Yeshua and The Oral Law Many folks see Yeshua’s condemnation of the hearts of some Pharisees and Scribes, as a condemnation of the whole oral law. Nothing could be further from the truth. Note the word SOME in the following passage. Note, carefully, what Yeshua actually condemned: Marqos (Mark) 7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Here we see that SOME of Yeshua’s talmidim did not properly wash their hands, as prescribed by the oral law. This suggests that MOST of His Talmidim DID wash their hands before they ate bread. So why did SOME not wash? Perhaps we could explain it as the situation of those who are newly observant, or those who were Gentiles and NOT required to wash their hands, or it could be simple forgetfulness. I personally suggests that they were Gentiles who were not obligated. In Yeshua’s response we see Him ignoring their complaint entirely! In fact, He castigates them for their additional strictness that was not required by the oral law, and in doing so, they ignored what was Torah, and a weighty matter at that. In short, it appears that they were picking on others to find fault with Yeshua, whilst they themselves were deficient. Never the less, Yeshua AND MOST of His talmidim DID wash their hands before they ate bread! Yeshua and MOST of His Talmidim did observe the oral law. The following chart comes from the document, "Not Subject to the Law of God?" found at yashanet/library/underlaw.htm. It shows that rather than teaching contrary to the Pharisees (a common misconception) Yeshua supported much of what they taught, as he often quoted from the Mishnah (the early portion of the Talmud) which is an entirely Pharisaic document.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:35:35 +0000
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