The Torah (4)
Jesus / Yeshu‘ah and the Torah

André H. Roosma
20 March 2012

For those who - like I do - believe in Jesus Christ / Yeshu‘ah ha Mashiach it is relevant, of course, to know what He Himself said about the Torah.
Well, the Second or New Testament has come to us in the Greek language. So, there we seek in vain for the Hebrew word Torah. However, by now we know almost for certain that the Gospel of Mattit-Yahu (Matthew) was originally written in Hebrew. And already in the 19^th century various people have reconstructed a Hebrew ver­sion of this Gospel. Among them were Franz Delitzsch and Isaac Edward Salkinson & Christian David Ginsburg.¹ In the sequel I will discuss some passages in which both these versions have the word Torah.
The first passage is this one, where Yeshu‘ah says:

“Think not that I have come to abolish the Torah and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Torah until all is accomplished. ...”

Mattit-Yahu (Matthew) 5: 17-18 (after the RSV; cf. also Luke 16:17)

Essential in this passage is the verb to fulfill – a translation of the Greek: plero-o - to fill completely, to make full; equivalent with the Hebrew málé’. Yeshu‘ah puts that in contrast with to abolish – Greek: kataluo - destroy, demolish, dissolve, disintegrate; equivalent with the Hebrew párar, which we encounter in Leviticus 26: 15. Leviticus 26: 14-17 point out that things do not end well with someone who destroys or breaks God’s covenant.

Yeshu‘ah also spoke about what is the essence of the Torah:

So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the Torah and the prophets.

Mattit-Yahu 7: 12

I observe that Yeshu‘ah did not abolish any of this!

The weightier matters of the Torah

Notice, what Yeshu‘ah considered the most important of the Torah. That is not in the first place following a lot of rules, but:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah, justice and mercy and faithfulness; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Mattit-Yahu 23: 23

Yeshu‘ah mentions three words here, that we encounter frequently in the First Testament, and in the Torah in particular, as characteristic for God YaHUaH Himself and so for all who want to belong to Him. Below I also provide the corresponding Hebrew terms:
- justice - (Greek: krisis) - Hebrew: mishpat – (from: a lid on a water well) precaution, set boundary;
- mercy - (Greek: eleos) - Hebrew: chesed – grace, mercy;
- faithfulness - (Greek: pistis) - Hebrew: ’emeth/’emunah – (from: the first amniotic fluid / a mother for her children) faithful, support, truth.

Has Yeshu‘ah abolished any of this? No, He hasn’t!

As pointed out in fact by the Torah and later by Paul as well (Deuteronomy 30: 2-6; Romans 8: 1-9, 13-17), only by the Spirit of God in us can we become like God meant us to be in these characteristics, and grow in His image. In dependence and as children we may look up to Him, and, like Mary, we may sit at His feet and receive from His great abundance.

The great commandment in the Torah

That Yeshu‘ah did not put away the Torah, but that He did bring the people back to the essence of the Torah, appears also clearly from this passage:

35 And one of them [the Pharisees], an expert in religious law, asked Him a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the Torah is the greatest?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Torah and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Mattit-Yahu 22: 35-40 (cf. Luke 10: 25-28; Galatians 5: 14)

Here Yeshu‘ah cited and combined two passages from the Torah, which share a common beginning, as we saw before already: Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19: 18. The common Ve-áhabhtá - ‘you will love’ in these as well as the Greek equivalent αγαπησεις (agapèseis - in future tense, active voice, indicative mood) from Yeshu‘ah’s citation is not like an order: ‘you must love’ but more an observation, in the sense of: ‘you are going to love’. Whether via Yeshu‘ah or the Torah   when you learn to know God YaHUaH as He really is, and remember² how He acted in great love with His people, you have a hard time reacting in any other way than by surrendering yourself to Him. The result is that He, by His love, will cause you to love Him in return and others like yourself, from the inside out. It was like that in Moses’ time already and it still is that way now. That was what the Torah was all about, and that was what Yeshu‘ah was telling.³

Hallelu YaH !

Notes

Reactions

This is a sequel to: The Shema‘ – the First Testament declaration of faith (1), Part (2), Part (3), Part (4), Part (5), and Torah - (1) A series of laws and commandments?, (2) Throughout the First Testament and (3) Absolutely delightful!.

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