2009-10-23
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Since we have been looking at MT 7: 12, the Golden Rule, it’s appropriate that we examine the historical contexts that led up to the Lord Jesus uttering this passage as a part of His Sermon on the Mount. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets.” One reason for looking at the history is so that we can see how God was leading up to the Covenant of Grace, replacing the Covenant of the Law.
For as long as anyone can remember, traditional Judaism had been going in the direction of legalism. It is still practiced that way today, complicated by the practice of separation from other groups in response to fears of assimilation. Those concerns are quite understandable in the face of attempts to assimilate the Jewish culture and practices by despots like Anitiochus IV Epiphanes, who seized the Jerusalem temple in 168 BC and defiling it, Torquemada, who led the Spanish Inquisition expelling all the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the worst of all, Adolf Hitler, who gassed 6 million Jews and others in the Holocaust of 1938-1945 in Europe. Having said all of this, it is my considered opinion that God never intended for Jews to be legalistic, have an Oral Torah [the writings of the rabbinic commentaries included in the Talmud, Mishna, and Midrash]. These are held as sacred as God’s words in the Tanach, the OT. They led to the ballooning of 10 Commandments to 613, so many that no one could keep them all. The Lord never wanted a human intermediary between Himself and the believer. I believe that God speaks eloquently for Himself through cross references in the Bible, both OT and NT.
We must hover on HE 13: 9, “Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way. It is good to receive inner strength from God’s grace, and not by obeying rules about foods; those who obey these rules have not been helped by them.” This is quite reminiscent of the teacher who stays just ahead of the class and has no idea of the larger picture- the relationships between one teaching and another or the wise application of the teaching to one’s life. That teacher “cook-books” his way through, missing the true essence of what value such a study has to us. Moreover, he teaches his students to do the same. It is this legalism and “contamination” by placing human intermediaries between the believer and God that led to the need for God to bring His Son to earth, despite the fact that these same Jews didn’t even recognize Who He is, to teach for three years and then give His life on the cross for the sake of the salvation of those who would listen to God’s truth. The Oral Torah- as used- is a real affront to God, for all the uncertainties, twisting of the truth, confusion, and diversion from God’s path to salvation that they bring.
Last week, I cited LV 19: 18, “Do not take revenge on anyone or continue to hate him, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” This assertion was given as a part of the law of holiness and justice given the Jewish people by God in ancient times. God felt it was so important that He repeats it a number of times in the Scriptures [JN 13: 34-35; JN 15: 12; RO 13: 9-10]. One of these passages, JN 13: 34-35, Christ speaks the New Commandment. “And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples.” This cuts deeply into the soul and behavior choices of a true believer. It remains there as a testament to the fact that faith in Christ has given us a chance to choose to go against the natural self and to engage in righteous living [GAL 5; 17-18]. We have been given the choice not to sin and be locked into behavior that will eventually lead to spiritual death. In the early part of our faith, when we were so-called “baby Christians” we didn’t know how very important that gift of faith from God really is. As we mature, it’s importance becomes more and more clear. Then, we come across such verses as 1 JN 4: 12, “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” This one is worth some meditation time. We can begin to see how important it is to God that we learn to obey His teaching, even to the point that bringing us back to Him is part of His basic mission statement, found in EPH 1: 4-5 and the Son’s in JN 6: 39-40. We must believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was for a reason very close to God’s heart [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. God also deals with the question of taking revenge in RO 12: 19, “Never take revenge, my friend, but instead let God’s anger do it. For the Scriptures DT 32: 35] says, ‘I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.’”
To God, our love and practice of a righteous life really matters. We must remember that in DT 6: 4-7, God spoke His heart through Moses with a passage beginning with the “Shema,” His statement of monotheism followed by instruction for living. “Here, O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working…” Putting all of this together, we can see loving our God and loving one another as ourselves is very much a part of the Golden Rule. Our Lord repeats these things for one reason only-they matter very much to Him, and ultimately to us. And now we can see why traditionally Jewish legalism brought about God’s need to replace the old covenant with the Covenant of Grace. Praise and thanks to Him that He did!
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne with only one part of the history told. It is from the past mistakes of mankind and their disobedience, resulting from faulty understanding of Your teaching in the OT, that it became necessary for You to replace it with a new covenant, one that would give mankind a better chance for eternal life with You. Due to Your omniscience, You alone knew ahead of time that it would be necessary, which is why You gave the prophet Jeremiah the message He uttered in JER 31: 31-34. Still the people didn’t understand. They never realized that Your Son, Jesus Christ, was among them and sought to crucify Him. A centurion stationed at the base of the cross watched His physical life ebb away after He uttered, “Father! In Your hands I place My spirit!” [LK 23: 46]. It was dark and suddenly there was an earthquake. The centurion said, “He really was the Son of God!” [MT 27: 54]. And, Dearest Father, the inner veil rent from top to bottom, opening the Holy of Holies to all who believe in the Son [MK 15: 38; MT 27: 51; HE 9: 12]. We rehearse this account of Christ’s death, not because You don’t know it, but because You are so much a part of it and we need You to know that it’s important to us. The Golden Rule reminds us to go one step beyond our faith in the Lord Yeshua, which is to model the love He demonstrated during His earthly incarnation in our relationships with You and with other humans. Such righteousness, good judgment, and the good outcome of its practice wouldn’t have been available to us without Christ’s Atonement and the goodness You bring into our lives with Your loving intervention. We praise and thank You, Dear Father, with all of our hearts, in the mighty and wonderful name of the Lord Yeshua. Amen.
Next week, we will look at how MT 7: 12 relates to the Great Commandment of MT 22: 34-40 and more. Our meditation on this very familiar verse can show us relationships and lessons we never realized were here for us from our loving God, through His Son. If you are feeling blessed today, as I am, then I believe that God has gotten through to us. He means for us to have that firm foundation that comes from a good working knowledge of the Scriptures [2 TIM 3: 16-17] and leads us to a better knowledge of God Himself [COL 3: 10]. The loving, intimate, and open relationship that God wants to have for us begs us to spend more time with Him by being cognizant of His will and His presence in our lives. And to think that He was with me all the time, and I didn’t even know it for the first 25 years of my life! I’m often told that it’s the process more than the result that matters. In the case of our spiritual lives, I have to differ and say that it's both the process of becoming more mature in our spiritual lives and the resulting eternal life that matter. We must thank and praise God that He doesn’t insist that we forward our spiritual maturity alone, without the help of fellow believers and service to others. As difficult as our trials may be, they are not more difficult than if we had to face them alone. We have God’s company 24/7, and we have the help and support of other true believers to guide us along. PS 145: 17-18, “The Lord is righteous in all He does, merciful in all His acts. He is near to those who call to Him, who call to Him with sincerity.” PS 9:10, “Those who know You, Lord, will trust You; You do not abandon anyone who comes to You.” Hallelujah!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn