So far, as nearly as I can tell, Jesus and James wanted the Gentile disciples to learn the Torah but not be obligated to it. But then why does Jesus in stating “the great commission” tell the Jewish disciples to “keep all that I have commanded you?” Something is missing. What were the Gentiles supposed to learn from the Torah by hearing it (and no doubt observing their Jewish mentors performing the mitzvot), and then what were they supposed to keep that Jesus taught?
I first want to mention that in Galatians, Paul is indeed saying that keeping the Law does not justify anyone before God, neither Jew nor Gentile. It is Christ who is our sole justification before the Father. A Jew observing the mitzvot isn’t justified simply by observing the mitzvot. Nevertheless, Paul certainly expected Jews to be obligated to the Law, otherwise, he wouldn’t have said that righteous Gentile converts were also obligated. No, the application of the Sinai covenant was not done away with by Jesus or by Paul. However, we see that it wasn’t applied to the Gentiles, at least not in the way we see it applied to the Jews.
That’s where we left off in Part 1 of this article. If you haven’t read it yet, please do so before proceeding here.
Rabbi Resnik quotes the Rambam in what I believe to be part of the answer we should seek as Christians:
What is the way that we should love God? We should love Him with an overwhelming and unlimited love, until our soul becomes permanently bound in the love of God, like one who is love-sick and cannot take his mind off the woman he loves, but always thinks of her – when lying down or rising up, when eating or drinking. Even greater than this should be the love of God in the hearts of those who love Him, thinking about Him constantly, as He commanded us, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all they soul.”
-Yitzchak Buxbaum
“Jewish Spiritual Practices”
(New York: Bell Tower, 2009), 8.
Resnik goes on to say:
But such devotion, laudable as it is, can become mere pietism without love for one’s neighbor, in which case it would not really be love of God at all. So, fulfillment of the first ve’ahavta depends on the second. The command to love your neighbor requires the practice of private spirituality, which is of course essential, and walks it out on the pavement of daily life. Ve’ahavta can never mean just good vibes and good intentions, but is defined throughout the Torah as active, creative, and concrete. Furthermore, the specific ordinances and judgments of Torah are to be interpreted through the dual lens of love for God and love for neighbor. The great commandment, then, is two-fold, an inter-twined mitzvah capable of supporting all the rest of the instructions of Torah.
-Rabbi Russ Resnik
“‘Shema:’ Living the Great Commandment,” pg 73
Messiah Journal, Issue 112
Published by First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ)
That still sounds like Rabbi Resnik could be saying that all disciples of Jesus must obey all of the mitzvot in an identical manner, but again, what are the two greatest commandments that encapsulate the whole Law and the Prophets and that act as the lens by which we are to view and understand God and the Bible?
Loving God and thus, loving our neighbor.
What were the ancient Christians supposed to learn when they heard the Torah read in the synagogues each Shabbat? Love. What did Jesus want his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples of the nations? Love.
I am giving you a new mitzvah: that you love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. With this all will know that you are my disciples: if love dwells among you.
-John 13:34-35 (DHE Gospels)
What did Jesus teach? Did he teach Torah? Yes, of course he did. Did he teach his Jewish disciples the proper way to live a Jewish lifestyle, how to tie tzitzit, the correct way to lay tefillin, which foods were kosher, and that sort of thing? We don’t see it in the Gospels. We do see him giving specific interpretations of the Torah of Moses but he doesn’t invent anything new (he did “refresh” interpretations of Torah and established some specific halachah for his disciples)…except one thing. Love one another. Loving one’s neighbor was already in the Torah, so why does Jesus say he’s giving a “new” commandment?
According to the wee commentary I find in my ESV Bible, “The command to love one’s neighbor was not new; the newness was found in loving one another as Jesus had loved his disciples (cf. John 13:1; 15:13). In light of Jesus’ subsequent death, just as implies a love that is even willing to lay down one’s life for another (see 15:13).
This is my mitzvah: that you love one another as I have loved you. There is no love greater than the love of one who gives his life on behalf of his companions.
-John 15:12-13 (DHE Gospels)
We can argue back and forth until the second coming of Messiah as to whether or not it occurred to Jesus, James, or Paul in their wildest dreams that a Gentile Christian in the 21st century should be obligated to wear tzitzit, lay tefillin, and call himself an “Israelite” or say he’s practicing “Judaism” or “Adonaism.” We won’t get anywhere. Even if you believe a Gentile Christian must obey the full body of Torah mitzvot, Jesus might still have a criticism against you.
How terrible for you, hypocritical scholars and Prushim (Pharisees)! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, but neglect the weighty things in the Torah: justice, kindness, and faith. You ought to do one without neglecting the other.
-Matthew 23:23 (DHE Gospels)
Again, it seems as if Jesus if fusing all parts of Torah obedience together, but then again, he’s talking to Jewish Pharisees, not Gentile Christians. However, if you are a Gentile who truly believes you must obey all of the mitzvot (assuming you actually can, and as I’ve learned recently, even some devout Jews cannot) and you pay special attention to the food you eat (did you kasher your kitchen?), how your tzitzit are tied, and the manner in which you lay tefillin (which tradition did you use for tying tzitzit and binding tefillin, since there are several?) but fail to feed the hungry, give clothes to the naked, and visit the sick and the prisoner (see Matthew 25:31-46), are you also “hypocritical scholars” and “blind guides?” I hope not.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
-1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (ESV)
If you love God and love your fellow by feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and comforting those who are grieving, you are indeed “keeping the Torah” as Jesus taught it. Yes, we Christians should study and learn Torah, but not to turn ourselves into “erzatz Jews.” We should study and learn to understand the type of love we should do that goes beyond all understanding. Without that foundation, the teachings of Jesus and his love are incomprehensible.
I believe this is what James wanted the Gentiles to learn in the synagogues, how to love one another as Jesus loves them…as Jesus loves us.
If you still believe somehow that commandment also obligates you to try to look and act “Jewish” as it is defined today, I certainly won’t be able to talk you out of it. But as for me, as a Christian husband married to a Jewish wife and a Father who has done his (imperfect) best to raise three Jewish children, I have determined such a path is not what God has called me to walk. Paul sternly discouraged the Gentiles from converting to Judaism and he only thought that one was obligated to the full number of the mitzvot if you were a born Jew or righteous convert from the nations. Christians are neither.
But there is a Torah that we are commanded to obey and the command is very clear. Do Love. Love one another. Rabbi Resnik says that such a love begins with those closest to you but also extends outward in the community and finally even to strangers. I learned at my own church that Christians are to have a special love for the Jewish people and are obligated to provide support for the poor and needy of Israel. My friend and FFOZ writer Jordan Levy says that Christians also have an obligation to provoke zealousness among the Jewish people. Really, it’s not as if we don’t have a lot to do in the service of God and in obedience to Christ.
You really do find the Torah taught in the synagogues and in the churches every week and often, several days a week. You find the Torah being learned and studied every time an observant Jew or devout Christian opens his or her Bible. And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll find that the first and best commandment is to live a life that applies love to those around you. The rest is commentary. Go learn love and then go do love. If that is your Torah and you are living it out, you are doing well and I sincerely commend you. If it isn’t, even if you obey many other mitzvot, you are missing the entire point of Torah and you are missing God in your life.
Oh, and about sheep from different pens (see John 10:14-18) just melting into a single, homogenous flock…it doesn’t happen that way: Shelters and Housing for Sheep and Goats (PDF). I have to thank my friend Gene Shlomovich for referring me to this very informative article which I first cited in another blogspot just over two years ago.
Very nice James! Just one question though.
You say at least twice on this post and again in pt. 1 that Paul clearly states only Jews and “righteous” Gentiles are obligated to keep all of Torah. Just wondering where you get that Paul, or Yeshua for that matter, considers Gentiles converting as “righteous”. I’ve never come across that, rather Paul , to my knowledge, says the opposite, that it is UN righteous for them to convert, that it misses the point that God is NOT only the God of the Jews, but of the Gentiles as well.
I’m employing some more “modern” Jewish language in referring to Gentiles who convert to Judaism as “righteous converts.” No, neither Yeshua or Paul ever (to the best of my knowledge) used such terminology. I just wanted to be more “relatable” to Jewish audiences.
My thoughts mirror yours very much, James.
I’ve been on the fence for quite a while now, considering whether or not to take on the yoke of the law or not, given a Gentile believer.
I suppose my general sentiment could be described as this; the law is holy, it is to be respected and not belittled, it is the way to life; it is not something to be tossed out and done away with (as many believers might hold true). However, I also have an absolute conviction that what Jesus taught, what He was all about, was the heart of a man, and where the heart is found. The mitzvah is His own, and He loves the law, but He also knows that the love of G-d and the love of our neighbor is the whole intention, the whole focal point of the said law. A life of rigid torah observance, fulfilled with a cold heart, will always be falling short.
Whenever I read Matthew 25:31-46, I am reminded of this ever important distinction.
And so, though I may be confused (forever, perhaps?), and though I certainly do not have all of the answers, I hope and pray that our Lord will understand the struggle I (we) all go through concerning this matter, and that, if at the end of my life, I have tried my best to “do all things in love” and remain humble in spirit, He will be merciful to me; a mere sinner who was captivated by the hope that His light gave to me, ever seeking and struggling, to follow His path.
I pray that He comes soon.
Peace to you, James.
I think if we keep Matthew 25:31-46 before us always, then we have a very good guide for living a life that is pleasing to God. If we do this and still want to do more, I can’t really see a problem here, as long as we don’t start stepping all over someone else’s identity.
Thanks for the peace. We could all use some about now.
Blessings, Nate.
“as long as we don’t start stepping all over someone else’s identity.”
Amen.
James, although I don’t think we see everything eye to eye so to speak, your point is well made and I mostly agree with what you say though not all. I accept your teaching to return to the “trunk of the tree” of the Torah which is love and obedience to G-d through Yeshua Messiah and the Holy Spirit by observing the practical everyday “hands on” giving to the poor, visiting the sick and loaning to whoever asks EXPECTING NOTHING BACK. It is a beginning. While we establish doing these things in our lives we can move on to picking up our execution stake and following Messiah into eternal life. (Whatever that means for the individual in his personal relationship to G-d in Yeshua, for me it means to be a witness)
As for the article about sheep and goats, was there something specific in it that you were referring to? With all due respect…as one who has raised sheep and goats, I can assure you they are very different from one another. Sheep do not act like goats. You can pen them together but as soon as they are outside in the field they go separate ways unless someone is keeping them together.
Put 2 flocks of sheep into a field and you will find them very quickly as one flock. It is not possible or practical for a Sheppard to have 2 separate flocks of sheep. IF THERE IS ONLY ONE SHEPPARD, I can guarantee he will not try to tend 2 flocks. The goal is one flock.
John 10:16
“I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
You’d have to read through the whole PDF but I quoted the relevant parts in my old blog (I provided a link). The general idea in both Christianity and Hebrew Roots is that you take the Jewish sheep and the Gentile sheep, dump them in the same flock and they become homogeneous. As the details seem to show, the reality of Yeshua’s metaphor tells another story, once that supports distinctiveness of sheep in the flock if they are penned separately (and the reasons for keeping them in separate pens.
The reason I included the information is that I’m sometimes covertly criticized on other blogs relative to my opinions, the this issue came up in association with one such critic. Thought I’d set the record straight.
I really liked that other blog post from 2 years ago. Reading the comments from then, it seems not much has changed, but that could be an ignorant statement from me seeing I have not followed these blogs as closely as some others, having come lately.
Still, I’m encouraged that through all disagreement, teachings, critiques, labors, we will one day be one flock with one Sheppard. Blessings today for you James and your readers, as G-d wills. Shalom
If by “not much has changed,” you mean that the Messianic Judaism/Hebrew Roots movements keep rehashing the same debates and arguments, I’m afraid you’re right. One of the reasons I brought up the “sheep/goats” document and my conclusions based on it is because people have a tendency to forget that we’ve already talked about this stuff. If I can serve as a reminder that we’ve “been there and did that,” maybe someday, we can move on.
Peace.
Here’s another passage to consider, James: “God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:13-14)
I think that will have to be fodder for some of our future conversations. What exactly was nailed to the cross if we (or I) believe that Jesus also did not do away with any portion of the law and that it would not go away until everything has been accomplished (Matthew 5:18)?
Assuming Paul’s audience was not Jewish (and this seems likely), I don’t know if he would have been referring to the Torah since it would not have been applied to the non-Jewish Christian population in the manner of the Jews. What was the “charge of our legal indebtedness” in that case? More to ponder.
I did recently say that “Jesus opens all the doors and holds all the keys. He is the portal by which we Gentiles enter into any sort of covenant relationship with God at all, and he also fully reconciles and restores the Jewish nation to the Father as the fulfillment of all His covenants with and His promises to the Jewish people.”
In Christ, we will find God and we will find who we are in God.