Heeding Jesus the Righteous Prophet

The 172nd mitzvah is that we are commanded to obey each of the Prophets, may they rest in peace, and to fulfill all their instructions. Even if his instructions contradict one or many of these commandments, [we are commanded to obey him] as long as his instructions are temporary. This does not apply, however, if he permanently adds or subtracts [from the commandments], as we explained in the Introduction to our Commentary on the Mishneh.

The source of this commandment is G-d's statement (exalted be He), "To him you must listen." In the words of the Sifri: "The verse, 'To him you must listen,' means that even if he tells you to temporarily transgress one of the commandments of the Torah, you must listen to him."

Sefer Hamitzvot in English
Heeding a Prophet
Positive Commandment 172
Chabad.org

What?

This is very confusing. Why, if the Torah of God is perfect, would a Prophet be commanded (Prophets don't speak on their own authority; they speak the words of God, otherwise, they're false Prophets) to temporarily contradict or override one or more of the commandments?

The commentary I quoted from above contains a footnote with the answer:

See Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 9:3, where the example is brought of the prophet Elijah, who brought an offering on Mount Carmel, in spite of the prohibition to bring offerings outside the Temple in Jerusalem. Since it was a temporary measure — only to disprove the idolatry of Baal — it was permitted.

What this says to me is that, under certain circumstances, a Prophet may, as directed by God, temporarily override or disobey a commandment to uphold a higher commandment or to "make a point", so to speak.

That brings me to the class I taught last night.

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. -Matthew 12:9-14

Jesus (Yeshua) could have waited until the next day to heal the man's shriveled hand. The fellow had probably lived with it for years and waiting one more day wouldn't have made much of a difference. Even in Israel today, on Shabbat, such a disability probably wouldn't be treated by observant Jewish doctors, and only injuries and illness where the person was suffering would be attended to. Christ's example, ("if any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath") doesn't seem to be a good comparison, because a sheep falling into a pit could be injured and might die (or at least suffer terribly) if not rescued from the pit immediately. Not so with this man's shriveled hand.

So why did Jesus heal the man's hand on the Shabbat, especially when he knew the group of Pharisees present were just looking for an excuse to bring charges against him? Why did Jesus (apparently) violate the Shabbat?

While it's passages such as this one that traditional Christianity use as a "proof text" to illustrate that the Shabbat, along with the rest of "the Law", was done away with by Jesus, it's more likely (this presupposes the authority of the ancient Jewish sages to render opinions based on Torah and Oral Law) that the Jewish Messiah was acting in the role of a Prophet. Certainly as the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), he would know precisely what is and isn't permitted Shabbat behavior, but using the example of the 172nd mitzvah, we see that he could also temporarily suspend or weaken a portion of his Shabbat observance to obey a higher commandment or to "make a point". In this case, (my opinion), I think Jesus is saying that doing good is upholding the spirit and intention of the Shabbat, as opposed to manipulating the commandments in order to snare someone (which seems to be what the Pharisees were up to).

The Shabbat isn't a straight jacket that God uses to restrict us and to frustrate us. It's a protection from the troubles and problems we must endure the rest of the week. It's a "protected zone" where we are more free to pursue our experiencing God and to behave more completely out of His desires, including "loving our neighbor" (Mark 12:31), which is an extension of the commandment to love God (see Mark 12:28-34 for the complete context). The behavioral restrictions associated with the Shabbat are there to guide us and to help us structure how to observe the Shabbat, not to provide a list of "thou shalt nots".

Keep in mind that Jesus, as a true and righteous Prophet, as well as the Messiah, could not permanently override any of God's Torah because to do so, would have made him a false Prophet...and we know there is nothing false about the Jewish Messiah.

We are told to heed the Prophet because he speaks in the Name of God and not on his own authority (Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." -John 5:19). We are also told in the 6th mitzvah to "cling to the Sages" (based on Deuteronomy 10:20), imitating them in their "good and upright ways" because heeding and imitating a tzadik (righteous person) brings us closer to clinging to God.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

Flickering

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu
l'had'lik neir shel Shabbat. (Amein)

Blessed are you, Oh Lord, our God,
King of the universe
Who has sanctified us with His commandments
and commanded us to light the lights of Shabbat. (Amen)

Shabbat Kiddush

For those of you who observe a traditional Sabbath in some manner, you probably recognize the blessing over the candles, typically recited by the woman of the household to welcome in the Shabbat:

At least two candles should be lit, representing the dual commandments to remember and to keep the sabbath. The candles are lit by the woman of the household. After lighting, she waves her hands over the candles, welcoming in the sabbath. Then she covers her eyes, so as not to see the candles before reciting the blessing...The hands are then removed from the eyes, and she looks at the candles, completing the mitzvah of lighting the candles.

Judaism 101

Probably the candle lighting ceremony in Judaism that is best known to non-Jews is the lighting of the Chanukah menorah, which symbolizes the ancient Jewish victory over their Hellenistic oppressors and the cleansing and rededication of the Temple of God.

In Judaism, and in other religious traditions, candles or light represent a state of spiritual illumination and even a guide on the path of holiness.

Your Word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path -Psalm 119:105

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -John 8:12

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:14-16

We see a strong image in these verses that both the Word of God and His living Word, the Jewish Messiah, are our light and our guide on the journey of holiness set before us by our Creator. And while God and Jesus (Yeshua) can never fail to be our light, the light within each of us is not invulnerable. Like any living thing, the Spirit; the light within each of us, must be protected, fed, and nurtured, or it will dim and finally fade away.

We were so close, there was no room
We bled inside each others wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace
Some came to sing, some came to pray
Some came to keep the dark away
So raise the candles high, 'cause if you don't
We could stay black against the night
Oh raise them higher again and if you do
We could stay dry against the rain

Melanie Safka
Lay Down (1970)

Even in popular songs (from when I was young, anyway), candles are used to symbolize the same things as in the world of faith. Without the light that God gives to each of us, we will "stay black against the night". The parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) abundantly warns us against the dangers of allowing our lamps to run out of oil, and both oil and light in the Bible often represent the Spirit of God.

I should be happy that another Sabbath is approaching. Friday is here, the work week is winding down, and tonight, I have the privilege of watching my wife light the Shabbos candles and witnessing a special holiness enter my small home. At once, it's such a simple and yet magnificent event. On many occasions, it is the candle lighting is the biggest joy of my Sabbath experience.

But like some other Fridays, I approach the Shabbat with a mixed sense of anticipation and melancholy. I find that the uncertainty of the future of my faith and the congregation where I currently worship, has cast a shadow over my rest that even the light within me cannot overcome. Then again, maybe it's my candle that is burning low. The wick is almost exhausted and the oil is all but consumed.

I'm holding out my only candle, though it's so little light to find my way
Now this story's been laid beneath my candle
And it's shorter every hour as it reaches for the day
Yes, I feel just like a candle in the way

Jackson Browne
Song for Adam (1972)

Like most people in the dark, my eyes are searching for some source of light I can focus upon, no matter how faint. I keep looking around me, but my sight is growing dim and my eyes are getting weary. Or is it just that the only light I'm looking vainly for is the one that is supposed to be within me? Where is the "light upon my path" I am trying to find?

Oh people, look among you
It`s there your hope must lie
There`s a sea bird above you
Gliding in one place like Jesus in the sky
We all must do the best we can
And then hang on to that Gospel plow
When my life is over, I`m going to stand before the Father
But the sisters of the sun are going to rock me on the water now

Jackson Brown
Rock Me on the Water (1972)

This is why we can never let ourselves be isolated and alone. Most of us, or maybe I'm only speaking for myself, can't sustain our "lights to the world" very long without support. The ten virgins were ten, after all, and they had each other for comfort and encouragement if need be, while waiting for the groom to arrive.

Melanie Safka's classic lyrics say that we either hold our candles high or we "stay black against the night". The world we live in is dark and the only light we can see by is the one we accept from God. But having accepted it, we must nurture and protect it. For that, we need help. If that help is not forthcoming, we're like a candle in the wind.

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Candle in the Wind (1973)

This song was written in memory of actress Marilyn Monroe, but it describes all of us; it describes me. Jackson Browne's lyrics speak of a hope within each of us, a connection to Jesus "in the sky" and a future standing "before the Father". John's and Taupin's song speaks of a life lived in loneliness and a flame that did not survive the struggle to stay aglow.

Perhaps, knowing all this, the custom of candle lighting to welcome in the Shabbat exists to remind us that we are not alone in the dark. There is a light shining in the blackness and even though it sometimes seems dim and far away, it is always there. Even when the light within us threatens to be extinguished, His light can never fail. If only I can keep my eyes on the light and not give in to the shadowy abyss.

And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

Could You Live Without the Internet for Just One Day?

I know that most of the people in the Messianic world "rest" on the Shabbat, from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, but the level of "rest" is most likely variable. In Judaism, and particularly within an Orthodox framework, the requirements that make up a Shabbat rest are numerous and specific. Chances are, most non-Jews who have adopted the Shabbat don't rest as "well" as they (we) could.

For instance, do you turn off your computer, your iPad, your smart phone, and all of your other electronic communications devices before Shabbat candlelighting and keep them off until after Havdalah the next evening?

I may be asking a lot of people, including myself. After all, most of us, including our Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters drive to shul and perform other acts that would be considered "breaking the Shabbat" in an Orthodox context. While "keeping the commandments" usually requires building up set of habits and behavioral patterns over the span of years or even decades, as human beings, we usually reach a "comfort zone" of Shabbat activities and then stay there. In other words, we don't try to get closer to the goals we originally set for ourselves when we first made a commitment to a Sabbath's rest.

I bring all this up because I received a prompt from the Sabbath Manifesto site announcing that the Shabbat starting at sundown on March 4, 2011 is the National Day of Unplugging.

Think of it as a challenge to help improve your Sabbath rest. Could you completely unplug from all of your electronic communication devices for over 24 hours? Could you sign out of your email, stop tweeting and Facebooking, turn off your cell, and log off your computer?

Are you getting the shakes? No Internet or electronic communications for approximately 25 hours. That's harder for some people than not eating for the same amount of time (remember Yom Kippur?).

The idea isn't to deprive you in any way, but to help you reclaim your lives and insert more friend and family face-to-face interactions. This allows you more time to "smell the roses", so to speak, to study the Word of God, to fellowship with like minded people of the faith, to do all of the things the Shabbat was designed for. This isn't restriction; it's freedom from a sort of tyranny what we allow to control us the other six days of the week.

If you keep the Sabbath but would like to keep it better, there's hope. If you are a Jew, a Christian, or anyone who'd like to live without phone calls, texting, tweeting, IMing, and emailing for just one day, in order to experience what the rest of your life is like, take the National Day of Unplugging 2011 challenge. If you keep the Shabbat, but not this deeply, you could experience greater rewards of rest and peace. If you don't typically take a rest day from your electronics, give it a try. You may find a freedom you never knew existed.

On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. -Genesis 2:2-3

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

What Did Jesus Teach About the Sabbath?

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. -Matthew 28:19-20

This is the fourteenth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) taught his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile disciples to obey. This is the last entry of this series (yes, I know I've been long-winded) and after this, I'll try to come up with some general conclusions about what this all means. Before we get into today's subject, let's review a summary of my previous blog post, What Did Jesus Teach in the Beatitudes:

In a nutshell, Yeshua teaches us to hang on, to keep the faith, to persevere in the face of hardship, for although life in this world now is hard and we suffer, great is our reward in the Kingdom if we stay the course and complete the race. Praiseworthy is the person who obeys Your mitzvos and takes to his heart Your teaching and Your word.

The Sabbath is either the most obvious commandment to understand or the most confusing. In Judaism, Shabbos observance is a lovely and sacred weekly event, when everyone puts down their labors and strife and acknowledges the God of Creation. Christianity seems to be a little more confused on the Sabbath or at least the Jewish interpretation of it. On the one hand, Jewish Shabbat observance seems an unnecessary chore of "you can't do this" when after all, Jesus freed us from the law. On the other hand, they say that Sunday, the Lord's Day, has replaced the Shabbat, and is a day on which a special Sunday worship traditionally occurs, along with Sunday brunch, mowing the lawn, and a few rounds of golf. The freedom of the Lord's Day. I'm sorry if a sound a bit "snarky", but Christianity did itself and we Gentiles a great disservice by eliminating the loveliness and holiness of the Sabbath.

But what did Jesus teach about the Sabbath?

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread - which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." -Matthew 12:1-8

This is one of two lessons Yeshua teaches about the Sabbath according to Matthew, although there are additional lessons in other Gospels. In this saying, from a Christian point of view, it's easy to read into Yeshua's words and believe he's saying it's OK to do away with the Sabbath and yet remain innocent. Did Yeshua say that he and his disciples just canceled the Sabbath? What would cause him to issue such a reversal over the various parts of the Torah and the Prophets commanding Shabbat observance? What did he really say?

What does David eating the Priest's bread, Priests performing their sacred duty on the Shabbat, and Yeshua and his disciples gleaning and eating on Shabbat have in common? Were they all lawless and disrespectful of God's laws?

Yeshua quotes the Prophet Hosea as part of the answer: "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6). This is somewhat the same message as we see here:

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." -Mark 12:32-33

This is a response to Yeshua and his interpretation of the two greatest commandments by one of the Torah teachers and the teacher seems to say that the core of the Torah isn't in the raw mechanics of obedience but the intent and the heart behind obedience. It doesn't make spirit vs action mutually exclusive terms, but rather, two bookends containing the entire Torah between them.

While some of the Pharisees were criticizing Yeshua and his disciples for gleaning for food (working) on the Sabbath, they were emphasizing the mechanics of Shabbat observance without taking into consideration the intent of the Shabbat. Yeshua also seems to be saying that, if you have to make a decision between the two, it's better to "err" on the side of mercy. David, the Priesthood, and Yeshua's disciples were all innocent of any violation of the Sabbath.

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. -Matthew 12:9-14

Yeshua could have waited 24 hours to heal this guy. He wasn't like a sheep in a pit, who would certainly suffer and might even die if left there until the Shabbat ended. The guy probably lived with that shriveled hand for years. Another day wouldn't have made much difference. Yeshua was trying to make a point:

How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. -Matthew 12:12

I doubt all this means that God was reversing traditional Shabbat observance. I doubt Yeshua is saying we need to cancel our worship and our prayers so that we can all go out and perform acts of good that could have waited until the next day or that we could have done the previous day. Remember, he was making a point to an audience that needed to hear a specific message.

I do believe Yeshua's lesson means we need to think about our Shabbat observance. Are we observing the Shabbat as a matter of robotic mechanics, going through the motions like so many wind-up toy dolls and criticizing anyone who operates outside of our rigid paradigm, or are we observing the Shabbat in the Spirit of the Shabbat, as God originally designed it to be?

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. -Genesis 2:2-3

It's pretty hard to get past the Genesis 2 establishment of the Shabbat and interpret it as a "Jewish" observance, since it's clear here that the seventh day was made holy since the days of Adam. Resting on the seventh day is a demonstration and declaration of God as the God of all Creation. Here's another example:

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. -Exodus 20:8-11

While Moses is specifically addressing the Children of Israel as well as the Gentile mixed multitude who also accepted the Torah at Sinai, the Shabbat is still defined by the holiness of the seventh day after creation. We do see a change in the following, however:

"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. -Deuteronomy 5:12-15

At the banks of the Jordan, on the threshold of the promise fulfilled, Moses presents the commandment to keep the Sabbath to the children of the slaves who came out of Egypt as a commemoration of the release from bondage. Is this when God made the Sabbath a fully Jewish event? Does God think in terms of either/or?

Westerners sometimes get accused of being too locked into linear thinking. We categorize and pigeon-hole everything and do our level best to eliminate ambiguity and double-meaning. Computers "think" in binary and apparently, so do we. But I've been told that Hebraic thought is more global and that themes, relationships, and connections are interwoven into a complex and sometimes paradoxical tapestry. It's sometimes explained this way:

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. -Yogi Berra

While Berra never meant for his words to hold any significant philosophical meaning, in this case, I think they do. I think that the Sabbath can both be a special commemoration for the Jews of their release from slavery in Egypt and a commemoration for all humanity that God is the God of Creation and is the God of all of us.

"As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. -Isaiah 66:22-23

We light the Sabbath candles in my home every Friday evening for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because my wife is Jewish. I have no problem seeing two overlapping meanings to Shabbat observance for Jews and for Gentiles, just like there is in my family, and in fact, it seems to be one of those commandments that has an overarching application to the entire human race.

Conclusion: What did Jesus teach about the Sabbath that Jewish and Gentile disciples are to obey?

1. The mechanics of Sabbath observance and the spirit of Sabbath observance are both important.
2. If you are in a situation where you must choose between mechanics and spirit, err on the side of the spirit and intent of Sabbath.
3. There are some jobs and activities that must be done, even on the Sabbath, yet anyone doing them is considered blameless of a violation of the Sabbath.
4. Helping a person on the Sabbath isn't wrong, even if they could have waited until the next day.

I'll add, even though Yeshua didn't teach this specifically, that the Sabbath can have a special meaning for the Jewish people in relation to their release from Egyptian slavery and still have a general meaning and application to everyone else.

This series will end with my next entry in which I'll try to summarize my all of my conclusions. Beyond that, there are a few ways I can go.

There have been a lot of comments on Judah Gabriel's blog post 7 Conclusions on Keeping God's Commandments, which was Judah's commentary on my blog entry What Did Jesus Teach About the Torah, Part 1. It would certainly be appropriate if I blogged on everyone's thoughts and tried to respond by "tightening up" my conclusions from that article.

I chose the book of Matthew for this series because it was the Gospel written specifically for a Jewish audience, so if any set of teachings could be said to be specifically Jewish, they would be found in Matthew's writings. Matthew is also the only Gospel writer that records "the Great Commission" which is the foundation of this series. Does that mean Yeshua didn't provide any fundamentally different or additionally illuminating teachings in Mark, Luke, and John? Exploring the other Gospels is an option.

All that said, it seems inevitable that I'll need to visit the Apostolic scriptures more specifically than I already have. While none of the apostles can override Yeshua's teachings, they can add dimension and expand the meaning of our understanding of what Yeshua taught. Also, the development of the early "church" and the record of how (or if) Gentile disciples were integrated into Jewish synagogue worship could help show us a picture, or at least a hint, of how (or if) Torah observance was managed by the Gentiles.

Next time: the conclusion of conclusions.