Posts

Showing posts with the label Torah

One in Christ Jesus

Image
In Galatians , the Apostle Paul compares the Mosaic Law to a “ pedagogue ” in its supervision of Israel “ until the seed came .” That “ Seed ” was Jesus. In Greco-Roman society, the “pedagogue” was usually a slave with custodial and disciplinary authority over an underage child until he reached maturity. The minority status of the child and the authority of the custodian over him were both temporary.

The Children of God

Image
The final paragraph of Chapter 3 in his Letter to the Galatians is pivotal to Paul’s larger argument. It stresses the oneness of God’s people. In the covenant community, the old social divisions that existed under the Mosaic legislation are inappropriate since the promised “ Seed of Abraham ” has arrived, namely, Jesus of Nazareth. In the covenant community, “ there can be neither Jew nor Greek .”

Conflict in Galatians

Image
Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is his response to a controversy in the churches of that region. The issue was the status of Gentile believers. Must they conform to Jewish practices and submit to the regulation of the Mosaic Law, especially circumcision? At the heart of his response was his contention that “ in Christ ” the old distinctions between “ Jew ” and “ Gentile ” no longer apply, the covenant promises have found their fulfillment in Jesus, the “ seed of Abraham .”

Even An Angel

Image
After a curt introduction, Paul began his  Letter to the Galatians  with a stern warning and a sharp rebuke. What some members of the congregation were contemplating would replace Jesus with a false messiah and a counterfeit gospel. Abandoning the “ faith of Jesus Christ ” by engaging in circumcision and other “ works of the law ” for justification before God would lead inevitably to being severed from Christ. Thus, the seriousness of his language.

Having Started in the Spirit

Image
In Galatians , Paul addresses a growing danger. Certain “ men from Jerusalem ” claimed that Gentiles must keep the deeds of the Mosaic Law to “ complete ” their faith, or at least, some of its statutes and rites. They were “ compelling Gentiles to Judaize ” by adopting circumcision, calendrical observances, and perhaps the Levitical dietary restrictions.

The Works of the Law

Image
Sin is the Great Leveler that places everyone in the same predicament: Bondage now, death and “ wrath ” later. No one is exempt from the penalty of sin, and no one has a legitimate excuse for trespassing the commandment of God who will “ render to each according to his works .” But what, precisely, did the Apostle Paul mean when he brought “ works ” into the discussion? Good deeds and human efforts in general, or something more specific?

The Greater Lawgiver

Image
In the  Gospel of Matthew , the life, words, and deeds of Jesus echo key events in the history of Israel; not that he reenacts them, but rather he brings the things that God began in the past to their intended fulfillments. He is the Greater Lawgiver foreshadowed in the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. By presenting parallels between Moses and Jesus, Matthew sets the stage for the teachings of the “ Coming One ,” especially as represented by his ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’.

The Law and Prophets

Image
Fulfillment is a prominent theme in the Gospel of Matthew . With the arrival of Israel’s Messiah, the time of fulfillment commenced. But with his advent, what were the implications for the Law? In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provided clear answers. He did not come to adjudicate the interpretive disputes between competing Jewish sects over the details of the Law, or to validate which oral traditions were correct, but instead, to fulfill the “ Law and the Prophets .”

Jesus and Tradition

In  Mark , the city of Jerusalem is the headquarters of the opposition to Jesus, especially the priestly authorities of the Temple. As his popularity grows, he experiences growing conflict with the religious authorities, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the representatives of the high priest. And his enemies began to plot his destruction.

Two Woman Restored

Jesus healed two women to health and restored both to a state of ritual purity – Mark 5:21-43 .  Mark presents two stories about women in need of healing. Linking them is the theme of women in need of physical healing and restoration to a state of ritual purity. Both were “unclean” due to their physical condition; the first was because of a flow of blood, and the second, due to her recent death.

Authority over the Sabbath

Religious leaders from Jerusalem began to object to the looseness of Jesus to their Sabbath traditions, but he used the opportunity to show that the “ Son of Man ” is “ Lord ” even over that day. God did cease His creative activities on the seventh day, but its formal establishment as a regulated day on which no work was to be done did not occur until the  Torah  was given through Moses at Mount Sinai (“ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ”).