Tag: jews

  • A Priest, a Rabbi & a Stranger …

    A Priest, a Rabbi & a Stranger …

    A 21st Century Parable

    You know the old story (actually, several variations on a theme). Three men (but today you might have to include other designations) encounter the same situation and the third one gets the punch line.

    That’s not quite what happened to me recently as I witnessed the following story (which also includes a woman I don’t mention and a well-dressed black man I include).

    My story’s ending may be unexpected but to the best of my knowledge none of the three strangers were a priest, rabbi or a pastor. You may see some humor in it. Picture these strangers I encountered today.

    Which neighbor of the three might you have been?

    Stranded at our Neighborhood Kroger

    It was no emergency and I was prepared. Yet I was unprepared for what would follow when my car wouldn’t start.

    Yes, I had jumper cables in the trunk so I raised my hood and looked for some help.

    Stranger number one

    A man approached from the grocery store with just a few things in his bag. He headed for his car parked in the row just behind my stranded car with the hood up. I approached him as he entered his car.

    “Could you help me jump my car?”

    He rather reluctantly looked down and away from my glancing appeal from outside his door. “Sorry, but I can’t.”

    Okay, I thought. He’s dressed up and could be in a hurry. Someone else will help. So I walked to a car on the other side of the same row where my car sat helplessly with its hood up.

    Stranger number two

    Another kind-looking man had just entered his car with a soft-knit cross hanging from the mirror. My spirit lifted with hope that here was a brother who would help. So I asked.

    “Could you help me jump my car? I have battery cables.”

    He nodded his head gently saying, “My battery is really low. I don’t think it would help.”

    My heart dropped as I walked back to my car thinking of his cross on the mirror.

    Later I thought, “Gee, I should have asked him if he was a priest or Levite?” (Of course I would never do that and neither would you, but we all think those things.)

    So I called for road service, which could reach me in my local neighborhood grocery parking lot in something like forty minutes. It was then that Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan came to mind. Even most non-believers know that one, but no good Samaritan here today, I thought. No big deal. I’ll just wait.

    Stranger number three

    As I sat in my car with the hood up for a bit more time in thought a man walked up to me and asked if I had help on the way.

    “Yes, I called a tow truck, but all I need is for someone to help jump my car.” He agreed to try and pulled his car up in front of mine.

    After connecting my jumper cables to both cars I got in my car and turned the key. Nothing.

    The man then said, “Let me get in my car and give it a little gas.”

    I reconnected the cables making certain to have the best contact possible then we both got in our cars and I tried again. This time, success!

    I thanked him, disconnected it all, drove home, unloaded groceries from my idling vehicle and drove to a neighborhood repair shop for a new battery.

    Just like one helped by a fictional hero of my youth, ‘I didn’t even ask this man his name.’ He was The ‘Lone Stranger’ helping someone in need.

    God knows the name of each good Samaritan and some praise their witness to a world steeped in self-righteousness, unlike a neighbor loved by the LORD.

    A Not so Funny ending

    Unlike the man in Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan, I was not on a distant highway, hurt and hopeless due to such a severe attack by robbers.

    Ok, you might laugh that I’m not exactly your helpless victim in peril here. And you may laugh just a bit more at the great irony of the man with the cross in the window not helping a brother in Christ. (It’s really kind of typical of our witness, isn’t it?)

    Yes, maybe there’s a lesson here too.

    So in our 21st century story I guess it’s the second guy who gets the punch line and the third guy’s no joke. In fact he’s just the kind of neighbor we all wish we had.

    The Good Samaritan

    Jesus’ parable could have begun with ‘a priest, a rabbi and a pastor’ scenario because in this same way His characters were just as familiar to the parable’s hearers.

    Three characters who could have helped

    A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

    Luke 10:31 CSB

    To our many dear Jewish friends I might mention that the Messiah Jesus was considered a ‘lesser’ Jew from Galilee in the eyes of those proper Judean Jews who leaned on their status and the Law. After all, His parable was told to answer a question from the crowd mostly of Jews.

    This Priest is a Jewish Priest, a very pure and proper sort of guy. (We would not have much difficulty envisioning a Roman Catholic Priest or Orthodox Priest with all the robes, incense and the like.) The Priest of the LORD is a long-forgotten intermediary of Jewish worship.

    In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

    Luke 10:32 CSB

    The Levites were a Priestly class of Jews better than everyone else by their nearness to religious duties. (Of course nobody in charge of ‘christian’ churches would ever feel like that.)

    We get it (and so did the Messiah’s crowds). A second man also could have helped, but didn’t. (The crowd awaits the Rabbi’s punch line.)

    So everyone knows that the next one will help. (Perhaps they will be of a different religious school of thought.)

    A Samaritan Stranger

    Samaria, on the other hand, had a bad rap in Judah due to long-established cultural prejudices.

    Those who followed the best religious practices expected a Jew to be the hero (just like we might expect a ‘good christian’ to do the right thing). Nobody expected a “Samaritan” to be ‘the good guy.’

    But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion… He went over to him… and took care of him… [paid an innkeeper] and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

    Luke 10: excerpt from Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan

    Questions from Lawyers

    Those who know a little more about the parable where two ‘religious’ guys (yes, Jews) didn’t help a man in need may know what prompted the Messiah’s parable.

    Jesus was answering another question from a lawyer. (You probably know his question.)

    But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

    Luke 10:29 NASB

    Don’t falsely assume that the Samaritan was not a religious man with good and godly principles (just as Jesus points out that we cannot conclude that everyone who claims obedience to the Law will do what is right).

    Prior to this question, most of us know Jesus confirmed the lawyer’s restated validity of the Law of Moses, which even Samaritans likely followed.

    But then the lawyer went a step further by asking, ‘How does this apply in this contemporary case?’ (Who is my neighbor?)

    A Contemporary Contention

    By now most of us tire of endless questioning by contentious legal minds. They demand the right of their differences.

    Who did right and how should we judge the failures of others?

    They play to the crowds who expect more from religious and political leaders than the ordinary people they represent.

    Careful, though. I tend toward this ‘phariseeism;’ and likely, beloved Christian brother, faithful Jew and misled Muslim, so do you.

    Jesus said, “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

    And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.

    John 8:15-16 NKJV

    Ordinary powerless Jews and gentiles loved Jesus’ leading because He has an answer to the endless questioning of others by self-righteous men. It is God’s answer to an all-important question.

    The Questioning before the Law

    So the lawyer in the crowd standing in the spotlight of the crowds surrounding Jesus restates the Law. (Moses had reiterated it so many times.)

    Deuteronomy – Devarim, “the words [of Moses]”.

    וּמָ֨ל יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֖ וְאֶת־לְבַ֣ב זַרְעֶ֑ךָ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לְמַ֥עַן חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
    source:
    30:12 לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה־לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃

    5:20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

    15:2 “And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD's release.

    27:24 ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.' “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!'

    Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

    Leviticus 19:18 KJV

    Do ‘christians’ know the question Jesus answered with this parable?

    ANSWER: The lawyer had asked Jesus this leading question:

    “… what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

    The Good News of Luke 10:

    Recall that Doctor Luke is a gentile disciple of the first century church, who would have been an outsider to ‘God’s chosen.’

    The Parable of the Good Samaritan

    25 Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

    26 “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”

    27 He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”

    28 “You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”

    Do you as well have yet another question?

    “Do this and you will live,” the Messiah Jesus tells us.

    What must I do to receive eternal life? …

    This is the question Jesus answered with the parable of The Good Samaritan.

    Do you have a ‘Jesus’ bumper sticker on your car? (Didn’t you just cut me off in traffic? And you were on your cell, right?)

    You don’t really want to know more than what the LORD has commanded us, do you?

    Who’s right?

    So Jesus seems to pick on the Jews (rather than pick the Jews).

    Can a stranger actually inherit eternal life?

    Christians often treat Jews and Muslims who worship the One God as Samaritans, even though some follow custom and righteousness without grieving the Holy Spirit of the LORD.

    We all see and judge those Catholic Crosses and Protestant Jesus symbols. Yet what do these witness to others?

    Can anyone but the Lord God judge a man’s heart or draw one to repentance and eternal life?

    Some who do not fully believe that Jesus IS the only way to eternal life may be destined to see the Light of Truth on the path of righteousness.

    Even some secretive believers must hide their faith in the Living Messiah of the Lord God. Christians traveling the road between this temporary earthly home and the Jerusalem of true worship must go into all the world with Good News (and not false witness).

    Do you have a question for Jesus?

    You can take the LORD at His Word. Or ask a brother or sister truly following Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, “What must I do?”

    Beloved wounded man of flesh, fallen into the pit of sin along the dust of this dry and temporal life in failing flesh, I pray for your restoration to life, a recharging of your soul into the beginning of a true witness for the Messiah Jesus, One with the Father and Holy Spirit of the Most High God.

    Along this busy quick highway of life, before its end what must you do?

    Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

  • Hebrews 11- a Genealogy of Faith

    Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

    Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

    Faith is the Substance

    What is your greatest hope? Your eternal longing?

    ἐλπίζω elpizō – to hope

    How can you be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see?

    Matthew used this same word for hope pointing back to the prophesy of Isaiah.

    “And in His name the [nations] Gentiles will hope.”

    Matthew 12:21 NASB

    Previously the author of Hebrews has called on us to ‘draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.’How do we know that the new covenant in Christ now replaces the old?

    In the same way that our forefathers had hope – by faith.

    πίστις pistis – faith

    Faith is the substance, faith is the reality, faith is the assurance – many descriptions, all showing it as evidence of our hope.

    We may discuss and dissect the reasons for our hope in God, our confidence in Christ. And we may wander from the path of true faith from time to time. Yet its evidence remains as the light of our hope eternal.

    faith – conviction of the truth of anything

    • a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things
    • the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things
    • relating to Christ a strong and welcome conviction that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
    • belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same

    Our faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Yet some have faith in that which is not reality or truth, therefore the writer of Hebrews follows with evidence from history.

    2 For by it our ancestors won God’s approval.

    a genealogy of Jewish faith

    אֱמֶת = Faith is real and true; faith is truthfulness

    Hebrews 11:

    Without elaboration on the author’s entire genealogy of faith, take a brief look at: the verse person exemplifying faith – Old Testament verse equivalent.

    6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

    Hebrews 11:6 CSB

    13 These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.

    The author of Hebrews takes this genealogy of faith and applies it as evidence that these jewish ancestors had not yet received the Lord’s certain promise. He continues with Moses, who of course recorded these genealogies along with the Law in five books.

    Moses – Mosheh – מֹשֶׁה

    23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months… reference to Exodus 2:2.

    He proceeds with a more extended biography of Moses relating it to institutions of faith established for a later time, that is, fulfillment by the Messiah. Yes, Moses was a savior of the Hebrews, even when they resisted the Lord. But the Law and Covenants of Moses were imperfect forerunners of the Perfection to come.

    By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites.

    Hebrews 11:28 CSB; מֹשֶׁה

    From Moses to Christ

    30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down … 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.

    32 And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, 33 who by faith…

    Familiar stories of faith follow (also worth your time in brief here). He races through the generations from the Judges, past King David and to the prophets. Then addition of a prophetic reminder of what these persecuted Hebrews, both Jews and Christians were beginning to experience.

    Persecution by the world

    … Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

    36 Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated.

    Are you familiar with the persecution of Jews and Christians by Roman rulers like Claudius, Nero, Domitian and later many others?

    Those who received these letters to the church either needed or would need encouragement due to these cruelties for followers of Jesus. Even in this day Christians suffer and die for our faith.

    According to Open Doors, every month:

    • 255 Christians are killed
    • 104 are abducted
    • 180 Christian women are raped, sexually harassed or forced into marriage
    • 66 churches are attacked
    • 160 Christians are detained without trial and imprisoned

    More Christians died for their faith in the 20th century than in the 1st, yet Christians living in a world of hatred have always suffered for the sake of Christ.

    Christians martyred since the time of Jesus at 70 million

    David B Barrett, researcher, Christian Today

    Returning to the author of Hebrews’ argument for those suffering for Christ:

    39 All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised…

    And he assures us that God provided something better for us, in Christ.

    To be continued...

  • Hebrews – 1

    1:1  πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐντοῖς προφήταις

    It’s Greek to me…

    multifariam et multis modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis


    God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

    Hebrews 1:1 KJV
    In our עִבְרִי Hebrews Intro I suggested that we will explore some translation back to the Greek and Hebrew. Follow links to secure sources.

    Translations of Hebrews 1 above, from the original Greek, to the Latin Vulgate,  to Hebrew do not seem to exist. Greek was the common language of Jews and Romans of the first century empire. Even early English translations include unfamiliar words and terms, like “sundry times.” indicating a portion of time.

    So what is the connection of the book of Hebrews to Hebrew descendants, Jews who became the Messianic followers of The Way?

    The opening of the book makes the connection. Its purpose is to explain the connection of the Messiah Iēsous to GOD, θεός theos in the Greek,in Hebrew, אֱלֹהִים elohiym.

    Hebrews 1:

    The Nature of the Son

    Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man, a specific messianic reference to the Messiah, only Son of God, born as a man.

    Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.

    Hebrews 1:1-2a CSB

    An immediate mention of God speaking through recognized prophets of the Jews. These include Abraham, Israel, Moses, David, Isaiah and many others. The voice of ‘his Son’ speaks with a first-person authority of the LORD speaking directly.

    God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

    The Son of Man, Jesus, is heir of all creation, much as a human son receives the inheritance of his father’s work. Yet the author of Hebrews points out even more of the Image of the Son to the Father.

    The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

    Hebrews 1:3 CSB

    After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

    Jesus is of the same glory and exactly like God the Father and assumed the Throne of Majesty after making the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins on the Cross. The action of God Himself on the Cross purged our sins!

    So he [Jesus] became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.

    Angels and messengers of God

    The writer of Hebrews states that the man Jesus is much more than a prophet, then proceeds by comparing Jesus to the glory of God the Father. After briefly considering the Son of Man, now the writer of Hebrews proceeds to compare Jesus to unseen messengers .

    Angels are spirit messengers of God. Jesus emphasized the importance of the unseen spirit of man – soul, if you will – in its role of communication with God.

    Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    John 3:5-6 CSB

    The water of baptism or purification is not enough. Repentance is not enough. Good works of the flesh are not enough. No one is justified by God without receiving the Spirit of God, messenger to your soul. The writer of Hebrews quotes scripture about angels, holding up Jesus as the Highest Messenger.

    The Son [Jesus] Superior to Angels

    5 For to which of the angels did he ever say,

    • Psalm 2:7 אֲסַפְּרָה אֶֽל חֹק יְֽהוָה אָמַר אֵלַי בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיֹּום יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ׃
    • or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?”
    • Hebrews 1:6 Again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
    • Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX (Septuagint) εὐφράνθητε, οὐρανοί, ἅμα αὐτῷ, καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ· εὐφράνθητε, ἔθνη μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐνισχυσάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες υἱοὶ Θεοῦ· ὅτι τὸ αἷμα τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκδικᾶται, καὶ ἐκδικήσει καὶ ἀνταποδώσει δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἀνταποδώσει, καὶ ἐκκαθαριεῖ Κύριος τὴν γῆν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ.
    • Psalm 97:7 LXX (Septuagint) σαλευθήτω ἡ θάλασσα καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ.
    • All the gods must worship him. [97:7 LXX, Syr read All his angels]
    • Hebrews 1:7 7 And about the angels he says:
    • Psalm 104:4 עֹשֶׂה מַלְאָכָיו רוּחֹות מְשָׁרְתָיו אֵשׁ לֹהֵֽט׃
    • NKJV Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

    “Rejoice with him, you heavens,
    and let all of God’s angels worship him.

    Deu.32:43a NLT As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text lacks the first two lines.

    The writer of Hebrews makes clear that Jesus is superior to the angels, using scripture from the Old Testament to do so.

    but about the Son

    Hebrews 1:8-12 is glorification of the Son of God. Like his opening, the author quotes scriptures known to the Jews.

    Quotes from Psalms often glorify God and glorify the king. The inference here is that Jesus, the Messiah, is a King forever.

    Psalm 45

    יָפְיָפִיתָ מִבְּנֵי אָדָם הוּצַק חֵן בְּשְׂפְתֹותֶיךָ עַל־כֵּן בֵּֽרַכְךָ אֱלֹהִים לְעֹולָֽם׃

    Psalm 45:2
    2 You are fairer than the sons of men;
    Grace is poured upon Your lips;
    Therefore God has blessed You forever.
    3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,
    With Your glory and Your majesty.

    The king holds up the royal scepter of righteousness, the symbol of justice in the right hand.

    6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
    A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
    7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
    With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

    This reference by the writer of Hebrews to the Son being higher than the angels comes directly from this song of love in Psalm 45. The Messiah is an answer to prayer – centuries of prayers by faithful Jews. Hebrews continues by quoting another Psalm.

    Psalm 102 – The Lord’s Eternal Love

    Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    And let my cry come to You.

    12 But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
    And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

    18 This will be written for the generation to come,
    That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

    25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
    And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
    26 They will perish, but You will endure;
    Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
    Like a cloak You will change them,
    And they will be changed.
    27 But You are the same,
    And Your years will have no end.

    You are the same

    “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

    The revelation of Jesus Christ to John 22:13

    Hebrews 1 closes reaffirming that the Son IS the creative Word of the Lord.

    13 Now to which of the angels has he ever said:

    Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies your footstool?

    Once again, quoting a Psalm announcement of the Messiah’s reign.

    14 [NIV} Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

    Yes. Angels are ministering spirits of the LORD.

    Yet the Son of Man, God Incarnate: was, and IS, and will be higher than the angels; the righteous King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

    To be continued...

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