to be self-evident, such as the commandments to avoid murder and thievery), the Edot (those regulations that serve to commemorate important events in Jewish history, such as the Sabbath-based rules that testify to God having created the world in six days and then resting on the seventh), and the Chukim (those rules with no known rationale that are still perceived as manifestations of the Divine Will, such as the prohibition against wearing articles of clothing made from different fibers or against eating the flesh of murdered pigs).
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