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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, June 1, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:Jesus and the Talmud Bible Verse:John 5:9-15 (ESV) "And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. " Message:
Mosaic Law (that is, the set of laws governing Jewish conduct that began with Moses) gives a wide range of laws that interpret the Ten Commandments. The fourth (or in many churches, third) commandment, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy,” is amplified into a long list of specific things that may or may not be done between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath), with specific exceptions for specific circumstances. (This oral tradition was later codified as the Talmud in Rabbinic Judaism, and is the basis of Orthodox Judaism today. It runs over 6,000 pages.)
To be crystal clear: The Jewish Bible (the Tanakh) is the same as our Old Testament. It fully applies to us, with a very large proviso: It was fulfilled by Christ, so much of it is now irrelevant, and other aspects of it must be read as interpreted by the New Testament. (In many ways, the Christian Law of Moses is much stricter than the Old Testament—e.g., see Matthew 5.) Jesus was an observant Jew; in fact, He was the only “perfect” Jew. He, and no other person, was able to follow the Law of Moses.
A page of Exodus, from an illuminated Tanakh.
Beginning of Exodus,
from an illuminated
Tanakh.
The Jewish Talmud, on the other hand, is the codified extension of the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Tanakh (Bible). It is largely erroneous. Where the Jews tell Jesus that He has broken the “law,” sometimes He has actually broken the law as interpreted in the Talmud . . . but not the actual law as stated in the Old Testament. In other cases Christ modifies (or perhaps “clarifies”) the Law by necessity or mercy.
Christ’s interpretation of the Laws of Moses supersedes that of the Pharisees, and he will frequently run afoul of Jewish religious leaders on that account. Remember, though, that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) Christians can actually follow Mosaic Law to a great extent, if they want, as long as they do not seek salvation from it. A good Christian can practically live as an Orthodox Jew (from the person’s perspective—the Jews would not appreciate him spouting off about Christ). But not quite. For example, the law that forbids eating a meal with a non-believer would run afoul of a Christian teaching.
It is still God’s will that we respect the general meaning of the Ten Commandments, for example, but Christianity often reinterprets the letter of them. The most common case involves respecting the Sabbath. Very few Christians observe the Sabbath or even know when it occursThe Sabbath runs from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday.. On the other hand, the meaning of the commandment is reinterpreted and followed by devotion on Sunday, and (in more restrictive denominations) refusing to work. The Puritans followed an especially strict set of rules for Sunday conduct.
Most of us would be better off to pay more attention to keeping the Sabbath or Sundays holy— but we will save that topic for another day. The lesson today is the first glimpse we get, in John, of just how much authority Christ has asserted; he asserts a claim superior to the Pharisees in interpreting the Law of Moses. In fact, as we will see shortly, he asserts the authority of God himself.
Meditation : Prayer : God of love, Father of all, the darkness that covered the earth has given way to the bright dawn of your Word made flesh. Make me and all who confess your holy name people of this light. Make me faithful to your Word that I may bring your life to the waiting world. Grant this through Christ our Lord.....Amen |
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