Many Christian denominations hold as a doctrine that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only divinely inspired teachings that constitute the rule and faith of a Christian life.

In Jesus’ day, commentary on the Written Torah, which was only translated verbally through memorization until 200 A.D., was also considered authoritative and divinely inspired. The Oral Torah, like today’s printed commentaries, was used to offer direction for obeying God’s written Word where the instructions were not completely clear.

For instance, not working on the Sabbath is an instruction of God, but the definition of work is left for interpretation. That is where the Oral Torah is given by teachers with the anointing to interpret the Scriptures for God’ people. These oral teachings are still known today, in written form, as the Mishnah.

There is a rabbinical parable that was taught by Jewish sages during Jesus time and used to emphasize the importance of both the Written and Oral Torahs. It is taken from the works of Dr. Brad H. Young and his book, The Parables: Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation, pg. 91.

The title of the parable is “The King’s Wise and Foolish Servants”.

My son, were not both Bible and mishnah spoken by the mouth of the Almighty? If so, what is the relationship between them? The distinction between them may be illustrated by a parable. To what may the matter be compared? To a mortal king who had two servants whom he loved with utter love. To one he gave a measure of wheat and to the other he gave a measure of wheat, to one a bundle of flax and to the other a bundle of flax. What did the wise one of the two do? He took the flax and wove it into a tablecloth. He took the wheat and made into fine flour by sifting the grain first and grinding it. Then he kneaded the dough and baked it, set the loaf upon the table, spread the tablecloth over it and kept it to await the coming of the king. But the foolish one of the two did not do anything to it.After many days the king came into the house and said to the two servants: My sons, bring me what I gave you. One brought out the table with the loaf baked of fine flour on it, and the tablecloth spread over it. The other brought out his wheat in a basket with the bundle of flax over the wheat grains. What a shame! What a disgrace! Need it be said which of the two servants was the more beloved? He of course who laid out the table with the loaf baked of fine flour upon it.Both the written and oral Torahs were considered to be the words of God.Jesus often advocated the use of oral Torah, which can be seen when reading of his miracles. When He healed on the Sabbath, in most cases, he never touched the person and only healed with words, which was allowed by the Jewish religious authorities long before Jesus was born. In other cases Jesus used touch on the Sabbath to heal, despite the written Torah and the instructions of the Jewish religious authorities. In these cases, Jesus appears to be breaking the Sabbath until we are familiar with the teachings of the Oral Torah.

The Sadducees did not recognize the authority of the Oral Torah, but they did recognize the Judean (Jewish religious authorities in Judea) decision to break the Sabbath in order to keep the instruction to circumcise on the eighth day, due to the obvious need for compromise.

In John 9:14 we read that Jesus healed a blind man, using touch, on the Sabbath, which brings us to Jesus’ use of the oral Torah.

In the Bible, God says a person can not work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-10, 23:12, 31:14-15, 34:21, 35:2: Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5:12-14). God also says that a child “must” be circumcised on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12, Leviticus 12:3). The Judeans had already settled the matter and stated that the keeping of the Sabbath will be broken in order to keep the mitzvah (commandment) to circumcise on the eighth day.

There is also a teaching of the Oral Torah which says that a person can break the Written Torah in order to keep the Spirit of the Written Torah, which is to give life. With that portion of the Oral Torah, along with the instructions that a person could break the Sabbath to circumcise, an Oral Torah observant Jew could surmise that a healing could take place, even with touch. Jesus could heal in the presence of Sadducees as long as He didn’t touch. In the presence of Pharisees, He could draw from the above commandments, both oral and written.

Because of the Pharisaical flexibility of the Oral Torah, a Rabbi with “authority,” like Jesus, meaning that He was able to interpret the Torah and give commands for “binding and loosing” or “forbidding and permitting,” he could draw from the command that a person could circumcise on the Sabbath and conclude that it is also allowable to heal a person of a childhood illness or physical defect, such as blindness.

Jesus used what is called a Kal v’ chomer (‘light and heavy’) argument to defend his actions. This is when a sage would remind an accuser that the mitzvah (commandments) must be weighed in order to keep the “spirit of the law,” which is to give life (not necessarily meaning the opposite of death, but a life that is more whole).”By reminding the Pharisees of their own oral traditions, Jesus was able to justify a healing on the Sabbath, as he was also an advocate of the Oral Torah.

If Jesus were being questioned by Sadducees, this would not have been as easy to defend, because Jesus used touch in the healing miracle. The Sadducees did not believe in the Oral Torah. They were very strict and rigid in following the Written Text.

Think of it this way: If you were living in the place and time of Jesus and you wanted to fish with your kids on the Sabbath, some Pharisees would say, “No problem. Have fun,” other Pharisaic sages would say, “You can fish, as long as you don’t clean the fish and prepare them for cooking.” This is knows as “binding and loosing.”All Sadducees would say, “Absolutely not! You are not allowed to fish, because it is a form of work. No exceptions.”

The Pharisees, like Jesus, would “bind and loose” differently, according to their own interpretation of what it meant to work. They would “bind (forbid)” what they believed to be unacceptable and “loose (permit)” that which they deemed acceptable, such as fishing for fun on the Sabbath. The Sadducees were strict literalists. No work meant “No Work!”Jesus was being confronted by the more flexible Pharisees in John 9.

Today we will often hear or even say that the preacher or teacher is going to bring to us a “message from God.” By saying this, we are advocating an ancient belief that it is not only the written Word which is divinely inspired and given authority by God, but the oral teachings are believed to have the same inspiration and authority.

Should this not be the case, it would be difficult to expect a “message from God,” unless the teacher was to read strictly from the Bible. In that case, the teacher would be following the custom of the Sadducees who would only use the Written Word and did not believe in Oral Torah like the Pharisees and Jesus.

In His dust,

Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

I went to Germany after completing my U.S. Army training. And when I got there, I learned quickly to look out for initiations, which were actually practical jokes. One of the jokes that some of the older and more experienced soldiers would play on the new recruits was to tell them to get an exhaust sample from a deuce-and-a-half, and take it from the motor pool to the other motor pool on the other side of the post for an exhaust test.

The joke was that the soldier was to start the truck, place a garbage bag around the exhaust pipe, fill up the bag, and tie it off before the exhaust from the truck escaped. Then he or she would walk across post with a garbage bag full of air. And all along, the bag of air was worthless. But watching them take the long walk with a bag full of air made for a great laugh.

I never fell for the exhaust sample trick, but I have carried some useless things in my life.

And I know that I’m not the only person to carry things that are useless. Some of us carry bad habits, bad attitudes, useless guilt, or pain that we could have let go of long ago.

Jesus told his Jewish listeners, “You are the light of the world” (see Matthew 5:14-16). Now that is something useful to carry. To get a clearer understanding of what it is to be the light of the world, we begin in Psalm 52. “But I (the righteous people of God) am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever” (verse 8).

Olive trees have the ability to flourish on almost any kind of soil. Their strong and lengthy roots allow them to find water in the driest of terrains. These relentless roots of the olive tree will also allow the tree to grow back, even if the tree is cut down.

With its ability to be virtually indestructible, it is no wonder that the Bible uses the olive tree so often when referring to the people of God. Even God himself refers to his people as an olive tree. Jeremiah 11:16a, “The Lord called you a thriving olive tree…”

For the people of Jesus’ time the olive tree is very useful. Among its most obvious uses are its resources of food and oil. When Jesus was telling his listeners that they are the light of the world, the oil of the olive tree was used as medicine, anointing oil for priests and kings, and it was also used to fuel lamps, which were very important in providing light.

In Isaiah, chapter 42 God tells the people of Israel that they will bring Justice to nations and light to Gentiles. The oil of the olive tree will be carried by Jews and Gentiles, and that oil will provide light in a dark world.

Jesus called himself the Light of the world (see John 8:12), and those of us who follow Jesus are also called the Light of the world, as we carry the light with us into the world.

In His dust,
Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

Broken promises hurt. I have been hurt deeply by broken promises. I remember the day my dad left us. As a six-year-old boy, I was in the front yard, standing with my two brothers, looking through the chain link fence with my hands gripping the small, square holes in the fence. My dad was passed out in the ditch on the other side of the fence. He was intoxicated. We stared at him for a little while, as my younger brother cried, and then we went back to playing. My dad eventually woke up and took a bus to Virginia.

Promises are not taken as seriously as they should be by too many people.

God told Aaron in Numbers 18:19 that he was to “add salt to all offerings.” In the days of antiquity, salt was the most effective preservative. Because of its ability to preserve, it was considered to be a symbol of permanence. This is why a “salt covenant” was considered to mean an unbreakable covenant.

Jesus told his Jewish listeners, “You are the salt of the earth” (See Matthew 5:13). He told them that they are the living representatives of a permanent promise. And then he warned them that if they lose their saltiness, they will be of no good to anyone.

In Colossians 4:5-6 a very wise teacher and passionate follower of Jesus named Paul said to his students, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (NIV).

In these words, Paul points out the ability of salt to add flavor. And in this case, he is referring to a person’s ability to share the Gospel with humility and grace rather than with anger and fear.

It’s no secret that there are many Christians today who live a saltless life. Instead of presenting Jesus in such a way that builds up a non-believer’s apatite, many of us cause non-believers to loose their apatite for all things having to do with God.

When we lose our saltiness, we make the message of Jesus boring and temporary. We cause what is meant to be an eternal promise to become nothing more than a broken marriage for many who are desperate for the Savior.

In His dust,
Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

In my mind there are a few philosophies that drive our current theology, which will be heavily critiqued in 200 years.

The first philosophy that comes to my mind is the way we are satisfied to simply “believe in Jesus”, as opposed to “imitating the actions of Christ.” I believe that most people who are locked into the propaganda of the current church philosophy are missing the point of Jesus’ purpose for His body of believers.

Jesus’ movement was called, “The Kingdom of Heaven.” It could just as well be called “The Will Doers of God.” The idea of “going to” church appears to be in opposition to Jesus action oriented movement of bringing disciples into the Kingdom for the purpose of doing God’s will in the world, instead of telling people how they can have Jesus in their hearts and come to church on Sunday.

True disciples are active followers and imitators of Christ, not simply ceremony observers and participants.

To first century Jews like Jesus, the Hebrew phrase “mal-KUT sha MA-yim” or “The Kingdom of God (Heaven)” was a term which referred to the rule of God over a person who has chosen to submit his or herself to God and to live out God’s Word and will in his or her life and in the world. In essence that person became a “living Word.”

So much of the obedience of most Christians today is based on a “faith of belief,” rather than a “faith of action.” This is due to the misunderstanding that the Old Testament is a law of works, while the New Testament is a new teaching based on grace. No Jew has ever believed that he or she is saved by the “Law.” In fact, “Law” is a terrible translation of the original Hebrew word Torah, which is a word that means instruction or way. Jews have always believed that they are saved by God’s grace and are also privileged to live out the Torah in honor of God.

Ray Vander Laan puts it beautifully, when he says, “The Old Testament is much more like a roadmap giving us directions to where we need to be, rather than a list of driving rules that must not be broken.”

I believe that one day Christians will look back into the past and say, “I’m glad we no longer believe that we can simply “know” as believers in Jesus. We would truly be missing the honor and privilege of “being” and “doing” as imitators of Christ.

In His dust,

Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved