Dr. Amy-Jill Levine writes the following in her book The Misunderstood Jew: "Today Jesus's words are too familiar, too domesticated, too stripped of their initial edginess and urgency. Only when heard through first-century Jewish ears can their original edginess and urgency be recovered. Consequently, to understand the man from Nazareth, it is necessary to understand Judaism. More, it is necessary to see Jesus as firmly within Judaism rather than as standing apart from it, and it is essential that the picture of Judaism not be distorted through the filter of centuries of Christian sterotypes...." I believe that Dr. Levine is one hundred percent correct. You cannot understand Yeshua apart from His being a Jew. He spoke in Hebrew idioms. His audience was primarily Jews; His ministry was in the Middle East; and He thought in Hebrew. To separate Yeshua from Judaism is to misunderstand who He is and what His message was.
Tomorrow is Sun-Day. A day that was named for the worship of sun deities. The Catholic Encyclopedia states the following concerning Sunday: "Sunday (Day of the Sun), as the name of the first day of the week, is derived from Egyptian astrology. The seven planets, known to us as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, each had an hour of the day assigned to them, and the planet which was regent during the first hour of any day of the week gave its name to that day." No righteous Jew would set Sun-Day as his day of public worship. Yeshua would not dismiss the Sabbath because He was a righteous Jew. He would not worship on a different day than the one established by YHVH. Yet, how many followers of Jesus (and yes, I'm using Jesus on purpose as a separate person from Yeshua)will meet tomorrow? Most, if not all, would be my guess.
To meet tomorrow for public worship is to misunderstand Yeshua. To meet tomorrow is to separate yourself from Judaism,and when you separate yourself from Judaism you are separating yourself from Yeshua. The early followers of the Way continued to remember and keep the Sabbath. The early followers saw no reason to create a new religion. They were still Jews, but they followed Yeshua as their rabbi. It was His teachings that they followed. If you are meeting tomorrow as your day of public worship, whose teaching are you following? If you think it is Yeshua's teachings, you have misunderstood Him.
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3 comments:
Barry,
I was reading this post and thought I'd comment on it. I hope you don't mind and offer a response. It is unarguable that the Hebrews observed the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week. It was on this day they were to "rest", worship,and offer up sacrifices to the LORD. If sacrificing is a key part of the Sabbath then wouldn't it be safe to say that we are not keeping the Sabbath the same way the Jews did back in the Old testament? Hebrews 10:1 states that the old system under the Law of Moses was only a shadow of the good things to come. The law was put into place to to reveal sin and not forgive sins. Colossians 2:16 states- " Do not let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths 17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come and CHRIST HIMSELF IS THAT REALITY. Is Christ not our Sabbath, or our rest? Many times we are told to rest or be still in Christ throughout the bible. Are we not enslaving ourselves back into the Old Testament law and it's "religious" practices?
Romans 14:5-6 states- "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it..."
Is Paul, a Jew, in this statement confused about on what day person should observe the "Sabbath" or does he understand that Christ is our rest?
Galatians 4:9-10-"But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain."
Paul is writing to the Galatians and asking them why they are now observing Jewish law that lead them into the bondage that he claims to be free from.
Consider these reasons as real possibilities that the Church gathers on Sunday instead of Saturday. That was the Day that Christ rose from the dead.
Sunday marked the beginning of the New Covenant.
The First day of the week represents new beginnings (we are made new in Christ).
It follows the day set aside to commemorate the Older Covenant, just the New Covenant follows the Old.
The Holy Spirit was conferred on the First Church on a Sunday, thus sealing God's recognition of this day as the Day to celebrate the New Covenant and remember the principles of the Sabbath.
Acts 20:7 - states that believers of the new covenant gathered on the first day of the week to share in the Lord's suppers and Paul preached to them.
1 Cor 16:2 states that the Church should put aside money on the first day of the week.
Again, I am not in anyway intending to discredit anything you've said only to engage in biblical discussion.
God Bless you
I would also like to add that it would be illogical for Yeshua/Jesus to not practice Judaism. During Christ's ministry the Jews were still living under the rule of the Law. Christ being Jewish would observe the Law because the old covenant had yet to be replaced. It wasn't until Christ was crucified and had risen from the dead that the Old covenant was done away with and the New Covenant took it's place. Just my thoughts.
Does "eternal" mean forever? Many of the commands were "eternal." Do "eternal" things pass away? Who is the "New Covenant" with? The answer is found in Jeremiah 31:33. It is with the house of Israel. What is the difference between the Old and the New? It is not the Torah; it is where the Torah is written, i.e. from tablets of stone to the heart. Since the Temple was destroyed in 70AD, there can be no animal sacrifices. Would it surprise you to know that the early believers continued with animal sacrifices until 70AD? More to think about?
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