"Yahshua
the Rabbi" Page 2.
Yahshua may have looked and acted like the Rabbi's of His day, or at the very least He was known as an expounder of and
teacher of the Law, as eminent men confronted Him with issues stemming from it as in Matt. 8:18-19
“A Torah-teacher approached and said to Him, “Rabbi, I will follow You wherever
You go.” This was a teacher of the Law, a man esteemed indeed, who acknowledged the
authority of Yahshua as a Rabbi.
His teachings
He was a recognised Rabbi, which meant that He was a teacher and explainer of Moses’ teachings,
and the law.
He expounded the Law, gave it its full meaning, taught people to keep the Law in faith not purely by works,
and human strength.
He taught the attitudes behind the Law.
Read Matthew chapter 5 for yourself with these thoughts in mind and see that Yahshua never
discredited or did away with any of the Laws, but rather gave them their full meaning,
describing the attitudes behind them, the reasons for them etc.
Matt. 5:17-47 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete..." To fulfil = give meaning to.
"... Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a
yod or a stroke (smallest part of letters) will pass from the Torah – not until
everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these
mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least…”
“…Do not murder...I tell you that anyone who nurses anger...will be subject to
judgment…”
There is even antisemitism in some churches today, and over the years all
that is Hebraic has been stripped from the Gospel and replaced by different ideas and customs,
many of which have stemmed directly from
paganism. If you are interested, read 'The Two Babylons' by Hislop. It will certainly open
your eyes to a thing or two.
Yahshua was addressed as "Rabbi." He probably wore the traditional tallit and tzit tzit
according to the Law of Moses.
The Hebrew word for this border fringe according to Vine’s expository dictionary
is 'Kraspedon,' which the Hebrews had to attach to their mantle to remind them of the
Law, according to Numbers 15:38-39.
“Speak to the people of Isra’el, instructing them to make, through all their
generations, tzitziyot on the corners of their garments, and to put with the tzit-tzit
on each corner a blue thread. It is to be a tzizt-tzit for you to look at and thereby
remember all of Adonai’s mitzvot and obey them…”
Also, Deut. 22:12 “You are to make for yourself twisted cords on the four corners
of the garment you wrap around yourself”
Matt. 14:36 “ …and as many as touched were made perfectly whole. ( Heb. "…might
only touch the tzit-tzit on His robe, and all who touched it were completely whole.")
Mark 6:56 “…begged Him to let them touch even the tzit-tzit on His robe, and all
who touched it were healed.” In the Authorised Version, this is translated 'Hem.'
Matt. 9:20 “A woman who had had….from behind and touched the tzit-tzit on His robe.”
He may even have had Tephillim and wore a Phalactery too! (I have as yet to find the
relevant scriptures.)
Did Yahshua wear these? Perhaps.
The religious leaders of the day would have been the first to disannul His
Rabbinic role & would never have addressed him as such if they could have found fault with His manner,
appearance,
adherence to the Law etc.
Matt. 9:11 “ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His talmidim (disciples)
“why does your Rabbi eat with tax-collectors…?” They never disputed His
being a Rabbi.
Yahshua was blameless in the law and sacrifices, food laws, codes of dress etc.
He upheld the Law and only contradicted rules which brought the law into non
effect or disrepute.
He would never have been allowed to speak and teach the Law in the Synagogue unless
He had been a recognised Rabbi.
He must have devoted His young life in studying Torah and doubtless learned at the
feet of the Rabbi’s as He did on that special visit when
He was found in the temple at 12 years old listening to and debating with them
in Jerusalem;
Luke 2:46 “…they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors (rabbi's)
not only hearing them but questioning what they said…”
Yahshua lived a law-observant life like any true Jew.
He kept the Feasts;
Jn 2: 13, “…It was almost time for the festival of Pesach (Passover) in Judah,
so Yahshua went up to Yahrushalaim (Jerusalem)…In the Temple grounds He…" and 2
Jn 2:23 “Now while Yahshua was in Jerusalem at the Pesach (Feast of Passover)
…”
John 7: 2-3, 10, 14 “But the Festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles) in Judah was near,
so His brothers said to Him…”
“…after His brothers went up to the festival, He too went up…”
“…Not until the festival was half over did Yahshua go up to the Temple courts and
began to teach…”
A Rabbi = "Someone ordained to judge and teach Torah (grazing) and to determine Jewish
law." Yahshua taught continually from the Law, but He did not simply reiterate what it said, He brought a
'fullness,' He explained what it meant. This is what He meant by "I came to fulfill
the Law. For example:
Matthew 7:12 “Always treat others
as you would like them to treat you; that sums
up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets.” and in Matthew 5:17-19 “When you fast, wash your
face and groom yourself… Do not store up for yourselves treasures…”
A teacher of the Law – See Matthew chapter 5. Yahshua taught the Law and explained the
prophets all the time in His teachings. He referred to Law continually. He did, however, reprimand teachers of the Law
who embellished Moses' teachings, and replaced them with ideas of their own:
Mat 15:1-6 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy
disciples transgress
the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them,
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father
and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his
father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother,
he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Yahshua's explanation in Matthew 5
“…do not commit adultery...and I tell you that a man who even looks at a woman with
the purpose of lusting after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart
...”
“...whoever divorces his wife must give her a get…but I tell you …except on the ground
of fornication...”
“ ...Do not break your oath…but I tell you not to swear at all...”
“...eye for eye and tooth for tooth but I tell you not to stand up against someone...”
“…love your neighbour and hate your enemy…I tell you, love your enemies!”
Conclusion
Sometimes we get an incorrect picture of this precious and special Man, and perhaps when He
returns, He may be quite different to what we expect Him to be. He may want to dance and sing
in the streets!
I would like to suggest that in books written about Yahshua
and in many sermons preached, this typical Jewish man has been hellenised, and in many
Hollywood films He is portrayed as an
Anglo-Saxon gentile man.
He was a fiery and bold preacher, not afraid of taking matters into His
own hands, he drove the money-lenders
from the temple precincts, and no-one even dared to challenge Him. He was not weak or 'wishy-washy'
as He is often portrayed, neither was He sentimental. He spoke the truth in love.
Are we expecting a 'gentle Jesus meek and mild,' dressed in a pretty white garment,
carrying a New Testament under His arm?
Let us see who He really is, and ask the holy Spirit to indeed lead us into the
truth about Him, that we may truly know Him, and not a figment of our imagination.
It is easy to imagine an 'anything goes' kind of Saviour, someone who will be
kindly disposed towards people breaking His law. Someone who says "there, there, it doesn't matter if
you ignore My Father's Laws, it doesn't matter if you sin, I understand...."
He is the Word, and
when He returns He will be on a white charger, with a double edged sword bringing
judgement on His enemies. Is this the kind of 'Jesus' we are expecting, or are we in
for a great surprise?
We need to really know Him, and be one with Him and with His Jewish brothers all over the
world, for there are many Jewish people coming to know their Messiah in our day.
I am going to conclude my discourse by mentioning that awful term, 'antisemitism,'
the spirit which murdered six million Jews in the holocaust.
Many countries has been antisemitic and still are. We speak of the Holocaust, but there has always been
an element of society who have hated the Jews. Even seemingly 'pro-Israel' nations have at one time or
another turned their backs on this nation beloved of Yahweh/God. I recall the story of how the Exodus ship -
which
was crammed with
hundreds of Jewish people who had been liberated from the camps - was turned
away from Israel by the British at the end of the war, there have been expulsions of Jews from cities and
countries all over the world and sad to say, there are
many, even in our churches today with bad attitudes towards them.
Some of our stores boycott Jewish
products. They are still stigmatised in schools and universities and on the high street.
Why is this? Why can't we love them? Why can't we see how Yahweh has saved them again and again? See
how He has and continues in the face of impossibility re-introduced them to their land of Israel. How He has
blessed them with amazing abilities, how He has used them to preserve the Scriptures. Some of us
even have the audacity to think that the church has replaced Israel. Read your Bible, read how He is in the
process of restoring them, read how He has used them, kept them, blessed them again and again. Read how
His ultimate plan for them is absolute restoration in the last days. Read our article
about their place in Yahweh's heart.
Antisemitism in some form or fashion will sadly continue until the final show-down when
God will deal with this hatred once and
for all in
the last great battle.
Some churches have embraced 'Romanism' in many ways. They have distanced
themselves from their Hebraic roots, de-judaising the gospel. This began many centuries ago, and was planned
carefully and systematically to divide the Church from its Hebraic Roots. We shall deal with this subject at
length in the near future, for we feel it is vitally important for Christians today to understand that some
aspects of Christian tradition and dogma, have replaced the original precepts observed and taught by the
early Church.
Worryingly, some have distanced us from original Apostolic teachings, and are unbiblical and bordering on
worldliness and even antisemitism.
Wake up church! The shofa is sounding, prepare yourselves. Know the trueGospal, and the Messiah
of Israel and Saviour of the world.
In our day, the holy Spirit is bringing believing people back to the correct
concepts of where the Gospel came from, its foundations in Judaism, the
carrying on and renewing of Covenants, and the Jewish Messiah, Yahshua.
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