This is the twelfth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) taught his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile disciples to obey. It's also the fourth part of my series that specifically focuses on what Yeshua taught about the Torah (the Law) that can be applied to non-Jewish disciples. Before proceeding, let's review a summary for Part 3 of What Did Jesus Teach About the Torah:
In a nutshell, we learned that in addition to the conditions outlined for Gentile disciples in terms of Torah obedience we find in the Acts 15 letter, there are a number of commands that Yeshua taught in Matthew 5 that can be applied to Gentile Torah obedience, including commandments to not murder, not to commit adultery, not to divorce except under extreme circumstances, to avoid taking oaths, and to love your enemies. These commandments are found in several sections of the Torah including Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. We find that the Acts 15 letter was written in direct response to events reported in Paul's Galatians letter where we discover Messianic Jewish disciples, without authorization from the Jerusalem Council, were telling new Gentile believers that they had to convert to Judaism in order to become Messianic disciples. The letter corrects this disinformation and we see that Gentile disciples are allowed to discover their lives in the Jewish Messiah, in the Torah, and in God without the requirement to become Jewish or to be obligated to the entire body of the Torah as are the Jewish people.I want to revisit a portion of Acts 15 because I believe that Peter said something in response to some Messianic Jewish disciples who belonged to the party of the Pharisees that has relevance on how Yeshua taught about the nature of the Torah:
The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." -Acts 15:6-11These words are usually referenced by traditional Christianity to illustrate that the Law (Torah) was considered to be a burden too heavy for both Jewish and Gentile Christians and to justify the notion that the Torah was replaced by Grace. Frankly, it's a good point because how else can you explain Peter including both Gentiles and Jews in the statement ...putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? Were the Torah commandments an unbearable yoke? Compare what Peter is saying to what Yeshua says:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30Of course, I'm assuming that both Peter and Yeshua are using the term "yoke" in the same way, that "yoke" refers to the Torah, and that the "yoke of Torah" can either be heavy or light. As support for this, consider the following quote from Torah.org:
This week's mishna provides us with an important life insight, one not only philosophically intriguing but practically valuable as well. One who accepts upon himself the "yoke of Torah" -- meaning he undertakes to study Torah diligently and without interruption, will find the yokes of government and of livelihood less burdensome or removed altogether.So why is Yeshua's yoke (of Torah) easy and why does Peter refer to the yoke (of Torah) as a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? What's the difference between the yokes?
Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld
Amazingly, I think I have an answer. The clue is here:
No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. -Acts 15:11I don't believe that Peter was saying the Torah commandments were a yoke that the Jewish people found too heavy to bear. I think Peter is saying that believing that Torah obedience in and of itself will save you is an unbearable burden.
We see a perfect example of this in some One Law congregations today, where Gentile believers focus so much on certain aspects of Torah obedience, such as avoiding pork chops and scrimp scampi, learning how to tie their tzitzit, and the proper method for laying tefillin, that they've neglected the more important matters of the Torah, such as feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and caring for the homeless and the friendless. If even some of the Jews in the First Century C.E. were "misaligned" in terms of their understanding of Torah too, then I have no doubt that the yoke of Torah would be heavy for them, just as it is for Gentile believers who expect Torah obedience to save them today.
Now look at the fact that Yeshua had to tell the Jewish people in Matthew 5 the correct interpretation of certain Torah commandments and link that to his teaching that the yoke of the Messiah's Torah is light, and you can understand what Peter is talking about. Peter isn't negating Torah obedience for the Jews, but he's negating Torah obedience for the sake of blindly following rules and expecting the Torah to be able to save you. This is exactly that the Gentiles in Galatians were being lured into by some unreliable Jewish brothers and what Paul was so upset about.
The yoke of Torah is light when we realize that it's faith and grace that saves us, not robotic Torah obedience and the Torah is heavy when we become rule-bound for the sake of being rule-bound and believe that it's the little details of obeying the Torah commandments that will either save or condemn us. Paul says in Romans 3:10 that no one is perfect; no one obeys God's Torah perfectly. It's not the perfection of Torah obedience that saves us, it's the continual struggle to perfect our faith by grace. Paul compares our journey of faith to running a race in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and in 2 Timothy 4:7, he says he has finished the race and has kept the faith.
Both in Matthew 7:15-23 and Matthew 16:5-12, Yeshua admonishes his disciples to guard themselves against "false prophets" and against "the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees". The Gentiles in the Galatian church needed to hear that lesson as well and Paul was able to take the message to them. This message was then re-enforced by the Acts 15 letter, and we modern Gentile Messianic disciples also need to be paying attention to what this teaching is saying. There are still plenty of "teachers" out there who elevate the benefits of blind Torah obedience above living a life of faith, grace, and fruitfulness by obeying the weightier matters of Torah and accepting the proper yoke of the Messiah.
Conclusion: What do we learn about Yeshua's yoke of Torah for the Jewish and Gentile Messianic disciples?
- God made no distinction between Jewish and Gentile disciples in terms of receiving the Spirit, having hearts purified by faith, and being saved by the Messiah's grace.
- The Yoke of Torah is heavy if we believe we must obey every little Torah commandment to the letter in order to be saved.
- The Yoke of Torah is light if we realize that both Jewish and Gentile Messianic disciples are saved by faith, rather than by robotic Torah observance.
- Avoid the "yeast" of "false prophets" and bad teachers who contradict the teachings of the Messiah.
- Faith is a race we run all our lives in order to win the only reward that will last for all eternity.
I know that I haven't come to an absolute conclusion regarding Gentile Messianic Torah obedience vs. Jewish Messianic Torah obedience. As far as the book of Matthew is concerned, this is as much as I can find specifically about how Yeshua taught the Torah. If what we Gentile disciples are to obey is contained within the limits of Matthew, then how Gentiles respond to the Torah is certainly different than how Jews respond to the Torah.
I haven't quite exhausted the teachings of the Messiah in Matthew yet, and there will be a few more entries in this series. Beyond that, we'll see what final conclusions I can make when the final blog post wraps up my observations.
6 comments:
Can you explain this comment a little further to me. "If what we Gentile disciples are to obey is contained within the limits of Matthew, then how Gentiles respond to the Torah is certainly different than how Jews respond to the Torah."
I've read the other three post in relation to this specific topic, so if it is further discussed in the post before this topic on gentile observance, just let me know. I don't see how what is contained in Matthew make a distinction in a Jews observance and a Gentiles observace.
Sorry for the lack of clarity. Let me explain.
If Gentile disciples are supposed to obey everything that Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples and we use the book of Matthew as our template for understanding what Yeshua actually taught, then we discover a number of Torah commandments but not literally all of the commandments that Jews are required to obey by the Mosaic covenant.
Put another way, Yeshua didn't specifically teach about wearing tzitzit, praying with tefillin, not charging interest when loaning to a a fellow covenant member, and so on. In that sense then, if we Gentiles are commmanded to obey only the parts of the Torah Yeshua taught directly, then it seems we obey only a subset of the full body of the Torah.
Of course, there could have been a lot inferred in Yeshua's teachings, but I haven't gotten that far in my analysis yet. One question still to be answered is, since the Jewish disciples would have taken obedience to most of the Torah commandments as a "given" (eating Kosher, or wearing tzitzit for instance), can we then apply those commandments to Gentile disciples? After all, Yeshua didn't teach about them specifically.
I'll try to answer that question, but not until the conclusion of the "What Did Jesus Teach" series, which is probably a few blog posts in the future.
Interesting take on the "yoke of the Torah" bits.
I have heard numerous interpretations of that passage:
- The Law is a burden so it cannot and should not be kept (Christianity)
-Peter meant the Law was a burden for gentiles (FFOZ's new Divine Invitation stance, see here)
-The yoke too difficult to bear is the oral traditions (some One Law folks)
Actually, in reading Lancaster's explanation, he seems to be saying that the Torah is a blessing and a burden to the Jewish people:
To insist that Peter could not have referred to the Torah's obligations as a difficult burden simply because other texts contradict that sentiment denies a literate reading of Scripture. Peter was certainly able to articulate the idea that, though the Torah is a source of blessing and holiness, it is also difficult. A naïve, rigid, theological reading which cannot abide any hint of contradiction between one passage and another will find this difficult, but the Jewish voice, following what Marvin Wilson calls the contour of Hebraic thought, would find no difficulty in admitting, "The Torah is a great blessing and the commandments are not burdensome; but they are difficult!"
He and I end up at almost the same conclusion, though. We both agree that Gentiles don't have to convert to Judaism and probably don't have to take on the same and complete yoke of Torah as a Jewish believer. I'm still trying to figure out how you can read "Divine Invitation" in the Bible, though (oh..and Lancaster can be almost as "long winded" as me. :D ).
Just wanted to add something from the blog post Lancaster wrote last year for FFOZ. He pretty much makes my conclusions for me about how Gentile disciples "folded in" to synagogue life then and how they can today:
Nevertheless, the apostles were not forbidding the Gentiles from participating in the Sabbath, the dietary laws, or any aspect of Torah-life. Remember, in the days of Acts 15, the God-fearing Gentile believers were probably more Torah observant than most Messianic believers today. They worshipped in synagogues in the midst of the Jewish community. They had no other days of worship or holidays other than those of the synagogue. (They did not need to drive to get to their place of fellowship.) To share table-fellowship with Jewish believers in the community, they must have maintained the biblical dietary laws. For all practical purposes, they looked Jewish already. But they were not, and they were not liable to the Jewish aspects of the Torah like the Jewish believers.
" and they were not liable to the Jewish aspects of the Torah like the Jewish believers. "
How does Lancaster know this? Was he there?
They were called "God fearers" because they were not jewish and could have not been called Jews.
They had the same privileges and the same obligation to the Law as the native born.
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