What Did Jesus Teach About Following Him?

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 seventh part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. Today, we'll explore what Yeshua taught about following him and about following God. Before we continue, let's review the last lesson in the Leadership and Servanthood series which was called What Did Jesus Teach About Patience and Stewardship:

In a nutshell, Yeshua taught that being a leader isn't being a big shot. It isn't having a title, a fancy education, or being an ethnic type. That stuff only works in the secular world, not in God's world. In God's world, people are leaders when they're servants. People are greatest only when they're least. People are the strongest when they comfort the weakest.

What Yeshua taught is also mirrored in a well-known Mishnah in Avot 4:1:

Who is wise? He who learns from every person. Who is strong? He who subdues his personal inclination. Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot. Who is honored? He who honors others.

Many of those in leadership in the Christian and Messianic realms would do well to humble themselves and heed these words...as would we all.

It's time to move to another topic. It took five blog posts just to cover all of his teachings about leadership and servanthood. Let's press on to see what Yeshua taught about following him.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. -Matthew 4:18-22

We see that when we are called to follow Yeshua, we are to do so without hesitation. Think of how many times people have asked you to do something and you've responded "Just a minute" or "I don't have the time right now". In most of those cases, you've probably had very good reasons to delay an immediate response, but for the sake of the Kingdom, there can be no delay. On those occasions when you've been called to follow the Master, have to always responded instantly? There also seems to be another cost involved:

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." -Matthew 8:18-22

This one isn't always easy to understand. In the case of the fellow who wanted to bury his father, the father wasn't dead yet. The guy was asking to wait until his father had died and his affairs and responsibilities were wrapped up before following Yeshua. The Master is a higher priority than even family, which can sometimes be difficult to accept. After all, we're commanded to honor our parents (Exodus 20:12), so this is a difficult teaching Yeshua gives us. Of course, he also teaches:

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." -Luke 12:49-53

As hard as it may be, if we have to make a choice, as disciples, we must follow our Master before even our own families.

As far as Yeshua's response to the Torah teacher, we see what could be interpreted as a warning about making enthusiastic statements such as I will follow you wherever you go. We all would like to think that we have the faith to move mountains and the strength and dedication of the Prophets, Warriors, and Kings of old who served God and lived in a time of mighty miracles, but wait! When was the last time you failed the Master? What did it take to result in your failure? Chances are, it wasn't that much of a temptation, weakness, or distraction. Don't make promises you can't keep. You don't know where the Master is going and don't assume following him will be all that easy or glorious. For all you know, like the Son of Man, you may have no place to lay your head. Here's more:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." -Matthew 16:24-28

Again, Yeshua talks about a matter of priorities. Just how much do you want to be a disciple of the Master? How many of your own personal priorities are you willing to give up? Is there anything too important in your life that it prevents you from denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following him?

When sending out the twelve (in Matthew 10), we see what else Yeshua teaches about following.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. -Matthew 10:28-33

We get the impression that we're automatically going to be asked to sacrifice our lives or to live in extreme poverty because we are disciples, but we need to put things in perspective. Who do we serve? Is His arm too short to provide or to save? While God doesn't "promise you a rose garden" (at least in this life), He does promise to always be with you and if you acknowledge the Father before men, Yeshua will acknowledge you before God. Something good to remember when you feel you are suffering for the sake of the Kingdom.

We've already seen the teaching found in Matthew 10:34-39 presented in Luke 12:49-53. Yeshua may also have been considering the words of the Prophet Micah:

For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man's enemies are the members of his own household.

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
-Micah 7:6-7

I wish evangelists and others spreading the Good News of the Messiah would teach some of these lessons. I seriously doubt that most people, Jewish or Gentile, who have accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, Lord, and Savior were told that it wasn't all going to be tea and cookies. Becoming a disciple is like getting married. In the beginning, we are all in love and not able to see the costs and sacrifices that need to be made for the sake of the relationship. I think it's why we're supposed to take a vow before God when we wed...for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health... This is the difference between a wedding and being married. This is the difference between accepting Yeshua and living the life of a disciple. However there are also these words:

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" -Matthew 14:25-31

We always remember Yeshua walking on the water, but no one remembers that Peter walked on water, too. As long as he kept his eyes on Yeshua and his faith was strong, he could walk on water; he could do anything, no matter how impossible it seems to human minds and reason. The minute his gaze faltered and doubt crept in, he sank like a stone.

Perhaps this teaching can be summed up in a few simple sentences:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. -Matthew 7:13-14

Conclusion: What does Yeshua teach about how we are to follow him?

1. When we are called to follow, we must respond immediately.
2. The highest priority in our lives is following the Master, not our life circumstances, our families, or even our own lives.
3. If we acknowledge God to men and are faithful, God will be faithful to us.
4. Don't be afraid. You are worth a lot to God. He'll take care of you.
5. If we keep our eyes on the Master and our faith strong, we can do anything.

In a nutshell, in today's lesson, we learn that when we choose to be disciples of Yeshua, we are not promised trouble-free lives and despite the difficulties, we must always make the purposes of the Kingdom our first and unconditional priority. If we are faithful to God, God will be faithful to us and take care of us. If our faith is strong and our eyes are on the Master, we are able to do anything he asks of us.

Most of the time, when evangelists share the Good News of the Messiah, they talk about all of the benefits and the highlights of the relationship. They talk about everything Jesus will do for us; eternal life, fellowship, freedom from sin. They don't often talk about our responsibilities to God, to the Kingdom, and to our fellow human beings, especially those who are not believers and especially those who don't esteem believers in Yeshua.

Yeshua, on the other hand, didn't pull any punches. He laid it all out in front of us and explained exactly what was and is required of those who choose to follow his path. There are great, fantastic rewards, but while the gift of salvation is free, it's not guaranteed to be easy. If you're looking for the easy path and the wide gate, then being a disciple of the Master is not for you. If you're looking to save your soul and work for the sake of God but not necessarily your own life, joining the Master is the right thing to do.

What Did Jesus Teach About Patience and Stewardship?

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

Leadership and Servanthood

This is the sixth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. It's also the fifth and last part of the series of Yeshua's teachings in the Book of Matthew on Leadership and Servanthood. To summarize Part V: What Did Jesus Teach About Being Good and Bad Fruit:

In a nutshell, we learn that as disciples and people responsible in the Kingdom, we must serve God and not ourselves. It doesn't matter how holy we look on the outside if we're unrepentant on the inside. We can't teach and lead if we're not willing to be taught and to follow Yeshua. We are condemned if we exalt ourselves and consider the superficial practices of religion more important than the true meaning of the Torah. If we want to obey Him, we must obey everything He teaches. God wants to gather us, but we will be alone until we wholeheartedly welcome Yeshua and bless his name.

That is what we can say about what Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentiles disciples about what happens when disciples produce bad fruit. Remember though, he also told the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you". In order to understand what everything means, we need to press on. Even after we complete the lessons on leadership and servanthood, there are more teachings to study.

Chapter 25 of Matthew might not strike you as providing leadership lessons, but a leader and a servant should be prepared to fulfill their assigned tasks, even if they (or we) don't know when that task is to be fulfilled. Using three different parables, the Master teaches us the benefits of being patient, being obedient, and being prepared for his return to occur at any time, and the ghastly consequences of failing the Master. If we, as disciples of Yeshua, can't demonstrate faithfulness in waiting for the Bridegroom, how can we pass on our faith on to others and ask them to do the same?

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. -Matthew 25:1-5

This parable is so familiar, we almost don't have to read the rest. We know how the saga concludes, but it also reads almost like the beginning of a fairy tale and like many fairy tales, it holds a moral.

The disciples who could still remember Yeshua's lifetime on Earth were told that he was returning soon, and many believed they'd see him again before they died. They didn't. How many would-be Messiahs have come and gone since the destruction of Herod's temple? I've lost count. How many times have Christians been sure that Jesus was going to return at any second, but he didn't?

When I was eight years old, I had to get my tonsils out. I don't remember very much about it, except brief flashes of being in a hospital bed, my throat hurting, drinking apple juice, and playing some sort of board game. What I didn't realize at the time, during those fateful days of October in 1962, was that the world was holding its breath waiting to see how the United States was going to react to the news that the Soviet Union had installed a number of intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles 90 miles off our coast in Communist Cuba. History would call this moment in time the Cuban Missile Crisis.

What I also didn't know, though it would have had a more personal impact, was that my father, a Sergeant in the Air Force, was in a bunker next to a missile silo ready to launch a nuclear weapon if the order came through from President Kennedy. Thank God the order never did.

While I was eating ice cream in a hospital bed and realizing that it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be to have my tonsils out, I can only imagine that the Christian world was expecting Jesus to return at any split second. Certainly God wouldn't let the world be incinerated in a radioactive fire, wiping out all of humanity, letting His creation be utterly destroyed, without sending Jesus back as He promised, would He?

No, of course not. But it must have been one of those times in the history of the church when we were sure this was it and that Jesus would show up in the sky at any second. It was a time when we checked out lamps to see if we had oil or not. In a way, it must have been a little disappointing when Jesus didn't return right then. On the other hand, maybe we should always imagine someone's in a missile silo with his hand on a key, waiting for an order to come in to launch an atomic weapon. Maybe then, we'd keep our oil fresh and ready and not grow tired of waiting for the Bridegroom to come.

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. -Matthew 25:14-18

This is like how we try to teach children how to save money; educating them in the simple lessons of the savings account at a bank, including the idea that money in a savings account accrues interest at a specific rate. The rate isn't usually very much, but if you leave the money there long enough and keep adding to it, after a long, long time, your wee little investment turns into something impressive (banking disasters not withstanding).

This is a little different than the lesson of just "being prepared". We have to take something we're given and, on behalf of someone else, do something with it to increase its worth. Keep in mind though, like the parable of the bridesmaids, we're never exactly sure of when the Master is supposed to come back. When he does though, we'd better have our bank accounts in order. Yeshua doesn't just hand out "talents" because he has nothing better to do with his time.

The following statement by the servant who just hid the Master's money in a hole in the ground is particularly stunning:

"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' -Matthew 25:24-25

Wow! The guy makes it sound like the Master didn't have any right to that money in the first place and that he was being unfair delegating the responsibility of investing his wealth to his servants. Guess he hadn't heard about this parable:

"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' -Matthew 20:13-15

The parable of the workers in the vineyard is a favorite of mine because it reminds me that, even though I didn't come to faith in Yeshua until my 40s, I am just as much a son of the Kingdom as a person who accepted Yeshua at age 20. Yet I used to worship at a church that judged how "good" a Christian you were by how long you'd been a believer. If your family had been attending that church for three generations or more, you were definitely in the "in" crowd. It's funny how God's people can behave in such a completely contrary manner to the teachings of the Christ they swear they love.

Getting back to the guy who thought it was a good idea to take his talent and bury it in the ground, we see that we are expected to take whatever we are given, no matter how great or how small, and to put it to work for the Kingdom, not just hoard it like Midas and his gold. Wealth of any sort isn't wealth unless you invest it and making even a single disciple for the Master is a good return.

So far, we've been distinguishing between two general types of believers: prepared and unprepared, investing and hoarding. Here's two more. Type one:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' -Matthew 25:34-40

Type two:

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." -Matthew 25:41-46

The teaching is very plain and we've seen it in past blog posts on Yeshua's lessons on leadership and servanthood. Feed the hungry. Give the thirsty something to drink. Welcome the stranger into your midst. Clothe those without adequate clothing. Take care of a sick person. Visit the person in prison. If you do this for someone...anyone, it's as if you've done it for the Messiah himself.

Please notice that Yeshua didn't say to only feed and clothe and welcome people who showed the right background, whose family have been Christians for three generations, or who were only Jewish believers. Yeshua himself said that he didn't come for the healthy but for the sick, so hanging out just with our buds isn't what he wants us to do. He also said that even pagans and tax collectors are nice to those people who are nice to them first. Don't play favorites.

How can you take the news of salvation to the unsaved if you only associate with the saved? How can Messianic Judaism take the Good News of the Messiah to the world if they only speak of Yeshua within their own walls and to only their own Jewish inner group? How can Gentile One Law or One Torah groups bridge the gap between themselves and their neighbors if they pay attention only to their own congregation or if they focus only on how "unfair" they think they're being treated by Jews in the Messianic movement?

Conclusion: Yeshua teaches us to be prepared and proactive with what he gives us and to offer what we have to give to anyone in need. Specifically though, what did Yeshua tell his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples to obey about patience, good stewardship, and serving in his name?

1. Be prepared for Yeshua's return at any time. Keep your life and your soul in good order. Don't get lazy.
2. No matter what Yeshua gives you, invest it in other people. Salvation isn't an exclusively personal gift. It's meant to be spread around. Don't be stingy.
3. Don't just help your own group and don't just be nice to your friends. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Care for the sick. Welcome the stranger. If you do that for them, you have served the Master personally.

Being a leader isn't being a big shot. It isn't having a title, a fancy education, or being an ethnic type. That stuff only works in the secular world, not in God's world. In God's world, people are leaders when they're servants. People are greatest only when they're least. People are the strongest when they comfort the weakest. There's another way of putting it:

Who is wise? He who learns from every person. Who is strong? He who subdues his personal inclination. Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot. Who is honored? He who honors others.
-A well-known Mishnah in Avot (4:1)

This is the last lesson from the book of Matthew on Yeshua's teachings on leadership and servanthood, but it's not the last lesson he taught. The journey of exploration in my blog will continue as we strive to understand Yeshua's direct command to the Jewish disciples regarding their responsibilities of leadership and servanthood in making disciples of all nations teaching them (us, we Gentiles) to obey everything Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples.

What Did Jesus Teach About Being Good and Bad Fruit?

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

Leadership and Servanthood

This is the fifth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. It's also the fourth of a series of Yeshua's teachings in the Book of Matthew on Leadership and Servanthood. To summarize Part IV: What Did Jesus Teach About Humility and Mercy:

In a nutshell, we learn that Yeshua taught his Jewish disciples and we Gentile disciples that in all our dealings with people, regardless of our relative position in our congregations, communities, and in life, we are to act humbly, to value everyone, to realize we are all important and unique to God, to be forgiving, and to grant as much mercy to others as God has granted to us.

That is what we can say about what Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentiles disciples about humility and mercy. Remember though, he also told the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you". In order to understand what everything means, we need to press on. Even after several blog posts, there are more teachings to study.

Matthew 23 is often referred to as the Seven Woes chapter and seems to be one of the most critical commentaries Yeshua (Jesus) makes about teachers of the law and Pharisees. This is one of the places where traditional Christianity gets the idea that all Torah teachers, scribes, and Pharisees were evil and bad and, in fact, one of the passages that Christianity refers to when it supports the position that the teachings of God were replaced by the grace of God, as if the Word and God's grace were somehow mutually exclusive. Of course, they can be made "mutually exclusive" if we emphasize one and minimize or completely do away with the other.

It seems the more accurate lesson to be learned from the Seven Woes is what happens when leaders who should be servants instead appoint themselves as "lords" over the rest of us; that is, lords over those people who only want to sincerely follow God.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. -Matthew 23:1-4

It would have been within the rights of the Messiah and King to overthrow the corrupt religious leadership in the Jerusalem of the First Century CE, but Yeshua taught obedience rather than insurrection. However, he defined the difference between obeying the teachings of Torah and imitating the actual behavior of the corrupt "blind guides" who did not practice their own teachings but rather, created additional burdens for the people to bear, beyond the Torah of Moses.

This is usually where Christianity and much of the Messianic, One Law, and Two House movement states that the Oral Law is a fiction created by the Rabbis in the post-Bible era, but many of the commandments in the written portion of the Torah don't explain how to actually obey the commandments. Here's another way of looking at it from my previous blog post What Did Jesus Change? Ritual:

Torah can be considered both written and oral. Remember, Moses was on Sinai with God for 40 days, so they must have talked about something. Actually, the oral law makes a certain amount of sense, once you realize that many of the commandments in the written Torah don't explain how to obey them (just how does one wear fringes on the four corners of a garment?). In that, the oral law modifies the written law so that it is "operationalized", describing the mechanics of how to perform the various commandments.

In all likelihood, Yeshua wasn't speaking against the Oral Law, what was given to Moses by God but not, at that time, written down, but rather those requirements that went above and beyond the mandates of God and indeed, those directives that actually contradicted the Torah (see Mark 7:1-5).

Why would the religious leaders of Yeshua's day do such a thing?

"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'

"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. -Matthew 23:5-12

Human beings in First Century Jerusalem were just like human beings today. We all tend to want to be admired and some people want and even feel they "need" to be leaders, to be acknowledged as leaders, to be looked up to, fawned over, called by exalted titles, and praised by other, "lesser" men and women. That kind of flies in the face of teachings about being a servant and demonstrating humility and mercy. Yeshua also made his point by saying the following:

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. -Matthew 7:15-17

It's one of the dangers in modern Messianic and One Law congregations when we put on tzitzit, tefillin, and let other people call us "Rabbi", particularly when we don't have the educational background in Torah, Talmud, and particularly when we lack humility. Even if we start out sincerely desiring to serve God and to serve people, the attention we receive in leadership roles can turn our heads and our gaze away from God and to that person we see in the mirror.

It's why we need to learn the substance and fabric of what Yeshua taught us to obey before we even consider the form and mechanics of how to practice our roles and our worship. It's why I've chosen this form of learning and teaching the lessons of the Master. But let's continue. First woe:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. -Matthew 23:13-14

Translation: As teachers and religious "authorities", if you not only refuse to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven by obeying God, but prevent others who want to go in from doing so as well, you are opposing God. Second woe:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. -Matthew 23:15

Translation: Teaching someone to be a disciple of your order, denomination, or discipline does that person no good if what you teach them to obey is not from God, but from you. If you do this, "woe to you". That can't be good. Third woe:

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. -Matthew 23:16-22

Translation: You have a case of messed up priorities. What's more important, the "stuff" we use in worshiping God or God? Also reminds me of this:

Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. -Matthew 5:33-37

Translation: Don't shoot off your big mouth and don't make promises you can't keep, especially using God's Name. Keep it simple. Just say you'll do something, and then do it. Fourth woe:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. -Matthew 23:23-24

Translation: Another priority mess up. You "sweat the small stuff", putting the mechanics and the ritual of Torah obedience ahead of the actual fabric and substance of Torah: justice, mercy, charity, humility, grace. Do you think that the most important thing in your life and what's most important to God is how you tie your tzitzit, lay your teffilin, and how well you pronounce prayers in Hebrew? When's the last time you visited a sick person in the hospital or donated canned goods to your local foodbank? You can obey the Torah form and the Torah substance. Do all of Torah, not elevating one part over another. Fifth woe:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. -Matthew 23:25-26

Translation: It doesn't matter how "holy" you look on the outside if inside, your true nature is self-indulgent, greedy, full of envy and hate. Especially now, with Yom Kippur just days away, repent of your sins. Return to God. If you clean out what's inside you, the outside will take care of itself. Sixth woe:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. -Matthew 23:27-28

Translation: Yeshua is saying the same thing as he did in the previous "woe". Remember, you can fool people with your outer appearance, but "God, who knows the heart (Acts 15:8) sees the unrepented sin that dwells within you. Seventh woe:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! -Matthew 23:29-32

Translation: Just because you build churches, synagogues, and memorials to saints and prophets doesn't mean that your motives are pure and that, given a chance, you wouldn't have rejected those holy people in order to further your own ambitions.

I remember being part of a Bible study in a church I used to attend many years ago. We were studying the 40 years of wandering in the desert by the Children of Israel and the struggle of the Jewish people to obey God and to follow His ways. One older gentleman in the class remarked that if we (Christians) were there instead of the Jews, we would have been obedient. The words in the "seventh woe" immediately came to mind and it's sad because I know that he truly believed what he was saying. He just didn't realize what it was like to be in that place and that time. Another way of putting it is to say:

Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter -Anonymous

Yet what Yeshua says in condemnation and anger is also said with pain, anguish, and longing. What he says of Jerusalem, I believe, he also says of us:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" -Matthew 23:37-39

Conclusion: This lesson addresses the theme of how servanthood and leadership can be corrupted and used to serve our own ends at the expense of those people who depend on us to be salt and light. What did Yeshua tell his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples to obey when we discover we are producing "bad fruit"?

1. If you're not willing to give up your arrogance and hypocrisy in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, don't prevent those who want to obey God from entering, too.
2. Don't "convert" someone to your way and don't teach unless you are teaching what God says and not just what you want to say.
3. Don't make your practices and your religious clothes and your prayers and "sacrifices" more important than obeying the Torah of doing justice, mercy, and charity. Obey all of God's teachings.
4. Just say something and then do it. Don't make a big deal out of "swearing" to do it.
5. It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside to impress others if your insides are full of sin. Clean out your sin and don't worry about appearances.
6. Don't believe you are better or more holy than others, especially when all the while, you just want to serve yourself rather than God. Stop fooling yourself.
7. Despite all your sins and faults, God loves you and wants to gather you in to Himself. However, you won't see Him until you are ready to accept Him; you won't see Messiah until you accept what Messiah teaches.

Important: When Yeshua said, "You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former" (Matthew 23:23), he is arguing against choosing the Law over Grace and arguing against choosing Grace over the Law. He is saying there's nothing wrong with the practice of what Christians call "ritual" (wearing tzitzit, keeping Kosher, ceasing work on the Shabbat, and so forth) and in fact, he's saying that the "ritual" practice should be kept and we should also do the "grace" part of Torah (visiting the sick, giving to the poor, giving honor to the aged, and so on) as well. In other words (pay attention!) the teaching of the Law and the teaching of Grace are not mutually exclusive; they are part of the whole Torah!

In a nutshell, for today's lesson, we learn that as disciples and people responsible in the Kingdom, we must serve God and not ourselves. It doesn't matter how holy we look on the outside if we're unrepentant on the inside. We can't teach and lead if we're not willing to be taught and to follow Yeshua. We are condemned if we exalt ourselves and consider the superficial practices of religion more important than the true meaning of the Torah. If we want to obey Him, we must obey everything He teaches. God wants to gather us, but we will be alone until we wholeheartedly welcome Yeshua and bless his name.

Note: My next blog post will be the final lesson on Leadership and Servanthood, but there are other lessons to learn from the Master as well. There is much that Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach we Gentile disciples to obey.

What Did Jesus Teach About Humility and Mercy?

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

Leadership and Servanthood

This is the fourth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. It's also the third of a series of Yeshua's teachings in the Book of Matthew on Leadership and Servanthood. To summarize Part III What Did Jesus Teach About Being Servants:

In a nutshell, we learn that Yeshua teaches his disciples, all of us, to obey him by doing acts of kindness and righteousness for his sake and for the sake of others, but not to glorify ourselves. A student is never greater than his master and it is enough for us to be his students and to imitate him. When we are faithful and serve even the least or the weakest of Yeshua's servants for his sake, we are serving him.

That is what we can say about what Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentiles disciples about being servants. Remember though, he also told the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you". In order to understand what everything means, we need to press on. Even after several blog posts, there's still much to cover.

It seems like in Matthew 18, Yeshua had a great deal to say on topics such as humility, the value of the individual, consideration for people who sin, and rendering mercy. While you may not think these areas have much in common, I believe that they are qualities possessed by anyone who is a servant in the Kingdom and who leads by example. Let's have a look:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. -Matthew 18:1-6

Humility and greatness become two sides of the same coin in this parable of the Master. Exodus 12:3 describes the man who lead a nation of 3 million people through the wilderness for 40 years and who spoke face to face with God as, Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. From his example alone, we can see that humility and leadership have a great deal to do with one another. That's quite a switch from our perception of the world's leaders today, who seem anything but humble and where humility is seen as weakness.

Yeshua is very protective of his humble "little ones" and for the person who causes one of them to sin "it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea". That's how important they are to him.

To be considered great in the Kingdom, we must do what is against human nature...not to exalt ourselves but rather, to be humble...even if we lead a congregation, or a city, or a nation. That's quite a challenge, especially since most of us like to be called by titles and to be treated with deferentially.

"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. -Matthew 18:7-9

Relax, this isn't an invitation to commit self-mutilation. Remember parables are metaphorical stories. The way I read these few sentences, is that we are to take stock of what exists in our lives that results in our sinning and then to remove those qualities or situations from us. This is an excellent message as we are right in-between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. There is no better time to take a good hard look at who we are and to make some serious changes than right now. Imagine what an example we could set for those around us if we could lead in this type of behavior, humbling ourselves before God and before our fellow human beings.

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. -Matthew 18:10-14

Certainly this says that there is no one who is insignificant in the Kingdom of Heaven, not even the smallest child and not even the weakest lamb, but it says something else as well. I mentioned on my congregation's blog in a post called Healing that according to Orthodox Rabbi Shumuley Boteach, when Moses left the flock he was tending to follow one lost sheep, immediately before encountering the burning bush (Exodus 3), he wasn't just going after the one lost lamb for the sake of the lamb, but also for the sake of the flock. Rabbi Boteach states:

Ostensibly, the story seems to indicate that Moses’ care for each individual found favor in God’s eyes. But this is a misunderstanding. Only a fool would have risked an entire flock for the sake of a single sheep. Rather, Moses did not return for just any sheep, but for the smallest and weakest. It was not because he believed that the straggler, if properly fed and cared for, could grow to be the pride of the flock, big and strong like its counterparts, that he collected it. Even this small sheep was an indispensable member of the flock. Moses recognized that without this straggler the entire flock was flawed and deficient.

Each person has an inestimable value to God because each of us has been created in His image but more than that, we also have an inestimable value in the Kingdom of Heaven, in our congregations, in our communities, and in the world because God created only one of each of us to perform a special job for Him. Without even one of us, our congregations, our families, and even the Kingdom, would be incomplete and lacking. We are not just wanted, we're needed, each and every one of us.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -Matthew 18:15-20

How we treat even the smallest child is important to Yeshua, and so is how we treat someone who has sinned against us. You'd think that if we ever had an excuse to "lower the boom" on someone, it would be someone who "did us wrong". Yet, the Messiah is very specific about how we are to spare the feelings of even someone who sinned against us, first by going to him privately and giving him a chance to repent before the matter becomes generally known. If the matter can be settled at this point, it's done and no one need know of this person's error.

Even if the person refuses to repent, take just a few other witnesses with you during the next confrontation. There's still a chance he'll see the mistake he's made and repent. Finally, even if you have to bring it before the entire congregation, there's still a chance the person will humble himself and return to the fold. Only after this, if the person continues to refuse, is he asked to leave and perhaps, even after this, if he would be willing to repent, there would be healing and reconciliation.

Matthew 18:21-35 is a parable that illustrates this final lesson. Peter asks Yeshua if there's a limit to how many times a person should be forgiven before we can write them off (Up to seven times?), but Yeshua says there is no limit, or at least not one that can be counted, since seventy-seven times is less likely a literal number and more a bit of Rabbinic shorthand to mean "as many times as it takes". Imagine if God only forgave us 77 times or even 77 times 7 (a mere 539 times). Would any of us survive?

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant shows us this principle in action. If the servant shown mercy by his master had shown the same mercy to those who owed him a debt, he would have learned the lesson the Master was teaching and survived. Lack of mercy results in being turned over to jailers to be tortured. Not a desirable outcome.

Conclusion: This lesson seems very much like my previous blog post but perhaps that's not an accident. Maybe the lessons of leadership and servanthood are inexorably intertwined with humility, mercy, and valuing others. What did Yeshua tell his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples to obey regarding humility and mercy as servants and leaders?

1. The greatest leader is the most humble servant.
2. Absolutely no one is insignificant or unworthy of your time or attention.
3. Even the very least person among you has an inestimably valuable role in the congregation, the family, the community, and the world.
4. Even if a person sins against you, give them every opportunity to realize their error, to repent, and to reconcile themselves to you.
5. Show the same sort of mercy to others as God has shown to you. The consequences for not doing so are too horrible to contemplate.

The last point reminds me of when Yeshua taught his Jewish disciples how to pray (and thus, this is something we Gentile disciples are to learn as well):

He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
(emphasis added)
And lead us not into temptation.' "
-Luke 11:2-4

How we are forgiven seems dependent on how we forgive others. Perhaps this entire lesson can be encapsulated in the following few verses:

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." -Matthew 20:26-28

In a nutshell, for today's lesson, we learn that Yeshua taught his Jewish disciples and we Gentile disciples that in all our dealings with people, regardless of our relative position in our congregations, communities, and in life, we are to act humbly, to value everyone, to realize we are all important and unique to God, to be forgiving, and to grant as much mercy to others as God has granted to us.

What Did Jesus Teach About Being Salt and Light?

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

Update: February 13, 2011: As part of my Discipleship and the Torah class, I've made an audio recording of a class discussion on this lesson. Enjoy.

Leadership and Servanthood

This is the second part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey.  It's also the first of a series of Yeshua's teachings in the Book of Matthew on Leadership and Servanthood. To summarize Part I: What Did Jesus Teach About Gentiles:

In a nutshell, we learn that Yeshua taught that Gentiles have a place in the kingdom of heaven through faith and their place will be at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What teachings are the Gentiles supposed to obey? The teachings of faith in Yeshua and perseverance in approaching the Throne.

That is what we can say about what Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples about Gentiles in the Kingdom. Remember though, he also told the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you". In order to understand what everything means, we need to press on. After all, we've just scratched the surface.

I'm not sure what to call this collection of teachings. I loosely refer to these lessons as "leadership and servanthood" since the two concepts are intertwined, but it's really about how to be a good example, especially when you are given a responsibility in the Kingdom and, by definition, if we're in the Kingdom, we have a job to do for God.

Yeshua taught a lot on this topic. All of Matthew chapters 23 and 25 are dedicated to the theme of being a responsible steward of what we are given. Even containing his teachings in Matthew to "leadership and servanthood", I could write an enormously long blog post. Today, I'll stick with the simple topic of being "salt and light". The rest of the leader/servant teachings will follow.

Let's see what we can find out about how this teaching applies to Gentile believers and indeed, to all believers everywhere. Also recall, that the Gospel of Matthew is our specific guide book in this series. Here we go:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

"You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven". -Matthew 5:13-16

Salt and light are metaphors that say the same thing. Once you have the message of God and of the Messiah, you can't just keep it to yourself, you have to spread it around. If you fail to be "salt" (spread the message; be a living example), you aren't good for much. If you put your light under a bowl, you condemn those around you to walk in darkness.

In other words, once you accept discipleship under the Messiah, as a student, a servant, and an example, you have a responsibility to express what you know and what you have learned, if through no other means, than by living your life in the Messiah's footsteps, walking where he walks and doing what he does. This very much mirrors a couple of other passages that were specifically directed to Israel (emphasis added):

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? -Deuteronomy 4:5-8

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

-Isaiah 60:1-3

God always intended for Israel to be a "light" and an example to the world of how to live a godly lifestyle and an existence as servants of the Great King, obeying his righteous decrees and laws. The nations (Gentiles) as supposed to be drawn to Israel to learn the ways of God. Today's Messianic Jewish movement shouldn't be surprised that a ton of Gentiles have come flocking through their doors to learn about the God of Jacob.

In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

-Isaiah 2:2-3

Many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

-Micah 4:2

And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him." This is what the LORD Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' "
-Zechariah 22-23

It's by design. No wonder Yeshua came "for the lost sheep of Israel". He had to "turn on the light" among the Jews, so to speak, so that the Gentiles would see it and come. No wonder Paul went "first to the Jew". As an emissary to the Gentiles, he first had to "turn on the light" among the Jews, so the Gentiles would see it and come. This is prophesy, gang. I'm not making this up.

If strict Messianic Judaism then pushes the Gentiles back out the door rather than discipling them as commanded by the Messiah, how is that teaching us to be light and salt? How is that shining their own light and maintaining their own saltiness? How is that teaching the Gentile disciples to obey everything the Messiah taught?

Conclusion: What did Yeshua tell his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples about being light and salt; that is, about sharing "the message of the Good News"? We are only referencing one passage in Matthew, so the list isn't long...but it's important:

1. You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. If you've accepted discipleship as a Gentile (or a Jew) under the Messiah, these are your roles by design.
2. If you've been made salt, don't stop being salty because you lose your worth to the world. In other words, do your job by spreading the salt around. Don't waste it or you'll be wasted.
3. Don't put you're light under a bowl to hide it. If you were designed to shine, go to the highest hill you can find so you can shine your light as far as possible. People will see the light and praise God.
4. By inference, Messianic Jews as the original salt and light, need to share that salt and light with the Gentiles, discipling them (us) and teaching them (us) to do the same. Tag. Your it. Pass it along.

In order to understand the Matthew 5:13-16 teaching, I had to reference several passages from the Tanakh, so again, part of the valid Torah study for Gentile disciples isn't limited to the New Testament and specifically not just to Acts 15 and 21. The synagogue in Berea was comprised of Jews and Gentiles who studied Torah together and probably for the same reasons I just pointed out.

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. -Acts 17:10-12

One of the things we can infer about what Gentile disciples are suppose to learn from Yeshua and what we're supposed to obey is a directive to examine the Scriptures ... probably all of them. How else are we supposed to understand what else we are being taught to obey? Yeshua's teachings don't exist in a vacuum. They exist within the context of the entire Word of God. To understand what Yeshua is teaching us to obey, we have to understand what the Torah says. The Torah is the necessary lens by which we must look at the teachings of the Master in order to gain a correct understanding of our duties to him.

Putting it another way, Matthew 25 is a collection of Yeshua's parables about the topic of using our gifts wisely, specifically the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). This is obviously something we are meant to take to heart. If someone gives you a gift and tells you that you must use it, then use it. If you don't know how to use the gift, read the instruction manual. Then you'll know and then you can do. A requirement of obeying Yeshua for Gentiles then, is reading and studying the Torah...the Bible...all of the Word. There's no way around it.

In a nutshell, for today's lesson, we learn that Yeshua taught that once we, as Gentile disciples, accept him as our Master and begin learning his lessons through being taught by Yeshua's disciples and by Torah study, we are supposed to pass the word along through the example of our lives and through our good deeds (Matthew 5:16) so that those seeing our light will praise God in Heaven. Learn from disciples. Learn from the Bible. Do good deeds. Be salt. Shine your light. Don't hide under a bowl.